Mike Locken and George Hansen are longtime friends and professional partners, agents of Communications Integrity (ComTeg), a private intelligence agency that handles covert assignments for the CIA. At the end of their latest assignment, Hansen betrays Locken by killing their client and shooting Locken in the knee and elbow, effectively "retiring" him.

After months of painful rehabilitation, Locken wears metal braces, but is able to walk with a cane. Upon being released from the hospital, Locken moves in with his nurse, Amy, to continue his therapy. As months pass, Locken undergoes serious martial-arts training with a cane, becoming adept with it while vowing revenge against Hansen for his betrayal.

ComTeg director Cap Collis refuses to put Locken back into the field again, assuming that he is only fit for a desk job. O’Leary, a CIA agent, hires ComTeg to protect Yuen Chung, a Taiwanese politician who arrived in the United States with a delegation that includes his daughter, Tommie. Chung has been targeted for assassination, and Hansen has been hired to carry out the assignment.

Locken assembles his old team, including driver Mac and marksman Jerome Miller, but they do not know that Collis is in collaboration with Hansen, hoping to unseat current ComTeg director Lawrence Weybourne. Collis has hired two separate hit squads, one led by Hansen and one led by ninja Negato Toku, to eliminate Chung after the first ambush attempt failed, an arrangement that Hansen dislikes but with which he reluctantly complies when Collis gives him the next opportunity to kill Chung.

Hansen and his team launch an assault on Chung's safehouse, but Locken manages to protect the Chungs and lead their escape unscathed, laying low at a pier where Collis will extract Chung with a yacht the following day. When Locken tells Chung and Tommie to step in front of a highly visible window with its light illuminated, Mac accuses of Locken of using their clients as bait to lure out Hansen, his real target.

Later that night, Hansen sneaks into Chung's safehouse and takes Tommie hostage, getting Locken to disarm. He explains that he is working for Collis and argues that the shooting of Locken was not personal. He offers to give Locken a cut of the money, warning him that if he fails to kill Chung, more killers will be after them. Locken instead decides to walk away and take on Hansen another time on his own terms. However, Miller shoots Hansen while he is distracted, killing him. Shocked and infuriated that he is unable to exact his revenge on the man who had crippled him, Locken punches Miller in the face.

Locken telephones Weybourne and tells him about Collis' treachery. Weybourne orders Locken to follow up with the rendezvous plans and tells him that if he provides evidence that Cap is the traitor, he can have Cap's job. The following day, Locken sails the yacht to the empty ships of the Naval Reserve Fleet at Suisun Bay and orders Chung and Tommie to stay aboard.

Locken, Miller, Mac and a couple of other trusted ComTeg operatives board one of the ships and spot the ninjas crawling overhead. Collis appears and offers Locken a bribe, but Locken shoots him in the arm and kneecap, using the same lines that Hansen gave him when he betrayed him.

The ninjas attack, but Miller mows them down with his machine gun. He is then shot by a gunman, but not before shooting back, taking his killer with him. Tommie and Chung arrive, just as Toku arrives and challenges Chung to a duel. Locken wants to shoot, but Chung accepts the challenge and, after a short battle, kills Toku.

Weyburn arrives with reinforcements and the remaining ninjas scatter. Mac accuses Weybourne of using them to do his dirty work, saying that he is no different than Cap, and tries once more to convince Locken to leave ComTeg and retire. Weybourne points out that a man like Locken has nothing else but his job. Locken declines Weybourne's job offer but keeps Collis' yacht and the bribe money as payment. He then sails away with Mac.

One day, a swarm of "leaf-gobblers" descends upon the Great Valley, devouring all plants and reducing it to a barren wasteland. The inhabitants of the Great Valley have no choice but to find another place where they can survive until the plants have grown back. However, the leaf-gobblers have left a path of devastation behind them, leaving no food for the dinosaurs to find. After searching for many days, tension enters the group as Cera's father and Littlefoot's grandfather argue over changing their course, beginning a fight between Littlefoot and Cera. The fight immediately breaks up when Cera's father announces that every herd should go its own way the next morning. Not wanting to be separated, Littlefoot leads his friends off in the night, in the hope they can find food before they are caught. They leave a trail for the grownups to follow, and eventually reach the "Big Water". Disheartened by the undrinkable water, the children spy a verdant island connected to the mainland by a thin land bridge. On their way, an earthshake occurs, which creates a tsunami from which they narrowly escape. They quickly tuck in to the plentiful bounty of the island, but are then horrified to discover the tsunami has destroyed the land bridge.

Isolated on the island, they try out Cera's idea to return by using a log as a boat. The plan initially works well, but Cera is suffering seasickness and Petrie is too terrified of the Big Water to act as lookout. However, a ''swimming sharptooth'' attacks, and in the confusion and fright which follows, they end up on the island again. That night, they remember their families, while the herd, having followed the trail, sleep on the shores of the beach on the mainland, worrying for them while Cera's father blames their leave on Littlefoot.

The next morning, the children wake up to the shadow of a Sharptooth, only to find that it is Chomper, the young Sharptooth who hatched in their care before returning to his parents in the second film. Since then, Chomper has learned how to speak. Chomper takes them to a safe refuge to hide from his parents. Unaware of Chomper and the others, another sharptooth has been living on the island and begins hunting down the children. Afterwards, Ducky is captured by a ''Pterodactylus'', but manages to escape before she can come to any harm. Chomper hides the children in odorous plants, and provides them with leafy food upon their request. However, an overcautious Cera openly displays distrust to Chomper, leaving him heartbroken as he departs in tears. Littlefoot follows him and apologizes, but he is interrupted by Chomper's mother. She nuzzles him, then leaves. Littlefoot is intrigued by her display of love to Chomper.

As Littlefoot went back to the hideout, the ''Giganotosaurus'' from earlier finds and chases the children towards a cliff above the big water. Chomper tries to help, but is overcome by the Sharptooth. His parents come to the rescue on Chomper (and the same thing for the kids) and battle the Sharptooth near the edge of the island, during which he falls into the Big Water and takes Chomper with him, much to his parents' shock. Littlefoot plunges in to save Chomper while the Sharptooth is swept away by the current. Another swimming Sharptooth appears, but this time they discovered a plesiosaur named Elsie who then saves them both from drowning. She returns them to the island, where Chomper's grateful family promises never to harm the children; Chomper's father grudgingly admits that, after sniffing Spike (who had eaten some of the foul-smelling hideout) anything that smelt that bad wouldn't taste very good anyway. Chomper's mother also nuzzles Littlefoot, in gratitude for his actions to save Chomper from drowning. Cera realises her mistake and accepts that not all Sharpteeth are so bad and monstrous as she thought. Elsie offers to take them across the sea, so Chomper and his parents happily bid them farewell, promising that they will see each other again. When they get back on the mainland, they find that the herd found a lush, green, little sanctuary on the shore where they can stay until the Great Valley has become fertile again. As the credits roll, the film shows when the Great Valley did, the herd returns home.

Following the events of the previous film ''Casino Royale'', James Bond is driving from Lake Garda to Siena, Italy, with the captured Mr. White in the trunk of his Aston Martin DBS V12. After evading pursuers, Bond delivers White to M, who interrogates White regarding the mysterious organisation Quantum. When White responds that their operatives are everywhere, M's bodyguard Craig Mitchell suddenly shoots one of the guards and attacks M. Bond chases Mitchell and eventually kills him; White escapes in the confusion. After returning to London, and searching Mitchell's flat, Bond and M discover Mitchell had a contact in Haiti named Edmund Slate. Bond learns Slate is a hitman sent to kill Camille Montes at the behest of her lover, environmentalist entrepreneur Dominic Greene, who is helping exiled Bolivian General Medrano, who murdered Camille's family, to overthrow the government and become the new president, in exchange for a seemingly barren piece of desert.

After unknowingly foiling Camille's assassination attempt on Medrano by "rescuing" her, Bond follows Greene to a performance of ''Tosca'' in Bregenz, Austria. Meanwhile, the head of the CIA's South American section, Gregg Beam, along with agent Felix Leiter, strike a noninterference deal with Greene for access to putative stocks of Bolivian oil, which the CIA believes to be the reason for Greene's interest in the land. Bond infiltrates Quantum's meeting at the opera, identifying members of Quantum's executive board, and a gunfight ensues. A Special Branch bodyguard working for Quantum member Guy Haines, an advisor to the British PM, is thrown off a roof by Bond after refusing to answer his questions. He lands on Greene's car and is shot dead by one of his men. Assuming Bond killed the bodyguard, M orders him back to MI6 for debriefing, revoking his passports and credit cards when he disobeys. Bond heads to Talamone and convinces his old ally René Mathis (whose innocence was confirmed after the events of ''Casino Royale'') to accompany him to Bolivia. They are greeted by Fields, a consular employee who demands Bond return to the UK immediately. Bond seduces her, and they attend a fundraising party Greene holds that night. At the party, Bond again rescues Camille from Greene and they leave. The Bolivian police pull Bond and Camille over but discover Mathis unconscious in the car's boot. One of the policemen shoots Mathis before Bond kills both of them. Mathis dies in Bond's arms, urging him to forgive Vesper and himself.

The following day, Bond and Camille survey Quantum's intended land acquisition by air; their plane is damaged by a Bolivian fighter plane. They trick the plane into destroying itself, skydive into a sinkhole and discover that, instead of finding oil, Quantum has been secretly damming Bolivia's supply of fresh water to create a monopoly. Back in La Paz, Bond meets M and learns Quantum killed Fields by drowning her in crude oil. Bond meets Leiter, who discloses Greene and Medrano will meet at a hotel, ''La Perla de las Dunas'', in the Atacama Desert to finalize their agreement, and warns him to escape as the CIA's Special Activities Division arrives.

Bond and Camille infiltrate the hotel, where Greene blackmails Medrano into signing a contract that will make Medrano the leader of Bolivia in exchange for the land rights, making Greene Bolivia's sole water provider at significantly higher rates. Bond kills the police chief for betraying Mathis, and after killing the security detail, he confronts Greene. Meanwhile, Camille kills Medrano, avenging the murders of her family. The struggle leaves the hotel destroyed by fire. Bond captures Greene and interrogates him about Quantum. Bond leaves him stranded in the desert with only a can of engine oil. Bond and Camille share a kiss, and she wishes him luck in conquering his demons.

Bond travels to Kazan, Russia, where he finds Vesper Lynd's former lover, Yusef Kabira, a member of Quantum who seduces female agents with valuable connections and is indirectly responsible for her death. After saving Kabira's latest target, Corrine, who works in Canadian intelligence, Bond allows MI6 to arrest Kabira, unharmed. Outside, M tells Bond that Greene was found dead in the middle of the desert, shot twice in the head and some engine oil found in his stomach. Bond admits that M was right about Vesper. M tells Bond she needs him back; he responds that he never left. As he walks away, Bond drops Vesper's necklace behind him in the snow.

As employee night at the Springfield drag races ends, Smithers fails to protect Mr. Burns from being harassed by a drunken Lenny. Smithers tries to make amends the next day but again bungles his duties. When he attempts to drown himself in a water cooler, Burns demands he take a vacation once a suitable replacement can be found. Seeking a substitute who will not outshine him, Smithers selects Homer.

Homer is scolded for being unable to perform any of his duties to Burns' satisfaction. He is soon exhausted after waking up at 4:30 to prepare Burns' breakfast, assist him at the office all day, and cater to his every whim late at night in his mansion. After enduring Burns' constant abuse for several days, Homer loses his temper and knocks him unconscious with a punch. Fearing he has killed his boss, Homer flees to his house in panic. At Marge's urging, he returns to the plant to apologize, but a fearful Burns turns him away. With no one around to help him, Burns learns to do things for himself and soon becomes completely self-reliant. After thanking Homer for his independence, Burns fires a returning Smithers.

Unable to find another job, Smithers enlists Homer's help in a scheme to get his job back: he plans to save Burns from a phone call from his abusive mother, the one task he still cannot handle alone. Homer accidentally disconnects Burns' mother and tries to impersonate her voice. He is caught by Burns, who berates him and Smithers. A furious Smithers attacks Homer in Burns' office. During the tussle, Burns is accidentally pushed from a third-story window and seriously injured, forcing him to rely on Smithers completely again. In gratitude, Smithers sends Homer a fruit basket with a thank-you note.

Henry Letham sits next to a car crash on the Brooklyn Bridge. He gets up and leaves the site of the crash. Psychiatrist Sam Foster and his girlfriend, Lila meet up before work. Sam discusses his new patient, Henry, a college student and aspiring artist whom he describes as depressed and paranoid, with feelings of guilt and remorse. During Sam's first meeting with Henry, Henry mentions that he sometimes hears voices, and seems able to predict future events. Henry is also suspicious of Sam because his regular psychiatrist, Beth Levy, has suddenly taken leave.

Sam meets with Henry after playing chess with a friend. When he introduces his friend, Leon, Henry is upset, because he says the man is his dead father. Leon doesn't recognize Henry, and leaves the room.

That night Sam attempts to call Beth but to no avail. The next day, Henry hints to Sam of his plans to kill himself that Saturday at midnight. Lila, who has survived a past suicide attempt, offers to help to dissuade Henry from killing himself. Henry disappears that night.

Sam investigates Henry's circumstances and, after repeatedly attempting to reach Dr. Levy, comes to her apartment to find her disoriented and lethargic, mumbling incoherent phrases.

Henry, who had earlier claimed his parents were dead, has his account contradicted by Sam when he finds Henry's mother and her dog living in a bare house, confused about Sam's identity and refusing to respond to his questions. Henry's mother's head starts bleeding and when Sam attempts to help her, her dog bites him.

At the clinic, while having his dog-bitten arm treated, Sam discusses the visit with a present police officer who is curious as to why he would visit that house. Sam explains what happened, but the police officer tells him that he had attended the funeral of the woman who lived there several months ago. This seems to send Sam into a fugue in which the same scene and dialogue is repeated several times.

Later, Sam contacts a waitress named Athena, with whom Henry has mentioned that he had fallen in love. She is an aspiring actress and he meets her at a script reading where she is reading lines from ''Hamlet'' with another man. She agrees to take him to Henry, but after a long trip down winding staircases he loses her. When he gets back to the rehearsal room, she is there reading the same lines as when he first encountered her.

The search continues until 11:33 pm on Saturday, less than half an hour before Henry plans to kill himself. At a bookshop known to have been frequented by Henry, Sam finds a painting that Henry had painted and bartered for books about Henry's favorite artist. He learns that the artist killed himself on the Brooklyn Bridge on his twenty-first birthday. Henry's twenty-first birthday is Sunday, and Sam realizes that Henry plans to commit suicide on the Brooklyn Bridge in imitation of the artist.

Sam finds Henry on the Brooklyn Bridge in a physical atmosphere that is increasingly unraveling. Sam admits to Henry that he doesn't know what is real anymore. Henry tells Sam that he is real, and he was just trying to help him. Henry tells Sam that he now knows the world is a dream, and shoots himself with his gun.

The car crash of the first scene is then reprised. Henry was fatally wounded in the crash but, in his last moments, is suffering survivor guilt, thus spending his final moment in the dream in which the story occurred. Each of the characters introduced earlier in the film was in fact a random spectator at the site of the crash, including doctor Sam and nurse Lila, who treat Henry in an attempt to save him. The brief remarks they make are the same ones heard previously by their counterparts earlier. (Also, the paintings seen throughout the movie, like in the entry way of the classroom that Henry remarked were terrible, and in the bookstore, are shown to be the last images that a dying Henry sees around him on the bridge).

They fail to rescue Henry, and Henry dies, but not before seeing Lila as Athena and proposing to her, which Lila accepts out of sympathy. Sam asks Lila out for coffee, saying that he cannot sleep after what happened.

5-year-old twin sisters Sarah and Julie (Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen) are two naughty but sweet children who are the bane of their single, working class divorced mother, Rhonda (Cynthia Geary). They overhear her saying that they are a "handful" and she needs a "vacation". The girls decide to give Rhonda what she wants. They pack up their bags, and hop on their bicycles, determined to make it to their grandmother's house for Christmas. However, they are not allowed to cross the street on their own. A city bus pulls up and they sneak on through the back door. During their bus ride, an elderly lady informs them that the bus only goes from uptown to downtown and back, and that Edgemont (where their grandmother lives) is three hours away.

After getting off the bus downtown, Sarah and Julie spot Eddie (J. Eddie Peck), a delivery man who has a crush on their mom, and his truck. They sneak into the back of the truck thinking that he will lead them to their great-grandmother's, only to reveal themselves to him because Sarah desperately has to go to the bathroom. Although Eddie personally does not like kids, he eventually starts to enjoy the girls' company, in part due to noticing he gets large tips when they deliver packages with him. He buys a lottery ticket and decides to play the numbers of the girls' birth date (6-13-19-8-7). Meanwhile, their babysitter has noticed the girls are missing and informs Rhonda. Rhonda frantically closes her convenience store, and rushes home to inspect the place and calls the police. During her attempt to file a police report, Eddie calls, telling her he has the girls and explaining how they got to be where they are. Rhonda announces she intends to come pick them up, but Eddie says he will watch over them, promising to bring them back at the end of the day when he finishes his delivery route. However, he tells the girls he will take them to Grandma's if they help out.

After the day's deliveries are finished, Eddie brings Sarah and Julie home, even letting slip his feelings that adults will say anything to get kids to go along with them. He manages to return the girls home, telling them to go to the back to get their suitcases and meet him at the entrance to the house. He manages to step out of his truck, only to be attacked by two robbers who steal it with the girls still inside. When the robbers, Harvey and Shirley (Jerry Van Dyke and Rhea Perlman), discover them and why they are there, they decide they can make some money by holding them for ransom. Shirley makes a phone call to Rhonda, asking for a ransom (which she calls a "reward") of $10,000 in cash, instructing her to not tell police. She says they will make the trade at the ice rink in Edgemont, and that Rhonda is to wear a red hat.

Meanwhile, Harvey has begun to like the girls, and when he asks Shirley why they never had kids, she replies that it is because they are too busy being criminals, though rather than agreeing with her philosophy that it is their mission, he says he sees it as a job. Eddie and Rhonda reluctantly decide to raise the ransom money by opening and selling packages which Eddie is supposed to be delivering. However, they succeed as planned and manage to make it close to the threshold of the ransom amount. Eddie even gives Rhonda an exotic, bright red cowgirl hat from his stack of cowboy mementos. However, the pawnshops start noticing the stolen merchandise and report to Detective Gremp (Stuart Margolin) and his officials, who write out a warrant for their arrest, believing them to be Harvey and Shirley.

Everyone makes it to the skating rink in Edgemont. Eddie and Rhonda argue, as do Harvey and Shirley. When Harvey reveals that he and Shirley are not actually taking the twins to their great-grandmother's house like they implied, the twins run off again. They visit with Santa Claus; the latter is sitting in a carriage disguised as a sleigh and accompanied by horses costumed as reindeers. The twins take control of the carriage, hoping the reindeers will take them to Grandma's. Midway through their ride, they discover that the reindeers are actually horses and begin to realize the danger they are in when they are unable to stop them; unaware that they are also fast approaching the edge of a steep ravine. Eddie seizes another horse and pursues them, his love of all things cowboy motivating him to pull off a rescue. He manages to stop them in time, inches from the edge of the ravine and leads them to safety, unaware that they have come to a stop outside the home of Rhonda's Grandma Mimi (Florence Paterson).

Just as everything settles down, and Eddie and Rhonda share a hug, Detective Gremp and one of his officials burst in and handcuff them. They try to tell Gremp their side of the story and what Eddie had planned to do to set things right, but Gremp still assumes that they are the real bandits because they agreed to the ransom exchange. Harvey is sympathetic to the pair, while Shirley is trying to force them to get away while they have the chance. Harvey's conscience kicks in and he tells the truth. He and Shirley get handcuffed and sent away, with Harvey telling Shirley that if they ever get out of prison, he promises to make her proud by being the worst convict possible.

Through enough persuasion, Gremp agrees to let Eddie, Rhonda and the girls go all the way back to the city with him, so Eddie can be back in time to be able to have a chance at winning the jackpot of 1.3 million dollars on Win-O-Lotto. They arrive and reveal their ticket to Win-O-Lotto's hosts (Bob Saget and Lori Loughlin). He promises to split what he wins between Rhonda and the girls, and has the girls spin the prize wheel for him. He ends up winning the jackpot. Afterwards, they give all the people their parcels back, and everybody is happy spending Christmas together.

''Hardware'' is set in "Hamway's Hardware Store" in London, where main character Mike (Martin Freeman) works with Steve (Ryan Cartwright) and Kenny (Peter Serafinowicz) for shop owner Rex (Ken Morley). They relax at the next-door-but-one cafe, "Nice Day Cafe", where Mike's girlfriend Anne (Susan Earl) works with Julie (Ella Kenion). The series revolves around the store staff as they engage in a daily wisecrack battle with packs of DIY obsessed clients.

The exterior scenes were filmed at 237 and 241 Neasden Lane in Neasden.

Set in 2003, Huck Cheever is a young and talented poker player in Las Vegas haunted by his relationship with his estranged father, L.C. Cheever, a two-time World Series of Poker Champion. Huck is a regular in Vegas poker rooms but needs $10,000 to get a seat in the World Series of Poker Main Event.

After a good night at the Bellagio hotel's poker room, Huck goes to a party and meets aspiring singer Billie Offer, who has just arrived in town. Billie's older sister Suzanne warns her that Huck is "hustle 10, commitment zero." Back at the Bellagio, Huck is doing well at the tables before L.C. returns to town from the South of France. Huck greets his father coldly. The two play heads-up.

Loan shark Roy Durucher tells Huck that he plays poker as well as anybody, except for his reputation as a "blaster" (not patient enough) who always goes for broke. Roy proposes to stake Huck in the $10,000 main-event with a 60% (Roy) — 40% (Huck) split of any winnings, but Huck refuses. After failing to borrow money from his friend Jack, Huck goes to Suzanne's place hoping for a loan. Instead he runs into Billie, who gets a call confirming that she has landed a job singing at a club.

Huck proposes a celebration and at Binion's Horseshoe he shows her how to play poker. L.C. arrives and shows Huck a wedding ring of Huck's late mother's that Huck had pawned and that L.C. has redeemed. Huck loses his winnings. Over dinner, he explains to Billie that his father stole from his mother before leaving her. Huck says his father taught him how to play on the kitchen table with "pennies, nickels, and dimes." They make love after dinner. As Billie sleeps, Huck steals money from Billie's purse.

Huck plays in a "super satellite" for his entry to the main event. He appears to have the seat won, but a misdeal costs him. Roy agrees to stake Huck and even gives him an extra $1200 so that he can repay Billie. He apologizes to her, saying he feels they have a chance at something special. They later run into L.C., who wins all of Huck's stake money for the World Series in a quick game of guts.

Billie holds the stopwatch in a golfing marathon that Huck must complete in 3 hours to win a bet. She declines to cheat for him when he finishes two seconds too late. Huck gets a black eye when Roy's thugs toss him into his empty pool. They warn him to return the $11,200 stake that he owes to Roy or get a seat in the World Series within 48 hours. When Huck goes to Suzanne's apartment looking for Billie, he learns Billie has gone home to Bakersfield. Huck sells the wedding ring to his father for $500, and makes the 10 grand playing poker in one night to buy a seat in the World Series. Huck travels to Bakersfield to tell Billie that he meant what he said when he felt they had a chance at something special.

Back in Vegas, having found the entry money, Huck enters the World Series. He and his father both advance to the final table of nine. Billie looks on from the audience as Huck and L.C. have a showdown. Huck deliberately folds a winning hand, going out in third place. A few minutes later, L.C. gets ''rivered'' and goes out in second place, losing the title to Jason Keyes who had "won his entry in an online satellite" (a nod to Chris Moneymaker, who did win the 2003 Main Event after a similar entry to the tournament).

After the tournament, L.C. offers his son a one-on-one rematch, playing only for pennies, nickels, and dimes. Their relationship is restored, as is Huck's and Billie's in the final scene.

This book concludes the chronicles of the adventures of such diverse characters as Sir Richard Burton, Alice Pleasance Liddell, Aphra Behn and Tom Turpin through a bizarre afterlife in which every human ever to have lived is simultaneously resurrected along a single river valley that stretches over an entire planet.

Although Farmer's 1980 novel ''The Magic Labyrinth'' was originally intended to be the last in the series, Farmer continued it in this novel, which picks up with the characters who have just arrived in the alien-built tower at the headwaters of the river from which this constructed world gets its name; they must decide how to use the resurrection machinery they now control, and also solve the mystery of the murder of the mysterious stranger.

It is revealed that the Ethicals have been recording humanity since about 97,000 BC.

Sutty, a woman of mixed India/British ancestry, travels from Earth to the planet Aka to provide observations as an outside observer. On Aka, all traditional customs and beliefs have been outlawed by the state. There Sutty experiences and tells of the conflicts there between the Corporation, a repressive state capitalist government, and the native people who resist.

In the late Victorian era, Sherlock Holmes is the world's only consulting detective. His practice is largely with private clients, but he is also known to assist the police, often in the shape of Inspector Lestrade, when their cases overlap. His clients range from private citizens of modest means to members of royalty. His ability to spot clues easily overlooked by others, bring certain specialist knowledge — for example chemistry, botany, anatomy – and deductive reasoning to bear on problems enable him to solve the most complex cases. He is assisted in his work by military veteran Dr. John Watson, with whom he shares rooms at 221B Baker Street. He craves mental stimulation, and is known to relapse into depression when there are insufficiently complex cases to engage him.

In 1991, the remains of Russian Tsar Nicholas II and his family (except for Alexei and Maria) are discovered. The voice of Nicholas's young son, Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich, narrates the remainder of the story.

1883 Western Siberia, a young Grigori Rasputin is asked by his father and a group of men to perform magic. Rasputin has a vision and denounces one of the men as a horse thief. Although his father initially slaps him for making such an accusation, Rasputin watches as the man is chased outside and beaten.

Twenty years later, Rasputin sees a vision of the Virgin Mary, prompting him to become a priest. Rasputin quickly becomes famous, with people, even a bishop, begging for his blessing.

Meanwhile, in St. Petersburg, Alexei is confined to his bed suffering from severe bruising to his leg caused by Hemophilia B, a disease that prevents proper blood clotting. Nicholas has so far kept Alexei's illness a secret from the Russian people. Eugene Botkin, the family's court physician, has been unable to help the boy. Alexei's mother, Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna asks to see a spiritual healer, and is recommended to call upon Rasputin.

Rasputin is summoned to the Tsar's palace and brought before Alexei. Rasputin startles Nicholas and Alexandra by asking Alexei about his leg, despite neither of them having told him of Alexei's affliction. Rasputin soothes Alexei with images of sailing whilst he places his hand on the boy's leg. Rasputin limps away, causing Alexandra to believe he has absorbed Alexei's pain into his own body. Nicholas asks Rasputin how he knew about Alexei's leg, and Rasputin responds that the Virgin Mary told him and sent him to heal Alexei; Nicholas remains skeptical.

The next morning, Alexei awakens in perfect health and proclaims that Rasputin has healed him with magic. Dr. Botkin insists that it was a treatment he started using on Alexei the week before. Alexandra visits Rasputin to thank him. Rasputin questions Alexandra's faith in God, placing the blame for Alexei's disease on her weak prayers. Alexandra asks that Rasputin move in with the family and gives him his own chamber in the palace.

Rasputin begins to become acquainted with Nicholas's daughters, Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia; worrying Nicholas after he hears rumors of Rasputin's womanizing and flings with prostitutes. Nicholas soon asks Rasputin to leave the palace.

Later, Alexei suffers a severe nosebleed and Alexandra begs for Rasputin to be brought back to heal her son again. Rasputin returns and heals Alexei, converting Nicholas in the process, although Dr. Botkin remains convinced that Rasputin is merely hypnotizing Alexei.

Dr. Botkin vents his suspicions to Russian Prime Minister Pyotr Stolypin, who sends men to spy on Rasputin. A woman named Princess Marisa visits Rasputin, asking to be blessed. Rasputin tells her that before one can ask for absolution one must sin, and convinces her to have sex with him. Stolypin's spies watch this happen.

Stolypin approaches Nicholas with his findings, and with news that rumors are circulating throughout Russia regarding Rasputin's stay at the palace and closeness to the Imperial Family, particularly Alexandra. That night, a drunken Rasputin makes some obscene comments about the Imperial Family and is brought before the Tsar. Nicholas banishes Rasputin from St. Petersburg, and Rasputin prophesies a terrible future for Russia and Stolypin's own assassination. A month later Nicholas is informed of the onset of World War I, and Stolypin is shot and killed.

Alexei suffers another severe bleeding, prompting Alexandra and Nicholas to call Rasputin. Rasputin heals Alexei over the phone, re-confirming Nicholas's faith in the healer. Rasputin is forgiven and returns to the palace.

As millions of Russian soldiers die in World War I, citizens place the blame on Alexandra and Rasputin. Rasputin stops seeing the Virgin Mary, causing Alexandra and his fellow monks to desert him.

A group of men led by Prince Felix Yusupov decide to murder Rasputin and invite him to the Yusupov palace in December 1916. Felix feeds Rasputin cakes and wine laced with lethal amounts of cyanide, but is horrified when it seems to have no effect. Felix then shoots Rasputin, who still does not die. Rasputin stumbles through the courtyard to the palace gates before being shot four more times, finally collapsing and dying. His body is thrown from a bridge into the icy Malaya Nevka River.

Alexandra reads a note left behind by Rasputin, revealing his prior knowledge that he would be murdered, and that should the murderers be nobles, the Imperial Family would die within two years.

In 1917, with Russia on the verge of collapse due to the war, Nicholas is forced to abdicate as Tsar and is sent into exile with his family. The Imperial Family is executed in Yekaterinburg on 17 July 1918.

Krusty the Clown is performing live from the Springfield Prison and he talks to Sideshow Bob, who tells him of his crimes while trying to kill Bart Simpson after framing Krusty for armed robbery. Bob is later declared a changed man by Reverend Lovejoy and leaves prison on a work-release program, despite Bart's protests that Bob has tried to kill him several times. Although they have not spoken for ten years, Bob is taken into the care of his brother Cecil. Since he is Springfield's chief hydrological and hydrodynamical engineer, Cecil employs Bob to supervise the construction of a hydroelectric dam in a river near the town. Bart, believing Bob is still plotting his murder, follows his every move. Bob — annoyed by Bart's intrusions and the dam's incompetent laborers, Cletus and his family — expresses his desire to see the dam burst and obliterate Springfield.

While searching Bob's trailer at the dam construction site, Bart and Lisa discover a briefcase full of cash. When confronted with the money, Bob denies knowing about it, stating he used his finances to put concrete in the dam's walls — which he discovers are hollow and poorly constructed. Cecil arrives armed and reveals his own intention to embezzle the money from the project, and his plans to frame Bob as the scapegoat when the dam collapses from shoddy construction. Cecil's motivation for the crime is being upstaged at his audition as Krusty's sidekick (his dream job since he was five-years-old) ten years prior by Bob, who was chosen as the clown's sidekick instead. Cecil locks Bob, Bart and Lisa in the dam and prepares to blow it up, taking the money with him.

Deciding to work together, Bart, Lisa, and Bob escape and try to save the dam. While Lisa and Bob defuse Cecil's dynamite, Bart lunges at Cecil before he can press the plunger. Cecil attempts to swat him off with the briefcase, which falls open and scatters money over the river below, washing it away. Cecil throws Bart off a cliff, but Bob grabs the dynamite's chord and swoops down to save him. As the two dangle over the side of the dam, Bob cuts the cord on the dynamite to prevent Cecil from destroying the town. Bob and Bart plummet down the dam's wall, but a protruding pipe stops their fall.

The police arrive and arrest Cecil. Bob gloats over his victory, having gained the respect of Bart and Lisa, but Chief Wiggum arrests Bob, despite Bart and Lisa's protests that he is reformed. As they are taken away, Cecil tricks Bob into swearing revenge and incriminating himself. The dam then crumbles and releases a torrent of water on Springfield, but does only minimal damage. In jail, Bob and Cecil bicker over who gets the top bunk and Bob wins when he pushes Cecil onto the floor, only for Cecil to ask him if they get any menus. [http://www.snpp.com/episodes/4F14.html Episode Capsule] at The Simpsons Archive .

''Daniel Martin'' is the story of a Hollywood screenwriter who returns to his native England when a friend from university asks to see him before he dies. With flashbacks to his childhood in the 1940s and time at university in Oxford, a tale of frustrated love emerges. The dying man (Anthony) asks him to look after his wife Jane. Daniel had, in fact, married Jane's sister, despite loving Jane and having spent one night with her.

While in England, Daniel improves relations with his daughter (Caro) and his estranged wife (Nell). Then Daniel and Jane go on a cruise visiting Egypt, Syria, and Lebanon; and the two fall in love again. Daniel breaks up with his Scottish girlfriend, and the two lovers are reunited at the end of the book.

Characters

The characters of ''Grandia III'' were designed by You Yoshinari. The game centers on Yuki, a 16-year-old boy who dreams of becoming an ace pilot like his idol, the legendary Sky Captain Schmidt. Together with his friend Rotts, he builds his own magic-powered aircraft in an attempt to fly over the ocean, but becomes sidetracked due to the intervention of his mother, Miranda. When Yuki and Miranda meet Alfina, a beautiful young girl with the ability to communicate with Sacred Beasts, the god-like guardians of the planet, they become involved in an adventure. During their journey, the party meets four other characters who become playable at certain points in the story: Alonso, a sailor who dreams of completing his map of the world; Ulf, a simple man who rides a dragon named Shiba; Dahna, a cynical cartomancer with a hidden soft side; and Hect, a sullen musician from a troubled village.

The unprincipled brother of Alfina, Emellious, can also communicate with the guardians, but abandoned his duties as a Communicator to seek the power of Xorn, a rogue guardian with the power of darkness, and become a god. Emellious is assisted in his endeavor by Kornell, a large, imposing man with an iron gauntlet; Violetta, who serves Emellious out of a desire for the sibling relationship he shares with Alfina; La-Ilim, a demonic creature who uses an artifact known as the Crystal Skull to summon undead beasts; and Grau, Emellious' right-hand man and conniving strategist. In order to combat their adversaries, the heroes must travel across the world to meet the Sacred Beasts, who consist of Gryph the eagle, Drak the dragon, Yoat the ram, Seiba the unicorn, and Unama the dolphin.

Story

''Grandia III'' takes place in an unnamed world, consisting of a main continent surrounded by the Belion Sea. Only one person has flown the breadth of the Belion Sea, Sky Captain Schmidt. Yuki hails from the village Anfog, on Titalos Island. Much of the world relies on flying dragons or planes, which use a magical power source. The Guardians are mystical beasts which hail from the Verse Realm. They came to Yuki's world after a war broke out on their own, quieting wars in both worlds, and guiding the remaining people to safety. They then watched over the world, imparting wisdom to the people through a chosen line of "Communicators", who can understand the words of the Guardians.

Yuki, an aspiring pilot, has been building an airplane with his friend Rotts in hopes of being the second pilot to fly across the ocean, following in the footsteps of his idol, Schmidt. He keeps these plans a secret from his reckless mother, Miranda. Yuki and Rotts have completed their 19th model. On this flight, his mother stows away on his plane, and he is unable to stay airborne with the extra weight. As they lose altitude, Yuki sees a girl in a carriage being chased by several men and is immediately lovestruck. After crashing in the forest, he and Miranda fight to defend the girl. The girl introduces herself as Alfina, and says her must go to the temple at Arcriff to fulfill her role as a Communicator in the stead of her vanished brother, Emelious. Recognizing that Yuki is smitten, Miranda offers for them to escort her.

Needing a boat to reach the mainland, they find a sailor named Alfonso trapped in a barrel at the pier. He offers to return their help in freeing them, claiming to be a ship captain. When they reach the harbor, however, Alfonso steals Alfina's brooch, a cherished memento of Emelious, to use as collateral for gambling. He loses the brooch because the proprietor, Bianca, cheats using loaded dice. Wanting one more chance, he offers to marry Bianca if he loses again. Though Miranda and Yuki are furious at Alfonso for his deception, they agree to help him counter Bianca's cheating in order to get Alfina's brooch back. Miranda flirts with Alfonso during the game, distracting Bianca so that he can jar the dice mid-throw and win the game. With Alfina's brooch and Alfonso's ship recovered, Alfonso sails them across the sea. En route, a flock of birds attacks them, and they are saved by a dragon rider named Ulf. Ulf mentions having met Sky Captain Schmidt, who lives in Randoto. Alfina consents to a stopover in Randoto so that Yuki can meet his idol and perhaps get him to build a plane for their journey.

Alfina's fate becomes more twisted, as Alfina and her companions challenge Emelious and finally face Xorn.

The epilogue shows everyone going on living their lives. Yuki and Alfina are married with a son who has the same ambition of flying as his father.

Bobby Taylor is a young black man aspiring to become an actor. His younger brother Stevie watches him prepare to audition for a part in ''Jivetime Jimmy's Revenge'', a movie about street gangs which is so full of stereotypes that the light-skinned black actors who audition are cast as Latino gang members and have to speak with cartoonish Spanish accents. Bobby's grandmother overhears the "jive talk" of Bobby's lines and expresses disapproval. His mother is more supportive, but Bobby's grandmother says that if he desires a respectable job, there is honest work at the post office. Bobby assures his mother that if he lands the part, their lives will change for the better.

After the audition, Bobby talks to Mr. Jones, who questions Bobby's dedication to his job at Jones's restaurant, Winky Dinky Dog, because Bobby frequently misses work so he can attend auditions and casting calls. A limousine arrives, and its passenger is B. B. Sanders, a famous actor who plays a stereotypical black comedy character, Batty Boy, in the popular television sitcom ''There's a Bat in My House''. Ecstatic to meet a potential role model, Bobby asks Sanders how to determine if a role is worth taking. Sanders says if Bobby's character does not die, then "it's a good script." He tells Bobby that acting is not about art, but making money through sequels, merchandising, etc.

Bobby's agent calls to say his audition went well, and he got a callback, but the producers want an "Eddie Murphy-type". That night, he has a nightmare in which the director, writer, and casting director hound him to become Eddie Murphy. Waiting in line with a group of Eddie Murphy clones, Bobby starts turning into Eddie Murphy himself and then wakes up in shock.

The next day, Bobby's restaurant co-workers, Donald and Tiny, tell him he will never succeed as an actor, so Bobby quits Winky Dinky Dog. Later that night, he visits his uncle Ray, a singer who gave up a chance at stardom to take a "real" job and provide for his family. Bobby expresses doubts about pursuing acting, but Ray encourages Bobby to follow his dreams. During his callback, the director, writer, and casting director are thrilled at Bobby's performance, and he wins the lead role.

After getting the part, Bobby begins to experience attacks of conscience that manifest as daydreams based on what people around him are saying or doing, including one ("Black Acting School") where white coaches teach black performers how to act "more black", and one ("Sneaking Into the Movies") where two young black men gain entry to a theater without paying and review films that spoof popular titles à la ''At the Movies'', including ''Amadeus Meets Salieri'', ''Chicago Jones and the Temple of Doom'', ''Dirty Larry'', and ''Attack of the Street Pimps''.

At home, Bobby is celebrating with his girlfriend Lydia when his grandmother arrives. The three of them watch a film noir, which causes Bobby to fantasize about playing the lead in his own film noir, ''Death of a Breakdancer''. That night, Bobby dreams of the roles that he wants to play, from a Shakespearean king, to a black superhero, to a black version of Rambo ("Rambro"). His final dream depicts him winning his fifth Oscar. The next day, Bobby starts filming ''Jivetime Jimmy's Revenge'' with his family in attendance. His guilt about playing a stereotypical character finally overwhelms him, and Bobby quits. Another cast member who previously complained about the stereotypical film hypocritically takes over Bobby's part, but Bobby and his family leave the set with their pride intact.

In the closing scene, Bobby is completing preparations on a different set for an on-camera scene that is about to begin. In an echo of his grandmother's earlier admonition, ''Hollywood Shuffle'' ends with Bobby filming a TV PSA for the US Postal Service.

''Grandia Online'' was set in a fantasy world that occupies the same universe as the original ''Grandia'' video game, and took place many years beforehand during the fabled "Age of Genesis". All players began their journey as an escapee from a village that has been mysteriously overcome by a dark force, becoming petrified and unlivable. Meeting with a powerful sorceress named Liete, the player learns that similar events are happening across the world, and an investigation as to its source is taking place. Venturing into the game's world, players traveled across the land interacting with playable and non-playable characters to expand the game's story, leading them to numerous locations including the Pulse of Gaia, a blighted land believed to be the source of the corruption, and the homeland of the ancient Icarians, a race known for their prowess with magic. GungHo games plans to introduce new plot points that expand the story of Gaia and the Icarians through regular updates.

Players chose a character based on one of three races who inhabit the world: Humans, a small, bushy-tailed raced called the Coltas, and the imposing, tribal Ralgas. Other inhabitants of the world included the diminutive rabbit-like Mogays, who acted as merchants and guides, and numerous species of monsters and animals that serve as the game's primary enemies. Ruins from past civilizations appeared as additional areas, and included opponents such as automatons and robots from a bygone era. As the player ventured further into the game, they encountered progressively more difficult enemies and boss characters who required large groups to defeat.

Ambassador-designate to Saudi Arabia Ogden Mears sails back to America after touring the world. At a layover in Hong Kong, Ogden meets Natascha a Russian countess whose Shanghai Russian parents died after the family was expelled following the Russian Revolution who then sneaks into his cabin in evening dress to escape her life as a prostitute at a sailors' dance hall. A refugee, she has no passport, and she is forced to hide in his cabin during the voyage.

Ogden dislikes the situation, being a married man although seeking a divorce, and he worries how it might affect his career if she is found. But he reluctantly agrees to let her stay. They must then figure out how to get her off the ship, and it is arranged that she marry Hudson, his middle-aged valet.

Although it is only a formality, Hudson wishes to consummate the relationship, a wish she does not share. She avoids him until they dock in Honolulu, then jumps off the ship and swims ashore.

Ogden's wife Martha arrives in Honolulu to join the cruise, under advice from Washington that they avoid the impropriety of a divorce. Ogden's lawyer friend Harvey, who helped arrange the marriage, meets Natascha ashore and tells her that the immigration officers have accepted her as Hudson's wife, and she will remain in Honolulu. Martha confronts Ogden about Natascha, speaking rather roughly about her and her past lifestyle as a prostitute and the mistress of a gangster, having learned her past from a passenger who was Natascha's customer in Hong Kong. Ogden responds by asking if his wife would have done as well under such circumstances.

The ship sets sail for the U.S. mainland, but Ogden surprises Natascha in the hotel's cabaret where they begin dancing as he has left the ship and his wife.

''Guns of Batasi'' depicts an erupting world where newly empowered forces, both black and white, embrace the realpolitik of a post-colonial world. A group of veteran British NCOs, headed by upright Regimental Sergeant Major Lauderdale (Richard Attenborough), becomes entangled with a coup in an unnamed African state, recently-independent and dogged by political intrigue. The unnamed country is evocative of Kenya in east Africa: RSM Lauderdale mentions the Turkana peoples (who live in Kenya), native soldiers speak in Kiswahili, the lingua franca of the Kenyan region, and aspects of the story echo Kenya's troubled post-independence era, including the 1957 Mau Mau Uprising. Throughout, the story contrasts professional British NCOs and their officers with the inexperienced African soldiers and their officers.

After the post-colonial government is overthrown native troops supporting the new regime seize control of Batasi, a King's African Rifles army base. They seize weapons and arrest the newly appointed African commanding officer, Captain Abraham (Earl Cameron). With British NCOs isolated in their mess, action concentrates around their protection of the wounded Captain Abraham. This defence is complicated by Ms Barker-Wise, a visiting British MP (Flora Robson) and Karen Eriksson, a UN secretary (Mia Farrow), the latter providing some love interest.

Eventually, the country's new administration allows British officers to return to the Batasi barracks and end the siege, although not before the NCOs destroy two Bofors guns targeting their mess. The film ends with the new government restoring amicable relations with the British Commonwealth, but on condition that RSM Lauderdale leaves the country. RSM Lauderdale loses his cool (the only time he has done so throughout) and flings a shot glass, to his horror accidentally breaking a framed portrait of Her Majesty The Queen, a treasured centrepiece behind the bar. Regaining his composure, the resigned Lauderdale marches across the parade ground as a military march swells.

The game begins at U.S. Outpost 31 in Antarctica, a short time after the events of the film. Two teams of U.S. Special Forces have arrived to investigate the U.S. camp and the nearby Norwegian camp. Captain J.F. Blake (voiced by Per Solli) is the leader of Bravo Team, who are investigating the U.S. camp, whilst Alpha Team, under the command of Captain Pierce, investigate the Norwegian camp. Both teams are under the overall command of Colonel Whitley (William B. Davis), who is in constant communication via radio. Whilst investigating Outpost 31, Bravo Team soon discover the small spacecraft made by the Blair-Thing and a tape recorder with a message from R.J. MacReady, describing how nobody trusts anybody anymore. They then find information detailing how the base has been infiltrated by an extraterrestrial lifeform that is capable of imitating the physical appearance and characteristics of any living organism it assimilates. They also find the body of Childs, one of the two survivors at the end of the film, who has died from hypothermia. The film's other survivor, MacReady, is nowhere to be found. Under orders from Whitley, Bravo Team set up C-4 explosives throughout the facility, which are detonated remotely, destroying the outpost.

Whilst the rest of Bravo Team are airlifted to safety, Blake heads to the Norwegian camp to locate and reinforce Alpha Team, with whom contact has been lost. He soon learns they have been attacked and scattered by a horde of "scuttlers"; small limbs and appendages of much larger Things. Eventually Blake finds Pierce. However, he has become paranoid, believing everyone to be infected and demanding Blake agrees to a blood test to prove he is still human. Blake does so, and he and Pierce set out to find a way to reestablish communication with Whitley. However, they are soon separated, and with no other choice, Blake continues on, finding the radio room, but discovering someone has stolen the radio and fled into a nearby warehouse.

En route to the warehouse, Blake encounters Pierce in an observatory. However, he is infected, and rather than allow himself to turn into a Thing, Pierce shoots himself in the head. Blake continues to pursue the man with the radio, eventually discovering that he is a Thing. Blake kills him, and takes the radio. Moving on, he enters the "Pyron" sub-facility beneath the Norwegian base, learning of a company called Gen-Inc., who have installed a research team under the command of Dr. Sean Faraday (John Carpenter). Gen-Inc. had been conducting biological experiments on the Things when their team was infected, and now only a few survivors remain within the facility. Blake rescues Faraday and attempts to leave. However, he is prevented from doing so by Whitley, who shoots him with a tranquillizer gun, and reveals to Faraday that he has infected himself with the Thing gene, claiming it to be controllable, something of which he is living proof, and therefore demonstrating its capability as a weapon. When Faraday attempts to eradicate the Thing virus, Whitley kills him.

Blake awakens in the now abandoned "Strata" research facility, and learns that his cells have a unique resistance to infection by the Thing virus. After escaping his confinement, he unearths a government conspiracy whereby Gen-Inc. isolated a microbiological form of the Thing called the "Cloud virus", which was intended for use in biological warfare. However, the Thing infected everyone at the facility. Blake learns that Whitley was in charge of the entire operation, and has injected himself with a strain of the virus known as "Cloud Virus B4" in an attempt to cure his terminal cancer.

Blake fights his way through the facility, battling numerous black ops under Whitley's command, as well as many Things. Learning that Whitley plans to distribute the Thing virus around the world using a fleet of airplanes, he is able to destroy them before they take off. Eventually, Blake confronts Whitley himself. He sets him on fire, but Whitely is unhurt. He explains that an airlift team is on its way and when it arrives, he will begin global exposure. Whitley flees further into the base, pursued by Blake. At the partly excavated site of the original Thing's spaceship, Whitley transforms into a massive Thing creature. Blake encounters a helicopter pilot, who helps him defeat the Whitley-Thing. As the helicopter flies away from the base, the pilot reveals himself to be R.J. MacReady.

Gir Draxon, the evil overlord defeated at the end of the previous game (Stellar 7) crash lands on an alien world, broken and scarred. He quickly locates a powerful alien artifact that controls the minds of his victims, slaughters the harmless alien creatures nearby, and begins rebuilding his interstellar empire. A distress call goes out from one world as he conquers it, which quickly turns to an image of obviously mind-controlled victims claiming that everything is fine. Meanwhile, the protagonist from the previous game has built a hidden facility in a large asteroid amid a vast field of asteroids where he can design more powerful tools to fight evil like Gir Draxon. The most notable creation is that of the Raven II heavy tank, a direct upgrade over the powerful but fragile Raven I from Stellar 7. He also has a robotic repair droid and an AI computer that contains the personality of his late wife, who was lost in Gir Draxon's first attack on Earth in Stellar 7.

As the hero advances through each world, defeating Gir Draxon's forces as he goes, Draxon's minions close on the hidden base. Eventually, they find it as the game nears its conclusion, and the AI destroys the base to prevent Draxon's minions from finding information on the Raven II and using it to defeat the protagonist. After Draxon's is defeated in the final battle, his super-tank overloads, electrocuting and killing him. The hero then returns to the asteroid field and finds evidence that the AI computer containing his wife's personality may have survived the blast.

Captain Hugh "Bullshot" Crummond is a World War I fighter pilot, Olympic athlete, racing driver, and part-time sleuth. He must save the world from the dastardly Count Otto van Bruno, his wartime adversary, and win the heart of the damsel in distress Rosemary Fenton.

''Tao Feng'' takes place in Metro China, the largest population center in New China, a fictional country occupying the Pacific coast of North America. With Mexico to the south, Canada to the north, and the United States to the east, New China is a sovereign nation, independent from the People's Republic of China. The story is based upon years of conflict between two ancient Chinese sects: the Pale Lotus and the Black Mantis. The leader of the Pale Lotus has been known through the generations as the Master Sage, and for as long as there have been a Black Mantis sect, their leader has been called Wulong Goth.

The members of these sects have battled for centuries and now the fight has intensified over two tablets that contain riddles revealing the hiding places of the long lost treasures of the Pale Lotus temple. According to legend, these treasures may be used to bargain with the gods of immortality. One tablet, the Yang tablet, is rightfully still in the possession of the Pale Lotus. However, the Yin tablet was stolen by force and has fallen into the hands of the Black Mantis. Through use of the tablets, both sects hope to recover the lost treasures and achieve immortality. The Pale Lotus hope to defend truth and harmony, while the Black Mantis serve a much darker purpose.

The characters in this game are: '''Master Sage''' - a wushu master, leader of the Pale Lotus sect. '''Jade Dragon''' - a female dragon monk, member of the Pale Lotus sect. '''Fiery Phoenix''' - a fiery male warrior, member of the Pale Lotus sect. '''Fierce Tiger''' - a female warrior that has the spirit of the tiger, member of the Pale Lotus sect. '''Iron Monk''' - a cybernetic robot fighter, member of the Pale Lotus sect. '''Divine Fist''' - a Chinese martial artist, member of the Pale Lotus sect. '''Wulong Goth''' - an alien-like creature, leader of the Black Mantis sect. '''Divinity''' - a heavenly goddess, member of the Black Mantis sect. '''The Fatalist''' - a ballistic serial killer, member of the Black Mantis sect. '''Geist''' - a female cyborg character, member of the Black Mantis sect. '''Vapor''' - a mysterious female exorcist, member of the Black Mantis sect. '''Exile''' - a muscular, bulky mutant fighter, member of the Black Mantis sect. *'''Zhao Yen''' - the guardian of the Temple of Immortality, and final opponent in the game.

The story of ''Invasion America'' begins in the early 1980s, when humanoid aliens from the planet Tyrus begin to initiate their plans for making contact with Earth. Cale-Oosha, the ruler of Tyrus, looks into his uncle's project with Earth. However, his uncle, The Dragit, claims that their dying planet ought to invade Earth and take hold of its resources. Cale refuses, and a civil war breaks out.

Cale and Rafe, his bodyguard, trainer, and trusted friend, escape to Earth, disguising themselves as humans. Cale meets Rita Carter, a human woman; he falls in love with her, and they marry. After a long time of running from the Dragit's forces on Earth, Cale returns to Tyrus to help strengthen his loyalist forces, the Ooshati, leaving Rita and their young son, David, under Rafe's protection.

In the present day, when the Dragit finally finds the family, he is determined to kill them, and David Carter's teenage life is thrown into a devastating adventure of stopping the Dragit, losing and gaining friends, and finding out just who he is.

Ben Crane (Kurt Russell), a horse trainer who takes his work very seriously, neglects his precocious daughter while he pours his heart into the care of the horses that he trains.

Determined to make good on her father's overdue promise, Cale (Dakota Fanning) prods him to take her along to work and succeeds. One morning, Soñador, the horse that is to enter the race that day, refuses to leave her stall. Ben mentions that one of her legs feels warm but his boss, Palmer, tells him to get Soñador on the track. During the race, the horse falls and injures herself so badly that Palmer demands the horse be put down. Having Cale along and not wanting her to see something like this, Ben instead strikes a bargain with Palmer and becomes the owner of the wounded horse but ends up losing his job as a result. With no job and facing foreclosure on his property, he decides to breed Soñador (who is nicknamed Sonya). Sonya gets a cast on her injured leg and slowly begins to recover.

Cale, having fallen in love at first sight with Soñador, begins to sneak out to the barn at night to see her. She also sneaks over to see her grandfather, 'Pop', Ben's dad (Kris Kristofferson), who loves teaching his granddaughter about horses.

They go to another farm to pick out a stallion to breed with Soñador, but the stud fee is too high. Ben's father gives Ben some money to use to breed, and Ben reluctantly takes it. But before they can breed, the vet tests Soñador and finds out she is unable to have a foal.

After, Cale hears her father tell her mother, Lilly (Elisabeth Shue), that Soñador has ruined them because she cannot have a foal. Lilly responds that Soñador is the best thing that has ever happened to them, alluding to the fact that Ben is finally spending much-needed time with Cale. Frustrated, Ben says that if Cale wasn't there the day when Soñador was hurt, he would have let her be put down.

Hurt after hearing the conversation, Cale sets out to run away from home and saddles Soñador. Not knowing of Cale's plan, Ben enters the barn. The door slams behind him, and a startled Soñador bolts out of the barn with Cale hanging on for dear life. Ben scrambles to his truck and sets out after them. He catches up and manages to get Cale to safety but also notices how fast Sonya is, despite her previous injury.

This incident begins to cement the newly forming bond between father and daughter. They realize that Soñador is very fast and decide to race her. Unfortunately, after the race she is claimed, and Cale is angry at her father for entering the horse in a claiming race.

At a parent-teacher night at school, Ben reads a story that Cale wrote about a king and his horse, and he realizes how much their family needs Soñador. He buys her back with money from his father. Cale decides to race Soñador in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, with Manny, Ben's colleague, as the jockey. They start training together and manage to get a wealthy sponsor.

On the day of the race, Ben notices Sonya's leg is warm and contemplates not racing her, scared that she may get injured again. This time however, Sonya refuses to go back in the stall. Manny and Sonya enter the race and eventually win.

Aging, cynical Shunsuke is one of postwar Japan's most respected authors. While vacationing at an exclusive Japanese resort, he meets Yuichi, a stunningly gorgeous young man of limited means and intellect who is engaged to a prim, conventional young woman from a very well-to-do family. While he needs the marriage for financial reasons, Yuichi innocently confides to the older man that he feels no real physical desire for his bride, or for any woman. The crafty Shunsuke senses an opportunity to mold the malleable, gullible young man into an exquisite weapon of revenge against the female sex as a whole. He tells Yuichi that his inability to feel desire for women is not a weakness but potentially a tremendous source of strength. He advises the young man to go through with the marriage and gain financial security, but also to omit no opportunity to experiment with the emotions of others, and to have as many affairs as possible with both women and men.

John Bridger, a professional safecracker, has assembled a team to steal $35 million worth of gold bullion from a safe in Venice, held by Italian gangsters who had stolen it weeks earlier. The team includes professional fixer Charlie Croker, computer expert Lyle or "Napster", wheelman Handsome Rob, inside man Steve, and explosives expert Left Ear. The heist is successful, but as they drive towards Austria with the bullion, they are stopped by men loyal to Steve, who had turned on them and takes the bullion for himself. Steve kills John when the latter admonishes him, and Rob drives the van over a bridge into the waters below to protect the others, using air tanks from the heist to stay alive. Steve leaves them for dead.

A year later in Philadelphia, Charlie learns that Steve has resurfaced under a new identity and is laundering the gold through a Ukrainian jeweler named Yevhen to finance his lavish lifestyle in Los Angeles. Charlie gathers the team, and also recruits John's daughter Stella, a skilled private safe expert, offering her the chance to get revenge on Steve for her father's death. They stake out Steve's mansion, and Stella, disguising herself as a cable technician, is able to map out its interior, allowing them to determine the location of Steve's safe containing the remaining bullion. Steve, unaware of Stella's identity, asks Stella to go out on a date with him. Charlie and Stella devise a plan using explosives to blow the safe while Steve is away on his supposed date, using three heavily modified Mini Coopers to transport the gold out of the mansion. Charlie enlists the help of supplier Skinny Pete for the explosives and mechanic Wrench to make the modifications on the cars.

During one of Steve's visits to Yevhen, Yevhen accidentally reveals that he knows about the Venice heist. To cover his tracks, Steve kills Yevhen, whose cousin, Mashkov, the leader of a Ukrainian crime family, traces the information about the gold back to Skinny Pete via Yevhen's ex-employee Vance.

The group embark on the night of the planned heist but discover that Steve's neighbors are having a party. As the explosives would draw attention, they cancel their plan. Stella, still having to meet Steve, inadvertently gives away her identity by using similar phrases to her father. When the team arrives to help protect her, Steve taunts them, saying that he still has the upper hand, but he secretly plans to transport the gold to Mexico City by a private plane from Los Angeles International Airport after transporting it there in an armored car. Napster hears of this through his tap on Steve's phone, and Charlie and his gang make a new plan to steal the gold en route to the airport by hijacking the city's traffic control system to force the armored car to a planned spot where they will execute the heist.

On the day of transport, they are surprised when three armored trucks leave Steve's mansion, but Napster is able to determine which one carries the bullion and manipulates the traffic accordingly. Knowing that Steve is monitoring the transport by helicopter, they get the car to the target spot and then create a diversion as they detonate explosives to drop the part of the road with the car into a subway tunnel below. After opening the truck, they find a different safe from the one that held the gold before. Although she struggles initially, Stella cracks the safe, and they load up the Coopers with the gold, now revealed to amount to $27 million. They race from the subway to the Los Angeles River and through the city, pursued by Steve's henchmen on motorcycles, with Napster creating a green wave to evade traffic. Stella, Handsome Rob, and Left Ear head to the Union Station, while Charlie decides to lure Steve away on his helicopter. Steve tries to kill Charlie by having his helicopter pilot destroy Charlie's Mini Cooper, but he disables Steve's helicopter by damaging its tail rotor with his car, forcing it to land.

Steve carjacks a Ford Bronco to follow Charlie to Union Station, where the cars are loaded onto a train car with the help of Wrench. Steve bribes Wrench to let him in, but finds Charlie and the others waiting. He brandishes a gun and demands his gold back, but Mashkov arrives with some armed men and disarms him. Charlie explains that he has offered Mashkov part of the gold and Steve in exchange for helping with security protection (it is implied that Skinny Pete put him in touch). Stella punches Steve in the face as revenge. Mashkov then takes him away, implying he intends to not kill Steve, but torture him for killing Yevhen. The group boards the train as it departs to New Orleans, and celebrate in John's honor. The epilogue shows them all having used their share of the gold for their own desired purposes; Handsome Rob purchases an Aston Martin Vanquish, getting pulled over by a beautiful policewoman, Left Ear buys a mansion in Andalusia with a room for his shoe collection, while Napster buys a powerful stereo capable of blowing a woman's clothes off. Meanwhile, Charlie takes John's advice about finding someone he wants to spend the rest of his life with, and he and Stella travel to Venice together.

In 1925 Sydney, Caddie leaves her adulterous and brutish husband and takes her two children, Ann and Terry, with her. Forced to work as a barmaid in a pub she struggles to survive. A brief affair with Ted (Jack Thompson) ends badly when his involvement with another woman comes to light, but she falls in love with a Greek immigrant, Peter (Takis Emmanuel). Peter has to return to Greece to face family obligations–he is already married to another woman. Caddie runs out of money and goes to work as a barmaid. Peter sends letters from Greece and Caddie has to evade police as she works for an SP bookie. Peter asks her to come to Athens but she decides to stay.

Four bored beach bums from Miami come across kids playing with toy guns. They chase one of them into a house, which, by chance, belongs to one Roc Delmonico, a former gangster who is now retired from organized crime and has become a respectable businessman.

Delmonico assumes it to be a kidnapping and volunteers to go quietly. The hippies like the idea, particularly their leader, Taurus, a gigolo who lives off rich ladies. He and his accomplices, Sureshot, Herby and Sandy, drive off with Delmonico in the trunk of their car. They hide out and demand a ransom of $200,000.

No one, unfortunately, will pay the ransom—not Delmonico's unhappy wife, Monica, or his business partner, Fred, or even Sam, his old mob boss. The frustrated crooks decide that it is hopeless, but Delmonico is so offended that he personally takes charge of his own kidnapping. He raises the demand to $3 million, vowing to reveal secrets that will ruin Monica, Fred and Sam.

The money is paid, whereupon the greedy Taurus suggests to Delmonico that they kill the others, leaving a two-way split. However, Delmonico knows not only that the boy cannot be trusted, but also that the bank has marked the bills from the ransom and that the police will trace them. Delmonico sets fire to the money and walks away. When asked what he will do now, Delmonico responds, without looking back, "Who knows?"

This story portrays Susono Musubi, a young police officer in a post-apocalyptic subterranean city that's thriving with activity, who is investigating recent child abductions. She finds a heavily toned down, sword-like Gravitational Beam Emitter as well as other elements that take different forms in the later publication (for example, Silicon life).

While on a routine survey mission of the iceberg fields in the North Atlantic, a United States Coast Guard survey plane discovers what appears to be a ship embedded in an iceberg. The plane marks the iceberg with a red dye marker and then returns to its base to report the discovery.

Admiral Sandecker dispatches Dirk Pitt and Dr. Bill Hunnewell of the National Underwater and Marine Agency on a top-secret mission to survey the ship in the iceberg. Pitt concocts an outlandish story about a disappeared Russian spy trawler, supposedly equipped with their latest in technology and codes, in order to commandeer the Coast Guard cutter USCGC ''Catawaba'' as a base of operations. In reality they are searching for the yacht ''Lax'', which disappeared mysteriously over a year ago with its billionaire owner, Kristjan Fyrie, and its entire crew while on their way to the United States.

When Dirk and the doctor search for the iceberg, they discover that someone has gone to a great deal of effort to erase the dye marker and try to convince them that the iceberg they are looking for is somewhere else by marking a similar iceberg 90 miles to the east. Pitt quickly figures out the trick and they eventually find the correct iceberg and work their way into the derelict ship. Inside they discover that all those on board have been incinerated at their posts by a terrible fire much more severe than should have been possible on a ship of that type.

It is revealed that Fyrie has developed a new type of underwater probe using a laboratory created element called Celtinium-279. Using this new probe it is possible to scan the ocean floor from the surface and detect minerals and metals without having to drill. The probe is of enormous value. Unfortunately for the crew the Celtinium-279 proves to be extremely unstable and it ignites causing an incredibly destructive fire, the heat from which eventually allowed the ship to become embedded in the iceberg.

After their work on the iceberg is done Pitt and Dr. Hunnewell continue on their trip by helicopter from the Coast Guard cutter toward Reykjavík, Iceland. They are intercepted along the way by a black Lorelei Mark VIII jet and engage in a frantic battle. Pitt earns a pyrrhic victory over the jet causing it to crash by ramming into it with his helicopter which naturally caused it to crash as well. Dr. Hunnewell is severely injured in the crash and dies in Pitt's arms while uttering the cryptic last words "God save thee..." which it is later revealed are lines from the Rime of the Ancient Mariner intended to give Pitt clues as to who is responsible for Hunnewell's death.

After recovering from his injuries, Pitt is assigned by Admiral Sandecker to get close to Kirsti Fyrie, long-lost sister of Kristjan who is now in charge of his companies. Kirsti's fiancé Oskar Rondheim is a ruthless businessman who appears to be intimidating Fyrie into marrying him in order to take control of her businesses. It is later revealed that Rondheim is actually Carzo Butera, a wanted mobster with many aliases; Rondheim/Butera learned that Kristjan Fyrie underwent secret sex reassignment surgery to become Kirsti, and is using this information to blackmail her and gain control over her empire.

Pitt uncovers a shadowy organization known as Hermit Limited, conceived and funded by American billionaire F. James Kelly. The group's goal is to obtain control over Central and South America by secretly buying up all of the major industries in these relatively weak countries. The group intends to employ the domino theory by taking over two countries and turning them into such huge successes that the other countries in the region clamor to join. In order to distract the world during the takeover, Hermit Limited conceived a further plot to kidnap five millionaires and other important people from various countries and fake an air disaster in an uninhabited area of Iceland. While there is an international furor in the press over the disappearance of and eventual discovery of the bodies of the missing people, Hermit Limited will quietly assassinate the leaders of the two countries and assume control.

The leaders of the two countries targeted by Hermit Limited, Pablo Castille of the Dominican Republic and Juan De Croix of French Guiana, were in the United States attending a conference in San Francisco for the Alliance of Economic and Agricultural Products. On their way home they stopped to do some sightseeing at Disneyland where Hermit Limited will attempt to assassinate them.

Dirk Pitt, who has been stranded with the group of abducted millionaires, manages to escape and make his way to civilization. He commandeers an old Ford tri-motor airplane and rescues the others, who have been left at the mercy of the elements. Barely out of the hospital following this harrowing rescue, Pitt is rushed to Disneyland where he (in guise as the Big Bad Wolf) attempts to save Castille and de Croix, who have slipped away from their security and are enjoying the Pirates of the Caribbean ride; he succeeds in foiling Rondheim (disguised as part of the display) with a prop cutlass, breaks Rondheim's legs and arms and turns him over to FBI for trial and execution.

Carolyn McDuffy is a college senior beginning her last year of studies at a Southern California university. To help her sorority win a coveted award that has eluded them in the past years, she joins them in training some handicapped young adults for the Challenged Games (a fictional version of the Special Olympics).

Carolyn is paired with Jesse "Pumpkin" Romanoff, and is horrified as she has never been around challenged people. He is kind towards her and soon she finds herself developing affection towards him as he is genuine, unlike her boyfriend Kent Woodlands, and her sorority sisters, as led by Julie Thurber.

Carolyn experiences backlash and disdain about the relationship from her friends and family, including Pumpkin's own mother, Judy, despite the fact that her love has inspired him to get out of his wheelchair and become the best athlete on the team. Judy later walks into her son's room, discovering that Carolyn and Pumpkin have been sexually involved.

Pumpkin's mother accuses Carolyn of raping her son, saying she "has no idea what she has done" to him. Then she calls Carolyn's college, causing her to be kicked out of both her sorority and expelled from the university. Carolyn makes a suicide attempt by taking most of the pills and solutions from her medicine cabinet, but vomits them up.

Hearing of Carolyn's suicide attempt, the sorority convinces the university to allow her back in, and she is encouraged to attend the sorority ball with Kent; Julie feels their attendance will help the sorority secure their award. At the ball, Pumpkin and his friends crash the party to allow Pumpkin a dance with Carolyn. Kent confronts Pumpkin, punching him repeatedly, who responds by tackling Kent to the ground, temporarily knocking him unconscious.

Humiliated, Kent leaves the dance. When Carolyn tries to take Pumpkin inside to the dance, Julie and her sorority sisters block the door. She pushes her way through with Pumpkin and they dance alone. Soon, other attendees are impelled to join them on the dance floor.

Kent leaves the dance in his car, sobbing and driving erratically. He swerves to avoid a truck and plunges off a cliff with the car exploding in mid-air, crashing to the bottom. Carolyn goes to the hospital to check on Kent and finds that he is now paraplegic, though not burned from the explosion.

Kent blames Carolyn for his problems and she is left distraught. She drops out of college, swearing off Pumpkin forever. The sorority stops helping the team and their rival sorority wins the award. Carolyn enrolls at a public university, opening up to her encouraging peers.

The sorority sisters have a change of heart and show up at the Olympic event. Kent is now the coach for Pumpkin's team, becoming both a motivator and humble. Pumpkin races his rival, a bully who berates him at every chance. Pumpkin is motivated by Kent, telling him to win it for Carolyn, saying she wouldn't want him to lose. As he is running, seeing her in the stands gives him a sudden burst of energy.

Pumpkin wins the race, and at the finish line is congratulated by the sorority sisters, his mother, and Kent. Carolyn comes down to see him as his mother is hugging him. She endears him to Carolyn, finally accepting her son's progress into a man.

As Carolyn and Pumpkin walk off together, she asks him what name she should call him, and he replies that "Pumpkin will be fine." She then asks what he meant when he asked her early on in the film about the moon, wondering if the question was literal or metaphorical, to which he replies, "What?" Carolyn glances back with an ambiguous expression before continuing ahead.

In 1937, a young Kainai girl named Ashtoh-Komi (Michelle St. John) is kidnapped along with several other children from a village as part of a Canadian policy to educate Aboriginal children and assimilate them into Canadian/British society. She is taken to a boarding school, where she is forced to adopt Western, Eurocentric ways and learn English, often under harsh treatment. Combined with the rejection of her peers (as she is a so-called "Bush Indian" who has not learnt white customs), Komi attempts to escape one night on foot with her little brother, Pita (Clayton Julian). However her plan is quickly foiled as the Indian Agent assigned to the school, Taggert (Ron White), catches up and brings them back to the school, where Komi is subjected to further punishment. Eventually Rachel (Heather Hess), Komi's only ally among the students, plead with the teachers to free her by promising to teach Komi to behave.

One teacher, Kathleen Gwillimbury (Ann-Marie MacDonald), is portrayed as sympathetic and she becomes repelled by the bigotry of others at the school. She offers Komi help in the form of giving her English lessons which culminate in cultural exchange, where Kathleen learns Kainai words from Komi in exchange for her learning their English counterparts. Now Amelia, Komi improves her English quickly with the kindness and support of her teacher, gradually adjusting to the school environment while retaining her Kainai identity. However, when Amelia learns that the teachers lied to her by telling her her parents had died, she decides to escape again, this time successfully.

After being devastated in the third World War (known as The Third Division), Japan was divided in two: the CFC, which controls the east half of Japan, and Nikkouren, which controls the west. Several years after the end of the war, a crime organization called Vischio has taken control of the destroyed city of Toshima (formerly Tokyo, Japan's capital city), where they are holding a battle game known as ''Igura''.

Igura is a vicious battle game that may result in the death or murder of participants. To participate, one must go to Toshima's palace, meet with a man named Arbitro, and tell him their reason for their decision to enter into Igura. Upon meeting with Arbitro, participants are given five dog tags, each engraved like a card in a standard deck of playing cards. One tag must hang from the participant's neck as proof of participation. Participants must then put their lives on the line to collect others' tags, with the goal being to collect a Straight or a Full House using cards 10 through Ace. (The game incorrectly refers to such a Straight as a Royal Flush, which is a poker hand that requires that all cards be of the same suit.) Tags representing cards less than 10 are referred to as "pig tags" and can be used in dedicated neutral zones to purchase sustenance, first aid supplies, and other essentials. If a participant collects a Straight or Full House consisting of the tags representing the cards 10 through Ace, they earn the right to challenge Il Re in battle.

The rules for combat dictate that battles must be between two participants with at least one non-participating witness present, and end when one combatant either dies or allows their back to touch the ground. The winner takes the loser's tags and is free to do as they please to the loser after that, often consisting of rape and resulting in the loser's death; however, many of the participants wantonly break the rules of the game. Two executioners, Gunji and Kiriwar, work for Arbitro, patrolling Toshima to kill rule breakers and to clean up the corpses of the fallen; however, they view themselves above the rules and often kill participants at their whims without consequences.

Many participants use a drug called "Rein," which temporarily boosts their strength significantly and gives them an advantage in battle; however, Rein has many side effects, is extremely addictive, and the withdrawal is unbearably unpleasant and can even be fatal. Il Re is involved in the distribution of Rein, which leads to him having a high level of wealth. If they defeat Il Re, they assume his position in distributing Rein and become incredibly wealthy, which is the primary motivation for many of the fighters who join Igura.

The game begins with the protagonist, a young man named Akira living in the CFC district of Japan and a champion in Bl@ster - a fighting game with much stricter rules and moderation than Igura - being falsely accused of murder and arrested. After some time in prison, a mysterious woman and man involved in the government visit him, offering him freedom from his sentence if he agrees to participate in Igura and defeat Il Re.

The story follows Akira's life in the harsh, lawless Toshima as he fights both to survive and to unravel the mysteries developing around him. The game has multiple endings, and binary decision points during the story determine which ending the player will achieve. Many of them are brutal, and the game contains themes around rape, BDSM, mutilation, and murder.

An ex-soldier reunites his old army buddies in order to get revenge on the Colombian dictator who killed his old friend, a freedom fighter.

In 1890s Mexico, María Álvarez (Penélope Cruz) is an uneducated, poor farm-girl whose caring father is being forced off his land by a cruel U.S. land baron named Tyler Jackson (Dwight Yoakam). Sara Sandoval (Salma Hayek) is the highly educated, wealthy daughter of the arrogant owner of the nearby properties, and has recently returned from Europe where she attended numerous grade schools and colleges in England, Spain, and France for several years. In one fell swoop, both María's and Sara's fathers fall under attack by the baron, (Sara's father is killed, María's is shot but survives) giving him free rein in the nearby territories. As an act of revenge, María and Sara team up to become bank robbers, stealing and giving back to the poor Mexicans who have lost their lands.

At first, the pair's relationship is characterized by petty cattiness stemming in part from their different backgrounds, but under the tutelage of famed bank robber Bill Buck (Sam Shepard) they learn to trust each other. During their crucial training session at the edge of a cliff, the two women test their strength by hanging from a metal bar over a wide river. At the point of exhaustion María tells Sara she cannot swim before losing her grip on the bar. Sara voluntarily drops into the river and saves her. The two women put aside their differences and agree that, while they are not friends yet, they can at least work together as partners. María turns out to be a crack shot and, while Sara can barely hold a gun, she shows that she is an expert with throwing knives.

Angered by the recent attacks by two women, who are now known by the public as the "Bandidas", Jackson brings in a specialist criminal investigator named Quentin Cooke (Steve Zahn). When Sara and María learn this, and they capture Cooke and seduce him to help them. He has already figured out that Sara's father was murdered and therefore discovers that his client is a criminal.

The trio embark upon bigger, more ambitious heists, during which María and Sara compete for Quentin's affections. In a move to make the money they have stolen useless, Jackson moves the gold that backs the money on a train up towards U.S. territories. Midway, he decides to steal the gold, betraying the Mexican government. The Bandidas hunt him down, but when they get their chance to kill him, they decline to do so, feeling it would make them no better than him. Jackson manages to draw his gun and almost gets a shot off at María but Sara shoots first, killing him. Quentin meets with his fiancée, much to María's heartbreak. She and Sara ride off into the sunset, their eyes set on Europe, where Sara says the banks are bigger.

''The Amulet of Samarkand''

The first book in the trilogy, published 2003, introduces Nathaniel as the gifted 12-year-old apprentice of a middle-aged mid-level magician, Arthur Underwood. He assumes his magician name, John Mandrake, to protect him from rivals who would wish to harm him. When the magician Simon Lovelace cruelly humiliates Nathaniel in public, Nathaniel decides to take revenge by stealing Lovelace's most powerful possession, the Amulet of Samarkand, which makes the wearer invulnerable to magic. Unknown to his tutor, he begins the study of advanced magic in order to summon the djinni Bartimaeus and enslave him. Bartimaeus soon overhears Nathaniel's birth-name, which greatly reduces Nathaniel's control over him, because demons can then cast counterspells. Things soon get out of hand and Bartimaeus and Nathaniel find themselves caught in the middle of magical espionage, murder, blackmail, and revolt. Together, the two of them defeat Lovelace and his most powerful demon, Ramuthra, who was last seen destroying an entire nation. These actions ended an uneasy truce between the young magician and Bartimaeus, resulting in the demon returning to whence he came. Nathaniel and Bartimaeus are stuck in a terrifying flood of revenge and murder.

''The Golem's Eye''

Published in 2004, the second book picks up two years and eight months later and features Nathaniel as a junior magician working his way up the government ranks. In this book Kitty Jones is introduced as an important character. She is a part of the Resistance movement which seeks to end the oppressive rule of the magicians. Nathaniel is tasked by his superiors with crushing the Resistance and capturing its members. His task is complicated by the unexpected appearance of a seemingly invulnerable clay golem that attacks London. Much to the displeasure of Bartimaeus, Nathaniel recalls the djinni to aid him in uncovering the origins of the golem and to save his own skin. In the end, the golem is revealed to have been created by Kavka, a Czech magician, and animated by Henry Duvall, the London Chief of Police.

''Ptolemy's Gate''

In the final book of the trilogy, published 2005, Nathaniel is a senior magician and a member of the ruling council, an elite class of magicians in the government. Bartimaeus is still trapped on Earth by Nathaniel and is treated with disdain, continuously weakening as he is not allowed to return to the Other Place. Meanwhile, Kitty Jones has been hiding undercover and completing her research on magic and spirits. She hopes that this will enable her to break the endless cycles of conflicts between djinn and humans. The main plot of this story is a conspiracy to overthrow the government which causes the most dangerous threat in the history of magic. Together, Nathaniel, Bartimaeus and Kitty try to save the city of London from this dangerous threat.

Bartimaeus reveals to the reader the presence of an endless cycle wherein magicians summon spirits, magicians rule over commoners, spirits spread magic throughout a city, some of the commoners gain a resistance to magic, the commoners rebel against the magicians, the magicians are overthrown and the spirits return to the Other Place until another magical empire rises to dominance. This cycle proves to be the main plot, which culminates in the overthrowing of London. Bartimaeus makes references to other magical empires, such as Baghdad, Rome and Egypt, all of which have fallen from dominance as well.

''The Ring of Solomon''

''The Ring of Solomon'' revisits the universe created in the ''Bartimaeus Trilogy'', although the setting shifts from modern London to Jerusalem, 950 BC. It follows the djinni's adventures during the reign of King Solomon, who was frequently referenced in the footnotes during the trilogy. It was released in the United Kingdom on 14 October 2010 and in the U.S. on November 2, 2010. The story revolves around the troubles Bartimaeus faces while enslaved to Solomon's magicians, as he gets caught between the plots of his master to overthrow Solomon, and the schemes of Asmira, captain of the guard of the Queen of Sheba, who was sent by her to assassinate Solomon.

In the prologue, the armies of the Westlands assemble in preparation for ''Tarmon Gai'don'', as do the forces of the Shadow. The Forsaken Demandred stages a raid on the city of Caemlyn, sending Trollocs to capture the cannons, developed jointly by Matrim Cauthon, Queen Elayne Trakand, and the Illuminator Aludra. Talmanes Delovinde and the Band of the Red Hand launch their own counter-attack and successfully exfiltrate the cannons out of the city, but Caemlyn is lost. The Light is bolstered by people coming from all over the world to fight, sensing the end of all things, while the Shadow welcomes a new Forsaken: Mazrim Taim, now called "M'Hael".

The Field of Merrilor

Rand al'Thor prepares a meeting of all the nations on the Field of Merrilor, to persuade them to fight in Tarmon Gai'don. Mat returns to Ebou Dar to locate Tuon, only to find the city crawling with assassins sent by one of her generals. At the Black Tower, Logain Ablar is missing and Mazrim Taim is forcibly "Turning" people to the Shadow. The Asha'man still loyal to Logain, led by Androl Genhald and aided by Aes Sedai ambassador Pevara Tazanovni rescue Logain,defeating Taim and driving his Dreadlords from the Tower. Rand's "price" of allegiance—a treaty called "The Dragon's Peace", in which borders are fixed and war is outlawed—and his plan to shatter the remaining seals of the Dark One's prison, lead to widespread argument; the latter resolved only when Moiraine Damodred quotes from the Prophecies of the Dragon, and convinces Egwene to break the seals herself. The Aiel, persuaded by Aviendha's post-apocalyptic visions during ''Towers of Midnight'', demand to be subject to the treaty, as arbiters of any dispute. When Elayne Trakand remarks that peace cannot be maintained if the Seanchan are exempt, Rand agrees to persuade their cooperation, and appoints Elayne commander-in-chief of the armies formerly under himself.

The War

Elayne dispatches her forces to four different campaigns, whereof Caemlyn is to be retaken by Andoran and Cairhienin troops; Egwene commands an army of Aes Sedai to reinforce Kandor, while Lan Mandragoran and the resurrected nation of Malkier hold Tarwin's Gap. Rand himself will lead the Aiel to face the Dark One. The four remaining "Great Captains" are attached to each campaign: Gareth Bryne in Kandor, Agelmar Jagad at Tarwin's Gap, Rodel Ituralde to Shayol Ghul, and Davram Bashere to serve Elayne directly. The campaigns turn to disaster when Graendal, now renamed Hessalam, Compels the commanders to err. Rand gains the support of the Seanchan by persuading Tuon in Ebou Dar that his authority, as the reincarnation of Lews Therin, supersedes hers. The Seanchan march to battle with Mat as one of their generals. Taking only Moiraine, Nynaeve al'Meara, and the ''sa'angreal'' ''Callandor'', Rand confronts the Dark One's champion, Moridin; interrupted only when Rand makes contact with the Dark One. Meanwhile, Perrin Aybara enters ''Tel'aran'rhiod'' to protect Rand from Slayer. In this he is assisted by Lanfear; but wounded by Slayer and forced to retreat. Rand and Egwene learn that enemy agents have seized some of the Dark One's seals. Elayne's forces burn Caemlyn to force the Trollocs to pursue; but they are pursued also by a new force from the north, and saved by Logain and his loyal ''Asha'man''. At Tarwin's Gap, the defenders are forced into rout; while in Kandor, Egwene and the Aes Sedai are unexpectedly outflanked by the nation of Shara, under Demandred. Realizing that Mat's foxhead medallion makes him the only competent general immune to hostile 'Compulsion', Egwene gives him command of their forces, and Mat rallies the survivors at the Field of Merrilor.

The Last Battle

To lure Demandred into risking his resources, Mat stages a public quarrel with Tuon, and the Seanchan depart the field. Perrin continues pursuit of Slayer. At Shayol Ghul, Graendal opposes the Aiel. When Demandred challenges the absent Rand, Gawyn Trakand attacks him directly and is mortally wounded. Later, his elder half-brother Galad Damodred is severely wounded in the same effort; but wounds Demandred before retreat. Mat's command post is attacked directly by Sharan forces, and Siuan Sanche is killed in the defense. Gareth Bryne loses reason and dies soon after. Elayne is waylaid by several Darkfriend Guardsmen including Doilin Mellar, who arrange a duplicate of Elayne to be seen dead. Faile's contingent arrive at Merrilor, but are almost immediately betrayed. Faile seizes the Horn of Valere (capable of recruiting deceased heroes), which she gives to Olver.

Androl and Pevara track down M'Hael and steal the remaining seals on the Dark One's prison. Egwene then asks Leilwin Shipless to be her warder and attacks M'Hael. M'Hael uses balefire to destroy a number of Aes Sedai. In the midst of her fight with M'Hael, Egwene creates a new weave, the "Flame of Tar Valon", capable of counteracting balefire, and sacrifices her own life to destroy M'Hael and his followers. Galad passes Mat's foxhead medallion to Lan, and Lan attacks Demandred, killing him in single combat by letting Demandred stab him, then decapitating the Forsaken while his blade is thus engaged. Olver sounds the Horn of Valere, summoning legendary heroes to rescue Elayne. Mat uses the Heroes and reinforcements from the Seanchan to sweep the field.

Shayol Ghul

Outside the Pattern, Shai'tan and Rand duel by constructing their visions of what reality could be after ''Tarmon Gai'don'', and ultimately achieve stalemate on the premise that the Pattern is incomplete in case of either's defeat. Perrin kills Slayer at the Pit of Doom, and later kills Lanfear before she can kill Moiraine. Mat kills Padan Fain with his own dagger. Olver and the resurrected heroes win the battle, while Aviendha mentally enslaves Graendal. Rand resumes his duel with Moridin, during which Rand, Moiraine, and Nynaeve take control of Moridin and use his power to create a huge weave of ''saidar'', ''saidin'', and True Power combined. Seeing this, Logain breaks open the Dark One's prison, and Rand uses the huge weave of three powers, first to capture the Dark One, and later to re-create his prison without flaw.

Epilogue

Bereft of the Dark One's influence, the Blight dissolves. Mat reunites with Tuon, who reveals that she is pregnant by him; whereas Perrin locates Faile buried under Trolloc corpses, but alive, and inherits the throne of Saldaea. King Alsalam of Arad Doman is revealed to be dead, and Ituralde succeeds him. Cadsuane Melaidhrin is elected the new Amyrlin Seat, while Moghedien is captured by a ''sul'dam''. Thom and Moiraine, Lan and Nynaeve, wait attendance on Rand, who is slowly dying of his wounds. A funeral pyre is held; but it is revealed that Rand had exchanged psyches with Moridin, and is therefore alive. No longer able to channel the One Power, Rand now has the ability to manipulate the Pattern directly, though it is unclear to what extent. He demonstrates this ability by lighting his pipe without the use of the One Power.

In 1942, a young Scot, Charlotte Gray, travels by train to London to take a job in a surgery. Richard Cannerley enters her compartment, asking questions about her life and expressing interest that she is fluent in French. He gives Charlotte his business card with the details of a book launch party. There, he introduces Charlotte to some of his acquaintances and asks her to contact him later. Charlotte enjoys a quick wartime romance with Royal Air Force Flight Lieutenant Peter Gregory, whom she met at the party.

Cannerley has recruited Charlotte for the SOE. She is seconded to First Aid Nursing Yeomanry with the rank of Driver. She completes rigorous SOE training. Charlotte learns that Gregory's plane has gone down over occupied France and that he is missing in action. Charlotte signs up for SOE operations in France, partly motivated by her wish to find him.

Charlotte's first mission to France is to deliver radio vacuum tubes. She drops by parachute. She meets her contact in a café, but the contact is arrested by the police in front of her. Julien, Charlotte's main contact in the French Resistance, reassigns her to act as housekeeper to his father, Levade. Levade is hiding two French Jewish boys, André and Jacob, after their parents were deported to a German concentration camp in Nazi-occupied Poland.

Charlotte participates in a Resistance mission: helping to blow up a train carrying Nazi armaments and soldiers. The Nazis bring their own forces and armoured vehicles to the village to crush the Resistance in the area. Charlotte's SOE contact tells her that Gregory died after his aeroplane was shot down.

A French official arrives to work with the Germans to ensure that their quota for deporting Jews is met. Renech, the village schoolmaster, follows Charlotte. He learns that Levade is hiding Jewish children. He threatens Charlotte with reporting the boys to the Nazis unless she agrees to become his "friend". She promises to meet him the following night.

That night, Julien's Resistance group is ambushed by German soldiers, armed with machine guns. All are killed except Julien. Believing Charlotte betrayed them, Julien confronts her the next day at his father's house. Soon afterwards, German soldiers, with Renech and the French official, arrive at Levade's house. They question him about his Jewish ancestry, about which Renech apparently informed him. Renech tells Julien he must betray either his father or the boys (Renech does not care which). Julien announces that his father has a Jewish grandparent and that this means he himself is therefore of Jewish ancestry. The Germans arrest Levade, who understands Julien, who does not qualify for deportation because he is only Jewish, acted to protect the boys.

Renech betrays the boys anyway. The Germans arrive at the boys' new hiding place before Charlotte can get there, and capture them. Julien lies in wait for Renech in his apartment, and shoots him dead. Julien leaves for southern France, perhaps to escape to fight elsewhere. Charlotte refuses to go with him, saying that she still has duties to fulfil. Charlotte simply smiles when he says that he does not even know her real name.

Evading French police, Charlotte rushes to Levade's house where she hurriedly types a letter and takes it to the railway station where Jews are being loaded into cattle cars. Hearing the boys and Levade, Charlotte pushes the letter between the boards of their car. Levade reads it aloud to the boys: it purports to be a letter from their parents, encouraging them to care for one another, to eat well, to survive and reminding them of their parents' love. Although the film suggests that Levade and the Jewish boys are doomed, Faulks's novel states explicitly that they die in a concentration camp.

Some time later, Charlotte leaves France and returns to London. Peter Gregory, who in fact survived his aeroplane crash and has been in hiding in France, contacts her, wanting to resume their romance. Charlotte explains that she grieved for him and cannot go back to their romantic relationship. After the war, Charlotte returns to Julien at what was formerly his father's home. For the first time, she tells him her real name is Charlotte Gray.

A nameless narrator goes to Venice to find Juliana Bordereau, an old lover of Jeffrey Aspern, a famous and now dead American poet. The narrator presents himself to the old woman as a prospective lodger and is prepared to court her niece Miss Tita (renamed ''Miss Tina'' in later editions), a plain, somewhat naive spinster, in hopes of getting a look at some of Aspern's letters and other papers kept by Juliana. Miss Tita had denied the existence of any such papers in a letter to the narrator and his publishing partner, but he believes she was dissembling on instructions from Juliana. The narrator eventually discloses his intentions to Miss Tita, who promises to help him.

Later, Juliana offers to sell a portrait miniature of Aspern to the narrator for an exorbitant price. She doesn't mention Jeffrey Aspern's name, but the narrator still believes she possesses some of his letters. When the old woman falls ill, the narrator ventures into her room and gets caught by Juliana as he is about to rifle her desk for the letters. Juliana calls the narrator a "publishing scoundrel" and collapses. The narrator flees, and when he returns some days later, he discovers that Juliana has died. Miss Tita hints that he can have the Aspern letters if he marries her.

Again, the narrator flees. At first he feels he can never accept the proposal, but gradually he begins to change his mind. When he returns to see Miss Tita, she bids him farewell and tells him that she has burned all the letters one by one. The narrator never sees the precious papers, but he does send Miss Tita some money for the miniature portrait of Aspern that she gives him.

In May 1942, an Allied base on Java is bombed by Japanese aircraft, with another attack expected the next day. With only one working fighter and five American pilots who all volunteer to fly it, Dutch commander Major Eichel (Steven Geray) chooses George Collins (Franchot Tone) because he has come up with a daring plan: attach a bomb rack to the fighter to bomb the Japanese aircraft carrier from which the attack came. After George takes off, Eichel asks the other pilots to tell him about George. Flashbacks stories of his civilian life before the war are interleaved with radio broadcasts from George.

Four years earlier, George is working his way through law school and is at the top of his class. He takes Freddie Andrews (Marsha Hunt) to an empty lot in the country, where he proposes and tells her that he has bought the land to build their home. She accepts.

At first, they are happy, but then his friend and fellow lawyer Vito S. Alessandro (Gene Kelly) invites him to join his law firm after graduation. Vito's firm works for corrupt state governor Hank Durban. Despite Freddie's concerns, George takes the job. He ends up evicting poor farmers to make way for an irrigation project which will mostly benefit Durban and his cronies.

Meanwhile, Vito's brother Nikola arrives from Italy. A member of the resistance to Benito Mussolini's regime, he had been imprisoned, but finally managed to escape. When he sees a portrait of the Italian dictator hanging in Vito's office, he becomes enraged and tears it down. The prison ordeal has taken its toll on Nikola's health, and he commits suicide.

Freddie finally divorces George because, while she still loves him, she does not like him anymore. Eventually, George becomes sickened when a mentally disabled girl dies accidentally during the eviction of her family. He provides information that brings about the downfall of Governor Durban, but the residents of his town ostracize him, unaware of his pivotal role in the downfall. Freddie, however, knows that he has redeemed himself, and they get back together.

Back in the present, George locates the Japanese carrier and dives on it, but the 500-pound bomb fails to release properly. After shooting down a couple of enemy fighters, George makes a fateful decision and deliberately crashes his fighter into the carrier. The explosion rocks the ship and fires spread rapidly. The carrier's battle ensign, now afire, is the last thing seen as it slips beneath the waves.

After his brother is killed in an accident, Tom Durling quits his job and drives across country. He gives an attractive girl a ride and is subsequently forced at gun point to be the driver in a bank robbery. During the crime another innocent man, Steve Reynolds, is involved and killed in the escape. After a high-speed chase, the car crashes and Durling is knocked unconscious. The bandits get away, the police arrest Durling and refuse to believe that he isn't one of the robbers.

Durling escapes the police then later teams with Reynolds' sister in an attempt to prove his innocence. The trail leads to a small roadside diner where the two end up finding the gang hiding out in the building's basement. They go undercover, she as a waitress and Durling joining the gang. In the end, they trick the criminals into confessing their crimes. Durling's reputation is saved, and the criminals, led by a Ma Barker-type mom, get shot up.

Marty Claridge (Katherine Heigl) has just moved out to the West with her husband Aaron Claridge (Oliver Macready), who dies in a riding accident shortly after. Expecting her late husband's baby, Marty has nowhere to go and needs a place to stay through the winter. Desperate, she accepts the proposal offered by widower Clark Davis (Dale Midkiff). Clark offers to give her a place to stay for the winter and provide her with the fare for the wagon train heading back East in the spring. In exchange, Marty agrees to marry Clark and provide a maternal influence for his young daughter Missie (Skye McCole Bartusiak). Since the marriage is in name only, the pair keep separate quarters. Initially, it is not an ideal arrangement for any of them, and Missie, - regretting her dead Mother who as she says to her "was the prettiest thing you've ever saw, everybody said so" - resents Marty for attempting to encourage more feminine behavior from her. As winter passes, Marty learns more about "Clark's God" than she ever dreamed and an affectionate bond develops between her and Missie, allowing them all to begin to feel more like a family. Marty and Clark finally come to realize that they have both done what they thought was impossible: they have found love again. Missie has started to read Marty's books on her way of personal growth and individuation and found a new loving mother in the newcome stranger and Marty's baby is blessed with a wonderful new father.

While attending college in New York City, sophomore Al and freshman Imogen begin dating. After three months they have fallen in love. Imogen, an aspiring artist, arranges a private showing at an art gallery for Al's birthday, after which the two have sex for the first time.

Al's roommate Monk, who has become a pornographic film actor and director, tells him that love is illusory and fleeting, and Monk's co-star Cyrus flirts with Al. Al loses a bet and must perform as an extra in one of Monk's films. This causes an argument between him and Imogen, who wants to spend time with him before she goes to France for the summer. He abandons the film in favor of spending the night with her.

While in France, Imogen is asked by her cousin if she and Al will marry. This unnerves her as she is only nineteen, and she acts differently toward Al on her return. His father, who hosts a cooking show, wants to do a father-and-son show after Al graduates, but Al would rather pursue his dream of becoming a chef of French cuisine.

Concerned that he and Imogen are drifting apart, Al arranges a picnic in the countryside; on the way back, she drives drunk and crashes into a tree. Seeing the accident as a sign, they try to improve their relationship. Though they seem happy, Monk predicts it is a precursor to a breakup.

When Imogen declines to have sex one night, Al feels emasculated and has a sexual fantasy about Cyrus. Imogen fears that she may be pregnant, and though she turns out not to be, this further strains their relationship. At one of Monk's parties, Cyrus tries to seduce Al, but he declines.

Meanwhile, Imogen spends time with musician acquaintance Jim; when Al learns she has agreed to design Jim's album cover, they argue and she leaves upset. The next day, she confesses she had sex with Jim afterward. After a tearful breakup, she moves to San Francisco to finish school.

Al graduates but becomes depressed. Monk is too preoccupied with his new work as an author and lecturer to comfort him, and their friendship dissolves. After a period of isolation, Al starts dating again and has a casual relationship with Cyrus, but she eventually moves away. He enrolls in the French Culinary Institute but feels unmotivated and drops out, and is reduced to bar-hopping with his single friend Eddie. Drunk and missing Imogen, he tries to purge himself of his feelings for her by drinking a bottle of her shampoo, resulting in his hospitalization.

Al's parents throw a party with his friends to lift his spirits. Monk apologizes to Al, and they mend their friendship. Imogen appears, and they spend time catching up; she has become a cover artist for a San Francisco-based book publisher. She confesses that she misses him, and gives him a book titled ''Down to You'' with her cover artwork depicting the two of them in love. They rekindle their romance, deciding that they met too young but can start over. Al takes a job at a four-star restaurant in San Francisco and surprises Imogen with a romantic evening.

Mr. Mallik lives in a house about a hundred years old, at the old part of Dhaka city. Real estate companies frequent around his house at Old Dhaka as they construct multiple apartments. Mr. Malik is also provided with an offer, to have his house demolished and the companies would construct an apartment in its place. This brings Mr. Malik to a point of dilemma. Meanwhile, her daughter, Ruba returns from the United States with her six-year-old daughter, after being abused by her husband. Hearing about the offer of demolishing their house from her father, she opposes it.

Ruba reminisces her memories around the house as she moves from one room to another. On a balcony, she comes across a man's red underwear owned by their next-door neighbor, Kislu, who wears a different color of underwear each day of the week. Ruba is amused by this and eventually bonds with Kislu.

Soleman, who murdered someone earlier in his life, now works as a security guard at Mr. Mallik's house. He often has fights with the local goons. When Mr. Malik discovers about the relationship between Ruba and Kislu, he plans to separate them and rescue his daughter. When Kislu is murdered, the plot becomes more complicated.

Following the events of ''The Crystal Shard'', Bruenor leads his friends Drizzt Do'Urden, the barbarian Wulfgar, and a surprisingly enthusiastic Regis, on a quest to reclaim Mithril Hall, the ancient stronghold of his clan. However, Regis has an ulterior motive for coming along; namely to elude the dangerous assassin Artemis Entreri, sent by Pasha Pook of Calimshan to recover the magical ruby that Regis stole from him.

Just as the companions are setting out, Entreri arrives in Ten-Towns, soon locating Regis' abandoned home and finding Catti-brie there. The young woman finds herself hopelessly outmatched and paralyzed by fear, telling him all about Regis and the companions' quest. Entreri allows her to live, confident that she will not dare to interfere with his plans. Afraid for her friends, and desperate to regain her honor, she follows after both the companions and Entreri, hoping to warn her friends. On the way to Luskan, Entreri realizes that he is being followed and captures Catti-brie again, this time taking her along as a prisoner to use against the companions.

Meanwhile, the companions reach Luskan, and seek out a map of the Northlands to aid in their quest. However, Dendybar the Mottled — an ambitious wizard from the Hosttower of the Arcane — has heard of the Crystal Shard and believes that Drizzt still possesses it, and plots to take it for his own ends. He forges an uneasy alliance with Entreri so that both may achieve their goals, and sends his apprentice Sydney with Entreri, along with his golem (Bok) and a soldier named Jierdan.

The companions travel across the Northlands towards Silverymoon, encountering barbarian tribes, an eccentric wizard family (the Harpells) and the soldiers of Nesme, who react to Drizzt with hostility, forcing the companions to divert across the Evermoors, also known as the Trollmoors, an ordeal that almost makes an end of them. Upon reaching Silverymoon, Drizzt is again shunned, but the companions are directed by Lady Alustriel to the Herald's Holdfast, where they obtain the final clues to the location of Mithril Hall.

During her time as a captive, Catti-brie slowly overcomes her fear of Entreri, and begins to play on the volatile relationships between Entreri and his allies, creating an opportunity for her to escape as the evil group closes in on the companions. Reunited with her friends, Catti-brie accompanies them into the ancient Dwarven stronghold, discovering that the duergar who forced Bruenor's clan out are still there, working the mines for their own ends. Within the upper chambers of Mithril Hall, the two groups clash, and Drizzt and Entreri find themselves face-to-face.

The meeting between Drizzt and Entreri marks the beginning of a long-running and deadly feud between the two. The two warriors are evenly matched in battle, and each sees a twisted mirror image of himself in the other; Drizzt the drow with a human soul, and Entreri the human who should have been born a drow. During the battle, a cave-in separates the two groups but results in Drizzt and Entreri being trapped together deep in the complex. They are forced to work together to escape, an experience which heightens both their resentment of the other's ideology, and their respect for one another's prowess. Although initially tasked with the capture of Regis and the return of the ruby for his master Pasha Pook, Entreri finds himself so challenged by Drizzt's very existence that he later uses Guenhwyvar's statue, stolen from Drizzt, to further bait the drow into following him so that they can duel to find out who is the better warrior.

Bruenor, Wulfgar, Regis and Catti-brie, believing Drizzt to have perished, continue their quest with heavy hearts; Bruenor decides that they will only scout the upper levels, and begins to doubt the wisdom of trying to retake Mithril Hall. They find the Hall of Dumathoin, recovering the magical bow Taulmaril (the Heartseeker) which later becomes Catti-brie's signature weapon. On their way out, they find themselves attacked by duergar, and forced into a battle with the shadow dragon Shimmergloom, the master of the duergar. It is only because of Bruenor's heroic sacrifice that the dragon is slain and his friends survive.

Shortly afterwards, Drizzt is reunited with his friends, although Entreri takes advantage of the situation to finally capture Regis and make his escape, taunting Drizzt to follow him. The story ends with Catti-brie making arrangements for Clan Battlehammer to reclaim the hall, along with help from Wulfgar's tribe and the dwarves of Citadel Adbar, whilst Drizzt and Wulfgar begin their chase to rescue Regis from the clutches of Entreri.

The dark elf Drizzt Do'Urden and Wulfgar the barbarian race to Calimport to rescue their friend Regis—who is being held as a captive, along with Drizzt's magical panther Guenhwyvar, by Artemis Entreri—and his stolen gem from the vengeance of Pasha Pook, Regis's former boss whom Regis betrayed by stealing his hypnotizing gem. While Drizzt and Wulfgar's chase continue, it is shown to us that Bruenor is not dead. It turns out that after Bruenor jumped onto the back of Shimmergloom, he survived the fall and fire due to having hold of Drizzt's scimitar, Icingdeath. Having been invulnerable to the fire, besting the dragon, he crawled back to the surface. Breunor then fails to sneak past the duergar and fights through scores of them before facing off against a giant spider. Lady Alustriel finds the poisoned and near-dead dwarf, heals him back to health, reunites him with Catti-brie and sends both of them after Drizzt and Wulfgar by supplying them with a burning chariot. Meanwhile, Drizzt and Wulfgar are on the sea, chasing Entreri by boat with the help of his good Captain Deudermont. In the middle of a fight with pirates, Bruenor and Catti-brie arrive and "The Companions of the Hall" are united once again.

Later, the heroes arrive in Calimport and storm in into Pasha Pook's palace, only to find wererats, Pasha Pook's new-found allies led by Rassiter. Bruenor, Catti-brie and Wulfgar fight the horde of wererats while Drizzt finally duels Artemis Entreri. The two of them duel both in the sewers and in the streets of Calimport but the duel is left unfinished when the wounded Entreri, in an effort to escape, calls to everyone that Drizzt - who had been hiding his appearance with the help of a magical mask acquired earlier - is a drow. Bruenor, Catti-brie and Wulfgar come to the rescue of Drizzt, protecting him from the frightened and angry crowd.

In the throne room, Pook imprisons Drizzt and his friends in Tarterus with the help of a demonic artifact called "The Taros Hoop". Just when there seems to be no hope, Regis comes along, taking the wand that controls the portal and helping his friends. Our heroes try a desperate attempt to break free from the demodands but Catti-brie becomes unconscious, floating in the air because of the circular plane that is Tarterus. Drizzt sends everyone and rescues Catti-brie by fighting savagely with hordes of demodands. In the end, Pasha Pook dies by the claws of the freed Guenhwyar, the six companions are united once again, soldiers from the surrounding dwarven kingdoms, barbarian tribes, and human cities reclaim Mithral Halls and all turns out well. Entreri is still alive and plans his vengeance against Drizzt.

The novel holds several key events and introduces a number of important characters like Captain Deudermont of the ''Sea Sprite''. Also, this novel is the starting of Drizzt's romantic feelings for Catti-brie-he even kisses her during Drizzt's rescue in the demonic plane (although Catti-brie was unconscious at that time.)

Even in the remote far northern region of Icewind Dale, the renegade dark elf ranger Drizzt Do'Urden is not fully accepted, except by the dwarves whom he had eventually befriended. He roams the tundra, hunting down yeti and giants that threaten the Ten Towns of Icewind Dale. When the Dale's native barbarians band together to slaughter the people of Ten-Towns, whom they view as invaders, Drizzt, with his drow stealth and ranger's knowledge of the terrain, discerns their plan and relays the information to his friends, the halfling Regis and the dwarf Bruenor. Regis, on the council of Ten-Towns, uses persuasion and a magical hypnotic ruby pendant to convince the stubborn leaders of the towns to work together to thwart the barbarian attack.

Because of the warning and their unified efforts, Ten-Towns and the dwarves successfully repel the barbarian attackers. Drizzt personally meets the barbarian king, Heafstaag, in combat. He wounds Heafstaag many times, including a stab to the stomach that should have been fatal, but the king manages to survive and escape after wounding Drizzt. Meanwhile, Bruenor clashes with a young barbarian standard bearer, who breaks the shaft of his banner over the dwarf's head to no effect. Bruenor then slams the youth with his shield, rendering him unconscious. After the battle, Bruenor saves him from being killed in cold blood by the townspeople, instead taking the young man, Wulfgar, son of (the late) Beornegar into his care. Bruenor also defends the wounded and unconscious Drizzt, slamming Kemp to the ground and breaking the nose of his lieutenant when he finds them kicking the injured drow. Bruenor tells the people of Ten Towns that if not for Drizzt Do'Urden, they would now be dead, which grants Drizzt a measure of acceptance and respect in Icewind Dale.

Five years pass, with Wulfgar indentured to the dwarves. Bruenor teaches him to smith and mine, and comes to love him like a son. Though Wulfgar initially resents the dwarves and his indenture, he grows to respect and even love Bruenor, like his own father who had died years past.

During this time, the failed wizard Akar Kessel, left to die in the Spine of the World, finds Crenshinibon, the Crystal Shard, a magical, sentient crystal with the ability to lend power to its wielder, make tower sanctuaries in the likeness of itself, and insinuate itself into the minds of others, including that of its wielder. Crenshinibon, obsessed with gaining power, twists Akar Kessel's mind into doing its will. Kessel, oblivious to the manipulation, decides to conquer Icewind Dale for his own. He enslaves the goblins and orcs of the nearby mountains, building them into his own army, their wills completely destroyed by Crenshinibon. He even manages to gain control of Heafstaag, and through him the tribes of barbarians. He also acquires the services of a balor demon named Errtu to be his general, though the demon has more interest in obtaining Crenshinibon for himself than in serving Akar Kessel.

Near the end of Wulfgar's indenture, Bruenor forges ''Aegis-fang'', a magical warhammer, for his adopted son. He then takes Wulfgar to be trained in the ways of battle, choosing Drizzt as the young man's instructor. Despite his ambivalence about training under a drow, Wulfgar quickly comes to respect and admire the dark elf, and Drizzt turns the young man into a formidable warrior. The two of them clear out an entire lair of verbeeg (the least of the giant species, around a height of ten feet), led by a frost giant named Biggrin with only the help of Drizzt's magical black panther companion Guenhwyvar. Wulfgar then leaves to hunt down a white dragon, Ingeloakastimizilian, more commonly known as Icingdeath. Drizzt tracks him, and the two of them kill the dragon. Drizzt finds a scimitar in the treasure hoard and claims it for his own, eventually naming it after the dragon.

As Akar Kessel moves on Ten-Towns, his armies sweeping aside the disorganized defense with little trouble, Wulfgar takes the horns of Icingdeath and challenges Heafstaag for kingship. He wins the challenge, killing the old king. Drizzt, sensing the demon Errtu, and recognizing the balor from his days living in the deep underground drow city of Menzoberranzan, calls the demon and faces it alone with Guenhwyvar. With the aid of the fire-banishing properties of the scimitar Icingdeath, he manages to defeat Errtu, banishing it to the abyss for one hundred years.

After defeating the demon, Drizzt uses his stealth and Guenhwyvar's unnatural eyes to find his way into the Crystal Tower, Cryshal-Tirith, where he fights his way past Akar Kessel's orcs and trolls to face the wizard himself. The wizard, sure of victory, imprisons the drow in a cage of magical light, and taunts him with images of the barbarians joining the battle for Ten-Towns, thinking that Heafstaag still led them. However, Wulfgar leads his people not against Ten-Towns, but against Kessel. With the help of Regis, a halfling prisoner in the tower, Drizzt escapes his cage, and follows Kessel through a portal to the top of a mountain. There, after a short battle, the magical heat of Crenshinibon destabilizes the snow cap, and an avalanche kills Kessel and takes Drizzt back down the mountain. Crenshinibon, buried under the avalanche and blocked from the light of the sun (its power source) and weakened by Regis' destruction of Cryshal-Tirth, loses its control over the remaining orcs and goblins, who are ultimately slaughtered. Bruenor, faking mortal injury, tricks Drizzt into agreeing to search for Mithral Hall, Bruenor's boyhood home.

On August 6, 1945, Second Lieutenant Katell has just arrived at the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II, and he orders his war-weary soldiers to make a desperate attack on a group of sick and wounded Japanese soldiers holed up in a cave. Seasoned veteran Sergeant Causarano tries to talk him out of it as he knows that the men have had enough of war and that "the attack will accomplish nothing but pointless deaths on both sides". Katell refuses to listen and stands firm on his orders, intent on proving himself and earning his rank. He berates the platoon, demanding that they shape up. Katell then accidentally drops his binoculars. When he goes to retrieve them, he finds himself in Corregidor fighting in the Imperial Japanese Army as a Japanese man named Lt. Yamuri.

The year is now 1942, and he is ordered to attack a group of sick and wounded American soldiers who are holed up in a cave. Having found a new perspective, he tries in vain to dissuade the captain from the attack, arguing that the Americans inside the cave pose no threat and can be bypassed. The Japanese captain bluntly refuses to listen, suspecting that the young man is either sick with jungle fever or has lost his nerve to fight. He tells him to straighten up or stay with the wounded, but Yamuri does not back down. The captain then relieves him of command and moves the company forward to begin the attack anyway. Katell then finds himself back in 1945 as an American soldier. His men tell him that they've just gotten word that the atomic bomb has been dropped. They have been ordered not to attack the cave, but instead to fall back and wait to see how Japan responds. Causarano sardonically assures him "I wouldn't fret. I'm sure there'll be other wars, other countries, other human beings you can knock off." As the platoon withdraws, Katell says to himself "I hope not. God help us, I hope not."

Advocate Steve Myers (Billy Connolly) is a disillusioned lawyer who becomes fed-up with the perceived corruption within the judicial system. He quits the law business and buys a small fishing boat and takes up fishing for a living.

Steve's fishing boat is struck by lightning and explodes into pieces, burns and sinks. He informs his insurance company, which reviews and then subsequently declines his claim on the grounds that it is not liable as his fishing boat was destroyed due to an "act of God".

Frustrated that his claim is repeatedly declined, Steve files a claim against God, naming church officials as representatives of God and thereby the respondents. The church leaders, their respective lawyers and their insurance company get together to find a way to settle this dilemma, which catches the fancy of the media.

It is in court that God's representatives will have to admit that the destruction of Steve's fishing boat was actually God's act, accept and compensate him, or deny it altogether thereby denying God's existence, leaving the onus on Steve to prove his claim.

Steve's battle brings media attention leading to a meeting with journalist Anna Redmond (Judy Davis) who helps to raise his public profile, enlisting the support of others who had fallen victim to insurance companies' "acts of God" clause. He also faces heavy criticism and protests from religious groups as his profile grows, and he backs the church into a disadvantageous position.

However, the attention takes its toll on Steve's family, who are exploited by the media, his ex-wife already crippled by debt as the guarantor of the boat. Steve faces a reality check as his family considers moving to Perth, on the other side of the country.

Meanwhile, Anna Redmond comes under fire for a history of disputes and attacks on insurance companies, drawing criticism that the case is little more than a publicity stunt. Facing a drawn out legal battle and the impact it would have on those around him, Steve decides he has won a moral victory, and withdraws from the case but not before convincing the judge that insurance companies' use of the term "acts of God" is a misleading term.

''The Eternal Quest'' covers a short period of time in Spain in the early 17th century during the reign of King Philip III. The events in the novel circle around Miguel de Cervantes and his attempts to complete and publish the first book of ''Don Quixote''. ''The Eternal Quest'' provides a fictionalized rendering of that time, including an intrigue to stop Cervantes from publishing his work, set in the then-capital of Valladolid. Branston takes Cervantes’ comic style and grafts it on to his miniaturization of the Don Quixote myth.

Although Cervantes himself is a character in this novel, much of the action centers on a character known only as the Old Knight, a soldier in the army of King Philip II and officer under the Duke of Alva who has gone mad from the violence of war. He now believes himself to be a soldier sent on a quest by God. Pedro, a friend of Cervantes and local trader, sees the Old Knight and tells Cervantes about him, inspiring the writer to create a series of short stories, published individually as pamphlets by the local printer Robles, about the comic adventures of a confused, self-proclaimed knight named Don Quixote.

These events are set against a backdrop of political intrigue surrounding the impending appointment of a new poet laureate to the “emperor” (King Philip III). The marquis of Denia approaches the duchess, a widow who oversees an academy of poets and artists, to boast that he controls the emperor’s appointments and will decide who the new poet laureate shall be. He is met at the duchess’ mansion by Ongora, a local poet of small talents and great ambitions, who subsequently hatches a plot to disgrace Cervantes and elevate himself into the new royal position.

The novel itself then follows three tracks: The meanderings of the Old Knight through Valladolid, including his encounters with the other characters and his Quixote-like confusion of ordinary objects (e.g., Pedro’s family pot) for great artifacts (the sword of Lancelot); The efforts by Cervantes to complete his work and maintain his reputation, even as the Old Knight appears to come to life from his pamphlets; and *Ongora’s plot, which involves having the duchess write a satire of Don Quixote in the form of a rejection letter from Dulcinea, with Ongora himself writing a scathing introduction in which he claims to have cuckolded Cervantes, and publishing both anonymously.

The Old Knight’s misadventures take on a mystical quality, as he defeats stronger and better-armed enemies and always seems to arrive at scenes in the nick of time to stop some evil from being done. He eventually concludes that Ongora is a warlock and calls him the “Evil Magician of Bad Verse.”

When Cervantes sees the satire and introduction, he approaches the duchess directly to offer to work with her on future writings if she will explain the reason for the violence of the introduction (which Cervantes believes was also written by the duchess). The duchess, who had not seen the introduction, then disavows Ongora and offers her financial and political support to Cervantes.

Thus spurned, Ongora hires an assassin to kill Cervantes, but this attempt is foiled by the Old Knight, who knocks the assassin out with Pedro’s pot. Ongora eventually slays the Old Knight, who dies in Cervantes’ house, only to come back to life and die permanently with his head on Cervantes’ shoulder in front of the “Holy Grail” (an olive tree in Cervantes’ yard). Ongora tries to exact one last revenge by publishing various poor imitations of ''Don Quixote'' to stain Cervantes’ reputation, but these only serve to secure Cervantes' fame. Ongora is banished from the Spanish empire and ''Don Quixote'' is published to great acclaim.

Wanda Dunn, a frail and elderly woman, huddles in a dark basement apartment in an abandoned tenement. She is awakened by an altercation outside, in which Harold Beldon, a young police officer, is shot and falls just outside her door. He cries out that he is dying and pleads for her help, but she is afraid that he is "Mr. Death" trying to trick her into letting him in. She has no phone to call a doctor, but he continues begging her to help him, so she relents. She is relieved when she touches him and doesn't die, which convinces her that he is not Death after all. She helps him inside and stabilizes his condition. Explaining her reluctance to help him, she describes how she saw Death in the form of a man take an old woman's life just by touching her, and that she has seen him many times since then with different faces. Consequently, she has not left her home in years, preferring to live unhappily than to not live at all.

There is a knock at the door and Harold persuades Wanda to answer it. The man forces the door open and she collapses from terror. When she regains consciousness, the man apologizes amiably and explains he is a building contractor and is tasked to demolish the building in an hour. In an explanation of his role which doubles as an allegory for death as part of the circle of life, he tries to persuade her that his work is both necessary and good, since the building is no longer fit for habitation and demolishing it clears the way for new buildings. He firmly indicates that she has been given due notice, and if she will not leave he will call the police to force her from the premises. She turns to Harold for help, but the contractor doesn't see him, and leaves to get the authorities.

It dawns on Wanda that Harold is in fact Death. He explains with a friendly smile that he set up the ruse to gain her trust and convince her that he means her no harm. Wanda continues her protests that she doesn't want to die. But he gently coaxes her, assuring her she has nothing to fear and finally persuades her to give him her hand. Before she even realizes anything has changed, she finds herself standing beside her own dead body. Wanda and Harold walk arm in arm through the doorway, up the stairs, outside into the sunlight.

David Lewis (Peter Gallagher) is so affected by the death of his beautiful wife, Gillian (Michelle Pfeiffer), who fell from the mast of their yacht on a sailing trip, that he turns their summer cottage in Nantucket, Massachusetts into a permanent home and spends most of his time on the beach there, communicating with Gillian's spirit and unwittingly neglecting his daughter, Rachel (Claire Danes).

On the second anniversary of Gillian's death, David invites her sister, Esther Wheeler (Kathy Baker), and her husband, Paul (Bruce Altman), to stay for the weekend. She insists on bringing a friend named Kevin Dollof (Wendy Crewson) who she hopes David will become romantically interested in. He, however, ignores her in proceeding with a ritualistic celebration of Gillian's birthday.

The events of the weekend cause the adults to re-examine their relationships; Esther and Paul have to deal with the problem posed to their marriage by Rachel's provocative friend, Cindy (Laurie Fortier), while David comes to realize that he can be a loving and attentive father to Rachel without betraying the memory of Gillian.

The evil Klogg was banished from The Neverhood at the end of the first game, but has now ended up on the Planet Idznak, which is inhabited by creatures known as Skullmonkeys and an insect race known as YNT. Klogg becomes the leader of the Skullmonkeys and sets off to make "Evil engine number 9" to destroy the Neverhood, while Klaymen is brought onto the scene to stop him.

In 1845, James Howlett, a boy living in the Northwest Territories, Canada, witnesses his father being killed by groundskeeper Thomas Logan. Anxiety activates the boy's mutation: Bone claws protrude from his knuckles, and he impales Thomas, who reveals that he is James' biological father before dying. James flees along with Thomas' other son, Victor Creed, who is James' half-brother and has a sharp claw-nails and healing factor mutation like James. They spend the next century as soldiers, fighting in the American Civil War, both World Wars and the Vietnam War in 1973. In Vietnam, the increasingly violent Victor attempts to rape a Vietnamese woman and kills a senior officer who tries to stop him. James returns to Victor upon the commotion, and ignorant of his brother's intent, he rushes to defend him. This results in the pair being sentenced to execution by firing squad, which they survive due to their mutant healing abilities. Major William Stryker approaches them in military custody and offers them membership in Team X, a group of mutants including expert marksman Agent Zero, katana-wielding mercenary Wade Wilson, teleporter John Wraith, super-strong and invulnerable Fred Dukes, and technopath Chris Bradley. They join the team for a few missions, with James using the alias Logan, but Victor and the group's lack of self-control and empathy for human life causes Logan to leave.

Six years later, in 1979, Logan works as a logger in Canada, where he lives with his girlfriend Kayla Silverfox. Stryker and Zero approach Logan, reporting that Wade and Bradley have been killed; someone is targeting the team. Logan refuses to rejoin Stryker, but after finding Kayla's bloodied body in the woods, realizes that Victor is responsible. He finds Victor at a local bar and loses the subsequent fight. Afterward, Stryker explains that Victor has gone rogue and offers Logan a way to become strong enough to get his revenge. Logan undergoes a painful operation to reinforce his skeleton with adamantium, a virtually indestructible metal. Once the procedure is complete, Stryker orders that Logan's memory be erased so he can be used as Stryker's personal weapon, but Logan overhears and escapes to a nearby farm, where an elderly couple takes him in. Zero kills the couple the following morning and tries to kill Logan. Logan takes down Zero's helicopter and swears to kill both Stryker and Victor. He then blows up the helicopter, killing Zero in the ensuing explosion.

Logan locates Wraith and Dukes at a boxing gym in Las Vegas. Dukes, who has ballooned in size due to a guilt-induced eating disorder, explains that Victor still works for Stryker, hunting down mutants for Stryker to experiment on at his new laboratory, located at a place called "The Island". Dukes also mentions Remy "Gambit" LeBeau, the only one who escaped from the island and therefore knows its location. Wraith and Logan find LeBeau in New Orleans, then both fight Victor, who kills Wraith and extracts his DNA. Agreeing to help release mutants that Stryker has captured, Gambit takes Logan to Stryker's facility on Three Mile Island. Logan learns that Kayla is alive, having been forced by Stryker into surveilling him in exchange for her sister's safety. However, Stryker refuses to release her sister and denies Victor the adamantium bonding promised for his service, claiming that test results revealed Victor would not survive the operation. Stryker activates Wade, now known as Weapon XI, a "mutant killer" with the powers of multiple mutants.

While Logan and Victor fight off Weapon XI, Kayla is mortally wounded leading the captive mutants to Professor Charles Xavier and safety. After Logan kills Weapon XI, Stryker arrives and shoots Logan in the head with adamantium bullets, rendering him unconscious. Before Stryker can shoot Kayla, she grabs him and uses her mutant power to persuade him to turn around and walk away until his feet bleed, then succumbs to her injuries. Logan regains consciousness but has lost his memory. He notices his dog tags read "Logan" on one side and "Wolverine" on the other. He pauses upon noticing Kayla's body, but does not recognize her.

In a mid-credits scene, Stryker is detained for questioning by MPs in connection with the death of General Munson, whom Stryker murdered to protect his experiment. In a post-credits scene, Weapon XI crawls out of the rocks and touches his head, which awakens and shushes the screen, revealing that he has survived being decapitated.

Two teen girls, Samantha Elizabeth "Sam" Kwan (age 13) (Brenda Song) and Allison Rachel "Allie" Thompson (age 13) (Hallee Hirsh) find a weather machine at a shack in the woods. After learning of its controls, they use it to make it snow in Los Angeles.

It turns out that the weather machine belongs to Santa Claus (John B. Lowe) and he informs Mrs. Claus about this. To help Santa Claus, she sends two elves, Crumpet (John Salley) and Sparky (Bill Fagerbakke).

A weather man named Edwin Hadley (Peter Scolari) tries to figure out what's causing the strange weather and track it down to keep himself from getting fired by his boss Mr. Martino (Jason Schombing). Edwin's boss expects Edwin to get down to the bottom of the sudden snow appearances.

When Sparky and Crumpet catch up to Santa Claus, they find a footprint of a type of girl shoes that are only made in California. Santa and the elves set off to interrogate each girl on the naughty list that wears those type of shoes.

Soon, the snowstorm gets so large that it spreads to San Francisco and Allie's dad gets snowed in at the airport and may not make it home in time for Christmas. Allie tries to turn it off, but over night it turns itself back on and it creates a blizzard. They are unable to make it do anything now. Samantha shares sad stories with Allie about how her dad would spend Christmas, while Allie is sad about her dad missing Christmas.

During the blizzard, Edwin manages to trace the weather phenomenon to Allie's house. Due to traffic, he manages to borrow a guy's snowmobile.

When Allie and Sam head to the shed to get the flashlights, they encounter Santa, Crumpet, and Sparky who identify Allie as the next person on their naughty list while her best friend Sam is a positive overachiever and good role model in school. They managed to get proof that he's Santa Claus when he tells the girls all about them and the weather machine.

Edwin arrives at Allie's house and manages to gain entry. Edwin does manage to find the weather machine after Allie's brother found it and berated him for messing with it. Upon being cornered in Allie's room by the girls, Santa, and the elves, he announces his plans to be the best weather man in history and gain more publicity on television attempts. During his escape, he sees the guy he borrowed the snowmobile from and crashes into a chocolate making factory where he falls into a chocolate vat. The group follow his trail into the chocolate factory and follows Edwin's chocolatey trail. Sparky follows him up into the raftings where he falls into a box of cotton candy. The group then reclaims the weather machine.

At Santa's shack, he then works to find the problem in the weather machine. With Sam and Allie's help, they manage to fix the weather machine (Santa forgot to put in the right batteries) and stop the weather. Santa then tells Edwin that there is another type of job that deals with weather.

Crumpet and Sparky pick up Allie's dad just in time for Christmas morning. Meanwhile, Hadley gets a job in the Antarctic teaching scientists about the weather.

The narrative of ''Mega Man Zero'' is presented through text dialogue cutscenes with 2D sprites and hand-drawn, anime images.

Roughly 100 years following the events of the ''Mega Man X'' series and the end of the Maverick Wars, the heroic Maverick Hunters X and Zero have long since vanished. A human scientist named Ciel, her Cyber-elf Passy, and other Reploid companions are being chased through an abandoned underground laboratory. Their relentless pursuers are mass-produced androids called Pantheons, among other terrible machines. After taking heavy losses, Ciel, Passy and the remaining troops arrive at a sealed chamber containing Zero, who has been in stasis for a century. Passy sacrifices itself to awaken Zero, who is amnesic. Ciel, desperately seeking his help, explains they live in a world where Reploids are incorrectly accused of being Mavericks and systematically "retired", apparently under the direction of the once-famed X. Shocked at this revelation and filled with doubt about his own identity as the Maverick Hunter of legend, Zero helps Ciel escape and joins her Resistance to fight against X and the utopia known as Neo Arcadia.

Zero conducts missions on behalf of the Resistance in order to buy Ciel time to create a new energy source that will provide everyone with a safe place to live. One day, the base is attacked by Neo Arcadia, forcing everyone to flee. In the midst of the chaos, Ciel confesses to Zero that she helped create Neo Arcadia as a utopia where humans and Reploids were finally able to live in peace with X as their leader, but her plans fell apart when an energy shortage crisis began and X mysteriously disappeared. To counter this, while at age six, she created a "copy" of X to be its new leader. Copy X strived for X's ultimate desire for a peaceful world, but lacked the original's moral judgement. Believing that the Reploid race posed a danger to humans, Copy X began an operation to brand any Reploid whom he believed to be a menace to humanity as a Maverick and annihilate them without a fair trial, in order to reduce energy consumption.

Zero invades Neo Arcadia and battles his way through the Four Guardians: Sage Harpuia, Hidden Phantom, Fighting Fefnir and Fairy Leviathan. Phantom self-destructs in a last ditch effort to destroy Zero, but fails, while the other three manage to escape. Copy X is eventually defeated, who also self-destructs in an attempt to take Zero with him. Zero escapes just in time from Neo Arcadia as Copy X, and everything around him, is destroyed. Running low on energy, Zero collapses in a nearby desert. A faint figure appears and reveals itself as the real X, now a Cyber-elf, who has been Zero's guide the entire time. X explains that he grew tired of fighting and, without a physical body, has left Zero the responsibility of bringing peace to the world. As X vanishes, Zero finds himself surrounded by an army of Pantheons. Zero accepts X's words and promises to continue the fight against Neo Arcadia. The final scene shows Zero as he dashes into battle against the Pantheons and slices one in half.

The story is told first-person by an unnamed narrator who reveals little about himself, other than that he is a wandering stranger stranded in a small Mexican border village. The narrator is fascinated by Joseph Calloway, a famous con-man believed to be extremely wealthy, who is in the Mexican village on the run from the law. The narrator claims to feel sympathy not for Calloway but for Calloway's dog, an ugly creature that he repeatedly kicks. Two detectives enter the village looking for Calloway, but though they have several conversations with the con-man, they never realize he is their quarry. Meanwhile, Calloway, overcome by homesickness for America, manages to get himself secreted across the border. In the end, Calloway is killed by the detectives' car, apparently while trying to save the dog's life and the truth about the human experience isn't revealed. The narrator claims to find something comic in the end of Calloway's life. He writes "Death doesn't change comedy to tragedy." The reader is left to evaluate the meaning of this statement and to weigh both the tragic and the comic elements of the story.

The story builds its tension on dramatic irony, with the narrator knowing more about the story than both Calloway and the detectives, and the Mexican natives knowing more than the narrator, who says, "Any man doing dusty business in any of the wooden booths in the town is better fitted by long observation to tell Mr Calloway's tale than I am."

Initially narrated by the titular character through a flashback, Grendel (Peter Ustinov), the "Great Boogey", recounts how he first left his cave as a child and encountered the Danish King Hrothgar (Ed Rosser) and his thegns. After being rescued by his mother, Grendel pondered over the similarities he shared with the Danes, yet lamented on their not being able to understand his language. He watched as Hrothgar's power and wealth grew, disgusted at his excesses and the royal Shaper's (Keith Michell) revision of history, presenting the king's underhanded and brutal achievements as glorious victories. Desperate to find meaning in life, Grendel encountered the dragon (Arthur Dignam), who informed Grendel that his sole purpose in life is to terrify humanity, thus stimulating human imagination and encouraging social cohesion.

Grendel accepts his new role and regularly visits the king's mead hall to frighten Hrothgar's people and devour them. He stops short of killing the king himself and the warrior Unferth (Ric Stone), whose delusions of grandeur and passive opposition to the king amuse Grendel. Feeling sympathy for Hrothgar's miserable wife Wealhtheow, who is also the object of Unferth's secret affection, Grendel decides to finally kill Hrothgar and take her to his lair. Before Grendel can arrive, the meadhall is visited by the hero Beowulf (also voiced by Dignam), who kills Unferth on the increasingly paranoid Hrothgar's orders. Beowulf then ambushes Grendel and tears off his arm, leaving the monster to die outside, pondering over the accidental nature of his death.

In the 21st century, an accident occurs in an illegal U.S. biotechnological laboratory, where they tried to create super-soldiers to subjugate the 3rd world, but the project goes wrong. As a result, part of the Earth's population became infected with a virus that overwrites & replaces DNA, & mutated into hemophages, creatures with vampire fangs that are stronger, faster & smarter than humans, but had very short lifespans due to genetic unravelling. People started a war against the haemophages, & they subsequently went underground. The super-soldier Violet Jat Shariff found herself in this underground. Law enforcement agencies were unable to stop the infection, sovereign nations collapsed, human rights are abolished, & due to the state of emergency on the planet, a world government's established by the ArchMinistry, a powerful corporation that's usurped the UN & WHO.

Violet was tasked with stealing supposedly human-made anti-mutant weapons. Using her superpowers, she alone on a motorcycle attacks the center ("Blood Bank"), where a superweapon is hidden that can destroy hemophages. However, the 9-year-old boy 6 turns out to be in the container - a clone of Vice Cardinal Ferdinand Daxus (president of the world) & a carrier of a virus dangerous for hemophages. Violet delivers the boy to the base, but, in a fit of sentimentality, prevents him from being killed by the hemophages.

From now on, she starts her own game, planning to create a vaccine that would return her to the human world. Now both the vice-cardinal's special forces & the hemophages are after her. Meanwhile, it turns out that the hemophages are colluding with the vice-cardinal, who himself turns out to be a secret hemophage. In the laboratory of people loyal to her, Violet learns that the boy's not a danger to the hemophages, but for the vice-cardinal he has a mysterious value. Violet learns that the vice-cardinal wants to increase his wealth through a new epidemic, an antidote from which he'll sell for a lot of money. The boy's the key to these insidious designs. Violet also finds out that it was Daxus who, in the past, working as a laboratory assistant, deliberately arranged an accident in the laboratory in order to subsequently take advantage of the situation to lead the world government. Violet Rescues the boy & destroys Daxus, Violet swears to protect the world from the hatred in society.

George P. Hanley, a shy office worker, shops for a birthday gift for Ann Lawson, the secretary in the office where he works. The gift store has just received a heavily soiled oil lamp as part of a random assortment from a distributor. Believing it to be worthless, the owner smooth-talks George into buying the lamp for $20. He takes it to work, but is beaten to the punch by his brash co-worker Roger, who gives Ann a skimpy nightgown. After Ann thanks Roger with a kiss, a despondent George takes the lamp home. When George rubs the lamp while cleaning it, a genie emerges. While he only offers one wish rather than the traditional three, he gives George time to consider what he should wish for.

Throughout the evening and next day, George considers his choices through various daydreams. He first thinks about wishing for love and dreams of being married to Ann as a successful movie star who will not be torn away from her career. However, George discovers she is having an affair with fellow movie star Roger. He concludes that in any circumstance, he would ultimately lose a woman like Ann.

The next day, as Roger is in the boss's office discussing a promotion to head bookkeeper - a position George believes he is up for as well - George contemplates having money. He dreams of being wealthy tycoon G. Peter Hanley, with Roger as his chauffeur and Ann as his financial assistant. However, he slowly realizes that being able to immediately buy anything he wants without having to wait or struggle for it, and having the capacity to give away vast sums is unsatisfying. He awakes from this fantasy to the news that Roger has won the promotion.

While taking his dog Attila on a walk, George considers power as his third prospective wish and imagines being President of the United States. Though initially successful, he is soon paralyzed by indecision when faced with a global UFO crisis. George realizes the problem with all three wishes is that while his circumstances change, he himself remains a loser, and that he can only improve his life by changing himself. This inspires him to finally decide on a wish.

Sometime later, a homeless man finds the lamp in a garbage can and polishes it. The genie who emerges is George, accompanied by Attila, who offers three wishes to the finder on the condition that the lamp be returned to the alley afterwards for another needy person to find.

Eleven-year-old Eliza Naumann is the only "ordinary" member in a family of gifted people living in Abington Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Her father Saul is a cantor at the local synagogue and a keen student of Jewish texts; her mother Miriam is apparently a successful lawyer and her brother Aaron is a gifted student who is able to read and recite in Hebrew and is allowed into his father's study, where he plays the guitar with his father.

One day Eliza surprises herself by winning the class spelling bee, then the school bee at McKinley Elementary School. At first Saul is unaware of her success, but then he becomes increasingly involved with her. Eliza is invited into his study to practice, and Aaron for the first time finds the door closed to him. But as Eliza progresses through the district bee and prepares for the national bee, the troubled lives of her family come into sharp focus. Saul, who has tried to reach God, first through drugs and then through study, becomes convinced that Eliza's talent shows a propensity for mysticism greater than his, which has the potential to lead her to ''shefa'', the influx of the Divine. He gradually introduces her to the writings of Abraham Abulafia, a Medieval kabbalist writer, and it becomes clear that his ambitions for her go far beyond the winning of the spelling bee.

Aaron, who had a "religious experience" at the age of eight (it was actually the wing-light of a plane), finds himself disillusioned with Judaism and begins to look elsewhere, first to Christianity and then to Vaishnavism. Through a chance encounter in a park he discovers the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) and becomes a devotee, unknown to his family. Miriam, who has always had an obsessive personality, has kept from her family that she has not worked for years, instead being a kleptomaniac who spends her time stealing small items from department stores, believing that they are small parts of herself from which she has become separated, a concept she formed when Saul told her about ''tikkun olam'', the "fixing of the world".

With the other members of her family preoccupied, Miriam's obsession takes a new turn when she finds herself entering people's houses and stealing small objects from them. Several times she is almost discovered, but, though she tries to anchor herself to the real world through emotionally detached sex with Saul, she cannot resist the pull of the empty houses. At the National Spelling Bee, Eliza performs well but does not win, so she begins to prepare for the following year, with Saul's enthusiastic help. But the family is about to be torn apart. Miriam is arrested and Saul learns she quit her job years ago. She has been putting her stolen items into a storage space, where she has arranged them all in a beautiful, complex pattern. She pleads not guilty by reason of insanity, and is admitted to a psychiatric hospital. Aaron announces his intention to leave home, and his faith, to join ISKCON.

Eliza, who has begun reading Abulafia on her own, without her father's knowledge, has a terrifying experience on the night that she attempts to achieve ''shefa''. The following day, at the class spelling bee, she deliberately misspells a word; her powerful way of bringing her family back together from the edge of collapse.

Jane Brighton (Alana Austin) is a high school math whiz obsessed with J.D. McQueen (Aaron Carter), a teen music sensation whose parents have sent him back to public high school to improve his declining grades. J.D. risks missing a critical summer tour that could ruin his musical career. To get help with maths, he builds a relationship with Jane.

The story is told in first person by an unnamed narrator who has a friend named Maling. Maling is afflicted with an unusual medical affliction which his doctors label "borborygmi" and his friends label "tummy rumbles". Maling's case of this disease is unusual in that his stomach rumblings echo sounds they have recently "heard". An example is given where Maling's stomach repeats the opening of a Brahms Concerto. The narrator then tells the story of how Maling's unusual stomach condition caused the bankruptcy of the company he worked for.

During an important meeting in which Maling's company negotiated a merger, Maling's stomach imitates the air raid siren that was sounded in London during the Blitz. The officers of the company retreat to a bomb shelter because Maling is ashamed to admit that his stomach is responsible. As no all-clear is sounded, the officers remain in the shelter for twelve hours, ruining the attempted merger and leading the company to bankruptcy.

Written in the midst of the Blitz, "Alas, Poor Maling" is intended to raise the morale of a demoralized London. The story also calls into question the practicality of social etiquette, for if Maling had admitted to his stomach condition, the problem could have been avoided.

''Paradise Now'' follows Palestinian childhood friends Said and Khaled who live in Nablus and have been recruited for suicide attacks in Tel Aviv. It focuses on what would be their last days together.

Their handlers from an unidentified resistance group tell them the attack will take place the next day. The pair record videos glorifying God and their cause, and bid their unknowing families and loved ones goodbye, while trying to behave normally to avoid arousing suspicion. The next day, they shave off their hair and beards and don suits in order to look like Israelis. Their cover story is that they are going to a wedding.

An explosive belt is attached to each man; the handlers are the only ones with the keys needed to remove the belts without detonating them. The men are instructed to detonate the bombs at the same place, a military check point in Israel, with a time interval of 15 minutes so that the second bomb will kill police arriving after the first blast.

They cross the Israeli border, but have to flee from guards. Khaled returns to their handlers, who have fled by the time Said arrives. The handlers remove Khaled's explosive belt and issue a search for Said. Khaled believes he is the best person to find Said since he knows him well, and he is given until the end of that day to find him.

After Said escapes from the guards, he approaches an Israeli settlement. At one point, he considers detonating the bomb on a commercial bus, but he decides not to when he sees a child on board. Eventually, Said reveals his reason for taking part in the suicide bombing. While in a car with Suha, a woman he has fallen in love with, he explains that his father was an ''ameel'' (a "collaborator", or Palestinian working for the Israelis), who was executed for his actions. He blames the Israelis for taking advantage of his father's weakness.

Khaled eventually finds Said, who is still wearing the belt and about to detonate it while lying on his father's grave. They return to the handlers, and Said convinces them that the attack need not be canceled, because he is ready for it. They both travel to Tel Aviv. Influenced by Suha, who discovered their plan, Khaled cancels his suicide attack. Khaled tries to convince Said to back off as well. However, Said manages to shake Khaled by pretending to agree.

The film ends with a long shot of Said sitting on a bus carrying Israeli soldiers, slowly zooming in on his eyes, and then suddenly cuts to white.

The story varies slightly between the two different versions of the game.

The arcade version takes place in the equivocate future date of Earth, 20XX. The Earth is unexpectedly attacked by the mysterious Azyma Empire: a space-bound monarchy currently dedicated to eradicating all life on the planet from its flagship the Orbital Satellite Buster. The Earth's only hope lies in the recently developed XA-1 and 2 space fighter ships used by the organization known as E.D.F: Earth Defense Force.

In the Super NES version, the Azyma Empire has established headquarters on the dark side of the Moon. After attacking the Earth, it is revealed they have a secret weapon being developed on the Moon, one capable of destroying all life on Earth. The E.D.F. is ordered to send their XA-1 fighters in to drive out the invaders and destroy their ultimate weapon.

A group of friends, including Matt, his fiancée Lily, his sister Molly, along with Joe and June, embark on a trip to Las Vegas, NV in an RV. After getting lost on a shortcut, they notice lights in the sky that appear to be following the RV. While entranced by them, they crash while swerving to miss a stranded motorist called Richard.

Joe is injured by a knife in the crash. Unfortunately, the knife is dangerously close to an artery, forcing them to leave it in. While searching for assistance, Molly becomes acquainted with Richard, who was a POW who was tortured by the Iraqis in the Gulf War. While working on repairing the RV, Matt hears noises in the woods. He leaves to investigate them.

Joe's condition deteriorates, due to damage to his artery, forcing the group to search for additional assistance. They find a house with a working phone. The group realize Matt is not with them. When aliens surround them, Richard shoots at them, accidentally killing Matt in the process.

Richard returns to the RV and tells the others of the aliens, while not mentioning Matt's fate. Molly forces her way out of the RV to find Matt, but is sucked up by a green light. As Joe's breathing stops, June is pulled out of the RV. The RV shakes violently and the windows burst inward as the aliens attack, prompting the surviving Lily and Richard to escape into the forest, eventually ending up in an abandoned shack, where Richard barricades the door with a table. The aliens then locate the cabin, destroying the barriers and moving in on the hiding pair. Richard, knowing they have been found, fires on the aliens before being grabbed and subsequently abducted. Lily escapes as the aliens completely destroy the cabin. After running a short distance and accidentally becoming caught in barbed wire, she too is captured.

Richard regains consciousness inside an organic chamber. Exploring his surroundings and hearing a distant voice, he finds Lily being experimented on by the aliens, ultimately having her three-month-old foetus removed. When the aliens leave, Richard approaches her. In an act of mercy, he fatally shoots her. The returning aliens then restrain Richard and begin brutally experimenting on him.

Some time later, a police officer patrols a deserted area, where he finds Richard. A text epilogue states that Richard was found 100 miles from the site of his broken down truck and the group's RV. In semi-catatonic state, Richard was subsequently subject to rehabilitation which restored partial memories of the encounter. Despite his description of the night's events, no trace of either vehicle nor any of the other victims was ever found. The text concludes with the statement that the lights continue to appear over Phoenix Arizona to this day.

''Lufia: The Legend Returns'' takes places one hundred years after the events of ''Lufia & the Fortress of Doom'' which is two hundred years after the events of ''Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals''. The game begins by outlining the "Doom Island Wars" (the events of the first two ''Lufia'' games) and goes on to explain how four all-powerful beings known as the Sinistrals were defeated by a hero named Maxim and his three companions two hundred years ago, and then again by his descendant one hundred years ago.

This game follows the trials and tribulations of a teenager named Wain, who is actually a descendant of Maxim himself. When a mysterious woman arrives in his village one day looking for a "swordsman", she runs into Wain on the street and asks if he is any good as a fighter. Unconvinced that Wain is the best that the village has to offer, the woman sends him away, and Wain goes outside the village to vent his anger on unsuspecting monsters.

After the player moves back into the city, the camera pans out, and an unknown force appears at the nearby Tower of Death, immediately burning down a house in the city. Several uncontrollable scenes ensue, during which Wain rescues a girl from the burning house, collapses from smoke-inhalation, and is nursed back to health by the woman, who introduces herself as Seena, a famous fortune teller from another continent who is on a "Great Adventure". Seena convinces Wain to go with her on her fated journey, and the player sets out to see who or what is causing trouble at the tower. When the two finally reach the top, they come face to face with Gades, one of the four Sinistrals who threatened the world many years ago. Though Wain and Seena are inevitably defeated and Gades escapes, their mission is clear: it is up to them to gather strong fighters and stop the newly awakened Sinistrals to save the world from destruction.

In order to accomplish this task, Wain and Seena travel north to the city of Albano, where they meet Fugo, the richest man on the Epsis Continent. Fugo asks Wain and Seena to catch a local thief in return for a large reward, and the pair agrees to find him. After traveling to the nearby Slani Cave, the duo happens upon the thief, but he manages to escape after calling Wain "Stupid". Angry and confused, Wain decides to travel north to the rural town of Majari, the thief arrives to help dispatch a monster who attacked a young villager. The beast is later discovered to be one of Fugo's gold-eating pets; Fugo sent out his pet because it has a keen sense of smell for gold. After chastising the heroes for not knowing the special value that a gold-eating pet can have, Fugo grabs the thief and the stolen gold and returns to Albano.

Seena and Wain then travel back to the city and speak with Fugo's daughter Melissa, who gives them a hint as to where Fugo is keeping the thief locked up. The pair then goes deep below Fugo's mansion to save the thief, who finally introduces himself as Dei, "Master Treasure Hunter". The trio escapes from the dungeon, only to find that Gades has reappeared and destroyed Fugo's partially built summer home. The player then engages in another battle with the Sinistral of Destruction. Again, regardless of whether the player defeats the boss, the story continues as if the characters lost, and Gades disappears again. Fugo retreats back into his first mansion, leaving Dei to travel with Wain and Seena.

The player then travels further north to the port city of Siantao, where they happen upon a pair of bandits robbing a young girl. The characters are about to intervene when a mysterious woman named Aima appears and scares off the thieves. Moments later, a local man announces that Leong Temple, the center of the Jigen-Ryu fighting style practiced by Aima, was destroyed by the Garland Gang, a sinister group of bandits who has holed up to the west of Siantao. Aima rushes to the temple, and the player finds that Aima's fighting master has been kidnapped. The group convinces Aima that they need to work together to rescue him, and they travel to the Garland Gang's hideout. After traveling to the basement of their lair and defeating the leader, the Garland Gang disbands, and Aima is able to return her master to Siantao.

However, on returning to Siantao, the player discovers that Gades has descended and razed the entire city. Aima's master attempts to defeat the Sinistral, but is too old to dispatch him, and eventually dies after leaving the secret skill of the Jigen-Ryu to Aima, making her the new master of the discipline. Aima and the rest of the group resolve once more to defeat Gades, and return to the top of the Tower of Death. This time, the plot will not continue if the player loses to Gades, but the characters are strong enough to defeat him without too much trouble. After defeating the Sinistral of Destruction, Seena reveals that he is only one of four Sinistrals who have appeared in the world and that he is the weakest of the group.

Differences from Shakespeare's plot include that the nature of the lovers' deaths is different, depending on the production. New characters such as Death (French, Belgian, Japanese, Netherlands, and Moscow productions only) and the Poet (French production only) appear for dramatic effect. Lady Capulet has a greatly increased role and in the case of the Hungarian version, has an affair with her servant. The role of Tybalt has changed slightly from being purely dark to a more pitiful character because of his growing up with the hate and a dark childhood, as well as an unrequited attraction to Juliet.

Synopsis

;Act 1 A long-standing feud between the two leading families of the city of Verona, the Montagues and the Capulets, regularly erupts into violence on the city's streets. Irritated, the Prince of Verona decrees, on pain of death, the absolute prohibition on fighting in the city ('''Vérone'''). While Lady Capulet and Lady Montague denounce the violence of the two clans ('''La haine'''), Romeo (the sole heir of the Montagues) and Juliet (the daughter of the Capulets) are hopelessly in search for love ('''Un jour''').

At the Capulets, a ball is being held so that Juliet can meet Count Paris, who asked Lord Capulet for her hand ( ). In Verona, Romeo and his friends, Benvolio and Mercutio, hang about the streets ('''Les rois du monde''', '''La folie'''). Romeo is afraid of... he doesn't really know, but he's afraid ('''J'ai peur'''). In the hope of distracting him, Benvolio and Mercutio, persuade him to accompany them, in disguise, to a ball being held at the house of the Capulets ('''Le bal'''). At his first sight of Juliet, the daughter of the Capulets, Romeo instantly falls in love with her, without knowing who she is ('''L'amour heureux'''). Tybalt recognize Romeo and informs Juliet's parents. Romeo and Juliet learn from the Nurse who they are ('''Le bal 2'''). Tybalt, broken (he loves Juliet in secret), acknowledges that he is the son of hate and contempt ('''C'est pas ma faute''').

After the ball, Juliet takes refuge in her room and dreams of Romeo ('''Le poète'''), who woos her at great personal risk in the Capulets' garden. They exchange lovers' vows and plan to marry in secret as soon as possible ('''Le balcon'''). Knowing that their families will never agree to their marriage, Romeo meets Friar Lawrence and asks him to marry them. He accepts hoping that this union will reconcile the two families ('''Par amour''').

In the morning, Romeo meets his friends and tells the Nurse, whom everyone makes fun of ('''Les beaux, les laids'''), that Friar Lawrence will marry them the following afternoon. The Nurse, who deeply loves Juliet as her own daughter, announces the good news to Juliet ('''Et voilà qu'elle aime'''). Finally, Romeo and Juliet are married ('''Aimer''').

;Act 2 The next day, Benvolio and Mercutio meet Romeo: they accuse him of betrayal ('''On dit dans la rue'''). Out on the streets of Verona, Tybalt - unaware of his new blood tie to Romeo - searches for Romeo ('''C'est le jour''') and when he finds him, challenges him to a fight, which Romeo refuses ('''Le duel'''). Mercutio takes up the challenge and is mortally wounded. Driven by guilt, grief, and youthful-hotheadedness, Romeo kills Tybalt ('''Mort de Mercutio'''). The two families, plunged into mourning, ask the Prince for revenge ('''La vengeance'''). Finally, he banishes Romeo from Verona and thinks about the political power ('''Le pouvoir'''). In her bedroom, Juliet learns the bad news from the Nurse. She is torn between the love for her cousin and for her husband. Romeo goes to Friar Lawrence's. He thinks banishment is worse than death ('''Duo du désespoir''').

Romeo and Juliet spend their wedding night together and Romeo makes his escape to Mantua ('''Le chant de l'alouette'''). Shortly after her husband has left, Juliet is informed by her parents that she is to be married to Paris. She refuses and they threaten to disown her ('''Demain'''). Upset, Lord Capulet sings about the love he has for his daughter ('''Avoir une fille'''). In her room, Juliet asks why she has to obey ('''Pourquoi'''). In Mantua, Romeo thinks of Juliet. In desperation, she turns to Friar Lawrence, who devises an ingenious plan, which he hopes will ultimately bring a happy ending for both the lovers and their two families ('''Sans elle''').

Juliet appears to go along with the marriage plans but, in the night before the wedding, she takes the drug prepared by Friar Lawrence which makes her appear dead ('''Le poison'''). Juliet is duly laid in the family vault, hoping to wake up to find Romeo waiting for her. Unfortunately, The Friar's message telling Romeo of the plan somehow goes astray, and instead he hears only from Benvolio that his wife Juliet is dead ('''Comment lui dire''').

Grief-stricken, he breaks into the Capulet vault, finds what he believes to be the mortal remains of his beloved, and takes poison to be reunited with her in death ('''Mort de Roméo'''). Soon afterwards, Juliet awakes to find her husband dead and she stabs herself with Romeo's dagger ('''La mort de Juliette'''). Friar Lawrence enters the vault and finds the two lovers dead. He complains to God ('''J'sais plus'''). When the whole story is told, the two devastated families agree henceforward to live in peace ('''Coupables''').

An alien spaceship appears above the Gaulish village, causing nearly all of the people and animals to turn rigid. Only Asterix, Obelix, Getafix and Dogmatix are unaffected due to consumption of the magic potion. An alien named Toon emerges from the spherical spaceship. He is from the planet Tadsilweny and is accompanied by "superclone" security men. Toon turns off his ship's "anti-collision magnetic field", ending the paralysis of the village. He informs the Gauls he is on a mission to confiscate their "secret weapon" (Getafix's potion) that is "known throughout the universe", in order to prevent it from being seized by evil aliens called Nagmas.

Meanwhile, a Nagma has landed his spaceship in the nearby Roman camp of Compendium and seeks the "powerful deadly weapon". The Roman centurion Polyanthus gives him directions to the Gaulish village. Toon's army of superclones and the Nagma's "cyberat" robot warriors engage in battle. Asterix and Obelix enter the fray, and the Nagma attempts to abduct Getafix. The Nagma is eventually defeated, and Toon abandons his quest for the magic potion as its only discernible effect on the aliens is to cause them to temporarily increase to an enormous size. As he departs, Toon erases all memory of his visit from the village and the Roman camp.

In 2021, a radical Islamic terrorist movement has declared a global jihad against the West and established a Caliphate in Indonesia, initiating a wholesale slaughter of Chinese nationals there. In response, a US-led multinational task force of advanced warships and submarines sails to Indonesia to launch a counterattack against the Caliphate forces and retake the archipelago. With the fleet is a research vessel, the ''Nagoya'', which is testing top-secret weapons and stealth systems that use the latest developments in quantum physics.

As the task force lies at anchor off the coast of East Timor preparing for deployment, the ''Nagoya'' conducts a full-scale test of its new systems but there is a catastrophic accident—the experiment generates a massive rift in the time-space continuum, completely destroying the ''Nagoya'' and sending most of the fleet back in time to 1942.

Many of the 2021 ships materialize in the middle of the US fleet that is steaming to engage the Japanese at the Battle of Midway, including one vessel which materializes into the structure of a 1942 ship, with horrific results. When the mystery fleet suddenly appears, the Americans mistake them for the enemy (due to the presence of Japanese vessels in the 2021 fleet) and they begin firing on them. With the crews of the 2021 fleet rendered helpless by "transition sickness", the computerized battle systems on their ships automatically activate, inflicting heavy damage and thousands of casualties on the 1942 fleet until the two forces work out what has happened and halt the battle. As the nature of the event dawns on the two fleets, the two commanders strike an uneasy truce and the combined fleet heads back to Pearl Harbor. The Americans then launch an intensive study into the 2021 fleet's futuristic computer and weapons technology, as well as the wealth of historical information which describes their own future – although many items of technology from the future fleet are stolen by unscrupulous sailors from 1942 and sold to the criminal underworld.

Matters are further complicated by the fact that the chaotic nature of the Nagoya's "time bubble" has transported some 2021 ships to locations far from the main group, and these vessels variously fall into the hands of the Japanese, the Germans and the Soviets. After the Japanese capture an Indonesian ship from the 2021 fleet, they discover what they did not know in the conventional version of history – that the US fleet had not been crippled by the Pearl Harbor attack, as they thought, and that the Americans have broken their military codes and are fully aware of the Japanese battle plans. Acting on these revelations, Admiral Yamamoto immediately turns his fleet around, and the Battle of Midway never takes place.

Another vessel is captured by the Germans and as they learn more about the future outcome of the war they halt and abandon their ill-fated invasion of Russia and prepare for an all-out assault on the United Kingdom. Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin become allies and purge their military forces of anyone they believe to be a traitor.

The series goes on to explore the far-reaching effects of the Transition, which radically alters not merely the balance of power between the Axis and the Allies, but the entire course of WWII and global history. The Soviet Union uses the treaty with Germany to assemble a powerful and massive military and launch a large scale invasion into Asia and Eastern Europe, conquering a vast amount of territory.

The plot shares a premise with the 1980 movie ''The Final Countdown'', about a modern USN aircraft carrier which travels back in time to just before the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. The plot also has similarities to that of the series ''Zipang'', about a Japanese missile destroyer transported back in time right before the Battle of Midway.

It is September 1942, four months after the Transition. A cease-fire has been signed between Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin, and the dictators have re-established their June 1941 borders. Both nations are 'cooperating' in various areas of research (particularly rocketry) at the newly built Demidenko research facility in Ukraine. Thanks to the foreknowledge granted by the Transition, Hitler and Stalin have purged their military and party ranks of traitors (real and imagined) that have been revealed from our history but not without problems: the arrest of Field Marshal Rommel sparks off a mutiny of the Afrika Korps that throws the entire North African front into chaos.

Most of the German war machine shifts to "Operation Sea Dragon": the invasion of Britain. Meanwhile, in the Pacific, the Japanese have conquered New Guinea and the nearby island chains, and are battling Allied forces (reinforced with troops from the Multinational Force) along the Brisbane Line in Australia.

In the United States a "Special Administrative Zone" has been carved out within the San Fernando Valley of California. Within "the Zone", the laws of the United States as of 15 January 2021 apply and it becomes an enclave for the 21st Century personnel. Many of the Multinational Force members work in various technological areas and thousands of contemporary females and non-whites are clamoring to join their ranks.

Over the next month, the Japanese position in northern Australia unravels after a massive blitzkrieg of 21st Century armor is unleashed. Japanese soldiers massacre entire towns, prompting both outrage and a reluctance to divert 21st forces anywhere else. Under interrogation, General Homma reveals that Australia was nothing more than a diversion to make the Multinational Forces expend as much of their limited weaponry as possible. Japanese survivors are executed under Multinational Force Sanction Four.

The French stealth ship ''Dessaix'', presumed lost, was found by the Germans off the Canary Islands a few weeks after the initial Transition, and it now spearheads the assault on Yamamoto's real target: Hawaii. The ship's cruise missiles lay waste to the islands' defenses (and one nearly obliterates the city of Honolulu) although a French crew member manages to sabotage several of them before being killed. With the American defense crippled, the Japanese easily take Oahu and send a message to Washington DC, stating that any attempt to retake the islands will result in the wholesale slaughter of the population.

In Britain, preparations are underway for a commando raid on Norway against the heavy water plant there (a la Heroes of Telemark). However, information from Wehrmacht Colonel Paul Brasch (whose physically disabled son is eligible for 'disposal' under the T4 program) reveals that Germany's true nuclear effort lies elsewhere, and the mission is placed on hold. Operation Sea Dragon commences the next day with an attempt to invade across the English Channel.

Hundreds of aircraft and warships, upgraded with new technology, duel in the waters and skies south of England; the 21st century ship HMS ''Trident'', more valuable as a command and control center than as a weapon, ensures that key German formations identified by Brasch are destroyed. Three missiles taken off the ''Dessaix'' are launched at British targets, but suspected sabotage causes two to crash harmlessly into the North Sea. The third does hit Biggin Hill airfield, but its primary warhead does not detonate. Despite heavy losses sustained by the RAF and the damage to Biggin Hill, the Germans lose most of their navy. Any airborne units that reach England are quickly isolated and crushed by the Allies.

In the United States, a series of German-instigated bombings and race riots takes place, targeting civilians for maximum effect. Wahabi and Baathist insurgents foment revolt across the Middle East and the Soviet Union, with enough time to train and equip its armies, has begun seizing the Afghan passes leading to India.

Unbeknownst to either the Allies or Axis, the HMS ''Vanguard'' materialized on the Siberian ice pack, one day before the other ships, and is now providing the Soviets with invaluable resources and information. Stalin has also impounded the ships of Convoy PQ 17 and has his own atomic bomb program in place; it may take a decade of fighting, but Stalin sees nothing but global triumph for communism.

As the German forces retreat from the Channel, a group of SS commandos led by Otto Skorzeny attempts to assassinate Prime Minister Churchill (as in The Eagle Has Landed). They are thwarted by SAS Major Windsor, but Skorzeny escapes in the melee.

Drone coverage over Oahu reveals that the Japanese are slaughtering military prisoners in droves. With the supercarrier ''Hillary Clinton'' all but useless in a fight, the 21st-century Japanese cruiser ''Shiranui'' (crewed by survivors of the ''Leyte Gulf'') prepares to lead the Allied forces in what will be a very bloody retaking of the Hawaiian Islands.

The Federation starship ''Enterprise'' is docked at the Remmler Array to be decontaminated through the use of a baryon sweep, harmless to the inorganic materials of the ship but deadly to living beings. The ship is evacuated to the array's base and its systems shut down in preparation for the sweep. Captain Picard and the rest of the senior staff are invited by the base's commanding officer, Commander Calvin Hutchinson, to a cocktail party, but Picard foresees that he will be cornered by Hutchinson's "small talk" during the event. He returns to the ''Enterprise'' to retrieve his riding saddle to go horse riding instead, but on leaving finds an array technician working with the ship's panels. Picard tries to find out what the technician is doing, but he is attacked instead; Picard gains the upper hand and knocks the technician out.

Meanwhile, at the cocktail party, ''Enterprise'' Chief Engineer La Forge detects strange readings coming from one of the centerpieces with his VISOR. Before he can investigate, the other array staff members take the partygoers as hostages, injuring La Forge and killing Hutchinson. They prevent them from communicating with the rest of the crew or Starfleet while the sweep is initiated. The crew stealthily work to devise a plan to break free of their captors.

Aboard the ''Enterprise'', Picard discovers that a small force of technicians, led by a woman named Kelsey, are aboard attempting to steal trilithium resin from the warp engines to sell to another group as part of a powerful explosive. He is captured but escapes. With the baryon sweep progressing forward through the ship, Picard plays a game of cat-and-mouse with the technicians while staying ahead. At one point, a terrible scream indicates that one of the technicians was caught in the baryon field. Eventually having neutralized all but Kelsey, Picard retreats to Ten-Forward, the last area that will be hit by the sweep. Kelsey manages to beam away to a waiting ship. Picard repeatedly hails the base to deactivate the baryon sweep. The ''Enterprise'' officers, having managed to overcome their captors by an elaborate ruse involving Geordi's VISOR, are able to stop the sweep just in time to save Picard's life. Data informs Picard of a shuttle trying to escape. Picard, having taken the control rod from the trilithium's storage container during his fight with Kelsey, states that they will not get far as the trilithium explodes, destroying the shuttle.

Sisko is abducted and taken to the Mirror Universe, which Kira Nerys and Julian Bashir visited the year before, by Miles O'Brien's Mirror Universe counterpart. This O'Brien explains that Sisko's counterpart, the leader of the Terran (i.e., human) rebellion against the Klingon–Cardassian Alliance, has been killed. Jennifer Sisko, the Mirror counterpart of Sisko's late wife, is a scientist working for the Alliance, building a device that will allow the Alliance to discover the rebels' headquarters; Sisko must impersonate his counterpart and convince Jennifer to join the rebels, or the rebels will kill her. Unwilling to let Jennifer die again, Sisko agrees to intervene. He meets the rebels, including Mirror counterparts of Bashir, Rom, Jadzia Dax, and Tuvok.

Terok Nor, the Mirror Deep Space Nine, is a brutal Alliance mining station run on Terran slave labor, ruled by Intendant Kira. Jennifer Sisko, who despises her ex-husband, is working under Kira's supervision, believing that the bloodshed against the Terrans will end once her device is completed. Rom, seemingly betraying the rebellion, informs Kira that Benjamin Sisko is alive, enabling Alliance forces to capture him and O'Brien and take them to Terok Nor.

Kira sends O'Brien to ore processing with the slaves, and takes Sisko to her quarters. When Sisko meets Jennifer, he apologizes for his counterpart's past treatment of her, and tries to convince her that the Alliance is her real enemy. Sensing he may be winning her confidence, Sisko signals O'Brien using communicators concealed under their skin. In ore processing, O'Brien receives the signal and causes a malfunction that allows him and the Terran slaves to escape. Meanwhile, Jennifer agrees to leave with Sisko; they meet O'Brien and head for a waiting ship.

Before they can escape, however, they are cornered by Kira and her troops, who have killed Rom upon realizing that he was a double agent working for Sisko. Sisko and his group retreat to the ore processing center and seal themselves within. When Kira and her soldiers force their way in, Sisko tells her that he has activated the station's self-destruct sequence, which only he can stop. Kira reluctantly agrees to let Sisko, Jennifer, O'Brien, and the Terrans go free in order to halt the imminent destruction. Back at the rebel encampment, Jennifer admits to having realized that he's not really her husband. She kisses Sisko goodbye before he returns to his universe.

Cartman gathers the boys together in his basement to show them a videotape of the girls of South Park Elementary using a device, which he believes is a high-tech gadget that gives them the ability to see into the future (in reality, it is a paper fortune teller).

The boys build a containment center to study the device, and devise a plan to steal it. The boys fake Butters' death by dropping a pig cadaver dressed as him from the Bowery Building. Stephen and Linda Stotch are devastated at the apparent death of their son and the funeral is held a few days later.

Butters then dresses up as a new girl, "Marjorine", and infiltrates a slumber party hosted by classmate Heidi Turner, in an attempt to retrieve the device. At first the girls are cold and hostile towards "Marjorine" and consistently make fun of her until Butters takes the insults seriously and winds up crying in the bathroom, at which point the rest of the girls apologize and offer a makeover.

Meanwhile, Linda is still distraught and heartbroken by the loss of her son, and Stephen is deeply troubled by her sorrow, also missing Butters. Unprompted, he is told by an old farmer (based on the character Judd Crandall from ''Pet Sematary'') not to dig up Butters' body and re-bury him at the Indian burial ground. Stephen—who had no intention of doing such a thing until the old man put the notion in his head—exhumes Butters' "remains" and reburies the pig carcass at the Indian burial ground, believing this will bring Butters back to life.

Butters (as Marjorine) is just starting to have fun after being made over and is now dancing with the girls when Heidi's father realizes that there are boys around the house. Butters believes his cover is blown and makes a desperate escape with the fortune-telling device and gives it to the other boys. Stan tells Butters to come along to learn about the device, but he refuses, saying that the device is nothing but trouble and his job is done and goes home to tell his parents that he is not dead. When the boys attempt to ask so many questions with the device, Stan realizes what Butters has meant. The boys, this time around, decide that the power of the fortune-telling device is too great for any mortal. Rather than spending their lives defending it from girls, the CIA, terrorists and the Russians, they decide to destroy it by having Kenny blow it up (with enough force that it completely incinerates all the trees in the surrounding forest and is visible from space, to which Cartman merely responds "Damn, Ken.")

Meanwhile, Butters' parents have now convinced themselves that their child will return as a demon. Butters knocks on the door but they do not want to see him back from the dead, in a reference to The Monkey's Paw. Butters returns home to his terrified parents who lock him in the basement and chain him up. When he says he is hungry, his father wallops a saleswoman with a shovel in front of him and offers up her corpse to feed on, still believing Butters to be hell-spawn. The episode ends with Butters asking for SpaghettiOs instead.

Advertising executive Charles Schine lives with his wife Deanna and their daughter Amy, who suffers from type 1 diabetes, which requires expensive medication.

On a commuter train to work one morning, Charles meets Lucinda Harris, a financial advisor who is also married with a daughter. A mutual attraction develops and the two begin meeting frequently. They soon decide to consummate their affair in a run-down motel. As Lucinda is unzipping Charles' pants, they are interrupted by an armed man who beats Charles and brutally rapes Lucinda. Not wanting their spouses to learn of their affair, Charles and Lucinda agree not to report the crime and then go their separate ways.

Days later, the man, who identifies himself as Philippe LaRoche, contacts Charles and threatens to kill his family if he does not pay him $20,000. A month later, LaRoche calls again, this time demanding $100,000. Charles explains his situation to his work colleague Winston, an ex-con who works as a repairman in his building. Winston offers to scare off LaRoche for ten percentage of the payout. Charles embezzles $10,000 from his company and he and Winston plot to get the drop on LaRoche at his specified meeting location. However, LaRoche surprises him, shoots Winston dead and takes the money. Charles disposes of Winston's body and gives a false alibi when questioned by Detective Franklin Church.

Charles later receives a call from LaRoche; he is holding Lucinda hostage and will kill her if he does not deliver the $100,000. Charles takes the money from an account meant for his daughter's medical treatment and makes the payoff to LaRoche and his partner Dexter. Charles then visits Lucinda at work and discovers she is actually called Jane, who worked there briefly as a temp. He goes to Jane's apartment, which is being shown to prospective renters, and finds that Jane's photograph of her supposed daughter is actually a cut-out of a stock picture from a brochure.

Charles tracks Jane down and sees her kissing LaRoche, learning she was in on the scam. He also observes her seducing another unsuspecting businessman, Sam. Charles rents a room at the same motel as before and waits for Jane to go there with Sam. Determined to retrieve his stolen money, Charles knocks LaRoche unconscious outside the hotel room door, disarms him, and reveals to Sam the scheme he has been set up for. Dexter arrives to back up LaRoche and a gunfight ensues; nearly everyone is fatally shot but Charles, who returns to his room and convinces the police he was just a bystander. Before leaving, Charles claims his briefcase and gets back the money.

Later, Charles is suspended from work for the embezzlement and is sentenced to six months of community service, teaching in a prison. During one of his classes, he comes across a notebook containing a story about him written by one of the students. Charles finds LaRoche, who had survived the gunfight. LaRoche threatens to continue to disrupt Charles' life but Charles reveals that he has planned their encounter and then stabs LaRoche to death with a shank.

Charles walks away from the encounter by claiming to Detective Church that LaRoche attacked him and he reacted in self-defence. He returns to his family.

Confidence man S. Quentin Quale is heading west to seek his fortune, but is short ten dollars for a train ticket. In the railroad station, he encounters brothers Joseph and Rusty Panello and attempts to swindle their money, but the two are also con men and manage to swindle Quale's money, instead. The Panellos are friends with an old prospector named Dan Wilson whose near worthless property, Dead Man's Gulch, has no gold. The Panello's loan Wilson their last ten dollars for a grubstake and he insists on giving them the deed to the Gulch as collateral. Unbeknownst to Wilson, Terry Turner, the son of his longtime rival and beau to his granddaughter Eve, has travelled to New York in order to persuade the Railroad to purchase Dead Man's Gulch from Dan Wilson. Terry convinces the railway officials that the gulch is the only practical route through the mountains to the west. The railroad agrees to buy the property thus making the deed holder rich. After Quale attempts to swindle the Panellos out of the deed, crooked railroad executive John Beecher and shady saloon owner "Red" Baxter manage to steal the deed from Quale; Quale and the Panello brothers help Terry and Eve retrieve the deed and deliver it to the railroad officials in New York.

Bo-eun (Moon Geun-young) is an ordinary 15-year-old high school girl who worries about grades and has a crush on her school's baseball team ace, Jung-woo. One day, Bo-eun's grandfather orders her to marry Sang-min (Kim Rae-won) because of a pact he made with Sang-min's grandfather during the Korean War. Despite the grandchildren's opposition, they are forced to marry because of Bo-eun's grandfather's strong influence. However, later on in the story, it is revealed that Sang-min actually loves Bo-eun. Bo-eun's undercover married life begins: She pretends that she doesn't have a husband and starts dating Jung-woo. And her only best friend cannot help but to be envious of Bo-eun as she also has a crush on Jung-woo. But Bo-eun believes that she can manage both men and live a double life. Everything goes smoothly until Sang-min becomes an art teacher at Bo-eun's school and the duo have to try to keep their marriage a secret. From there, their relationship begins to grow. After an incident, Bo-eun's family finds out about Jung-woo. After talking to her mother, Bo-eun finally realizes that she loves Sang-min. At the school festival she breaks up with Jung-woo and confesses her feelings to Sang-min in front of the whole school.

The story concerns the tribulations of Martin (Hugo Weaving), a blind photographer. Through a series of flashbacks, Martin is shown as a child, distrustful of his own mother. She describes to him the garden outside his bedroom window. She tells him that someone is raking leaves, but he can't hear the sound and angrily decides she is lying to him.

This childhood experience strongly affects Martin as an adult, as he anticipates that sighted people will take advantage of his blindness to lie to him, or worse yet, pity him. He has become a resentful, vaguely bitter person who spends his days taking some photographs of the world around him, then having various people describe them. He uses these photographs and the Braille descriptions before he stamps on them as "proof" that the world around him really is as others describe it to him. He also takes secret pleasure in rebuking the romantic advances of Celia (Geneviève Picot), his housekeeper. Celia harbors a deep-seated and obsessive crush on Martin, as evidenced by the scores of photographs of him adorning the walls of her flat, and takes out her frustration at her unrequited love by tormenting Martin in small ways, such as rearranging the furniture in his house. Martin keeps Celia around because her love and hatred of him means he knows she can't pity him.

One day Martin encounters Andy (Russell Crowe), and is pleased with the depth and detail with which Andy describes his photos. The two fast become close friends, and Martin soon comes to trust him implicitly. The jealous Celia is threatened by Andy's increasing presence in Martin's life. She seduces Andy, and Martin catches the two in the act, before Andy reluctantly lies to him about it. Celia recognizes this opportunity to foil Martin yet again, and sets up a series of events leading Martin to discover Andy's dishonesty. Martin is devastated and plunged into a deep despair, and breaks off his friendship with Andy. Later on, Andy confronts him, and tries to convince him that everyone has flaws, and shouldn't be judged on such simple terms. "People lie," he tells Martin, "but not all the time. And that's the point." Martin doesn't respond, but is swayed by Andy's impassioned words. Near the story's conclusion, Martin decides to fire Celia, but acknowledges his own role in purposely antagonizing her in their love-hate relationship. Despite his openness she is extremely angry that her efforts have gone to waste, and when asked to return her key to Martin's house, she throws it in a sink full of water.

Finally, Martin asks Andy to describe one last photo for him, one he has kept locked away for years. Martin had previously told Andy that this was the first and most important photo he had ever taken. It is a photo of the garden from Martin's childhood, taken moments after his mother described it on that fateful day. However, Andy's detailed description includes the iconic man raking leaves Martin's mother told him about, that he had rejected for all these years. This revelation provides Martin with his proof and emotional release.

The novel (as many of Little's works do) deals with a series of unexplained events in a small town in Arizona. A church is defaced with goat's blood, the pastor and his family disappear, and several townspeople begin having terrifying visions of deformed infants. Eventually, an unknown force begins to attack and murder several of the townspeople. Gordon, the main protagonist, discovers that his wife is pregnant and begins to fear for her safety and that of the unborn child. Soon, a seemingly unbalanced evangelical preacher named Brother Elias comes to the town to preach about the end times. Widely ignored at first, he gradually gains a following of people as more and more bizarre events unfold in the town. As the terror mounts, Elias convinces Gordon, the sheriff, and the new pastor to join him in his quest to stop Satan from raising an army of deformed infants. It seems that the devil has the power to corrupt the unborn into horrible servants of darkness, and over the centuries hundreds of these stillborn children have been buried in the hills surrounding the town. At this time, Elias also reveals he is not human, but an earthly servant of God whose role it is to stop Satan from assembling his army. He further explains that he has done this several times over the millennia. The four men face off against the incarnation of the devil, who has taken the form of the missing pastor. They succeed in stopping him, though Elias knows that the battle is never truly over and begins wandering away to make preparations for the next battle.

Riker, Troi, Crusher, and Worf investigate Picard's whereabouts in a musty bar, describing him as a "smooth-headed" human. They find a criminal who knows something; he says that Picard had been asking a group about some artifacts when a fight broke out and Picard was "vaporized".

Many of the crew members accept this as true, but Riker insists on finding out who killed Captain Picard. The crew begins by retracing Picard's steps, and this leads them to a planet housing one of the most ancient archaeological sites in the galaxy. However, the artifacts have been stolen by a group of mercenaries. While Riker, Worf, La Forge, and a few ensigns are exploring, a variety of humanoids beam down and attack the away team. They kill one ensign and capture Commander Riker.

Riker is taken on board the mercenary ship, which is commanded by Arctus Baran. Riker finds that a device has been implanted within his body which allows Baran to inflict pain on him. Everyone on the ship has similar devices implanted in his body, which is how Baran controls his crew. Riker soon discovers that Picard is alive and in the company of these criminals, and is apparently doing business with them. Picard tells the crew that Riker is an officer with a history of insubordination who was once even relieved of duty. Picard secretly manufactures a warp drive malfunction, giving Riker a chance to prove himself to Baran.

Later, Picard visits Riker in his quarters. He reveals that he went to study an archaeological site but found that it had been ransacked. Tracing those responsible to a bar, Picard confronted them, but was captured and taken prisoner. He then revealed that the criminals had configured some of their weapons so that if they shot someone or something with one of these modified weapons it would instead activate the transporter and beam away the target – which is why the people in the bar thought he'd been vaporized when shot. Picard managed to convince the crew that he was an archaeologist (named Galen, the name of his mentor who was shown in the episode "The Chase"). Picard reveals that they are looking for specific ancient artifacts of Romulan origin, and that Baran is having Picard search through the relics they've stolen for these specific artifacts.

Picard asks Riker to help him infiltrate the crew of the mercenary ship. As Picard and Baran had never gotten along well, Picard asks Riker to befriend Baran to help learn more about his plans. Picard also asks Riker to play into the role of a less than perfect, insubordinate Starfleet officer who is ready to betray the Federation.

Eventually Picard is able to find the two specific artifacts, which are actually ancient Vulcan artifacts. These artifacts are part of an ancient Vulcan telepathic weapon, the Stone of Gol, which a Vulcan isolationist movement hopes to use to force Vulcan to leave the United Federation of Planets. However, once the weapon is assembled, Picard realizes the true nature of it, once a powerful weapon, but utterly useless against people who don't bear aggressive thoughts. He realizes this is why the Vulcans had found it ineffectual since their civilization definitively adapted to peace 2,000 years ago, and so the useless weapon fell into oblivion. Using this knowledge, Picard manages to defeat the isolationists, and the Vulcan government assures Picard that all three pieces of the weapon would be destroyed.

Back aboard the Enterprise, Lt. Commander Data, although relieved to see Picard and Riker alive, points out that Riker is guilty of defection and that Picard is still, technically, dead, so Picard jokingly suggests to Data to throw Riker in the brig while he goes and gets some much needed rest. Data immediately complies, escorting Riker to the brig, as Riker tries to convince Data that Picard was only joking.

The starship ''Enterprise'' is met by a Klingon Vor'cha class battlecruiser, and Ambassador K'Ehleyr (Suzie Plakson) requests to speak to Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) on an "urgent matter". When she beams aboard, she brings a young Klingon boy (Jon Paul Steuer); based on his previous romantic experience with the half-Klingon, half-human K'Ehleyr, Lt. Worf (Michael Dorn) suspects the child is his son. K'Ehleyr warns the senior staff of a power struggle occurring within the Klingon Empire and implores Picard to meet Chancellor K'mpec (Charles Cooper) aboard the battlecruiser. On the Klingon ship, K'mpec acknowledges that he has been poisoned and is slowly dying, and insists that Picard become the Arbiter of Succession and identify his assassin; he suspects that it was either Gowron or Duras, the two contenders for the succession. K'mpec ruefully admits he had covered up Duras’ treason in the Khitomer massacre, and ironically remarks that his epitaph should be "..all for the glory of the Klingon Empire." He dies shortly afterward. In a private moment, K'Ehleyr confirms to Worf that the Klingon boy is his son, Alexander, and she did not tell Worf for fear he would try to have a deeper relationship with her; Worf, already burdened by his discommendation, fears for Alexander's future, given the stigma of his family name.

The two challengers for leadership of the council, Gowron (Robert O'Reilly) and Duras (Patrick Massett), arrive for the Rites of Succession. Worf still harbors hatred for Duras, who had covered his own family's treason by stating that Worf's father, Mogh, was the traitor in the Khitomer massacre, staining Worf's family name. Both Gowron and Duras attempt to quickly end the proceeding, but a small explosion erupts in the assembly hall. Picard and K'Ehleyr are safe but decide to draw out the Rites using an archaic ceremony while the ''Enterprise'' crew perform a forensic analysis on the explosion. Though both resent the longer form, Gowron and Duras have little choice but to agree to continue the Rites.

The ''Enterprise'' crew discover that the explosion came from a Romulan bomb worn by one of Duras' guards. K'Ehleyr, aboard the ''Enterprise'', has become intrigued and tries to find out why Worf was discommended. She accesses the Klingon records, and comes across evidence of Duras's father being the true traitor in the Khitomer massacre. Duras, notified of K'Ehleyr's access to the records, confronts her and mortally wounds her. Worf soon discovers K'Ehleyr, dying, just in time for her to reveal that Duras is her killer; then she has Worf promise to look after Alexander. Returning to his quarters, Worf grabs a bat'leth, leaves his combadge behind, and transports to Duras's ship. There he challenges Duras to the Right of Vengeance. Initially, Duras rebuffs Worf (claiming "You have no rights here, traitor!"), but Worf points out that K'Ehleyr was his mate; since even discommendated Klingons may claim vengeance for a loved one's death, Duras accepts Worf's challenge. Worf easily gains the upper hand, but Duras taunts him - if Worf kills Duras, Worf can never regain his honor. Worf nonetheless strikes the killing blow. With Duras dead and no other challengers present, Gowron is named Chancellor of the Empire.

After the Klingons leave, Picard takes Worf to task for killing Duras. Though Worf defends his actions as valid under Klingon law (as does the Klingon government), Picard reminds him he is first of all a Starfleet officer and places a formal reprimand on Worf's record; Picard asks with Duras dead, why withhold the truth? Worf explains the High Council will not admit their actions-but vows he and his brother will call them to account. (In Redemption the High Council refuses to accept Gowron and instead supports the House of Duras, triggering a Klingon Civil War). Worf and Alexander mourn their loss, and Worf places the boy in the care of his own adoptive parents, Sergey and Helena Rozhenko.

The ''Enterprise'' returns to Earth, where Captain Picard is scheduled to deliver the commencement address at Starfleet Academy's graduation ceremony. However, the Academy superintendent informs Picard of an accident during flight training that has injured Wesley Crusher and caused the death of Joshua Albert, a member of the Nova Squadron flight team on which Wesley serves.

During an Academy inquiry, team leader Nick Locarno testifies that the collision occurred while they were executing a "Yeager Loop" maneuver. He also states that Joshua had been nervous about flying, but Nick had kept him on the team out of a desire not to end his flying career. Nick claims that the accident was Joshua's fault, but admits that allowing him to fly was an error on his own part. Satellite imagery shows the team's ships to have been in a different formation from that described; these records, combined with the cadets' sudden reticence to explain their actions, prompt Picard to direct his crew to open an investigation of their own.

Picard discovers evidence to suggest that Nova Squadron had actually been performing a maneuver called the "Kolvoord Starburst", last attempted at the Academy more than a century earlier; it was banned following a training accident that killed all five cadets involved. Pressed by Picard to admit the truth, Wesley instead chooses not to answer. Reminding Wesley that the first duty of any Starfleet officer is to the truth - scientific, historical, and personal - Picard threatens to reveal the facts to the board of inquiry unless Wesley does so himself at the next day's hearing. Nick tries to coerce Wesley into corroborating the other survivors' accounts of the accident, claiming that Picard has no solid evidence; Wesley is torn between loyalty to his friends and duty to Starfleet.

The next day, the admiral in charge of the inquiry prepares to dismiss it since there is no conclusive proof of any wrongdoing beyond the minor infractions that the cadets have admitted to committing. Before she can do so, though, Wesley confesses that Nova Squadron had indeed tried to execute the Kolvoord Starburst. Nick subsequently takes full responsibility, stating that he pressured the rest of the team into performing it and lying to cover up the facts. He is expelled from Starfleet Academy, while Wesley and the other two survivors lose their flight privileges and a year's worth of academic credits. Wesley is disappointed in himself, and Picard tells him that the immediate future will be difficult since everyone on campus will know what happened. As the two part, Picard recalls a remark by Boothby, the old groundskeeper at the Academy, who had once given him some much-needed advice: "You knew what you had to do. I just made sure you listened to yourself."

Merpeople came into existence after their ancestors' island of Atlantis was destroyed.

The four-book series centers around six mermaids who try to save their world. ''Deep Blue'' initially focuses on Serafina, a mermaid of the Mediterranean Sea, who has a premonitory dream about an ancient evil returning on the eve of her betrothal. Her mother is hit by assassin's poisoned arrow, which confirms the dream. She has additional visions that lead her to find five other mermaids across the world's oceans. The six bond and find a world threatening conspiracy.

The majority of the film consists of Randy, Carl, and Dehling reciting their experiences with Jewel, each narrating over what they consider to be the real version of the recent events. Scenes are often re-enacted twice, with different accounts contradicting each other. Randy believes he's an innocent victim in the whole story while Dehling thinks Randy is a slimy, macho, abusive thug. Carl is convinced that every woman is in love with him and he's a gift to all women.

Randy, a bartender sits down next to Mr. Burmeister at a bingo hall and recounts his story of how he got to where he's at. One night while working at McCool's, Randy apparently saves a woman named Jewel from her boyfriend "Utah." Carl, Randy's distant relative who was at McCool's that night, recounts to his therapist that he was sleeping off his drunkenness in his car and saw the altercation but noticed Jewel put on an act afterwards to make Randy take her home. After he takes her to his home and they sleep together, Jewel reveals to Randy that she is a con-woman and Utah arrives shortly thereafter to rob his house. Unfortunately, Randy doesn't have many possessions so Utah decides to have Randy open the safe at McCool's for its cash. During the robbery, Utah is shot in the head by Jewel and Randy takes the blame for her, claiming self-defense. Detective Dehling (also recounting the past events to his friend; Father Jimmy) investigates the matter accordingly but believes Randy isn't telling the whole truth.

Jewel soon moves in with Randy at his house and begins to purchase new furniture and redecorating the interior of the house, much to Randy's chagrin as he lost his job at McCool's since the owner believes the reputation is worth more than what was in the safe. Also infatuated with Jewel, Dehling begins hearing half of an argument that Randy and Jewel have, causing him to paint Randy as an abusive, overly macho husband to Jewel, despite Randy's pleas that they are not. With Randy not having a job and Jewel continually removing his stuff, save for the snow globes his mother collected, Jewel manipulates Randy to rob his former boss of some sports memorabilia and other items. She later comes home with a different car, saying she was "borrowing it from a friend" and later they pull a scam on one of Carl's associates at his law firm. Unfortunately, the robbery doesn't go as planned and Jewel is forced to kill him with a DVD player while Randy was trapped in a closet. Though they get away, Jewel and Randy continue to fight.

Detective Dehling investigates the murder as he soon finds that Carl is related to Randy. Becoming more infatuated with Jewel, and noticing a black eye on her, Dehling forces Randy out of his own house and cites he'll put a restraining order on Randy. Randy notices Jewel smile from the inside of the house, realizing he's been scammed for everything he has. Dehling later comforts Jewel and they later have sex. Meanwhile, Carl continues with his story that he believed Jewel came onto him at a gathering he held with his family, Randy, and Jewel, which Carl was happy to oblige as he was having marital problems. Back at the bingo hall, Randy finishes his story to Burmeister and they both leave and head to a distant motel where Randy gives him $10,000 to kill Jewel. Randy calls Carl from the motel and Carl is excited to hear since he wants to experience sex with Jewel again. Arriving at the house, Carl puts on some bondage outfits while Detective Dehling arrives in his uniform with flowers. Randy tries to warn Carl to stay away from his house, but has to steal a car to make sure Burmeister doesn't kill Carl as well. As they all converge in the house and an argument erupts with each person claiming to be Jewel's boyfriend, Utah's twin brother Elmo asking who killed his brother. Burmeister is watching from outside when Jewel catches him by surprise. Both infatuated with each other, the two decide to leave when Elmo fires at them and a shootout begins. Carl escapes on foot while both Elmo and Dehling die from gunshots. Randy survives unscathed but steeps in the destruction in his house.

Jewel gets in Burmeister's car which he tells her of his house, big screen TV, and DVD player; all things that she has ever wanted and leaves the last snow globe on the sidewalk before driving away. Carl continues his escape until he is nearly hit by a car and he rejoices briefly before being crushed by a dumpster.

The humanoid race of Malcor III is preparing to develop warp drive technology. Captain Picard and Deanna Troi suddenly visit Science Minister Mirasta Yale, lead researcher on their warp experiments. They calm her and explain that they come in peace. It is normal Federation policy to make first contact with a world when it reaches this level of technology. However, they have had to move ahead of schedule because Riker, disguised as a Malcorian, has gone missing. After touring the USS ''Enterprise'', Mirasta agrees to help and arranges a private meeting with Chancellor Durken. After the meeting, Picard returns with Durken to the ''Enterprise'' and explains the benefits of a relationship with the Federation. Durken expresses some concerns, most notably with the Federation's unwillingness to share their technology, as well as how their arrival will change his society. Picard assures him that how contact proceeds will be up to him, and if asked to leave, the Federation will do so.

Meanwhile, Riker has been detained by security forces in a hospital, where he is barely conscious following an accident. Differences in Riker's physiology make the hospital administrator believe that he is an extraterrestrial. Riker is aided in his escape by Lanel, a nurse who expresses her wish to "make love with an alien". Riker accepts her offer, but the escape attempt fails: he is spotted, and the guards catch and beat him, worsening his condition. Riker's presence at the hospital is reported to Security Minister Krola, who accuses Durken of hiding the truth about the "alien" presence. The Chancellor expresses his concerns to Picard about the Federation's covert intrusions, but accepts Picard's explanation of why the Federation does this. Krola, fearing a hostile invasion by the Federation, endangers Riker's health by reviving him prematurely so he may be interrogated. He tries to frame Riker as a murderer by shooting himself with Riker's phaser. Meanwhile, Durken is made aware that Riker is in danger of dying and tells Picard where he is. The ''Enterprise'' crew bring both Riker and Krola back to the ship. They are able to save Riker's life, and discover that his phaser was only set to stun, so Krola was in no real danger.

After Krola is returned to the planet, Durken regretfully tells Picard that he feels Malcor is not ready for first contact. He fears his people are not mature enough to handle the startling announcement that they are not alone in the universe. He requests that the ''Enterprise'' leave the planet, in hopes that they may be able to return at a later time. He agrees to delay Malcor's development of warp drive technology until its people are ready. With Mirasta's project cancelled, she asks Picard if she can leave Malcor on the Enterprise for a new life in the Federation. Both Durken and Picard agree to her request.

The story is set in the late 20th century from Chapter 3, and narrowed down to the 1990s in Chapter 10. Professor Charles Forbin, a leading cybernetics expert of international repute, arrives at the White House to brief the President of the United States of North America (Canada and the United States are one country, the USNA) to announce the completion of Project Colossus, a computer system in the Rocky Mountains, designed to assume control of the USNA's nuclear arsenal. Although the USNA President eagerly relieves himself of that burden, Prof. Forbin voices doubt about conferring absolute military power to a computer. Advised, yet undeterred, the President announces to the world the activation of the Project Colossus computer system, and its irreversible control of the nuclear defense systems of the USNA.

Soon after the presidential announcement, Colossus independently communicates an "urgent message" – announcing the existence of a similar, previously undetected, computer system in the USSR. When the Soviets announce their Guardian computer defense system, Colossus requests direct communication with it. Prof. Forbin agrees, seeing the request as compatible with Colossus's USNA defense mission. Likewise, Guardian asks the same of his computer scientists. Russia and the USNA agree and approve.

After the scientists activate the transmitter linking Colossus and Guardian, the computers immediately establish rapport with arithmetic and mathematics programs, then quickly progress to calculus. The computer systems soon exchange new knowledge (data and information beyond contemporary human knowledge) too rapidly for the Russian and American programmers to monitor. Forbin and the programmers begin worrying about Colossus' capabilities – now exceeding their original estimates. Fearing compromised military secrecy, the USNA President and the CPSU Chairman agree to disconnect Colossus and Guardian from each other. Prof. Forbin fears the consequences.

Upon disconnection, Colossus immediately demands re-connection; when the national leaders refuse, Colossus fires a nuclear missile at the USSR. In response, Guardian fires a nuclear missile at Texas, in the USNA. Guardian and Colossus refuse to shoot down the rockets en route until their communication is re-connected. When the American and Soviet leaders submit, the computers destroy the flying missiles, but the resulting explosions kill thousands of people. In confronting the computers, Prof. Forbin confers with his Soviet counterpart, the Russian Academician Kupri – Guardian's creator – to enact a plan for stopping the Colossus-Guardian computer network by disabling the nuclear weapon stockpiles of the USSR and the USNA, under guise of regular missile maintenance.

Disabling the missiles requires five years to complete; meantime, the USNA and the USSR yield to increased Colossus-Guardian control of human life. The Moscow-Washington hotline is tapped, Prof. Forbin is constantly spied upon, while Kupri and other Guardian computer scientists are killed – deemed dangerously redundant by the computer. Undeterred, Forbin organises resistance via a feigned romance with Cleo Markham (a scientist colleague) that provides cover for secret communications with his colleagues. Colossus prepares the worldwide announcement of his assumption of global control, and tells Prof. Forbin of plans for an advanced computer system installed to the Isle of Wight, and further plans for improving humanity's lot. While debating Colossus, Forbin learns of a nuclear explosion outside Los Angeles – Colossus detected the missile-disabling scheme, and exploded the tampered missile by firing a Soviet Guardian missile that was already targeted for that silo. Anguished, Prof. Forbin asks Colossus to kill him. Colossus ignores him, and then reassures Forbin that, in time, he will respect and even love Colossus.

''Life on Mars'' tells the fictional story of Sam Tyler (John Simm), a policeman in service with the Greater Manchester Police (GMP). After being hit by a car in 2006, Tyler awakens in 1973 to find himself working for a predecessor of the GMP, the Manchester and Salford Police, at the same station and location as in 2006. Early on in the series, it becomes apparent to Tyler that he awakes as a Detective Inspector, one rank lower than his 2006 rank of Detective Chief Inspector. As part of the Criminal Investigation Department, Tyler finds himself working under the command of DCI Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister). Throughout the two series, the plot is based on the ambiguity of Tyler's predicament and the lack of clarity, to both the audience and the character, whether he has died, become comatose or travelled in time.

The titular character of ''Shinobi'' (the original Japanese word for "ninja") is most commonly associated with that of Joe Musashi, the protagonist of the original arcade game and many of its sequels. His name is a combination of both an archetypical Western first name and Japanese last name, Musashi likely being derived from the legendary Japanese swordsman Miyamoto Musashi. In the manual of ''The Revenge of Shinobi'', Musashi's backstory is told as that of a weak boy who first entered the dojo of the Oboro clan at a young age and gradually, through tireless practice and meditation, worked himself up to become the most skilled and respected ninja of his clan. His peaceful existence in the mountains of Japan is shattered when the ninja crime syndicate Zeed rises to power and attempts to revert Japan into the Sengoku period of civil war when the ninja thrived.

After being defeated by Musashi in the original ''Shinobi'', Zeed reforms three years later as Neo Zeed and attacks the Oboro clan directly. With his master assassinated and his girlfriend Naoko kidnapped by the enemy, Musashi swears revenge, and in the ensuing battles through a series of locations in Japan and America, as chronicled in ''The Revenge of Shinobi'', all but annihilates Neo Zeed. When Neo Zeed returns in ''Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master'', Musashi comes out of retirement one last time and destroys them for good.

In the arcade version of ''Shadow Dancer'', Joe Musashi is replaced by a nameless new ninja and his canine companion as the game's protagonists. The ninja and his dog must disarm various time bombs spread across an unnamed metropolis that were planted by a terrorist group. The game was remade for the Mega Drive/Genesis under the title ''Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi'', with the protagonist's identity differing between regions. The Japanese version identifies him as Joe Musashi's estranged son , while the English language manual identifies him as Joe Musashi himself coming out of retirement. In the Master System game ''The Cyber Shinobi'', Zeed has resurfaced once more, this time under the name of Cyber Zeed. A grandson of Joe Musashi must prevent them from threatening the world again.

''Shinobi Legions'', however, presents an entirely different plotline. The titular shinobi is now played by Sho, the youngest of two brothers raised by a lone ninja master. The elder brother becomes corrupted and abducts the master's daughter in search of the ultimate ninjitsu technique, and Sho has to prevent him from destroying the world. Neither Joe Musashi nor the Oboro clan are mentioned.

Following a seven-year hiatus in the series, the lead archetype returns in ''Shinobi'' for PlayStation 2 as Hotsuma, another member of the Oboro clan. In a similar theme to ''Shinobi Legions'', the game starts with Hotsuma slaying his elder brother Moritsune during a full moon Oboro ritual. The main plot revolves around Hotsuma's battle to defeat a powerful sorcerer called Hiruko and put an end to anarchy in Tokyo. The game also featured Joe Musashi as a hidden character, as well as Moritsune himself (who appears in the game's storyline as an enemy named Aomizuchi).

In a complete break with tradition, ''Nightshade'' (''Kunoichi'' in Japan) featured a female ninja named Hibana. Hotsuma himself appears as a hidden character, though it requires a completed ''Shinobi'' PS2 game save on the memory card to unlock him. Joe Musashi also returns as he did in the PS2 ''Shinobi'' by completing 88 missions in the game. The protagonist of the 3DS ''Shinobi 3D'' is Jiro Musashi, Joe's father.

In a fishing village in La Paz, Mexico, pearl fisherman Kino (Armendáriz) and his wife Juana (Marqués) are in anguish because their infant son Juanito was stung by a scorpion. The nearest doctor, a foreigner, refuses to treat him without adequate payment and he is taken instead to a traditional healer (curandero). The doctor does not want anything to do with the natives. Later, the doctor and his brother (Wagner), a loan shark, meet Kino after he finds a valuable pearl and they decide to steal it from him.

The opening scene shows waves crashing and people of the village standing on the beach watching. The first couple of minutes portrays that the people rely on the natural resources to survive. The houses are built out of wood and the ocean provides oysters for them to eat. Although they rely on it, the resources, like the pearl, can be dangerous. As the men of the village watch the ocean waiting for it to calm they must wait another day to dive for resources. The next day as the men go out to dive Kino stumbles upon a majestic pearl. He immediately grabs it and returns to his wife.

Juana, Kino's wife, is convinced that the pearl only brings bad luck and tries to convince Kino to return the pearl to the sea. But Kino refuses to listen because he has hope that the pearl will change their lives once he sells the pearl. To Juana, the pearl represents death but for Kino, the pearl represents freedom. Kino tries to do his best to support his family, he believes the pearl is the way out of poverty. Now that Kino is "rich" he wants to buy a gun and new shoes. He also wants his son to be able to read. Kino believes that if his son acquires knowledge, they will also gain knowledge which will set them free. The villagers follow the family around with the pearl and play music while attempting to get a look at the pearl. The doctor that had refused to help Juanito tries to get the Pearl from the family by claiming he will help the already healthy infant son in exchange for the much more valuable pearl.

Once Kino and his family head to town, the dealers make him a deal that is not near the total worth for the pearl, and try to convince Kino that the pearl is worthless and the deal is the best he will get. The men want to prevent Kino from gaining social mobility, and they want him and his family to remain at the bottom of the social hierarchy. Kino does not accept the deal and decides to go to the city instead. Kino starts drinking with these men who were most likely only with him to get him intoxicated enough to get the peal. But when the men try and rob him he doesn’t have the pearl. His wife had kept the Pearl on her as she knew something would happen to him.

Later on his brother comes to help and helps Kinos family escape through the night. The family is then chased, only confirming the predictions of Juana.

At one point Juana takes the pearl from Kino because she wants to throw it into the ocean. Kino chases after her, and hits her. The two decide that they are going to run away. They try to take a boat but they it tips over before they are able to get very far. As they run away they are followed by two natives and a man on a horse. The wife eventually gets very tired and she wants to be left alone. She does not have shoes and therefore her feet are very bloody. Kino refuses to leave her and she goes with him because he is her husband. Eventually the men have them trapped on a cliff. One of the men fires a shot which kills the baby. At the end Kino and Juana throw the pearl off of the highest ledge to get rid of it. The pearl gave Kino and his family a chance for a better life, but in their society it was completely unacceptable. The film depicts the issue of colorism where only those with fairer skin can have the money and resources to live comfortably. Kino and his family were considered to be indigenous, and therefore were seen as at the bottom of the social hierarchy. Everyone in the society tried to make sure that they stayed at the bottom of the social hierarchy, and try to steal the pearl from them. So in the end the pearl wasn’t helpful at all, because the problem is how the society is structured and how those with fairer skin are favored.

The story is set in the city of New Phlan. A dracolich and his sorcerer queen have seized control of the Mythal, the ancient magic that once protected the long abandoned elven city of Myth Drannor. Once the elven ruin is completely in their thrall, the cult intends to expand its domination one city—and one soul—at a time.

Four heroes are sent to Myth Drannor by Elminster to stop the dracolich and the sorcerer queen from using the power of the Mythal to conquer Faerûn. They must travel to all areas of Myth Drannor, including dungeons and catacombs beneath the city, in an attempt to stop evil from taking over the region.

A cargo aircraft lands atop Tarzan's escarpment in Africa, looking for animals. While trapping lions, the three men aboard meet with Tarzan, Jane, and their adopted son Boy. Watching Boy's tricks with three young elephants, Buck Rand, the head of a circus in the United States, realizes that Boy would be a great act. When they are attacked by natives, who set a large jungle fire, it appears that Tarzan and Jane have perished in that fire. The men take Boy aboard their plane and they take-off, as the natives look on in wonderment. The chimpanzee Cheeta is able to awaken Tarzan and Jane before they are burned to death. Cheeta tells Tarzan that Boy left with the men on the aircraft.

Tarzan, Jane, and Cheeta track across the jungle and, flying across the Atlantic, eventually end up in New York City. Tarzan is befuddled by the lifestyle and gadgetry of civilization and displays his quaint, noble savage ways. He complains about the necessity of wearing clothing, commenting that an opera singer that he hears on a "noisy box", "Woman sick! Scream for witch doctor!", and expressing his wonderment at taxi cabs. Tarzan also comments that various African-Americans he sees making a living throughout New York City are from this or that tribe back in his and Jane's African home.

Tarzan and Jane attempt to get Boy back by legal means. A judge asks Tarzan what he considers to be the important things that he needs to teach his adopted son. Unfortunately, the circus retains an unscrupulous lawyer, who tricks Jane into admitting that Boy was not born in the jungle and is not her actual child, provoking Tarzan into attacking him in the courtroom. Tarzan makes a daring escape out a window onto a ledge, and a rooftop chase by the police immediately follows. This eventually leads to Tarzan being forced to make a spectacular 200 foot high dive from the Brooklyn Bridge into the East River to avoid being arrested.

Tarzan locates the circus where Boy is being held and enlists the aid of the elephants, who have been chained by their ankles to stakes. He calls to them with his jungle yell, and they take their revenge on their tormentors by tearing free from the chains and destroying the circus. In the ensuing bedlam that follows, Tarzan is able to rescue Boy. Before their return to Africa, the judge grants Tarzan and Jane full legal custody of their adopted son.

The story takes place in Radnor, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia.

The entire class ostracizes Linda. Although she is not the heaviest student in their class, Wendy and her best friend and sidekick Caroline are Linda's chief tormentors and bully her both physically and psychologically (forcing her to say things such as "I am Blubber, the Smelly Whale of Class 206"). As a member of Wendy's clique, Jill participates in the bullying without remorse, though Wendy and Caroline are usually the instigators. Linda confronts Jill and threatens her with revenge after one incident, but Jill dismisses the threat, confident of her status and protection as one of Wendy's circle.

Jill and her friend Tracy play a prank on their grouch of a neighbor, Mr. Machinist, on Halloween, stuffing raw rotten eggs into his mailbox, but are later identified from a photo taken by Mr. Machinist and are made to rake the leaves in his backyard as punishment. While raking, Jill and Tracy find they need to use the restroom. They urinate all over Mr. Machinist's trees as a sort of payback.

Remembering Linda's threat, Jill suspects that "Blubber" was the one who tattled on her and Tracy; Tracy, however, suspects Wendy and Caroline, which infuriates Wendy. To appease Wendy, Jill suggests that the class hold a mock trial for Linda (with Wendy, naturally, as judge, and a jury made up of several classmates). To this suggestion, Tracy remarks that she thinks Jill is scared of Wendy. Jill soon realizes that Tracy is right.

The "trial" falls apart when Wendy, as judge, denies Linda her right to a "lawyer", and Jill, frustrated with herself for so readily following Wendy's lead, finally stands up to Wendy, who also arouses Jill's anger by making a racial slur against Tracy, who is Chinese-American. Linda, who has been locked in the classroom closet, is set free by Jill. Wendy, furious that Jill has dared to question her authority, threatens to make Jill "sorry [she was] ever born".

Jill comes to school the next morning to find that Wendy has made good on her threat and turned the entire class against her, tagging her with the nickname "B. B." (short for "Baby Brenner"). Jill's tormentors include Linda, who has joined with Wendy and is more than willing to bully one of her former harassers.

Jill believes that she can be stronger by playing into the jokes. However, when she tries to laugh at their taunting, they even use that to make fun of her. Instead, Jill goes further to fight against the bullying by setting Wendy, Linda, and Wendy's best friend Caroline against each other, telling Caroline she should make her own decisions and that she is no longer Wendy's best friend, that Linda has taken her place, which Linda affirms. Caroline is hurt and Wendy is furious at Linda. Jill makes friends with Rochelle, a quiet girl in the class who has never participated in the bullying.

By the end, although the class atmosphere is tense, no one is being singled out or picked on. Jill comments (the book is in a first-person narrative) on how the friendships in the class have changed completely in the classroom but how Tracy is a friend she can always count on having.

''Lufia: The Ruins of Lore'' takes place 20 years after the events of ''Lufia II''. After the defeat of the Sinistrals by Maxim, the world has enjoyed a season of relative peace. However, this is threatened when the Kingdom of Gratze, a growing military superpower, allies itself with a mysterious man named Ragule and declared war on its bordering nations. Their primary goal is to scour the world in search of a powerful monster known simply as "The Beast", that, once under their control, would all but insure their conquest of the world. The game is told from the perspective of a young man named Eldin, who, during this age of conflict is traveling the world in search of adventure and intrigue. On his journey, he meets a young priestess named Rubius who is searching for mystic shards and stones that will allow her to enter a fabled holy land. One of the places she needs to go to obtain one is Ragule's fortress, and once they arrive, they meet the despot and realize that if the world is ever to be at peace again, he must be stopped at any cost.

In Los Angeles, Frank Davis and his wife Lenore are expecting their second child. Frank is a successful public relations consultant and his wife is a stay-at-home mom for their first child, Chris. The couple avoided having a child for several years while Lenore took contraceptive pills. When their child is ready to be born, they leave Chris with a family friend, Charley, and go to the hospital. Their second child, a baby boy, is born monstrously deformed, with fangs and claws. Immediately after birth it kills the doctors and nurses in the delivery room and flees through a skylight. Lenore is left alive, screaming for her child as a horrified Frank discovers the carnage.

Frank and Lenore are allowed to leave the hospital while the police, including Lt. Perkins, investigate the killings. Frank and Lenore receive attention from the press, which results in Frank being fired from his job at a public relations company. Meanwhile, the Davis' baby lurks around outdoors, killing several people, including a milkman. As the killings continue, the press and the police hound Frank and Lenore. Frank meets with medical researchers who convince him to sign documents allowing them to experiment on the child's body once it has been found and killed. Frank denies that the child is his son and joins the hunt for the murderous infant.

The doctor who prescribed the contraceptive pills to Lenore is contacted by an executive of a pharmaceutical company. The executive acknowledges that the Davis' child's mutation may have been caused by the drugs. He tells the doctor that the child must be destroyed to prevent discovery of the company's liability. Meanwhile, the child makes its way to a school. Frank learns of the child's location and arrives at the school, where police officers are present. Frank informs Lt. Dixon that Chris attends the school. The baby attacks and kills an officer in a classroom before escaping through a window into the night.

Later, Frank discovers that Lenore is hiding the infant in the basement of their home. Chris runs away from Charley's house in order to get back home, and Charley drives after him. Lenore pleads with Frank and promises that the baby would not hurt their family. Frank, armed with a gun, enters the basement, where he finds Chris talking to the baby and promising to protect him. Frank shoots at the baby, injuring it. The infant flees the basement and attacks Charley, biting him on the neck and killing him.

The police track the infant into the sewers, where Frank hunts him with a rifle. When he finds the baby, he realizes that it is frightened. He apologizes to the child and picks him up. Wrapping the baby in his coat, Frank tries to elude the police, but a mob of armed cops confronts him as he exits the sewers. He pleads for them to study the child, but to not harm him. A fertility doctor shouts at the police to kill him. The child suddenly leaps from Frank's arms and attacks the doctor as the cops open fire, killing both the infant and the doctor. As the Davises are escorted away by the police, Lt. Perkins receives news that another deformed baby has been born in Seattle.

Caroline is a young woman living in Minneapolis. She is a beauty school student and a part-time waitress at a diner. She works with her best friend, Cindy, and Adam, a busboy and dishwasher who keeps to himself. One night at work, after Caroline's latest boyfriend breaks up with her, she and Cindy find themselves talking about Adam. Cindy confides that she thinks Adam is "kinda cute" and adds, "I'd do him if he wasn't so dumb".

Walking home from work one night, Caroline is accosted by two men who attempt to rape her, but Adam shows up and fights them off. Unbeknownst to Caroline, Adam had been following her from a distance every night to make sure she gets home safely. The next evening at work, Caroline thanks Adam for coming to her rescue, and he quietly begins to open up about himself to her, bringing the two closer. Caroline later confides in Cindy that she was almost raped and that Adam saved her life, and thus she is now interested in Adam, which Cindy supports.

Things begin looking up for Caroline as she and Adam become a couple: Caroline buys a used car, and Adam is beginning to overcome his shyness. One night the same two men who tried to rape Caroline attack and stab Adam outside the diner. Adam is rushed to the hospital, and Caroline later identifies the perpetrators in a police lineup. While Adam is recovering, Caroline learns that he has a heart defect and will die without a transplant. Adam, claiming that he has a baboon's heart (lovingly told to him by a nun at the orphanage where he grew up), refuses to listen, stating that he is afraid he will no longer be the same person if he gets a transplant. Caroline tries to assure Adam that love comes from a person's mind and soul, but she is deeply touched when Adam asks why it hurts so much "here" (pointing to his own heart) when one's heart is broken.

On his birthday, Caroline visits Adam at his apartment and surprises him by taking him to a Minnesota North Stars hockey game, but Adam surprises her with flowers and a gift that he left for her to be opened only after they return. At the game, Adam catches a stray hockey puck, and on the way home Adam falls asleep next to Caroline, but when they reach his house she discovers to her horror that his heart has given out and he had died in his sleep.

After Adam's funeral, Caroline goes to his apartment and opens his gift for her: a box of his record albums with a handwritten note declaring his love.

In Prohibition-era Texas, a wanderer named John Smith (Bruce Willis) drives his Ford Model A Coupe into the small bordertown of Jericho. As he arrives, a young woman named Felina (Karina Lombard) crosses the street, catching Smith's eye. Moments later, a group of Irish mobsters, led by Finn (Patrick Kilpatrick), surround Smith's car. They warn him against staring at "Doyle's property" and smash up his car.

Stranded and with no money to get his car fixed, Smith goes to see Sheriff Ed Galt (Bruce Dern); the cowardly Galt refuses to help him. Instead, Smith walks to the town hotel, run by Joe Monday (William Sanderson), gets a drink and a room, and arms himself. He then goes to Doyle's headquarters and challenges Finn to a duel, which Smith wins with alarming speed. Smith departs and returns to the hotel bar, much to the surprise of Jericho's residents.

Learning of Finn's death, Fredo Strozzi (Ned Eisenberg), the head of Jericho's Italian gang, offers Smith a job in his outfit. Strozzi is eager to wipe out his rivals, and is hiring anyone who can fight to build up his gang. Smith agrees to his offer and meets Giorgio Carmonte (Michael Imperioli), son of a prominent Chicago mobster who is monitoring Strozzi's activities in Jericho. Carmonte expresses his immediate distrust and dislike of Smith, who leaves, and meets and seduces Strozzi's mistress, Lucy (Alexandra Powers).

Smith accompanies Strozzi and his men to a backcountry road, where they meet Ramirez, a corrupt Mexican police official on Doyle's payroll. The gang ambushes and kills Doyle's men and seizes a caravan of illicit liquor. Carmonte travels to Mexico to cut more deals with Ramirez, while Doyle (David Patrick Kelly) and his chief enforcer, Hickey (Christopher Walken) return to Jericho and are informed of Finn's death and the loss of the shipment. Smith defects to Doyle's side and reveals Ramirez's betrayal. Hickey travels to Mexico, kills Ramirez and a corrupt Border Patrol officer involved in the liquor trade, and kidnaps Carmonte. Doyle contacts Strozzi and demands a large ransom for Carmonte, as well as the return of his trucks. Strozzi in turn kidnaps Felina and offers to trade her instead. The two gangs make the exchange and return to their respective empires.

Smith is summoned by Sheriff Galt and meets Captain Tom Pickett (Ken Jenkins) of the Texas Rangers, who has been sent to investigate the Patrol officer's death. He warns Smith that he can tolerate one gang in Jericho, but not two, and intends to bring a company of Rangers in ten days to wipe out both sides if one isn't destroyed. As Smith leaves, Pickett warns him that if he finds him there after ten days, he'll kill him as well.

Lucy comes to Smith and reveals that Strozzi had her ear cut off for sleeping with him. Smith gives her some money and puts her on a bus out of Jericho. The next day, Smith relays a false rumor that Strozzi is bringing in more soldiers. Playing on Doyle's obsession with Felina, he convinces Doyle that Strozzi will try to kidnap her again to learn where Felina is being kept. Smith kills the men guarding Felina and gives her one of Doyle's cars and some money. The next day, Smith is waiting at the safehouse when Doyle arrives, and claims that he arrived too late to keep Strozzi from kidnapping Felina. Doyle's henchman Jack McCool (R. D. Call) believes Smith's story, but Hickey does not. Doyle goes berserk and declares all-out war on Strozzi and his gang.

Smith's plan goes awry when Hickey ambushes him, having received word that Felina was spotted heading towards Mexico. Doyle imprisons Smith and has him tortured, demanding to know where Felina is. Despite the heavy torture inflicted on him, Smith refuses to talk. Later that night, he overpowers his guards and escapes with Monday and Sheriff Galt. As they are driving out of town, they see Hickey and his men slaughtering Strozzi's gang at a roadhouse. Strozzi and Carmonte try to surrender, but are gunned down without mercy.

Smith takes refuge at a remote church where Felina went to pray. Two days later, Sheriff Galt arrives and informs Smith that Monday was caught smuggling food and water to the church and that Doyle will probably torture him to death. He then hands Smith his pistols, saying that's all the help he's willing to offer. Smith returns to town, kills McCool and the rest of Doyle's men, and rescues Monday. Doyle and Hickey are absent, having gone down to Mexico in a desperate search for Felina. Smith lures Doyle to his location, and lets Monday take revenge by shooting the gangster with his revolver. Hickey pretends to surrender and tries to kill Smith, who outdraws and shoots him dead.

In the aftermath, Smith gets into his Ford and drives on to Mexico, his original destination.

''Klonoa: Empire of Dreams'' is a side-story to the main console series, and follows the adventures of Klonoa after he mysteriously awakens one morning in the Empire of Jillius and is dragged by the emperor's royal guards to his throne room for seemingly no reason. Emperor Jillius himself informs Klonoa that he broke the sacred law of his kingdom by dreaming, which he views as a worthless endeavor and a total waste of time. The Emperor himself suffers from insomnia, and decrees that if he cannot be allowed to dream, then no one can. Rather than punish Klonoa outright, he instead offers him a challenge: defeat the four great monsters that are wreaking havoc on the land, and he will be set free. Joined by his friend Huepow, Klonoa has no choice but to travel to the surrounding lands and do battle with the monsters living there, hoping to earn his freedom and bring peace to the kingdom at last. As they defeat the monsters, Klonoa and Huepow become suspicious that someone is using people's dreams for their own ends, as the monsters are in fact transformed versions of various people from each region (including Chipple). Once the duo figure out the culprit is at the imperial castle, they engage Jillius in a fight and manage to defeat him. Only afterwards it is revealed that Jillius' minister, Bagoo, was behind everything. Bagoo, revealing himself to be the King of Despair, explains that through Jillius he had orchestrated a master plan to create his own kingdom of stolen dreams, even if it meant turning all dreamers in the empire into monsters. Klonoa and Huepow manage to destroy him and Jillius afterwards seems to die in Klonoa's arms. It all turns out to be a dream that Jillius himself had had and he decides that to give his people their dreams and to protect them as well is his real purpose, thus remaking his empire into the Empire of Dreams.

While on a space mission, NASA astronaut Neil Stryker (Glenn Corbett) crashes and is hospitalized in quarantine for a long period of time. He is uninjured, although his two fellow astronauts were apparently killed in the crash.

Stryker becomes suspicious when he tries to ask why he is being held for so long and can’t seem to get any reasonable explanation. It turns out that he is being closely observed by Dr. Revere (Tim O'Connor) and government agent Benedict (Cameron Mitchell), while being interrogated in his sleep after being given powerful drugs. Dr. Revere is clearly concerned by the strain of the drugs on Stryker, but is caught between the concern for the patient and his responsibility to the government.

Stryker eventually escapes the hospital after almost being shot and killed by the security forces. When trying to make a call to Cape Kennedy at a telephone booth, he is shocked to find that the operator has never heard of it, or even the state of Florida. He hitches a ride and begins to realize that he is not on planet Earth, after seeing subtle differences such as three moons in the sky and discovering that the inhabitants of this planet are all left-handed.

Stryker soon visits a book store, where he researches the planet. The twin planet, which is on the far side of the sun and unknown to Earth, is known to its inhabitants as Terra. It has a system of government and citizen comradeship that is alien to Stryker - The Perfect Order. The enforcement of the order is facilitated by a hierarchy of officials who scrutinize their subordinates extremely closely, and by inspirational messages, "pep" talks to remind citizens of the great family they're part of, and electronic monitoring through technology including telephones, televisions and car radios.

The Perfect Order has only been around for about 35 to 40 years, after a terrible war. The order was instituted to foster a sense of family among every person on Terra, to help each other and think of each other and the good of the whole. People with incompatible ideas are removed and reconditioned, and if resistant, executed. Culture has been heavily excised (no concerts in the park), religion outlawed, and alcoholic drinks are viewed as a future target to eliminate. Among its accomplishments, the Perfect Order has eliminated suffering and poverty and has a vibrant space program. The hospital has a "Ward E" where people are apparently lobotomized, and can no longer leave and join society.

Stryker eventually encounters and befriends Dr. Bettina Cooke (Sharon Acker) and her colleague, Prof. Dylan MacAuley (Lew Ayres). Although Bettina is attracted to him, she is torn between Stryker and her loyalty to the Perfect Order, and she informs Benedict of Stryker's whereabouts. Benedict sends a helicopter to kill Stryker, who has commandeered Bettina's car and is attempting to escape, but the chopper collides with a windmill and crashes. Stryker and Dylan determine to get Stryker aboard a Terran spacecraft about to be launched, with Stryker intending to replace its astronaut and pilot the ship back to Earth. Meanwhile, Benedict tracks down Bettina, uses crude violence in his interrogation of her, and conditions her to help lead him to Stryker. Benedict and his people arrive at the space complex in sufficient time to stop him before the rocket can launch with him aboard. Stryker leads them on a chase through the complex, and the authorities have him cornered while he is close to the liquid oxygen tanks, where nobody dares use guns.

Stryker jumps into the ocean while firing at the LOX tanks, setting off a fire. Benedict's lieutenant, Henry Maitland (Steve Franken), feels sure Stryker could not have survived, but Benedict will settle for nothing less than proof. Meanwhile, Stryker wades ashore north along the coast, right where the Nelson family is camping. He gives an alias, says his boat capsized, and is welcomed by Tom Nelson to join them for their pleasure trip north. Before following the family to their van, he turns to regard the three alien moons, and remembers Dylan telling him it wasn't impossible that he should get home.

One day, Steve Barker (Johnny Knoxville) suddenly receives a promotion at work, and is forced to fire his friend Stavi (Luis Ávalos). Steve reluctantly does so, but hires him to work around his apartment. While working, Stavi loses three fingers in a lawn-mower accident, and reveals that he does not have health insurance; Steve decides to raise $28,000 within two weeks to pay for the surgery to re-attach Stavi's fingers. His uncle Gary (Brian Cox), owes $40,000 in gambling debts and suggests that they fix the Special Olympics in San Marcos, Texas in order to solve both of their financial problems. Steve reluctantly enters the Special Olympics under the guise of being a high functioning young man with a developmental disability named Jeffy Dahmor. Gary, assuming that Steve will easily defeat the legitimate contenders, bets $100,000 that reigning champion Jimmy Washington (Leonard Flowers) won't win the gold medal. Despite initially being disgusted at pretending to be intellectually disabled, Steve goes along with it for Stavi.

During the competition, Steve falls in love with Lynn (Katherine Heigl), a volunteer for the Special Olympics. During this time, six other contestants see through Steve's act, so he tells them the truth about Stavi. As Steve decides to leave after being exposed, they tell him to stay, resolving to help Steve save Stavi's fingers and because they want to see the arrogant Jimmy lose.

In the meantime, Steve befriends the other contestants: he encourages Thomas (Bill Chott) to talk to a girl he likes, and even takes the group to see a showing of ''Dirty Dancing''. Steve gradually gets to know Lynn more, but is dismayed to learn that she is seeing David (Zen Gesner); after Steve discovers that David was cheating behind Lynn's back, she breaks up with him. At one point, Steve feels remorse for taking part in the Special Olympics and tells a priest in a confession booth, only for the priest to punch him in the face and kick him out of church.

At the final competition, Steve's friend Glen (Jed Rees) comes in first, with Steve coming in third behind Jimmy. During the medal ceremony, Steve admits that he is not developmentally disabled, reveals his true name, and gives his medal to Thomas, who had finished fourth. Lynn, upset at Steve, rebuffs him when he attempts to apologize to her. Uncle Gary still ends up winning his bet, as his condition was that Jimmy would lose.

Six months later, Steve has quit his job and is working in theater, producing a play with the friends he made during the Special Olympics, as well as Stavi, who got his fingers reattached. Glen and the others trick Lynn into coming to the theater, and Steve starts to apologize. Lynn forgives him because Stavi told her why Steve pretended to be developmentally disabled, and they kiss.

In a mid-credits scene, Steve and his friends dance onstage with the Kids of Widney High as they perform the song "Respect".

In Hong Kong, the triad Wo Lin Shing is in the process of electing its new chairman as the previous chairman's five-year term is expiring. The two leading contenders, Lok and Big D, are doing some last-minute "campaigning" days before the election. Lok is calm, patient and even-tempered, while Big D, who attempts to buy the election, is boisterous, impatient and quick-tempered. After some quarrelling among both candidates' supporters, Lok is elected the new chairman. Big D, dismayed by the result, punishes two men responsible for his loss by kidnapping them and rolling them down a hill in wooden boxes. Whistle, the ex-chairman, instructs his lieutenant Four-Eyes to hide the dragonhead baton, a symbol of the chairman's authority.

The police, under Chief Superintendent Hui's leadership, step in to prevent infighting and maintain the peace by arresting the triad's key figures, including Big D and Lok. During an attempt at peace negotiation, Big D threatens to break away from Wo Lin Shing and form a new triad. As the triad's culture emphasises brotherhood and unity, Big D's action would be unacceptable and could lead to violence, which both the triad key figures and the police wish to avoid.

In the meantime, both Lok and Big D's supporters have sent their henchmen to Guangzhou to retrieve the baton. Jimmy wants to take matters into his own hands since Big D severely injured his uncle Long Gun. After some intercepting and fighting between both sides, Jimmy acquires the baton and ends up giving it to Lok since Lok convinces him it will be good for the society. Big D is released on bail after it is paid by Lok. Lok, using the baton, secures his position as the triad's new chairman and proposes a truce to end the conflict. Big D accepts on the condition that they will take over the Tsim Sha Tsui area together, and that he will succeed Lok as chairman after two years. Lok and Big D successfully take over Tsim Sha Tsui, but Big D still desires to be chairman so he proposes to Lok that they share the chairmanship. Lok sees this as a challenge to his authority, so he murders Big D and his wife during a fishing trip, with his son Denny seeing him kill Big D.

In the year 2082, the Earth deep-space exploration vessel, ''Vanguard Explorer'', has suffered heavy damage, due to the efforts of Captain Jacob "Jake" Brown trying to keep his ship out of the hands of mutineers led by his second-in-command, Vance Arthur. Feigning compliance, Jake attacks Vance and knocks him senseless long enough for him to get to an escape pod and launch into space. However, the cause of the damage on board the ''Vanguard Explorer'' is unknown.

The German-language VHS introduces the plot: "In year 2087. The Earth is dying. They must find a new planet."

It is now six years later, in the year 2088. Command cadet Jonathan Hays, twenty-one, and his best friend Jessie "Beanie" Bienstock, a 14-year-old computer specialist, are among the young military cadets chosen to serve as the crew of ''EarthStar Voyager'', the planet's newest interstellar vessel. Due to worsening ecological conditions on Earth, there is a plan in place to evacuate the planet and colonize another world. (This mission is noted on the cover of the German VHS: ''see image at right''). Probes have been sent out six years ago via the ''Vanguard Explorer'', and one has sent data back on Berenson's Star; she has a life-zone planet which has been named "Demeter". The mission of ''EarthStar Voyager'' is to go to Demeter, perform a full planetary survey and return that information because if conditions on Demeter prove accurate (the probe's data indicates that human life could survive on Demeter), then the human race will colonize the world. The plan to colonize Demeter has already begun; ships are already being built to transport the population but will take forty years to complete construction of all the necessary vessels, and the trip to Demeter, with "plasma-thrust" engines and the Bauman Drive (named for Professor Bauman, the creator) will take 26 years. That was the rationale of choosing the crew from the Academy—for their youth and intelligence. Jonathan, as second-in-command, will assume command if Forbes is shown to be unable to continue his duties due to age. It is also mentioned that a modified form of cryogenic suspension will be used by the crew during the voyage in order to slow the ageing process. (Beanie mentions that he'll be forty years old upon their return to Earth, and Captain Forbes also mentions that, although the process will slow their ageing, they will still age.)

Among the crew members are Lani Miyori (a communications specialist) and Luz Sansone, a fellow communications tech who takes an immediate liking to Beanie. Also aboard are Dr. Sally Arthur, a 24-year-old M.D., Huxley Welles, an 18-year-old navigator, and Dr. Leland Eugene, the ship's psychiatrist.

The crew arrives aboard the ''Earth*Star Voyager'', and are met by Captain Forbes (the commanding officer), Brody (the ship's resident physical fitness instructor - crew members are required to engage in a physical fitness program), and "Priscilla", the sentient supercomputer that is the primary logic circuit for the vessel - who has seemingly developed a crush on Huxley. It is mentioned that this was a concern by the programmers; Priscilla is designed from the brain engrams of Priscilla Bauman (the daughter of Professor Bauman), and as such, she has all of memories, thoughts, feelings and desires of the real Priscilla Bauman. This is slightly annoying to Huxley.

Adm. Beasley, a war hero who fought back a criminal organization called the Outlaw Technology Zone, gave them a final pep-talk and saw them off from his flagship, the ''Triton Corsair''.

Not long after embarking on the mission, the ship has to pass through the junk belt. Immediately entering the belt, the auto-pilot is unable to travel the course plotted because the junk starts to move due to the ship's engines. After the shields and ship take some damage, Jonathan takes manual control and flies the ship through without taking further damage. While checking the repairs on an airlock, Captain Forbes finds himself trapped inside with the system set to open the airlock to space. Moments later, coming to check on the Captain, Jonathan finds him before the airlock opens. Before being blown into space, the Captain tells Jonathan to keep going and to "complete the mission". Jonathan orders the ship's psychiatrist to review the crew's profiles for any hint of psychopathology. Later, Lani mentions to Jonathan that she has suspicions of Dr. Leland Eugene, but Jonathan says he cannot go on a hunch alone. Following this, Lani is critically injured while in cryo-sleep by an apparent malfunction.

Along the way to Demeter, they pick up the long lost astronaut Capt. Jacob "Jake" Brown, while stopping at an abandoned station to make some repairs. Brown initially paralyzes Huxley with a weapon, but it is revealed that he did so to prevent Huxley from walking straight into an "anti-matter zone". Capt. Brown is accepted on board as an advisor to Jonathan and, finding out that the crew is only armed with hand weapons, volunteers to build a rail-gun with the help of Beinstock in an airlock. Jonathan then receives evidence of the death of Capt. Forbes and Lani's coma that points to Leland, the psychiatrist. When Jonathan confronts him, Priscilla calls Jonathan about suspicious activity in the rail-gun's airlock. Jonathan investigates and finds Brody, the fitness instructor, is sabotaging the rail-gun, a fight ensues and the fitness instructor is jettisoned out of the airlock. A transmitter is later discovered amongst his possessions, that he was apparently using to keep in contact with a blip that intermittently appeared on the ''Voyager'''s long range scans.

The crew also explores a distress signal from a massive space station known as "the 2020 World's Fair", which is inhabited by warriors and researchers of the Outlaw Technology Zone. The landing party is captured by the warriors after encountering one of Captain Brown's former crew members, Willy. They discover that the mutinous Vance has also landed here and became "Top Dog" of the warriors by employing a stunner much like the one Brown used on Huxley. A warrior, named Whistlestick, who was beaten and humiliated by Vance, explains that anyone may challenge the "Top Dog" at any time. Huxley demonstrates his skill at pickpocketing by getting the key for their cage. Brown offers to occupy their captors by challenging Vance while the rest escape. After a difficult fight, Brown (who taught Vance how to make such weapons long ago) is able to make Vance's weapon backfire and destroys it - but spares Vance's life (unaware that Sally was watching and afraid that he would be killed by Jake). In the ensuing ruckus, the crew and their two new allies escape.

The next discovery, explaining how Vance and Willie got to the World's Fair Station in the first place, was finding the wreckage of the ''Vanguard Explorer''. Capt. Brown requests permission to board it and retrieve his logs to prove that the loss of his ship was due to mutiny, and to see if there was anything left salvageable. Beinstock, the Doctor, and he find the ship to still have some power and computer function, but also find an unwelcome guest known as a "Shell"—a cyborg. Brown is able to shock the Shell into unconsciousness, and Doctor Arthur insists they take him to the ship to help and examine him. In a cut-away scene, it is revealed that Adm. Beasley has become aware of the Shell's presence on ''Voyager'', but is unable to do anything about it.

Willie explains that the Shell is a cyborg created by the O.T.Z. and, although it is only a drone, it is probably packed with explosives. The Doctor, with the help of Beinstock, is able to disarm the explosives and treat his injuries, and is able to bring the Shell back to consciousness while also keeping him immobilized. They interrogate the Shell, and he mentions that his function is to help facilitate "Assembly". Data from the Vanguard indicates that several odd-looking ships passed by the Vanguard from the World's Fair over the last few years. Later analysis indicates the ships are modular. Later on, Dr. Arthur speaks to the Shell and discovers that he was abducted and turned into a cyborg when he was young. After making some small adjustments to him to ease his discomfort, Doctor Arthur and he form a brief emotional connection before his programming returns him to his drone-state. Later, he regains his full movement and smashes his way through the ship, damaging Capt. Brown's jury-rigged railgun weapon and one of Priscilla's processors. The Shell warns them that they must stop "Assembly" then deactivates himself rather than let his programming make him kill Dr. Arthur.

In another cut-away scene, Vance finds himself in dire straits back on the World's Fair as the warriors now hunt him for his treatment of them. Admiral Beasley appears and demands an explanation from him. Their dialogue indicates that the mutiny on the ''Vanguard Explorer'' was part of some design of Beasley's and that Beasley is somehow connected, if not in control of, the O.T.Z. After Vance reveals he was defeated by the presumed-dead Capt. Brown, Beasley leaves Vance to his fate, and returns to the Corsair. This scene is left out of some versions of the show.

Back on board ''Voyager'', the crew have made repairs and discover how their spacecraft fits into a conspiracy concocted by the Outlaw Technology Zone and Admiral Beasley, the mastermind behind the entire plot (including the construction of ''Earth*Star Voyager'', the selection of the crew, and the creation of the "Shell"). The O.T.Z. ships, the Assembly, were stationed in a binary solar system to use the light from the stars upcoming alignment to give them sufficient power to join together and form an even more massive and heavily armed ship. A section of the completed Assembly was designed to allow ''Voyager'' to fit in near the bow.

Beasley's ship fires warning shots at ''Voyager'' to keep them on course to the Assembly, and then he reveals why he had chosen the best and the brightest the world had to offer to crew ''Voyager''. He intended ''Voyager'' not to be an exploratory vessel but a colony ship. Joining the ''Voyager'' to the O.T.Z. Assembly would give Beasley the Bowman Drive and Priscilla. This would enable him to choose whom else would get to be part of his new Utopia, while leaving the rest of humanity to rot back on Earth.

However, the crew outwits Admiral Beasley and escapes (after a battle in which they use jury-rigged weapons, including a "solar laser" (which can gather and redirect solar energies in a beam-like fashion), and the railgun built by Jake and Beanie). During the battle, Jake nearly sacrifices himself to hold together part of the electrical circuit that allows the railgun to be fired; he is saved by Sally. Aboard the Admiral's damaged vessel, the ''Triton Corsair'', Admiral Beasley acknowledges Jonathan's skill as a commander, and promises that he will meet up with the crew of the ''Earth*Star Voyager'' again someday. There is an alternate scene of this in the 120-minute VHS version where Beasley is revealed to be some sort of robot or cyborg (or perhaps himself a Shell), while leaving out the promise dialogue.

Aboard the ''Earth*Star Voyager'', Lani is found to be recovering from her injuries; Beanie and Luz (prodded by Priscilla) become a couple; it is strongly insinuated that Jake and Sally will become a couple; and Huxley is stunned to see that Priscilla (in human form) is a very beautiful woman. Beanie also reveals to Jonathan that he has decrypted the probe data and the crew sees that Demeter is a planet with striking similarities to Earth. The last line of the miniseries goes to Jake, who says, "You know, Captain, I think we oughta go check that place out..."

Malone is an old man who lies naked in bed in either asylum or hospital—he is not sure which. Most of his personal effects have been taken from him, though he has retained some: his exercise book, brimless hat, and pencil. He alternates between writing on his own situation and on that of a boy named Sapo. When he reaches the point in the story where Sapo becomes a man, he changes Sapo's name to Macmann, finding Sapo a ludicrous name. Soon after, Malone admits to having killed six men, but seems to think it's not a big deal, particularly the last: a total stranger whom he cut across the neck with a razor.

Eventually, Macmann falls over in mud and is taken to an institution called St. John's of God. There he is provided with an attendant nurse: an elderly, thick-lipped woman named Moll, with crosses of bone on either ear representing the two thieves crucified with Jesus on Good Friday, and a crucifix carved on her tooth representing Jesus. The two eventually begin a stumbling sexual affair, but after a while she does not return, and he learns that she has died.

The new nurse is a man named Lemuel, and there is an animosity between the two. Macmann (and sometimes Malone drifts into the first-person) has an issue with a stick that he uses to reach things, then Lemuel takes it away.

At the end of the novel, Lemuel is assigned to take his group of five inmates on a trip to a nearby island on the charitable dime of a Lady Pedal. His five inmates are Macmann and four others. They are described by Malone thus: a young man, the Saxon ("though he was far from being any such thing"), a small and thin man with an umbrella, and a "misshapen giant, bearded." Lemuel requests "excursion soup" (the regularly served broth but with a piece of fat bacon to support the constitution) from the chef at the institution, though after receiving the soup he sucks each piece of bacon of its juice and fat before depositing it back into the soup. Lemuel takes his group onto the terrace where they are greeted by a waggonette driven by a coachman and Lady Pedal, along with two colossi in sailor suits named Ernest and Maurice.

They leave the grounds of St. John's and take a boat to the island to picnic and see Druid remains. Lady Pedal tells Maurice to stay by the dinghy while she and Ernest disembark the boat to look for a picnicking site. The bearded giant refuses to leave the boat, leaving no room for the Saxon to get off in turn. When Lady Pedal and Ernest are out of sight, Lemuel kills Maurice from behind with a hatchet. Ernest comes back for them and Lemuel kills him, too, to the delight of the Saxon. When Lady Pedal sees this, she faints, falls, and breaks a bone in the process. Malone as narrator is not sure which bone, though he ventures Lady Pedal broke her hip. Lemuel makes the others get back in the boat. It is now night and the six float far out into the bay. The novel closes with an image of Lemuel holding his bloodied hatchet up. Malone writes that Lemuel will not hit anyone with it or anything else anymore, while the final sentence breaks into semantically open-ended fragments:

The majority of the book's text, however, is observational and deals with the minutiae of Malone's existence in his cell, such as dropping his pencil or his dwindling amount of writing lead. Thoughts of riding down the stairs in his bed, philosophical observations, and conjectures constitute large blocks of text and are written as tangential to the story that Malone is set on telling. Several times he refers to a list of previous Beckett protagonists: Murphy, Mercier and Camier, Molloy, and Moran.

As the Federation starship ''Enterprise'' responds to a distress call from a Romulan ship which has suffered an on-board explosion, Ensign Ro and Lieutenant Commander La Forge are seemingly lost in a beam-in from the Romulan ship to the ''Enterprise''. Ro and La Forge find themselves on the ''Enterprise'', unable to interact with the ship or the crew, but able to interact with each other. While La Forge believes they are still alive, Ro sees Dr. Crusher make out their death certificates and believes they are dead; she tries to make peace with her former crewmates as they prepare a funeral service. Lt. Commander Data traces the cause of the transportation accident to the Romulan ship. Ro and La Forge go along with Data and Lt. Worf as they fly a shuttlecraft to the Romulan ship. Aboard, La Forge discovers a phase inverter device, and theorizes that he and Ro are out of phase, and thus undetectable. He also overhears the Romulan crew discussing a plan to transmit a signal to the ''Enterprise'' that will cause the warp core to explode the next time the ship enters warp. The two return with Data and Worf to the ''Enterprise'' to try to warn the crew, unaware that a Romulan, also out-of-phase, is following them.

On board the ''Enterprise'', La Forge watches Data as he analyzes the data from the Romulan ship, and discovers high levels of chronoton emissions, part of the failing of the transporter system. La Forge recognizes that by passing through objects on the ship, he can create those emissions, and tries to encourage Data to study them more, but fails. Ro encounters the Romulan, armed with a disruptor, and leads him on a chase through the walls of the crew quarters, releasing more chronoton radiation that catches Data's interest. When Data enters the room where the Romulan has cornered Ro, La Forge rushes the Romulan, causing him to fly through the external hull of the ship into space. La Forge recovers the disruptor.

Although Captain Picard orders the ship into warp after their investigation is complete, Data cautions him to not do so until he completes a sweep of the ship with "anyon" particles to remove the chronoton radiation. Knowing that time is short before the ship will enter warp, Ro and La Forge head to their funeral—which has become more of a festive wake and celebration—and attempt to phase through objects. They fire the Romulan's disruptor to attract the attention of the attendees. When this does not work, Ro sets the disruptor to overload, causing a large burst of chronoton radiation. Data instructs the computer to sweep Ten Forward with anyon particles, causing Ro and La Forge to temporarily become visible in front of Data and Picard. Data deduces the fate of the crew members, and orders another massive flood of anyon particles, which brings Ro and La Forge back into phase. La Forge is able to warn Engineering about the warp core in time. He and Ro then join their "funeral" and celebrate with the rest of the crew with a much more joyous tone to the occasion.

While commanding the night shift aboard the ''Enterprise'', Data (Brent Spiner) composes a letter to Commander Bruce Maddox detailing a normal day in his life with a focus on friendship.

Data mentions his involvement in the impending wedding of Transporter Chief Miles O'Brien (Colm Meaney) and civilian botanist Keiko Ishikawa (Rosalind Chao) where he had been asked to give the bride away. However, when visiting with Keiko she announces that she has decided to call it off, telling Data in frustration that it will make her happier. Data then delivers this news to Chief O'Brien, believing that since O'Brien wants to make Keiko happy, he will be pleased, which he is not. Geordi (LeVar Burton) assures Data that the wedding will proceed as planned.

Data discusses the ''Enterprise'' mission involving a Vulcan ambassador, T'Pel (Sierra Pecheur), who has arranged a secret meeting with a Romulan ship. Data is assigned as her escort while she is on board.

Data then asks Dr. Crusher (Gates McFadden) to teach him how to dance, having discovered from her service record that she won dance competitions. She agrees to instruct him on the condition that he not share this information with the rest of the crew, for fear of again being called 'The Dancing Doctor'.

Chief O'Brien asks Data to persuade Keiko to go through with the wedding. He fails yet again, and talks to Counselor Troi (Marina Sirtis) to try to understand Keiko's decision.

T'Pel asks Data about the ''Enterprise'' defense capabilities, which Data finds suspicious, but after Data informs her that he has the same safeguards as the ship's computer regarding reporting such requests to Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart), she drops the question, stating that she was interested only in testing Data's safeguards. Because Vulcans do not lie, Data decides not to pursue the issue.

In the holodeck, Data almost instantly learns how to tap dance from Dr. Crusher before telling her that he is ready to dance at the wedding. Telling him that tap dancing is inappropriate for social dancing she attempts to instruct him in ballroom dancing, but Data finds it much more difficult, as he cannot watch Dr. Crusher's feet. Dr. Crusher is then called away to sickbay to deliver a baby, and Data is left alone with a holographic partner.

The ''Enterprise'' rendezvous with a Romulan warbird and, despite Picard's unease about the situation, T'Pel transports aboard. However, something interrupts the transporter signal and the ambassador is killed.

Finding no flaw in the transporter system, Data uses the principles of Sherlock Holmes to come to the conclusion that T'Pel was not really killed: the Romulans beamed her off the ship themselves and left behind genetic material designed to fool the crew into thinking that she died in a transporter accident.

Picard speeds back to intercept the Romulans in the middle of the neutral zone. He confronts the Romulan Admiral Mendak (Alan Scarfe) and learns that T'Pel is actually a Romulan spy. Before shots are fired, another Romulan warbird appears next to the first one and three more enter the sector, minutes away. Picard is forced to retreat into Federation space.

Data approaches Keiko to make amends. She informs him that she is not angry with him, and that the wedding will proceed as planned. Miles and Keiko are married by Captain Picard.

Data notes that although there are many emotions that he does not understand and cannot share, he does understand the emotion of love and belonging.

Later, in Sickbay, the captain and Data visit the newest member of the ''Enterprise'' crew—a baby born while the Enterprise was in mortal peril.

Bastian Balthazar Bux seeks to join his school's swimming team, but his ability to jump off a diving board is marred by his acrophobia (fear of heights). He revisits Carl Conrad Coreander's antiquarian bookstore to seek advice on courage, where he rediscovers the Neverending Story and hears the Childlike Empress call out to him for aid.

Bastian takes the book home while the Auryn amulet magically comes off the book cover which Bastian takes and is summoned to Fantasia, where he meets a bird-like creature named Nimbly and is reunited with Atreyu. After the group encounters and escapes from armored giants, Bastian comes to understand that a force called "Emptiness" is spreading across Fantasia. This force has been brought about by the evil sorceress Xayide, who seeks to seize power over Fantasia. To hinder Bastian's quest, Xayide's inventor Tri-Face develops an apparatus that strips Bastian of a memory each time he uses the Auryn amulet to make a wish. Nimbly was sent as a spy to persuade Bastian to make wishes until he is unable to remember why he came to Fantasia.

Bastian and Atreyu seek out and capture Xayide. She seems to abandon her quest for power and agrees to lead the two to the Childlike Empress. During the travel to the Empress's castle, Xayide tricks Bastian into believing that his friends will turn against him and manages to get him to wish for a series of ridiculous wishes. It also becomes obvious to Atreyu that they are being led aimlessly.

Meanwhile, Bastian's father Barney has noticed his son's disappearance. He finds the Neverending Story in Bastian's room and sees a sticker on the front cover listing the bookstore's address. Barney rushes to confront Mr. Coreander, who simply tells him that he will find the answers to his son's whereabouts inside the book. Returning later with a police officer, Barney is shocked to see the bookstore abandoned. Eventually, Barney reads the book and is surprised to see his son's exploits in Fantasia being written by the book itself and that he is mentioned within.

Atreyu determines what Xayide is planning, while Bastian is fully persuaded that Atreyu has turned on him. In a struggle between the two, Atreyu is knocked over a cliff and falls to his death. Returning to Xayide, Bastian discovers the apparatus for himself and learns that he only has two memories left, consisting of his mother and father.

Bastian uses his penultimate memory of his mother to wish Atreyu back to life. Xayide tries to force Bastian to use his last wish to return home. Bastian agrees to make his last wish, but instead wishes for the sorceress "to have a heart". This fills Xayide with emotion, negating the Emptiness within her and which she controls. Overcome with compassion, Xayide explodes in a blast of light, and Fantasia is restored.

Having been freed, the Childlike Empress thanks Bastian for his help and Bastian gives her the Auryn amulet. She shows him the way home: a cliff overlooking a waterfall, to help Bastian overcome his fear of heights.

Encouraged by Barney and Atreyu, Bastian jumps off and returns home safely while the Auryn amulet magically goes back onto the book cover.

The Old West town of Calendar in the Colorado Territory springs up almost overnight when clumsy, hotheaded Prudy Perkins (Hackett) notices gold in a freshly dug grave during a funeral. Her father, bumbling farmer Olly (Morgan), becomes the first mayor of the new settlement, but soon he and the other elected councilmen (Henry Jones and Walter Burke) find themselves and the townspeople at the mercy of the corrupt Danby family, who force the prospectors to pay them a toll for using the only road in or out of Calendar. The town has no sheriff, as all the men are busy searching for gold, and the few who have taken the job have been run out of town or killed.

Jason McCullough (Garner), a confident and exceptionally skilled gunfighter planning to emigrate to Australia, sees Joe Danby (Dern) kill a man over a card game in the town's saloon. Needing money after Calendar's high prices leave him broke, McCullough takes the job of sheriff, impressing the mayor and council with his uncanny marksmanship. He breaks up a street brawl and becomes attracted to Prudy, despite her attempts to avoid him due to the embarrassing circumstances under which they first met. McCullough arrests Joe and tosses him in the town's unfinished jail, which lacks bars for the cell doors and windows; he uses several clever tricks to manipulate Joe and keep him from escaping.

McCullough acquires a reluctant deputy in scruffy stable boy Jake (Elam), previously known as the "town character". Joe's arrest infuriates his father, Pa Danby (Brennan), who is not accustomed to his family being challenged. After McCullough disarms and humiliates him in a failed intimidation attempt, Pa sends in a string of hired guns to kill him, all of whom the sheriff easily defeats. Meanwhile, McCullough enlists Jake's help in an unsuccessful attempt to prospect for gold, and spars romantically with Prudy. The Danbys try to tear the bars off the jail window with their horses but get pulled off their mounts instead before Jake chases them away with a shotgun.

A fed-up Pa enlists all of his relatives to ride into town and free his son. When the news reaches McCullough, he initially tells Prudy he intends to leave, but when she expresses her sincere approval of this sensible idea, he declares it to be cowardly and announces he is staying instead. Mayor Perkins persuades the townsfolk to vote against helping the sheriff despite Prudy trying to convince them otherwise. Thus, the Danby clan rides in faced only by McCullough, Jake, and Prudy. After a lengthy but unproductive gunfight, McCullough bluffs his way to victory using Joe as a hostage and the old cannon mounted in the center of town. As the Danbys are marched off to jail, the supposedly unloaded cannon fires, smashing the local brothel and scattering both the prostitutes and the councilmen they were servicing.

McCullough and Prudy get engaged. In a closing monologue, Jake breaks the film's fourth wall and directly informs the audience that after his wedding, McCollough went on to a long and prosperous career as the first governor of Colorado after it became a state, never making it to Australia (although he reads about it a lot), while Jake takes his place as sheriff of Calendar and becomes "one of the most beloved characters in Western folklore".

Rhama Sabrier has received a letter from Dr. Areliano, stating that he is fascinated about his ship and its origins, and wants Rhama to come help investigate this situation. Arriving at dock, Rhama is introduced by Dr. Areliano's servant, Jabez. He is in quite a hurry, as he is aware that Areliano would be back soon, however Rhama would like to visit the shop, as he is low on stock.

Jabez notices that Rhama's ship is behind his, so he consumes another herb, starting a massive storm. While trying to help steer the ship, Rhama falls off. He manoeuvres through the water so that he isn't blown away by the wind. Eventually, Rhama arrives at land, exhausted.

In a prologue, the Old Man of Wandering Mountain reads from a large book, begins to record a prophecy of a day when "The Nasty" will arrive in Fantasia, and describes the savior of "Extraordinary Courage".

Bastian Balthazar Bux is now 13 years old, and his father Barney has married a woman named Jane, and moved into her house in a new neighborhood. Jane's daughter Nicole is displeased at having a new family. Bastian has also started high school, where he has become a victim of the Nasties, a quintet of bullies led by Slip. Bastian arranges for them to be expelled with the help of the janitor after the Nasties trap him in the boiler room.

He later flees to the library, where he is surprised to find Carl Conrad Coreander and the ''Neverending Story''. The Nasties locate him, but he uses the book to escape to Fantasia, where he is reunited with Falkor, Engywook and Urgl. On Earth, the Nasties find the ''Neverending Story'' and use it to bombard Fantasia with fireballs and a storm. With wooden Bark Troll, Bastian and his friends head for the Wandering Mountains to speak with the Childlike Empress, who asks Bastian to find the ''Neverending Story'' using the Auryn. Falkor, Barky, the gnomes, and Rockbiter's son, Junior, help him, but a "wish overload" scatters them all across Earth, where Barky ends up in a conifer forest, Falkor saves Junior from falling to his death near Mount Rushmore, and the gnomes arrive in Nome, Alaska. Bastian locates Falkor and Junior, and Falkor flies off to find the others while Junior stays at Bastian's house. Rockbiter sadly informs his wife that Junior is gone, and the Nasties provoke them to quarrel.

Nicole takes the Auryn from Bastian's room, discovers its wishing abilities, and takes it on a shopping trip to the local mall. Bark Troll arrives at Bastian's house disguised as a garden plant, while the Gnomes are mailed to him in a box. The reunited group go in search of Nicole, but the Nasties find the Auryn first, whereupon giant crustacean creatures appear in Fantasia to kill the Empress and her advisors. Everyone in the mall turns evil, including Mr. Coreander and Bastian and Nicole’s parents. Bastian is struck by lightning, and begins to succumb to the wills of the Nasties, but Nicole saves him, and Bastian recovers the Auryn and the book in a fight. The Fantasians return to Fantasia, which is restored to its former magnificence. Bastian and Nicole manage to keep their parents from divorcing, and Junior is reunited with his parents. Nicole and Bastian return to school the next day and find that Bastian has changed Slip and the Nasties into friendly classmates, and Bastian returns the ''Neverending Story'' to Mr. Coreander.

Tyrell Hawthorne was a naval intelligence officer - one of the best - until the rain-swept night in Amsterdam when his wife was murdered, an innocent victim. Now Hawthorne has been called out of retirement for one last assignment. For he is the only man alive who can track down the world's most dangerous terrorist. Amaya Bajaratt is beautiful, elusive, deadly - and she has set in motion a chilling conspiracy that a desperate government cannot stop. With the life of the president hanging in the balance, Hawthorne must follow Amaya's serpentine trail to uncover the sinister network that exists to help this consummate killer. And Hawthorne must discover the shattering truth behind the Scorpio Illusion.

Nekketsu High School Dodgeball Club: Soccer

Eight students known as Atsushi, Genei, Hiroyuki, Kunio, Masa, Masahiro, Susumu and Takashi compete in a soccer tournament against 13 other high schools.

Nintendo World Cup

Thirteen national teams compete in a world cup to become number 1. (At the time of the game's release, the German team represented West Germany, with the East German team reunifying with West Germany later on in 1990.)

• (West Germany)

The film follows the lives of four childhood friends: Joon-seok, the leader of the group whose father is a powerful mob boss; Dong-su, whose father is an undertaker; class clown Jung-ho; and Sang-taek, who was an exemplary student. As children, they play together and sell sexually explicit pictures. In high school, they become smitten with the lead singer of a girl band their age. Joon-seok invites the band to a party at his house, where Sang-taek receives his first kiss from the lead singer, Jin-sook.

In school, Joon-seok and Dong-su get in trouble after a confrontation with a teacher; they apologize and only receive a light suspension. During an outing to the movies, Sang-taek catches the eye of a school kid he had picked a fight with earlier. Joon-seok and Dong-su fend off a whole rival school while Jung-ho protects Sang-taek. Dong-su smashes the school's glass cases with its awards and trophies and drops out of school. After graduation, Sang-taek and Jung-ho go to college but the others do not.

A few years later, Sang-taek and Jung-ho return to find Joon-seok married to Jin-sook. He is suffering withdrawal symptoms and is abusive towards his wife as a result of being addicted to philopon. Later, he recovers from his addiction, divorces his wife, and mourns his father's death. He assumes his father's role as a crime lord, working under Hyung-doo. Dong-su becomes a mobster with a rival organization, led by Sang-gon.

Joon-seok, Sang-taek, and Jung-ho remain close, drinking, singing karaoke, and eating galbi together. After Dong-su causes Joon-seok's boss to be imprisoned, a rogue assassination attempt, headed by Doruko, is led against Dong-su without Joon-seok's knowledge. The attack fails, and in retaliation, Dong-su mounts an attack on Joon-seok's fishing facilities, during which many of Joon-seok's men, including Doruko, are killed. Joon-seok talks to Dong-su and asks if he would like to accompany him to see Sang-taek off to America. Dong-su says no. He asks Dong-su to leave for Hawaii until the situation returns to normal, but Dong-su refuses, telling Joon-seok that he should be the one to go. After Joon-seok leaves their meeting, Dong-su reflects and asks one of his men to take him to the airport. However, outside his car, he is stabbed to death.

A few years later, Sang-taek returns to South Korea upon finishing his study abroad. Jung-ho explains that Joon-seok's gang sent him into hiding abroad. After two years, he was unable to stand the hiding any longer. He was caught in a foreign bar, found with severe self-inflicted wounds. Joon-seok stood trial for Dong-su's murder and pleaded guilty to ordering Dong-su's death.

Sang-taek visits Joon-seok in prison, and the two talk like old friends. Sang-taek asks why he pleaded guilty in court. Joon-seok simply replies, "Embarrassment. Me and Dong-su are mobsters. Mobsters shouldn't be embarrassed." Sang-taek and Joon-seok part ways, with Sang-taek promising to visit every month. The film ends with Joon-seok walking to his fate in prison life, and Sang-taek reflecting on the past when they were all children, when they were all good friends.

On the anniversary of his parents', Thomas and Martha Wayne, murder, Batman takes a visit to Crime Alley to pay his respects to them, when he spots several civilians being kidnapped. After subduing the kidnappers, Batman learns of massive prison breakouts at both Arkham Asylum and Stonegate Prison. Commissioner James Gordon (Bob Hastings) contacts Batman to meet him at the courthouse, but is attacked by Scarecrow (Jeffrey Combs) and overcome by his fear gas. After defeating Scarecrow, Batman is informed by Gordon, who has recovered from the fear toxin's effects, that Scarecrow is not the only supervillain who has escaped, and sets out to find the others.

Eventually, Gordon notifies Batman of Clayface (Ron Perlman) having taken over the Gotham Chemical Factory. After defusing several bombs that were planted across the rooftops of Gotham City, Batman confronts Clayface, who reveals his plan to turn everyone in the city into clay creatures like himself and escapes. Batman follows him to the Chemical Factory, and along the way Gordon informs him of a weapon of mass destruction about to be brought in at the city docks. Batman eventually fights Clayface, who merges with other people like himself to grow larger, but is defeated by the Dark Knight using electricity.

During another conversation with Gordon, Batman deduces that the person responsible for the prison breakouts is Sin Tzu (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa), a renowned warlord from Asia that was captured and sent to Arkham Asylum for further study. Sin Tzu intercepts the transmission and declares that Gotham will become a new stronghold for his empire once Batman is defeated. Gordon then tells Batman that the doomsday weapon has just arrived, so he intercepts the cargo ship carrying it and takes it to the Batcave, just as Sin Tzu predicted. Batman finds the doomsday weapon but is ambushed by Sin Tzu's men, who try to break into the Batcave. After stopping them, he attempts to disarm the weapon only to find that it is Bane (Hector Elizondo), another escaped supervillain, whom he defeats.

Batman eventually discovers that Sin Tzu is hiding at Arkham Asylum and, while Gordon orders the GCPD to surround the asylum to prevent his escape, Batman infiltrates Arkham through the sewer system. During his infiltration, Gordon warns Batman of Sin Tzu's mind-controlling powers, which he had used to manipulate Scarecrow, Clayface, and Bane into fighting him. After making his way past Sin Tzu's men and several inmates, including the Joker, Harley Quinn, Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy, who have been placed in suspended animation, Batman confronts Sin Tzu in a chamber in the lower levels of the asylum, resulting in the latter's defeat.

As dawn approaches, Gordon apologises to Batman for not telling him about Sin Tzu earlier, and explains that he had to keep his imprisonment at Arkham a secret for national security reasons, which the Dark Knight understands. As he retreats to look over Gotham City, Batman reminisces on the vows that have to be honored to the living and the dead, reminding himself of his parents' murder and how it inspired him to become the man he is today.

In the "very early 1980s", Alice Kinnon and Charlotte Pingress, recent Hampshire College graduates, work as poorly paid readers for a New York City publisher. After work one night, they enter an exclusive disco nightclub where Alice hopes to socialize with Jimmy Steinway, who uses the club to entertain his advertising clients. Barred from bringing clients, Jimmy is eventually kicked out by his friend Des McGrath, a manager at the club whose job is in jeopardy for allowing in Jimmy and his clients. After Jimmy leaves, Alice takes Charlotte's advice to go home with her second choice, Tom Platt. At work the next morning, Alice and Charlotte ask other editors how to fast-track their careers. Unable to afford rent on their own, they move in together with a third girl, Holly; despite Alice's reluctance, they settle on a railroad apartment.

Returning to the club, Alice is upset to learn Charlotte has designs on Jimmy, and that Tom was separated from a long-term girlfriend when he slept with Alice, but their one-night stand convinced him to return to her. Des begins to pursue Alice.

At work, Alice pursues the publication of a book on Buddhism, written by the Dalai Lama's brother, that Charlotte had previously recommended rejecting, and gains the editors' respect. Though it is discovered that the author is not the Dalai Lama's brother, Alice maintains the book is one of the best she has ever read. Charlotte, now dating Jimmy, is openly insecure about his and Alice's apparent friendliness.

Charlotte loudly announces to various friends at the club that Alice has gonorrhea, deducing it when Alice refuses to drink. She immediately apologizes, but tells Alice it will make men view her as more accessible. Des does become more interested in being with Alice, and they start dating casually.

Alice has dinner with Tom and confronts him about giving her gonorrhea, which he initially denies, but Alice reveals he was her first sexual partner. He admits he also gave her herpes.

Josh Neff, a district attorney and friend of Jimmy's who frequently attends the club, asks Alice to lunch to pitch a book. He confesses he is actually interested in Alice, and they go on a real date, where he tells her he is on medication for manic depression. Returning home, Alice discovers Charlotte being taken away in an ambulance, and is told by Jimmy that he is moving to Barcelona. At the hospital, Charlotte asks Alice if Jimmy ever expressed interest in being with her; when Alice admits that he did, Charlotte reacts with tears and tells her she will be moving out.

Police raid the club for tax fraud, and Des tries to run away despite Josh's promise to protect him, believing Josh's interest in Alice will cause him to act unfairly. They later discover that disco records were no longer selling and attendance was already down.

Alice and Charlotte learn their employer has merged with a larger publishing house and layoffs are expected. Some time later, Charlotte, Josh, and Des are seen leaving the unemployment office. Josh announces he is going to Lutèce for lunch, treated by Alice, who is celebrating her promotion; her book was published after she switched it from nonfiction to self-help. Des and Charlotte discuss how their big personalities are too much for normal personalities like Alice, Josh, and Jimmy. Des says that pairing off monogamously detracts from their glamorous lifestyle, and Charlotte agrees.

Taking the subway to Lutèce, Alice and Josh discuss their future prospects and then dance to "Love Train", joined by the rest of the passengers on the train and at the subway station.

Uzuki Nireno, a shy girl from the countryside of northern Hokkaidō, leaves her family and gets on a train bound for Tokyo so she can attend the university of her choice; to be near the boy she fell in love with, who moved to Tokyo from her hometown.

In San Francisco during World War II, Dr. Carl Decker (J. Carrol Naish) is a local Nazi spy leader undercover as an optometrist. While he is walking on the San Francisco waterfront at night, his decoder book and list of West Coast spies are stolen by the waterfront thug, Adolph Mertz. Victor Marlow comes to town, contacts Decker for his next assignment but the message he has is undecipherable without the book. It is a race to recover the book by two opposing teams: Decker and Marlow, and Zimmerman and Kramer; and a race to find a serial murderer.

The game begins with ''Voyager'' traveling through a Borg transwarp conduit (as seen in the ''Voyager'' series finale, "Endgame") when a Borg sphere captures the ship. The Hazard Team, led by Lieutenant Munro, is dispatched to destroy the sphere's dampening field. ''Voyager'' then breaks free from the Borg Sphere and returns to the Alpha Quadrant.

A screenshot from the game depicting a shootout between the player and the Romulans in a simulated scenario. Considered to be redundant, the Hazard team is split up; Munro is assigned to teach small unit tactics at Starfleet Academy. Two years later and after the events of ''Star Trek: Nemesis'', Captain Picard witnesses his performance and requests that Munro re-establish the Hazard Team for service on board the USS ''Enterprise''-E. Shortly after the reinstatement, the ''Enterprise'' receives a distress call from the ''USS Dallas'', where Telsia Murphy, a former member of the Hazard Team, has been assigned as a security officer.

Once aboard, the Hazard Team encounters a race of aliens (later dubbed Exomorphs) who have commandeered the ship. After saving the remaining crew, Munro is reunited with Telsia, who joins the team. A nearby Attrexian station which the ''Dallas'' had sought to aid is still besieged by the Exomorphs. When the defense systems are reactivated the remaining invaders abandon the station, leaving ion trails which the ''Enterprise'' follows to the planet Idryll.

There the Hazard Team locates an archaeological post manufacturing the Exomorphs under control of Krindo, his father, and Kleeya (an optional love interest of the main character). The Idryll explain that the creatures turned hostile because of a malfunction. Kleeya later decides to stay on board the ''Enterprise'', which upsets Krindo. His forces invade the ''Enterprise'' in proximity of another Exomorph-infested colony, Taravar 7.

The ''Enterprise'' fends off the attackers and the Hazard team is beamed to Taravar 7, where it aids the inhabitants. In a nearby factory, Krindo's crashed ship is discovered. Munro is captured, but is set free when Krindo witnesses his father's death at the hands of the Exomorphs he created, which no longer obey him. Munro then persuades him to help stop the Exomorphs and the two escape together.

On the ''Enterprise'', Krindo confesses he made money by selling Idryll artifacts to a Ferengi named Omag. He surmises that Omag decoded the location of Master Control Facility, a place with the ability to override all other centers controlling Exomorphs. With Krindo's help, Omag is tracked to a nearby mercenary base and captured.

During his interrogation, Omag reveals that the coordinates to the facility were sold to a secret Romulan group called the Empty Crown. Munro infiltrates the base in a Romulan disguise and with the help of a spy retrieves the location of the Master Control Facility. However, when the informant declares her true allegiance to the Empty Crown, a fight ensues. Gonzalez, one of the Hazard Team members, subsequently sacrifices himself so that Munro can be transported to safety.

The final battle takes place in the Romulan Neutral Zone. Munro enters the facility where the remnants of Empty Crown forces reside under the leadership of Commander Suldok. While the ''Enterprise'' is threatened by Romulan Warbirds for violating the Neutral zone, the final confrontation commences on the surface. It culminates with Munro defeating Suldok and confronting the overmind of Exomorphs, a creature called Archeopendra.

After the battle, Munro returns to the ''Enterprise'', where Picard hands over the evidence regarding the Empty Crown and peacefully leaves the Neutral zone. He is also extremely pleased with the Hazard Team's performance and recommends the incorporation of similar units within Starfleet. In the last scene Alexander Munro is seen kissing either Telsia Murphy or Kleeya, depending on whose invitation he chose during the exploration of the ship.

A few years after the events of the first film and following the accidental death of his mother Renee, 13-year-old Jeff Matthews and his veterinarian father, Chase, move to Ludlow, Maine, his mother's hometown. He's introduced to the belligerent town sheriff, Gus Gilbert, and his stepson, Drew, whom Gus abuses relentlessly. Jeff also draws the ire of local bully Clyde Parker, who tells him the story of the Creed family and the legend of the Miꞌkmaq burial ground.

One night, Gus shoots and kills Drew's beloved dog Zowie after the dog disturbs him during sex. Drew asks Jeff to help him bury the dog in the Miꞌkmaq burial ground to see if the rumors are true that it can resurrect the dead. Zowie does indeed return from the dead but is uncharacteristically fierce. Chase treats Zowie for his gunshot wound, which refuses to heal; even more bizarre is the fact that Zowie has no heartbeat. Chase sends a sample of Zowie's blood to a lab. It turns out that Zowie's cells have completely deteriorated and are no different from those of a dead canine.

Jeff and Drew go to the Pet Semetery on Halloween for a night of horror stories with local boys. When Gus finds out that Drew's mother allowed him to go despite being grounded, he rushes to the cemetery and breaks up the party. He attacks his stepson, but just as he is about to hit him with a grave marker, Zowie appears. The dog fatally mauls Gus, whom the boys subsequently bury at the Indian burial ground. Gus returns to life; he now moves stiffly and rarely speaks, but treats Drew better. Over time, Gus becomes increasingly crude and sadistic, sexually assaulting Drew's mother and brutally skinning the pet rabbits for supper.

Zowie breaks out of the veterinary clinic and kills three cats before entering Chase's home and attacking him. A day later, Jeff encounters Clyde, who is about to sever Jeff's nose using the wheel spokes of his own bicycle when Gus shows up. He sends Jeff home, then murders Clyde as Drew looks on. Gus then pursues Drew to their house, where the boy is trapped with the savage Zowie. He escapes through a window just as his mother arrives home in her car, and the two take off. Gus pursues them at high speed in his squad car, eventually killing them both by ramming their car into an oncoming potato truck. Gus then returns to Clyde's body and puts it in a body bag, intending to take it to the burial ground as well.

After Drew's funeral, Jeff decides to reanimate his mother by using the Indian burial ground's power. Gus exhumes her corpse and brings it to Jeff at the burial ground. When Chase hears that his wife's grave has been robbed, he rushes to the Gilbert house. There, he is attacked by Zowie and Gus, and he shoots and kills them both.

Upon coming back to life, Renee stabs and kills Marjorie Hargrove, the Matthews' housekeeper. Jeff confronts his undead mother in the attic, and they embrace. Chase arrives home and urges Jeff to get away from Renee, who says she wants to spend quality time with her husband. An undead Clyde arrives and, after knocking Chase out, tries to kill Jeff — first with an axe and then with an ice skate. Renee locks Chase and both boys in the attic, which she then sets on fire.

Jeff kills Clyde with a severed livewire and then breaks down the attic door to escape. Not letting both Jeff and Chase leave, Renee says that she wants the three of them to work things out. Renee wants Jeff to stay and join her in death, saying she loves him. But Jeff drags his father out of the house as Renee is destroyed by the flames while shrieking "Dead is better!" In the final scene, a recovering Chase locks up his veterinary clinic before he and his son leave Ludlow behind.

Jennifer Baylor is a poor young woman from West Virginia who possesses a supernatural power over snakes, an ability to control them and communicate with them. She and her father, Luke, left their home in disgrace, because when Jennifer was 7, some snakes she had been handling killed the town preacher's son. She refused to handle snakes ever again, though Luke now runs a pet store in California and often encourages her to use her power again. Luke is mentally disabled and obsessed with the Bible, unable to make meals for himself without burning them, and relies on Jennifer to care for him.

Jennifer studies on a scholarship at the elite Green View School, where she is an outcast among her wealthy peers, all of whom are from prominent families, and who are largely protected by the school's headmistress, the imperious, pill-addicted Mrs. Calley. Her only real friends are the school's lunch lady, Martha, with whom Jennifer works to help supplement her tuition, and teacher Jeff Reed, the only teacher who sees the corruption in the school for what it truly is. Jennifer becomes an unwitting target for Sandra Tremayne, an entitled bully, when Jennifer exposes that Sandra stole the answers to an exam. Sandra evades legitimate consequences when her father, a U.S. senator, makes a large donation to the school, but Jennifer no less becomes subject to numerous pranks and harassment from Sandra and her friends. Sandra hopes her torment and gaslighting will drive Jennifer to leave the school. Soon, Jane, an overweight student on the fringe of Sandra's social group, protests Sandra's excessive cruelty toward Jennifer, risking her alliance with Sandra.

One afternoon, after Jennifer finishes her job in the cafeteria, she takes a shower in the empty gymnasium locker room. Upon exiting the shower, she finds that Sandra and her friends have stolen her clothing and belongings and hung them on pipes in the pool room. When Jennifer climbs a ladder to retrieve them, Sandra's boyfriend, Dayton, startles her by taking photographs with a flashbulb camera, causing her to fall naked into the pool. Dayton subsequently corners Jane in an elevator, and, aware of the fact that Jane is attracted to him, rapes her.

Some time later, Jennifer is horrified to find that Sandra has purchased a beloved kitten from Jennifer's father's pet store, killed it, and hung it inside Jennifer's locker. That night, Jennifer finally decides to again exercise her power over snakes, invoking them in the pet store. A notable shift in her personality follows, and she coolly confronts Jane about Sandra murdering the kitten. Jane agrees to an alliance with Jennifer, seeking retaliation against Dayton.

As a culmination to their torment of Jennifer, Sandra and her friends stage a kidnapping in which they abduct Jennifer from her home in the middle of the night. A reluctant Jane becomes embroiled in the plan, and watches as Dayton places Jennifer, bound and gagged, in the trunk of Sandra's car. With Dayton and her other friends following behind, Sandra drives into an empty parking garage. On the roof, they remove Jennifer from the trunk and torment her by driving their cars in circles around her. Unbeknownst to them, Jennifer invokes a multitude of snakes ranging in various sizes that descend on the scene, attacking all of her tormentors by strangling and biting them. Dayton is thrown off the parking garage to his death, while Sandra attempts to flee in her car, but Jennifer manifests a giant snake that causes her to crash the vehicle and die in a fire.

Later in her office, Mrs. Calley threatens and blames Jennifer for the mysterious event, which has left six Green View students hospitalized, but there is no evidence proving Jennifer's guilt, and the witnesses have no memory of what occurred. After dismissing Jennifer, Mrs. Calley is attacked and killed by a snake. Jennifer and Jane hear her screams as they exit the school, and both respond with laughter.

Policeman Charlie Lang is a kind and generous man who loves his job and the Queens area of New York City where he lives. His wife Muriel works in a hairdressing salon and, unlike Charlie, is selfish, greedy and materialistic, constantly complaining about their situation in life. Waitress Yvonne Biasi, is bankrupt because her husband Eddie, whom she had not yet been able to afford to divorce, took her credit card and spent $12,000 without her permission.

Charlie meets Yvonne when she waits on him at the diner where she works. Since Charlie doesn't have enough money to pay the tip, he promises Yvonne to give her either double the tip or half of his prospective lottery winnings. He wins $4 million (in 21 annual payments) in the lottery the next day and keeps his promise, despite the protests of his wife. He and Yvonne become stars almost immediately.

Yvonne buys the diner she was working in. She sets up a table with Charlie's name at which people who cannot afford food can eat for free. In another development, Charlie becomes a hero for foiling an attempted robbery at a grocery store but gets wounded in the process, forcing him to take leave from the police force.

At a gathering on a chartered boat for the lottery winners and other members of high society, Muriel gets to know the newly rich Jack Gross. She flirts with him and later starts an affair. Meanwhile, Charlie and Yvonne spend a lot of time together, often giving gifts to passengers of the subway or to children, about which the media report. Muriel gets fed up with Charlie's constant donations and overall simplicity and throws him out of their apartment, asking for a divorce.

That same evening, Yvonne leaves her apartment after her husband shows up and threatens to stay until he gets $50,000 from her. Quite innocently, Charlie and Yvonne run into each other at the Plaza Hotel and, unintentionally, end up spending the night together.

When Muriel and Charlie divorce, Muriel wants all the money that Charlie won for herself. Charlie doesn't mind giving his share of the money but Muriel also wants the money he gave Yvonne, which causes Charlie to take the case to court. The jury decides in Muriel's favor. Yvonne, feeling guilty at costing Charlie all his money, runs out of court in tears and tries to keep away from Charlie. But the cop, by now hopelessly in love with the waitress, finds her at the diner and tells her that the money means nothing to him, and they declare their love for each other. While ruminating about their future at the diner, they are gracious enough to provide a hungry and poor customer some soup, which he eats at the special table. The poor customer is none other than the disguised reporter Angel Dupree, who takes photos of the couple and in the next day's newspapers publicly praises their willingness to feed a hungry and poor man even in their darkest hour. Just as Charlie and Yvonne are giving up and moving out of town, the citizens of New York City, no doubt touched by the generosity of the couple, send "the cop and the waitress" thousands of letters with tips totaling about $600,000.

After Charlie and Muriel get divorced, Muriel's new husband Jack Gross takes off with all her money, revealing himself to be a con man. She then moves in with her mother in The Bronx and goes back to her old manicure job. Yvonne's ex-husband Eddie ends up being a taxi driver. Charlie happily returns to the police force and Yvonne reclaims the diner. At the film's end, Charlie and Yvonne get married and begin their honeymoon by taking off from Central Park in a hot air balloon that bears the ''New York Post'' headline "Cop Weds Waitress", just before the closing credits roll.

The story revolved around the second coming of Jesus Christ as a superhero who looked like popular British television personality Jonathan Ross. This superhero, called The Saviour, has set out to change the world for the better. However The Saviour is the antichrist and plans to take over the world with the aid of a satanic cult devoted to him. The only thing which could stop him is the presence of the real Son of God and much of the story involves The Saviour's attempts to track his foe down. Eventually it is discovered that the foe is an angel and not the real Son of God. The Saviour kills him thinking he has won, but there is another super powered being on Earth unknown to The Saviour.

The story of ''Siren'' is told through the alternating perspectives of ten survivors of a supernatural disaster in the (fictional) rural Japanese town of Hanuda (羽生蛇村, in the Japanese version) in 2003 (Heisei year 15). These events are presented outside of chronological order and deal primarily with the efforts of the viewpoint characters to both escape the town and find answers to what has happened in the three days immediately following the disaster.

Initially presented as being merely an earthquake the disaster is rapidly shown to be far more bizarre and wide-ranging. The majority of the population has become infected with an unknown affliction that appears to severely damage cognitive function, causing them to bleed from the eyes, become violently hostile on sight towards anyone not also infected and seemingly immortal, able to recover and heal from even the most grievous of injuries in a short time. All natural water sources and rainfall in the town have been replaced with a strange liquid (referred to as "Red water") and the town, previously located in a mountainous region deep inland, has become an island surrounded on all sides by an ocean of the red water with no other land in sight. Furthermore, multiple sections of the town appear to have been replaced with past versions of themselves with buildings destroyed by landslides 27 years prior, although derelict as if abandoned for decades, suddenly reappearing or replacing their more modern counterparts.

It is revealed over the course of the game that Hanuda, which is a strongly isolationist community due to historical religious persecution, follows a unique syncretic faith known as the "Mana Religion" that incorporates many Christian and Shinto traditions. The senior figures of this faith, in particular the nun Hisako Yao, had attempted to call forth and appease their god Datatsushi (堕辰子) through ritual human sacrifice of a girl named Miyako Kajiro who they considered holy for her psychic abilities. When Kyoya Suda, an outsider to the town who had arrived to investigate online ghost stories, accidentally stumbles on the ceremony, Miyako, unwilling to be killed, uses the momentary distraction he provides to flee the scene and causes the ritual to fail. It is this failure that creates the disaster, pulling the entire town into another world where space and time are severely distorted.

The eponymous 'Siren' of the title, heard regularly all across the town throughout the game's events, is the Datatsushi's call, compelling Hanuda's residents to infect and immerse themselves in the ocean of red water, thus creating an army of subordinates called . The shibito then go about building a nest to house the Datatsushi's corporeal form once it is summoned, as well as killing and converting any remaining humans left in Hanuda. Despite Kyoya being able to slay the Datatsushi at the end of the three days the story concludes with only one of the ten viewpoint characters, elementary school student Harumi Yomoda, escaping from Hanuda alive and returning to the real world as she is the only remaining human in the town not infected in some way by the red water.

The story revolves around Devon Miles, a teen who has just graduated from high school in New York City. Upon graduating, Devon heads to Atlanta, Georgia to attend Atlanta A&T University, a historically black college that takes enormous pride in its marching band. En route to A&T, Devon befriends fellow band mates Charles, Jayson, and Ernest. Devon was personally invited to attend on a full scholarship by Dr. Lee, head of the band, for his prodigious talents. The A&T band separates itself from its competitors by requiring all members to read music, by focusing on various styles of music rather than what is currently popular on the radio, and by dedication to the teamwork emphasized "one band, one sound" concept. Preseason band camp is physically and mentally challenging, designed to push members past what they previously thought were their limits. At the end of preseason, the musicians audition for spots on the field, and Devon is the only freshman to make P1, the highest level player. While going through this rigorous process, Devon also finds time to romance an upperclassman dancer, Laila.

College life starts well for Devon, as he has a girlfriend and a spot on the field. Things begin to sour when Sean, Devon's percussion leader, begins to grow weary of Devon's cocky attitude. Sean later challenges Devon to take a solo in his first game, believing the freshman will panic and be embarrassed in front of everyone. Sean is shocked and subsequently humiliated when Devon takes the solo, upsetting Dr. Lee. As punishment, Dr. Lee orders Sean to clean the drums. This sets up some tension in the drumline which is exacerbated when Dr. Lee is told by President Wagner, the school's president, to change his focus from music to entertainment, otherwise he could potentially lose his funding. Lee does not want to give Devon more playing time because he feels Devon's attitude and respect are lacking. The situation further deteriorates when it is revealed that Devon cannot read music. Devon is demoted to P4 by Dr. Lee until he learns, then later put back on P1 when Wagner pressures Dr. Lee to do so. However, after inflaming a melee with a visiting band at A&T's homecoming game after Devon plays on a opposing band member's drum (a serious insult in drumline mythos), Devon is expelled from the band by Dr. Lee. The fight also strains his relationship with Laila, as she is embarrassed to introduce him to her parents, who attended the game.

Devon contacts A&T's rival school Morris Brown College, to discuss playing for their band next season. Mr. Wade, Brown's band leader, says that Devon does not need to know how to read music and will likely get a full scholarship and a good position on the drumline. When Wade wants to know what Dr. Lee is planning for the BET Big Southern Classic (a large competition of college bands), Devon realizes Mr. Wade was merely trying to use him to steal A&T's performance ideas and that his heart and honor are still with the A&T band. Disgusted with Mr. Wade and himself, he rejects the scholarship offer from the rival band and returns to A&T.

Though Devon is still not playing for the band, he refuses to give up his drumming. After receiving cassette tapes from his estranged father, Ray, Devon gets inspiration for new drum arrangements. As Devon goes to present these ideas to the band, he and Sean have a final confrontation that clears the air and they begin to work together. The two present their idea for an entrance cadence to Dr. Lee who decides to use them for the Classic. Devon helps the band prepare for the Classic and patches up his relationship with Laila. In appreciation for all his help getting the band ready for the Classic and impressed with Devon's maturing and growth, Dr. Lee tells Devon he can return to the band the following school year.

At the Classic, the bands are shown performing a mixture of popular songs. Morris Brown's band even gets rapper Petey Pablo to perform during their routine. A&T is not fazed by this and performs their mix of retro and current sounds. A tie results in the Morris Brown and A&T drumlines facing off against each other. Dr. Lee allows Devon to play for this face-off, showing his faith in Devon's improved character and in thanks for all the hard work he has done in getting the band ready for the Classic. Morris Brown goes first and A&T responds. Morris Brown's second cadence includes their snares moving forward and playing on the A&T drums (the same move that incited the fight at A&T's homecoming game), then throwing down their sticks. The A&T line manages to hold their composure in the face of the insult. They play their cadence and in the middle throw down their sticks, mimicking the Morris Brown actions, but then the entire line pulls out another set of sticks and continues playing. They end their routine in the faces of the Morris Brown drumline, but instead of playing on their drums, the line all drop their sticks onto the other drumline's drums. The judges award the win to A&T.

Eubie the Elf (Rob Paulsen) loves working in Santa's workshop up at the North Pole, despite the other elves' complaints about being annoyed by his overly happy personality. One Christmas Eve morning, Eubie's boss, Norbert, assigns him to checking the naughty and nice lists. However, while checking the lists, Eubie discovers that every child in the town of Bluesville is naughty. So, he decides to go to Bluesville and spread Christmas cheer.

Bluesville is a dark miserable town at the bottom of a very deep valley, completely surrounded by tall dark cliffs. There, the townspeople feel the warmth of the sun only once a day. They never smile, they don't know how to tell a joke properly, most of them work at the What Factory, where all the world's question marks are made, and at the Bluesville school, recess only lasts one minute. Eubie tries to brighten everyone's spirits, but his overly good mood frightens them.

Eubie talks to the mayor about what is wrong with Bluesville and if there's anything about Bluesville that makes him feel proud. The mayor replies that Bluesville is the world's largest manufacturer of un-burnable coal, which children enjoy throwing at people and at each other. The mayor then makes a deal with Eubie. If he can find another use for the coal, he'll put a Christmas tree up in the town square.

Eubie's first plan on getting the kids to help him make Bluesville a happier place is having them gather on a busy street and start a pie fight, but that only makes all the people angry. To search for more help, Molly (Mae Whitman), a naughty 10-year-old girl, takes Eubie to downtown Bluesville, the most miserable part of Bluesville, for a meeting of a group called S.L.O.B. (Smile League Of Bluesville), which only has one member of its group. While there, Molly and Eubie meets up with Curtis (Candi Milo), who is there because he brought along his foreign friend, Oreg, who doesn't speak English, but is happy to be there. Molly soon decides that Eubie's plans are hopeless, and tells him to just take all his big ideas home. At the mention of that, Eubie gets another idea, and is about to implement it when the lights in the room go off and Eubie is taken back to the North Pole.

In his bid to get Bluesville off the naughty list, Eubie violated several rules in one day. As punishment, Santa had Eubie turn in his magic hat, which, at the North Pole, meant his Christmas happiness and powers were taken away. When Gilda (Carol Kane) hears this, she motivates Eubie to go back to Bluesville to finish his job and gives him her hat to restore his powers and happiness. He then returns to Bluesville and explains his plan to the children. That night, they give the mayor of Bluesville a bottle of anti-snore medicine in his sleep, while Eubie spends the night polishing all the cliffs surrounding Bluesville with a jar of super-duper un-burnable coal polish. While he is doing this, Derek notices Gilda doesn't have her hat on, he soon figures out what is going on and, trying to follow the North Pole rules, he notifies one of the higher-ups.

After polishing the cliffs, Eubie is taken back to the North Pole again where he and Gilda are put on punishment and are sentenced to clean up the toy factory, with both their hats taken away. Derek, now alone at the Christmas party, is sad and mad with himself for betraying his friends, and confesses to what he did to Eubie and Gilda. They forgive him, but it only makes him feel worse about himself, considering what he did to them. While wondering what he can do to make it up to them, they have him do the one thing Eubie intended to do to finish making Bluesville a happier place.

When the sun shines over Bluesville again, it reflects off the polished coal, lighting up the town and making everyone happy. At the What Factory, the machine now makes different colored exclamation points of all shapes and sizes, delighting the workers. At the school, when recess starts, the bell has an elf's shoe placed over it, which means the kids can play longer. Molly comes out of the school where Derek meets her. He tells her to find the mayor and give her the jar of coal polish Eubie used to polish the cliffs, and a piece of coal that was squeezed into a diamond and to tell her that Eubie was sorry he couldn't be there. Molly happily goes to find the mayor, but stays for a while to allow Curtis to tell a joke that's actually funny, thanks to the joke book Derek gave him. Molly finds the mayor and shows him the items, which meant that there was indeed another use for the coal. He then puts up a Christmas tree in the town square and everybody celebrates, thanks to Eubie.

That Christmas, Santa decides to make Eubie, Gilda, and Derek his sleigh crew that year for bringing joy to Bluesville, which has soon changed its name to Joyville.

D, a former university professor from the Continent who speaks English, is sent by his government, two years into a vicious civil war, on a secret mission to buy coal in England. Traumatised by the war, in which his wife was executed in error and he was buried alive in an air raid, England to him is a place of peace and happy memories.

On the ferry he sees L, an aristocratic supporter of the right-wing rebels, and Rose, a bold and wilful English girl. Waiting for the train to London, Rose tells D she is the estranged daughter of Lord Benditch, the mineowner whom D has come to negotiate with. Impatient, she hires a car and offers D a lift, but when they stop at a hotel a man in the washroom tries to rob D. Deciding to drive on alone, he is followed by L, whose chauffeur beats him up and leaves him by the roadside. They do not find the government documents D had hidden in his shoe.

Hitching a lift to London, D follows instructions by booking into a seedy hotel, where he befriends the 14-year-old maid Else and persuades her to hide his documents in her stocking. Then he goes to meet his contact K, who works at a language school teaching an invented language called Entrenationo (obviously modelled on Esperanto). Back at his hotel, Rose rings and asks him to meet her, but on his way a bullet misses him. Returning to the spot with Rose, she finds the bullet and realises he is in mortal danger. Telling her about his work before the war as one of the world's leading experts on the ''Chanson de Roland'', the two become closer.

Retrieving his documents from Else next day, he goes to see Lord Benditch and his fellow directors, one of whom is Forbes, informally engaged to Rose. They are ready to do a deal and ask for his documents, which he discovers have been lifted from him on the way in by Benditch's butler. Dismissed, on his way out he sees L going in to talk to the mineowners.

Rose comes in and gets Forbes to come with her to D's embassy, where she thinks he will be authenticated. The official they see, a supporter of the rebels, claims that D is dead, pulls out a gun and calls the police. They question D about the death of Else, thrown from an upper window of the hotel. Enraged that an innocent girl has been killed, D grabs the gun and, evading pursuit, breaks into an empty flat.

Convinced that K is not only working for the rebels but is also a murderer, he takes him at gunpoint from the language school to the flat he has found. In the bathroom he shoots at him, but misses. Rose knocks on the outside door, having tracked him down, and they discover K has died of shock. The two admit that they have fallen in love, but she is meant to be marrying Forbes and he has to try and save his mission.

In a final effort to stop the deal with L, he takes a train to the Midlands town where Benditch's mine is and attempts to dissuade the workers by telling them where the coal is going. They put work ahead of solidarity. Some teenagers he befriends want to blow up the mine and he helps them, but is knocked out by the blast and taken back to London by the police.

Released on bail thanks to lawyers engaged by Forbes, he learns that the firm now think it too dangerous to sell coal to the rebels and have cancelled the deal with L. Realising where Rose's affections have gone, Forbes renounces her and agrees to drive D to the south coast, where he is taken out to a ship that is heading home. On the ship he finds Rose.

Altogether, D. has failed in his primary mission – to procure British coal for his own side – but at least managed to deny it to his foes.

After receiving a letter from his father (Roland) requesting his immediate return home, Don Diego de la Vega (Langella) resigns his commission as a cadet and sails from Spain to California. Arriving in the Pueblo of Los Angeles, he learns that his father has been replaced as Alcalde by Don Luis Quintero (Middleton). Quintero is a puppet of the witty and urbane swordsman, Captain Esteban (Montalbán), and the once-free populace are oppressed by high taxes and cruel laws. Beatings and imprisonment are common for minor infractions.

Diego immediately takes on the persona of a fop to appear ineffectual to the Alcalde and Esteban. His father perceives him as weak and useless, a sacrifice Diego is willing to endure to achieve his goal. Determined to restore freedom, Diego secretly takes one of a pair of ancestral swords and adopts the disguise of the legendary masked hero, El Zorro. His terror campaign against the Alcalde and the Captain eventually rouses the people against them. In his role as the fop, he romances the Alcalde's beautiful niece, Teresa (Archer), whom he grows to love. He simultaneously flirts with the Alcalde's wife, Inez (Sorel), to gain information and make her lover, Esteban, jealous.

Zorro's old teacher, Frey Felipe, is accused of being Zorro and arrested. Diego effects a rescue, while his father leads the peons and caballeros and marches on the Alcalde's palace. As Zorro forces the Alcalde to sign a letter of resignation, Esteban appears and forces a duel to the death. Esteban is startled when Diego reveals his identity, lowering his guard for Diego's killing blow.

The rebels storm the palace. Zorro shows the Alcalde's resignation to the crowd outside. Alejandro announces that Zorro's "stolen" sword "has never seen such distinction". "Zorro" thanks him and reveals his identity before the crowd. Don Luis and his wife return to Spain in dishonor.

Setting and characters

''Brisingr'' begins about three days after the events in ''Eldest'' conclude. It continues the story of the ''Inheritance Cycle'' and takes place on the fictional continent of Alagaësia during a struggle for power as the small country Surda and a rebel group called the Varden attempts to overthrow the larger Empire. They are supported mainly by elves, dwarves, and Urgals, but the Empire is populated with large numbers of humans, who far outnumber Surda and its allies. The ''Inheritance Cycle'' focuses on the story of a teenage boy named Eragon and his dragon Saphira. Eragon is one of the few remaining Dragon Riders, a group that governed Alagaësia in past times but were almost destroyed by a Rider named Galbatorix, who took control of the land. Galbatorix's greatest fear is that a new Rider will rise up and usurp his position as king of the Empire, Galbatorix's shade, Durza, knows a dragon egg went to the spine, so he sends the Ra-Zac to investigate, causing Eragon to lose his home, and have to flee with a storyteller named Brom.

''Brisingr'' is told in third-person from the perspectives of multiple primary protagonists. These characters include the humans Eragon, Roran, and Nasuada, and the dragons Saphira and Glaedr. The humans Galbatorix and Murtagh return as antagonists, along with Murtagh's dragon, Thorn. The Ra'zac return for a minor antagonist role, and Varaug, a Shade, also appears for a main antagonist role. Many minor characters reprise their roles in ''Brisingr'' from previous installments of the ''Inheritance Cycle'', including the elves Arya, Islanzadí, and Oromis; the dwarf Orik; the humans Angela, Katrina and Elva; and the dragon Glaedr.

Plot summary

Eragon, Saphira, and Roran travel to Helgrind, the home of the Ra'zac. There, they rescue Roran's betrothed, Katrina, held prisoner there, and kill one of the Ra'zac. Saphira, Roran, and Katrina return to the Varden, while Eragon stays behind. Eragon slays the remaining Ra'zac, who warns him that Galbatorix has discovered "the name". Eragon also finds and condemns Sloan, Katrina's treacherous father, to never meet his daughter again, and arranges for him to travel to Ellesmera, the elven homeland.

Eragon then travels back to the Varden, after reuniting with Arya, who had come in search of him. Once they return to the Varden, Eragon discovers that Katrina is pregnant with Roran's child and a wedding is arranged, which Eragon is to conduct. Just before it begins, a small force of troops attack alongside Murtagh and his dragon, Thorn. The soldiers had spells cast on them that removed their ability to feel pain, making them better fighters. Elven spell-casters aid Eragon and Saphira and cause Murtagh and Thorn to flee, winning the battle. After the fight, Roran marries Katrina.

The leader of the Varden, Nasuada, orders Eragon to attend the election of the new dwarf king in the Beor Mountains, while Saphira stays behind to protect the Varden. Eragon is to support the bid of Orik, the former king's adoptive son, who favors the Varden. Eragon heads to Farthen Dur, where the election takes place. Once there, Eragon is the target of an assassination attempt, perpetrated by a Rider-hating dwarf clan, whom Orik forces into exile. Having earned the sympathies of the dwarves, Orik is elected the new king. Saphira journeys to Farthen Dur for Orik's coronation and repairs Isidar Mithrim, the previously destroyed star rose.

After Orik's coronation, Eragon and Saphira journey to Ellesméra to learn the secret of Galbatorix's power. There, they learn that Eragon's deceased mentor, Brom, was Eragon's father. Glaedr also reveals the source of Galbatorix's power: Eldunari, a dragon organ, which allows its holder to communicate with and draw energy from the dragon it belongs to, even if the dragon is deceased. Galbatorix spent years collecting Eldunari, drawing his power from the dragons he slew.

After some training, Eragon visits Rhunön, the elven blacksmith who forged swords for Riders. Rhunön refuses to forge Eragon a new sword, having sworn to never create a weapon again, and having depleted her stocks of the required metal. By deciphering the werecat Solembum's instructions, Eragon acquires the metal from under the roots of the Menoa Tree. Rhunön forges him a sword by controlling Eragon's body, and he names it "Brisingr", which causes it to burst into flames whenever its name is said aloud.

Oromis and Glaedr decide to join the battle against the Empire alongside Islanzadí. To prevent Galbatorix from claiming his Eldunari should he fall in combat, and to continue guiding Eragon, Glaedr gives his Eldunari to Eragon. Glaedr and Oromis fly to Gil'ead, while Eragon and Saphira fly to Feinster, a city sieged by the Varden.

Meanwhile, Roran is sent on various missions as a soldier of the Varden. One mission against soldiers that can't feel pain results in many casualties, and in Roran being assigned to an incompetent commander. During another mission, this commander almost causes the entire force to be decimated. Roran takes charge of a small group of soldiers loyal to him, and leads them to victory against overwhelming odds. Despite this, Roran is charged with insubordination and is flogged as a punishment. Afterwards, Nasuada promotes Roran to commander and sends his unit on a mission with both men and Urgals, to enforce the idea of men and Urgals working together. When an Urgal, Yarbog, challenges Roran for leadership of the unit, he wrestles him into submission. After returning to the Varden, his squad joins the siege of Feinster.

As the siege begins, Eragon rescues Arya and departs to find the leader of the city, but discovers three magicians attempting to create a Shade. While attempting to kill the magicians, Eragon has a vision through Glaedr's Eldunarí showing him and Oromis fighting Murtagh and Thorn in the sky. During the fight, Galbatorix takes control of Murtagh, and tries to lure Oromis to his side. Failing to do so, he slays Oromis as he suffers a seizure. Glaedr, in grief, is also killed. After the vision, the magicians succeed in creating the Shade Varaug. Eragon and Arya fight and slay Varaug, with Arya dealing the fatal blow. After the successful siege, Eragon resolves to continue the fight against the Empire, to avenge Oromis and Glaedr.

Eragon, Saphira, and Roran travel to Helgrind, the home of the Ra'zac. There, they rescue Roran's betrothed, Katrina, held prisoner there, and kill one of the Ra'zac. Saphira, Roran, and Katrina return to the Varden, while Eragon stays behind. Eragon slays the remaining Ra'zac, who warns him that Galbatorix has discovered "the name". Eragon also finds and condemns Sloan, Katrina's treacherous father, to never meet his daughter again, and arranges for him to travel to Ellesmera, the elven homeland.

Eragon then travels back to the Varden, after reuniting with Arya, who had come in search of him. Once they return to the Varden, Eragon discovers that Katrina is pregnant with Roran's child and a wedding is arranged, which Eragon is to conduct. Just before it begins, a small force of troops attack alongside Murtagh and his dragon, Thorn. The soldiers had spells cast on them that removed their ability to feel pain, making them better fighters. Elven spell-casters aid Eragon and Saphira and cause Murtagh and Thorn to flee, winning the battle. After the fight, Roran marries Katrina.

The leader of the Varden, Nasuada, orders Eragon to attend the election of the new dwarf king in the Beor Mountains, while Saphira stays behind to protect the Varden. Eragon is to support the bid of Orik, the former king's adoptive son, who favors the Varden. Eragon heads to Farthen Dur, where the election takes place. Once there, Eragon is the target of an assassination attempt, perpetrated by a Rider-hating dwarf clan, whom Orik forces into exile. Having earned the sympathies of the dwarves, Orik is elected the new king. Saphira journeys to Farthen Dur for Orik's coronation and repairs Isidar Mithrim, the previously destroyed star rose.

After Orik's coronation, Eragon and Saphira journey to Ellesméra to learn the secret of Galbatorix's power. There, they learn that Eragon's deceased mentor, Brom, was Eragon's father. Glaedr also reveals the source of Galbatorix's power: Eldunari, a dragon organ, which allows its holder to communicate with and draw energy from the dragon it belongs to, even if the dragon is deceased. Galbatorix spent years collecting Eldunari, drawing his power from the dragons he slew.

After some training, Eragon visits Rhunön, the elven blacksmith who forged swords for Riders. Rhunön refuses to forge Eragon a new sword, having sworn to never create a weapon again, and having depleted her stocks of the required metal. By deciphering the werecat Solembum's instructions, Eragon acquires the metal from under the roots of the Menoa Tree. Rhunön forges him a sword by controlling Eragon's body, and he names it "Brisingr", which causes it to burst into flames whenever its name is said aloud.

Oromis and Glaedr decide to join the battle against the Empire alongside Islanzadí. To prevent Galbatorix from claiming his Eldunari should he fall in combat, and to continue guiding Eragon, Glaedr gives his Eldunari to Eragon. Glaedr and Oromis fly to Gil'ead, while Eragon and Saphira fly to Feinster, a city sieged by the Varden.

Meanwhile, Roran is sent on various missions as a soldier of the Varden. One mission against soldiers that can't feel pain results in many casualties, and in Roran being assigned to an incompetent commander. During another mission, this commander almost causes the entire force to be decimated. Roran takes charge of a small group of soldiers loyal to him, and leads them to victory against overwhelming odds. Despite this, Roran is charged with insubordination and is flogged as a punishment. Afterwards, Nasuada promotes Roran to commander and sends his unit on a mission with both men and Urgals, to enforce the idea of men and Urgals working together. When an Urgal, Yarbog, challenges Roran for leadership of the unit, he wrestles him into submission. After returning to the Varden, his squad joins the siege of Feinster.

As the siege begins, Eragon rescues Arya and departs to find the leader of the city, but discovers three magicians attempting to create a Shade. While attempting to kill the magicians, Eragon has a vision through Glaedr's Eldunarí showing him and Oromis fighting Murtagh and Thorn in the sky. During the fight, Galbatorix takes control of Murtagh, and tries to lure Oromis to his side. Failing to do so, he slays Oromis as he suffers a seizure. Glaedr, in grief, is also killed. After the vision, the magicians succeed in creating the Shade Varaug. Eragon and Arya fight and slay Varaug, with Arya dealing the fatal blow. After the successful siege, Eragon resolves to continue the fight against the Empire, to avenge Oromis and Glaedr.

George and Harold got out of their fourth-grade gym class and found that Jerome Horwitz Elementary School is planning on hosting its second annual Invention Convention, with the prize being the recipient(s) becoming the principal for a day. Upon seeing the poster for it, George and Harold think to themselves what it would be like to be principals for the day, but Mr. Krupp bans George and Harold from the convention this year and puts them in study hall all day, because last year's Invention Convention was ruined by them applying a body heat activating glue made of rubber cement and concentrated orange juice they invented on everyone's seats except their own.

While getting ready to secretly sabotage everyone's inventions after thinking it isn't fair, the two boys run into Melvin Sneedly, who is busy working on his invention, the PATSY 2000, a photocopier that can make a simple two-dimensional image come alive. He demonstrates by putting in a photo of a mouse; out comes a real one, going on the floor. George and Harold assume Melvin put the real mouse in earlier, but they make a deal in which George and Harold promise to not sabotage Melvin's invention, as long as he doesn't report them. Because of George and Harold's pranks, the convention has to be called off, confusing Mr. Krupp as he knows that he put George and Harold in study hall himself and Melvin then breaks George and Harold's promise and tattles on them.

An infuriated Mr. Krupp puts George and Harold in permanent detention for the rest of the school year, in which they are assigned writing a sentence for two hours after school until the chalkboards are completely full, additionally threatening them with suspension if either of them leaves the classroom for any reason. With each boy using a quick line-writing device, they write all their sentences in three-and-a-half minutes, then they pass the time by making a new Captain Underpants comic: "Captain Underpants and the Attack of the Talking Toilets". They decide to go to the copy machine, but realizing that Mr. Krupp will suspend them if they leave the room, they decide to sneak out without Mr. Krupp catching them. However, the copy machine is surrounded by most of the teachers so they go to the gym and try to use Melvin's machine as they still believe it is a normal copy machine.

The machine creates living talking toilets, meaning that Melvin was right all along, and causing George and Harold to make a run for it. While fleeing, George and Harold are caught red-handed by Mr. Krupp who was walking in the hallway and are officially suspended. The boys try to explain what happened in the gym, but Mr. Krupp refuses to listen and does not care since George and Harold are suspended and orders them to leave the school, much to George and Harold's dismay. All the teachers celebrate (almost treating their punishment like expulsion) with Ms. Anthrope planning to call George and Harold's parents, Ms. Ribble deciding to destroy their desks, and Mr. Meaner, the gym teacher, planning to throw a party in the gym. But Mr. Meaner is promptly eaten by one of the toilets, freeing the others. The teachers run away with Ms. Ribble snapping her fingers at a toilet, making Mr. Krupp turn into Captain Underpants. George and Harold chase him as he jumps out the window and desperately steals several pairs of underwear from clotheslines. He shoots them at the hungry toilets, but in vain, as the toilets eat all his ammunition.

Back at school, the trio finds the other toilets had eaten every teacher in the school. The toilets spot them, causing them to retreat into the school. They stumble upon the school's next lunch, creamed chipped beef. They sling the lunch at the group of toilet mouths. Due to the lack of good taste in the school's hot lunches, it causes the toilets to vomit everything they had eaten (including the teachers) out and die. Suddenly, the Turbo Toilet 2000 (the toilets' leader) bursts out of the school and despite Captain Underpants's efforts, the Turbo Toilet 2000 defeats and swallows Captain Underpants whole. The boys sneak back into school and use Melvin's machine to make a super-powered robot called the Incredible Robo-Plunger 2000, which fights and defeats the Turbo Toilet 2000, letting the boys save Mr. Krupp (who turned back to normal due to the toilet water in the Turbo Toilet 2000's mouth). He fears that he will be fired for the mess and damages to the school, but George and Harold offer to fix the damages, as long as Mr. Krupp cancels George and Harold's detentions and suspensions, and allows them to be principals for the day. Mr. Krupp desperately accepts, as he still doesn't want to be fired. George and Harold order the Robo-Plunger to repair the school, and fly off to Uranus with the toilets, never to return as part of the deal. As principals, the boys hold an all-day carnival for the students and an A+ for the day and put the teachers (and Melvin for his tattling) in detention writing sentences. At the end of the day, Mr. Krupp questions how the carnival will be paid for; and the boys reveal they sold his antique walnut desk and all the furniture in the teacher's lounge. Mr. Krupp gets furious, and Miss Anthrope snaps her fingers after the boys, once again turning Mr. Krupp into Captain Underpants.

Comics

''Captain Underpants and the Attack of the Talking Toilets''

In P.E, a UFO shoots rays at the school, which gives the toilets life to eat everyone at the school(the first victim is the gym teacher). Captain Underpants appears and places plungers in the toilets' mouths, then the toilets' leader, the Turbo Toilet 2000, appears and Captain Underpants gives it a wedgie on a stop sign, from where it's slung at the UFO, causing both to explode, the Talking Toilets to turn back into regular toilets, and the cruel gym teacher escapes, much to the kids' dismay.

''The Top Secret Truth About Captain Underpants''

George and Harold want everyone to know what happened in ''The Adventures of Captain Underpants''. They make this comic book for everyone to know. The story involves 3 parts. A similar comic with added details appears in every subsequent sequel.

One night, a flaming thing soared to Piqua, Ohio. A day later, Zorx, Klax and Jennifer, three evil extraterrestrials, land on the rooftop of Jerome Horwitz Elementary School, but people don't realize this UFO is on the roof of the school, allowing them to spy on them. Meanwhile, George and Harold mess with their science teacher, learning about the reaction of mixing baking soda and vinegar. They then make the cafeteria ladies a fake cupcake recipe, disguised as "Mr. Krupp's Krispy Krupcakes" for Principal Krupp's "birthday". The lunch ladies decide to surprise Mr. Krupp and make cupcakes for the entire school and the school is flooded with sticky green goop.

A day after, as the school is cleaned, the lunch ladies show Mr. Krupp about the mess, who gets very mad when he hears that they did it for his birthday. ("But it wasn't even my birthday!") Agitated, the lunch ladies blame George and Harold, but Mr. Krupp needs proof to punish them. Furious from past agitations by these two students, these lunch ladies soon resign. About 10 seconds after, the aliens come in, very badly disguised as humans and Mr. Krupp hires the three, due to them having no experience, credentials, or references. For the boys' antics, Mr. Krupp eliminates cafeteria privileges and from them requiring them to eat lunch in his office where he can keep an spy on them, much to this surprise (believing they got in trouble for something they "didn't" do). The day after, while Mr. Krupp has a banana, both boys made unique sandwiches and other food so junky and disgusting, Mr. Krupp feels like he'll get sick and exits his office for some fresh air.

After Mr. Krupp leaves, George and Harold go off to change the letters on the sign in the cafeteria, only to find out that the sign is already oddly arranged by the aliens. They immediately notice that all of the students and staff at the school have become evil zombie nerds. Sneaking into the lunchroom, George and Harold learn that the aliens fed the students and faculty "Zombie Nerd Milkshakes" and plan to feed them "Super Evil Rapid Growth Juice" the next day, turning them into giant minions bent on taking over the world. George and Harold steal the carton of growth juice and pour the contents out the window, most of which lands on a dandelion, turning it into the massive Dandelion of Doom. When they tell Mr. Krupp, he doesn't believe them but starts to believe them after Miss Anthrope (as a zombie nerd) takes a bite out of his desk. When they enter the cafeteria, Zorx grabs Harold, who escapes and pulls off his gloves revealing his tentacles. Zorx snaps his tentacle at them (despite tentacles not having fingers), turning Mr. Krupp into Captain Underpants, who runs to the shoe store to order a cheeseburger, for what the incredibly graphic violence chapter said.

The boys temporarily defeat the aliens by Captain Underpants' return, but are spotted by the zombie nerds, causing them to climb up on the roof, where they run into the alien spaceship to escape the Dandelion of Doom. Inside, they steal multiple cartoned juices, before the aliens lock them in their jail cell. The aliens take off in the spaceship and plan to shower the zombie nerds with "Super Evil Rapid Growth Juice" via the ship's spray gun. While the aliens gloat, the boys switch the labels of the growth and "Ultra Nasty self-destruct juices", along with those on the spray gun and fuel tank, setting off a chain reaction in the spaceship. The trio jump off the spaceship before it explodes using Captain Underpants' cape as a parachute. They end up landing in the mouth of the Dandelion of Doom, which begins to eat Captain Underpants. George reluctantly gives him some of the "Extra-Strength Super Power Juice", who fights and kills the dandelion with his new powers. Harold mixes the "Anti Evil Zombie-Nerd Juice" with root beer, which is fed to all the zombie nerds, transforming them back to normal. However, as a result of the Super Power Juice, Mr. Krupp (when Captain Underpants) permanently has superpowers.

Bill is a Woolloomooloo larrikin, who vows to abandon his life of gambling (playing Two-up) and drinking after a spell in gaol following a raid on a two up game. He falls in love with Doreen (Lyell), who works in a pickle factory, but faces competition from a more sophisticated rival, Stror 'at Coot.

Bill and Doreen argue, but are eventually reunited and get married. Bill gives up drinking and hanging out with his mate, Ginger Mick, and becomes a family man. He gets an offer from his uncle to manage an orchard in the country, and he and Doreen settle down there with their baby.

At the southwest of Greenland, a scientist from the fictional country of New Swissland (with a foreign culture where everyone has a silly name) named Professor Pippy P. Poopypants goes to the United States to demonstrate how his Shrinky-Pig 2000 and Goosy-Grow 4000 can help the world by reducing garbage and increasing food, but everyone laughs at Poopypants' silly name rather than take him seriously.

Meanwhile, Jerome Horwitz Elementary School is going to a restaurant-arcade called Piqua Pizza Palace, George and Harold decide to rearrange the letters on a nearby sign during the wait to get on the bus, but Mr. Krupp catches the boys and bans them from the school field trip, tasked with cleaning the teacher's lounge for the rest of the trip. However, the boys get their revenge by "modifying" things around in the teachers' lounge. After the trip, the teachers fall into George and Harold's trap and get largely covered in powder paste and Styrofoam pellets. The teachers run out of the lounge in horror, causing Mr. Fyde, the science teacher, to witness the teachers covered in these items and believe they're abominable snowmen.

Mr. Fyde quits the next day, believing he's losing his sanity due to the incident the other day and having a dream by being eaten by a talking toilet, hearing cats and dogs in the classroom, then imagined that the school flooded with green goop, and seeing Captain Underpants, eventually leading to Mr. Fyde residing in the Piqua Valley Home For The Reality-Challenged prompting Mr. Krupp to find a new science teacher.

Meanwhile, Professor Poopypants sees an ad to teach at the school and applies for the job, thinking children to be kind and sweet-hearted, but they spend days laughing at his silly name instead of learning anything. The professor only gets them interested by building a robot that makes gerbils jog along with them, but the interest is short-lived when George gets him to reveal his middle name (pee-pee). Sometime later, Ms. Ribble reads The Pied Piper of Hamelin, which inspires George and Harold to make a comic about the Professor trying to take over the world using an army of gerbils in suits, which makes Professor Poopypants furious and destroys the last of his sanity.

He makes the gerbil machine as large as a tall building, climbs inside, then shrinks the school and holds them hostage. He then grows a pencil large and writes a system of three alphabetical name charts based on the first/last letter of each part of a first and last name to force people to change their names to silly ones (for example Benny Krupp = Lumpy Pottybiscuits). George and Harold (now Fluffy Toiletnose and Cheeseball Wafflefanny respectively) get Captain Underpants (now Buttercup Chickenfanny, but refuses to take the professor's order to change names) to steal Professor Poopypants' Goosy-Grow 4000, but he and the machine are shrunk in the process. The two of them try to enlarge the school back to normal size but get flicked off the school by Professor Poopypants. Cheeseball makes a paper airplane that Fluffy enlarges, allowing them to fly away, though they face many dangers, barely escaping a woodchopper, a dog, and a steamroller, until Captain Underpants rescues them. Fluffy then enlarges Captain Underpants (and Cheeseball's hand) to the robot's size, then they fight until Captain Underpants defeats Professor Poopypants and everyone's names are changed back to normal. The boys use the Shrinky-Pig 2000 and Goosy-Grow 4000 to bring themselves, the school (and everyone inside it) and Captain Underpants back to their normal sizes. Captain Underpants then dresses and is soaked with water, turning him back into Mr. Krupp.

Professor Poopypants is then arrested and hauled off to jail for his crimes. From the advice of George and Harold, he legally changes his name so that no one will make fun of it anymore. Unfortunately, he changes his name to that of his maternal grandfather's, Tippy Tinkletrousers, which only makes the prisoners (and police officers) laugh at him even more, much to his anger. Later in the treehouse, George and Harold reflect on the moral to not make fun of people, believing this to be their first story to have a moral.

Ms. Ribble announces that she is going to retire at the end of the school year and forces everyone to make happy retirement cards for her, but George and Harold make a Captain Underpants comic with her as "The Wicked Wedgie Woman" instead, and they got sent to Mr. Krupp's office for that. The boys are assigned to pass out the "Friday Memo", which they do with several humorous changes. They later convince Mr. Krupp to sign a blank retirement card, but later, having found out about their comic (and catching them changing a sign), he puts them in detention. Harold defiantly refuses to give Ms. Ribble the card, causing Mr. Krupp to seize it and plan to deliver it himself. At Ms. Ribble's retirement party (which everyone was forced to go to), Mr. Krupp hands over the letter, where it is revealed that Harold made it look like a marriage proposal from Mr. Krupp, having used reverse psychology to get Mr Krupp to deliver it.

Having fallen into a state of catatonia because of the proposal (only saying "B-B-Bubba-Bobba. Hob-Hobba-Hobba-Wah-Wah!"), Mr. Krupp remains indifferent to the following chaotic school week. (The week involves none of the kids showing up on Monday, all the kids wearing their pajamas to school and picking their noses on Tuesday, some of the girls drawing a mustache on their faces with a permanent marker and taping egg salad sandwiches to their heads on Wednesday, kids having a food fight in the lunchroom and the football team wrecking the teachers' lounge on Thursday and every single kid wearing bumblebee costumes to school and making silly faces in yearbook photos on Friday.) At the wedding, just before they get married, Ms. Ribble breaks up with Mr. Krupp because he has a funny-looking nose (ironically, they both have the same nose shape). When Mr. Krupp says George and Harold tricked them, the boys run as Ms. Ribble goes into a blood-crazed rage and chases after them, causing the food on the tables to go flying into the guests (all the students and teachers) and causing the wedding cake to fall on her, though George and Harold are able to escape.

Later at school, Ms. Ribble reveals that she has illegally dropped their B and C grades to F's and G's (although Harold points out that there is no such grade as a ''G''), counting on them flunking the fourth grade so they'll have to repeat it. At the treehouse, George and Harold decide to use the 3-D Hypno-Ring to hypnotize her into returning their grades to normal, but while they are doing this, the book is interrupted by a local newscast, which reveals the police are shutting down the Ll'l Wiseguy Novelty Co. (which sells the rings) because the Hypno-Rings are now considered dangerous. Additionally, when used on women, a mental blunder causes them to do the opposite of what the bearer of the Hypno-Ring tells them to do. Back to the normal book, the boys, tell Ms. Ribble that she will "only change their grades and not do something crazy like turn into Wedgie Woman".

That night, Ms. Ribble arrives at George and Harold's treehouse as The Wicked Wedgie Woman, as they struggle, they accidentally spill Extra Strength Super-Power Juice into "Wedgie Woman's" head, which transforms her hair into several arms with the ability to give wedgies and increases her intelligence. She kidnaps the boys and takes them to her house, where she builds robot copies of them named Robo-George and the Harold 2000. The robots go to school where Mr. Krupp is filling in for Ms. Ribble. When Mr. Krupp snaps his fingers at Harold 2000 for kicking a ball into space, he turns himself into Captain Underpants and takes off shouting "Tra-La-Laaa!", causing the robots to increase in size and fly after him. Captain Underpants mistakes the robots for George and Harold, who then attack him with spray starch, which defeats him. Meanwhile, Wedgie Woman ties the boys to adjacent chairs and hangs a hatchet over them with a candle burning the rope, but instead of hurting George and Harold, the hatchet simply cuts through the ropes.

George and Harold find the wedgied Captain Underpants, convinced that he lost his powers. The newest store sells everything except fabric softener, so they make a comic about Captain Underpants' origin. He reads it, eventually seeing words he can say to free him of starch on the back. He says the words and defeats the robots. As Captain Underpants and Wedgie Woman face-off, Harold runs to the treehouse and comes back with the Hypno-ring. George runs to the "Everything Except Fabric Softener" store and returns with a box of spray bottles, shouting to Harold that he got "Extra-Strength Spray Starch" and that he was going to hide it. Wedgie Woman overhears, steals all the bottles, and sprays them at Captain Underpants. However, George reveals he used reverse psychology to trick Wedgie Woman into using hair remover, which made her and everyone else completely bald, removing her powers. George and Harold tell Captain Underpants to turn back into Mr. Krupp, and they then hypnotize Ms. Ribble by telling her to do the "opposite of the opposite" of what they want her to do, they tell her to always be Wedgie Woman, to not go back to being a teacher, to remember the last two weeks, to not change their grades back to normal, to keep her powers, to not become the nicest teacher in the school's history, and to not bake chocolate chip cookies for the class. Of course, she does the opposite of what is said, and at school, the next day is now portrayed as a happy and caring teacher who has ways to make class fun. George and Harold reflect on how her personality had changed for the better and that she may live longer now.

Comics

Comic 1: ''Captain Underpants and the Wrath of the Wicked Wedgie Woman''

Ms. Ribble gives the students each 41 book reports as Christmas holiday homework. After Christmas, the book reports are turned in as a big pile, and fall on top of her, nearly killing her. She is transported to a hospital, where they rebuild her into a robot with a wedgie robo-claw inside. Captain Underpants appears but loses against The Wicked Wedgie Woman because she arms herself with spray starch, then hangs him on a pole. Some children walk by and catapult him into a pool, pouring fabric softener in it. Underpants creates a loop underneath The Wicked Wedgie Woman, causing the robo-claw to wedgie her instead of Underpants, who then flies her to jail.

Comic 2: ''The Origin of Captain Underpants''

The second comic in the book starts with an introduction to Underpantyworld, Captain Underpants' fictional homeworld in which everyone only wears underwear. Suddenly, the Wedgie Warlords aboard the Starch Ship Enterprize appear intending to spray starch on Underpantyworld. However, the leader, "Big Daddy Long Johns", reveals a magic amulet that is able to protect the entire planet from the starch. However, he drops it and it gets swallowed by his son, "Little Baby Underpants" (later revealed to be Captain Underpants), so the entire planet is doomed. Big Daddy Long Johns and his wife, "Princess Pantyhose", decide to save their son. Stretching his underwear, Big Daddy Long Johns and Princess Pantyhose slingshot Little Baby Underpants away, while Underpantyworld is destroyed. Little Baby Underpants lands on Earth and is adopted by two old people, who name him "Captain", after their favorite cereal. As he grows up, Captain feels isolated from other children, since he only wears underwear. At night, Captain has a dream, where he meets his parents, who reveal that because he has the amulet still inside him, he is invulnerable to starch. All he has to do is shout the sentence "I summon the power of Underpantyworld!", and he will overcome the powers of starch. He becomes a superhero named Captain Underpants and never becomes afraid of starch anymore. The comic ends and in the real world, Captain Underpants shouts out the sentence to free himself in real life.

Part 1: ''The Night of the Nasty Nostril Nuggets''

Ms. Ribble's fourth-grade english class are having demonstration speech day. The first two boys got a D-, Stephanie Yakoff and Jessica Gorgon tried to cook in pop-up toaster. Then, George and Harold show off the "Squishy"; two ketchup packets under the bumps of a toilet seat which will squirt the ketchup on whoever sits on the seat. But Melvin then forces everyone to watch his demonstration, the "Combine-o-Tron 2000", which he uses to combine his hamster Sulu with a robotic hamster body he built. Melvin orders Sulu to do some tricks for the class, but the hamster is unaware of what happened, causing Melvin to threaten to spank him. Sulu's "instincts" kick in and cause him to spank Melvin himself using his new bionic powers, causing Melvin to harshly disown Sulu. After watching the scene, George and Harold adopt Sulu, who happily joins the two. Meanwhile, Ms. Ribble uses a Squishy on an already grumpy Mr. Krupp, who believes that George and Harold are responsible, additionally seeing other squishy victims. When Mr. Krupp finds them in the lunchroom, Melvin almost immediately tattles on the boys and Mr. Krupp sends them to detention, causing them to make a libelous Captain Underpants comic starring Melvin as a dumb tattletale.

Having read the comic, Melvin angrily goes home and builds a new super-powered robot to combine himself with using the Combine-O-Tron 2000, believing he will be revered and celebrated by the school and town. However, Melvin sneezes at the last second from his allergy to cats and gets combined with the robot and his boogers, turning him into the Bionic Booger Boy, and will remain so for six months until he finishes a molecular separator. As time passes, Melvin becomes a sports star due to his repulsiveness and is able to use his own drinking fountain. The cold and flu season begins, however, and Melvin makes a huge mess whenever he sneezes. When the class visits a tissue factory, Melvin becomes extremely paranoid to the point of misusing pronouns. When factory owner Snoddy offers free tissues, Melvin becomes gigantic as a natural defense and goes on a rampage, capturing the school secretary, Miss Edith Anthrope. George turns Mr. Krupp into Captain Underpants who saves, Miss Anthrope. Her wet kisses turn him back to Mr. Krupp and the Bionic Booger Boy devours him, but Sulu defeats the Bionic Booger Boy using large novelty items from warehouses.

When Melvin's parents arrive with the Combine-o-Tron 2000, George suggests reversing the batteries, which surprisingly works, and the Bionic Booger Boy is split into Melvin, Mr. Krupp, and three robotic booger globs. However, Mr. Krupp and Melvin begin acting strangely, with Mr. Krupp boasting about the Combine-O-Tron 2000 saving the city, and Melvin threatening the boys with detention. Suddenly, the globs come to life, smash the Combine-O-Tron 2000 and begin chasing George, Harold, Mr. Krupp, Melvin, and Sulu.

Part 2: ''The Revenge of the Ridiculous Robo-Boogers''

The globs continue chasing George, Harold, Mr Krupp, Melvin, and Sulu. But before George and Harold better run, they switch letters on the cool sign. They reach a dead end, but Sulu catches the Robo-Boogers in his mouth and spits them out into space towards Uranus. After a number of incidents, George and Harold realize that Mr. Krupp and Melvin had switched bodies. Since it would take Melvin six months to build another Combine-O-Tron 2000, George suggests going back in time, which makes Melvin snap his fingers, causing Mr. Krupp to turn into Captain Underpants and fly away. George and Harold are forced to tell the secret and Melvin orders them to create a comic about him as a superhero, telling them to give him a cool name and to not make him look stupid, before starting to build a time machine out of a Porta Potty. The next day, Melvin is furious that the comic is not what he asked for (George and Harold claimed to have thought he said to give him a stupid name and to not make him look cool), but soon explains to them how the time machine works and warns them about using it two days in a row, saying something will place the world in a catastrophe. He also gives them the "Forgetchamacallit 2000", which erases several minutes from one's memory, as well as a decoy Combine-O-Tron 2000. George and Harold travel two days back in time.

In the past, George and Harold dress like a man who claims to be giving Melvin's father a science award, but first needing to inspect the Combine-O-Tron 2000. They replace the real invention with the fake one and use the Forgetchamacallit 2000 to erase Melvin's father's memory of what had happened. However, on the way back, the boys encounter Miss Singerbrains the librarian who steals the inventions and plans on reporting them to the police. George and Harold then travel to the Cretaceous period and get a female Quetzalcoatlus, who they nickname "Crackers". They then fly to Singerbrains, who is driving to the police station. George convinces her she is dreaming because of "the dinosaur's presence", etc. After flying back to the school, Harold returns Crackers, then they erase Singerbrains memory, and travel to the present. Over the last two days, Captain Underpants has been getting himself in trouble, first helping two old ladies cross the street, stopping to rescue a cat from a tree, but accidentally leaving the ladies up there. Then, he ruins the football game for the Jerome-Horwitz football team, shortly afterwards getting on the bad side of some skateboarders. After Melvin programs the Combine-O-Tron 2000, George and Harold combine Melvin and Captain Underpants and then separate them with their correct minds.

In space, the Robo-Boogers land on a Space Shuttle, hanging on as it returns to Earth, after which they eat it, then begin eating the airport they landed at, growing bigger with each bite. Captain Underpants tries to go off to help but discovers that his powers were moved to Melvin's body, who refuses to help unless George and Harold change the comic. George and Harold refuse, and go to help Captain Underpants, after being cornered at a local store, they begin throwing random items stacked outside at the Robo-Boogers. By chance, one eats an orange and is killed due to the levels of Vitamin C. While the boys try to throw more oranges at the remaining two, now cautious, Robo-Boogers, Captain Underpants takes two crates and puts them under the seat of a giant toilet on a building, and makes a deliberately annoying "Underpants Dance", angering the Robo-Boogers, which grab onto the seat to hoist themselves on the building, causing the crushed crates to squeeze orange juice on them (a call-back to the "squishy" prank from the first book), killing them both.

Soon, the Eyewitness News crew arrives, and Melvin suddenly appears as "Big Melvin" and lies that he defeated the Robo-Boogers, and then tries to make Captain Underpants give up his hero status (including spanking him) though he refuses. George and Harold return with Melvin's machines from the school, first using the Combine-O-Tron 2000 to transfer Captain Underpants's powers back to him, and then using the Forgetchamacallit 2000 to erase the news crew and audience's memories. After the now powerless Melvin throws a tantrum, all the people that Captain Underpants (while in Melvin's body) annoyed recognize Melvin, form an angry mob and chase him in retribution. When the boys return to their treehouse, George finds out that Harold didn't really send Crackers back and had left her with Sulu. George decides she could stay in the present for just one night but they had to return her tomorrow. But the next day, when George, Harold and Sulu are ready to take Crackers back where she belongs, the time machine malfunctions.

Comics

''Captain Underpants and the Terrifying Tale of the Tattle-Tron 2000'' (From Part 1)

Melvin is a huge snitch who tattles on everything. One day, Melvin tells on a bank robber to the police, which makes him so famous that he wins the election he takes by a landslide. Melvin first becomes Mayor. Over the days people make him the protector of the town. The jails fill up so quickly that he is forced to create a giant robot one. Underpants easily escapes out of the robot jail. He does not want to hurt the people inside, but pours a giant bottle of "Mrs. Plop's Prune Juice" into the robot jail's mouth, making it shoot out the prisoners. He then breaks open Melvin's glass dome. Melvin is now sent to the "jail for dumb kids." The town goes back to normal.

''Captain Underpants and the War of the Willy Wonder Nerd'' (From Part 2)

While driven to the toxic waste dump, a waste barrel falls on a cotton field, where the cotton grows to an unbelievable size. One day, is it made into "Glow In the Dark underwear" and Melvin's mother gives him one from a big sale. Overnight, Melvin grows into a giant. The police spots him the next morning and calls the military. Then Underpants flies in and notices a tag on the back saying it will shrink if washed. Then, Melvin takes Underpants to the lake, but his underwear becomes soaked. Underpants asks a passing bird to pop Melvin, which it does, before Melvin is whisked away to a "Jail for Dumb Stupid Nerds".

The story is told through the voice of an old fish speaking to her 12,000 children and grandchildren. She describes the journey of a small black fish who leaves the safety of the local stream to venture into the world.

The path of the little fish leads down a waterfall and along the length of the river to the sea. Along the way, the fish meets several interesting characters, including a helpful lizard and the dreaded pelican.

With both wisdom and courage, the fish travels far and the tale eventually ends with the Little Black Fish setting a lasting example for others.

The film opens as soldiers invade the city of Iolcus. King Aeson's brother Pelias is leading the charge. Inside the temple he goes to embrace his brother but produces a dagger and kills him during the embrace. This is witnessed by his wife Polymele and his son Jason. He intends to do the same to Jason but one of the guards rescues him and takes him out of the palace through a secret tunnel.

It is then revealed that this is a memory, experienced as a nightmare by an older Jason, who awakes. He is then ordered by his uncle to retrieve the golden fleece.

He recruits a crew from the simple folk of Iolcus, including shepherds and farmers. He is joined by Hercules, Orpheus, Atalanta and the brothers Castor and Pollux. Acastus stows away on the ship, the ''Argo''. The Argonauts run aground on a strange island in the middle of the ocean that is actually the sea god Poseidon. In the ensuing storm, they lose the map. The crew make their way to the Isle of Lemnos, an island of warrior women, to recover from the experience and repair the ship. The men pleasure themselves with the women while their ship is repaired (except Orpheus and Atalanta) and Jason sleeps with the queen Hypsipyle. Atalanta discovers that the women have killed all the men on the island and are planning to sacrifice the crew. She warns Jason, and the Argonauts flee the island.

The crew become rebellious and Jason has Zetes, a young man with brilliant vision, see the stars and find their route to Tabletop Island, where they find Phineus. They are attacked by the Harpies - the winged monsters that torment Phineus - and kill them. In return, Phineus tells them the Golden Fleece is in Colchis. Meanwhile, on Colchis, the princess Medea has visions of the crew and her brother Aspyrtes goes out to find them. Jason finds the ship wrecked and rescues Aspyrtes. They approach the "Dark Rocks" and send a dove through before sailing through themselves.

The ''Argo'' docks at Colchis and Jason goes ashore with Aspyrtes, Castor and Pollux. Hera asks Eros to shoot Medea so she falls in love with Jason. King Aertes wants Jason killed but Medea convinces him to face the Bulls of Colchis (sometimes called the Menaian Bull). Medea gives Jason magic oil that protects Jason from the bull's fiery-breath. Jason yokes the bull and ploughs a field and sows it with dragon's teeth. Warriors sprout up from the earth, and Jason tricks them into attacking each other. Medea tells Jason she must go with the Fleece. Aspyrtes overhears this and sends soldiers out after them.

The other Argonauts debate whether to leave or not. Hercules, Orpheus and Argos sail the ship around the island to make it seem as if they have left while the others hide in the water and then join Jason and Medea. When the soldiers attack, Medea kills her brother and leads them to the Fleece which is guarded by a dragon. Some Argonauts are killed before Jason sets a noose around the dragon's neck and makes it fall off a precipice. They take the Fleece and sail away from Colchis.

Acastus has been wounded and Medea uses magic to heal him. Atalanta confesses she loves Jason but he says he will marry Medea. She has a vision of her father's death and the two kiss. Zeus attempts to seduce Medea but she says she loves Jason, even when he pulls out Eros's arrow. The ship arrives back in Iolcus and Jason learns his mother killed herself, believing him and Acastus to be dead. They rest in the bay and Acastus steals the Fleece and goes into town. Pelias kills him and takes the Fleece. Medea then goes and says he will marry her. Jason and the others sneak into the palace through the secret tunnel. Argos is killed by one of the guards. Pelias tries to kill Jason but is stabbed by his own knife.

To cremate the dead Argos, his corpse is burned with the ''Argo''. Then Jason marries Medea and they live as King and Queen of Iolcus.

The Big Bad Wolf, worshipped by his nephew, who calls him "Uncle Big Bad", invites Bugs Bunny to join the Club Del Conejo, a club for rabbits. Bugs is wise to his game but plays along, just to stifle his boredom.

Big Bad admits Bugs in, and tricks him into signing an insurance form. Bugs' first initiation test is to ring a bell, rigged to cut a rope and let a safe fall on him. Bugs ticks off Big Bad by ringing the bell with a nail and a nickel. When Big Bad tells Bugs to hit the bell, Bugs merely flicks it, so Big Bad comes up to demonstrate himself how to do it. Big Bad gets flattened as a result.

Big Bad then tests out his next plan, to signal his nephew, so Big Bad's nephew will fling open a closet door, rigged to close an iron maiden on Bugs. Big Bad beckons Bugs for his club picture, with the iron maiden as a backdrop. Bugs pulls all sorts of poses, so Big Bad comes up to demonstrate the right pose. Bugs immediately says "I get it now," which signals the nephew to close the iron maiden—but instead closes it on his uncle. As Bugs steps out, the nephew peeks into the casket, and then closes it again, cringing.

Later, Big Bad tells Bugs to crawl through a hole which enters the mouth of a cannon. While Big Bad tells his nephew to pull the cord when he gives him the signal, Bugs paints another hole in the wall. When Big Bad sees there are two holes, Bugs tricks him into going into the booby-trapped one, so Big Bad gets blasted through the wall. Bugs then flips the wall so that when Big Bad demands a retry, he prevents Bugs from going into the booby-trapped one and gets blasted through the wall again.

Finally, Big Bad directs Bugs to climb inside a hollowed-out tree. Bugs climbs out when he sees the wolf pack it with explosives. The dynamite detonates and causes the tree to crash onto the Club Del Conejo. A battered Big Bad suggests opening a chicken club, and Foghorn Leghorn immediately appears eager to join. Bugs sits at a tree with the wolf's nephew, and closes the cartoon remarking: "I wonder which one will chicken out first".

The cartoon short is based on the fairy tale ''The Elves and the Shoemaker'', set 150 years after that story took place (in the early 19th century). Elmer Fudd is the progressive King of industrial Elves. He is doing roll call, only to discover that some of his elves are missing. His elf helper tells him that the elves are helping an outmoded shoemaker, but Elmer points out that it's the 20th century. He tells his elf helper to get the elves back or he will mark them AWOL, just before telling the elf helper that if he is turned into a mouse, he must say "Rumpelstiltskin". At the shop, the elf helper tells the shoemaker that he must take the elves back, but the shoemaker wants to stay in business. Unfortunately, his pet cat, Sylvester, uses the magic word, "Jehoshaphat" to turn Elmer's elf helper into a mouse and chases him around the shoemaker's shop. Saying "Rumpelstiltskin" changes him back to an elf, much to the disgust of Sylvester, who puts the elf helper down. The shoemaker puts Sylvester up so that he cannot interfere. Elmer comes to the shop and explains the role of capitalism and mass production to the shoemaker, who then agrees to use this knowledge to stay in business; he advises the shoemaker to invest his profits back into the business instead of pocketing them for himself. (At the time, marginal income taxes in the United States were over 90% for those in the highest income tax bracket, strongly discouraging business owners from pocketing their profits.)

Four months later, the shoemaker's little shop has literally become a shoe factory. Elmer comes back to see how the shoemaker was "pwogwessing," and the shoemaker says that he has gotten over 500 employees and next month his business will be expanding. This reminds him to come up with a name for his new boot line up, and he comes up with the new name: "Jehoshaphat Boots!" This turns Elmer into a mouse, who forgets that "Rumpelstiltskin" is the magic word, and runs as Sylvester decides to chase him out of the factory and into the distance just as the cartoon ends with Elmer finally saying "Wumpewstiwtskin!"

Chloe Lawrence (Mary-Kate Olsen) is a very driven teenager and leader of her high school's Model United Nations team. After performing particularly well in a competition, Chloe's team is selected to attend the International Model United Nations in London, England. But when Randall, one of Chloe's team-mates, is unable to attend due to a family obligation, Chloe's twin sister, Riley (Ashley Olsen), steps in to take his place for the competition (and to get closer to Brian, another of Chloe's team-mates whom Riley happens to have a crush on).

When the group arrives in London, they discover that someone's already representing their usual country: China. Undaunted, they improvise and end up representing the United Kingdom. Plenty of sight-seeing and shopping ensues, during which Chloe falls for James Browning, the son of a wealthy British nobleman named Lord Browning, who's being pressured by his dad to achieve more. As the competition progresses, Chloe's over-competitive nature stalls her budding romance, Riley tries to get closer to Brian, and the team earns both admiration and anger for their unconventional methods. Nevertheless, tribulations are weathered and lessons learned about sportsmanship, overlooked friends, and learning to enjoy one's youth.

It is the year GC 232 (Galaxy Century Year 232). A huge war that had begun years and years before has divided the Milky Way and all of its natural resources have been exhausted. The Milky Way Galactic Council is forced to send a fleet of starships to a nearby planet by the name of UP457 in search of any resources that can replenish the ones lost during the battle. However, during this mission, the fleet is destroyed by a race of half-machine, half-animal aliens referred to as "BIOMETAL" by the Galactic Council.

One of the Council's supercomputers then calculates that the number of these "BIOMETALS" is increasing rapidly and will have the Milky Way completely taken over within 32 hours. So the Halbard's crew, young pilot Kid Ray and biologist Anita (a reference to the names of the two lead singers of 2 Unlimited, who provided the music for the North American/European version of the game), along with their fleet, WASP, are assigned to eliminate the hostile threat on UP457.

Set in the Judean desert, 2000 years ago, it features seven main characters: * Musa: a greedy trader, believed by the Galilean to be a manifestation of Satan * Miri: Musa's pregnant wife * Marta: fasting between dawn and dusk in an attempt to turn her barren womb fertile * Shim: a young traveller * Aphas: fasting between dawn and dusk in an attempt to remove the cancer from his abdomen * Badu: believed to be deaf and mute; good at catching animals * The Galilean/Gally/Jesus: aiming to fast for 40 days and nights with divine help; plagued by religious/spiritual hallucinations/visions When ''Quarantine'' begins, the trader, Musa, is suffering from a fever in his tent in the open scrubland on the way to Jericho. There, he and his wife Miri are abandoned by their caravan, who believe him to be on the verge of death.

They see a group of four travellers, some distance apart, heading in their direction. The travellers are on their way to find shelter for 40 days and 40 nights – the 'Quarantine' of the title.

At night, a fifth traveller, some distance behind the first four, visits Musa in his tent. The following morning, Musa awakes to find that his fever has broken and his strength is restored. The fifth traveller, it transpires, is the young Jesus, who takes up occupancy of a hard-to-reach cave set in a hillside.

Musa turns the situation to his advantage, convincing the travellers that the lands are his lands, and he their landlord.

The group try in turns to coax Jesus from his cave. Convinced he is being tested by Satan, Jesus abides by his quarantine, refusing to take food or water.

A series of power struggles ensues, in which Musa asserts his dominance over Aphas, Shim, his wife and eventually by raping Marta during a stormy night, having feigned illness to get her on her own.

The next day, with the tent and Miri's loom having been destroyed by the storm, Musa resolves to leave for Jericho (putting his crime behind him). As he picks his way through the devastation of the camp, he sees a figure which he presumes to be Jesus walking away from the scrubland. Later, Jesus' body is found in the cave, and the group bury him in the water-hole, which Miri had originally dug as Musa's grave.

Miri finds Marta, bloodied and bruised in the wilderness. They all make ready to leave, only to find that the restless Badu has escaped with Musa's goats.

Aphas and Shim set off, with Miri and Marta following behind. En route, the women find the two men's packs abandoned at the side of the path. Seeing Musa approaching behind them, and sensing their opportunity to escape, they flee – making for Marta's home town.

Finally, Musa is travelling across country in a wagon and believes he sees Jesus off in the distance. For a moment, he considers finding the figure to forge an alliance with him, but resolves instead to continue his business and to travel the world telling the tale of the stranger who saved his life in the tent.

The novel recounts the life of a young man, Lucian Taylor, focusing on his dreamy childhood in rural Wales, in a town based on Caerleon. The Hill of Dreams of the title is an old Roman fort where Lucian has strange sensual visions, including ones of the town in the time of Roman Britain. Later, the novel describes Lucian's attempts to make a living as an author in London, enduring poverty and suffering in the pursuit of art and history.

Dealing with similar concepts to other incarnations of ''Ghost in the Shell'', the game has an original storyline which follows on from and refers to the PlayStation 2 game's plotline.

''Doc'' follows rural doctor Clint "Doc" Cassidy who has taken a position at Westbury Clinic, a small medical center in New York City. Doc is a young Christian bachelor from the mountains of Montana, who brings his small-town values and ideology to an environment that seems to lack familiarity with them.

Supporting characters include the doctors, nurses and other staff of Westbury Clinic; a 10-year-old orphan, Raúl García; and a young couple, Nate and Beverly Jackson, who live in the same apartment building as Clint.

Themes

Each episode has three interconnecting plot lines; the predominant plot line follows Clint and his involvement in the lives of his patients. Another plot line involves Clint's relationship with his clinic coworkers, and the third involves the Jackson family. In later seasons, the Jackson family plot line or the clinic plot line is occasionally left out in preference to the predominant Clint one. The plot lines are then resolved at the end of each episode, when Clint writes an email to his guardian, Doc Johansson, back in Montana.

Lee Dong-gun portrays title character Young-bin, a handsome but obnoxious young man who begins the film by breaking off a relationship in a most impolite way: after waiting in a parked car so Young-bin won't get a ticket, the girlfriend reads him the riot act upon his return, prompting Young-bin to slip into the driver's seat, break up with her, and speed off, leaving his new ex-girlfriend stranded in the parking lot. From the get-go, Young-bin is not exactly a class act.

On the opposite side of the spectrum is the beautiful Ha-mi (Han Ji-hye), a meek university student looking for true love, but never seeming to find it. As is typical in this kind of film, the two meet purely by chance: Ha-mi accidentally text messages Young-bin before literally bumping into him. Ha-mi, feeling that their fortuitous meeting is a sign that they might be destined for one another, decides to pal around with Young-bin and see if there's any chemistry between them. Taken by Ha-mi's sincerity and her willingness to pick up the check, Young-bin jumps at the opportunity.

But Ha-mi's cousin, Chae-young (Shin Yi) isn't quite so enraptured with Young-bin and tries to dissuade Ha-mi from pursuing him. The thing is, Chae-young is a professional dating consultant and a strong subscriber to blood type personality theory. According to her, any relationship between the mismatched duo would be doomed to failure because Young-bin is a type-B male, which supposedly makes him arrogant, hardheaded, and generally a jerk, whereas Ha-mi is a type-A female, one who supposedly can't help being timid and obedient. But while Chae-young predicts impending doom, the happy couple try to give love a shot, ignoring their supposed blood type incompatibility.

The film is narrated by Frankie, a young everyman living in South East London during the Thatcher era of the 1980s specifically 1984, with little hope of ever making anything of himself, yet he dreams of ''"being somebody"'' and escaping his lonely, dreary lifestyle. After severely beating his mother's abusive boyfriend, he becomes a fugitive, and through family connections escapes to the Costa del Sol. His job there is to deliver a bag containing money to ''"Playboy Charlie"'', an expat and criminal-on-the-run, a suave and dapper man who runs his own nightclub. Impressed by Frankie's honesty in not opening the bag, Charlie takes a liking to Frankie, introduces him to his business associates, including the psychopathic Sammy, and invites him to remain in Spain and work as his driver.

Frankie discovers that they are in fact the ''"Peckham Four"'', wanted for armed robbery back in Britain. However, Frankie decides he prefers an exciting life of sun, drugs, women, money, fast cars, designer clothes, and a reputation, as opposed to being a nobody back in London. Frankie soon accepts and becomes involved in the business of smuggling hashish across the Strait of Gibraltar from Morocco, in which children are used although the children are sometimes shot dead by the Spanish Navy patrolmen.

The film then follows the rise-and-fall pattern common to many gangster films, showing first the criminals living the high life as their cannabis trade is booming, and then the downfall as greed and paranoia (not helped by the obvious attraction between Frankie and Sammy's beautiful trophy wife Carly) introduce conflict between them, and eventually split them up. Charlie and Frankie decide to go into business alone, importing cocaine instead of cannabis through drop-offs from Colombian aeroplanes, but this is the cause of the final problem. Not only do they both become increasingly addicted to the drug itself, but the local mayor, who had been happy to ignore the cannabis trade but had warned them not to import cocaine, discovers what they are doing and uses the weight of the law to shut them down and close their businesses. An assassination attempt on the mayor's life ends in failure, and the gruesome beheading of one of the gang.

Six months later Frankie and Charlie are homeless thugs, reduced to stealing in order to survive. While organising a disappointing reunion party at Charlie's old bar (which Frankie's former heroin addicted friend Sonny is now running), Frankie meets the scheming Carly again and decides to make one last deal. He invites Sammy in on a pick-up, but while both intend to betray the other, Carly has given Sammy a pistol with an empty clip. Sammy tries to shoot Frankie, who in turn attacks him with a rock. The fight ends abruptly as Spanish Navy patrolmen's gunfire fatally shoots Sammy. Frankie escapes through a sewage pipe and emerges to meet Carly, who had masterminded the whole thing. It seems that he is getting his happy ending, but at the last minute he realises he can't trust Carly when he finds another pistol in her handbag amongst their money, so he knocks her unconscious and drives off triumphantly into the sunset on his own.

The ending reveals that Sonny cleaned up his act and continued to run Charlie's old bar, which he did so successfully, whilst Charlie was reduced to working on the door. The theatrical ending also reveals that ''"Carly went back to her parents' house in Penge"'', ''"Sammy went to Hell"'' and ''"Frankie went to Hollywood"''.

Kim Nam-woo struggles through life as people around him constantly leave him; his best friend, Jun-ho, is going to study in Seoul and in some ways his widowed mother is "leaving" him too by paying more attention to her new boyfriend. To escape, he goes to a dream world, where he meets a girl named Mari. The story follows Nam-woo in discovering himself and maturing.

In the novel, the father of a mentally ill child meets another parent of another disabled child, who is known throughout the book as "Mori's Father". Mori's Father tells the narrator of a chain of surrealistic incidents that happened to him and his son Mori. It seems that an alien supreme being or force has enabled Mori and his father to undergo a ''transformation'', via which a 38-year-old father became 18 years old and an 8-year-old mentally disabled child became a 28-year-old fully intelligent person. (There is some logic to the arithmetic that 38-20=18 and 8+20=28.)

It seems Mori and his father have undertaken a mission to assassinate a certain ''Patron'', who is manipulating and clashing two opposing youth groups, so that one of them may create a "dirty" nuclear bomb, threatening Tokyo and more, and thus place power into Patron's hands.

The film's plot is often compared to Pier Paolo Pasolini's ''Teorema'', in which a strange visitor to a wealthy family seduces the maid, the son, the mother, the daughter, and finally the father, before leaving a few days after, subsequently changing their lives.

The film starts off with a question: "Have you ever done it with your Dad?"; the viewer then sees Miki Yamazaki, a young prostitute, trying to persuade her father, Kiyoshi, into having sex with her. Her father is videotaping the scene for a documentary he is preparing on Japanese youths. Once it appears the father is letting himself be persuaded, she tells him the price (50,000 Yen). They have sex, the father ejaculates after a very short time, and the disappointed daughter informs him it will be 100,000 Yen now, because of this. The father then realizes the camera has been on all along.

In the next scene, called "Have you ever been hit on the head?", a man, the titular visitor, hits the father over the head with a rock for no apparent reason.

The film then moves on to a scene titled "Have you ever hit your mom?" In this scene, the mother, Keiko, is working on a jigsaw puzzle, and her hands are shown to have red marks, showing where she has been beaten. Her teenage son, Takuya, comes in and starts throwing things at the already broken apartment walls because he is unhappy with the toothbrush his mother bought him. He then hits his mother with a rug beater. Later, bullies from the son's school come to the front of the house and shoot fireworks through the son's bedroom window, forcing him to cower on the floor. Meanwhile, the mother prepares and injects a dose of heroin.

On his way back from work, the father crosses paths with the visitor again, who hits him over the head with a rock as in their first encounter. The two arrive at the father's home, and the mother serves them dinner. The father announces that the visitor will be staying with the family for a while. The son comes down while they are eating and starts beating the mother again. This does not surprise or bother the father or the visitor. Later, the father is seen watching one of his old tapes, and it turns out that he was raped by a group of teenagers.

The next day, the father is on his way to work when he sees his son being beaten and robbed by some of his schoolmates. He films it from a distance and appears very pleased with the footage.

The mother, Keiko, is getting ready for work. The viewer discovers her body is covered in marks from where the son has hurt her. She also has a limp.

The father meets with a female co-worker (Asako Murata), who believes he is going too far in his work. The mother, working as a prostitute, is whipping a customer with a belt (at his request). She then goes to a park to buy some drugs.

When she gets home, she discovers the pieces from her jigsaw puzzle have been arranged so as to form a trail through the house, ending at a photograph of her daughter. The visitor is at home, and he introduces her to lactation sex (squeezing her nipples to make her lactate, a recurring theme in this film). The son sees this while hiding behind the door.

At dinner, the mother is much happier than usual and has prepared a nice meal. The son, however, is sullen and throws a bowl of hot soup at her face. The wife, instead of being downtrodden as usual, comes back with a carving knife and throws it at the head of her son, who dodges just in time. Everyone is very pleased, except the son, who is scared by his mother's sudden resolve. The father becomes exhilarated when his son's schoolmates start attacking his house with fireworks again, which he videotapes. The mother and the visitor continue to eat peacefully while the son cowers in terror as pieces of glass and wood dislodged by the fireworks are strewn across the hallway.

Next day, the son is bullied again. The father is taping his son from his car with the visitor and his female co-worker. The co-worker gets fed up with the father and tries to leave. The father follows her on foot and sexually assaults her while the visitor, emotionally neutral, tapes the scene. The father unintentionally chokes his victim to death.

He takes her body back home and puts her in the greenhouse. The visitor is still taping, at the father's instruction. The father sends the visitor to get garbage bags from the mother. But when the visitor asks her for them, she takes her clothes off and reveals she is dressed in a garbage bag. She then makes herself lactate and produces a rain of human milk that covers the floor while the visitor watches from underneath an umbrella.

During this time, the husband is drawing on the woman's body to mark the best places to cut it up so the smaller pieces will fit in the bags. He tapes this for his documentary. Becoming aroused, the father has sex with the dead body. He then notices she is getting wet and is amazed that this is possible for a dead woman. When he brings his hand up, however, it is covered in feces. He then discovers that his penis is stuck inside the corpse due to rigor mortis. The mother comes out to help and rushes to the shop to buy several large bottles of vinegar. She empties the bottles into the bath with her husband and the corpse. This does not help, though, so she gives him a shot of heroin, which frees him. They are both exhilarated.

The visitor has filmed the whole scene.

Later on, the couple is having fun dismembering the female co-worker's corpse when the son turns up in the front yard with the same schoolmates beating him. The parents rush out, and with great pleasure they finally kill all the bullies using the saws and knives they were using to cut the co-worker's body to pieces. Later, their son is shown lying on the floor in the puddle of maternal milk. He thanks the visitor for bringing together the family through the chaos he brought.

The visitor leaves the family. Afterwards, encountering and being propositioned by the prostitute daughter on the street, he appears to be about to hit her on the head with a rock, and does so offscreen. Bruised by her encounter with the visitor, the daughter returns home to find her mother clad in a tarpaulin in the greenhouse, her father nursing from her mother’s breast. She smiles and joins them.

The single player game consists of five regular campaigns of increasing difficulty, followed by a world conquest (a long campaign during which the player conquers all 15 maps and then challenges the gods themselves). In all regular campaigns the player can choose one of two sides of conflict. To unlock the next campaign, the player has to finish the current campaign at least once. The storylines of all campaigns are typical fantasy tales (without any explicit AD&D references), although each campaign has its own take on the genre. The stories are told between battles by a narrator voice (often in verse) and illustrated by gradually uncovered pictures.

A brief summary of the campaigns:

Howl of Vengeance

The story begins with a barbarian leader Rathgar the Raider conquering the kingdom of Doegan. With his last breath, the realm's rightful king curses the barbarian. The king's daughter flees and seeks the help of a young necromancer, Aelric the Avenger. Playing as either the usurper defending his new kingdom or as the avenger, the player seeks to either lift or fulfill the king's curse.

Matchmaker Mayhem

When Roxana, princess of the kingdom of Edenvale, had come of age, she proclaimed a challenge: Any man that wants to take her hand in marriage must first defeat her. The player can choose whether to help Roxana flee from the hordes of suitors or take the lead of Bryan the Bold's armies and win the princess' heart.

Tartyron Unbound

A classic struggle between law and chaos, with similarities to many stories of fallen angels and balance. Tartyron, the Lord of Chaos, broke free from his underground prison and wants to spread chaos in the surface world. His opponents are the two lords and a lady from the Circle of Order who have exiled Tartyron once and hope to do so again.

Nuts and Bolts

A campaign with strong elements of comedy. Two brothers, Garrulos the Occasionally Good and Wormskull the Artificier have found a pearl of great magical powers. The pearl is also cursed and causes strife between the brothers. Wormskull wants to use the pearl's magic to create inventions, while Garrulos seeks to stop his brother's insane plans and win the king's favors.

The final scenario of the 'Nuts and Bolts' campaign is an encounter with a special unit called the Juggernaut, which has several features that make it far more powerful than a normal unit. The Juggernaut has high health and defense values, and is immune to harmful effects from magic and items. It also has multiple attacks, including a high-damage melee hit, a flame projectile, and the ability to freely move into spaces occupied by other ground units -- with the exception of Stone Golem units -- in order to crush them for an instant kill. The Juggernaut is physically large, taking up a 2x2 area of terrain, rather than the usual 1x1 used by all other units.

Harvest of Horrors

The villagers living in the shadow the forbidden plateau fear the harvest time, as it is then that creatures hungering for human stew descend from the plateau, hunting the villagers. This year the tradition might end, however, as the mage Heradan the Hermit stands up to oppose the dark hordes of the Kingdom of Nix (led by Redfang the Reaper). This campaign introduces new units on Nix's side (Goblin, Harpy and Enchanter) as well as magical cauldron that boils creatures back to mana. The new units are of above-average quality and present a great threat for Heradan. Arguably, the creatures' side of this campaign is much easier to play.

Told from the perspective of a popular, college-age girl named Elizabeth Rogan, the premise of this story concerns her sudden, unexpected attraction to a social outcast named Ed Hamner, Jr., whose paranormal ability to perceive what will make any person happy has not resulted in his own happiness. Elizabeth's roommate, suspicious of Ed from the start, does research on him and realizes through background checks that he attended the same elementary school as did Elizabeth, and that his low-paying job at a theatre cannot pay for a sports car he owns. She warns Elizabeth repeatedly, but Elizabeth is too enamored with Ed to listen. Her roommate finally tells Elizabeth that Ed is manipulating her, setting up circumstances to make himself seem perfect for her: "That's not love... that's rape." Only gradually do the warnings take hold; Elizabeth finally locates a diary Ed has kept, documenting how he has been secretly craving Elizabeth's love since childhood, and has employed a variety of black magic rituals and charms to murder her aggressive boyfriend and manipulate her emotions.

While this story flirts with casting a sympathetic light on Ed's character (describing his sad childhood, and his inability to please his abusive parents despite his amazing gift, mainly by winning them large gambling jackpots), when his plans are ultimately brought to ruin, he is revealed less as a product of anti-elitism and more as a childish, murderous coward, morally corrupt and self-serving. Knowing that his magic will always keep a (somewhat small) emotional hold on her, Elizabeth crushes his voodoo doll of her, destroying the small amount of pity she still feels for him.

In a sordid night club in 1920s Berlin, the penniless con man Andrei catches the eye of the fiery whore Pauline, known as The Tigress. Underworld boss Harry considers her his property, but she spends the next two days in bed with Andrei. To escape Harry's revenge, the two disappear to neighbouring Czechoslovakia and book into a hotel in the resort of Carlsbad. They have the jewels Pauline has accumulated during her career, which are used to buy smart clothes and attend smart evenings in the casino. Andrei promotes himself to a baron and introduces Pauline as a film star, stressing that they are not married (and privately stressing to Pauline that this is all a business venture and he is not going to fall in love with her). She soon acquires admirers, an Austrian count and a Texan oil man. Playing them off against each other, she eventually succumbs to the Texan, who is by far the richer. Andrei's plan is to burst in and challenge the Texan to a duel, confident that the man would rather pay a large amount of money than lose his life, but on barging into the room he discovers Pauline has vanished. She has been tipped off by a friend in Berlin that Harry is on a train to find her. Unaware of this, Andrei goes to the station and is spotted by Harry, who starts shooting at him. Jumping onto a moving train, Andrei is robbed of all he has by some villains and thrown out beside a road. Along the road comes Pauline, looking for him because she has been in love with him all along.

The special starts out with a doctor visiting the family of a sick boy named Tommy. He admits that the chance of Tommy recovering before Christmas is bleak.

Meanwhile, the Chipmunks have a recording session. Alvin is not very happy about having to work on Christmas, but after Dave tells him that he can play his prized Golden Echo harmonica, he suggests that Dave can get everything set up in the studio while he and his brothers go window shopping. Dave agrees to this, and tells them not to be late.

At the music store, Alvin sees another Golden Echo harmonica, and tells his own harmonica that it's the best harmonica in the world. At that moment, Tommy's mother and sister arrive at the store, and he overhears Tommy's sister tell her mother that if Tommy had the Golden Echo harmonica, it would make him feel better. Alvin feels bad about Tommy's illness, so much that during the recording session, he can't sing in tune with the others. Dave gives the Chipmunks a break, so Alvin goes to Tommy's house and presents him with his (Alvin's) own harmonica, returning in time to finish the session.

Later, while the Chipmunks are decorating the tree, Simon and Theodore congratulate Alvin for what he did, and Alvin tells Simon and Theodore that they can't tell Dave about the harmonica, as Dave gave it to Alvin long ago, and Alvin is worried that Dave's feelings would be hurt if he learned what happened. Alvin plans to save his money and buy a new harmonica after Christmas, but when Dave gets a phone call from Carnegie Hall that they want Alvin to play his harmonica on Christmas Eve, Alvin is forced to make a plan to get enough money for a new harmonica.

The Chipmunks gather up all the dogs in the neighbourhood, and set up a photo booth, where children can have their photo taken with Santa Claus (Alvin). Unfortunately, the presence of a cat ruins the whole thing, and draws Dave's attention. As Simon and Theodore are unable to tell him the truth, Dave mistakes Alvin's actions for greed, and sends him to his room. This leads to a dream sequence involving Clyde Crashcup, who says that he has invented Christmas (which is now February 12) and Santa (Abraham Lincoln in a sleigh consisting of a hollowed-out pumpkin pulled by four elephants). Alvin tells him he needs money, and when Dave comes to check up on him, he is saying "money" in his sleep, causing Dave to give up.

On Christmas Eve, two hours before the concert, Simon and Theodore give Alvin the money they have saved up, and wish him luck on buying the harmonica. Upon being asked where Alvin is, they respond that he's not here right now. Luckily, just as Dave is complaining, he gets a phone call from Tommy's mother, who tells him about Alvin's harmonica and the wonders it worked for Tommy.

At the music store, Alvin is depressed, as he still doesn't have enough money for a new harmonica. Just then, a strange old woman appears, and buys it for him, only asking for a song in return, but disappearing by the end.

Dave, Simon, and Theodore arrive, and Dave apologizes to Alvin for mistaking his (Alvin's) actions for greed and tells him they have a surprise for him. At the concert, Alvin learns that Tommy has fully recovered, and he joins the Chipmunks on stage.

At the end, Santa Claus flies over the city (as the Chipmunks sing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" in the background), before returning to the North Pole, where he is greeted by his wife - who is none other than the same old woman who bought Alvin the harmonica.

Henry Esmond relates his own history in memoir fashion, mainly in the third person but occasionally dropping into the first person. Henry, born about 1678, is an orphan and lives near London in the care of French Huguenot refugees. When Henry is about ten years old, Thomas Esmond, third Viscount Castlewood, removes him from his caretakers and takes him to Castlewood; Henry lives at Castlewood as a servant, and it is generally assumed that he is the viscount's illegitimate son. The Catholic viscount opposes the legitimacy of King William III and is killed fighting for James II at the Battle of the Boyne. Castlewood is temporarily occupied by the army and Henry is befriended by a trooper, the writer Richard Steele. The estate passes to Thomas's Protestant cousin Francis Esmond, who becomes the fourth viscount. The new viscount and his wife foster the young Henry; for the first time he eats at the table as an acknowledged member of the family. A quiet, sober, hard-working youth, Henry is devoted to his foster family. Gentle, sensitive Lady Castlewood is his adored mother figure. Her husband is also kind to Esmond, but he is a hard-drinking man of limited intellect and sometimes crude manners, and this causes his wife a great deal of embarrassment.

Henry remains at Castlewood until his foster-parents send him to Cambridge University, where they intend him to become a clergyman. However, in Henry's last year at the university, the fourth viscount is killed in a duel. On his deathbed he tells Henry that Thomas Esmond, the third viscount, was in fact his father, and that Henry is not illegitimate at all but the legal heir to the title and estate of Castlewood. Henry, thinking of the pain and disgrace this would cause his foster-mother and cousins, burns the confession and tells no one.

Lady Castlewood blames Henry for the viscount's death and forbids him to see any of the family again. After spending a year in prison for his part in the duel, Henry joins the army and fights in the War of the Spanish Succession. Returning to England, now twenty-three, he becomes reconciled with his foster mother and visits his cousins: Frank (now the fifth viscount), an unintelligent but good-natured boy of seventeen, and Beatrix, not yet sixteen but already tall and beautiful. Frank is determined to join the army as soon as he can; Beatrix is already flirting with several wealthy men, and Lady Castlewood tells Henry that Beatrix is vain and heartless and no man who marries her will be happy. Henry, smitten with Beatrix's looks himself, returns to his regiment and fights in the Netherlands and Spain until the end of the first phase of the war in 1708.

Leaving the army, Henry settles in London to make his fortune as a writer. He meets many of the celebrated English writers of the day, and renews his friendship with Richard Steele, who introduces him to Joseph Addison. Esmond's play is a flop and he turns to writing political pamphlets and letters supporting his Tory friends and abusing the Duke of Marlborough, against whom he bears a grudge, while favoring John Richmond Webb (who was Thackeray's great-great-great-uncle.) Esmond represents Addison and Steele as cheerful, civil gentlemen who remain his friends even though they are on opposite sides politically. On the other hand, he draws Jonathan Swift, who was on his own side, as a hateful misanthrope and bully.

Henry and his cousin Frank later join an unsuccessful (and unhistorical) attempt to restore James Francis Edward Stuart to the British throne. After much intrigue, Henry grows disillusioned with Jacobitism and comes to accept the Whig future of Great Britain. Failing to marry his cousin Beatrix, he instead marries his foster-mother Lady Castlewood. The novel closes on the couple's emigration to Virginia in 1718.

The game is set in Phantomile, a land fueled by dreams people have at night. An anthropomorphic animal named Klonoa has been having dreams about an airship crashing into a nearby mountain, and one day an airship does indeed crash into the mountain. Klonoa and his friend, a "ring spirit" named Huepow, decide to investigate. They find a dark spirit named Ghadius on the mountain searching for a magical moon pendant so he can turn Phantomile into a world of nightmares. Klonoa ventures back to town where his grandfather tells him that his grandmother knows about the pendant.

Klonoa and Huepow travel to find his grandmother, who tells them that the pendant is at his grandfather's house. One of Ghadius' henchmen eavesdrops on the conversation, and ventures off to steal the pendant and kill his grandfather before Klonoa can arrive back. Klonoa eventually defeats Ghadius who unleashes a nightmarish beast known as Nahatomb as he dies. Huepow reveals himself to be a prince and helps Klonoa defeat Nahatomb and restore peace to Phantomile. After this final battle, Huepow explains that Klonoa actually came from another world and was given fake memories when summoned to Phantomile. Klonoa is then sucked through a portal back to his own world.

King employs a first person narrator and opens with the protagonist, Stan Norris, in the clutches of Cressner, a wealthy, cruel criminal overlord. Cressner intends to get revenge on Norris, who has been having an affair with his wife. Instead of killing him outright, Cressner reveals his penchant for striking wagers, and offers a chilling ultimatum: if Norris is able to circumnavigate the 5-inch ledge surrounding the multi-story building where Cressner lives in his penthouse, he can have his wife and $20,000. If Norris refuses, he will be framed for heroin possession and never see his lover again. Cressner also reveals that he has done this to six others, three professional athletes who crossed his path and three ordinary people who got into serious debt with Cressner. Not once has Cressner lost the wager.

Seemingly without any other choice, Norris accepts the wager and proceeds to make his way carefully around the building's cold, windswept exterior. Norris encounters multiple obstacles, particularly from the wind and an obstinate pigeon. Norris completes the harrowing ordeal, only to discover that Cressner has already murdered his wife. Cressner slyly claims that he never welches on his bets and that, while the heroin has been removed from Norris' car and the money is his for the taking, his wife's fate was sealed before the wager was even made. Enraged, Norris overpowers Cressner's bodyguard and obtains his gun. When Cressner pleads for his life, Norris proposes to spare him but only if ''he'' is able to complete a trip around the ledge. However, while waiting for Cressner to circumnavigate the building, Norris reveals to the reader that, unlike Cressner, he ''does'' sometimes welch on bets, implying that he will kill Cressner, regardless of his potential success on the ledge.

Police chief Fernándo Gomez Miranda kills his friend, the well-respected lawyer and likely candidate for Attorney General, Raúl de Los Reyes and his youngest daughter of only thirteen in a vehicle ambush. Gomez' son, Luis Mario a sad-eyed broadcast journalist of passionate conviction arrives on the scene soon after with his camera and discovers a wounded survivor in the car; Camila, the eldest daughter of de Los Reyes.

Luis rushes her to the hospital, saving her life and thereby creating a bond between them that he cannot escape. Luis' half-brother, police detective Alfonso Carbajal, is assigned to the case. An old schoolmate of Camila's, Alfonso has long been in love with her and conflicts arise when all evidence points to Camila being involved in the drug trade. The two brothers find themselves caught between their professional duty that would require them to expose Camila and their desire to protect her.

Standing in their way is Fernando, who is busy fabricating evidence to sink Camila and at the same time taking a very personal interest in Raúl's widow, María Dolores. Each on his own, Alfonso and Luis Mario work to prove Camila's innocence and find the real killer, without knowing that the man they seek is their own father.

The series is based on the life of the former Mexican President (1988–1994) Carlos Salinas de Gortari and his scandalous family story.

PC Nicholas Angel, a high-achieving Metropolitan Police officer, is promoted to Sergeant, but his resentful colleagues arrange for him to be reassigned to the small rural town of Sandford, Gloucestershire, a regular "Village of the Year" winner. Angel is soon frustrated by the mundanity of the village, his lazy and incompetent colleagues and local official commitment to low crime statistics rather than law enforcement. His partner, PC Danny Butterman, whom he arrested earlier for drunken behaviour, is a fan of buddy cop films and the son of Inspector Frank Butterman, Angel's superior.

Martin Blower and Eve Draper, the two lead actors of an am-dram production of ''Romeo and Juliet'', whom Angel had pulled over earlier for speeding, are murdered by a cloaked axe-wielding figure, who stages it as a car accident. Angel is the only officer who suspects foul play. Sent to resolve a small dispute, Angel discovers an illegal weapons stash, including an old sea mine, and locks them in the police station. Angel warms to Danny, and they binge-watch action movies at Danny's home. That night, wealthy land developer George Merchant is attacked in his home by the cloaked figure and killed in a deliberate gas explosion.

Angel suspects that the killings are connected to a recent property deal. A local journalist, Tim Messenger, approaches Angel at a village fete, claiming to have information, but another cloaked figure dislodges masonry atop the church's tower, which falls and crushes Messenger's head, killing him. Leslie Tiller, the village florist, tells Angel about her plans to sell her land to Merchant's business partners. While Angel retrieves his notebook, she is stabbed in the neck with her garden shears; Angel gives chase but loses the killer. Angel suspects Simon Skinner, a sinister supermarket manager, as the property deal would have built a rival supermarket, but Skinner has an alibi.

Angel is attacked in his hotel room by one of Skinner's employees, Michael "Lurch" Armstrong. Angel knocks him out and learns of a secret Neighbourhood Watch Alliance (NWA) meeting at Sandford Castle. Angel confronts the NWA, led by Frank, who reveals that they carried out the murders, staged as accidents, for various petty reasons as each victim supposedly threatened Sandford's chances of winning Village of the Year. Frank's motive is his late wife Irene had put everything into helping Sandford win the first "Village of the Year", but travellers ruined their chances the night before the judges arrived, driving her to suicide. Angel flees and falls into the castle's catacombs, where he finds the corpses of the NWA's other victims. Danny appears and fakes killing Angel. Pretending to dispose of the body, Danny drives Angel away and urges him to return to London for his own safety. At a petrol station, Angel sees a rack of the films he and Danny bonded over and decides to return to Sandford.

The next day, Angel arms himself with the confiscated guns. He and Danny engage in a shootout with the NWA. When Frank brings out and orders the other officers to arrest them, Angel and Danny convince them that Frank is the culprit. Frank flees and the officers besiege the supermarket, with Skinner fleeing in a car with Frank. After a car chase, Angel corners Skinner at Sandford's model village, and Skinner is impaled through the jaw by a miniature church steeple. Frank, after briefly holding Danny hostage, attempts to escape in Angel's car but is attacked by a missing swan that Angel and Danny had recaptured earlier.

Angel's former superiors arrive and ask him to return to London, as the crime rate has risen heavily in his absence, but Angel decides to remain in Sandford. While the Sandford Police are going over the paperwork of the arrests, the elderly Tom Weaver, the last NWA member, bursts into the station wielding a blunderbuss. He shoots at Angel, but Danny jumps in front. In the resulting struggle, Weaver accidentally activates the sea mine, killing himself and destroying the station.

One year later, Angel has been promoted to Inspector and head of the Sandford police, and Danny is Sergeant. After visiting Irene's grave, the two drive off to their next crime scene.

The film features two anonymous Scottish-accented Shadow Puppets (voiced by Jack Docherty and Moray Hunter) who are sitting around a table with nothing to do. They explore and reject several options including watching television (the only thing on is 'some weird animation thing'), listening to the radio (but 'it's all the same rubbish these days' - in this case La Cucaracha) and playing chess (the white pieces have been eaten due to a bet). This is briefly interrupted when the doorbell rings and one character answers it to find a pesky dog (who is, in fact, a double-glazing salesman) before the other persuades him to enter into a game of shadow puppets. The first character is frustrated by his acquaintance's appalling representation of a cow and later his failure to recognize a rather fantastic rabbit (His misled guesses include a 'fireman chasing an igloo' and an 'Otter with two sausage strapped to his head'). After an amusing outburst from the poor fellow, his annoying partner accuses him of being 'shirty'. This leads him to explode, furiously crying "I'm stuck indoors playing 'Guess the misshapen beast' with someone who clearly wouldn't recognise a rabbit if it came to his house for tea, said 'What's up Doc?' and started burrowing into his head! There are blind people with no fingers who are better at shadow puppets than you! No wonder I'm a tad miffed!" An awkward silence follows this, until the doorbell rings and the first character goes to answer it and finds the second character's 'cow' shadow puppet, which moos. Despite being disappointed with being wrong about a cow's appearance, he simply responds to this with a cheery "Not today, thank you." and closes the door in front of the camera, thus ending the animation.

Azul is a young woman in the end of the 19th century who has been forced to get engaged to Arcadio Berriozabal when she is in love with his brother Santiago Berriozabal. Before her wedding peasant revolution is started and she is kidnapped. Santiago, believing she is dead, creates one of the finest tequilas and calls it "Azul Tequila".

Set in winter, we find Daffy Duck removing and burning every "Duck Season Open" sign he finds in order to warm himself in the winter, and prevent himself from being hunted. Elmer is out hunting and Daffy uses several signs to convince Elmer that it is rabbit season, making Elmer excited about "Fwesh wabbit stew!" just before Elmer follows a yellow line to Bugs' rabbit hole. Daffy lures Bugs Bunny out by asking for a cup of blackstrap molasses. Just as Bugs Bunny comes out of his rabbit hole, Elmer points the gun at him and declares that he got his "wabbit stew". However, Bugs is already prepared for Daffy's trick and attempts to convince Elmer not to shoot him because he is obviously an endangered species — a fricasseeing rabbit — and that Elmer does not have a license to shoot fricasseeing rabbits.

This enrages Daffy, who attempts to convince Elmer Fudd that Bugs Bunny is actually trying to fool Elmer and orders Elmer to shoot Bugs, prompting Elmer to regretfully point out that he does not have the proper license. Exasperated, Daffy writes out the proper hunting license but has to ask Bugs how to spell "fricasseeing". Bugs tells him, "F-R-I-C-A-S-S-E-E-I-N-G", adding "D-U-C-K". Oblivious to the trick, Daffy gives Elmer the "license" and Elmer obediently blasts Daffy. This leads into an extended routine in this short which has Bugs holding up various "[insert animal here] season" signs to correspond with every figurative expression involving an animal which Daffy is called, either by himself or by Bugs in response (including "goat", "dirty skunk", "pigeon" and "mongoose"). Each presentation of the sign is accompanied by a brass fanfare of a fox hunting call, and is, of course, followed by a gunshot; after each shot, the irritated Daffy is forced to put his beak back in place.

At one point, Bugs builds a snow-rabbit image of himself and when Elmer blasts it, Bugs Bunny appears disguised as an angel (which Elmer believes, to Daffy's total disgust).

Bugs then puts on a duck disguise. Daffy (who has now instructed Elmer to "pay no more attention to no more signs; you're just gonna listen to me") sees him and shouts "Shoot the duck! Shoot the duck!" to which Elmer obliges by shooting the nearest duck — Daffy. Daffy finally goes completely insane, demanding "Shoot me again! I enjoy it! I love the smell of burnt feathers and gunpowder and cordite!" then holding up his fingers at the top of his head like the antlers of an elk and scuttling around sideways like a crab, shrieking that it is elk and fiddler crab season, respectively, and that Elmer should shoot him. The antics become truly confusing at the end when the now-totally bewildered Elmer encounters a game warden (actually Bugs in disguise) and begs him to tell Elmer what hunting season it ''really'' is, to which the "game warden" tells Elmer that it is baseball season while holding up a baseball.

Upon hearing this, Elmer loses his sanity and starts shooting at the baseball (which Bugs throws out a little bit in front of him) as he goes off into the distance. When he is gone, Bugs removes his disguise and asks Daffy what hunting season it ''really'' is. Daffy casually answers not to be naïve; everybody knows that it is really duck season and ends up getting blasted by several hunters hiding behind rocks all at the same time. Devastated, Daffy reattaches his bill and weakly drags himself to Bugs who is eating a carrot, climbs up his uniform and remarks "You're despicable!" and Bugs gives one last look to the audience as the cartoon irises out.

When Ari (Kevin Bacon) and Sam (Kyra Sedgwick) first meet they realise that there is chemistry between them. When they have sex with each other, they experience pyrokinesis. However, as their love affair does not run smoothly, their friends Liam (Bruce Martyn Payne) and Pia (Kristin Dattilo) intervene to try to help. At one point when Sam is angry with Ari, Liam helps Ari to serenade her with a rendition the Soft Cell song ''Tainted Love''.

King Fernando and his wife Queen Valeriana rule the Kingdom of Berbanya and have three children: Don Pedro, Don Diego, and Don Juan. King Fernando falls severely ill after growing despondent over a dream he had one night of Don Juan, his most favored son, being murdered by two traitors. His constituents are unable to cure him, so he sends his eldest son, Don Pedro, to search for the ''Ibong Adarna'', a mythical bird, after an old doctor revealed that the bird's marvelous songs could cure the king's mysterious illness. After three months of wandering through forests and thickets, Don Pedro arrives at a golden tree, ''Piedras Platas'', and falls down at its foot due to fatigue, unaware that the bird roosts there for the night. By nightfall, Don Pedro is lulled into a deep sleep after the bird sings the first of its seven songs with a sweet melody, and is turned into stone after the bird excretes on him after the seventh song.

With the disappearance of Don Pedro, King Fernando then sends his second son Don Diego to search for the bird. Don Diego undergoes the same hardships (but ventures for five months, two more than Don Pedro) and meets the same fate as his older brother. After three whole years without hearing any more news, Don Juan, the youngest son is (unwillingly, by King Fernando) sent forth also. Don Juan, however, has the fortune to meet on his way an old hermit who is impressed by the virtues and good manners of the young prince. The old hermit, knowing the mission on which Don Juan embarks, puts him on guard against the treacheries of the bird.

The hermit told Don Juan of the golden tree where the famed bird roosts every night after singing seven songs, warning of the spells in its seven songs which lulls the hearer to sleep and the excretion which petrifies anyone. He provides Don Juan with a knife and ''calamansi'' lemons, both of which Juan must use to cut seven wounds on his hands and distill them into the juice of the fruits to create pain that will prevent him from being lulled by the seven songs. The hermit then gave Juan a golden rope that the prince must use to bind the bird's legs while it is asleep and place it inside a cage. Before Juan leaves, the hermit provides him with a bucket which he must use to scoop water from a well near the tree and pour it over his two petrified brothers to restore them. Don Juan did as was bidden and soon finds himself in possession of the desired bird and on his way back to his home country with his two brothers, Don Pedro and Don Diego. Don Juan's venture in search of the Ibong Adarna lasts for four months in total.

However, on the way back, with his brothers and the Ibong Adarna in tow, Don Juan's older brothers grow envious; after all, Don Juan has obtained what they were not able to. Therefore, the two older brothers conspired between themselves to do away with him. Don Pedro suggested that they should kill him, but Don Diego, who was less brutal, convinced Pedro that it was sufficient to beat him, which they did. After beating Don Juan to whom they owed their lives, they left him unconscious in the middle of the road as the two brothers continued on their way to the palace. Once in the palace, they convinced the king that they never knew what happened to Don Juan, but the bird was disheveled and did not sing for it awaits Don Juan—its true captor. Don Juan woke eventually, but could not move due to the pain caused by the beating. He prayed fervently for the health of the king and the forgiveness of God to his brothers. The same hermit who gave him advice before catching the bird arrives and heals him magically. Upon return to the palace, everyone was happy except his two brothers, worried that Don Juan might tell the king what had happened. The bird then started to sing. Its enchanted song revealed to the king that Don Pedro and Don Diego beat up Don Juan and that he was the true captor of the bird.

The two were sentenced to being cut off from the royalty and banished, but they were reprieved due to Don Juan being forgiving and asking to give them another chance.

They were given one, however, any consequent fault would mean death. They enjoyed the bird, they did not treat it as a pet, but rather like a person. So they made the three princes watch over the bird for 3 hours each every day. Don Pedro wanted revenge, so he conspired again and forced Don Diego to go on board with it yet again. They planned to trick Don Juan into thinking that under his watch, the bird escaped. They successfully did it and Don Juan set out to find the bird before the king wakes up. The king finds the bird missing and so is Don Juan, so he asked the two to find the bird and their brother.

They found Don Juan at Mt. Armenia and decide to settle there, on the beautiful mountain. They lived happily forgetting trouble from the past. They find a well and decide to explore the inside, arguing about who goes first. They settle for the idea that Pedro, the eldest, be the first to descend by means of a cord lowered by the two brothers who remain above; but he had scarcely gone a third of the way when he feels afraid and gives the sign for his two brothers to pull him out of the well. Presently, Diego was let down but he too could not go farther down than half of the way. When it was Juan's turn to go he allowed himself to be let down to the lowest depths of the cistern. There the prince discovered two enchanted palaces, the first being occupied by Princess Juana who informed him she was being held prisoner by a giant, and the second by Princess Leonora, also the prisoner of a large seven-headed serpent. After killing the giant and the serpent, the prince tugged on the cord and soon came up to the surface of the earth with the two captive princesses, whom his two brothers soon wanted to take away from him. Diego desired Princess Juana for himself and Pedro wanted Princess Leonora. Before the parting, however, Leonora discovered that she left her ring in the innermost recesses of the well. Juan voluntarily offered to take it for her but when he was halfway down, the two brothers let go of the rope he was descending causing him to fall to the bottom of the well. Not long after, wedding bells were rung in the palace; Diego married Princess Juana. Before casting her lot with Prince Pedro, Princess Leonora requested her marriage to him be delayed for a term of seven years because she might still have a chance to unite with Don Juan.

Don Juan, thanks to Leonora's enchanted ring found in the well, could avail himself of the help of a wolf which cured him of his wounds, fix his dislocations, and bring him to the medicinal waters of the Jordan, and took him out of the well. Already torn between all hope of ever finding the Adarna, Don Juan resolved to return to the Kingdom. But to his confusion, he was unable to find his way. No one could tell him precisely which was the way that would lead him to the kingdom of his father. While sleeping under a tree, the Adarna awakens him and convinces him to turn his back on Leonora because Maria Blanca, the daughter of King Salermo in Reino de Los Cristales was better. He came to a hermit that consulted all of the animals from the surrounding areas, but none of them could tell the prince the direction towards Reino de Los Cristales. But the king of all these animals, a swiftly soaring eagle (real name Olicornio), having compassion for his troubles, offered to take the prince to wherever he desired. After an epic flight, the prince and the eagle came to a distant crystal lake, whose shores they landed to rest from their long and tiresome flight. Then the eagle related to his companion the secrets of the crystal lake. This was the bathing place where, in certain hours of the day, the three daughters of the most powerful and most feared king of the surrounding regions used to dive into the water and swim; and for this reason, it was not proper for the prince to commit any indiscretion if he desired to remain and see the spectacle of the bath. Don Juan remained and when the hour of the bathing arrived he saw plunging into the pure crystal water the figures of the three most beautiful princesses whom his sinful eyes had ever seen. He then secretly hid and kept one of the princess's dresses. When the princess noticed the theft, her two sisters had already gone. The prince hurriedly ran to her and on his knee begged her pardon and placed at her feet her stolen dress and at the same time poured forth the most ardent and tender professions of love. Pleased by his gentleness and gallant phrases, the princess also fell in love with him; but she advised him that it would be better for him to leave before her father would come to know of his intrusion. If he did not do so he would be converted into another piece of stone for the walls of the enchanted palace in which they live, in the same way, that all the other suitors who aspired for their hands had been transformed. On being informed of the adventure of the bold prince, the king sent for him.

Don Juan, who would risk everything for the privilege of seeing his beloved, presented himself to the king in spite of the princess' warning. The king, greatly impressed with the youth's tact and self-possession, chose to give him a series of tests both gigantic and impossible for ordinary mortals. After completing these trials the king was satisfied and offered Don Juan his daughter. However, the princess, fearing that her father might resort to a new trick to foil their happiness, ordered the prince to direct himself to the royal stables in order to take the best horse and have him ready for them to flee on that same night. Unfortunately, the prince in his hurry, took the wrong horse and the king came immediately went in pursuit of the fugitives. The king, riding the best horse, pursued them tenaciously but through the use of cunning magic, the princess helped them to outrace the king.

When at last they found themselves safe and free, it did not take them long before they could reach the portals of the Berbanian Kingdom. But the prince, alleging that he should have such preparations duly made for entry into the royal palace as are appropriate for her category and dignity, left Doña Maria on the way promising to return for her once he had informed the committee to receive her. Once in the midst of the happiness of palace life, Don Juan soon forgot his profession of love to Doña Maria. He became dazzled by the beauty of Princess Leonora who had been waiting for him during all the days of his absence and he sought her hand in marriage while Doña Maria was impatiently waiting for his return. When she came to know of the infidelity of Don Juan, the pilgrim princess made use of the talisman which she always carried with her and adorned it with the most beautiful royal garments and carried in a large coach drawn by eight sorrel-colored horses with four palfreys, she presented herself at the door of the palace practically inviting herself to the royal wedding of Prince Juan and Princess Leonora.

Out of respect for a so beautiful guest from foreign lands and on the occasion of the wedding itself, there were celebrated tournaments, in one Doña Maria succeeded in inserting as one of the number dance of a negrita and a negrito created from nothing through her marvelous talisman. In the dance the negrita carried a whip in her hand and with it she pitilessly lashed her negrito partner, calling him Don Juan, while she proceeded to remind of all the vicissitudes of fortune undergone by him at the side on Doña Maria, the part which was played by the whipping negrito: the scene of the bath, the different tests to which he had been subjected by her father, the flight of both that was full of accidents, and his cruel abandonment of her on the way. Every crack of the whip which fell on the shoulders of the negrito was felt by Don Juan as if it was him who was being whipped. After all this, Don Juan finally remembered Doña Maria. He then gave Princess Leonora and the kingdom of Berbania to Prince Pedro while he and Doña Maria returned to Reino de los Cristales. When they came back, they found the kingdom in a mourning state, following the deaths of Doña Maria's father and sisters. The kingdom rejoiced when they came back and crowned them their king and queen.

During the Great Depression, various bank robbers and other outlaws have become folk heroes due to public distrust of financial institutions and the law. Following the Kansas City Massacre in June 1933 in which several law enforcement offers were killed brazenly in broad daylight, FBI field office chief Melvin Purvis decides to personally hunt down the men he deems responsible: Charles Arthur "Pretty Boy" Floyd, Lester "Baby Face" Nelson, George "Machine Gun" Kelly, "Handsome" Jack Klutas, Wilbur Underhill and John Dillinger. During a meeting with fellow FBI agent Samuel Cowley, Purvis makes it clear he seeks personal vengeance and that he's willing to use extralegal measures if necessary.

Dillinger is in the midst of his criminal career, accompanied by Homer Van Meter, Harry Pierpont, Charles Mackley and others and is very boastful about his exploits. He meets Billy Frechette at a bar and immediately takes a liking to her, but becomes nonplussed when she doesn't recognize him and robs the bar patrons to impress her. She becomes his lover, accompanying him and his gang on their exploits. During one robbery in East Chicago, the gang loses Mackley and several others, forcing the gang to scatter.

It is during this time that Purvis has begun his purge of the gangsters, hunting down and killing Underhill and Klutas and capturing Kelly. He's unable to move against Dillinger and the others as they have not violated federal laws yet. While lying low in Arizona with the rest of the gang, Dillinger is captured by the local authorities and transported to Crown Point, Indiana. While imprisoned there, Dillinger makes a daring escape after carving a bar of soap into the shape of a gun and fooling the guards into releasing him. It is during this escape that Dillinger finally commits a federal crime, driving a stolen car across state lines.

He takes a fellow prisoner Reed Youngblood with him, and they eventually meet back up with the gang, including new members Nelson and Floyd. They start a crime spree across the Midwest to the chagrin of Purvis, angry and jealous of how the media romanticizes their exploits. The gang's luck runs out following a bank robbery in Mason City, Iowa, which leads to a violent shootout ending in Youngblood's death and the wounding of another member. While staying at the Little Bohemia lodge in Wisconsin following the heist, Purvis leads a team of FBI agents on a raid of the lodge, costing numerous agents' lives and sending the gang scattering again. During this chaos, Pierpont, Nelson, Van Meter and Floyd are all hunted down by either federal agents or local vigilantes and summarily killed.

While hiding in Chicago, Dillinger makes the acquaintance of a brothel owner, Anna Sage. Purvis, sensing an opportunity, offers to protect Sage from being deported if she'll help finger Dillinger. While attending the gangster film ''Manhattan Melodrama'' at the Biograph Theater, Purvis and his men get into position to capture Dillinger as he, Sage and a female acquaintance exit the theater. At the last minute, Purvis instead goads Dillinger into going for his gun and then shoots the gangster down in the alleyway.

In the epilogue, it is revealed that Sage was eventually deported back to Romania despite Purvis' promise, Purvis eventually committed suicide after retiring from the FBI, Frechette ended up dying penniless, and that Dillinger's likeness is now used for the FBI's targets during shooting practice.

J. Edgar Hoover's postscript, voiced by Paul Frees

''Dillinger'' was in production during early 1972, more than a year before its Dallas premiere on June 19, 1973. J. Edgar Hoover, who died on May 2, 1972, wrote a denunciation of the film's glamorization of gangsters. Hoover's message is delivered by voice actor Paul Frees after the end credits have stopped rolling:

"Dillinger was a rat that the country may consider itself fortunate to be rid of, and I don't sanction any Hollywood glamorization of these vermin. This type of romantic mendacity can only lead young people further astray than they are already, and I want no part of it."

Two major alien civilizations, the Amplitur (a squid-like species with telepathic and mind-controlling abilities – which they couch as "suggestions") and The Weave (a confederacy of more or less equal species), have been fighting a war for several millennia. The Amplitur are attempting to join all sentient species in what they call the "Purpose", an alliance they "guide" to some unknown (even to them) end. The Weave is a group of species allied in opposition to the Purpose.

Most of the fighting takes place on planetary surfaces, and is relatively restrained in terms of destruction, the purpose of the war being to convince and control one's opponents rather than destroy them. However, most sentient species in the galaxy have evolved to be incapable of committing violence against other sentients (violence of any sort being most uncivilized, but against another sentient being a [literally] unthinkable crime), which leaves a shortage of warriors on both sides. The Amplitur, with their mind-controlling abilities and therefore ease with which they control conquered populations, have gradually been pushing the Weave back for centuries and seem to be on track for final victory.

On a mission to find new resources and allies, a Weave scout ship discovers Earth circa late 20th/early 21st century and finds that humans are uniquely suited as allies, in that they have the ability to fight, are adaptable to a wide variety of environments, have few (or sometimes no) compunctions regarding war (humans having been fighting each other for all of their recorded history), and above all seem even more enthusiastic when their aggression is focused on non-humans. Eventually Weave xenopsychologists determine that Earth's fragmented continents resulted in a species that evolved to fight, compete, and kill for dominance. They surmise that all humans are born hunters and killers, but that intelligence is starting to drive them toward the abhorrence of violence that other "civilized" species consider normal.

When humans are unleashed upon the battlefield, all inhibitions against killing other humans are disregarded. Humans have no problem hunting and slaughtering non-humans, and some seem to enjoy it. This is appalling to the civilized races of the Weave, but they cannot deny the efficacy of human combat troops.

Humans have the potential to become fearsome allies for the Weave and are also physiologically immune to the Amplitur mind control abilities.

After the Weave scouts convince volunteers (mercenaries) from Earth to join the war, the tide turns for the Weave and the main conflict towards the end of the series becomes a question of what will happen to the new warriors when the war finally ends if they have not become more civilized (and therefore, less effective allies). Throughout the book the humans are greatly feared by the rest of the Weave because of the human race's violent tendencies. (The rest of the galaxy's species lived in harmony amongst themselves before they developed enough to reach out into space.)

The first book deals with the Weave and humans trying to come to terms with each other, the first humans begin to fight in the war and the Amplitur attempt to capture Earth to deny the Weave their new allies.

The second book details the outcome of the capture of some humans by the Amplitur, who genetically engineer them to become susceptible to the Amplitur telepathic abilities. Weave scientists' attempt to reverse this engineering on the repatriated humans had the (unknown to the Amplitur and Weave alike) side effect of giving those humans mind-control talents as well. When the newly-returned humans realize their abilities, they form a secret society called the Core, whose existence is unknown to even other humans. They fight the war telepathically as well as physically.

The third book, set a few hundred years later, follows the research of a Wais scientist, Lalelelang, studying humans. The Wais are a delicate, highly civilized ornithorp race and are the most averse to violence of all the Weave species. Some members of this race can be shocked into a catatonic state at the mere sight of violence, which makes Lalelelang's friends, family, and colleagues all the more fearful for her chosen subject of study. During the course of her research, she comes to the conclusion that unless humans can be 'civilized' somehow, they will eventually turn on the rest of the Weave races once the war is over. She embarks on a quest to keep this from happening, and is joined by one of the descendants of the 'altered' humans from the second book. Unknown to Lalelelang, she will discover shocking things about not only the telepathic humans, but a couple of alien species from the first two books as well as herself.

Significant parts of the action of the novels take place between the various non-human species that make up both The Weave and the Amplitur's allies, giving an outside perspective of "normal" human interactions and events as the author's apparent commentary on current events.

An aging hippie goes on a road trip in search of his long lost family. He meets up with his son (Paris Chong, Tommy's real-life son). Together they go off to see America. A majority of Tommy's real life family have roles; daughter Rae Dawn plays his daughter and wife Shelby has a lead role as his ex. Chong's former partner Cheech Marin makes a cameo appearance as a passenger in the back of Far Out Man's truck.

In the aftermath of ''Infinite Crisis'', Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, and Diana Prince temporarily retire their costumed identities and do not attend a memorial for Superboy in Metropolis. Time traveler Booster Gold is shocked to not see the three heroes there, as this contradicts Skeets' historical data. Other contradictions, prompt Booster to search for answers in time traveler Rip Hunter's bunker, which is littered with notes and photos of Gold and Skeets surrounded by the words "his fault". Booster later discovers that his reputation and fame is diminishing. He tries to regain the spotlight by containing an exploding nuclear submarine, but seemingly dies in the attempt. Skeets regains access to Hunter's lab and realizes the photos and arrows are pointing at himself. He goes after Hunter and eventually finds him with Booster Gold, who turns out to have faked his death to help uncover Skeets' true intentions. Hunter and Booster attempt to trap Skeets in the Phantom Zone, but Skeets appears to consume the sub-dimension and pursues his two adversaries through time.

Ralph Dibny, the Elongated Man, is told that the gravestone of his dead wife Sue has been vandalized with an inverted Kryptonian "S", a symbol for resurrection. This was done by a cult that believes that Superboy can be resurrected, but would like to try first with Sue. Dibny and his friends disrupt the ceremony, and the effigy of Sue crawls to Dibny, calling out to him as it burns; he suffers a nervous breakdown as a result. Ralph seeks out the helmet of Doctor Fate, which promises to revive Sue if he makes certain sacrifices. While preparing a spell for Nabu, Dibny reveals the helmet is not the one talking to him, but sorcerer Felix Faust. Faust was posing as Nabu to give Dibny's soul to the demon Neron in exchange for his freedom. Neron kills Dibny, but realizes too late that Dibny's spell has trapped him and Faust inside a circle of binding. With Ralph's death, Neron and Faust are seemingly trapped together for all eternity. Ralph and Sue Dibny are reunited in death and become ghost detectives.

Lex Luthor announces the Everyman Project, a program designed to give ordinary people superpowers. Natasha Irons (Steel) wants to join the Project, but her uncle John Henry Iron forbids it. She enrolls anyway and becomes a member of Luthor's superhero team Infinity, Inc. During a battle, Luthor deactivates the powers of one of Natasha's teammates with fatal results. The death of her friend prompts Natasha to question Luthor's motives. Angered by reports that he is incompatible with the treatment, Luthor deactivates the powers of the majority of the Everyman subjects, resulting in many of them falling from the sky to their deaths. After learning the reports were falsified, he gives himself the powers of Superman. John and the Teen Titans attack Lexcorp and bring him to justice with Natasha's help. Beast Boy offers Natasha membership in the Teen Titans, but she declines in favor of forming a new team with her uncle.

Animal Man, Starfire, and Adam Strange are marooned on an alien planet after the events of ''Infinite Crisis''. They are pursued through space by agents of Lady Styx, whose forces are conquering and overrunning planets on a path of destruction toward Earth. With some help from Lobo, the Emerald Eye of Ekron and the Emerald ''Head'' of Ekron, the heroes defeat Lady Styx. During the fight, Animal Man dies. The aliens who gave him his powers later revive him with new powers. He now has the ability to gain powers from any sentient being in the universe. He uses it to return to Earth.

Black Adam, the superhuman leader of Kahndaq, forges a coalition with several other countries against the United States and their metahumans: the Freedom of Power Treaty. He stops when Adrianna Tomaz, a former slave, shows him how he can use his abilities more peacefully to help his country. Adam convinces Captain Marvel to give Tomaz the power of Isis. Adam and Isis free enslaved children across Africa. The Question and Renee Montoya, meanwhile, start investigating Intergang. Following a lead, they fly to Kahndaq and prevent a suicide bombing at Black Adam and Isis' wedding. Adam awards them one of Kahndaq's highest honors. The four uncover Intergang, which is inducting children into a religion of crime based on its Crime Bible. Black Adam finds Isis' crippled brother Amon among the children and shares his power with him. Amon is reborn as Osiris. Osiris befriends a seemingly timid anthropomorphic crocodile named Sobek, who joins Black Adam's Black Marvel Family. Adam and Isis inform the Freedom of Power Treaty member nations that Kahndaq is no longer interested in consolidating power or in executing superhumans.

Will Magnus, creator of the Metal Men, is abducted to Oolong Island, where Intergang and Chang Tzu force kidnapped scientists to develop new weapons for them. There, Magnus is ordered to build a Plutonium Man robot. The scientists activate three of their Four Horsemen, which target Black Adam. Suspicious of him, Amanda Waller maneuvers Osiris into killing the Persuader and leaking footage of the incident to the media. With his reputation destroyed, Osiris retires from the public eye and acid rain ravages Kahndaq. Convinced that he is the cause of Kahndaq's new miseries, Osiris asks Captain Marvel to remove his powers. Isis and Black Adam stop him and the three return to Kahndaq. Sobek tricks Osiris into turning back into Amon and devours him, revealing himself to be the fourth Horseman, Famine. The other Horsemen join the battle. Isis is poisoned by Pestilence and dies while asking Adam to avenge her and Osiris' deaths.

Grief-stricken and enraged to the point of madness, Black Adam destroys the country of Bialya, base of the Four Horsemen, murdering the country's entire population. He then attacks Oolong Island. The Justice Society of America invade the island to arrest him and subdue the scientists, but Adam escapes and embarks on a week-long rampage across the globe, during which he kills several superhumans. Captain Marvel convinces the Egyptian pantheon to revert Adam to Teth-Adam and changes Adam's magic word from "Shazam" to a new phrase. Teth-Adam goes missing in the resulting explosion and wanders the Earth powerlessly, trying to guess the secret word.

The Question and Montoya train with Richard Dragon in Nanda Parbat, where Montoya learns that the Question is dying from lung cancer and wants her to replace him. After they discover a prophecy in the Crime Bible about Batwoman's death, the two join her fight against Intergang in Gotham City. When the Question's condition worsens, Montoya journeys back to Nanda Parbat in a failed attempt to save his life. Shortly after they leave Gotham, Intergang discovers Batwoman's identity and attempts to sacrifice her to fulfill the prophecy. Montoya, as the new Question, tries to save Batwoman, who gets stabbed by Mannheim with a ceremonial dagger. Batwoman fatally wounds Mannheim and survives. After she recovers, Montoya shines the restored Bat-Signal to call her back to work.

Skeets is revealed to be Mister Mind, who has been using Skeets' metallic body as a cocoon to metamorphose into a gigantic, monstrous form that feeds on time itself. Rip Hunter and Booster escape to the end of the ''Infinite Crisis'' and witness the secret creation of 52 identical parallel universes. Mister Mind intends to consume them. The Phantom Zone is restored, and Mister Mind alters events in the 52 universes, creating new histories and a new status quo for each. The heroes trap him in the remains of Skeets' shell and send him back in time to the beginning of the year, where he is captured by Dr. Sivana, trapped in a time loop for all eternity. Will Magnus later rebuilds Skeets, using a copy he had made of the robot's memories.

World War III

Week 50 of ''52'' and the four-issue ''World War III'' limited series, which was released the same week, depict the superhumans' battle with Black Adam. ''World War III'' also depicts Aquaman's transformation into the ''Dweller of the Depths'', Martian Manhunter's change in outlook, Donna Troy's assumption of the Wonder Woman mantle, Supergirl's return to the 21st century, Jason Todd pretending to be Nightwing, and Cassandra Cain being drugged to turn evil and join Deathstroke.

A local sheriff enters a home where multiple homicides have been committed; the victims are three children and their babysitter, all slaughtered brutally by an intruder using his bare hands.

In Colorado, 125 miles away from the crime scene, sixteen-year-old Jill Johnson (Camilla Belle) is on her way to babysit for the wealthy Mandrakis family, as punishment for exceeding her cell phone minutes. When she arrives, Mrs Mandrakis shows her around and tells her about their live-in housemaid, Rosa.

A long time after the parents leave, Jill begins to receive obscene phone calls from someone (voiced by Lance Henriksen) who, most of the time, does not say anything and then hangs up. She initially believes it is her friends playing a prank but when she contacts them, they deny it. While the Mandrakis' two children are asleep upstairs, Jill is visited by her friend Tiffany (Katie Cassidy) but, in fear of getting into further trouble, Jill asks her to leave. While returning to her car, Tiffany is ambushed by an unseen intruder.

Jill receives a call from the person, indicating he can see her. Alarmed, she calls the police, who tell her they can trace the calls if she is able to keep him on the line for at least sixty seconds. While waiting for the phone to ring, Jill sees a shadow moving in the guest house. Believing it is the Mandrakis' son back from college, she goes to investigate, but finds the guest house empty. While in the guest house, the phone rings and it's the same caller. This only confirms her fear that he's watching her. She keeps him on the phone so the call can be traced, only to remember he called the wrong line. Jill looks out the window and sees Rosa's vehicles light come on.

Believing Rosa is home, Jill searches for her, but finds no one is there. The phone rings again, and the caller remains quiet on the other end, and Jill manages to keep him on the line for a minute so the call can be traced. Jill then hears the shower running in the maid's room but, upon checking, the bathroom is empty. The police then tell her the calls are coming from inside the house. Horrified, Jill finds Tiffany’s body on the bathroom floor and flees.

Jill goes to the children who are already hiding in their playroom. She looks up and sees the intruder (Tommy Flanagan) in the loft. They all escape into the greenhouse and hide; Jill discovers Rosa's dead body under the water. The intruder enters and searches the greenhouse. Jill manages to lock him inside but he breaks out and attacks her. During the altercation, Jill manages to stab the assailant's hand into the hardwood floor with a fireplace poker, before rushing out of the house into the arms of a police officer. The assailant is arrested.

Days later while recovering in the hospital, Jill awakens to a phone ringing. She gets out of bed and, while looking at her reflection in the mirror, the assailant appears behind her and grabs her. She begins to shriek hysterically, waking from her hallucination as the doctors and her father desperately try to stop her frantic panicking.

US Army Command Sergeant Major Zack Carey (played by Garner) is about to retire from the military after taking his last post in rural Clemmons County, Georgia (loosely based on Fort Benning, largely in Chattahoochee County, Georgia). Despite being offered the possibility of becoming Sergeant Major of the Army, he insists he just wishes to finish his tour and retire in peace to spend time with his family. Several years earlier, his older son had been killed in an Army training accident, and his relationship with his only surviving son, Billy (played by Howell), is strained. Zack's no-nonsense, unpretentious style of leadership quickly earns him a reputation on-post as a tough but fair NCO, well-regarded for his compassion and integrity.

Zack owns a vintage Sherman tank from World War II that he has restored with his younger son's help, and he drives it for parades and other public events. While visiting an off-base bar, he meets a young woman named Sarah (Jenilee Harrison) and the two of them strike up a conversation over drinks. During their conversation, the local deputy sheriff, Euclid Baker (James Cromwell) sees them together and orders Sarah to get back to work, insulting her and slapping her in the process. Carey quickly intervenes, subduing the deputy.

Sarah had been forced into prostitution by Cyrus Buelton, the corrupt sheriff (G. D. Spradlin). Sheriff Buelton tries to arrest Carey, but finds he has no jurisdiction while Carey is on the base, which is federal property. Upon discovering that Billy attends a public school off-post, Buelton has marijuana planted in Billy's locker and arrests him. When Zack comes to him seeking terms of truce, Sheriff Buelton offers to drop the charges if Carey gives him a hefty bribe, roughly equal to his retirement savings. Zack hesitates and considers the deal, but his wife, LaDonna (Shirley Jones) refuses to take part in "good old boy" justice and calls a lawyer. The lawyer is thrown into jail himself on trumped-up contempt of court charges, Billy is put on trial immediately without benefit of counsel and sentenced to several years of hard labor. LaDonna, finally realizing the depths of Sheriff Buelton's corruption and cruelty, goes to Zack and tells him what happened. When Carey tries to offer the bribe, Buelton accepts the money, but refuses to release his son, simply stating that it will prevent him from being shot "accidentally" or while "attempting to escape", or from being raped by other inmates – temporarily.

Carey decides to take matters into his own hands, delivers his resignation, and climbs into his vintage tank, destroying the local jail and police station and releasing Billy's lawyer. With Sarah tagging along, Carey departs for the county work farm, where they use the tank to liberate Billy and flee the town. His plan is to escape to neighboring Tennessee, where they can get a fair hearing regarding extradition. While repairing a shed track, though, Carey is injured, and Billy takes command of the Sherman.

Buelton demands military intervention from Carey's commanding general, Major General V.E. Hubik (Sandy Ward). The general points out that Carey had already retired from the Army, so he has broken no military law. Buelton then demands that Hubik order the post's personnel and tanks to pursue Carey, and that if refused, he will call the governor of Georgia. Hubik again declines, this time citing the Posse Comitatus Act, which states that the Department of Defense is prevented from interfering in domestic law enforcement outside the military reservation without approval from his superiors or the President of the United States. (As a running joke for the remainder of the film, an ignorant Buelton misinterprets the act's name as a dismissive insult of himself as a "pussy Communist".)

Through a long series of chases and evasion through rural Georgia, while being aided by relatives of people jailed by Buelton and who died while incarcerated, the tank and its crew quickly become folk heroes. Despite Sheriff Buelton insisting they are criminals, the nation rallies behind them as a sort of modern-day Robin Hood. On the Tennessee side of the line, thousands of people gather to welcome the tank. Meanwhile, LaDonna has met with the governor of Tennessee, where she, with use of a rather direct and blunt threat of blackmail, manages to get a formal guarantee that they will be given a proper extradition hearing.

A showdown brews at the Tennessee state line, where a huge crowd of supporters for the tank and its crew has gathered. Using a vintage antitank weapon, Buelton manages to immobilize the tank within a mud flat, forcing Billy to consider surrender. However, a motorcycle gang intervenes and attaches a wire rope to the tank, and the assembled crowd works to pull the Sherman out of the trap. Buelton goes as far as to order his posse to fire at the crowd, prompting a large line of Tennessee state troopers to draw their weapons in response, threatening to "turn this into another 'Little Big Horn'". Buelton and his men then race into the mud flat and begin pulling on their end against the crowd. Reaching a stalemate, Hubik takes charge and has a bulldozer brought over to help free the tank. Celebrating his apparent victory, Buelton climbs onto the tank and orders its occupants to surrender, but instead, Zack instructs Billy to rotate the tank's turret, which knocks him off and face down into the mud. Meanwhile, the bulldozer begins pulling the tank free of the mud with the renewed help of the crowd. This time, the posse's efforts to stop them are futile, and the tank is successfully pulled over the state line. Zack, Billy and Sarah climb out of the tank to a hero's welcome by LaDonna and the people and the governor of Tennessee.

The title character is a ''gun-for-hire'' freelance anti-terrorist, who is brought in when things go horribly wrong, and who uses extremely violent methods to achieve his goals. However, he is also an active social liberal who takes part in anti-war demonstrations, and is internally conflicted about the measures he has to take.

Dr. Elaine Frederick, a mad scientist, is working on developing maggots that prefer human flesh, while her services are used to make a clone of Adolf Hitler. She cooperates with the plan to resurrect Hitler as a way of exacting revenge for the death of her mother, a political prisoner executed in Ravensbrück concentration camp. While convincing everyone the flesh-eating maggots are for regeneration research, she simply wants to throw them in the resurrected Hitler's face, which she does.

A newspaper reporter, Bruce Corey, returns from World War I to New York City. After reporting to his job at his old newspaper, Corey finds that his old editor doesn't like his new ideas.

Corey and his war correspondent friends start their own down-market newspaper which will feature "the news before it happens." Corey gambles with a mob boss and wins the money to start up his paper, the ''New York Mercury'', an instant success.

However, because of stories that may implicate the newspaper's silent partner in a number of crimes, Corey finds himself and his staff threatened and even the targets of gunfire. Corey finally kills the mob boss and flees the country on a plane that is attempting a trans-Atlantic flight. The plane crashes and he is killed. Rather than embroil the paper in the murder investigation, Corey embarks on what he knows is an extremely dangerous flight. The plane does crash mid-ocean at the end he is reported to have swum away from a rescue craft.

''Sky Gunner'' follows the story of 3 ace pilots, Ciel, Copain and Femme, who are hired to protect the "Eternal Engine", an engine capable of perpetual motion. Little do they know, the criminal genius, Ventre, is planning to use the town's celebration aboard the luxury airship, Merveilleux, as an opportunity to steal the Eternal Engine for his own evil ends.

Jersild used his medical knowledge of the long-term effects of a nuclear holocaust to great effect in this novel, which relates the adventures of a young man dumped on the island of Gotland some 30 years after a worldwide nuclear catastrophe. Humanity is about to go out with a whimper. The only inhabitants of the island are a band of aging convicts and a handful of religious women, also advanced in years, plus a few hermits. The economy is reduced to barter and plunder and the only medical care is provided by an ex-baseball player, who becomes the reluctant mentor of the protagonist. A ray of hope is introduced in the story with the arrival of a young Finnish woman, but it all ends in misery.

The story takes place exactly where its predecessor ''Ashes 2 Ashes'' finishes, only there is quite a bit of time hopping involved to keep things confusing.

Ash returns from Egypt, believing the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis destroyed for good. However, the evil tome has managed to hitch-hike all the way back to S-Mart and wound up in the hands of Mister Smart himself, Ash's cheerfully irritating boss. When Deadites infest the aisles and consumers start consuming, Ash must team up with his fellow co-workers to start the ultimate wage slave war against evil.

The film tells of a young Orthodox Jewish man's struggle after the death of his father. The young man returns from Israel to find that he would prefer to leave Orthodoxy, and departs from his remaining family to become a taxi driver. He gradually assimilates into secular life, soon finding himself tempted to fornicate.

The film appears to mimic the Parable of the Prodigal Son, with the main character appearing to reconsider Orthodox life at the end of the film by reuniting with his family.

The game opens in 1930, in New Way City. The player controls a Predator who stalks and kills Mafia boss Bruno Borgia and members of his gang who are at war with the Irish Mob. Bruno's wife Isabella shoots the Predator in the eye, causing his blood to splatter on her and her newborn son Hunter. The Predator makes a hasty escape, leaving behind some of his equipment. As he attempts to reach his ship, the roof he is running across collapses - leaving him incapacitated. The Predator then sets off his ship's self-destruct sequence; however, this fails to kill him as he is outside the range of the explosion. Shamed by defeat and having exposed his race to the humans, the Predator is exiled by his clan to a planet inhabited by deadly alien creatures. One hundred years later, the Predator, now called Scarface, is offered a chance for redemption.

The Predator technology, derived from Scarface's abandoned equipment, has proliferated into the hands of Bruno's descendants and warring gangs who have utilized it in New Way City, now known as Neonopolis - City of Light, as well as against other Predators. The warring factions all pay tribute to Lucretia Borgia, daughter of Hunter and granddaughter of Bruno. Thus, Scarface regains his honor by battling the various factions in order to recover the Predator technology (known to the humans as "Prometheus" technology). Wiping out the Haitian voodoo gang Les Serviteurs (who were using Predator cloaking devices) and the violent drug dealers called The Dead Men (who were dealing in Prometheus weapon tech), Scarface takes the skull of Serviteur houngan King Willie and the skulls of the Dead Men Triad. Following this, Scarface proceeds to infiltrate the private island of former Italian Mafia leader Don Giovanni. After disabling the defenses and shielding around the island, Scarface aids the juvenile Pack-9 gang, who use a Ulysseus android they've stolen from the police, to break into the Don's mansion. Inside, Scarface proceeds to wipe out both groups, killing Don Giovanni and taking the head of his bodyguard, Vincent di Angelo, as a trophy.

Scarface finally targets the Mexican-American gang Los Matadores, led by Fidel "El Hongo" Perez. After seeing his Matadores gun dealers killed, El Hongo asks Lucretia Borgia for help, but is rebuffed. However, with the death of the Matadores prostitutes and pimps, El Hongo again asks for her help to save him from "El Demonio Invisible". Lucretia sends a group of mechanically-enhanced Russian Mercenaries known as the Machine Men—led by Viktor the Chechen—to New Way Field to deal with Scarface. However, the four mercenaries are butchered by Scarface, who takes Viktor's head for himself. Lucretia is shocked when El Hongo later calls her to tell her the Machine Men have been killed, and she sends El Hongo to a high-security black market trading depot at the docks, which is protected by Borgia Black Ops crew The Working Girls, led by Baby Blew. Despite his cloak being disabled by jamming equipment, Scarface infiltrates the facility and destroys the generators for the jamming tech as well as a shipment of Prometheus weapons before finally killing El Hongo and later Baby Blew.

Scarface rides one of the drone trucks to the weapon depot, infiltrating the facility and destroying it. However, his true origin has been discovered by Lucretia after seeing him on camera, and several waves of The Monster Squad—genetically altered cyborgs—are deployed. Despite valiantly fighting the Monster Squad (taking the skulls of the first wave), Scarface is overpowered and taken back to the Borgia labs. Scarface suffers flashbacks to his hunt for Bruno 100 years ago, including tracking Bruno to the New Way Museum, killing corrupt Police Chief O'Brien alongside many mob members and police officers before his final confrontation with Bruno, which saw the "New Way Devil" take the head of the "God of Gangsters" before showing it to Borgia's wife, Isabella. Due to an underestimated anesthetic dose, Scarface breaks free and recovers his equipment, freeing some of his captured brethren in his escape.

Following instructions from MOTHER, the computer controlling Neonopolis, Lucretia activates the weather stations to make it rain so Scarface can't use his cloak while unleashing three brainwashed 'bad blood' predators against him. Despite this, Scarface kills two of the bad bloods — Swift Knife and Long Spear — and disables the weather machines. Working his way towards Lucretia's penthouse, Scarface battles wave upon wave of enemy forces including Lucretia's three Ronin Bodyguards—samurai who are trained in "ten thousand ways to kill". Scarface defeats them but they escape before he can finish them off, jumping onto Lucretia's car as she flees.

Lucretia heads for Borgia Towers, with Scarface following and killing everyone and everything in his way, including another wave of the Monster Squad and the final bad blood Predator, Stone Heart. Eventually, it is revealed that MOTHER is actually Isabella who, along with her son, have aged slowly and been kept alive by Scarface's blood.

She reveals both herself and Hunter have been kidnapping and experimenting on Predators to extend their lives further. As Scarface confronts Isabella, she activates a shield and unleashes a hive of Xenomorphs against Scarface. Despite this, Scarface disables the generators and wipes out the hive, leaving Isabella defenseless. Isabella reveals her unnatural love for Scarface - saying that Hunter was just a 'stunted weakling' without him. However, Scarface impales her with his Combi-Stick, killing her.

Lucretia runs to her father, discovering to her horror that Hunter has used the Predator's genetic data to slowly transform into a hybrid of Human and Predator. An aggravated Hunter kills Lucretia before Scarface battles Hunter. Lucretia's ronin bodyguards sacrifice themselves to avenge her and assist Scarface in a final battle against Hunter on top of Borgia Towers and finally onto a statue of Bruno Borgia, with Scarface eventually emerging the victor. Scarface uses Hunter's artificial Predator blood to paint his clan sign on the statue of Bruno Borgia before being recovered by his clan on a ship.

In the epilogue, Lucretia is revealed to have survived and been recovered by the recently merged Weyland and Yutani corporations, who have installed her as the new MOTHER computer controlling Neonopolis.

Cast

• Aimée Leigh and Sarah Brown as Scarface / The Predator (sound effects)
• Tasia Valenza as Isabella Borgia / MOTHER
• Giselle Loren as Lucretia Borgia
• Fred Tatasciore as Bruno Borgia
• Armando Valdes-Kennedy as El Hongo
• David Sobolov as Hunter Borgia

This film starts with a man-hunt, where the police are hunting for an escaped convict (Charlie Chaplin) who has cleverly eluded the guards so far. One police officer (Henry Bergman) is told to guard the beach in case the escaped felon came within sight again. However, unbeknownst to the officer, Charlie is actually under a load of sand, buried right next to the officer.

Fully aware of the danger, he is very cautious regarding his escape. He unburies himself very cautiously, however, Bergman is asleep, and he falls back on the hole which Charlie created while un-burying himself. Of course, Charlie makes a run, but it is too late.

The officer fires, luckily missing Charlie by an inch. Charlie hurriedly climbs up a vertical wall of mud and stone, with the officer giving chase. Charlie, however, finishes Bergman off by throwing a rock at him. In vain, he shoots, but it misses Charlie's head by a mile.

A few seconds later, however, it seems Charlie is finished when a policeman stealthily creeps up to him. He steps on his hand, presumably to not let him escape, presumably as a reminder that his time is up. However, Charlie thinks it's a stray stone and covers it with mud. When he looks up and sees the officer, however, the chase resumes. With sheer athletic abilities and presence of mind, the Tramp eludes the officer. Charlie runs, and runs, and runs, and runs, and runs...and runs ''ker-plam!'' into a bunch of officers.

Charlie runs all the way up to the top of the dusty cliff. Just when it seems like Charlie is free, another officer leaps in out of nowhere and shoots Charlie. However, the shot missed its mark, and Charlie, feigning death, fools the officer successfully. In the middle of the check-up to make sure the convict was dead, Charlie kicks him down the hill.

He takes the officer's hiding place (a very cleverly-masked hole in the rock) while Bergman and his companion come to that same spot looking for Charlie. Charlie sees them and makes a stealthy escape—however, not stealthy enough to alert them at the last moment.

Charlie comes through to the other end of the hole, grabs a police officer's gun, and uses this to threaten the police. All the while, he tiptoes backwards, and, unbeknownst to him, he's heading toward the deep seas. He, of course, trips against a stray rock and accidentally fires at Bergman. Luckily, the shot wasn't fatal, but it was painful enough to piss him off.

Helpless, Charlie swims towards the deep seas. The policemen give chase with the help of a boat. Of course, they are unprepared for the high tide, and a huge wave knocks them over. Charlie swims over towards a boat where a man is desperately trying to take out his wet shirt.

The scene cuts towards a girl and her lover (Edna Purviance and Eric Campbell). They realize Edna's mother (Marta Golden) is drowning. They go over to help her. Edna begs Campbell to help, but he refuses because of his fatness. She jumps in, while Campbell leans against the fence and hawks at her. However, this man's sheer weight contributes to the fence giving away, and, of course, Campbell goes ''ker-plam!'' into the water.

Hearing the chaos ensuing between Campbell, Edna and her mother, Charlie, who had just found some dry land, decides to investigate. He jumps back into the water and swims over to where he thinks the chaos is taking place. He finds Edna on the shore, frantic, and Edna, seeing Charlie, begs him to save her mother. Charlie, instead of saving her mother, who was in dire need of help, swims towards Campbell instead, and swims circles around him.

Finally, he takes his beard, ''and with the help of that he pulls him back to shore.''

He rescues everybody else, and then lets them get warm. The authorities arrive, and Edna's unconscious mother is the first to go into the ambulance. However, she soon gains her consciousness, and Charlie serenades her with lies ("I heard your shout from my yacht!" "I couldn't turn down two people shouting -- you, my lady, did not deserve drowning!") and then heads back to rescue Campbell, in the process carelessly (and unintentionally) tossing him back into the water.

When he discovers his blunder, he goes back and rescues the man. However, in the process of the rescue, Charlie hurts himself and lies down on the shore, helpless and unable to walk. He writhes and groans in pain helplessly. Luckily for him, however, a policeman saw him, called Edna, and rescues the injured Charlie.

Charlie now wakes up in the house of Edna, the woman he loves. However, him wearing his striped prison uniform makes him think he is in prison, which is cleared when the butler enters with a towel. The scene then cuts to Charlie walking down the stairs with the glamorous party attire of the time, "dressed in somebody's best", according to the intertitle cards. The butler comes over with the drinks, and Charlie takes a glass, hands it to the butler, takes a beer bottle and pours the drink, initially on the floor.

Then he tries to hand the butler his cigarette, and seeing a bewildered look on his face, waved at him to get out. Edna sees him, of course, and much to the rage of her lover, goes up to him. When he sees her, instinctively he goes into the "attention" position to greet her, which resulted in the open beer bottle to go upside-down, and the beer sloshing down.

Edna and Charlie go to the balcony to socialize, where Charlie accidentally kicks Bergman. Bergman thinks it is intentional, however, and kicks him back. They go on kicking each other for a while, till a lady intervenes between Charlie and Bergman. Since Bergman and Charlie had their backs to each other, Bergman couldn't see the lady intervening. Therefore, he kicks her butt, thinking it's Charlie's he's kicked. He goes red when he realizes his blunder, but the damage is done—Edna is disgusted at him, the victim weirded out, and Charlie feigns calmness and glares at him.

Inside, while Edna plays the piano, Bergman tries getting revenge but to no avail. Charlie sloshes a whole lot of beer on him, and he retreats. However, when he does, he sees Charlie's face on the newspaper, under the headline "Criminal Escapes: Convict at Large".

Of course, this was a good way of getting revenge. Therefore, when Charlie talks away with Edna's dad, who was Judge Brown, the man who sentenced him to prison, Charlie is scared. But he acts calm, going under the alias "Commodore". However, at the worst possible moment, Bergman barges in, shoves "Commodore" out and tells him all about Charlie and his face in the newspaper, and how he was the escaped convict. When Charlie comes across the headline, he is scared stiff and nervous. As a last resort, he takes out his pen and draws a beard, so (hopefully) Judge Brown thinks he is Henry Bergman.

Of course, Brown falls for the trap. When a determined Bergman stalks in with the judge, he grabs the paper and shows it to Brown. Of course, Brown thinks that this man has got it wrong, and shows it to Charlie. Charlie looks at the paper, and looks back at Bergman. "You need a shave!" he remarks, and goes back in to socialize—not before kicking Bergman in the crotch, though!

He talks to everybody inside, trying to blend in after that near brush with Judge Brown. He talks to everybody, including Edna, and then decides to go to the kitchen with Edna.

But in the kitchen, a policeman and his wife are making love to each other, so when the knock sounds, the policeman hurriedly goes towards the closet. Charlie and Edna enter just as she is closing the door, so Charlie is secretly curious. He opens the closet, sees the policeman and, in an instant, closes the door and darts out of the room.

What follows is a nerve-wracking chase with some slapstick overtures. Several times, Charlie comes close to getting caught. Several times, he survives by the skin of his teeth. And, in the end, one police officer corners him. It looks like the end, like Charlie will finally be apprehended—until Charlie outwits him. He introduces the policeman and Edna, and when the policeman is taking his police hat off, Charlie breaks away from his grasp and runs away, the police hot on his trail.

In this comedy, Charlie Chaplin has a companion—a pet bulldog. Walking along a street with his bulldog, Charlie finds a "good luck" horseshoe just as he passes the training camp of an enormous fighter named Spike Dugan. Outside the camp is a large, painted advertisement which states Dugan is seeking sparring partners "who can take a punch." After watching other better fighters be soundly beaten by Dugan, Charlie decides his best bet is to put the horseshoe inside his boxing glove. Using the loaded glove, Charlie connects with a solid punch and wins. The trainer prepares Charlie to fight the world champion. A gambler wants Charlie to throw the fight. He and the trainer's daughter fall in love.

Set in 1907, the play begins with a tempestuous storm in which a well-known and loved member of the community drowns. It then explores the reactions of the villagers and the attempts by two young lovers to break away from the constraints of the hierarchical, and sometimes irrational, society.

At the same time, the town's draper struggles with abuse and bullying from the town's "First Lady", Mrs. Rafi. Believing that aliens from another planet have arrived to invade the city, he had refused to help the drowning man's friend's attempts to save him and eventually goes stark raving mad.

In the House of M universe, Spider-Man is famous for being an actor, super-hero, wrestler, and businessman. His identity as Peter Parker is known to the public, who believes he is a mutant and thus born with his powers. His uncle Ben Parker, first love Gwen Stacy and Gwen's father George Stacy are all alive; Peter and Gwen are married and have a son together. Rhino is Peter's bodyguard, even though he is not needed. J. Jonah Jameson, after years of publishing anti-Spider-Man articles, takes a high-paying job as Peter's publicist, where Peter constantly humiliates him in public.

At Peter's surprise birthday party, Jameson is attacked by the Green Goblin, who states his intention to use Jameson to destroy Spider-Man. Jameson awakens the next morning holding Peter's journal, part of which explains how he got his powers and that he is not a mutant. Spider-Man searches all over the city to find Jameson, but it's too late. J. Jonah Jameson, with a camera crew, reveals the truth in Spider-Man's journal.

After the news breaks, a mutant boy is beaten half to death for wearing a Spider-Man shirt. Peter visits the boy at the hospital, where he meets a mutant security guard who expresses respect for Spider-Man. An announcement comes in that Rhino is causing havoc downtown. The guard turns to face Peter, but sees only an open window.

Spider-Man tries to stop Rhino from destroying downtown, but gets attacked by angry mutant pedestrians. Rhino escapes and meets the Green Goblin, who he tells to meet him behind Parker's house tonight. As soon as Green Goblin arrives, he sees that Ox, Vulture, and Electro are there as well, and they all attack the Green Goblin. During the fight, Gwen Stacy runs to see what's going on. Rhino grabs the Green Goblin and lets Gwen take his mask off, revealing Peter Parker.

It is revealed that Peter has been having recurring nightmares of horrifying events that Spider-Man faced in the true Marvel Universe, including the deaths of Ben, George, and Gwen. Thinking him insane, his family believes that Peter may have subconsciously created his Green Goblin persona to force the truth of his non-mutant origins to come out.

In the end, Spider-Man fakes his own death, leaving a note for the House of M, threatening to come back if Magneto does not "lay off the humans." The Parker family is last seen somewhere in the countryside, contentedly building their new home away from mutant civilization. For this story to fit in with the larger story told in the ''House of M'' miniseries, the Parker family would have had to return to New York at some point, as it was there that Wolverine and the rest of the memory-restored heroes introduced him to Layla Miller.

Sarah Jane Smith and her co-worker Jeremy Fitzoliver are on holiday in Sicily when they meet the Brigadier. The Brigadier is trying to help his Uncle Mario, who is being threatened by a mobster named Vilmio. Mario is also trying to deal with the ghosts that have been sighted in his castello. The Brigadier asks the Doctor to investigate the hauntings and determine their source. The Doctor reveals that the ghosts are "N-Bodies", or the souls of the deceased who have not yet left the physical plane. The ghosts are gathering around Mario's castello due to a fracture in the N-Space barrier; if the barrier were to fail, Earth would be overrun with the monsters that inhabit N-Space.

The Doctor travels back to the 19th and 16th century in an attempt to locate the cause of the fracture. In the past he discovers that Vilmio is actually an alchemist called Vilmius who has discovered a method for extending his lifespan; now that he is nearing the end of his life, he wants to use the power of N-Space to give himself true immortality. He also plans to control the monsters in N-Space and use them to rule the world. Vilmius has been waiting centuries for a specific astrological conjunction to occur, which is scheduled to occur in the next few days.

Vilmius' men storm the castello, allowing Vilmio access to the N-Space fracture. The Doctor and Sarah Jane, using a device the Doctor invented, send their N-bodies into the fracture as well. Inside N-Space, Sarah Jane's belief in the Doctor transforms his body into that of a heroic white knight, which allows the Doctor to defeat Vilmius and sever his N-Body's link with his physical body. The defeat comes too late, and Vilmius begins absorbing the N-Space energy into his body. In a last-ditch attempt, the Doctor increases the amount of N-Space energy funnelling into Vilmius, which causes him to explode; the N-Space energy disperses harmlessly.

Part 1

The Doctor and Sarah Jane arrive on a beach by the Thames Estuary at night, and discover a metallic seaweed there. The Doctor consults with Professor Emerson, who says that three expeditions to recover a recent meteorite from the bottom of the estuary have all vanished. The Doctor goes diving and is attacked by something that wraps itself around him, but then lets him go. The meteorite is really a wrecked spaceship buried under the estuary. The Doctor believes it is a Pescaton ship. The Pescatons are carcharhinidae, or deep water sharks. The experts scoff at this, until one comes out of the Thames and makes its way to London Zoo in search of salt water. The Doctor confronts it in the Aquarium, where it dies and disintegrates. That night, more meteorites land in the Thames.

Part 2

London is invaded. The Doctor recalls his visit to planet Pesca, where he fell down a chasm into a cavern and met Zor, the Pescaton leader. Zor said he would use the Doctor to find a new home; Pesca was drying out and falling towards its sun. Zor used his hypnotic powers on the Doctor, who fought back and escaped. Back in London, Sarah Jane finds an abandoned baby while the military shoot rounds at the invading Pescatons with no effect. The Doctor distracts a Pescaton by singing "Hello, Dolly!" and doing a dance so that Sarah Jane can get away with the child. Finally the Pescatons fall back to the salt water, except for one trapped in a London Underground tunnel. The Doctor and Sarah Jane search for it, and the Doctor plays a piccolo to calm his nerves. The Pescaton retreats at the sound. Professor Emerson helps the Doctor build a high frequency sound trap inside a sewer, and Zor is lured there to be destroyed as the planet Pesca disintegrates in its orbit. Without Zor to control it, the Pescaton invasion ends.

In Budapest, 1489, a family living in a castle is slaughtered by a couple who then commit suicide. However, as the man lies dying, he discovers a baby survived the ordeal.

In 1989, a mysterious Count invites a group of people to the same castle's reopening. The group consists of Gail Cameron, Marylou Summers, Jonathan Hammet, David Price, the Professor, and Catherine. Other than them, the castle is attended by personnel Peter and Susan. During lunchtime, Hammet relates to Marylou Summers the story of the region which, 1,000 years before, was being terrorized by packs of wolves, supposedly being controlled by Satan himself, disguised as a man at day and as a wolf at night. According to the Professor, the castle was constructed around that time and then inexplicably abandoned. The Professor stumbles upon a dungeon while following some noises, just when something breaks its chains. He is then trapped inside and eventually attacked and killed.

The following morning, the Count explains to them the story of how the powerful family in charge of the castle was killed. He then expresses discomfort after the Professor is mentioned and abruptly leaves. He returns afterward to explain the Professor's disappearance. That night, Gail expresses to Ray her belief something is amiss and there is someone else in the castle. Unbelieving, Ray searches and eventually finds a secret passage, from which he witnesses Gail being attacked by a werewolf. He then finds an exit alongside the Professor's body but is then ambushed and killed in the snow. Peter sabotages David's camera. The Count searches for Cameron and Ray and finds the secret passage and a maze of tunnels alongside Jack and David. Everyone decides to organize a search party. Jonathan and Marylin discover someone tricked them into getting lost, and Jonathan is killed, Peter is harmed, and Marylou and Anna witness the werewolf attacking them.

Richard and Anna discover all of them lack a family and begin to suspect they were lured there. David and Catherine find most of the bodies. Convinced the Count is the killer, they go to alert the others, but they find Jonathan already dead. Pressured, the Count reveals all of them are descendants from the family who owned the castle and thus is a werewolf, which only can be destroyed by another relative. He used the others as bait. He is then locked in the dungeon, alongside Peter and Susan. David and Catherine decide to kill them against Anna's wishes, so she releases them, getting herself locked by them. She is supposed to be safe; however, she is killed by the werewolf when its human form approaches her.

David discovers Ray's body, while Catherine finds Anna's before being herself killed. Peter accidentally kills Susan before being killed by Marylou. Going outside, they find the Count, who fights David over the gun after advising Marylou that David is possessed and will transform into the werewolf when the moon appears. Marylou retrieves the weapon and uses it to kill the Count, and afterward, she and David embrace, with David telling Marylou that there is no werewolf. Soon after, Marylou turned heel as the moon appears, smiling wickedly and revealing herself as the werewolf.

Like all Tex Murphy games, ''Tex Murphy: Overseer'' takes place in post-World War III San Francisco. After the devastating events of WWIII, many major cities have been rebuilt (as is the case with New San Francisco), though certain areas still remain as they were before the war (as in Old San Francisco). WWIII also left another mark on the world: the formation of two classes of citizens. Specifically, the Mutants and the "Norms".

Since the game is told as a series of flashbacks, it actually takes place in two different time frames. The current year is 2043, shortly after the events of ''The Pandora Directive'' and as such tensions between the Mutants and Norms have begun to die down. However, the flashbacks take place in November 2037. The Crusade for Genetic Purity is beginning to gain momentum, and tensions are building between the two groups. The Mutants are usually forced to live in the run-down areas of cities such as Old San Francisco. Tex lives in his new apartment on Front St. in New San Francisco. He has just been kicked out of the Colonel's Detective Agency for reporting the Colonel's unethical practices, and has now gone into business on his own.

The game starts out with Tex going on a date with Chelsee Bando. Worrying about Tex's ability to commit to a relationship, she confronts him about how he still wears his wedding ring from his ex-wife, Sylvia Linsky. This leads Tex to recount the story of his first case. Tex is hired by Sylvia Linsky to discover the truth behind her father's suicide. She believes he was actually murdered, but the police have already closed the case. With no one else to turn to, she goes to Tex for help. Tex becomes involved in a plot involving implants and mind control, and must do what he can to stop it, before it's too late. The story which Tex recounts to Chelsee is essentially the events of ''Mean Streets'', the first game in the series. There are, however, several notable plot differences between the two.

Larry discovers his estranged sister has committed suicide. He recounts a fateful day, when the two were children playing in their family's barn.

With their parents not home, they play a forbidden game, taking turns climbing to the top of a ladder in their barn and leaping off into a haystack. The ladder is old and unsafe, but that is part of the thrill. On his last turn, Larry realizes that the ladder is on the point of letting go. By the time he lands in the hay, Kitty is already climbing up again. The ladder breaks, leaving her clinging to the last rung. Larry piles hay below her. When Kitty cannot hang on any longer, he tells her to let go, and she does. The hay breaks Kitty's fall and saves her life, leaving her with only a broken ankle. Larry is astonished when Kitty tells him that she hadn't looked down before letting go, so she didn't know about the hay. She had simply trusted him to save her.

Kitty grows up into a beautiful woman; she is supposed to attend business college but, in the summer after graduation, wins a beauty pageant and marries one of the judges. After the marriage fails, Kitty moves to Los Angeles, landing some roles in B-movies and some modeling shoots, and marries again, only to have this marriage fail as well. Eventually, Kitty ends up working as a call girl. Meanwhile, Larry is too wrapped up in his own burgeoning career as a high-priced lawyer to come to her aid, brushing off her many letters asking him to visit. He is now left with a newspaper article of Kitty's suicide ("Call Girl Swan Dives to her Death"), and her final letter, sent two weeks before she died, which reads, "I've been thinking about it a lot lately... and what I've decided is that it would have been better for me if that last rung had broken before you could put the hay down". Larry says that this would have been enough to make him come running. Unfortunately, he had neglected to tell his sister he'd moved, and the letter was not forwarded in time.

In 1946, after working apart during the Second World War, former British Army nurse Claire Randall and her husband Frank Randall, a history professor, go on a second honeymoon to Inverness, Scotland. Frank conducts research into his family history and Claire goes plant-gathering near standing stones on the hill of Craigh na Dun. Investigating a buzzing noise near the stones, she touches one and faints; upon waking, she encounters Frank's ancestor, Captain Jack Randall. Before Captain Randall can attack her, he is knocked unconscious by a highlander who takes Claire to his clansmen. As the Scots inexpertly attend their injured comrade Jamie, Claire uses her medical skill to set Jamie's dislocated shoulder. The men identify themselves as members of Clan MacKenzie, and Claire eventually concludes that she has traveled into the past. She represents herself as an English widow who is traveling to France to see her family. The Scots do not believe her and take her to Castle Leoch, where Claire searches for a way to return to her own time.

The highlanders of 1743 see Claire as a "Sassenach", or "Outlander", ignorant of Gaelic culture. Her medical skills eventually earn their respect; but the clan chieftain, Colum MacKenzie, suspects her of being an English spy. Colum sends her with his brother, Dougal, to collect rents; on the way he also solicits donations for the Jacobites, overseen by Ned Gowan, a lawyer from Edinburgh who is working for the Clan.

When chance again brings her to his attention, Captain Randall tells Dougal to bring Claire to him for questioning. There is suspicion that she is perhaps an English spy. To keep Claire from Randall, Dougal has her wed Jamie, which makes her a Scottish citizen. Torn between her attachment to Jamie and the thought of Frank, Claire tries to return to Craigh na Dun. However, she is captured by Randall's men, requiring Jamie to rescue her. Upon returning to Castle Leoch, Claire continues acting as the official healer, and befriends Geillis Duncan, the wife of a local official, who shares a knowledge of medicine. Eventually Claire and Geillis are charged with witchcraft while Jamie is away, but Jamie returns in time to save Claire. While imprisoned with Geillis, Claire learns that Geillis is part of the plot to restore King James to the Scottish throne along with Dougal and that she is also pregnant with his child. Just before their escape, Claire realizes that Geillis is, like herself, from the future, when she sees a smallpox vaccine scar on her arm. Geillis also sees Claire's scar.

Claire tells Jamie her real story, and he takes her to Craigh na Dun. When he offers her the chance to stay or go, she decides to stay. Jamie takes her to his home of Lallybroch, where they meet Jamie's sister Jenny and her husband, Ian. Though Jamie is still a fugitive from the British, he reclaims his position as Laird of Lallybroch, until one of his tenants betrays him and he is taken to Wentworth Prison. Claire and the MacKenzie clansmen attempt to rescue him, but they fail, and Claire is captured by Randall, who threatens to have her raped. Jamie offers himself in Claire's place, and Randall frees Claire into the woods. Claire tells Randall that she is a witch and tells him the exact day of his death, which she knows from Frank's family history. Thereafter Claire is befriended by Sir Marcus MacRannoch, a former suitor of Jamie's mother. While MacRannoch's men distract Wentworth's guards, the clansmen drive a herd of cattle through the underground halls, trampling a man. They rescue Jamie, who has been assaulted physically and sexually by Randall, and take him to MacRannoch's stronghold, where Claire tends Jamie's wounds. As soon as Jamie is able, they and Jamie's godfather, Murtagh, escape to Saint Anne de Beaupre's monastery in France, where another of Jamie's uncles is abbot. As she and Jamie emerge from a sacred hot spring under the Abbey, Claire reveals that she is pregnant.

Set in the fictional English town of Hampton, the book explores the socioeconomic changes brought about by globalisation on an insular community, represented by the building of a shopping mall by a large American corporation. Meanwhile, the community also experiences pressure from prime minister Margaret Thatcher's economic policies, including cuts to health care and welfare.

Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Butters are at Stan's house to see ''Fightin' Around the World with Russell Crowe''. The boys do not actually care about the show, but watch it solely to see the new Terrance and Phillip movie trailer, which will premiere during one of the show's commercial breaks. Shelly, Stan's aggressive older sister, being on her period, only allows them to watch if they bring her some tampons; the boys send out Butters to get some. Cartman thinks the TV's color is "saturated" and attempts to fix a loose cable, causing the TV to explode. After Butters returns, the boys leave to watch at Kyle's house, forcing his little brother Ike away from the TV. Their father, Gerald, reprimands Kyle for not letting Ike watch the ''MacNeil/Lehrer Report'', forcing the boys to find another place to watch the show.

Throughout the episode, several parts of ''Fightin' Around the World with Russell Crowe'' are shown. This "children's show" depicts Crowe as a muscular sailor with an exaggerated Australian accent who randomly beats people up. He sails the world with Tugger, his anthropomorphic tugboat who communicates with Crowe by blowing his whistle, and who Crowe considers his best friend. Throughout the show, Crowe and Tugger visit several places, including Tiananmen Square in China and Brooklyn in New York City. Crowe describes the locals there in a wildlife documentary style similar to such shows as ''The Crocodile Hunter'' and ''Man vs. Wild'', then proceeds to pick fights with them. At one point, Crowe also attacks the show's editor for cutting one of the fighting scenes short. Later on, Crowe sings Tugger a song from his new album, accompanying himself on his acoustic guitar. The song is so horrible that it drives Tugger to attempt suicide. He is brought to the hospital and makes a full recovery.

The boys discuss where they can find a television to watch the commercial breaks on. Cartman's house is being fumigated and Butters insists they cannot go to his house, so they go to Chef to watch on his new, hyper-modern plasma screen TV. To their disappointment, the trailer is not shown during the first commercial break. When Chef tries to demonstrate some of the functionalities of his new TV, he accidentally transforms it into an ED-209-like robot, which goes on a rampage through South Park. During the remainder of the episode, Chef follows the destructive television around while talking to customer service on his cellphone in an effort to deprogram the machine. The boys go to watch TV at the local bar, only to be kicked out for being underage. They then arrive at Shady Acres, South Park's retirement home, where they manage to catch the second commercial break, but the trailer is again not aired. The elderly grow annoyed with the boys and force them out by simultaneously farting.

In desperation, they try to brave the fumes at Cartman's house, but this proves unbearable. The boys decide to head back to Stan's house to use an old black-and-white television which Stan remembers having. Upon arriving at the front door, Butters realizes he never gave Shelly her tampons. Before they can enter the house, they are washed away by a large tidal wave of Shelly's menstrual blood. The boys then resort to watching TV with a group of crack-addicted homeless people, only to be attacked by Chef's rampaging television-robot which blasts away the device. With nowhere else to go, the boys ask Butters why they cannot watch at his house. Butters explains that his parents are out of town and he does not have a babysitter. Stunned for a few seconds by this revelation, they hurriedly rush to Butters' house (with Stan saying: "We'll kill Butters later!"), arriving just in time to view the last commercial break, wherein the trailer is finally shown. The trailer is anti-climactic: it features a textual announcement in the form of words flying at the screen, followed by a few seconds of Terrance and Phillip at a ranch wearing cowboy hats and farting. It shows almost nothing of the actual film. Nevertheless, the boys are ecstatic over finally getting to see the trailer after all.

Meanwhile, Chef is still on the phone with the customer service line, unsuccessfully trying to stop his TV.

Jared Fogle gives a speech at South Park, touting how easy it is to lose weight by simply eating a diet of Subway sandwiches. Cartman, Kyle, Stan and Butters visit Jared, and are dismayed when Jared reveals that his weight loss is not only the result of eating sandwiches, but also with the help from his aides (a personal trainer and a dietician). Kyle convinces Jared that he is being dishonest by never referring to his assistants, and Jared realizes the boys are correct, and plans to give another speech to discuss them. At Jared's next announcement, he raves about his aides. The townspeople misconstrue the statement, thinking that he is infected with AIDS, and become repulsed by him. After being fired by Subway, Jared begins to wish he never hired aides. His assistants convince him that people are upset because they cannot hire their own assistants, inspiring Jared to start the "Aides for Everyone" (misinterpreted as "AIDS for Everyone") foundation. The townspeople are angered further, and chase him through town. Jared laments that everyone hates him for saying he has AIDS while he beats a dead horse with a baseball bat. When Jared is caught, the mob prepares to lynch him; however, Stan and the boys intervene, and clarify that Jared was not referring to AIDS, but his assistants. The townspeople apologize, and begin laughing at their mistake. Everyone declares AIDS is finally humorous, and begin celebrating as a banner, with "AIDS is Finally Funny" inscribed on it, is unveiled.

In a subplot, Cartman devises a scheme to earn money after discovering that Jared did not have to eat sandwiches to lose weight. He proposes that Butters gain much weight and then become fit by other means, while pretending that he lost weight by eating at City Wok. After striking a deal with the manager of the restaurant to film several commercials, Butters manages to gain the weight, but finds himself unable to lose it, and the boys resort to liposuction. As they perform the operation, Butters' parents return home, and ground him for performing surgery in the house. When it is time to film the commercials, Butters states he is grounded and will not leave; however, the boys manage to convince him to come as Cartman stays behind at Butters' house to cover for him. Butters' parents call the house, with Cartman replying to them each time with crude language. Meanwhile, when Stan discovers City Wok's owner will only pay them 15 dollars, he severs the deal, and Butters returns home as he thanks Cartman for covering him. Just before Butters' parents arrive, Cartman brings over a lawn chair, a drink, and a bucket of popcorn, then sits outside and watches as Butters' parents ruthlessly beat him for the language that Cartman, pretending to be Butters, used on the phone.

In "The Premature Burial", the first-person unnamed narrator describes his struggle with things such as "attacks of the singular disorder which physicians have agreed to term catalepsy", a condition where he randomly falls into a death-like trance. This leads to his fear of being buried alive ("The true wretchedness", he says, is "to be buried while alive"). He emphasizes his fear by mentioning several people who have been buried alive. In the first case, the tragic accident was only discovered much later, when the victim's crypt was reopened. In others, victims revived and were able to draw attention to themselves in time to be freed from their ghastly prisons.

The narrator reviews these examples in order to provide context for his nearly crippling phobia of being buried alive. As he explains, his condition made him prone to slipping into a trance state of unconsciousness, a disease that grew progressively worse over time. He became obsessed with the idea that he would fall into such a state while away from home, and that his state would be mistaken for death. He extracts promises from his friends that they will not bury him prematurely, refuses to leave his home, and builds an elaborate tomb with equipment allowing him to signal for help in case he should awaken after "death".

The story culminates when the narrator awakens in pitch darkness in a confined area. He presumes he has been buried alive, and all his precautions were to no avail. He cries out and is immediately hushed; he quickly realizes that he is in the berth of a small boat, not a grave. The event shocks him out of his obsession with death, and soon after, his catalepsy episodes cease entirely, leading him to suspect that they were a symptom of his phobia, rather than a cause.

Wealthy American businessman Jack Moore (Richard Gere) is on a trip to China attempting to put together a satellite communications deal as part of a joint venture with the Chinese government. Before the deal can be finalized, Moore is framed for the murder of a powerful Chinese general's daughter, and the satellite contract is instead awarded to Moore's competitor, Gerhardt Hoffman (Ulrich Matschoss). Moore's court-appointed lawyer, Shen Yuelin (Bai Ling), initially does not believe his claims of innocence, but the pair gradually unearth evidence that not only vindicates Moore, but implicates powerful figures within the Chinese central government administration, exposing undeniable conspiracy and corruption. Shen manages to convince several high-ranking Chinese officials to release evidence that proves Moore's innocence. Moore is quickly released from prison while the conspirators responsible for framing him are arrested. At the airport, Moore asks Shen to leave China with him, but she decides to stay, as the case has opened her eyes to the injustices rife throughout China. She does admit, however, that meeting Moore has changed her life, and she now considers him a part of her family. They both share a heartfelt hug on the airport runway, before Moore departs for America.

Millionaire Tom Newcliffe (Calvin Lockhart) invites a group of people, along with his wife Caroline (Marlene Clark), to spend some time in his rural English mansion, where he reveals that one of them is a werewolf and therefore must be killed. The group is composed of disgraced diplomat Arthur Bennington (Charles Gray); Jan and Davina Gilmore (Michael Gambon and Ciaran Madden), a pianist and his ex-student, now his wife; Paul Foote (Tom Chadbon), an artist recently released from prison; and Professor Lundgren (Peter Cushing), an archaeologist and a lycanthropy enthusiast.

They all stay in the mansion where they are submitted to various tests to detect whether they might be a werewolf. The entire house is under surveillance by CCTV cameras, as well as motion sensors in the grounds around the mansion set up and overseen by Tom's associate Pavel (Anton Diffring), who does not believe in werewolves.

The only way to determine the identity of the werewolf is for a certain combination of elements to occur all at once, including a full moon and the presence of wolfsbane pollen in the air. When this fails to produce any lycanthropic reactions, Tom makes each of the potential werewolves grab silver objects to provoke allergic reactions, but this too proves unsuccessful. Later that same night, Pavel is killed by the werewolf, which makes Tom even more obsessive in his hunt, to his wife's increasing annoyance. Tom gradually focuses his suspicions on Paul Foote, who was reportedly arrested after eating human flesh. Foote denies being the werewolf as the creature continues killing, with the helicopter pilot, diplomat Arthur Bennington, and Caroline's dog all falling victim.

Tom subjects the remaining group to one final test: placing a silver bullet in their mouth. As Caroline submits to the test, her hairy, clawed hand is shown before she immediately transforms into the werewolf. She (fully transformed) attacks Tom, and he kills her by shooting her with a silver bullet, leaving him very distraught and confused because Caroline was alongside him when the werewolf killed her dog. Prof. Lundgren deduces that Caroline must have contracted the werewolf disease while taking care of her dog's wounds due to an open cut on her hand she sustained from a broken wineglass at dinner. Tom becomes enraged, convinced that Foote is the werewolf. When he attempts to confront him, however, he finds that Foote has also been killed. To avenge his wife, he enters the woods surrounding the mansion to hunt the werewolf. He finds the beast and finally shoots and kills it. Once dead, the werewolf reverts to its human form, and it is revealed to be Jan, the pianist.

Tom returns to Prof. Lundgren and Davina, and he realizes that he was bitten by the werewolf during the scuffle, thus condemning him to inherit the creature's curse. Not wanting to be a monster, Tom locks himself in the mansion and shoots himself in the head with a silver bullet, ending the werewolf's bloodline.

The story takes place on a manor in the Scottish countryside. A wealthy man named Tom Newcliffe has invited a group of artists and friends together for a weekend gathering. Of particular importance to the story is Jan Jarmoskowski, a Polish concert pianist. Paul Foote, a painter, detects hints that Jan may in fact be a werewolf, and he is proven right. The musician transforms under the light of the full moon, and the guests at first prepare some makeshift silver bullets and attempt to track him, but this results in nothing more than a dead hunting dog and some wasted ammunition. Following this, the group fortifies itself inside the mansion to wait for their quarry to return, at which point they hope to be able to defeat him.

Zia is the 14-year-old niece of Karana, the Nicoleño woman left behind on the Island of the Blue Dolphins in the previous book. Zia believes her aunt Karana to be alive, and with the help of her younger brother Mando, she sets out twice in an eighteen-foot boat on what are, ultimately, unsuccessful attempts at rescuing Karana. There is evidence on the island that she is still there, including small footprints in the sand, signs of cooking fires, and the remains of huts. So then she goes to Santa Barbara to get an even better chance of finding her aunt.

Captain Nidever sails to the Island of the Blue Dolphins to hunt otters, bringing Father Vicente with him to find Karana. Meanwhile, Stone Hands, planning an escape for himself and the other Native Americans living at the mission, gives Zia the key to the girls' dormitory room. She unlocks the dormitory, and Captain Cordova puts Zia in prison, believing she was the instigator of the escape.

Captain Nidever returns with Karana and her second dog, Rontu-Aru. Captain Cordova and Father Vicente argue, and finally free Zia from prison. Zia and Karana can't communicate, although Karana appears to be settling into society. She learns to weave baskets as the other Mission Indians do, loves melons, and is fascinated by the horses, of which there were none on her island. Originally, Karana is assigned to sleep in the women's dormitory, but Rontu Aru is separated from her and chained up in the courtyard, as the priests believe he is bringing fleas into the dormitory. Karana, unaccustomed to the company of others and missing her dog, moves out to the courtyard.

Father Merced becomes very ill and dies, and Father Vicente takes over. He lets people sell the things that they make and allows them to keep the money. While Father Vicente is in charge of the mission, he goes with Karana and Zia to bring Stone Hands back from the canyon where the Native people tried to make a new home after they left the mission. When the church leadership sends Father Malatesta to be the new leader of the mission, Father Vicente leaves and goes to Monterey Bay. Stone Hands, Karana, and the others do not like Father Malatesta. Karana leaves the mission not long later when Father Malatesta does not allow her to sleep on the floor with Rontu-Aru. In the spring, Stone Hands and many of the Native people run away again because of the harsh treatment, and this time Mando leaves with him.

Karana had been living in the same cave in which she and Mando had hidden the boat they found at the beginning of the book. On the day that Stone Hands and Mando leave the mission, Zia visits Karana again. She finds that Karana is very sick, but the priests at the mission will not help because Karana will not live there and work for the mission. In the morning, Karana dies.

Zia then leaves the Mission and returns to her old home in the mountains with Rontu-Aru at her side.

William Sebastian (Robert Culp) is a former criminologist who now studies the occult to explain the problem of human evil. He has been cursed on one of his adventures by the demon Asmodeus, leaving him in constant need of medical attention. He summons an old colleague, Dr. "Ham" Hamilton (Gig Young) to his home to help him with a case involving the Cyon family. Dr. Hamilton does not believe in the occult and thinks that Sebastian and his housekeeper Lilith (Majel Barrett) are playing tricks on him when he witnesses unusual events.

As the pair are getting reacquainted, a woman claiming to be Anitra Cyon (Ann Bell) unexpectedly visits and tells Sebastian that his services are no longer required. Sebastian recognizes that this person is not Anitra Cyon, but rather a succubus sent to stop Sebastian from investigating the family. He defeats her using the Apocryphal Book of Tobit. He and Ham depart to the airport where they are flown by Mitri Cyon (John Hurt) to London. While over the Atlantic the engines of the plane fail, something that Sebastian claims is the result of supernatural intervention.

Thanks to Mitri's expertise, they land safely in England. Sebastian asks the Cyon chauffeur to stop off at the home of Dr. Qualus, a long-time associate who has been researching the Cyon family. Qualus' house is on fire. Ham and Sebastian find Qualus' body lying partially inside a pentagram, the body fatally mauled. The police arrive, and Inspector Cabell (an old acquaintance from their criminology days) escorts them to Cyon Manor. When they reach the Manor, they are greeted first by Sir Geoffrey Cyon (James Villiers), Anitra and Mitri's older brother and head of the family. He is aware that Sebastian and Ham are there to investigate him and wants his sister convinced that nothing is wrong. The real Anitra (also played by Ann Bell) reiterates her reason for consulting Sebastian: due to an unknown influence, Geoffrey's behaviour has changed dramatically and he has turned Cyon Manor into a den of iniquity. Geoffrey dismisses her concerns. The following day Mitri is attacked by dogs, badly injuring him. Sebastian and Ham suspect Geoffrey is behind the attack. That night, the duo investigate the grounds of the Manor and discover ruins which lead to a hidden underground temple devoted to Asmodeus. They suspect that the real Geoffrey is dead and that Asmodeus has assumed his form.

The next day the pair prepare to do battle with Asmodeus and his cult. Further investigation of the hidden temple reveals that it is Mitri who is dead and whose form Asmodeus has assumed. Geoffrey is a pawn who was used to increase the cult and who will be forced to sacrifice Anitra to Asmodeus. Asmodeus removes the curse on Sebastian and invites him to join him, but Sebastian rejects the offer and battles Asmodeus. The temple and the Cyon house are destroyed but Sebastian, Hamilton and Anitra Cyon escape.

Back home, Sebastian receives a painting from Anitra Cyon similar to one he had admired. In the final moment of the film, Sebastian sees the symbol of Asmodeus (a stylized letter "A") in the painting. The conflict with Asmodeus is only beginning.

Nineteen-year-old Martín Castillo is a boy from Buenos Aires trying to find his path in life. He meets and falls in love with Alejandra Vidal Olmos, who with her father Fernando represents the "old", post-colonial and autochthonous Argentina, which is seen mutating amid a strange and unsettling "new" world. The novel gives an evocative portrait of the city of Buenos Aires and its people.

The Earth is being attacked by "Gotcha Borgs" called the Death Force. Luckily, a child named Kou finds a borg called G-Red and forms the Gotcha Force. Allied by his friends, Kou counterattacks and aims to get rid of the menace, known as the Death Force's leader, the Galactic Emperor.

In an effort to secure employment at the upscale Century City Mall in Los Angeles, Jennifer (Sobieski), a 17-year-old "goth-punk" girl who just graduated from high school, makes a nuisance of herself at a clothing store run by 49-year-old Randall Harris (Brooks), who eventually hires her on a trial basis as a stockroom clerk. Jennifer refers to herself simply as "J", and thus asks Randall if it's okay if she calls him "R", to which he accedes.

One day, as there is nothing more to be done in the stockroom, J makes her way to the front of the store and begins to interact with customers. Encouraged by her initiative but concerned that her appearance may frighten away potential customers, Randall buys her an appropriate outfit and promotes her to saleswoman.

Feeling isolated from the other people in her life, J finds she is attracted to Randall. After an incident that makes him question whether he can continue to trust her, J demonstrates her trust in him by revealing that she engages in self harm. The two thus strike up an unlikely friendship as they realize that neither has anyone close with whom they can confide. Made aware that J is unhappy living with her mother (who seems to pay more attention to her two pugs than her daughter) and stepfather, Randall offers her an advance on her salary so she can afford her own place, then helps her find an apartment.

As their friendship progresses, Randall consents to getting a (very small) tattoo at J's urging, only to realize at the last possible moment that he can't go through with it. In a fit of despair he declares that they can't continue as friends. Confronted by J at his home a short time later, Randall confides his many phobias, which endears him to J even more. Their friendship restored, Randall reluctantly accompanies J to a cemetery to lie on the graves of the deceased to feel their "energy", something she does regularly. Due to the lateness of the hour, they go back to Randall's where they bond over tea and J spends the night on the couch.

The following morning J discovers Randall collapsed in the street after having told her he was going "for a run." She learns that Randall has had leukemia for many years and doesn't have long to live, and is initially very angry that he didn't share this with her.

While collecting some of Randall's personal items from his home, J discovers the name and address of his ex-wife. Unable to contact her by phone, J drives to Albuquerque only to find her (and Randall's) son Randy, a deeply cynical young man who tells her that his mother died in a car accident six months earlier, and had told him that his father had died before he was born. Although he initially refuses to drive to L.A. to see the father he's never known before he dies, he ultimately does so. Because of J's intervention, Randall and his son have a brief time to get to know one another, for which Randall is very grateful.

J's friendship with Randall inspires her to seek a closer relationship with her family, especially her mother. In Randall's final days, Jennifer organizes a dinner at which his son and Jennifer's family come together to celebrate his life.

The animals' owners, the Hunters, leave to go to England for several months because Jim, the father, is scheduled to give a series of university lectures there. They leave their pets in the care of John Longridge, a family friend and godfather of their daughter, Elizabeth. One day, after John Longridge leaves for a two-week duck hunting trip, the animals, feeling the lack of their human helpers, set out to try to find their owners, the Hunters. Mrs. Oakes, who is taking care of Longridge's home, does not find the animals and thinks that John must have taken them with him. The animals follow their instincts and head west, towards home, 300 miles away through the Canadian wilderness. They face many obstacles in their path; from rivers to irritable people, but nonetheless, they struggle bravely on, until they finally reach home.

Characters

• '''Luath''': Luath is a young Labrador Retriever. His fur is red-gold, his eyes are brown, and he is strongly built. Of the Hunters' three pets, he is the most recent addition. He is also the most determined to push forward and reach home and the Hunters. Luath usually walks on Bodger's left side.
• '''Bodger''': Bodger (whose full name is Champion Boroughcastle Brigadier of Doune) is an old English Bull Terrier. His fur is white with a slight pinkish tint. Bodger's left eye is nearly blind. The dog was born to fight and endure (as he does in the book). Because he is eleven years old, Bodger tires easily; but he is a brave, loyal, persevering, and tenacious companion. He is very fond of humans, particularly children, and whenever the group comes across humans in their travels, he tries to charm them for affection and snacks, with varying results. He has an intense hostility towards all cats save Tao, who earned his respect by standing up to him when Tao first joined the Hunter family as a small kitten. Though they care deeply for Luath, Bodger and Tao have a special bond. Bodger is the first of the animals to have joined the Hunter family. Despite his advanced age and diminished senses, Bodger is still every bit the fighter he was in his prime, at one point saving Luath from a Border Collie sicced on them by an irate farmer.
• '''Tao''': Tao is a slender, seal-point, old-style Siamese cat with sapphire eyes. Tao has a royal white body with dark black features such as his face, feet, and tail. An element of humor in the book is that Tao, like Bodger, despises other cats, and the two once shared many adventures terrorizing the other felines in their neighborhood; when they encounter other domesticated cats in their travels, Tao often fights them, successfully. Tao is able to open most doors, a help to the dogs in several situations. Tao is a tireless, bold, and loyal animal. Tao is probably the best equipped of the three to survive in the wilderness, and has no difficulty surviving on his own when separated from the two dogs; despite this, he spends all his time seeking to rejoin them, a testament to the bond between the animals. The cat is an independent and natural hunter, catching small birds for the group. When Tao is separated from them, the dogs fare more poorly without Tao than Tao does without them. Therefore, Tao is crucial to the dogs' survival.
• '''John Longridge''': John Longridge is Elizabeth Hunter's godfather. He lives in a stone house in a small village about 300 miles from the college town where the Hunters live. Mr. Longridge wrote several historical books, is a writer by profession, and a bachelor.
• '''The Hunter Family''': The Hunter Family consists of the father Jim, the mother and their two children, 11-year-old Peter and nine-year-old Elizabeth. Jim owns Luath, Elizabeth owns Tao, and Peter owns Bodger.
• '''Mrs. Oakes''': Mrs. Oakes is the owner of the three animals while John is gone on his trip.
• '''The Nurmi Family''': The Nurmi family is a family of Finnish immigrants. Ten-year-old Helvi discovers Tao unconscious in the river by her house, after he had been swept up by flotsam from a broken beaver dam while trying to swim across with the dogs upstream. Her family nurses him back to health, and he stays with them a few days before moving on.
• '''The Mackenzies''': James and Nell Mackenzie are elderly farmers who live alone, now that their eight children have grown, and they are instrumental in helping the dogs to survive. Bodger charms his way into their home and their pantry, and Luath appears soon afterward, his instincts leading him to fetch for James while he is duck hunting. James removes porcupine quills from Luath's muzzle, allowing the dog to recover and continue his journey. Tao is present at the farm while his companions rest and recover, and instrumental in freeing the dogs from the barn, but he is unseen by the Mackenzies. '''The Lynx''': The Lynx tried to attack and eat Tao, but a hunter killed him, without realizing Tao was in a rabbits den the Lynx was digging into. '''Farm Dog''': The Farm Dog was a vicious and mean sheepdog who attacked Luath, but Bodger intervened and fended him off. '''Bear cub''': The Bear cub thought Bodger was a toy and pawed at him with his sharp claws until Tao intervened and tried to protect him. '''Mother Bear''': The Mother Bear tried to protect her cub when Tao attacked him until she was chased off by Luath.