14 years ago, a girl fell to her death from the Ferris wheel in an amusement park and the park's owner hanged himself from the wheel in guilt for the casualty. The park has been closed down by the government since then. Alan, a reporter, travels to the park out of curiosity and disappears after being pulled underground by an unseen force. Alan's sister, Yen, decides to enter the deserted park to search for her brother. Yen's mother, a ghostbuster who captures spirits with a magic camera, tells Yen that she knows Alan is dead and asks Yen not to find him. However, Yen insists that Alan is still alive and she goes to the park against her mother's will, bringing along six of her friends (Ka-ho, Dan, YY, Ken, Pinky and Shan).

They meet the park's caretaker, a weird-looking old man, who shouts at them to leave, warning them that the park is haunted. They do not believe him and return to the park again at night, thinking that the old man is asleep. While waiting, Ka-ho tells them that he heard that the park used to be a cemetery before it was built. Strange things start to happen when they split up to find Alan. Ka-ho sees something on his camera recorder and follows it into the Haunted House. One hour later, when everyone comes back to the meeting point, they see that Ka-ho is missing too. They split up into two groups again to find him. Ken and Pinky take a ride on the carousel but it starts spinning at a fast speed on its own. Ken manages to jump off the carousel but accidentally knocks Pinky out in the process. Shan is left behind with Pinky while Ken runs away in fear and almost dies from being drowned by a ghost. Ken's crucifix saves him but does not prevent him from being decapitated on a wire later on. Pinky is possessed and dies after slitting her wrist. Shan is apparently killed after being strangled by the possessed Pinky but his lucky charm saves him. Yen, YY and Dan enter the Haunted House and the wax figures inside come to life and attack them. YY is killed by the figurines while Dan dies after being set on fire by the ghosts.

Only Yen is left alive and she weeps over YY's body, while the possessed caretaker approaches her from behind with an axe. Before he can kill her, Yen's mother arrives and starts to fight the evils. She is possessed by the demon and she asks Yen to capture the demon with her magic camera, which Yen does reluctantly. Yen's mother dies and before dying, she asks Yen to snap pictures of her deceased friends and other victims, and burn the photos to put them to rest. Yen is also briefly re-united with her deceased brother. At the last moment, Shan appears and reveals that he had been saved by his lucky charm. In the epilogue, Yen is seen taking over her late mother's duties as a ghostbuster while Shan continues to work as a car mechanic. When Yen calls Shan at work, Shan does not answer as he is killed mysteriously after being crushed by a car. In fact, the demon had survived in their group photo and it returns to haunt Yen as the film ends.

Flama and Moko are two 14-year-old boys who have been friends for a long time. One Sunday afternoon, Flama invites Moko to play videogames while his mother is not home. There they have everything they need to entertain themselves: videogames, pizza delivery, sodas, manga pornography and... no parents. But when the power goes out what seemed like a regular day becomes an adventure.

''Babel'' has four main strains of actions and characters which are location-based. The film is not edited in a linear chronological order.

Morocco

In a desert in Morocco, Abdullah, a goatherder, buys a .270 Winchester M70 rifle and a box of ammunition from his neighbor Hassan Ibrahim to shoot the jackals that have been preying on his goats. Abdullah gives the rifle to his two young sons, Yussef and Ahmed, and sends them out to tend to the herd. Ahmed, the older of the two, criticises Yussef for spying on their sister while she changes her clothes. Doubtful of the rifle's purported three-kilometer range, they decide to test it out, aiming first at rocks, a moving car on a highway below, and then at a bus carrying Western tourists. Yussef's bullet hits the bus, critically wounding Susan Jones, an American woman from San Diego who is traveling with her husband Richard on vacation. The two boys realize what has happened and flee the scene, hiding the rifle in the hills.

Glimpses of television news programs reveal that the US government considers the shooting a terrorist act and is pressuring the Moroccan government to apprehend the culprits. Abdullah, who has heard about the shooting, asks the boys where the rifle is and beats the truth out of them. Finally, the three try to flee but are spotted. The police corner the father and boys on the rocky slope of a hill and open fire. After Ahmed is hit in the leg, Yussef returns fire, striking one police officer in the shoulder. The police continue shooting, hitting Ahmed in the back, severely injuring him. Yussef then surrenders, admitting responsibility for shooting the American and asking for medical assistance; the police are shocked to realise they were shooting at children.

Richard/Susan

Richard and Susan are an American couple who came on vacation to Morocco. When Susan is shot on the tour bus, Richard orders the bus driver to the nearest village, Tazarine. The other tourists wait for some time, but they eventually demand to leave, fearing the heat and that they may be the target of further attacks. Richard tells the tour group to wait for the ambulance, which never arrives, and eventually the bus leaves without them. The couple stays behind with the bus's tour guide, Anwar, still waiting for transport to a hospital. A helicopter arrives and carries Richard and Susan to a hospital in Casablanca, where she is expected to recover.

United States/Mexico

Richard and Susan's Mexican nanny, Amelia, tends to their children, Debbie and Mike, in their San Diego, California home. When Amelia learns of Susan's injury, she is forced to take care of the children longer than planned and becomes worried that she will miss her son's wedding. Unable to secure any other help to care for them, she calls Richard for advice, who tells her that she has to stay with the children. Without his permission, Amelia decides to take the children with her to the wedding in a rural community near Tijuana, Mexico. Rather than staying the night in Mexico with the children, Amelia decides to drive back to the States with Santiago. He has been drinking heavily and the border guards become suspicious of him and the American children in the car. Amelia has passports for all four travelers, but no letter of consent from the children's parents allowing her to take them out of the United States. Santiago gets irritated by the authoritative control that does not want to listen to his explanation, forces the barricade with the car and drives madly. He soon abandons Amelia and the children in the desert.

Realizing that they will all die if she cannot get help, Amelia leaves the children behind to find someone, ordering them not to move. She eventually finds a US Border Patrol officer. After he places Amelia under arrest, she and the officer travel back to where she had left the children, but they are not there. Amelia is taken back to a Border Patrol station, where she is eventually informed that the children have been found and that Richard, while outraged, has agreed not to press charges. However, she is told she will be deported from the US where she has been working illegally. At the border, a tearful Amelia is greeted by her son.

Japan

Chieko Wataya (綿谷 千恵子 ''Wataya Chieko'') is a rebellious teenage girl who is profoundly deaf and non-verbal. She is also self-conscious and unhappy because of her disability. While out with friends, she finds a teenage boy attractive, and following an unsuccessful attempt at socializing, exposes herself to him under a table. She has a dental appointment and tries to kiss the dentist, who sends her away. Chieko encounters two police detectives who question her about her father. She invites one of the detectives, Kenji Mamiya (真宮 賢治 ''Mamiya Kenji''), back to the high-rise apartment that she shares with her father. Wrongly supposing that the detectives are investigating her father's involvement in her mother's suicide, she explains to Mamiya that her father was asleep when her mother jumped off the balcony and that she witnessed this herself. The detectives are actually investigating a hunting trip Yasujiro took in Morocco. Soon after learning this, Chieko approaches Mamiya nude and attempts to seduce him. He resists her approaches but comforts her as she bursts into tears.

Leaving the apartment, Mamiya crosses paths with Yasujiro and questions him about the rifle. Yasujiro explains that there was no black market involvement; he gave his rifle as a gift to Hassan Ibrahim, his hunting guide on a trip in Morocco. About to depart, Mamiya offers condolences for the wife's suicide. Yasujiro, however, is confused by the mention of a balcony and angrily replies that his wife shot herself, and that Chieko was the first to discover her. As Mamiya sits in a restaurant, watching news of Susan's recovery, Yasujiro comforts his daughter with a hug as she stands at their balcony in mourning, before the scene pans out to the cityscape.

In April 1975, civil war breaks out; Beirut is partitioned along a line separating the Muslim-Christian mixed West Beirut from the quasi-Christian East Beirut. After the line was created, Tarek is now considered to live in West Beirut (the mixed part and Tarek is Muslim himself) and is in high school, making Super 8 movies with his friend, Omar. At first the war is a lark: school has closed (and is situated in East Beirut no longer accessible to West Beirut residents), the violence is fascinating, getting from West to East is a game. His mother wants to leave the country; but his father refuses. Tarek spends time with May, an orphaned Christian girl living in his building. By accident, Tarek goes to an infamous brothel in the war-torn Zeytouni Quarter, meeting its legendary madam, Oum Walid. He then takes Omar and May there. Family tensions rise. Later on and as he comes of age, the war moves inexorably from adventure to a nationwide tragedy.

The story of ''Imperium Galactica II'' is not entirely linear. Instead, what is featured is several scenarios pitting one Empire against another, and the main campaign, where the player can choose one of three factions: The Kra'hen Empire, The Shinari Republic, or The Solarian Federation. Each race has different objectives in their respective campaigns, and the player can only win the campaign by meeting these dynamic goals or conquering the galaxy by eliminating all other factions:

'''Kra'hen Empire''' – As part of a brutal and bloodthirsty race, they have a fetish for collecting the heads of their enemies and is entering the galaxy occupied by the other seven races in the game. As Imperator, the objective is to do whatever is necessary to appease the God-Emperor. '''Solarian Federation''' – Legend tells of four "Tears" (Data Crystals) strewn across the galaxy by your ancestors that have the power to make the Human race invincible, including resurrecting their dead leader. Representing the humans of the far-future, the Solarian Empire must recover these Tears through diplomacy, trade, and war. It is eventually discovered that many of the other races in the game such as the Iberon, Godan, and Toluen, were genetically-altered humans adapted to conform to specific climates. *'''Shinari Republic''' – As the weakest race militarily, the Shinari Republic resorts to espionage and trade to turn things to their advantage. Upon encountering the Kra'hen, the players must aid the Solarians in uniting all the other races in the galaxy to face this common threat. When the Kra'hen are defeated, Shinari Republic turns down the Solarian Federation's offer for a galaxy-wide alliance because of war profit; instead, the players must somehow reanimate the Solarian Emperor Kaileron, whose clout and radical views would certainly plunge the galaxy back into conflict.

The story concerns the chance meeting between an elderly, witty, but miserly man and his estranged young niece. Both characters are strong and stubborn, but discover an affection and affinity for each other. The niece moves into the miser's house, and what follows is a battle of wills enjoyed by both parties. Indeed, on occasion, both characters scheme to achieve the same outcome (such as ensuring that the niece will miss a boat to Canada that would remove her from her uncle's life).

Under his niece's influence, the uncle reluctantly abandons some of his financial prejudices. The book also chronicles their two romances, and, by the end, both are married to suitable partners.

The boss of a black market ring (known only as "The Chief") wants to smuggle a batch of jewelry from a foreign state into the Soviet Union by hiding it inside the orthopedic cast of a courier. The Chief sends a minor henchman named Gennadiy 'Gesha' Kozodoyev (played by Mironov) to serve as the courier. Kozodoyev travels to Turkey via a tourist cruise ship. The local co-conspirators do not know what the courier looks like; they only know that he is supposed to say a code word to identify himself. Due to a mix-up, they mistake Kozodoyev's fellow passenger from the cruise ship, the "ordinary Soviet citizen" Semyon Gorbunkov (played by Nikulin) for the courier. They place a cast around his arm and put the contraband jewels inside the cast. Upon the cruise ship's return to the Soviet Union, Gorbunkov lets the police know what happened, and the police captain, who is working undercover as a taxi driver, uses Gorbunkov as bait to catch the criminals. Gesha and Lyolik (another of Chief's henchmen, played by Papanov) attempt to lure Gorbunkov into situations where they can quietly, without a wetwork, remove the cast and reclaim the contraband jewels.

On one such occasion, Gesha invites Gorbunkov to a fancy restaurant with the intention of getting Gorbunkov drunk enough for Lyolik to subdue him. However, both Gesha and Gorbunkov become drunk and Gorbunkov is taken home by the police after he and Gesha cause a scene. Gorbunkov's wife begins to suspect either that he has been recruited by foreign intelligence after finding a large amount of money and a gun loaded with blanks in Gorbunkov's possession (previously given to him by the police), or that he is having an affair. Gorbunkov explains that he is working with the Soviet police on a secret mission, but cannot divulge any details. The Chief sends Anna Sergeyevna, a female operative, to help retrieve the cast. Sergeyevna invites Gorbunkov to her hotel room under the pretense of wanting to sell Gorbunkov a gown and spikes his drink with a sleeping pill. As Gorbunkov is about to pass out, his building's nosy superintendent who had followed Gorbunkov brings his wife into the hotel room before either Lyolik or the police can get to him.

Gorbunkov awakens the next morning to find that his wife has assumed that his story was all a cover up for an affair, and has left with the children. The police in the meantime have deduced that Gesha is involved with the smuggling scheme surrounding the cast, and ask Gorbunkov to mention to Gesha that he is planning to travel to another city and will have his cast removed there. Gesha reports this to the Chief, who sends Lyolik disguised as a taxi driver to pick up Gorbunkov. Gorbunkov assumes that Lyolik is also an undercover policeman, and gives away the fact that he has been in contact with the police the entire time. Lyolik plays along and tells Gorbunkov that he has been authorized to remove the cast a day early at a safehouse along the way to Dubrovka. As Lyolik is about to remove the cast, Gorbunkov deduces that Lyolik is actually a criminal and attempts to escape. Lyolik and Gesha chase Gorbunkov and with the help of the Chief himself, they capture Gorbunkov. Upon removing Gorbunkov's cast, they realize that the police had removed the diamonds in the cast a long time ago. The criminals kidnap Gorbunkov and attempt to flee as the police track them down in a helicopter and capture them. Gorbunkov is reunited with his family, with the police having explained the situation to his wife. Gorbunkov goes on vacation with his family, albeit now with a broken leg as a result of the kidnapping.

Set in the far future, it consists of two stories about how the peaceful Archivists of the library planet Earth have to deal with warmongers arriving and trying to exploit knowledge for power. It contains a lot of pictures and is aimed at children or adolescents.

Category:1980 American novels Category:Novels by Frank Herbert Category:American science fiction novels Category:Ace Books books

A toymaker (Semon) reads L. Frank Baum's book to his granddaughter. In the story the Land of Oz is ruled by Prime Minister Kruel (Josef Swickard), aided by Ambassador Wikked (Otto Lederer), Lady Vishuss (Virginia Pearson), and the Wizard (Charles Murray), a "medicine-show hokum hustler". When the discontented people, led by Prince Kynd (Bryant Washburn), demand the return of the princess, who disappeared while a baby many years before, so she can be crowned their rightful ruler, Kruel has the Wizard distract them with a parlor trick: making a female impersonator (Frederick Ko Vert) appear out of a seemingly empty basket. Kruel sends Wikked on a mission.

Meanwhile, in Kansas, Dorothy (Dorothy Dwan) lives on a farm with her relatives. While Aunt Em (Mary Carr) is a kind and caring woman, Uncle Henry (Frank Alexander) is an obese man with a short temper who shows little love for his niece. He also abuses his farmhands: Snowball (credited to G. Howe Black, a stage name for Spencer Bell, who frequently appeared in Semon's films) and Hardy's and Semon's unnamed characters. The latter two are both in love with Dorothy, who favors Hardy's character. Aunt Em reveals to Dorothy that she was placed on their doorstep as a baby, along with an envelope and instructions that it be opened only when she turned 18.

On her 18th birthday, however, Wikked and his minions arrive at the farm by biplane and demand the envelope. When Uncle Henry refuses to hand it over, Wikked suborns Hardy's character by promising him wealth and Dorothy. Wikked then has Dorothy tied to a rope and raised high up a tower; his men start a fire underneath the rope. Hardy's character finds the note, but Semon's character takes it and saves Dorothy, only to have Wikked and his men capture them all at gunpoint.

Then a tornado suddenly strikes. Dorothy, the two rivals for her affection, and Uncle Henry take shelter inside a small wooden shed, which is—along with Snowball—carried aloft by the violent wind and soon deposited in the Land of Oz. Dorothy finally reads the contents of the envelope; it declares that she is Princess Dorothea, the rightful ruler of Oz. Thwarted, Kruel blames the farmhands for kidnapping her and orders the Wizard to transform them into something else, such as monkeys, which he is of course unable to do. Chased by Kruel's soldiers, Semon's character disguises himself as a scarecrow, while Hardy improvises a costume from the pile of tin in which he is hiding. They are still eventually captured by the soldiers. During their trial, the Tin Man accuses his fellow farmhands of kidnapping Dorothy. Kynd has the Scarecrow and Snowball put in the dungeon.

Kruel makes the Tin Man "Knight of the Garter" and Uncle Henry the "Prince of Whales". Wikked suggests he retain his power by marrying Dorothy. The Wizard then helps the two prisoners escape by giving Snowball a lion costume, which he uses to scare away the guards. Though the Scarecrow manages to reach Dorothy to warn her against Kruel, he is chased back down into the dungeon by the Tin Man, and ends up getting trapped inside a lion cage (with real lions) for a while. He and Snowball finally escape.

When Kynd finds Kruel trying to force Dorothy to marry him, they engage in a sword fight. When Kruel's henchmen intervene and help disarm Kynd, the Scarecrow saves Dorothy and Kynd. Defeated, Kruel claims that he took Dorothy to Kansas in order to protect her from court factions out to harm her, but she orders that he be taken away.

The Scarecrow is heartbroken to discover that Dorothy has fallen for Prince Kynd. He then flees up a tower from the Tin Man, who tries to blast him with a cannon. Snowball flies a biplane overhead, and the Scarecrow manages to grab a rope ladder dangling underneath it. However, the ladder breaks, and he falls. The scene shifts abruptly back to the little girl, who had fallen asleep. She wakes up and leaves. The grandfather reads from the book that Dorothy marries Prince Kynd and they live happily ever after.

Scott Monroe, an American bodyguard and the protagonist of the game, is engaged to Miyu Sato, daughter of Isao Sato. At a hotel in Los Angeles, California, Scott is to meet Isao for the first time. A gang manages to disguise themselves as the hotel staff and open fire on Sato's room. Scott tries to help, but is knocked unconscious. He awakens and grabs a pistol off a dead bodyguard, fights through the gang, and meets up with Sato, who is injured, on the roof.

Scott learns the ways of the katana from Sato after being attacked by a waiter with a sword. Sato and Scott retreat to Sato's personal suite, where Scott covers Miyu, Sato, and Ryuichi, one of Sato's guards, as they head to their car in the parking lot. Scott eventually meets up with them, but Ryuichi turns on them and kidnaps both Sato and Miyu. Scott pursues the car and saves Isao after shooting the car and besting the driver in sword combat, while Ryuichi manages to escape with Miyu.

In Little Tokyo, they meet up with Tony Tanaka, Sato's friend in Los Angeles. Sato is revealed to be the Oyabun of one of the largest Yakuza families. To track down Ryuichi, Scott raids the Angel's Heaven, a spa which Ryuichi's mistress Angel owns, and Extreme Wheels, Ryuichi's car workshop, secretly used as a front to ship weapons. Ryuichi confronts Scott at an airport and bests him in combat, but spares him, as he escapes to Japan with Miyu. The yakuza will only hand Miyu over if the Katana Giri, a katana once used to execute dishonorable godfathers, is given as ransom. Sato gives Scott the Giri, before dying of his injuries.

At Tokyo, Scott makes contact with Otori, a former samurai, and Harry Tanner, an American nightclub owner who assists him in tracking down Ryuichi. Harry leads Scott to a waste processing plant off the coast of Tokyo, where Ryuichi delivers Miyu to Tokai, the true antagonist of the game. Ryuichi duels Scott again, but is defeated. Scott spares him, but Ryuichi is murdered by a sniper while giving information to Scott.

Tokai is revealed to have taken over the major franchises of Tokyo - financing, gaming, Geisha houses, and docks - bringing down the Sanro Kai, the leaders of these districts. Scott goes to the four separate districts, either managing to restore faith in the Sato Gumi to old members of the Sanro Kai or overthrowing a new leader appointed by Tokai.

Eventually, Scott delivers the Giri to Otori for safekeeping. Back at Harry's bar, Tokai is waiting for Scott in the conference room. Harry turns on Scott, knocking him unconscious. Scott is brought down into the cellar to be tortured by Dozan, one of Tokai's henchmen. Scott manages to grab a sword and bring down Dozan, and escapes the cellar to interrogate Harry. Harry grabs a katana and battles Scott, giving him information after he is defeated and begging for his life. Whether Harry lives or dies, like most duels, is up to the player.

Harry reveals that Tokai has raided Otori's dojo, having hired the Komori, a new wave of elite ninjas. During the attack, Otori's daughter Mariko is poisoned by the Komori leader, who wields a poisonous katana, as she tries to protect the Katana Giri in Otori's shrine. The attack is thwarted, and Scott travels to one of Tokai's bases, where he is going to execute the members of the Sanro Kai. Scott duels Tokai, learning he wanted the Giri to kill the Kai; they executed Tokai's father with the sword, and he wanted to avenge his father with it. Scott bests him and saves most of the Sanro Kai, but Tokai flees, thanks to a distraction by a Komori. After catching up to him, Scott is forced to duel with the Komori leader, allowing Tokai to escape; Scott emerges victorious, but it is unknown whether life or death of the leader is canonical.

Otori and Scott travel to Tokai's private residence for the final battle. Otori is bent on avenging his daughter, and goes on his own to create a diversion for Scott. During the raid, Otori is cut and poisoned by a Komori blade. Scott confronts Tokai one last time, and defeats him. Tokai pleads with Scott to let him live, telling him that only he has the antidote for what has poisoned Otori and Mariko. Here, the player is presented with a choice: they may either protect Tokai from an approaching Otori, or stand by and let Otori kill Tokai.

If Scott moves to defend Tokai, he fights Otori and breaks the Katana Giri in the process. Otori respects Scott's action and honors him. Otori and his daughter are cured with the antidote. At the end of the game, all the characters are at Isao's funeral. The Sanro Kai explains that they understand Tokai's motivation for his actions, but he must be punished.

If Scott lets Otori kill Tokai or is unable to defeat Otori, then Tokai is killed; Otori and Mariko both die from the poison. Scott and Miyu leave Tokai's estate alone, ending the game on a more negative note.

When it is discovered that Sophie and Jean-Paul Rainier, two married assassins, who were fatally wounded in a car crash, were planning an assassination at the United States Marine Corps birthday ball, Gibbs sends Ziva and Tony to pose as the married assassins in order to find out who the couple had planned to assassinate and who had hired them. The assignment requires them to simulate sexual relations and stay in the Rainiers' hotel room in order to solidify their cover.

Tony and Ziva communicate with their supposed employer while trying to identify both him and the target of the assassination. When the camera on their hotel room is traced, the team is shocked to discover that FBI agents, apparently unaware of the Rainiers' deaths, have been watching them through surveillance. The FBI is initially furious, believing the case to be in their jurisdiction, but both agencies reluctantly agree to collaborate.

After the team finds out that the couple were expecting a baby and might have been planning to retire, they realize that the assassination plot could have been a set-up and that the Rainiers were potentially the real targets. Before they can be warned, Tony and Ziva are cornered, held at gunpoint, and tied to chairs for questioning. Their captors, led by a contract killer who is identified as Marcos Siazon (Eric Steinberg), demand to know the location of a disk containing coded information and funds.

In hopes of allowing Ziva to escape and despite knowing that he will most likely be executed for it, Tony claims that the disk is in their hotel room and persuades Siazon to allow Ziva to be escorted back to retrieve it. Gibbs, McGee, and the FBI agents are able to ambush the escort and rescue Tony before he is killed.

The story is told by a man named Booth. Three years after the events of ''’Salem's Lot'', vampires still prowl the burned-out remains of Jerusalem’s Lot and its environs. Residents of nearby towns, including Booth, know this and live in unspoken fear, wearing religious symbols for protection and never venturing near the area. One night, Booth and his friend, bar owner Herb "Tookey" Tooklander, attempt to rescue the wife and daughter of a motorist named Gerard Lumley, whose vehicle is stranded in a ferocious blizzard. Initially contemptuous of Lumley for driving in such weather, both are horrified upon realizing that his vehicle is stranded in Jerusalem's Lot. They reluctantly drive out in an International Scout with Lumley to try to save his wife and daughter, fearing the worst. Sure enough, both have been turned into vampires. Lumley falls victim to his wife. Booth nearly falls victim to Lumley's daughter, but is saved when Tookey throws a Douay Bible at her. The two get into their vehicle and flee. Booth concludes by saying Tookey died of a heart attack a couple of years after the incident. He mentions that he has nightmares about that night and about Lumley’s daughter, and warns the reader that if they are in the area, to never go up the road into Jerusalem's Lot for any reason, especially at night, lest the reader encounters Lumley’s daughter, the little girl who is "still waiting for her goodnight kiss".

Joel Converse is a lawyer, having previously been a fighter pilot in the Vietnam War. Because of his wartime experiences with Command Saigon, in the form of a psychopathic general named "Mad" Marcus Delavane, he is chosen to thwart a cabal of former generals bent on world domination.

The first part of a two-chapter story that is chronologically set between the events of ''Samurai Shodown'' and ''Samurai Shodown II'', ''Samurai Shodown III'' follows the journey of a young semi-amnesic boy named Shizumaru Hisame as he and many other warriors seek out a powerful and dangerous swordsman named Zankuro Minazuki for their own personal reasons.

A homicidal alien race is invading Earth, and the only thing that stands between them and world domination are a special forces team known as the "Alien Busters", composed of Karen (absent in the Master System version, named "Karla" in some versions), Garth (named "Gordon" in some versions) and Scooter (the robot, named "Slammer" in Master System and PAL versions).

There are four defining episodes in the story, and a variety of subplots and minor threads — many of them unrelated to the main story. The story begins late in the 20th century, and tracks the life of the main protagonist, Lewis Crane. The first of four episodes opens the story. An earthquake in California in the late 20th century has left seven-year-old Lewis Crane a crippled, homeless orphan.

The second major episode shows Crane as an adult, world's foremost earthquake expert, a Nobel laureate, ruthless scientist, and entrepreneur dedicated to relieving the misery of those affected by earthquakes. He is also the moving force behind Foundation, an organization whose purpose is to further scientific research on earthquakes. Foundation has just perfected the technology to predict earthquakes to within minutes of due time, intensity, and geographical areas that will be affected. His first prediction is for Sado island in Japan—according to him, most of the island will be destroyed, as will the inhabited village of Aikawa.

Local authorities not only ignore his warnings, but vilify him. On the predicted day of the earthquake, Crane has collected a lot of media and relief organizations to cover the event. Many of them are on a small part of the island that will be safe, according to the prediction, while others are covering the event from the air. Directly before the predicted time, the mayor of Aikawa arrives with police to arrest and deport Crane as a fear-monger; at that moment, the earthquake hits. By the time the dust settles, Crane's predictions have come true.

The third major episode is set in the US. Crane's model has predicted that a major quake is to hit the areas around parts of the Mississippi river. A business politician cartel of disbelievers decides to use this prediction to further their interests in the presidential elections due soon. The cartel penetrates the Foundation, and tweaks their field data so the prediction is revealed to be a few months sooner. The cartel wins the elections, and Lewis loses credibility when the quake does not occur on the announced date.

A postmortem at Foundation uncovers the altered data, and the fact that the quake is still due in a few months. After much public relations work, a few people are willing to take precautions, but many are not listening, as the governmental authorities attempt to silence Crane and his Foundation. The quake hits as predicted, and Lewis emerges a hero and a prophet.

The fourth and final episode involves a bold plan to banish earthquakes from Earth forever by "spot welding" the plates forming earth's crust at about 50 strategic places, thus stopping their movement. This welding will be done by detonating powerful nuclear bombs deep inside the earth with energies directed downwards, with no impact on the surface.

There are two objections from naysayers; first, that the detonation of nuclear bombs is dangerous, and second, that there may be unforeseen consequences by stopping all Earth's tectonic activity. This is when another long-range earthquake prediction is made. A few decades hence, a Richter 10 quake will split much of California from the North American mainland, and make it an island in the Pacific, with massive losses of life and property. However, if the first of the 50 odd "spot welds" is done at a certain location in the Western US, and within a certain time window, this disaster can be averted.

Lewis convinces the powers that run the country of the event, and a secret project on the lines of Manhattan Project is conceived for the first "spot weld". Just before the nukes are to be triggered, a terrorist attack on the project destroys the facility; Lewis loses his wife and child in the attack. The book ends with Lewis's suicide by remaining in the quake zone when it finally hits.

In A.D. 2642, Earth remains scarred from previous alien conflicts as environmental problems grow beyond humanity's control. 80% of the planet's population was completely devastated by a malfunctioning hyper-magnetic weapons grid during development. Bill Rizer, the hero of the Alien Wars, was held responsible for the incident, as well as for murdering his partner, Lance Bean, who reportedly tried to stop him. He was given a sentence of 10,000 years in cryogenic prison.

However, five years later, in 2647, Earth faces another threat as the terrorist organization "Blood Falcon", led by a mysterious and superhuman commander, spreads panic over the world. The ruling government, referred to as the "Triumvirate", decides to release Bill Rizer prior to completing his sentence, in view of his previous successes in defending Earth, in hope of neutralizing Blood Falcon. Lucia, an advanced cyborg soldier built by the government from Dr. Geo Mandrake's research, is sent to accompany and assist Bill's endeavors. Bill eventually finds out that Lance is still alive and is in fact the commander of Blood Falcon himself.

After defeating Lance, it is revealed that the aliens from the past games attacked because the Triumvirate secretly stole a mysterious, powerful "Relic" from them. With this information, Bill and Lucia have to confront Triumvirate and uncover the secret of the alien Relic.

''Neo Contra'' takes place during A.D. 4444 when the Earth has been transformed into a prison planet, home to criminals and political rebels. From this underworld society rises a new order called "Neo Contra". This government quickly showed its true colors, as it has other plans than bringing back normal civilization. Carrying out this new threat are four renegade Contras (elite warriors), who are called the Four Elite, united under the command of mysterious Master Contra. Thus, Bill Rizer is partnered with Genbei "Jaguar" Yagyu, a samurai, and the two are sent to Earth to deal with the Neo Contra threat. After defeating the Four Elite, the heroes discover the truth behind "Neo Contra", which is a facade for "Project C", a plan to create half-human AI from Bill Rizer's DNA, as an ultimate weapon, which is now Master Contra. Bill Rizer himself is just a clone of the original one, a side-objective of "Project C". With the help of Mystery G, an elder Contra operative, the heroes managed to defeat Master Contra and put an end to "Project C".

A police inspector and a vicar play a round of golf. The inspector has a constable help him to cheat by removing his golf ball from awkward situations, and the vicar ultimately requests divine intervention.

Drama critic Fitzgerald Fortune (Barry Morse), a caustic and cruel man, goes to Throckmorton's Curio Shop to buy his wife Esther a player piano as a 26th birthday present. The grouchy owner (Philip Coolidge) demonstrates the piano by placing a roll of music inside. As it plays "I'm in the Mood for Love", he begins speaking in a gentle, sentimental manner, even giving Fitzgerald a 20% discount because it is a gift. When the music stops, the owner resumes his ill-tempered sniping.

Esther (Joan Hackett) asks why, after she has often said that she wants to learn to play the piano, Fitzgerald bought her a player piano. He cheerfully tells her that this will save her the time and expense of taking piano lessons, only to find that she has no talent for the instrument.

As he demonstrates the piano by playing a roll for the song "Smiles" from ''The Passing Show of 1918'', the Fortunes' normally solemn butler Marvin (Cyril Delavanti) begins to grin brightly. He says that he is happy because he is well paid, enjoys his work, and likes his two employers. When Fitzgerald protests that he treats Marvin poorly, Marvin reveals he finds his ego and temper amusing, to the point where he frequently has to restrain himself from laughing aloud. Again, this change ends when the tune does.

Fitzgerald suspects that the piano makes people reveal their innermost thoughts depending on who inserts the roll and what particular song is played. He tests it further by playing a roll for Khachaturian's "Sabre Dance" on the piano for Esther. She says she hates him and believes that he married her because he wanted someone to bully rather than love. She attributes her marrying him to youthful naïveté. Satisfied with the piano's performance, Fitzgerald decides to use it on the birthday party guests.

The first guest to arrive is the playwright Gregory Walker (Don Durant). Gregory professes a distaste for any emotional involvement, but Fitzgerald plays a roll for "These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You)." As it plays, Gregory admits to strong feelings for Esther and even confesses that they had a tryst while she was on vacation. Esther enters and is mortified and implores Fitzgerald not to play the piano to the other guests.

The rest of the guests arrive. Marge Moore (Muriel Landers) is the life of the party, enjoying the food and company while making jokes about her heavyset figure. When no one immediately volunteers for Fitzgerald's "party game," he picks Marge as the first to listen to the piano. As the piano plays Debussy's "Clair de lune", Marge goes into a trance, identifying herself as a little girl named Tina who loves to dance ballet. Fitzgerald encourages her to demonstrate, and she does so, prompting laughter from all of the party guests except Esther and Gregory. With further prompting, Marge speaks dreamily about her desire to be a tiny, "perfectly formed" snowflake, melting in the hand of a man who loves her. The guests stop laughing while Fortune continues to roar with glee. The song ends, and a humiliated Marge takes her seat.

Fitzgerald has Esther insert a new roll, which he claims will "bring out the devil" among them. He hands her a roll for the song "Melody in F," but she secretly switches rolls. The piano begins to play Brahms's Lullaby. The music makes Fitzgerald speak in a petulant, frightened voice. At the guests' prompting, he admits that, deep down, he is a selfish and spoiled child who is terrified of everything and everyone. Lashing out at everyone and hurting them because it's the only means of expressing himself he knows and fearing they will hurt him first if he doesn't. He confesses that he humiliated Marge because he is jealous of her eagerness for life despite her insecurities and deliberately wrote bad reviews of Gregory's plays out of pure spite when he should have praised them because he's jealous of his talent.

Feeling pity for him, the guests leave without comment. Fitzgerald makes his final confession: he treated Esther with coldness and cruelty because he lacks the emotional maturity to receive and reciprocate her love. Gregory asks Esther to leave with him, and she does so, leaving Fitzgerald alone.

Fitzgerald, distraught at being abandoned, feels insulted and throws a tantrum, destroying furniture and decorations in the room. He ends his tirade by ripping the roll from the piano, ending the piano's spell on him. As he kneels on the ground, Marvin enters; remembering his earlier confession, Fitzgerald orders Marvin not to laugh at him. A somber Marvin replies, "I'm not laughing, Mr. Fortune. You're not funny anymore."

David Gurney wakes up from a night of wild partying to find that nobody recognizes him, and all evidence of his identity had disappeared. His wife, friends, co-workers, and mother all deny knowing him.

He is placed in an insane asylum, where his doctor, Koslenko, tells him that David Gurney doesn't exist, and is only a delusional construct. Gurney deems this impossible since he has extensive memories of his life and the people he knows, and becomes convinced that someone wants to blot him out. He jumps through the window of the asylum, steals a van, and goes searching for evidence of his identity.

He finds a photograph of him holding his wife, and says that the photo and its date disprove his wife's claim that she never saw him before. However, when the police arrive with the psychiatrist, the picture has somehow changed and portrays Gurney alone, inexplicably grasping thin air. He throws himself to the ground and wakes up in his bed.

The whole adventure was a bad dream. His wife, Wilma, gets up from the bed and talks to him from the bathroom, where she removes cream from her face. When she emerges, Gurney is horrified to discover that, even though she acts and talks the same way, his wife does not look at all like the wife he knows.

In 1943, in German-occupied France during World War II, 18-year-old British courier Susan Traherne (Meryl Streep) waits in the woods for a message to be dropped by parachute from a British plane. After experiencing airplane trouble, a fellow British operative named Lazar (Sam Neill) parachutes down, and Susan explains how things are run at her post. When they are nearly caught by German troops, Susan's tough exterior cracks, and she cries on Lazar's shoulder. Soon after, the couple returns to Susan's home and make love. Lazar leaves the next morning, without saying goodbye to Susan. However, he leaves behind his cuff-links for her as a gift which Susan then carries around with her for the remainder of the film.

Two years later after the war ends in 1945, while travelling through Europe with Susan, a man named Tony Radley drops dead of a heart attack in a hotel lobby in Brussels. Raymond Brock (Charles Dance) from the British Embassy arrives to oversee Radley's funeral, and consoles his widow, Susan. Sometime later at the embassy, Susan confesses to Raymond that she and Radley were not really married; they only posed as husband and wife during the war, and asks him to tell Radley's real wife that the man died while traveling alone.

After returning to London for the first time in two years, Susan and Raymond begin a relationship, and he travels from his post in Belgium to visit her in England every weekend. Susan takes a job as a clerk in a small shipping firm in the East End. Susan's friend and colleague, the spunky 18-year-old Alice Park (Tracey Ullman), moves in with her, and they engage in a bohemian lifestyle, visiting nightclubs together. Susan is restless in her post-war life, and expresses frustration with her job at the shipping office. During the winter of 1945-1946, she quarrels with Raymond, and suggests they separate for the winter.

Skipping forward to 1953, Susan is now working as a member of Queen Elizabeth's coronation committee. She has moved into a larger apartment, and Alice is still her roommate. One day, Susan asks one of Alice's former boyfriends and a fellow working-class lover, Mick (Sting), to father her child. He reluctantly agrees to conceive a child with her, but is discouraged that she would want to raise the baby without him.

When her job in the coronation committee is done, Susan begins working in advertising, but leaves within months, finding the work unsatisfying. Over time, Mick tries to court Susan, but she refuses to consider having a real relationship with him. After 18 months of trying and failing to become pregnant, Susan ends their involvement which leads to a confrontation on New Year's Day in 1955 between her and Mick in her apartment which ends with Susan firing a gun above Mick's head to make him leave. Alice telephones Susan's former boyfriend, Raymond (who is still working in the diplomatic corps), to report that Susan has suffered a nervous breakdown. He arrives to visit her in the hospital, and in time, Raymond and Susan get married.

In a jump-forward to November 1956, Susan remains frustrated with her life despite that she is married and now living with Raymond in a smart house in the affluent West End. Susan's unstable mental state becomes apparent to everyone, including Alice, when Susan is moody and is insulting to Raymond and their friends during a dinner party attended by Raymond's employer Sir Leonard Darwin (John Gielgud). This prompts Darwin to needlessly humiliate Mme. Aung (Pik-Sen Lim), the wife of an Asian diplomat named Mr. Aung (Burt Kwouk), and then walks out of the party. Raymond then announces to everyone that Darwin is going to resign from his position due to Great Britain's disastrous involvement in the Suez Crisis.

Skipping forward three or four years later, Susan and Raymond have moved to Jordan, where Raymond has been assigned a diplomatic post. Alice pays them a visit, and is alarmed by Susan's subdued demeanor. Although Susan claims to be happy, Alice questions her and Raymond about their sedate lifestyle, and worries how her friend could stay in Jordan for another two years. When word travels of the death of Raymond's colleague, Sir Leonard Darwin, Susan uses the excuse to return to England for the funeral, and Raymond blames Alice for putting the idea in Susan's head. Back in England, Susan insists they not return to Jordan.

Sometime later in 1962, Susan meets Raymond's employer and Darwin's replacement, Sir Andrew Charleson (Ian McKellen), and questions him about her husband's stagnant career, which she correctly interprets as a censure for his abandonment of the post in Jordan. This fact is subtly confirmed by Charleson. The meeting soon turns ugly when Susan threatens to commit suicide if Raymond does not receive a promotion within six days, which prompts Charleson to have Susan removed from the building. Raymond is immediately summoned to Charleson's office, who informs him of his wife's visit and threats, at the conclusion of which he is dismissed entirely from the Diplomatic Service and forced into early retirement.

When the distraught and sombre Raymond returns home, he finds Susan decorating the house, seemingly oblivious to her actions earlier that day. Raymond insists Susan see a mental health practitioner, but she refuses and claims to have no idea what he means by that. As the couple argue, Susan slams a door in his face, and Raymond is knocked unconscious. She nurses his bloodied face before packing her things and leaving.

Soon after, Susan rekindles her wartime love affair with Lazar, meeting him at a seaside hotel, after he had tracked her down after seeing her being interviewed on a TV program weeks earlier about her involvement in the war. After they make love, Susan shares her mental instability with Lazar. When she falls asleep, he leaves.

In the final scene, Susan recalls her idealistic youth in the French countryside, following the end of the war where news about Germany's surrender reaches the French village where Susan is staying. Susan talks with a local French dairy farmer about the end of the war and agrees to accompany him to a party with his family in the village to celebrate the end of the conflict. In the ironic final shot, Susan proclaims: "there will be days and days like this for many years to come!"

The novel's central character, symbolically named Cross Damon, represents the 20th century man in frenzied pursuit of freedom. Cross is an intellectual Negro, the product of a culture which rejects him. He is further alienated by his "habit of incessant reflection," his feeling that the experiences and actions of his life have so far taken place without his free assent, and a profound conviction that there must be more to life, some meaning and justification which have hitherto eluded him.

When Cross is introduced (in "Book One: Dread") he is drinking too much, partly in an effort to forget his problems (of which he has many) but mostly to deaden the pain caused by his urgent and frustrated sense of life. There is an accident in which he is reported dead and so he sets out to create his own identity, and thus, he hopes, to discover truth.

This search for the absolute compels him to commit four murders and ends in his despair and violent death. En route, he encounters totalitarianism in its most-likely-to-succeed form, Communism. Though he agrees with these other "outsiders" that power is the central reality of society and that "man is nothing in particular," he is outraged by their acceptance and cynical exploitation of these "facts". "That’s enough," he screams before he kills a Communist who has just told him that there is no more to life.

You say life is just life, a simple act of accidental possession in the hands of him who happens to have it. But what's ''suffering''? That rests in the senses... You might argue that you could snatch a life, blot out a consciousness and get away with it because you're strong and free enough to do it; but why turn a consciousness into a flame of suffering and let it lie, squirming...?

Having rejected religion, the past and present organization of society, the proposed totalitarian alternative and the kindred uncontrollable violence of his own behavior as a "free" man, Cross abandons ideas and pins his last hope on love. But his mistress commits suicide when she sees him as he is.

There follows a chapter in which the Law, personified by a hunchbacked district attorney who understands Cross Damon, convicts him of a crime and condemns him, but is powerless to give his life significance by punishment. After this Cross is murdered. The district attorney comes to his death bed and asks how was life and Cross dies murmuring, "It was horrible."

In the near future, illegal androids have become commonplace, and many criminals enhance themselves with cybernetic components, making them "more than human". Alex Raine (Olivier Gruner) is a disillusioned assassin/bounty hunter for the LAPD. During a routine mission, he is attacked by a group of cyborg freedom fighters known as The Red Army Hammerheads. Nearly killed by the surviving leader, Rosaria (Jennifer Gatti), Alex resists her assertion that he is a mindless robot: "Eighty-six point five percent [of him] is still human."

After months of cybernetic reconstruction and recovery, Alex tracks Rosaria to Old Baja and kills her. Soon after this, his handlers show up—his former lover Jared (Marjorie Monaghan), who is an android, and another android, Sam. Alex decides he has had enough and leaves the LAPD, becoming a freelance hustler and triggerman. However, his LAPD bosses are just letting him run free for a while. After he is shot and badly wounded on a job, his old boss, Commissioner Farnsworth (Tim Thomerson), has him kidnapped and brought in for one final assignment. According to Germaine (Nicholas Guest), Jared has stolen vital security information regarding an upcoming summit between Japan and the United States, and must be stopped before she leaks the plans to the Red Army Hammerheads. Alex is told by Farnsworth that a bomb was implanted in his heart during his latest repairs. He is given three days to find Jared before she meets with the leader of the Hammerheads, Angie-Liv (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa); otherwise, the bomb will detonate and kill him. After flying to the island of Shang-Lu in the Pacific Rim, he is turned loose as bait for Jared.

In reality, the freedom fighters are not battling against government control of people's lives, but for humanity's future. A newly designed android is infiltrating the higher echelons of human society, copying the minds of powerful leaders into synthetic bodies, Farnsworth among them - who has been replaced by Sam who was redesigned to look like him. Jared threatens their plans, and so Alex's real mission is to smoke her out for the synthetics to destroy. Burnt out, Alex halfheartedly begins his search, checking into a local hotel. He is soon intercepted by Julian (Deborah Shelton), a cyborg representing Jared. She tells him he is being followed by an LAPD strike team led by Farnsworth, waiting for the opportunity to hit the Hammerheads and Jared.

It turns out that Jared was fatally wounded in her escape from LA, requiring her memory core to be salvaged from her body. After removing a surveillance device implanted in Alex's eye, Julian injects him with a digital scrambler that prevents the bomb from being remotely detonated. She gives him Jared's memory core, enabling him to talk to her. The strike team storms the hotel and Julian sacrifices herself to allow Alex to escape.

Alex eventually joins up with a local woman, Max (Merle Kennedy) who acts a scout for the Hammerheads while fronting as a tour guide. She is also the sister of Rosaria, the woman he had killed in Old Baja. While she wants Alex dead, her loyalty to the freedom fighters comes first. He is brought to the Hammerheads and is convinced by Angie-Liv to join their cause. Unfortunately, the strike team tracks them down, leading to a shootout and chase through the rundown city. Most of the Hammerheads, including Angie-Liv, are killed by Farnsworth's men. Alex saves Max's life, eventually earning her forgiveness. In a confrontation with Farnsworth, Alex shoots him with a grenade launcher, apparently killing him.

Alex and Max arrive at a secret hangar where Yoshiro (Yuji Okumoto), a surviving Hammerhead, is waiting. While launching their escape vehicle, an aerodyne, they are attacked by the cyborg Farnsworth, reduced to his mechanical endoskeleton. Alex defeats him, but suffers grave injuries in the process and discovers just how much of him really is synthetic. Alex brings Jared's core to another Hammerhead compound where they will be able to destroy the labs being used to duplicate people. Unfortunately this means wiping her memory from the core, effectively killing her. Heavily bandaged and temporarily blind, Alex is forced to say goodbye.

Sneaking into L.A. and hunting down the synthetic agents, Alex corners Germaine on the helipad of LAPD headquarters. Despite Germaine's protests that he cannot hope to kill all the synthetics, Alex shoots him. Before she died, Jared told Alex that the real Commissioner Farnsworth left him a letter at an old drop location. In it, his former mentor apologizes for his sometimes rough treatment, reminding him that they all have to do what is right. Alex walks off with his new partner, Max, and they joke about how they are going to smuggle his synthetic body through airport customs: "Piece by piece, Max..."

Mrs. Garrison pairs off the kids in her class and assigns them to care for eggs as if they were babies to teach parenting responsibility. Stan is worried about getting paired with his ex-girlfriend Wendy, whom he has not spoken to since their breakup. However, Wendy is assigned to Kyle while Stan is paired with Bebe. The assignments cause tension among the students, as Stan begins suspecting Kyle is spying on Wendy while Bebe is angry at Stan's indifference to their egg.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Garrison is reminded of her ex-boyfriend Mr. Slave, who broke up with her after her sex change operation. Garrison attempts to take Mr. Slave back, only to learn that he and Big Gay Al are going to get married as soon as the governor of Colorado legalizes same-sex marriage. Consequently, she becomes extremely jealous and tries to stop the marriage.

Garrison rallies a crowd of people to petition against same-sex marriage and, upon realizing the governor won't veto the bill without proof that gays don't have the skills necessary to raise a family, makes plans for the final egg check to be in front of the governor's office and alters the pairs so that Stan and Kyle are the 'same-sex couple'. However, when it seems that the two are able to raise the egg properly, Garrison hires an assassin named Jakartha to destroy the egg to make sure Stan and Kyle's egg is broken when they present it, which he appears to do.

Kyle comes over to Stan's house and Stan tells him to just go be with Wendy, but Kyle admits he never had any feelings for Wendy and he would never like her, and he just wanted an A on the project. Kyle then reveals that he feared Stan's jealousy would interfere with his parenting abilities and so gave Stan a fake egg while he kept and saved the real one. The two boys reconcile and rush to the governor's office in a taxi, with Kyle calling Mrs. Garrison and telling her their egg is fine and that they are on their way. Horrified, Garrison demands that Jakartha destroys the egg before it reaches the podium. Jakartha tries to shoot the egg and set bombs to blow it up. Stan and Kyle avoid the attacks and reach the podium weary and hurt. The governor inspects the egg and, upon seeing that it is undamaged, announces that same-sex marriage is now legal in Colorado, greatly horrifying Mrs. Garrison and confusing the boys about the entirety of what happened.

The episode concludes with Mr. Slave and Big Gay Al marrying. Randy informs that he's proud of the boys for helping spread gay marriage rights, though they have no idea what he meant by that. Wendy then shows up and informs Stan that she's impressed that he'd be a good parent, but Stan informs her that he no longer cares about what she thinks of him, leaving Wendy heartbroken.

The White Knights, a peacekeeping force within the Planetary System, are on a mission to destroy the evil Nohza (misspelled as "Norsa" in the North American version) Empire's base on Planet X. In order to do so, J.J., the main character from the ''Zillion'' anime, must infiltrate the base and acquire the five floppy disks that will enable him to input the self-destruct sequence into the base's mainframe computer. Mothership lands on the surface of the planet, and J.J. must make his way through the labyrinthine base, fighting enemies, avoiding hazards and possibly rescuing two of his captured allies on his way to destroy the base.

''Star Wars: Obi-Wan'' is a retelling of the events of ''The Phantom Menace'', beginning with Obi-Wan surviving an attempt on his life by a criminal outfit called the Black Heth on Coruscant. He reports this to the Jedi Council, who informs him that the Black Heth have been growing in strength and that an informant planted by the city guard has been exposed and taken to the gang's hideout. Mace Windu tasks Obi-Wan with rescuing him; the informant reveals that arms dealers are selling large quantities of weapons to the Black Heth to destabilize Coruscant.

Obi-Wan tries and fails to intercept the dealers as they evacuate the planet; the Council determines that they are a tribal species called Jin'ha. As the Jin'ha is too primitive a race to manufacture such deadly arms themselves, Jedi Masters Plo Koon and Eeth Koth are sent on a mission to their homeworld, Obredaan, to investigate. The ship transporting them disappears, and Obi-Wan, accompanied by Qui-Gon, is ordered to complete the mission instead. While Qui-Gon locates the two captured Jedi, Obi-Wan discovers a vast mining and refinery complex beneath Obredaan built to process cortosis, a lightsaber-resistant mineral that could be used to craft weapons ideal for combatting Jedi. As the group leaves, they spot a ship from the Trade Federation leaving Obredaan.

When representatives from the Federation deny any knowledge of the Jin'ha's activities, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan are given an official assignment to meet with Federation Viceroy Nute Gunray and inspect his facilities. Upon boarding the Viceroy's ship, the Jedi are placed in a conference room that slowly fills with poisonous gas as a squad of Federation droids arrive with orders to kill them. The pair escape and attempt to storm the ship's bridge, but are forced to retreat in the face of superior firepower. Instead, Qui-Gon instructs his apprentice to sabotage the ship's communications array and disable its engines, cutting the ship off from the rest of the Federation fleet and forcing it to land on the nearest planet, Naboo. Upon landing, they discover that the Federation has launched a full-scale invasion of the planet.

Qui-Gon meets Jar-Jar Binks, who takes them to his people, the Gungans. The Gungans refuse to provide assistance but do allow the Jedi to take one of their ships to Naboo's capital, Theed. With Qui-Gon providing a distraction, Obi-Wan fights his way through the invasion forces and accesses the royal palace through the kitchen; a handmaiden named Asha helps him bypass the palace's security system and meet up with Royal Guard leader Captain Panaka. Unfortunately, by the time they reach the throne room, Queen Amidala has been captured by the Federation, who intend for her to sign a treaty legitimizing their invasion.

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan ambush the Queen's droid escorts and escape Naboo. While on Tatooine looking for spare parts to fix their damaged ship, a party of Tusken Raiders abduct Amidala. Obi-Wan pursues them to a large village and defeats the Raider war chief in hand-to-hand combat. The Raiders submit and allow him to leave with the Queen.

On Coruscant, the Council, against Qui-Gon's wishes, order him and Obi-Wan to return to Theed and protect Amidala until they can identify a Sith warrior who attacked them on Tatooine. Obi-Wan meets with Asha, who has assumed command of the planet's resistance forces and asks him to liberate a group of pilots being held in a makeshift prison so they can go after the Federation's command ship. Obi-Wan does so, and also destroys the anti-aircraft cannon the Federation had placed to intercept the pilots.

While the attack commences, the Jedi help the resistance fight off an attempt to recapture the hangar. The Sith arrives, and Qui-Gon battles him until he is struck down. Obi-Wan steps in and defeats the Sith, avenging his master. As the Federation surrenders to Amidala, Obi-Wan swears to honor Qui-Gon's dying wish by training a young boy he found on Tatooine as a Jedi.

The Tooth Fairy has visited Cartman, leaving him $2. He rushes to the bus stop to share his news with the others. He then unveils his latest plan. If they all combined their lost teeth, the tooth fairy will provide them with enough cash to purchase a Sega Dreamcast. However, Stan and Kyle have lost all their baby teeth, but not Kenny. Cartman tries to get teeth out of his mouth. It turns out Butters has a loose tooth and is waiting for the tooth fairy. Cartman decides to steal Butters' tooth, disguised as the tooth fairy, and place it under his own pillow. Cartman's mother is finally suspicious that he has "lost" 112 teeth and calls their dentist, Dr. Roberts. She also decides to come clean and admit there is no tooth fairy. Cartman tells this to Stan and Kyle, leading Stan to try a new plot with other kids to raise money for a Dreamcast, that they place a tooth under a rich kid's pillow and steal the money. Meanwhile, the knowledge that the Tooth Fairy is not real prompts Kyle to question the truth of all things, including his own existence. He begins to study various philosophies about the nature of reality.

The boys soon find out that there are others who are in the Tooth Fairy business; and they are taken to the leader, Loogie, who has been the leader of the business after his two brothers. His business is keeping track of which houses his gang hits and having them put teeth under children's pillows, leaving a note for the parents to let them know that their children have lost teeth. They return to collect the money once they have finished the circuit of houses. He gives the four boys a choice: either they work for him and get a 2% cut of the money or have their penises cut off. They choose to work for him.

The American Dental Association is suspicious about the missing teeth and money, and the leader (Dr. Roberts) concludes that the culprit is a giant half chicken, half squirrel that steals either teeth or money from children as they sleep in order to build some kind of giant nest for its genetically superior and potentially dangerous offspring. Another dentist, Dr. Foley, logically concludes that the missing teeth and money are due to a black-market tooth racket that he has seen before in Montreal. The other dentists scoff at him and assume that Montreal is a fictional place.

The boys are now rather wealthy from the tooth racket, but Cartman persuades them to cut their ties to Loogie and make more profits. Loogie learns about this and tries to have Kenny drowned by tying his feet to concrete weights and throwing him into the Platte River, which only covers Kenny up to his ankles. The local TV news reports a story about a child, Billy, who needs $600 for a bone marrow transplant, and has recently lost a tooth, but his parents plan to leave him the money. The story is a trap set by Dr. Foley to prove the ADA wrong. (Although the report was a trap, Billy did have the illness and did need the money.) Loogie and his gang arrive to confront the boys for severing their ties, but as soon as Cartman finally catches the money, the trap is activated and all of the boys (including Loogie) are caught. Kyle, meanwhile, disappears while questioning his own existence, but soon reappears wielding control over all reality, even becoming the half-chicken half-squirrel beast, scaring both Loogie's gang and the ADA away. Only Stan, Cartman, and Loogie remain when Kyle eventually reappears back to normal. Loogie, despite being upset that he would fall for the ADA's trap, decides that the fall of his empire is a good thing, ending the tooth racket and hoping to try out for flag football. Meanwhile, Billy is saved, as he discovers the "Tooth Fairy"'s money under his bed.

As the credits roll, Kenny who is still attached to his concrete shoes, slowly hops through the shallow river and then falls into a deep spot. As he drowns, Timmy zooms across the bridge above and shouts his own name.

A gangster and a corrupt police officer travel to the tiny remote island of Mapado to hunt down a young woman who has run off with a winning lottery ticket. Upon arriving, they discover that no one lives there except for five old women who have not once seen a man for 20 years. Both men soon experience a nightmare of hard labour and harassment.

Written by famed Singaporean scriptwriter Ang Eng Tee. Holland V, spanning more than 100 episodes, Holland V, as the title suggests, revolves around the quaint neighbourhood of Holland Village, particularly singling out the Mo Family.

"Big Sister" Mo Wanwan is known not only for her famous nasi lemak, but also for her Herculean strength, huge appetite and rotund build. Yet, she hasn't always looked like that. The hefty-sized Mo used to be a pretty, svelte girl, and had a daughter, Lin Siting, with Lin Jingcai at the age of 18. Jingcai then brought the baby back home to be taken care of by his wife Su Yueping, who is unable to conceive. Ever since Jingcai was put behind bars for a crime he committed, Yueping forbids Wanwan from seeing Siting. The 2 women are always squabbling, and are known as 'the most quarrelsome duo in Holland Village'.

Upset from not being able to see her daughter, Mo turns her misery into eating sprees. Within a decade, she has turned into a boorish 'Iron Lady' whom everyone fears. She is however, forced to look into her weighty issues when she finds herself falling for Fang Nuowen, a doctor.

Mo Wanwan has many siblings: second sister, the deceptively skinny Mo Lingling, possesses a formidable kick when she's provoked. Otherwise, though, Mo Lingling is all demure and kind but sadly, she is often bullied by her colleagues and even her own foul-tempered husband, Tian Dahua.

Third sister, Mo Yanyan, also older twin sister to Mo Jingjing, is a lazybones who holds a record of sleeping continuously for 3 days and nights. A beauty with brains but who's so lazy, she could give up a Varsity exam for sleep! She soon begins to see the harsh reality of the working world but yet dreams of amassing $100m by the age of 30.

Mo Jingjing is the exact opposite of her older twin sister, Mo Yanyan. She is dim-witted, has a low IQ but works very hard at Wanwan's nasi lemak stall. An innocent and kind girl who often gets cheated of her money and love, she nevertheless remained optimistic and bear no grudges against those who had done her wrong. Although her family often berates her for being stupid, Lady Luck is always by her side - she strikes lottery frequently and everyone begs her for lottery numbers.

As a dedicated botanist, Mo Rourou is yet another pair of twins with her younger twin brother, Mo Yangyang, whose life revolves around nothing but plants. Though blessed with good looks, suitors are often put off by her highly scientific talks and unromantic soul. When out collecting specimens in the forest on one occasion, Rourou runs into her love interest's half-brother and is raped. She wakes up from the ordeal mentally traumatised.

The only son and baby of the family and also younger twin brother to Mo Rourou, Yangyang is agile and alert, Yangyang is quickly promoted in the Police Force. However, when his girlfriend runs into some problems with the law, he gets himself onto the wrong side of the law in a bid to cover up for her...

In the sequel, Henry David "Hank" Levy (nicknamed "Doc" and "Scylla"), brother of ''Marathon Man'''s protagonist Thomas Babington "Tom" Levy (a.k.a. "Babe"), survives his stabbing. The plot concerns an effort to instigate World War III by means of simultaneous, worldwide terrorist attacks, which Scylla attempts to stop. Scylla's job is to kill American scientists who made three inventions meant to give the United States a military advantage against the Soviet Union. There are two factions in the U.S. government, the Bloodies, advocating war, and Godists, who wish for more peaceful methods.

Scylla initially convalesces on an island, as he had been in recovery for a decade. He later goes to New York State, both New York City and Upstate New York. At Princeton University he kills "Arky" Vaughan, who made the suicide chemical, while in New York he kills Milo Standish, who created a chemical that makes other people do his wishes.

After "Ma" Perkins, the spy who helped him recover, is murdered, Scylla goes to London. Scylla initially only knows of two inventions, but learns about the third after Ma's death. Scylla kills the Blonde, Perkins's killer, and Division head Beverage dies from suicide after Scylla confronts him.

The final invention is exploding children made to kill important politicians and scientists to goad major world powers into attacking each other so the United Kingdom, left standing, could rule the world. Beverage had already sent exploding children, but they largely detonate prematurely and the mutual retaliation fails to materialize. However Babe's wife, Melissa, dies after a cache of children explode in her workplace in the UK; she had been sent there ostensibly to fine-tune speech of amusement park props. Scylla was tricked into destroying the cache thinking it was the only major cache, and he was unaware she was there; Beverage knew she would be there. When Babe and Scylla meet, they embrace and cry.From "The Little Bang Theory", and "After the End"

Loris (Roberto Benigni) is a part-time mannequin handler for a department store. He hopes to learn Chinese in order to get an assistant manager position. He lives in a building where he hasn't paid the rent in months, and he also owes money to other people around town.

At a party, Loris is told about a nymphomaniac who will sleep with anyone. Loris approaches the wrong woman, who runs away and tells the police. Because of his odd behavior, he becomes the chief suspect in a series of rape/murders. The chief of police, frustrated by the lack of solid evidence against Loris, resolves to provoke his passion and catch him "red-handed." An attractive police officer, Jessica (Nicoletta Braschi) goes undercover as his roommate, and is directed by the chief and the police doctor, Paride (Michel Blanc), to dress provocatively in order to entrap Loris.

After a few days living in his apartment, Jessica begins to doubt Loris really is the killer. Paride, however, is convinced that Loris is on the brink of committing his next crime. Paride visits Jessica's apartment on the pretext of fitting Loris for a suit. He performs all sorts of medical tests and Loris remains clueless, thinking he really is being fitted for a suit. Later, Loris goes to interview at the Chinese company. His teacher gives him a little Chinese good luck charm, and Jessica sees this. Loris bombs the interview, unable to answer the very first question: to tell his name.

Jessica is about to give up on the case when Paride brings her a Little Red Riding Hood costume and says the chief orders her to put it on. Paride is certain this will unleash Loris' "erotic urges." Jessica does as instructed but Loris remains unmoved. Jessica is back at the police station when they get news that the killer has struck again. At the crime scene, Jessica finds the good luck charm and connects it to Loris' Chinese instructor. She goes to the instructor's house, where she finds both Loris and the teacher. She instructs a uniformed officer to release Loris, then she calmly directs the real killer to a squad car. The film concludes with Loris and Jessica kissing and then walking off into the sunset.

The series follows Abby van Alstine, a teenage girl who discovers that she is part of a mystical subculture among society, possessing several growing powers of her own.

The story's events take place in rural France in the late twentieth century. The protagonist is Emmanuel Comte, former school director, now turned farmer and landowner. He is also an owner of a tourist attraction - an old castle called Malevil after the nearby village. Comte is a highly motivated, well-respected person with a talent for diplomacy and leadership.

By chance, Emmanuel and several of his friends find themselves in the wine cellar of the castle during the unexpected outbreak of nuclear war. The survivors find their surroundings reduced to ashes and rubble. Together under the leadership of Emmanuel they start to rebuild. They later discover that other people and animals have survived in nearby farmsteads and villages. Nature begins anew and an agrarian society starts to reform. From time to time more survivors show up, some bringing death and destruction with them.

One of the main challenges of the slowly emerging society is to fend off the threat of a new theocratic dictatorship that has taken over a neighboring village with the assistance of a marauding gang.

In ancient Japan the Gowa family created a demonic Armor in order to defeat their enemies. Hundreds of years later in the 2010s, this armor is exploited by the Gowa in the development of Tactical Armor for military usage and the usurpation of Japan.

Kenny Dantley is a car-loving Southern California high school senior. For a project in his shop class, Kenny rescues a Chevrolet Corvette Stingray from inside an operating car crusher in a scrapyard and helps rebuild it as a customized right-hand-drive with flashy bodywork. Shortly after the new set of wheels is unveiled, the car is stolen from the streets of Van Nuys. After hearing that the car is in Las Vegas, Kenny immediately sets out to take back the stolen car. On the way, he meets the seemingly confident drifter Vanessa, who is a self-described "prostitute trainee."

Kenny finds work in a Vegas car wash, and spots his car on more than one occasion; the police eventually get involved but cannot help locate the vehicle once it's discovered it bears a forged tag. He tracks it down it to a local garage, where he has an incident with the garage owner, Wayne Lowry, before being bailed out by Vanessa. Kenny’s high school teacher, Ed McGrath comes to Las Vegas, and Kenny is upset to learn that the teacher he once admired had arranged for the theft of the Corvette to help supplement his low earnings as a teacher. McGrath arranges for Kenny to go to work for Lowry. For his sake and that of his family, McGrath begs Kenny not to take the matter to the police. McGrath also ominously notes that if Kenny doesn't agree, one of Lowry's men will "handle it his way." Kenny agrees, but secretly plans to take the Corvette back.

Eventually, Kenny takes the car back, saves Vanessa from an unusual scenario in a hotel, wins a wild car chase, and returns home with Vanessa riding shotgun in the Corvette. He keeps McGrath's secret, but rebuffs his attempts to repair their friendship. He gives the car back to the school, but walks away with Vanessa and his newly-earned high school diploma.

A young singer and his sister/manager travel to Nashville in search of stardom. As they journey from one grimy hotel to another, it becomes increasingly obvious that only one of them has what it takes to become a star.

Travis Child (Quaid) is a country singer who had one hit song and then faded from the scene. His ambitious younger sister, Amanda (McNichol), is determined to get them to Nashville where Travis can once again become a star. Her plans are derailed by Travis's lack of ambition and easy distraction by women and booze. Amanda meets a state trooper named Conrad who shows concern for her.

The two are separated in one town and by the time they find each other in the next one, Travis has been arrested for public drunkenness. To pay the fine he takes a job bartending at a roadside tavern called Andy's, where he meets and falls for a young lady named Melody with a very jealous ex-boyfriend—who happens to be the deputy sheriff named Seth James. Seth wounds Travis in an ambush. Travis hides in the floorboards of his truck and pretends to be dead. When Seth yanks open Travis's truck door to put another round in him, Travis kills him with a gun he was hiding. Travis, in bad shape, takes Seth's car and ends up driving it off the road, dying. Amanda buries Travis and hugs Melody good bye. She heads down the road with her dog. Conrad, in his police car tries to convince Amanda not to leave but she says she's going. Conrad goes to his cruiser, strips to his underwear and convinces Amanda that they'll go together.

Issue #1 of 5, published September 1996, introduces Luther Drake as an average man who follows a woman named Tina home but becomes a media sensation when he prevents her abduction. This issue was pencilled by H. M. Baker and inked by Bruce Patterson.

Issue #2 of 5, published October 1996, sees Luther continue his vigilante activities while spurred on by personal demons and ever-increasing media attention. This issue was pencilled by H. M. Baker and inked by Bruce Patterson.

Issue #3 of 5, published November 1996, ramps up the media "frenzy" with unauthorized Black Pearl merchandise on the market and more people trying to make money off of Luther's growing fame, including "shock jock" Jerry Delman. This issue was pencilled by H. M. Baker and inked by Bruce Patterson.

Issue #4 of 5, published December 1996, puts Tina on the run after her best friend is murdered and tabloid reporter Frank Moran intensifies his search for the Black Pearl. This issue was pencilled by H. M. Baker and inked by both Bruce Patterson and Dan Schaeffer.

Issue #5 of 5, published January 1997, wraps up the series with heightened danger for the Black Pearl as Frank Moran goes missing, Tina is placed in harm's way, and Jerry Delman plots his comeback. This issue was pencilled by H. M. Baker and inked by Dan Schaeffer.

While traveling from California to Colorado to pick up his childhood friend and crush Venna Wilcox, Lewis Thomas is forced to make a stop in Salt Lake City on the way after he learns his estranged older brother Fuller has been arrested again. Lewis bails him out and Fuller tags along for the trip. At a gas station, Fuller has a CB radio installed in Lewis' car and the two begin listening in on truckers' chatter. Fuller coaxes Lewis into playing a prank on a truck driver nicknamed Rusty Nail, asking him to pretend to be a woman named Candy Cane. They set up a meeting with Rusty Nail in a Wyoming motel where Lewis and Fuller are spending the night; they tell Rusty Nail that Candy Cane will be in room 17, the room of an irritable businessman with whom Fuller had an unpleasant encounter at the check in desk, and the brothers listen from room 18. When Rusty Nail arrives, an argument and sounds of a scuffle are briefly heard.

The next morning, Lewis and Fuller learn that the police found the businessman on the highway, with his lower jaw ripped off. Lewis admits they were involved and Sheriff Ritter accosts them for their role in the incident, but lets them go. Back on the road, Rusty Nail is heard again on the CB radio looking for Candy Cane. Lewis reveals the prank to Rusty Nail and tells him that he is Candy Cane. Rusty Nail demands an apology, but Fuller insults him instead. Rusty Nail then notes they should get their taillight fixed, indicating he is following behind them. They quickly drive to a nearby gas station and unsuccessfully attempt to contact Sheriff Ritter. Seeing a large truck pull into the gas station, they flee from the scene into a dead end, with the truck driver chasing them. The driver turns out to be a kind stranger trying to return Lewis's credit card, which he left behind in panic. The real Rusty Nail then shows up in his truck and, as he slowly crushes Lewis's car against a tree, Fuller hysterically apologizes. Rusty Nail drives away, declaring his actions to be simply a retaliatory joke.

Believing themselves safe, the brothers arrive at the University of Colorado and pick up Venna. They stop at a motel and, as Lewis falls asleep, Rusty Nail calls his room, revealing he has noticed Venna has joined them. They flee from the motel, but see messages from Rusty Nail spray painted on road signs, instructing them to look in the trunk. There, they find the CB radio Fuller had previously thrown from the window of the car. Rusty Nail then contacts them again via the radio, announcing that he has kidnapped Venna's friend Charlotte, and he directs them to a cornfield where the three get split up. Rusty Nail kidnaps Venna.

Rusty Nail sets up a meeting at another motel in room 17, mirroring the false date with which he was pranked. He sets up a trap that will kill Venna if the room door is opened. Fuller attempts to get in the room by a back window, but is injured by Rusty Nail and stuck outside. Lewis attempts to free Fuller as the police arrive to help Venna. Meanwhile, Rusty Nail's truck appears uphill and begins rolling down towards the motel. The brothers free Venna in time and everyone escapes as the truck crashes into the motel. As the police investigate Rusty Nail's truck, they see a dead body in the driver's seat and Charlotte, still alive, in the back.

Lewis, Fuller and Venna are treated for their injuries at an ambulance. At this point, the dead man found inside the truck turns out to be the friendly truck driver who returned Lewis's credit card from earlier. From the CB in the ambulance, the group hears Rusty Nail's voice, learning that he is alive and free.

Halfway through ''Bold as Love'' the two male leads agree that one day they will take oxytocin together — the intimacy drug, based on the hormone released to create the bond between mother and baby, or between monogamous reproductive partners. At the opening of the second episode we meet Ax and Sage loved-up, making out on Brighton Beach on an oxytocin high: a shocking development for readers lulled by the sexual conformity of the first volume. Ensuing chapters are devoted to the painful birth-pangs of a passionate rock and roll sexual threesome.

Meanwhile, Ax's friends, the other almost-famous Indie musicians who survived Massacre Night, are repelled by vapid celebrity-culture, and form an alliance instead with the security forces, the emergency services, and the masses: the beleaguered people of England. This "innocent" feudalism is counterpointed by far more sinister developments on the Green Right Wing, where a Pan-European Celtic movement grows in the shadows, like National Socialism, into something monstrous. The love affair between Ax, Sage and Fiorinda is treated with wit and tenderness, and Jones's trademark emotional intensity, yet it clearly serves as a microcosm for the macrocosm of Ax's England: and a test bed for one of the most naïve (or daring) assertions of radical politics. Is love really all we need? Can utter personal freedom and licence, restrained only by that oxytocin bond, form the foundation of the Good State...?

As in ''Bold As Love'' on Massacre Night there is a revelatory gestalt flip, here mediated by the Irishman, Fergal Kearney, (shades of Shane MacGowan) one of Jones’s fascinating and engaging secondary characters: a bridge after which everything developed in the first chapters takes on a different meaning. Readers are wrest from the canonisation of Thom Yorke and Led Zeppelin, and the highly plausible trials of a country wrecked by global warming and social unrest, into the darkest of adult fairytales. It seems that Jones, unable to contain the problem of evil realistically in the pantomime format of ''Bold As Love'', (her own description) has chosen to depict the horrors, that must attend a future such as she describes, in terms of the supernatural. Parted by the manipulation of a truly horrible, thoroughly enjoyable pantomime villain, each member of the Triumvirate suffers the trials and tests of fairytale, updated for the 21st Century: Ax, far away, as the hostage of a vicious drug cartel, Sage in his struggle to achieve the Holy Grail of Bold As Love fantasy neuroscience; and Fiorinda as a different and uglier kind of hostage, laying down her life for her people. A rich fusion of legend and folklore, science and fantasy, ancient and modern, brings the story to a climax. By the time Aoxomoxoa sets sail for the castle of the Wounded King, in a futuristic yacht called the Lorien, with a mainframe computer in the jewel of a ring borrowed from the female Merlin, the re-imagining, re-vision of the Arthur cycle seems triumphantly complete.

Jimi Hendrix was a great fan of science fiction, though probably not as steeped in sf as Gwyneth Jones has proved to be in rock and roll. His lyrics and his music permeate ''Castles Made Of Sand'', but here the ruin of treasured dreams (...''and so castles made of sand, fall in the sea.''..) is not the end of the story; and the violent romanticism of Led Zeppelin is not the last phase of this rock and roll career. There is more of Jones’s "complicated optimism" to come. Few readers can have anticipated a sequel so different from Bold As Love, yet essentially the formula is the same: a Brechtian pantomime, neither fantasy, nor sf, nor mainstream, that manages to be both deadly serious, and thoroughly entertaining.

1888: Joachim von Pasenow

The first part, set mostly in Berlin and an unnamed eastern province of Prussia, concerns an unsure young aristocrat and army officer, Joachim von Pasenow. He wavers between his romantic devotion to a Czech prostitute Ruzena Hruska and his duty which is to court Elisabeth von Baddensen, the heiress of a neighbouring landowner and his social equal. In his secret liaison with the earthy Ruzena he finds emotional and sexual fulfilment, while Elisabeth is delicate and distant. Adrift among doubts and hesitation, he finds refuge in symbols from the past, such as the honour code of the nobility and the teaching of the Lutheran church. Adhering to these leads him into a loveless marriage with Elisabeth. On their wedding night, the hesitations both feel lead them to postpone consummation.

Almost all the decisions and actions of Joachim, Ruzena and Elisabeth are manipulated by his diabolical friend, a successful worldly businessman called Eduard von Bertrand who, for his evident lack of comprehension for old values, Joachim never trusts fully.

1903: August Esch

Set along the River Rhine, mainly in the cities of Cologne and Mannheim, this part is centred on August Esch, an able bookkeeper but restless with every job that he takes and every friend he makes. He eats at the bar of the widow Gertrud Hentjen, who keeps all men at a distance, and drinks there with Martin Geyring, a socialist trade union organiser.

When Geyring is unjustly imprisoned, Esch ascribes this to the owner of a large local business (Eduard von Bertrand from the first part), whom he scorns as an exploiter and a homosexual. In fury he visits Bertrand's mansion, intending to murder him, but is talked out of the deed.

A visit to a variety theatre enthuses him with possibilities, meeting the producer and some of the artistes. He links up with an impresario, backing him in a venture to show female wrestlers in revealing costumes. Initially a sensation, the public tires of the act and takings fall. Esch dreams of emigrating to the USA, a land of opportunities, but his partner absconds with the assets.

Like von Pasenow in the first part, Esch feels insecure in the world of decaying old values (here the values of business and middle-class life) and tries to find a guilty party to blame. In the end, he marries Gertrud and returns to Luxembourg, where he goes back to accounting.

1918: Wilhelm Huguenau

Characters from the first two parts are united in a little (fictional) town on the River Moselle during the last months of World War I, with many new characters introduced.

The now elderly Major von Pasenow is the military commandant of the town, striving to maintain order and dignity as the population succumbs to starvation and disease. A military hospital is full of victims of the war in various stages of mental and physical decay. Esch has moved there with his wife to run the modest local newspaper, finding an outlet for his restless search for meaning in an informal religious sect, which von Pasenow joins.

A deserter, Wilhelm Huguenau, cheats Esch out of control of his newspaper and attempts to insinuate himself into the favour of the Major. Hanna Wiedling, withdrawn young wife of a lawyer serving at the front, tries to cope with life on her own. Shell-shocked and mutilated soldiers interact with hospital doctors, nurses and townsfolk. Sometimes the narrative loops back to Berlin where Marie, a former sex worker who is now a Salvation Army worker, has befriended Nuchem, a young Jewish man who is a refugee from the East. At other times the illusion of fiction is abandoned and the author launches into philosophical analysis of the deterioration of values in Europe generally and in Germany in particular.

The finale takes place during the closing days of the war, as the town sinks into chaos. The Major is wounded by rioters, perhaps fatally, while Huguenau bayonets Esch and rapes his wife Gertrud. In a postscript, Huguenau has become a respectable businessman in France, but finds his life entirely empty.

Closing reflections from the author predict that the destruction of values in Germany has left the way open for an amoral and ruthless new Leader to emerge, who will prophesy a new future for the disoriented nation.

The novel follows Polly, an ordinary homeless teenager from the near future and Tak, a cyborg soldier programmed for obedience to his superiors. Tak is tasked to retrieve a "tor", a biological time machine, but it attaches itself to Polly and wrenches her back in time throughout history toward the eponymous Cowl. She meets several major figures in British history but is no closer to discovering the secret behind the tor which is leeching off her energy and life. Meanwhile Tak runs into Traveler, a time traveler, who shows him the future of the human race where the dominant Heliothane race is threatened by the Umbrathane uprising and the battles are being fought throughout time itself. Cowl, a Heliothane weapon is a human male that was genetically engineered to be the perfect specimen of human evolution. However he is also on the run from the Heliothane Dominion, which considers him their enemy after he slaughters the station he was born at. In an attempt to stop the rule of the dominant Heliothanes, Cowl travels back into pre-history with an incomprehensibly massive multidimensional creature called the Torbeast. The Heliothane theorize that Cowl intends to destroy the human race and supplant them with the Umbrathane checking on his progress by having the Torbeast send its parasitic scales into the future which drag its victims back to Cowl.

The novel is set in Paris, in 1939. Despite having no permission to perform surgery, stateless refugee Ravic, a very accomplished German surgeon, has been “ghost-operating” on patients for two years on the behalf of two less-skillful French physicians.

Unwilling to return to Nazi Germany, which has stripped him of his citizenship, and unable to exist legally anywhere else in pre-war western Europe, Ravic manages to hang on. He is one of many displaced persons, without passports or any other documents, who live under a constant threat of being captured and deported from one country to the next, and back again.

Ravic has given up on the possibility of love, but life has a curious way of taking a turn for the romantic, even during the worst of times. He cautiously befriends an actress…

George Shuttleworth (Formby) is a chimney sweep from Wigan who dreams of winning the Isle of Man TT. Unfortunately, George's attempts to secure a factory ride with the Rainbow Motorcycle Company are unsuccessful and consequently he resorts to entering his own machine the "Shuttleworth Snap", a motorcycle derived from an old Rainbow machine. Whilst running the engine of his machine, George inadvertently knocks the motorcycle off its stand and crashes into the fence of his next door neighbour, Mr Hardacre, who goads George about his dream of winning the T.T.

Undeterred, George asks his mother if she could lend him £5 so he can make his way to the Isle of Man in order to compete at the races. Although unable to give him the £5 directly, George's mother endeavours to take the money from his Grandpa's savings which he keeps concealed in the lining of the settee. With money 'borrowed' from his grandfather, George make his way by train to Liverpool and embarks on the steamer for Douglas.

As he prepares to embark, George's attention is drawn to the arrival of better known T.T. competitors – such as Bert Tyldesley – who embarks onto the steamer with the secretary of boss of the Rainbow Motorcycle Company, Florrey Dibney (Florence Desmond). George attempts to be included in a photograph with Tyldesley and another T.T. rider -Norton-, but as they assemble for the photograph, George observes a stray cargo crate heading towards them. In order to save Florrie from being struck by the crate, George pushes her out of the way and consequently knocks her hat over the side of the ship.

More concerned at the loss of her hat than the danger posed by the cargo crate, Florrie takes George to task, and he resolves to climb down the side of the ship to retrieve the hat. As George begins to descend the side of the ship on a rope, the order is given to cast off and the deck hands begin to haul in the rope just as George reaches the ship's side belting. Holding onto the very end of the rope, it is suddenly hauled up and George falls into the water.

Evading the rivals who have paid him not to compete, George makes it to the start with seconds to spare. He drives like fury, and most of his rival drivers are knocked out by crashes or blown engines. With yards to go, his bike conks out and he pushes it over the line to win; a split-second ahead of his fellow rider.

So he not only succeeds in winning the race, but gets the girl as well.

Gail Cooper travels to her ex-husband Nick's apartment in London in order to remove some of its more valuable items. It soon becomes apparent that while Nick (a successful singer) isn't at home, someone is clearly there. The anonymous person watches Gail take a phone call from a reporter asking about the couple's divorce and inquiring as to when Nick will release his next album, as he's been on a six-year hiatus since marrying Gail. Just as Gail is about to leave, she is attacked by a killer wearing a hag mask and a lace shawl, who hacks her to death with a sickle.

Meanwhile, Nick arrives in London from New York, where he is attempted to record a new album to satisfy his manager Webster. Nick finds some solace in Webster's secretary Linda, with whom he shares a strong mutual attraction. After some debate, Nick moves into a manor in the Surrey countryside that is overseen by the housekeeper Mrs. B and the gardener Mr. B. Soon after his arrival Nick begins to experience strange phenomena that include visions of his ex-wife Gail. Nick is unaware of Gail's death, so he's confused by her appearance at the manor. Despite this, Nick begins to work on his album and further develop his romance with Linda. His psychological state is not helped when his associate Harry goes missing and Nick discovers that Linda was formerly dating Webster. One night Nick decides to investigate some of the strange noises he's seen and ends up finding Gail's severed, decomposing head. This puts Nick into a catatonic state and he is temporarily admitted to a hospital.

Nick and Linda eventually consummate their new relationship, only for Linda to disappear the following day. This nearly devastates Nick and he's instructed by his physician to take things slowly and to re-visit his apartment, as the physician believes that all of the unexplained phenomena have been a result of Nick's distress over the divorce and the stress of recording his album. Once at the apartment Nick notices that the apartment has been thoroughly cleaned with antiseptic and the carpeting replaced, which marks him as strange since he left the apartment clean upon his departure and gave no orders to have anything replaced. He returns to the English manor and discusses this with Mrs. B, who tells him not to worry about any of this.

However soon after Nick is attacked by the masked old woman. He flees and runs into Mrs. B, who reveals that the masked old woman is Mr. B and that they have killed Gail and Harry out of insanity and revenge. They're angry with Nick, as their only daughter had been obsessed with him and had committed suicide after he announced that he'd married Gail. The murders and supposedly supernatural occurrences were to be their way of getting even with him for everything and that their final act would be to kill Nick himself after slowly driving him insane. Mr. B then tries to kill Nick again, only for Nick to duck and for Mrs. B to accidentally take the fatal wound, which stops Mr. B from further attacking in favor of cradling his dead wife's body. Webster then arrives and upon seeing what happened, calls the police. Just before they arrive, Nick hears tapping in the walls and manages to locate Linda, who the Bs had entombed in the walls with the body of their dead daughter. The two go outside and as the police cart away Mr. B, Nick sees the ghost of Gail waving at him from one of the manor's windows, showing that some of the phenomena he'd experienced had been at least partially real.

Former Pee-Wee hockey coach Gordon Bombay is a star in the minor leagues, expected to reach the National Hockey League. However, a career-ending knee injury brings him back to the Blukeville district of Minneapolis. Bombay is offered a chance to coach a team representing the United States in the Junior Goodwill Games in Los Angeles. He manages to reunite most of his former Ducks players, while the Hawks try to enact revenge for their humiliating loss two years earlier. Their plans are foiled by Fulton, who leaves them tied up in their underpants. Team USA consists of many of the old Ducks, in addition to five new players with special talents.

In Los Angeles, the lure of celebrity distracts Bombay, who begins to neglect the team for a luxurious lifestyle. The team wins easy victories over Trinidad and Tobago, and Italy in the double-elimination tournament. Fulton Reed and Dean Portman gain recognition for their enforcer skills, and are dubbed the "Bash Brothers". Backup goaltender Julie Gaffney asks Bombay for a chance to play, but is told to wait as goalie Greg Goldberg is on a hot streak.

The team suffers an embarrassing 12–1 defeat against Iceland, coached by ex-NHL player Wolf "The Dentist" Stansson. USA plays badly, and star center Adam Banks is slashed in the wrist. Frustrated, Bombay drives his players even harder, but they begin to suffer from complete exhaustion. Realizing the children are too tired to complete their school work or even stay awake in class, the team's tutor Michelle McKay intervenes, cancelling practice and confronting Bombay over his thoughtlessness. Once better rested, the players encounter a street hockey team who teaches them to play like "the real Team USA".

Bombay continues to suffer from the pressure until Jan, brother of Bombay's mentor Hans, visits and reminds him of his love for the game. In their match against Germany, Bombay fails to arrive on time, forcing Charlie to tell the referee Michelle is the team's assistant coach. The team struggles, entering the third period tied, until Bombay arrives and apologizes to the team for his behavior. Inspired by the true return of their coach, the players win the game with their signature "Flying V", and advance to the next round.

The renewed Bombay finally realizes Adam's wrist injury and benches him despite his complaints. To fill the open roster spot, Charlie recruits street hockey player Russ Tyler, whose unique "knucklepuck" – which rotates end over end rather than spinning around its centerline – secures USA's victory over Russia, advancing them to the championship game for a rematch against Iceland. Adam's injury is healed only to find Team USA with a full roster. Knowing the team needs Russ's knucklepuck and Adam's skill against Iceland, Charlie gives up his own spot, cementing his leadership as true team captain.

In the final game, the physically imposing Iceland initially dominates as the Ducks incur penalties: Ken picks a fight with an opposing player, the Bash Brothers fight the entire Iceland bench and Dwayne lassos an opposing player before he can check Connie. An annoyed Bombay observes, "this isn't a hockey game, it's a circus."

After a rousing locker room speech from Bombay and new Duck jerseys from Jan, the team emerges rejuvenated. The Ducks tie the game with goals from Connie, Banks, Luis, and finally Russ, who was targeted by Iceland but disguised himself as Goldberg to pull off a successful "knucklepuck". The game is forced to go to a five-shot shootout. With a 4–3 score in favor of the Ducks, Gunnar Stahl, the tournament's leading scorer, is Team Iceland's final shooter. Bombay replaces Goldberg with Julie, who has a faster glove. Gunnar fires a hard slapshot, and Julie falls to the ice. The entire stadium waits in breathless anticipation as she opens her glove and drops the puck, revealing the game-winning save and the Ducks’ triumph over Iceland to win the tournament.

The team returns to Minnesota, and sing Queen's "We Are the Champions" around a campfire.

Mickaël (Johan Libereau) is from a poor working class family - his father Gérard (Jean-Philippe Ecoffey) is a taxi cab driver who lost his license and then his job as a result of a police roadblock targeting drivers under the influence of alcohol. His mother Annie (Florence Thomassin) works as a cleaning woman in the high school gym: After this they have a tough time financially. Not a great student, Mickaël excels in judo and his life is focused on his sport and on his girlfriend Vanessa (Salomé Stévenin). One of Mickaël's teammates Clément (Pierre Perrier) is from a wealthy family: his father Louis Steiner (Aurélien Recoing) uses a wheelchair and his mother Mathilde (Claire Nebout) is a woman of the world and society. Louis decides to sponsor the judo team, buys them outfits, and asks Mickaël to work with Clément to perfect his technique and prepare the judo team for a French championship.

Mickaël and Clément relate well and while Mickaël is a winning player, Clément is smarter and understands the intrinsic rules of the game better. An incident occurs that forces Mickaël to take the position of a wounded team mate and in doing so he must lose eight kilos to qualify for the championship team. The struggle to lose weight (he is already in ideal physical condition) places stress on both Mickaël and his family and teammates. Mickaël and Vanessa include Clément in their camaraderie, a situation which evolves into a ménage à trois as the three have group sex in the after hours gym. Vanessa reacts as though this is the greatest physical feeling ever, Clément is smitten, and Mickaël has troubling doubts. When the three decide to try it again in a hotel room Mickaël is so conflicted that he does not join the other two, only listening to their cavorting in the bathtub feeling inferior to the smarter, wealthier Clément. But on the judo side, the team plays the championship and Mickaël's delicate sense of self worth is restored for a moment. It is the manner in which the trio of teenagers resolve their antics that closes the film.

Skeeve, a magician's apprentice and wannabe thief from the dimension Klah, tries to learn the basics of magic from Master Magician Garkin for several months but to no avail. Skeeve can do little more than float a feather or light a candle using magic. Wanting to convince Skeeve that being a thief is not as good as being a magician, Garkin summons a demon. During the summoning an assassin barges into the hut, and Garkin and the assassin kill each other. Skeeve is left alone with the demon. To Skeeve's surprise the demon politely introduces himself as Aahz. Aahz explains that demon is slang for Dimension Traveler. He further explains that there are thousands of dimensions with different races in them, and that he is from the dimension of Perv, making Aahz a Pervect, while Skeeve is a Klahd. Aahz is a master magician like Garkin but loses his magical powers during the summoning ritual (due to a practical joke played on him by Garkin) and becomes stranded in Klah. Aahz volunteers to take Skeeve on as his apprentice and teach him magic.

The pair then embark on a series of misadventures as they try to evade more assassins trailing Skeeve. They decide to confront Isstvan, a dangerous Master Magician who plans to conquer all the other dimensions. Along the way they meet, and swindle, a demon hunter named Quigley. They encounter the assassins, and are saved by Skeeve's new magic. With information from the assassins they encounter Frumple, a merchant who transports them to the dimension of Deva (where the Deveels, master bargainers, live) so they can visit the Bazaar to find something to use against Isstvan.

On Deva, Aahz abandons Skeeve while he searches for a solution to their Isstvan problem. Skeeve gets into all kinds of trouble. First Skeeve bonds himself to the dragon Gleep; the infuriated dragon master forces Skeeve to purchase the dragon. Next Skeeve encounters Tananda, a Trollop from Trollia. She's strikingly beautiful and a former assassin and con artist working with a pack of ruffians to shake down tourists in the Bazaar. Skeeve is chosen as their next target; however, he doesn't get shaken down because Tananda and Aahz are old buddies. Aahz finds the solution to their Isstvan problem and the three of them, with the dragon Gleep, go back to Klah.

Back on Klah, Quigley, the demon hunter, joins their troupe. The five would-be heroes and the dragon Gleep and Quigley's war unicorn Buttercup confront Isstvan and defeat him by tricking him into consuming wine that destroys his magical ability. The defeated Isstvan and his allies leave Klah using a D-Hopper, a device that allows the user(s) to hop between dimensions. Tananda and Quigley leave too. Skeeve and Aahz remain at the Inn, and Aahz begins teaching his new apprentice more of the mastery of Magic.

Taking place 20 years after the events of the original games, ''Samurai Shodown: Warriors Rage'' has the player take the role of a warrior for hire who must stop an evil gang and rescue Rimururu.

The king promises his dying queen that after her death he will only marry a woman as beautiful and virtuous as she. Pressed by his advisers to remarry and produce an heir, he comes to the conclusion that the only way to fulfill his promise is to marry his own daughter, the princess. Following the advice of her godmother, the lilac fairy, the princess demands a series of seemingly impossible nuptial gifts in the hope that her father will be forced to give up his plans of marriage. However, the king succeeds in providing her with dresses the colour of the weather, the moon and the sun and finally with the skin of a magic donkey that excretes jewels, the source of his kingdom's wealth. Donning the donkey skin, the princess flees her father's kingdom to avoid the incestuous marriage.

In the guise of "Donkey Skin", the princess finds employment as a pig keeper in a neighbouring kingdom. The prince of this kingdom spies her in her hut in the woods and falls in love with her. Love-struck, he retires to his sickbed, and asks that Donkey Skin be instructed to bake him a cake to restore him to health. In the cake, he finds a ring that the princess has placed there, and is thus sure that his love for her is reciprocated. He declares that he will marry the woman whose finger fits the ring.

All the women of marriageable age assemble at the prince's castle and try on the ring one by one, in order of social status. Last of all is the lowly Donkey Skin, who is revealed to be the princess when the ring fits her finger. At the wedding of the prince and the princess, the lilac fairy and the king arrive by helicopter and declare that they too are to be married.

In 2233, the Federation starship USS ''Kelvin'' is investigating a "lightning storm" in space. A Romulan ship, ''Narada'', emerges from the storm and attacks the ''Kelvin''. ''Narada'' s first officer, Ayel, demands that ''Kelvin'' s Captain Robau come aboard to negotiate a truce. Robau is questioned about the current stardate and an "Ambassador Spock", whom he does not recognize. ''Narada'' s commander, Nero, kills him, and resumes attacking the ''Kelvin''. George Kirk, ''Kelvin'' s first officer, orders the ship's personnel, including his pregnant wife Winona, to abandon ship while he pilots the ''Kelvin'' on a collision course with ''Narada''. Kirk sacrifices his life to ensure Winona's survival as she gives birth to James Tiberius Kirk.

Seventeen years later on the planet Vulcan, a young Spock is accepted to join the Vulcan Science Academy. Realizing that the Academy views his human mother, Amanda, as a "disadvantage", he joins Starfleet instead. On Earth, Kirk becomes a reckless but intelligent young adult. Following a bar fight with Starfleet cadets accompanying Nyota Uhura, Kirk meets Captain Christopher Pike, who encourages him to enlist in Starfleet Academy, where Kirk meets and befriends doctor Leonard "Bones" McCoy. Three years later, Commander Spock accuses Kirk of cheating during the ''Kobayashi Maru'' simulation. Kirk argues that cheating was acceptable because the simulation was designed to be unbeatable. The disciplinary hearing is interrupted by a distress signal from Vulcan. With the primary fleet out of range, the cadets are mobilized, with McCoy and Kirk boarding Pike's ship, the .

Realizing that the "lightning storm" observed near Vulcan is similar to the one that occurred when he was born, Kirk breaks protocol to convince Pike that the distress signal is a trap. When the ''Enterprise'' arrives, they find the fleet destroyed and ''Narada'' drilling into Vulcan's core. ''Narada'' attacks ''Enterprise'' and Pike surrenders, delegating command of the ship to Spock and promoting Kirk to first officer. Kirk, Hikaru Sulu, and Chief Engineer Olson perform a space jump onto the drilling platform. While Olson is killed mid-jump, Kirk and Sulu successfully reach and disable the drill, but are unable to stop Nero launching "red matter" into Vulcan's core, forming an artificial black hole that destroys Vulcan. The ''Enterprise'' manages to rescue Spock's father, Sarek, and the high council before the planet's destruction, but not his mother Amanda, who falls to her death before the transporter can properly lock onto her. As ''Narada'' moves toward Earth, Nero tortures Pike to gain access to Earth's defense codes.

While in pursuit, Spock maroons Kirk on Delta Vega after he attempts mutiny. On the planet, Kirk encounters an older Spock (from the original timeline), who explains that he and Nero are from 2387. In the future, Romulus was threatened by a supernova, which Spock attempted to stop with an artificial black hole made of "red matter". However, his plan failed, resulting in Nero's family perishing along with Romulus, while both the ''Narada'' and Spock's vessel were caught in the black hole and sent back in time. Spock quickly found they were sent back 25 years apart, during which time Nero attacked the ''Kelvin'', thus changing history and creating a parallel universe. After Spock's arrival, Nero stranded him on Delta Vega to watch Vulcan's destruction as revenge. Reaching a Starfleet outpost on Delta Vega, Kirk and the elder Spock meet Montgomery "Scotty" Scott, who helps them by devising a trans-warp beam system, allowing both him and Kirk to beam onto ''Enterprise'' while it is travelling at warp speed.

Following the elder Spock's advice, Kirk provokes younger Spock into attacking him, forcing Spock to recognize himself as emotionally compromised and relinquish command to Kirk. After talking with Sarek, Spock decides to help Kirk. While ''Enterprise'' hides itself within the gas clouds of Titan, Kirk and Spock beam aboard ''Narada''. Kirk fights with Nero and Ayel, killing the latter and rescuing Pike, while Spock uses the elder Spock's ship to destroy the drill. Spock leads ''Narada'' away from Earth and sets his ship to collide with Nero's ship. ''Enterprise'' beams Kirk, Pike, and Spock aboard. The older Spock's ship and ''Narada'' collide, igniting the "red matter". Kirk offers Nero help to escape, but Nero refuses, prompting Kirk to give the order to fire, dooming ''Narada'' to be consumed in a black hole that ''Enterprise'' is only barely able to escape.

Kirk is promoted to captain and given command of ''Enterprise'', while Pike is promoted to rear admiral. Spock encounters his older self, who persuades his younger self to continue serving in Starfleet, encouraging him to do, for once, what feels right instead of what is logical. Spock remains in Starfleet, becoming first officer under Kirk's command. ''Enterprise'' goes to warp as the elder Spock speaks the "where no one has gone before" monologue.

The movie takes place in late 1920s Berlin. It opens with Paul being questioned by police about a note he had written. The scene then fades out, and the movie shows what happened. Paul, a shy virgin poet who is tired of being alone and heartbroken, is friends with an openly gay aristocrat boy, Guenther, who is suffering unrequited love for Hans. Paul is staying at Guenther's parents' country home over the weekend. The parents are absent. Guenther's sister Hilde, who stole Hans' heart besides, is loved by Paul, for whom Guenther has budding feelings, which complicates the brother-sister relationship. Hilde has no interest in committing to a relationship with Paul, however. Guenther invites some people over to have an all-night party, filled with alcohol, music, and sex. It is one of their last parties, since Paul and Guenther have made a suicide pact. Guenther, Paul, Hans and Hilde go through a series of couplings, conversation and partying before proceeding to Hilde and Guenther's parents' apartment in the city. There the drama ends with gunshots. The question is what actually happened. The film is based on a "true" story, the so-called "Steglitz school tragedy".

On a farm, Daffy awaits his new Dick Tracy comic book to the tune of Raymond Scott's song "Powerhouse". The mailman then arrives, delivering the comic book. To the tune of Franz von Suppé's ''Poet and Peasant'' overture, he sprints to a corner of the farm and begins reading it, noting how much he "love(s) that man!." At one point in this issue, Dick Tracy is fighting Noodlenose. Imagining what it would be like to be Dick Tracy, he knocks himself out with his own fist.

While unconscious, he dreams that he is "Duck Twacy, the famous de-tec-a-tive." He dismisses a series of calls asking about stolen piggy banks as too inconsequential for him, suggesting that the callers had been too reckless, until he finds that his own piggy bank has been stolen from his safe. He decides to call Duck Twacy (at one point having a phone conversation with himself) before he realizes he himself is Duck Twacy. He calls a taxi to follow a car without him, just to keep the villains on their toes.

Daffy's search leads him to cross paths with Sherlock Holmes, then onto a streetcar (driven by a mustachioed Porky Pig in a silent cameo) leading to the gangsters' not-so-secret hideout. He falls through a trapdoor when he rings the doorbell, and follows footprints, even climbing up a wall (which makes him think that the culprit might be the Human Fly) to a mousehole. He concludes that the culprit is "Mouse Man," demanding, "Come out of there, you rat!"—whereupon a huge, muscular, and angry mouse emerges, and towers over him. Gulping in fear, Daffy timidly tells him to go back in again, and so he does. He runs away, but is surrounded by all the dangerous criminals in town (many of which are parodies of Dick Tracy's rogues gallery), and consisting of:

• Snake Eyes – Spoof of B.B. Eyes, who has dice for eyes.
• 88 Teeth – Spoof of 88 Keys, with piano keys for teeth.
• Hammerhead – A gangster with a hammer for a head.
• Pussycat Puss – A cat gangster who bears some resemblance to Sylvester.
• Bat Man – An anthropomorphic baseball bat who is a name parody of the comics character Batman.
• Doubleheader – A two-headed baseball player spoof of Tulza "Haf and Haf" Tuzon.
• Pickle Puss – A pickle spoof of Pruneface.
• Pumpkinhead – A gangster with a jack-o'-lantern for a head.
• Neon Noodle – A neon figure that resembles Frankenstein's monster.
• Jukebox Jaw – A criminal with a jukebox speaker for a jaw and a turntable on top of his head.
• Wolf Man – A wolf gangster.
• Rubberhead – A pencil eraser-headed gangster. ... and a host of other unnamed grotesque criminals.

He then, with a certain lack of tactical sense declares "''You're all under arrest!''" The villains then roar at Daffy and the chase begins. In one sequence, the villains are seen using well-known Dick Tracy villain Flattop's head as an airstrip with planes taking off. When Daffy is trapped against a wall, Rubberhead "''rubs him out''" with his eraser head, but Daffy immediately reappears. Pumpkinhead moves in with submachine guns blazing. Daffy tosses a hand grenade directly to Pumpkinhead and he becomes a stack of pumpkin pies.

As most of the villains jump to trap him in a closet, Daffy squirms out, slams the door shut on them, and eradicates the group with sustained fire from a Tommy gun. He opens the door, and the bullet-riddled bodies fall like dominoes. Neon Noodle (who survived because he is a mere neon outline with no physical "center" for Daffy to shoot) sneaks up on Daffy and tries to strangle him. Daffy defeats him by turning him into a neon sign that reads "Eat at Joe's" (a standard WB cartoon gag).

Daffy then finds the missing piggy banks, including his own. He begins to kiss his bank but, since he is dreaming, he does not realize that he is on the farm again, kissing a real female pig. The plump-yet-curvaceous pig is rather smitten by Daffy since she believes that he is trying to woo her with the barrage of smooches which he plants all over her face. He wraps up his kisses with a peck to the cute pig's nose. In an elegant female voice, she asks, "Shall we dance?" and lovingly kisses him right on the mouth. Now wide awake, Daffy disgustedly wipes away the kiss and runs away. The lady pig then remarks, "''I love that duck!''," and laughs.

The events of ''Negation War'' revolve around the invasion of CrossGen's Sigilverse, i.e. the mainstream universe where all the other titles take place, by the forces of an alternate universe known as the Negation. The Sigil-Bearers, the protagonists of the core titles, led by the Atlantean Danik, are brought together to serve the purpose for which the Sigil was created: to fight off the Negation, led by the god-emperor Charon and his new consort/queen Evinlea.

''Negation War'' reveals some of the key mysteries of the CrossGen metaplot, continuing from the revelations of the later issues of ''Negation''. Charon and his opposite counterpart Appolyon, are revealed to have been the human scientists who organized the Great Transition as seen in ''Crux''. Charon secretly engineered the device to impart him with incredible god-like power, even as the rest of the human race ascended to a higher form themselves. The transition also sent the pair into another universe, which came to be known as the Negation; Charon took command of this universe, building it into a massive intergalactic empire, and imprisoning the slightly less powerful Appolyon.

After meeting Appolyon, several of the characters from the ''Negation'' title travel to Han-Jin, the world depicted in ''Brath'', ''Way of the Rat'' and ''The Path''. Meanwhile, Samandahl Rey, hero of ''Sigil'', is sent by Danik to gather the Sigil-Bearers.

The series ends with a cliffhanger, as Evinlea leads the Negation assault on Elysia, home of The First. There, the first god to die is Raamia, Altwaal's former consort.

Information concerning what was to occur in the remaining issues to tie up the plot has not been released.

Category:2004 comics debuts Category:CrossGen titles

The premise of ''Alien Soldier'' is provided with a long text scroll at the start of the game. After the game has begun, it is not referred to again. In the year 2015, the A-Humans of A-Earth have created genetically engineered A-Humans capable of super intelligence and strength, as well as parasitic co-existence with machinery and animals, particularly humans. A terrorist organization known as Scarlet rose up within this race and sought to dominate the rest of the A-Humans and A-Earth by locking the planet down and keeping anyone else out. During the height of Scarlet's power, an assassination attempt on the group's leader, Epsilon-Eagle, was carried out by a special forces group. Scarlet fought back with their powers, and the battle somehow breached the space-time continuum. Epsilon was gravely injured and cast somewhere into the continuum.

Seemingly gone forever, another Scarlet member known as Xi-Tiger took control of the organization. Under his rule, Scarlet became too brutal even for themselves, and they called for Epsilon to reclaim his position. More or less isolated from the rest of the group, Xi sought to find and assassinate Epsilon himself. He planned an attack on an A-Human research laboratory, where children with special abilities had been kidnapped and experimented on. Upon arriving, Xi-Tiger sensed the presence of Epsilon in one of the boys. However, he was unsure because he could not pinpoint the evil from Epsilon, who had entered the boy's body and was now living as a parasite. Xi-Tiger took a young girl hostage and threatened to kill her unless Epsilon revealed himself. The boy flew into a rage and morphed his body into Epsilon himself. Xi seemed to sense this strange power, and in fear, killed the girl and fled. Epsilon had completely split his dual personality apart; with both good and evil Epsilons now chasing after Xi-Tiger.''Alien Soldier'', Sega Mega Drive, Japan 1995, Treasure Co., Ltd.

After her internet company Homelearn.com goes bankrupt, Ellen Richmond decides to move back to her hometown to live with her eccentric mother, Dot, and scatter-brained sister, Catherine. At home, Ellen becomes reacquainted with her senior prom date, Rusty, who thinks they can pick up where they left off (which, since she is a lesbian, seems unlikely), and her befuddled high school teacher, Mr. Munn. Though worlds apart from the people who love her, Ellen begins to adjust to a very different way of life and takes a job as a guidance counselor at her former high school.

Overview

The plot focuses on a group of patients as they undergo crude and frightening treatment in a squalid hospital. Writer and literary critic Jeffrey Meyers writes that the novel is the "most complete and accurate fictional account of the nature of disease and its relation to love. It describes the characteristics of cancer; the physical, psychological, and moral effects on the victim; the conditions of the hospital; the relations of patients and doctors; the terrifying treatments; the possibility of death." Kostoglotov's central question is what life is worth, and how we know if we pay too much for it.

The novel is partly-autobiographical. Like Solzhenitsyn, Kostoglotov is a former soldier and GULAG prisoner in hospital for cancer treatment from internal perpetual exile in Kazakhstann. In a chapter called “The Root From Issyk-Kul,” Kostoglotov’s doctor discovers a vial of dark fluid in his bedside table, prompting Kostoglotov to explain the contents are an extract of a root used by natural healers in Russia to cure cancer. Solzhenitsyn ingested the same root extract before his cancer went into remission. Kostoglotov is depicted as born in Leningrad, Solzhenitsyn was born in Kislovodsk.

Bureaucrats and the nature of power in Stalin's State are represented by Pavel Nikolayevich Rusanov, a "personnel officer," bully, and informer. The corrupt power of Stalin's regime is shown through his dual desires to be a "worker", and achieve a "special pension." He is discomfited by signs of a political thaw, and fears a rehabilitated man he denounced 18 years ago (to obtain the whole apartment they shared) will seek revenge. He praises his arrogant daughter, but severely criticizes his son for showing stirrings of humanity. After he is discharged, he believes he is cured, but the staff privately give him less than a year to live; his cancer cannot be rooted any more than the corruption of the 'apparatchik' class to which he belongs. At the end, Rusanov's wife drops rubbish from her car window, symbolising the carelessness with which the State treated the country. The clinic staff frequently mislead the patients about the severity of their disease, and often discharge patients they cannot help, so the number of dead patients is kept to a minimum.

Some local landmarks of Tashkent are mentioned in the novel, such as the trolleyline and Chorsu Bazaar. The zoo Kostoglotov visits is now a soccer field near Mirabad Amusement Park.

Conclusion

Kostoglotov begins two romances in the hospital, one with Zoya, a nurse and medical student, though the attraction is mostly physical, and a more serious one with Vera Gangart, one of his doctors, a middle-aged woman who has never married, and whom he imagines he might ask to become his wife. Both women invite him to stay overnight in their apartment when he is discharged, ostensibly as a friend, because he has nowhere to sleep; his status as an exile makes finding a place to lodge difficult.

His feelings for Vera are strong and seem to be reciprocated, though neither of them has spoken of it directly:

Toward the end of the novel, Kostoglotov realizes that the damage done to him, and to Russia, was too great, and that there will be no healing now that Stalin has gone. He has forgotten how to live a normal life. On the day of his release from hospital he visits a zoo, seeing in the animals people he knew:

One of the cages was empty, with a sign nailed to it, "Macaque Rhesus", then: "The little monkey that used to live here was blinded because of the senseless cruelty of one of the visitors. An evil man threw tobacco into Macaque Rhesus's eyes." Kostoglotov was "struck dumb" by this: "Why? It's senseless. Why?" The cruelty apart, he was struck by the absence of propaganda in the note. The attacker was not an agent of American imperialism or an anti-humanist. He was just an evil man.

Kostoglotov leaves the zoo, and after wandering around town decides against going to see Zoya or Vera. He does find the courage to go to Vera's once, but he has left it so late in the day that she is no longer there, and he decides not to try again. He is well aware that the hormone therapy used as part of his cancer treatment may have left him impotent, just as imprisonment and exile have taken all the life out of him. He feels he has nothing left to offer a woman, and that his past means he would always feel out of place in what he sees as normal life. Instead, he decides to accept less from life than he had hoped for, and to face it alone. He heads to the railway station to fight his way onto a train to Ush-Terek, the distant village to which he had been exiled and where he has friends. He writes a goodbye letter to Vera from the station:

Vittorio (Franco Citti), nicknamed "Accattone" (meaning 'beggar' in Italian), leads a mostly serene life as a pimp until his prostitute, Maddalena, is hurt by his rivals and sent to prison. Finding himself without either a steady income or much inclination for working himself, he first tries to reconcile with the estranged mother of his child, but is driven away by her relatives; he then encounters the (apparently) naive Stella and tries to lure her into prostituting herself for him. She is willing to try, but when her first client begins pawing her she cries and gets out of the car. Accattone tries to support her, but gives up on honest labor after one day, and following a bizarre vision of his own death, he goes stealing with a couple of friends and gets killed in a traffic accident when he tries to evade the police on a stolen motorcycle.

In the novel, Atuk is a Canadian Inuit poet from Baffin Island who gets transplanted to Toronto; however in the proposed film screenplay Atuk is a native of Alaska who ends up in New York City. In the film adaptation, Atuk was to be the son of an Inuit woman and a missionary who dreams of seeing the world outside of the Inuit territory of Alaska.

He sees his chance when a beautiful documentarian named Michelle Ross and her crew, arrive to film the village he lives in. Atuk stows away in Michelle's plane when her crew takes off from another village, after the crew lands in Canada. Michelle has no choice but to take Atuk with her past the border and into America.

The two end up at Michelle's destination, New York City. Meanwhile, powerful real estate mogul Alexander McKuen is planning to erect a massive metropolis on top of Alaska's wilderness called The Emerald. McKuen is clashing with environmentalists over the project, because they claim the city will poison the ecosystem there.

McKuen is also having problems with his sixteen-year-old son Bishop, an underage drinker and smoker who is a terror at his school. Bishop goes joyriding in his boat while he is supposed to be punished, and crashes near the pier where Atuk is and begins to drown. Atuk jumps in and saves Bishop. Bishop befriends Atuk, and takes him out for a night on the town. Alexander decides to have Atuk stay at their mansion until they can put him up in one of their hotels, something McKuen's wife Vera objects to.

McKuen reveals to Atuk that Michelle works for him, and tells Atuk he wants him to be a part of an image campaign for McKuen's project; Atuk accepts. Bishop is sent off to military school, and is angry at Atuk for having sold out to his father. Michelle and Atuk travel back to Alaska to shoot the commercials for McKuen's Emerald project, in an attempt to reassure the environmentalists who are critical of the project.

Atuk is put into dark makeup and is put through primitive Inuit paces, which makes him feel unnatural. But as they work together, Atuk and Michelle realize that they like each other very much. At a viewing of the commercial, Atuk realizes that by editing, McKuen has used him to sell his message.

Atuk, now knowing that he's been taken advantage of, breaks Bishop out of the military academy and. using a dog sled, hurries to a hearing about plans for The Emerald and convinces everyone there that he was wrong to endorse McKuen's plans because the project will be bad for the land. With all of the investors for the project pulled out, McKuen and Bishop reconcile. Atuk returns to his village, but the next day Michelle arrives in a plane asking him to go to Hawaii with her.

Atuk accepts and the two fly off in the plane, with Bishop in the co pilot's seat.

''In His Steps'' takes place in the railroad town of Raymond, located in Topeka, Kansas. The main character is the Rev. Henry Maxwell, pastor of the First Church of Raymond, who challenges his congregation to not do anything for a whole year without first asking: "What Would Jesus Do?" Other characters include Ed Norman, senior editor of the ''Raymond Daily Newspaper'', Rachel Winslow, a talented singer, and Virginia Page, an heiress, to name a few.

The novel begins on a Friday morning when a man out of work (later identified as Jack Manning) appears at the front door of Henry Maxwell while the latter is preparing for that Sunday's upcoming sermon. Maxwell listens to the man's helpless plea briefly before brushing him away and closing the door. The same man appears in the church at the end of the Sunday sermon, walks up to "the open space in front of the pulpit," and faces the people. No one stops him. He quietly but frankly confronts the congregation—"I'm not complaining; just stating facts."—about their compassion, or apathetic lack thereof, for the jobless like him in Raymond. Upon finishing his address to the congregation, he collapses, and dies a few days later.

That next Sunday, Henry Maxwell, deeply moved by the events of the past week, presents a challenge to his congregation: "Do not do anything without first asking, 'What would Jesus do?'" This challenge is the theme of the novel and is the driving force of the plot. From this point on, the rest of the novel consists of certain episodes that focus on individual characters as their lives are transformed by the challenge.

Norman decides not to print a prize fight, and to discontinue the Sunday edition, leaving a drop in subscriptions. Alexander Powers starts a small meeting for the railroad men, but also discovers the railroad's fraud against the ICC. He resigns his post, and goes to work as a telegraph clerk. Rollin Page proposes to Rachel Winslow, who rejects him, because he has no direction. Later Rachel and Virginia help Mr. and Mrs. Gray with meetings in the Rectangle (an area surrounded by saloons), and Rollin experiences conversion. Later, Virginia takes Loreen, a drunken lady who was earlier converted, to her house, to the dismay of her grandmother who leaves for high society. Jasper Chase, against the "What Would Jesus Do" vow, decides to print his novel anyway. Virginia later uses her inheritance to buy the Rectangle property and also to help Norman's newspaper. Rollin, having a purpose for his life helping people, declares love for Rachel.

Chapters 16–24 shift the action to Chicago, with Dr. Calvin Bruce from Chicago visiting Raymond, and writing what he saw. He then decides to try similarly. Dr. Bruce does a similar pledge. His bishop, Bishop Edward Hampton visits him also. Rachel's cousins, Felicia and Rose are orphaned when their father commits suicide and their mother dies of shock. They go to live in Raymond for a little bit. Dr. Bruce and the Bishop start a work in the Settlement (similar to the Rectangle), with help from Felicia. The Bishop is held up, but the robber realizes the Bishop was the same person who helped him, and he reforms. Some of the characters from the earlier chapters, such as Henry Maxwell, Rachel Winslow, appear to see the work in the Settlement. The last chapter has a vision Henry Maxwell sees, telling some of the future of many of the characters in the book.

Characters

• Rev. Henry Maxwell, pastor of 1st church of Raymond, having been there 10 years when the story starts.
• Mrs. Mary Maxwell, Henry Maxwell's wife. Appears briefly in chapter 1.
• Jack Manning, a man who lost his job 10 months earlier due to the Linotype machine making him redundant, collapses in Rev. Maxwell's church, and later dies in his house starting the chain of events.
• Dr. Phillip West, local medical doctor.
• Rachel Winslow, a young woman, cousin of Felicia and Rose, who trades a singing career for singing for the services in the Rectangle. Eventually marries Rollin Page.
• Edward Norman, editor of the Daily News
• George, one of the clerks for the Daily News, who works with the delivery boys.
• Clark, one of the managing editors of the Daily News
• Alexander Powers, Railroad superintendent of L&T R.R., later telegraph clerk
• Celia Powers, Georges daughter
• Donald Marsh, president of Lincoln College in Raymond
• Milton Wright, a businessman
• Jasper Chase, an author, rebuffed by Rachel, then conspicuously absent, finally denies his Lord.
• Virginia Page, a young heiress, friend of Rachel
• Madame Florence Page, Virginia's grandmother
• Rollin Page, Virginia's brother, who will eventually marry Rachel.
• Jennifer Winslow, Rachel's mother, and Felicia & Rose's aunt.
• Lewis Winslow, Rachel's brother
• Mr. & Mrs. John Gray, traveling evangelists, who work in the Rectangle
• Fred Morris, Endeavor Society president, later works for Norman's paper
• Loreen Carson, a drunken lady, who later dies hit on the head.
• Mrs Brown, Miss Wren, Miss Kyle, schoolteachers in Raymond

People from Chicago

• Felicia Sterling, Rachel's cousin, 19 years old with brown eyes. Orphaned in the story, later marries Clyde
• Rose Sterling, Felicia's sister, and Rachel's other cousin, 21 years old at the time of the story. Later marries for wealth, and dark details obscured.
• Mrs. Delano, a chaperone for young girls.
• Mr. Stephen Clyde, a carpenter, marries Felicia Sterling
• Rev. Calvin Bruce, D.D., seminary classmate of Henry Maxwell, pastor of Nazareth Avenue Church in Chicago. Challenged by what has happened in Raymond, does similarly in Chicago.
• Mrs. Bruce, Rev. Calvin's wife.
• Charles R. Sterling, father of Felicia and Rose. Commits suicide when he loses his fortune.
• Camilla Rolf Sterling, mother of Felicia and Rose, and Rachel's aunt. Chose to marry Charles instead of the Bishop. Dies of shock with the death of her husband.
• Bishop Edward Hampton, works with Dr. Calvin Bruce.
• Burns, a person whom Bishop Hampton helped 15 years before. Tries, with an unnamed friend to rob the Bishop, but stops when he realizes who the Bishop is.
• Clayton Price, owner of a saloon by the settlement.
• Clarence Penrose, owner of houses in Chicago.
• Diana Penrose, his daughter
• Unnamed man, who knew Jack Manning when in Philadelphia, and said he was a good man.
• Carlson, *

Jesus appears quietly at first, to one person and then to an expanding group of people in the small town of Raymond. He gradually draws more and more attention, including crowds. Jesus goes from Raymond to New York City and then Washington D.C., at points making a public splash, including media attention. The non-stereotypical character of Jesus seems fully capable of supernatural power (not showing up in pictures, for example), but chooses a nondescript mode of presenting himself. He does not appear to do dramatic public acts such as healing, but instead speaks words of comfort or lends practical help. He has views but relays them with understatement. He wears ordinary business clothes, at times blends into a crowd, and is not memorable in appearance. He is humble, practical and personable. His impact upon lives is not through obvious miracles, but old-fashioned kindness, care, and encouragement.

Somerset Frisby has a general store/gas station in a small town, and the townsfolk know him well for the tall tales he spins of his experiences, from his heroism in war to his inventions to his advice to presidents and captains of industry, all of which he fabricates. His friends gather in the store to hear him spin his stories, which they find very entertaining, and he often accompanies himself on harmonica.

That evening, as he is alone at closing time, creatures from another planet lure him into their clutches while disguised as humans, then abduct him to their spaceship. They want to add Frisby to their collection of specimens from other planets. The aliens, who accept his tales at face value, have heard Frisby claim eight doctoral degrees, so they want him as the outstanding example of the human race. Ignoring his plea that he is late for supper, the aliens insist that Frisby accompany them to their planet.

Frisby pleads that he is simply a shameless liar, but the aliens have no concept of lying, and ask him to just sit quietly and wait for departure. Unable to persuade the aliens to release him, Frisby decides to try to relax by playing his harmonica, and makes the unexpected discovery that the sound is extremely painful to the aliens, who call the notes "death sounds". After two or three aliens are rendered senseless by the harmonica, the remaining ones permit Frisby to escape. Running back to the general store, he finds his friends waiting to throw him a surprise party; in the evening's excitement, he had forgotten that it is his birthday. When he tries to tell them what happened, they enjoy a laugh at what they take to be another of Frisby's tall tales.

Nicknames

Mr. Frisby often mentions nicknames that he supposedly has received, which pertain to his tall tales. These nicknames include (ordered as mentioned):

• "Ol' Infilatin' Frisby"
• "Old Cumulus Frisby"
• "Ol' Archimedes Frisby"
• "Rear-Engine" and "Ol' Rear-Engine Frisby"
• "Stonewall Frisby" and "Stony"
• "Ol' Rocket Sauce Frisby"
• "Old Liquid Propellant Frisby"
• "Ol' Mile-A-Minute Frisby"

For his 63rd birthday, Mr. Frisby received a trophy from his friends, declaring him to be the "World's Greatest Liar".

Season 1 (1998)

In the year 1759, 17-year-old Xia Ziwei and her maid Jinsuo travel from Jinan to the Qing Empire capital Beijing, in an effort to meet her father, the Qianlong Emperor, for the first time. Qianlong Emperor had a relationship with her mother Xia Yuhe during a trip to Daming Lake, Jinan 18 years ago, and Xia Yuhe had held the secret away from Ziwei until her recent death, before which she told Ziwei to seek her father. Unable to enter the Forbidden City, Ziwei and Jinsuo meet adventuress Xiaoyanzi, also 17, at a wedding. An orphan since a young age, Xiaoyanzi lives with siblings Liu Qing and Liu Hong in a dazayuan (residential compound). The two girls become sworn sisters, and Ziwei informs Xiaoyanzi of her mission.

Xiaoyanzi and Ziwei decide that going to the mountains during the emperor's hunting trip offers the best chance to meet him. As the climb proves too difficult for the frail Ziwei and Jinsuo, Ziwei gives Xiaoyanzi her mother's fan and painting, both gifts from the emperor, and sends Xiaoyanzi as her messenger. Xiaoyanzi successfully reaches the hunting grounds but is accidentally shot by an arrow from Prince Yongqi, Qianlong Emperor's 5th son, during the hunt. Qianlong Emperor recognizes her items and mistakes the unconscious Xiaoyanzi for his and Xia Yuhe's daughter. Once Xiaoyanzi wakes up and recovers, she is given the title "Princess Huanzhu" ("Princess Returning Pearl"), while officially declared as "adoptive" daughter of the Emperor. Attempts to reveal the truth go unsuccessfully, and she also realizes that she may be charged with deceiving the emperor — an automatic death sentence — if the truth comes out.

One day, Ziwei sees Xiaoyanzi parading the streets in a sedan chair as a princess and believes Xiaoyanzi has deceived her. She chases after the sedan chair, causing a commotion, and gets beaten by soldiers. Fu Erkang, one of the emperor's bodyguards, rescues her and learns of her story. Afterwards, Ziwei and Jinsuo begin to live at the Fu household as Erkang and Ziwei gradually begin to fall in love.

Meanwhile, Yongqi, Fu Erkang and his brother Fu Ertai sneak Xiaoyanzi out of the Forbidden City to reunite her with Ziwei, who kindly forgives her. Not wanting to risk Xiaoyanzi's life, Ziwei is willing to keep the secret and give up her claims to be princess. However, as Erkang is the son of minister Fu Lun, they cannot marry as long as she is only a commoner. The gang decide the best way to reveal the secret to the emperor is to bring Ziwei and Jinsuo into the Forbidden City as imperial maids. In the palaces, Ziwei quickly attracts the emperor's attention with her talents, intelligence, and compassion. This arouses the jealousy of the empress, who secretly has her stabbed with needles at the Palace of Earthly Tranquility. Ziwei nearly dies but is rescued by her friends. Qianlong Emperor becomes more impressed with Ziwei after this incident, and decides to take her as well as Xiaoyanzi and Yongqi on a private trip outside of Beijing, dressed as civilians.

During the trip, feelings between Xiaoyanzi and Yongqi, who is aware that she is not his sister, begin to rise. The trip is abruptly ended when a group of Dacheng Jiao sect members try to assassinate the emperor. Ziwei bravely shields the emperor from a knife before the assassins are all obliterated. Ziwei miraculously survives the stabbing, and the emperor decides to marry Ziwei as his concubine.

Meanwhile, Princess Saiya from Tibet has arrived in Beijing. She develops a crush on Erkang, and Qianlong Emperor decides to approve their marriage. As Ziwei and Erkang are deeply in love by this point, the gang decide to finally reveal Ziwei's secret. The emperor is shocked by the possibility that the girl he wanted to marry is in fact his daughter, and particularly angry that Xiaoyanzi and Ziwei, two girls he trust the most, have tricked him. Xiaoyanzi, Ziwei and Jinsuo are all imprisoned at the Imperial Clan Court to await interrogations.

On orders of the empress, Liang Tinggui, the man in charge of the Imperial Clan Court, tries to force the girls to sign a statement that their intentions were to murder the emperor. When they refuse, the trio are whipped harshly. Knowing that the three cannot survive long in such conditions, Yongqi, Erkang, Ertai and the Liu siblings risk their lives and break into the jail to free the girls. At the same time, Qianlong Emperor realizes how much he loves Xiaoyanzi and Ziwei and decides to release them, but is furious after discovering that they had already escaped.

After briefly on the run, the friends decide to return to the Forbidden City. Despite his original intention to behead them all, Qianlong Emperor is heartbroken to learn that the three girls were tortured in prison. He forgives all of them, beheads Liang Tinggui, and accepts both Ziwei and Xiaoyanzi as his daughters. He also orders the empress to be punished but relents after Ziwei pleads mercy on her behalf.

The last obstacle, the marriage proposal between Saiya and Erkang, is solved when Ertai courts Saiya and successfully wins her heart. The story concludes with a ceremony, during which Ziwei is proclaimed "Princess Mingzhu" ("Princess Bright Pearl"), and Qianlong Emperor announcing the engagements between Xiaoyanzi and Yongqi, Ziwei and Erkang, and Ertai and Saiya. He also officially abolishes the princess title of Xiaoyanzi, giving a lesser title "Lady Huanzhu" instead.

Season 2 (1999)

In the year 1760, the Uyghur leader Ali Khoja sends his daughter Hanxiang to become a concubine for the Qianlong Emperor. Hanxiang was born with a natural scent that attracts butterflies. She has long loved another man, Mengdan, with whom she unsuccessfully eloped several times.

Xiaoyanzi, Ziwei, Yongqi, and Erkang meet Mengdan at the restaurant and hotel recently opened by Liu Qing and Liu Hong. There, they learned of the love story of Mengdan and Hanxiang. Ultimately, they decide to help Hanxiang escape the Forbidden City and escape with Mengdan.

With the empress dowager returning to the palace, the empress and Wet-Nurse Rong plot against Xiaoyanzi and Ziwei, creating tension between Xiaoyanzi and Ziwei and the empress dowager by continuously pointing out the imperfections of the two girls. The empress dowager, being extremely traditional, takes an immediate disliking to Xiaoyanzi's lack of education and proper manners, while being extremely suspicious and resenting to acknowledge Ziwei's status as her granddaughter as it is unclear if she is actually Qianlong's illegitimate child. Ziwei also had a near-death experience at the torture of empress dowager after being accused of plotting to kill Qianlong after the empress had a voodoo doll planted in her bedroom. Qing'er, Qianlong's niece and a favorite companion of empress dowager, ultimately figures out the doll could not have been made by Ziwei or Xiaoyanzi. Xiaoyanzi, remaining to be referred as princess despite the change of her title, also temporarily escapes the palace where she is kept as a slave in a chess shop because she could not take the rigid rules and Yongqi repeatedly emphasizing the need to be more educated. She mistakes his good intentions as him being ashamed of her when he has all along loved her for who she is. Yongqi does this at the insistence of Qianlong as empress dowager has repeatedly threatened to end both Yongqi's and Erkang's respective engagement as she believed that Xiaoyanzi is not good enough to be Yongqi's wife and that Erkang is better paired with her favorite Qing'er, who is without doubt of royal descent. After Xiaoyanzi's return, Yongqi and the others plead to empress dowager to accept Xiaoyanzi for who she is and to not force the rigid rules on her, for, not being a real Princess, she can never meet the empress dowager's expectations. The empress dowager has no choice but to accept their engagement after Yongqi and Erkang both reveal that they would rather live as a commoner with Xiaoyanzi and Ziwei than remain as a Prince and a royal imperial guard.

Qing'er serves as a rival love interest between Erkang and Ziwei at empress dowager's insistence but despite Qing'er's actual feelings for Erkang, she does not want to get involved between Erkang and Ziwei after realizing that he would never be able to love her as well. She becomes good friends with Ziwei and ultimately helps Ziwei and Xiaoyanzi out of trouble when the empress dowager is furious at them for their various actions that does not meet in accordance with proper lady like manners.

After several attempts to resist Qianlong who was trying to force himself on her, Hanxiang accidentally cuts Emperor Qianlong's arm. When the empress dowager finds out about this, she secretly forces Hanxiang to drink poison as punishment. Xiaoyanzi, Yongqi, Ziwei, Jinsuo, and Erkang rush back but are not able to make it in time. Hanxiang is said to have died. Before she "dies", the aroma emitting from her body strengthens and tens of hundreds of butterflies fly to her side and circle the room. They leave and so does the aroma. In the end, Hanxiang is saved by the repeated attempts from Xiaoyanzi. She is ultimately saved by eating the life-saving medicine that her father gave her, in the case of an emergency. After this affair, Hanxiang loses her scent.

After Hanxiang's escape, the group lies to Qianlong that Hanxiang turned into a butterfly and flew away. As a result of Wet-Nurse Rong and the empress plotting against Xiaoyanzi and Ziwei, the birthday of Ziwei is denied by her grandaunt and granduncle, making it incompatible with the year Qianlong supposedly met Ziwei's mother. When Qianlong finds out Ziwei might not be his daughter, he sends the five to jail. Yongqi escapes after pretending that he is sick. Qianlong later sentences Xiaoyanzi and Ziwei to death. Jinsuo is sent away as a forced labor, while Erkang is imprisoned for 15 years and his titles are annulled. However, they eventually escape with help from their friends, especially Qing'er and Consort Ling. They decide to leave the Forbidden City permanently and travel to Dali. They are temporarily reunited with Mengdan and Hanxiang and witness their marital union before ultimately traveling to Dali separately. This is the last time these two characters appear in the series.

On the trip, they encounter many incidences where they lend a hand to save the weak such as stepping in to prevent the burning at the stake of a local girl who was impregnated out of wedlock and saved her life. On the road they encounter Qianlong's men who were intent on capturing them alive and to not hurt them at Qianlong's orders. Xiaoyanzi and Jinsuo are captured and taken away separately while Ziwei falls out of the carriage and temporarily loses her eyesight. Xiao Jian and Yongqi rescue Xiaoyanzi and are horrified to find a reclusive, terrified, and blind Ziwei while keeping the emotionally strained Erkang at arm's length after being afraid of becoming a permanent burden to him. At Erkang's insistence and reassurance, Ziwei finally accepts the reality that she may be permanently blind and that she can still live a fulfilling life with him by her side. The five of them travel together to the next city while leaving behind markers for Liu Qing, Liu Hong, and Jinsuo as they search for doctors able to cure Ziwei's blindness. Erkang leaves Ziwei in the care of Xiaoyanzi temporarily as he goes on to ask for directions to the next doctor, Xiaoyanzi becomes preoccupied with a game of Chess going on at a nearby table in the middle of the street and completely forgets about the blind Ziwei. As a result, Ziwei is taken by a local thug and is sold to a local brothel while a frantic Erkang and a deeply repentant Xiaoyanzi search the streets. Ziwei is ultimately found with the help of Xiao Jian's connections in the city and was able to save herself with the threat of suicide as Erkang saves her just in time. Erkang forgives Xiaoyanzi at Ziwei's insistence and they are finally reunited with Jinsuo, Liu Qing and Liu Hong. Liu Qing and Liu Hong had traveled to rescue Jinsuo and ultimately hide in a rural village where Jinsuo was to recover from her injuries. Jinsuo and Liu Qing fall in love as he takes care of her and are later married after being reunited with the group.

Throughout this time, Qianlong realizes that he truly misses the presence of Xiaoyanzi and Ziwei and he reveals to Consort Ling that him sentencing them to death was ultimately out of pure rage and that in the end, Xiaoyanzi and Ziwei would indeed ultimately be spared had Erkang and Yongqi not rescued them. The group continue to run for their life as they mistake Qianlong's men for assassins when they were really sent on the orders of the empress. Erkang and Yongqi are hurt and Ziwei miraculously recovers her sight after being terrified at Erkang's near-death experience. Qianlong is horrified as he receives reports of Erkang and Yongqi getting hurt in the subsequent fights and Ziwei's blindness and finally sends Fulun to contact them as Erkang would ultimately listen to his father and believe that Qianlong has finally forgiven them and would like their safe return.

Along the way, they discover that the mysterious guy they met at Liu Qing and Liu Hong's restaurant who has helped them throughout this whole fugitive stage, Xiao Jian, is actually Xiaoyanzi's long-lost brother after Yongqi's jealousy at his kindness to Xiaoyanzi becomes too overbearing as he mistakes it as him trying to steal Xiaoyanzi away. Xiaoyanzi and Yongqi had repeatedly argued throughout this time as Xiaoyanzi firmly believes that Yongqi was still hung up on being a Prince and could not accept her commoner ways while Yongqi would disagree with her actions and decisions. It is later revealed to Erkang that the reason Xiaoyanzi is an orphan is because of Qianlong. Xiaoyanzi's father was rallying against the government and later their whole family was sentenced to death as a result. In order to save Xiao Jian and Xiaoyanzi, they were sent away separately. Xiao Jian ultimately decides against revealing the truth to Xiaoyanzi and to give up the act of revenge at Erkang's insistence to preserve Xiaoyanzi's upbeat happiness, and to have Qianlong continue to love and adore her as his own daughter for she has always desired the love of a father.

After Fulun finds the group, they believe that Qianlong has forgiven them but unanimously decide to not return as their feelings towards Qianlong and the Forbidden City have changed. They desire the carefree life of commoners without the rigid rules and chaos that surrounded their life while living in the Forbidden City where Xiaoyanzi and Ziwei were particularly susceptible to punishment. In the end, the Emperor travels himself to convince them to return to the Forbidden City as he does not care if they helped Hanxiang escape, or if Ziwei is actually his daughter. There, he awards both Ziwei and Xiaoyanzi with a gold ensign Each one can excuse them from three executions. The empress dowager ultimately forgives Ziwei and Xiaoyanzi at the insistence of Qianlong and acknowledges them as her granddaughters. Qianlong and the empress dowager later discover the empress had been plotting against Xiaoyanzi and Ziwei sending assassins to kill them along with Erkang and Yongqi disguising it as the command of Qianlong. It is also revealed that the voodoo doll was planted by the empress, and Ziwei's granduncle and grandaunt lied about the birthday of Ziwei after being bribed by the empress, thus clarifying Ziwei's identity as a princess. Qianlong is furious and commands both the empress and her maidservant, Wet-Nurse Rong, to be beheaded. However, Ziwei pulls out her gold insignia and uses up two pardons: one for Wet-Nurse Rong and one for the empress.

Because of this affair, Wet-Nurse Rong and the empress both grow appreciative of Ziwei and Xiaoyanzi. Afterwards, Xiaoyanzi and Yongqi, along with Ziwei and Erkang, are finally married.

The story of ''Xenosaga: The Animation'' is based on the narrative of ''Xenosaga Episode I'', a game developed for the PlayStation 2 by Monolith Soft and Namco. Set in a science fiction reality thousands of years in the future, humanity lives in multiple planets forming the Galaxy Federation after being forced to abandon Earth following a disaster tied to a mystical artifact called the Zohar; Earth has since become known as Lost Jerusalem. Humanity has come under attack from a hostile alien race called the Gnosis, which is immune to normal weapons. The narrative follows Shion Uzuki, a scientist working for Vector Industries, and the anti-Gnosis battle android KOS-MOS. The two are driven from their ship the ''Woglinde'' by a Gnosis attack triggered after the ''Woglinde'' picked up the Zohar. The anime roughly follows the plot of ''Episode I'', although some events are altered or condensed.

Act I

Grace O’Malley, the eighteen-year-old daughter of Dubhdara, Chieftain of the O’Malley clan, and her childhood sweetheart Tiernan sneak aboard the newly-christened ship ''The Pirate Queen'' ("Prologue"). Grace tells her father she wants to be a sailor, but Dubhdara tells her it is impossible, as it is considered unlucky to have a woman on board a ship. Grace expresses her frustration to Tiernan ("Woman").

Grace disguises herself as a cabin boy and stows away. When one of the ship's spars breaks in a storm, Grace climbs the rigging to cut the mainsail free. The sailors cheer the "boy's" bravery, but are shocked to learn his true identity. Dubhdara is furious, but appreciates Grace's heroism, so he allows her to join the ship's crew. Since her mother's death, Grace has been Dubhdara's only family. Though he loves her deeply, he realises that he barely knows the passionate woman she has become ("My Grace"). Tiernan is overjoyed that the woman he loves will be allowed to stay on the ship. Although their relationship must be kept secret, they swear themselves to each other ("Here on This Night").

During a battle with an English vessel, Dubhdara is wounded and Grace instinctively takes charge. Though outnumbered, they defeat the English soldiers and sink the warship. Seeing what his daughter has done, Dubhdara decides to defy tradition and train her to be a sea captain like himself. Several years pass.

In 1558, Henry VIII's successor, Mary Tudor, dies suddenly, and Elizabeth I ascends to the throne ("The Waking of the Queen"). Elizabeth summons her court, and shows her condescending ministers how forceful she intends to be as Queen ("Rah-Rah, Tip-Top"). The Queen names her royal advisor Sir Richard Bingham the Lord Governor of Ireland, with instructions to quell the Irish rebellion and kill Grace O'Malley.

The increased aggression from England forces the Irish clans to take drastic measures. Dubhdara summons the chieftain of his clan's ancient rival, the Clan O’Flaherty, to a meeting in which he proposes that they arrange a marriage between Grace, and O’Flaherty's son, Donal. When the marriage produces a son, the clans will be united. Grace is horrified, since she loves Tiernan, yet she knows the necessity for such a political act and agrees ("The Choice Is Mine"). Donal vows that he will tame this Pirate Queen ("Boys’ll Be Boys"). The next day, the two clan leaders preside over "The Wedding". Tiernan watches, devastated, yet senses that Grace will need him one day and he decides to stay near her ("I’ll Be There").

The English set a trap for Grace. They land in the small town of Belclare and the men take up arms, leaving Grace and the women behind. With the town deserted except for "helpless females," Grace mobilizes the women and they kill the invaders. Only Bingham is left alive, with instructions to tell the Queen "he was bested by a woman."

Tiernan arrives with news that Dubhdara is dying. Grace races off to Clew Bay, and Clan O’Flaherty goes with her ("A Day Beyond Belclare"). Donal expects that his marriage to Grace will make him the chieftain of both clans, but Dubhdara, however, passes the chieftain's ring and mantle to Grace, making her the first woman ever to become leader of a clan. Dubhdara dies, and the clan gives him a sailor's funeral, in a flaming boat set out to sea ("Sail to the Stars").

Act II

Grace, once again captain of ''The Pirate Queen'', gives birth aboard ship ("It's a Boy"). ''The Pirate Queen'' is attacked by the English and Grace, despite having just given birth, joins the fight ("Enemy at Port Side"). The Irish prevail, at considerable cost, but Grace can only think of Donal's cowardice. According to Irish law, a marriage becomes permanent only after three years. Grace invokes this law and banishes Donal from her life ("I Dismiss You"). Once again, Grace and Tiernan are free to be together ("If I Said I Loved You").

In England, Elizabeth faces a complex dilemma. As Queen, her most important obligation is to produce an heir ("The Role of the Queen"). When Donal arrives at the christening of his son Eoin ("The Christening/Let a Father Stand By His Son"), Bingham and his English troops burst into the ceremony, killing many of the O’Malley clan and taking Grace prisoner. Donal and Tiernan engage in violent battle, during which Donal is killed. Tiernan takes the child to safety.

Grace is imprisoned for seven years, during which time Bingham completes his conquest of Ireland. Tiernan offers himself in exchange for Grace, so that she can return to her child ("Surrender"). To everyone's amazement, Elizabeth accepts Tiernan's offer and releases Grace ("She Who Has All").

Grace returns to find Ireland despoiled by Bingham's marauding English troops. Reunited with her son and seeing the Ireland Eoin will now inherit, Grace sets sail for England to plead the case for Ireland ("The Sea of Life"). Elizabeth is enraged at Grace's return, but Grace appeals to Elizabeth woman to woman, urging the Queen not to ignore her nature but to use it to rule wisely. After a two hour long discussion, Elizabeth restores Grace's lands and ships and releases Tiernan from prison ("Woman to Woman").

Grace and Tiernan return to Ireland where they are reunited with Eoin. At last they marry, and the Irish people celebrate with a plea for Ireland to be once and forever at peace ("Finale").

Julia Jones is an obese woman who dreams of marrying Napoleon Dynamite, but even in her dreams, she is rejected. Writing in her diary, she thinks she will never find her true love. Julia goes outside and dances to impress men on the streets, but is unsuccessful. Julia goes to work at her father Frank's Greek diner, where she meets and is instantly attracted to Grant Fockyerdoder. When Frank yells at Julia to get an order, she turns to respond and accidentally hits Grant over the head with the coffee pot she is holding, knocking him to the floor. She turns around only to find his table is suddenly empty and figures he ran away. Wanting help, Julia visits a love therapist, Hitch, who initially rejects her but reluctantly agrees to help her, taking her to a garage where she gets "pimped out" and made slimmer.

She earns a spot on a reality television dating show called ''The Extreme Bachelor: Desperate Edition'', the bachelor turning out to be Grant, the man she met in the diner. Host Ty Andrews introduces Grant, who greets all the women and is asked to eliminate the losers, which he does by shooting them one by one. As the last woman standing, Julia is rewarded with dinner for two at a restaurant called "A Restaurant". After their meal, Julia and Grant venture to her apartment, where they have sex. Julia takes Grant to meet her parents.

Later, Grant takes Julia to Tiffany & Co., where they turn on the lights to reveal the salespeople ready to let her pick whatever she wants. Grant then confesses he loves her and proposes to her. Julia happily accepts. The couple then meets with Grant's parents, Bernie and Roz, who recommend they go see a wedding planner, after which Roz reveals that Grant lost his virginity to the housekeeper, Eduardo. Julia and Grant go to the wedding planner named Jell-O, who has massive buttocks. Julia stresses that she wants a traditional wedding, but Jell-O suggests that they go to a restaurant called Taco Butt, which they decline. However, she gets upset and tells them that's the best she can do on short notice. Grant tries to ease the awkward situation by saying he has a best man they will meet up with later, which relaxes Jell-O as she shows them what she has booked for the entertainment. Jell-O uses her butt to knock over her desk, then aggressively rips off her clothes to reveal a gold spandex bra and tights, shocking the couple and revealing that she is the wedding entertainment. She shows off her dance moves until she backs up to them as they scream in fear, while she joyfully crushes & smothers them with her butt, getting even on declining her earlier offer. Grant introduces Julia to his ex-fiancée, Andy, who seemingly harbors no resentment towards Julia for marrying Grant, going so far as to help Julia shop for her wedding dress. At the dress store, Julia hits her head on a power box and finds that she can read people's thoughts. Julia finds from reading Andy's mind that she wants to get back together with Grant and plans to split the two of them up. Julia and Andy fight each other, ''Kill Bill''-style.

On the day of their wedding Julia arrives at the church late, she then witnesses Grant and Andy sharing a kiss (but Julia is unaware that Grant tried to reject Andy's desires to get back together with her) leaving Julia heartbroken. Since she cannot forgive Grant, Julia agrees to marry Nicky. Once at the altar with Nicky, Julia is regretting it and has flashbacks about her and Grant. Frank objects to the union and realizes he was wrong about Grant who liked her even when Julia was ugly, and he persuades her to go after Grant who is revealed to have waited for months. Julia journeys to meet him as he is leaving while tossing aside Andy who was pursuing him too. Julia arrives too late and sees Grant on the streets before she falls off the roof, though Grant conveniently catches her. They get back together and get married, with Hitch officiating and now dating Jell-O. Andy and Nicky meet at the wedding and fall in love. Meanwhile, Grant and Julia leave in a horse and carriage. Roz also gifts her with a vaginal thermometer which apparently has been in their family for generations and is regarded as good luck when kept unwashed.

On their honeymoon, Grant and Julia go to Skull Island and film a woman, Anne, tied to two pieces of wood. After King Kong rips off Anne's dress and gropes her, she says "I like hairy boys", and King Kong roars and flattens her.

Ernie Driscoll is a former boxer who, after sustaining an injury in the ring severe enough to force him to give up prize-fighting, is a New York taxi driver.

His wife, Pauline, unhappy living a hard-up life, is having an affair with well-heeled jewel thief Victor Rawlins. An arrangement Rawlins made, to be paid for a batch of diamonds he has stolen, falls through; his fence indicates it is the presence of Pauline that has impeded the deal. In an effort to rekindle it, Rawlins kills Pauline and attempts to frame Driscoll for the murder.

With the help of a female acquaintance, Driscoll tries to track down Rawlins before the criminal leaves the country.

Claudia Larson is a single mother who has just been fired from her job as an art restorer due to budget cuts. She flies from Chicago to spend Thanksgiving at the Baltimore home of her parents, Adele and Henry Larson, while her only child Kitt decides to stay home and spend the holiday with her boyfriend. As she is dropping her mother off at the airport, Kitt informs Claudia that she intends to have sex with her boyfriend for the first time while she's gone. While on the plane, Claudia makes a phone call to Tommy, her younger brother and confidant, who she believes won't be attending the Thanksgiving dinner, telling him that she lost her job, made out with her boss, and knows that her daughter is going to have sex with her boyfriend.

When Claudia arrives at the airport, she is greeted by her parents, who drive her to their home and help her unpack. Claudia remarks that she's thinking of looking into new careers. Adele concludes that Claudia lost her job, which she initially denies. That night, Tommy arrives with his friend Leo Fish, whom Claudia believes to be his boyfriend. Claudia is glad to see her brother but fears that he and Jack, his boyfriend, have broken up.

The next day, more family members arrive, including their eccentric Aunt Glady (Adele's sister), who once was a very bright Latin teacher but now shows signs of dementia. While returning home after picking up groceries, Claudia runs into a girl she used to go to school with. As Claudia feels diminished by talk of her divorce, Leo comes to her aid. The next family member to arrive is Claudia's resentful, conservative sister, Joanne Wedman, who is accompanied by her stuffy banker husband Walter and their two spoiled children.

On Thanksgiving Day, a series of mishaps occur. Aunt Glady professes her love for Henry, and Tommy accidentally drops the turkey all over Joanne and goes too far with his jokes. Joanne reveals to everyone that Tommy had married Jack in a beach wedding several months ago. Their parents are hurt that they weren't told, and Adele retreats to a hidden pantry by the kitchen, where Claudia attempts to console her.

After the meal, Kitt calls Claudia to say that she's fine and has decided not to have sex with her boyfriend. Tommy, Leo, Walter, and Walter Jr. play football while Henry washes everybody's cars. When Walter gets frustrated by Tommy and Leo bending the rules, he spikes the ball on Tommy's classic GTO causing the brothers-in-law to fight. Walter wrestles Tommy onto the ground and threatens him. Tommy accidentally punches Leo who's trying to break them up. Henry sprays his son and son-in-law with the hose, and the Wedmans jump into the car and leave.

The family returns inside, where they talk for a while. The phone rings a second time, and Henry answers; it turns out to be Jack calling. Before handing the phone over to Tommy, Henry says that he's happy for both of them.

Adele insists that Claudia and Leo drive Aunt Glady home, then deliver leftovers to Joanne's family. On the drive from Glady’s home to the Wedmans’, Leo tells Claudia that Tommy showed him a picture of her, and he came to Thanksgiving to meet her. They end up kissing on the Wedmans’ front porch.

Claudia goes down to the Wedmans' basement where Joanne is exercising, to talk to her. Joanne says, "If I just met you on the street...if you gave me your phone number, I’d throw it away." Claudia responds, "We don’t have to like each other, we're family".

Arriving back at Claudia’s parents’ home, Leo and Claudia talk and begin to make out in the living room, but Tommy, who is sleeping on the floor, wakes up and reminds Leo that they have to get an early start in the morning. Claudia retreats upstairs to her room; Leo follows her but fails in persuading her to let him in.

Early the next morning, Claudia wakes up and sees Tommy and Leo driving away. She goes downstairs and reminisces with her father for a while, before being taken to the airport and boarding her plane. Before the plane takes off, Leo gets in the seat next to her, and they fly back to Chicago together.

Most of the film takes place in a pool hall run by Nick (Rod Steiger). Obsessed by the world of pool, Johnny (Mars Callahan) could be one of the best. But his mentor Joe (Chazz Palminteri), a shady , trains Johnny as a hustler, and decides how and who Johnny plays. Unbeknownst to Johnny, Joe has been holding him back from his dream: playing in the legitimate pro tour. When Johnny finally learns that Joe intercepted and threw away an invitation for Johnny to join the pro tour, he breaks from Joe, throwing a game with a large . Losing both that stake money and his hustler income source sparks Joe to violence, and he breaks Johnny's hand outside the pool hall (an homage to a similar scene in the classic pool film ''The Hustler''). Joe is later beaten up by some of Johnny's friends as a warning to leave him alone.

After an ultimatum from his girlfriend Tara (Alison Eastwood), Johnny largely leaves the world of pool hustling, and finally commits to a "real" job in the construction business, but is soon miserable there. He finds himself spending most of his time with his younger brother Danny (Michael Rosenbaum), a musician with aspirations of following in Johnny's hustler footsteps, despite Johnny's discouragement of this path. Johnny meets Tara's wealthy uncle, Mike (Christopher Walken); he and Johnny hustle some of Mike's business associates, one an executive at Tara's employer. Rather than bet money or on himself, Johnny wagers a high-placed position for Tara, with Mike putting up an expensive car as their side of the stake. Johnny wins a challenging trick-shot bet (to duplicate a difficult shot Mike had made in the previous game), and the promotion for Tara, but keeps the reason for her new opportunity a secret. (She eventually figures out the reason behind her advancement to such a competitive position, but understands that Johnny was just trying to help her the only way he knew how.)

As for Joe, he is bent on revenge for the beating he took, and soon he has a new protégé, Brad (Rick Schroder), who is just as good as, if not better, than Johnny. Joe also has his eye on Johnny's brother as a for Brad's hustling. Brad and Danny play a high-stakes game of pool which ends in a huge debt owed to Joe by Danny, who was no match for Brad. Johnny later finds that his brother is in jail for trying to steal the money he owes, and that Joe is going to come after Johnny for the money. The only way out is for Johnny to play against Brad for an even larger sum – to pay off Joe and fund his brother's legal defense. This results in a -to-nine showdown that pits two of the greatest players against each other for a large sum of money – and perhaps even for Johnny and Danny's lives. One of the brothers' affluent friends puts up some of the stake money, and Mike provides the rest, then even increases the stakes. During a tense time-out, Mike delivers a memorable monologue (in Walken's intense style, as most famously used in ''Pulp Fiction''), likening Johnny to a slumbering lion whose time has come to rise up and chase off the hyenas and jackals. Mike then raises the stakes, to a level that will bankrupt Joe if Brad loses.

The match comes down to a very difficult final shot for Brad. Johnny s Brad while he is calculating how to take the shot, telling him how easy the shot is and how Johnny would even pay to take that shot for him. Smelling an opportunity to get more money from Johnny, Joe agrees and makes Brad let Johnny attempt the shot. Johnny does so, but does not the final ball. As Brad prepares to take the winning shot, Johnny stops him: since he paid for the privilege of taking Brad's turn for him, it is now Johnny's own turn again. Before Brad or Joe can react, Johnny easily pockets the last ball and wins the match, having exploited the hustling techniques he learned from Joe to do so. Joe is prepared to resort to violence again, but Johnny predicted this and has the same friends who roughed up Joe before drag him away. Brad stays out of it, and on his way out of the pool hall suggests Johnny should get onto the pro tour. In the closing shot, Johnny is shown happily playing a pro-tour match. (The resolution of Danny's legal trouble is left as a loose end.)

The plot of the series focuses on Marco, a boy who lives with his family in the harbor city of Genoa, Italy during a depression period in 1881. Marco's father, Pietro Rossi, is a manager of a hospital who dedicates his time to treating poor patients, and therefore the family has financial difficulties. His beloved mother, Anna Rossi, goes to Argentina to work as a maid to earn money for Marco. When the letters from his mother stop coming after an indication that she is sick, Marco fears the worst for her fate. Since his father is too busy working in his clinic and his older brother Tonio was sent to train as a locomotive driver in Milan, he is the only one free to go search for her.

Marco takes his older brother's pet monkey Amedeo and they sneak aboard the Andrea Doria, a ship bound for Brazil. In Brazil, Marco boards an immigrant ship and arrives in Buenos Aires, where he meets a puppeteer called Peppino and his family, whom he knew from Genoa. They accompany him to Bahía Blanca to try to locate his mother.

In Bahía Blanca, he discovers his uncle stole the letters which his mother had sent him. He returns to Buenos Aires and sails off on a ship to Rosario; there he tries to figure out how to get on a train to Córdoba. Marco's Italian friends collect money and buy him a train ticket. Marco arrives in Córdoba, and successfully finds the agricultural engineer Mister Mequinez. He tells Marco that his mother works for his brother in Tucumán and gives him enough money for a train ticket. But Marco ends up giving the money to a doctor to save the life of a poor girl he meets. Marco sneaks on the train, but he gets caught and tossed off in the middle of nowhere. A group of traveling Roma rescue him and give him an old donkey.

After a few days, the donkey dies and Marco continues to walk to Tucumán. He eventually arrives to his destination hungry and tired, and finds his mother. His mother is very sick and needs an operation, but she is too weak. As soon as she sees Marco, she regains her strength and manages to go through the surgery successfully.

At the end of the series, Marco and his mother return to Genoa, where the family is reunited.

Teenage Troy McGreggor finds a map belonging to his late father Thomas, who was murdered seven years earlier. Thomas, an archaeologist, met his untimely death after becoming involved with a mysterious cult led by a sinister man with supernatural powers known only as Satoris. The orphaned Troy decides to study the map to learn about the circumstances of his father's death. Sensing the map has been uncovered, the cultists track Troy down. After a failed home invasion, they give chase as Troy flees via bicycle. Eventually, Troy escapes by jumping into the back of a battered pickup truck heading into the Alberta countryside. Soon, the truck breaks down and Troy meets its owner: an alcoholic drifter named Zap Rowsdower. The two are able to get the truck to run again and Zap warms up to Troy as they head to a nearby town. Upon arriving at a gas station to refuel, Zap phones the police to report finding Troy. As he does this, the cultists slowly approach them and begin to pursue them by vehicle into the countryside, where Zap and Troy are able to lose them.

Later that night, Zap reveals to Troy the origins of the Ziox civilization as well as details about his life before becoming a vagabond. The next morning, the truck stalls and the two are left with no other option than to walk the rest of the way back to civilization, unaware that the cultists are still in pursuit. The two wander through the countryside and through a hidden cave. They find themselves pursued by the cult again as this leads them to the lodge of a shotgun-wielding hermit, Mike Pipper (Ron Anderson). A tear in Rowsdower's jacket reveals that he was a member of the same cult that has been after them. Before opening fire on them, Rowsdower calls Troy by his surname to save them. Pipper, recognizing the name, reveals that he was a close friend as well as an expedition partner of Thomas' and has been hiding in the woods from Satoris for the past seven years. He later explains how the cultists are the last descendants of an ancient and advanced race called the Ziox, who had inhabited the area long before the Indians, and whose civilization was destroyed by their god in a month-long rainstorm after they turned to worshiping unholy idols. According to Pipper, the Ziox built a great city that was more advanced than "anything the ancient Egyptians or Romans ever knew". He believes that Satoris wants to raise the buried city in hopes that it will restore power to the Ziox and allow him to conquer/rule the entire world. After Zap leaves the two, Pipper confides to Troy that Rowsdower was with the cult the night Troy’s father was killed and that Zap may have possibly been the one that killed him. In a dream sequence, Rowsdower relives the night the cult’s insignia was branded on his arm, like the other cultists. Satoris seems to be able to torment Rowsdower through the mark, as we see Rowsdower writhing in agony while asleep, presumably having a Satoris-induced nightmare.

Troy is captured by Satoris, who uses the map to locate their ancient idol. Satoris means to make Troy the titular final sacrifice. Pipper gives him his horse and a rifle, directing him to the ancient Ziox sacrifice site that he was able to decipher from Troy's map. Rowsdower discovers the site of the idol and duels with Satoris. During the fight, Satoris mocks Rowsdower with the fact that he could not bring himself to kill Troy’s father, implying Satoris had to do it himself. Satoris is about to kill Rowsdower when Troy manages to intervene, shooting the cult leader. Satoris’ death causes the destruction of the idol and the reemergence of the lost city of Ziox, indicating that Satoris was the true final sacrifice. Instead of bringing about evil, the risen city (as Pipper had foretold) is actually a force for good, and Satoris' cult breaks up as its members are freed from his evil influence. Troy and Rowsdower observe the rise of the lost city from the ground, then drive off together.

Several years ago, the evil General Morden was foiled in his attempted ''coup d'état'' against the worlds' governments by the Peregrine Falcon Strike Force. After forming an alliance with an alien race in an attempt to stage another ''coup'', Morden was betrayed and taken prisoner by his newfound allies. His rebels troops formed an ad hoc alliance with the Strike Force and the aliens were defeated and Morden was killed. Instrumental in defeating Morden during the first ''coup'' were Cpt. Marco Rossi and Lt. Tarma Roving. Rossi (now a Major) and Roving (now a Captain) led the fight against the Morden during the second ''coup'', joined by two members of the Intelligence Agency's Special Ops Squad S.P.A.R.R.O.W.S.; Sgt. Eri Kasamoto and Sgt. 1st Class Fiolina Germi.

Several years have passed since that time, and Morden is listed as missing by his surviving followers. Determined to wipe out every remnant of Morden's powerbase, the army send Rossi and Roving to destroy all remaining rebel strongholds, one by one. During the fighting, however, Rossi and Roving come to the conclusion that the enemy is too well organised, and perhaps Morden is not dead as was initially thought. Meanwhile, the S.P.A.R.R.O.W.S. come across a series of strange events which lead the army to conclude that the aliens with whom Morden once allied himself have returned.

The Peregrine Falcon Strike Force and S.P.A.R.R.O.W.S. are once again united, and sent to defeat this new threat. After various battles against Morden's forces, the heroes face off against Morden. After defeating him, it is revealed that it was an alien in disguise, and the real Morden has been taken prisoner by the aliens. The aliens abduct the player character and leave Earth. At this point, another character takes the player character's place. An ad hoc alliance is formed between the Strike Force and Morden's troops so as to save their captured comrades. The rebels launch an armada of rocket ships to attack the alien mother ship, Rugname. After a long battle through the ship's interior, the Rugname starts to collapse due to the amount of damage it has sustained. After destroying the ship's core, the Strike Force must fight their way through armies of clones of their captured teammate, some of whom have turned into zombies. Both the captured member of the Strike Force and Morden are freed. As they escape, they are confronted by the aliens' leader, Rootmars. A battle ensues in Earth's atmosphere, which is won by the Strike Force, who leave Rootmars' body in the ocean. Upon seeing Morden and his men celebrating, the player character throws their weapon into the water in disgust.

George Dupler (Gene Hackman), a married man nearing middle age, is demoted after a temper tantrum at work (throwing a chair out of his boss's window) and reduced to working as the midnight-shift manager of an all-night pharmacy/convenience store.

George's 18-year-old son, Freddie (Dennis Quaid), is having an affair with an older, married woman, who also happens to be Freddie's fourth cousin. George advises Freddie to stop the affair before it leads to any trouble, but Freddie declares that he might love her. One night at the store, George finally meets the woman, Cheryl (Barbra Streisand), an untalented singer-songwriter married to a volatile firefighter, Bobby (Kevin Dobson), and she begins to show an interest in him. After a while, the interest is mutual.

George goes to Cheryl's house to return her cigarette lighter. She offers to show George the paint job Freddie has done in her bedroom. George and Cheryl are about to get intimate, when Freddie comes over to see Cheryl for another tryst. George escapes before Freddie could see him, but Cheryl decides to tell Freddie about the affair she is having with his dad. The next day, when George is trying to sleep, and his wife, Helen (Diane Ladd), is having a French class, Freddie confronts his father, trying to fight him. Helen hears about the affair and George leaves. When she demands a divorce, George agrees.

George ends up quitting his job and leasing a loft where he can pursue his dream of being an inventor. George goes to an anniversary party where everybody he knows is there, including his family, plus Cheryl and Bobby. He realizes Bobby is aware of the affair with his wife. George takes Cheryl away from the party and her husband. Even though Cheryl loves him, she thinks he is too good for her.

Cheryl goes to the fire station where Bobby works to talk to him. Bobby ends up yelling at her and is about to hit her when the fire alarm goes off. He and all of the firemen leave, whereupon we see that it was George who reported the nonexistent fire.

Cheryl moves into George's place. Freddie has accepted the situation and helps her move in, showing that he and his dad have reconciled.

The third episode of the Bold As Love Sequence opens on a cold beach in Mexico, where Ax and Sage are hesitantly renegotiating their relationship, while Fiorinda struggles on the brink of schizophrenic fugue. The rockstars, scarred by outrageous fortune, have dropped out, joined the masses, abandoned the centre stage: hoping to find peace. Their Avalon is invaded by Harry Lopez, the boy-wonder producer who wants to make a virtual movie about Ax Preston; who brings a summons from the US President. The secret behind the assassination of Rufus O’Niall is out. The Pentagon is openly embarked on developing the new human superweapon: but President Fred Eiffrich, who wants to stop the Neurobomb, believes the hawks are speeding the process by shocking, and extremely dangerous, means. He needs advice. With indecent haste the three decide that what they really need is the hair of the dog that bit them. Soon they are heading north to tackle the demons of the Republic of California, in an adventure where the West Coast music scene will be ignored, while Hollywood — the virtual movies, the stars, the agents, the players — takes the role that rock and roll played in England.

In ''Midnight Lamp'', the Bold As Love glamour is deconstructed by confrontation with the real world. A young woman raped by her father, and doomed by the crippling mental illness that is her heritage, featuring on the reality TV show hosted by Bollywood import, the truly wonderful Puusi Meera . A pop-icon warlord, latest darling of the Hollywood fame machine, admits to dirty secrets behind the romance of the Rock and Roll Reich. A reformed bad boy, stripped of his wealth, status and physical prowess, finds that enlightenment is no protection from remorse. Secondary characters come to the fore, loyalties are strained. The Few — shipped over from a dreary post-Ax England — are thinking of solo projects. As the Pentagon thriller unfolds, against the backdrop of an uncannily believable day-after-tomorrow tinseltown, Gwyneth Jones returns to her long-time fascination with boundary events, moments of change. The "magic" of the Bold As Love Sequence is conjured into science fictional reality (literally conjured, on stage at the Hollywood Bowl!) through the mediation of historical precedents: the sheer, limitless terror of the atom bomb when it was new; and the transition from alchemy into chemistry, myth into manufacture, in the midst of the French Revolution. And above all, there is the desert: Vireo Lake, Lavoisier, the "Cow Castle"—lyrical images of austerity and endurance, of human/nature, flayed to the point of death but undefeated.

This is the lightest in tone of the Bold As Love books, despite some inventively gory crime scenes. Dissolution has gone global, there is no escape, but by the final credits the heroes have made their peace with the Burning World, the maelstrom in which they will live and die. Yet there is a darker undertow, an elegy for those who have no hope: for the Invisible People, fragments of human souls, digital fodder for virtual movies; for the self-immolation of the Gaian martyrs; and for the unsung queen of it all, Janelle Firdous. The addictions of fame, the addictions of power, are inescapable: but most dangerous, perhaps, those who have been cheated of the glittering prizes.

In the last pages of ''Midnight Lamp'' a secret military test of the Neurobomb went live, and the altered-brain neuronauts died in the act of wiping out the planet’s reserves of fossil fuel. Like the bombs exploded over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the "A team event" seemed both horrific and benign. The latest US/Islamic conflict was over at a stroke, the terminal sickness of post-peak-oil mercifully cut short. No way back to "business as usual": now there ''must'' be a new world, a better world. ''Band of Gypsys'' opens, some months later, with a complete change of pace. Having failed to make terms with a corrupt and dangerous Westminster government, the Triumvirate are in Paris, conducting a mordant John and Yoko style, "bed-in" in protest against conditions in English labour camps. Ax gets some bad news. US President Fred Eiffrich, the man who "Banned the Bomb", is doomed: brought down by a cunningly manufactured scandal.

The hour is getting late. The rescue of Ax's family, held as hostages for his good behaviour, shows Ax and friends doing what they do best: extracting bloodless victory from a nasty situation. There is a festival at Reading, there's a clandestine mind/matter tech space programme in the basement of the Heads' Battersea HQ. The ideals of the Rock and Roll Reich are alien to a new, post-Crisis generation. The leaders of fashion are neo-feudalist dandy Jack Vries MP (secret chief of the secret police), and Toby Starborn, sinister young virtual artist. Ax 'n Sage 'n Fiorinda are outdated icons, corpses in the mouths of the bourgeoisie. When Ax and Sage are engulfed in the Lavoisier Massacre Scandal a moment's shocking loss of control precipitates disaster. The Triumvirate find themselves—like many English Royals before them—incarcerated. Once more they are forced to provide rock-star window-dressing for a reactionary and degenerate Green regime, but this time Ax Preston has no miraculous solutions. Locked away in the shadowy, haunted fortress of Wallingham House, the prisoners hear distant echoes of a new blitzkrieg. The Chinese, emerging from their own struggle with the Crisis years, are taking over in Central Asia. They are almost at the gates of Europe.

Stucker, Minor and Pataki are cast as a gay fashion designer, a horny soul brother (catchphrase - "This is the best-lookin' piece I've seen in a long time!") and an incompetent impressionist, respectively. The three escape their mental asylum and sexually assault their way into a girls' school. Their broad, knockabout performances attempt to keep the film's (fairly objectionable) content amusing rather than disturbing. The entire female cast consists of softcore porn models (mostly drawn from men's magazines of the era) who don skimpy karate costumes and violently turn the tables on their tormentors.

The plot is about three characters: L.A. Deputy Sheriff Danny Upshaw investigates a string of brutal sex murders, working outside the law in his efforts to catch the killer; Turner "Buzz" Meeks, a disgraced former cop, now works for millionaire Howard Hughes and gangster Mickey Cohen as a fixer and begins a dangerous affair with Cohen's mistress Audrey Anders; LAPD lieutenant Malcolm "Mal" Considine, involved in a bitter child custody case, tries, with varying success, to do the right things in an environment of deception, paranoia, and brutality. The three men gradually become part of a task force investigating communism in Hollywood. The story takes place in the aftermath of the notorious Sleepy Lagoon murder case and the resultant Zoot Suit Riots.

Over the course of the novel, Upshaw becomes increasingly obsessed with his murder case and begins to confront his own latent homosexuality in the process. The murders begin to connect to the United Alliance of Extras and Stagehands (UAES), a left-leaning Hollywood labor union being targeted by the task force, when an actor affiliated with the organization, Reynolds Loftis, matches the description of the suspected killer. Upshaw's investigation, however, is cut tragically short when a feud between county and city police leads to him being pegged for the killing of a corrupt LAPD detective who questioned his sexuality. Fearing the outcome of this investigation, Upshaw takes his own life with the murder spree still unsolved.

Meeks and Considine, Upshaw's former partner, pick up the investigation. Meeks does this out of a sense of responsibility - he committed the killing for which Upshaw was framed, but did so in self-defense while with Audrey, and his coverup of the killing inadvertently led to Upshaw being framed. Meeks and Considine share a rocky history, but set this aside to finish the case. Ultimately they identify the true killer: Loftis' illegitimate son Coleman Masskie, with whom he had an incestuous affair, and who was attempting to frame his father in retaliation. In a climactic confrontation, Masskie kills both Loftis and Considine before being killed by Meeks, who is left the sole survivor. Seeking closure, Meeks tracks down a UAES-affiliated psychiatrist who was privy to Masskie's murderous inclinations. He discovers that Masskie, who briefly spoke to Upshaw as a witness early in the investigation, began stalking the deputy and developed a mutual sexual obsession with him.

The investigation also provides an apparent, fictional solution to the Sleepy Lagoon murder - it's revealed that a young Masskie witnessed LAPD lieutenant Dudley Smith committing the murder, a racist hate crime in retaliation for the Latino victim sleeping with his niece. This was part of what forced Masskie into hiding with his father, and eventually factored into his killings, as he emulated Smith's use of a "zoot stick" when mutilating his victims' corpses. Smith is a prominent lead investigator on the task force and is never charged with the crime. However, this discovery contributes to Meeks' and Considine's disillusionment with the investigation. At the conclusion of the novel, after Cohen finds out about Meeks' affair with Anders, Meeks burns down the district attorney's house along with all of the anti-communist investigative material before leaving town.

While the novel mocks opportunistic red-baiting as a scam to oust organized labor to benefit political careers and the fortunes of movie studio executives and mobsters, Ellroy is no easier on the film colony's communists and fellow travelers, many of whom he depicts as decadent hypocrites, who are easily compromised into "naming names" to hide their dirty secrets.

The Stooges are janitors working at a space center who accidentally blast off to Venus. They encounter a talking unicorn, a giant fire-breathing tarantula, and an alien computer which has destroyed all life on the planet and creates three evil robot duplicates of the Stooges. When the boys return home triumphant, they are given a hero's welcome; a party in their honor becomes a free for all stooge-like manner fight complicated by the arrival of the evil robots; our heroes and their unicorn friend managed to escape. The epilogue shows the Three Stooges riding on a rocket singing a monologue and ends with Moe getting plastered with cream pies by Larry and Joe!

The seaside town of Fircombe is facing a crisis – it's always raining and there's nothing for the tourists to do. Councillor Sidney Fiddler (Sid James) hits on the notion of holding a beauty contest. The mayor, Frederick Bumble (Kenneth Connor), is taken with the idea but feminist councillor Augusta Prodworthy (June Whitfield) is outraged and storms out of the meeting. The motion is carried in Augusta's absence, and Sidney contacts publicist Peter Potter (Bernard Bresslaw) to help with the organisation.

Sidney's girlfriend, Connie Philpotts (Joan Sims), runs a local hotel and soon her residents—including the eccentric Mrs Dukes (Joan Hickson) and the randy old Admiral (Peter Butterworth)—are outnumbered by putative models, including diminutive biker Hope Springs (Barbara Windsor) and tall, buxom Dawn Brakes (Margaret Nolan). A catfight orchestrated by Hope after thinking Dawn has stolen her bikini provides better newspaper copy than bringing a donkey off the beach which, despite the bucket and spade of hotel porter, William (Jack Douglas), ruins the plush carpets. Augusta's son, press photographer Larry (Robin Askwith), is hired to document the donkey stunt and snaps the catfight that has the Mayor losing his trousers, then gulps his way through a nude photo shoot with Dawn. The Mayor's wife, Mildred (Patsy Rowlands), joins Prodworthy's bra-burning movement and plots the downfall of the Miss Fircombe contest on the pier. Peter Potter reluctantly becomes a man in a frock for another publicity gimmick for the television show ''Women's Things'', presented by Cecil Gaybody (Jimmy Logan) and produced by Debra (Sally Geeson). Prodworthy and butch feminist Rosemary (Patricia Franklin) call in the police (David Lodge and Billy Cornelius) to investigate the male pageant contestant but Peter's previously prim girlfriend, Paula (Valerie Leon), has a makeover and turns out to be very buxom and glamorous. and steps into the breach as the mysterious girl.

Prodworthy's gang put "Operation Spoilsport" into action, sabotaging the final contest with water, mud and itching powder. With an angry mob after his blood, Sidney makes his escape on a go-kart, finds Connie has taken all the money and then speeds away with Hope on her motorcycle.

''Jarhead'' recounts Swofford's enlistment and service in the United States Marine Corps during the Persian Gulf War, in which he served as a Scout Sniper Trainee with the Surveillance and Target Acquisition (STA) Platoon of 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines.

Like most of the troops stationed in the Middle East during the Gulf War, Swofford saw very little actual combat. Swofford's narrative focuses on the physical, mental and emotional struggles of the young Marines.

One of the through lines of his first-person account involves the challenge of balancing the art and science and mind-set of the warrior with one's own basic sense of humanity. Swofford admits to a sense of disappointment, frustration and emptiness that comes in the wake of ultimately being cheated of any real combat experience by a war that, for many American Marines at least, has ended all too quickly after enduring many months of grinding, anticlimactic suspense. And yet there have been the numerous encounters with poignant, eerie tableaux of dead Iraqi soldiers who'd been killed so quickly where they sat so as to appear to have been deliberately posed, like store-display mannequins, in their final moments of life.

In Victorian Britain, widowed undertaker Cedric Brown is the father of seven unruly children—Simon, Tora, Eric, Lily, Sebastian, Chrissie, and baby Aggie. He is clumsy and loves his children, but since the death of his wife, has spent little time with them and cannot handle them. The children have had a series of nannies, whom they have systematically driven out with their bad behaviour and pranks. They also take great pleasure in tormenting their cook, Mrs. Blatherwick, a former military cook who declares that there will be "snow in August" before the family is put to rights. Besides their father, the only one the children will ever listen to is Evangeline, the family's uneducated but sweet-natured scullery maid.

One day, Cedric discovers multiple references for a "Nanny McPhee" throughout the home. That same night during a storm, while the children cause havoc in the kitchen, Cedric opens the door to reveal a hideous woman, who introduces herself as Nanny McPhee. With discipline and a little magic, she transforms the family's lives. The children, led by Simon, try to play their tricks on her, but gradually start to respect her and ask her for advice. Each time the children learn a lesson, one of Nanny McPhee's facial defects magically disappears. Over time, the children become more responsible, helping their clumsy father in solving the family problems, making Nanny McPhee less and less needed.

The family is financially supported by Cedric's domineering and short-sighted aunt-in-law Lady Adelaide Stitch, who demands custody over one of the children. She first wants second-youngest daughter Chrissie, but Evangeline volunteers to go and Adelaide agrees, assuming she is one of the daughters. She also threatens to reduce the family to poverty unless Cedric remarries within the month, meaning the family would lose the house, and be forced to separate.

Desperate, Cedric turns to vile and frequent widow, Mrs. Selma Quickly. The children assume from reading fairy tales that all stepmothers are terrible women who treat their stepchildren like slaves; together, they sabotage Mrs. Quickly's visit, and she leaves, angry at Cedric. After the financial rationale for the marriage is explained to the children, they realize their mistake; the children appease Mrs. Quickly by confessing they were to blame for ruining her visit. Mrs. Quickly, intrigued when she hears about Adelaide's wealth and status, reconciles with Cedric and agrees to marry him.

However, the children soon discover that Mrs. Quickly is just as cruel and awful as any fairytale stepmother when she deliberately breaks baby Aggie's beloved rattle (which previously belonged to their late mother). When everybody is gathered for the gaudy wedding Quickly insisted on, the children disturb the ceremony by pretending there are bees (inspired by the way Quickly told them to "behave," and baby Aggie repeating the word but pronouncing it as "beehive"), chasing the guests, and starting a food fight using the pastries intended for the banquet. Cedric swiftly understands his children do not like the bride and, recognizing that she is not right for him or his children, joins in the commotion himself. Mrs. Quickly calls off the marriage and storms off in anger.

When it seems that Adelaide's marriage deadline is missed, Lily suggests that Cedric marry Evangeline; the other children reveal to Adelaide that she is not, in fact, their sister. Evangeline and Cedric resist at first, but then realize their feelings for each other and agree to marry, satisfying Aunt Adelaide's conditions for maintaining her financial support. Nanny McPhee (who is now fully beautiful), magically makes it snow in August, transforming the wedding scene and changing Evangeline's clothes into a beautiful wedding dress, and restores the children's late mother's rattle for them.

Nanny McPhee leaves surreptitiously, in accordance with what she told the children before on her first night: "When you need me, but do not want me, then I must stay. When you want me, but no longer need me, then I have to go".

Peter, Joe, Cleveland, and Quagmire win a costume contest as characters from ''The A-Team'' (because they had an actual black guy as B. A. Baracus and the other team had a Jewish man for the same role). The four men find Brian, who is writing a report for the local newspaper. When Peter and his friends win the costume contest, Brian writes a report about it, and is later telephoned by a member of ''The New Yorker'', who tell him they would like him to work for their magazine. Brian is initially given a warm welcome by the staff, but he is immediately fired after he informs them he never graduated from college. Meanwhile, disappointed at no longer being able to be ''The A-Team'', Peter decides to become an unofficial A-Team alongside Joe, Cleveland, and Quagmire, and decide to help their local community. Peter designs a replica of the van used by ''The A-Team''.

After encouragement from Lois, Brian decides to return to Brown University in order to complete his education so he can go back to ''The New Yorker''. Stewie, unknowing to Brian, returns to college with him. Brian's new teacher (the Stephen Hawking-esque man from "Ready, Willing, and Disabled") takes an instant disliking to him, but his opinion of Brian quickly changes after he cheats on a test by plagiarizing Stewie's work with his permission (due to Stewie's knowledge of technology and physics) and gets a high mark. Brian goes to tell his teacher that he cheated, but is interrupted, as the teacher tells him Brian has inspired him, and he was so depressed that he was planning to commit suicide. Meanwhile, Peter becomes very satisfied with his A-Team's actions, but the team fails a mission to save a local park from demolition by becoming "side-tracked by idle conversation" with the builders. The guilty A-Team disbands afterwards. Brian eventually cracks under the pressure of a final test and knowing he will only pass if he cheats, he decides to return home with Stewie. A shocked Lois attempts to encourage him to go back and finish the test, and eventually chases him away with a vacuum cleaner called "Mr. Hoover".

Brian ends up exercising for hours with the help of Stewie, parodying Rocky Balboa in the movie ''Rocky IV'', but realizes his test is only a few hours away. He becomes stressed at being late for his exam, so Lois persuades Peter to revive ''The A-Team'' one last time and drive Brian to his test, which is successful, and Brian arrives on time. He fails his test, but remains proud of himself for not cheating, much to the dismay of the family, who tells him that he probably should have cheated. Brian tries to reassure them that he finished what he started and labels his pride of that 'something', but the Griffins continue to berate him.

In the year 1536, an alchemist in Veracruz develops a mechanism that can give eternal life. In 1937, an old building collapses and the alchemist, who has marble-white skin, is killed when his heart is pierced by the debris. Investigators never reveal what else was discovered in the building: basins filled with blood from a corpse.

In 1996, an old, somewhat religious antique dealer, Jesús Gris, notices the base of an archangel statue is hollow. He opens it and finds a 450-year-old mechanical object. After he winds the ornate, scarab-shaped device, it unfurls spider-like legs which grip him tightly, and inserts a needle into his skin, which injects him with an unidentified solution. An insect — entombed within the device and meshed with the internal clockwork — produces the solution. Gris eventually discovers his health and vigor are returning, as is his youth. His skin loses its wrinkles, his hair thickens and his sexual appetite increases. He also develops a thirst for blood. This at first disgusts him, but he eventually succumbs to the temptation. He then uses the device later that night, but says his nightly prayer as he does. His granddaughter Aurora notices this, and begins to worry about Gris.

Meanwhile, a rich, dying businessman, Dieter de la Guardia, who has been amassing information about the device for many years, has been searching for the archangel statue with the Cronos device. He has appropriated several archangels already. He sends his thuggish American nephew Angel, who suffers his uncle's abuse on a daily basis for an inheritance, to purchase the archangel at the antique shop.

During a New Year's Eve party, Gris sees a man bleeding from the nose and follows him into the men's room and waits for a chance to get his blood off of the sink countertop. Another man comes out of one of the stalls, sees the blood and cleans it up. Gris notices blood on the floor and decides to lick it up, until an unknown man walks up and kicks him in the face, which knocks him unconscious. Gris appears to be asleep in Angel's car and Angel gives him some alcohol and then tries to beat him into giving up the device. When Gris faints, Angel places his body inside a car and pushes it off a cliff. Gris briefly awakens and prays for survival, but seemingly dies. He later revives in an undertaker's establishment and escapes before he can be cremated. He returns to his home where Aurora lets him in. Dieter beats Angel for not ensuring Gris's heart was destroyed, and sends him to check on the body. Gris works on a letter to his wife in which he comments on the changes to his body, and tells her that after completing some 'unfinished business' he will return to her. He notices that his skin burns in the presence of sunlight and sleeps in a box to avoid it.

Eventually, he and Aurora bring the device to Dieter's headquarters, where the businessman offers him a "way out" in exchange for the device. Gris comments on his damaged skin and the businessman tells him to peel it off because he has new skin underneath, which is marble-white like the dead alchemist. Gris threatens to destroy the device, but is told that he will die should that happen. Gris agrees to hand it over in exchange for knowing the "way out", whereupon Dieter stabs him. Before being able to strike the killing blow to the chest, Dieter is incapacitated by Aurora and Gris feeds on Dieter. Angel finds the dying Dieter and crushes his throat with his foot, tired of his abuse and waiting for his inheritance. Angel confronts Gris on the rooftop of the building and beats him severely. Gris throws them both off the roof, killing Angel.

Aurora finds Gris unconscious, and uses the device to wake him. Noticing that her hand is bleeding, Gris is tempted to feed off his granddaughter, but he eventually controls himself. He then painfully destroys the device, despite previous warnings. Surprised to still be alive, he believes God to have saved him because of his attempted self-sacrifice. He returns to his home and lies in bed with Aurora and his wife, waiting for the rising sun to see if he is free of the effects from the device.

A Creole woman digs up a briefcase and drives off. Meanwhile, high school senior Eden and her friends, Rachel, CeCe, Ricky, Patty, Tammy, Eric, and Sean are hanging out at the local burger joint. Sean's father and local tow truck driver, Ray Sawyer, comes by to pick up an order, leading Rachel to comment on how scary he is while Tammy flashes him. After work, Eden and Eric walk home just as Ray drives up and asks if she's alright. When he is sure, he begins to leave when the Creole woman – CeCe's grandmother – passes by. She swerves to avoid Ray and nearly falls off the bridge. Ray saves her, but the woman begs him to get the suitcase. As he reaches for it, the car falls off of the bridge and starts sinking into the water below. Upon suddenly opening, several snakes emerge and attack Ray. The ambulance arrives to find Ray and CeCe's grandmother dead. CeCe arrives shaken up over the tragedy, and takes a charm that was on her grandmother's corpse. CeCe then surprises Eden and Eric by asking them about Ray.

Later that night, the coroner examines Ray's body, noting several snake bites. Suddenly, Ray gets back up and kills the coroner before leaving to retrieve his truck. The next day, Eden visits her father's grave, and sees Ray's tow truck driving by. While swimming in the lake, a heavily drunk Sean ditches Rachel, forcing Eric to chase after him. Meanwhile, Tammy and Patty are planning to go shoplifting, but stop by Ray's business to fix their car first. Once Tammy's done, she goes to look for Patty, only to find her hanging by several chains. She tries to escape, but Ray lowers a car on her and sandblasts her to death.

As Eric follows Sean to Ray's garage, the latter gets angry at the former for abandoning him. He finds a picture of him when he was a little kid, which shows that Ray did care about him, but he storms out toward the garage and finds Tammy's remains. Later that night, Eden and her friends go to CeCe's grandmother's house, where CeCe explains that the snakes that killed Ray were full of evil that her grandmother took out of men to purify their souls. They try to escape, but their car has been flipped over. They see Ray and begin to run, but the undead killer pins Ricky with a crowbar and rips his arm off. Ray goes to enter the house, but finds he can't because it was blessed with voodoo spells. Despite this, he's able to throw a chain inside, drag Sean out, and mortally wound him. Eden and Eric shoot Ray with a rifle so the others can drag Sean inside and try to save him, but he dies on the floor. Rachel mourns the loss of her boyfriend while Eden talks CeCe into turning Sean's body into a human voodoo doll to control Ray. Meanwhile, Ray uses his tow truck on the house's foundation and pulls a whole room off; dragging Eric and Rachel with it and crushing CeCe's leg with a support beam.

Ray begins to climb the wreckage toward CeCe, but she stabs Sean's body several times to slow Ray down. Ultimately however, the possessed killer reaches her and kills her. Eden, Eric, and Rachel try to escape, but Ray follows in his truck and manages to drag Rachel halfway out of the car. Despite Eden's best efforts, Rachel's impaled on a fallen tree. Stuck in the swamp, Eden and Eric try to reach dry land while Ray dives beneath the murky water only to find a copy of Unicorn Island. Soon enough, Ray attacks them and causes them to separate; causing Eden to end up in a crypt with Ray's victims. When she goes to escape, Ray locks her in. Fearing his return, she hides underneath Patty's body just as Ray returns and throws Eric in. She initially believes he's dead, but when he opens his eyes, her surprised gasp alerts Ray. Eric sacrifices himself to protect Eden before she fights back using a charm CeCe gave her. Ray appears to submit, but the snakes possessing him attack her. However, she's able to evade them and use Ray's truck to finally kill him. As she staggers off, two snakes emerge from Ray's body in search of a new host.

According to the description of the book by St. Martin's Press:

The evil Dr. Wily has traveled back in time in an attempt to defeat the robotic hero Mega Man in one of their first three conflicts. Each game follows Mega Man reliving his past adventures in which Wily dispatches a set of powerful robots to take over the world which must be single-handedly stopped as before. After completing his travels through time, Mega Man must use all he has learned to tackle the Wily Tower.

The plot of the game centers on an ancient alien supercomputer named "Ra Moon", which was rediscovered by Dr. Wily in the ruins of the Amazon. Wily uses Ra Moon to revive his Robot Masters from previous games in the series. Wily also discovers Ra Moon's ability to cease almost all machinery and electricity in the world, as well as causing an invasive virus to spread across all technology. Roll is affected by the virus, with Dr. Light immunizing Mega Man and his brothers to prevent them from being infected. With Roll in trouble as well as the rest of the planet, Mega Man sets out to stop Wily and Ra Moon before it's too late.

"Just Another Saturday Night"

Marv regains consciousness on a highway overlooking The Projects, surrounded by several dead young men and a crashed police car, with no memory of how he got there. He retraces his steps, recalling that since it's Saturday, he watched Nancy Callahan dance at Kadie's Saloon. Stepping outside, he encounters four rich frat boys burning a homeless man alive. When Marv intervenes, the leader of the frat boys shoots him in the arm, calling him "Bernini Boy", which Marv mishears as "Bernie". They flee, and Marv follows them, stealing a police car on the way, which he crashes into their car, leading to his blackout and memory loss. He follows the two surviving frat boys into The Projects, the neighborhood where he grew up. With the assistance of the deadly residents lurking in the shadows, he dispatches the frat boys. He questions the leader about being called "Bernini Boy", and learns that it is the brand of coat he is wearing. After slitting the boy's throat, he considers his coat and realizes he cannot remember how he acquired it.

"The Long Bad Night (Part I)"

Johnny, a cocky young gambler, arrives in Sin City and heads to Kadie's place. He immediately hits the jackpot on multiple slot machines. Taking a young waitress, Marcie, with him as a good luck charm, he buys into the backroom poker game led by the all-powerful Senator Roark. Johnny repeatedly wins in the high-stakes game, and cleans the senator out. One other player, the corrupt police lieutenant Liebowitz, warns him to flee the city. Instead, Johnny takes Marcie out for a night on the town. He walks her home, and Roark's goons suddenly attack him. He fights them off, and tells Marcie to meet him at a hotel, and he is escorted into Roark's limousine. In payment for the humiliation he suffered at the card game, Roark takes back his money, and uses a pair of pliers to break the fingers of Johnny's playing hand. They toss Johnny out of the car, and the Senator shoots him in the leg. Roark reveals that he recognized Johnny as his illegitimate son. However, he remarks that he only considered his dead son Roark Jr., his flesh and blood. He leaves Johnny alive, preferring to let him suffer, and Johnny swears revenge.

"A Dame to Kill For"

Years before "The Big Fat Kill", Dwight McCarthy attempts to put his violent past behind him, working as a private detective and leading a life of complete sobriety, and struggles daily to refuse his inner demons. After saving the life of Sally, a sex worker who is nearly murdered by her businessman lover, he receives an unexpected phone call from his former lover Ava Lord, who left Dwight four years prior for a wealthy tycoon, Damien Lord. She begs him to meet her at Kadie's saloon, and despite his embittered feelings, he agrees. When Ava arrives, she begs forgiveness for leaving him, and implies she is afraid for her life before her massive chauffeur, Manute, arrives to escort her home. Unable to get her out of his mind, Dwight sneaks into Damien Lord's estate, where he observes Ava swimming, but is caught and beaten. Dwight is returned home, where a nude Ava waits for him. He tries to throw her out, but can't resist her and they make love. She tells him that Damien and Manute torture her physically and mentally, and she knows Damien will kill her soon. Manute arrives and viciously beats a naked Dwight, sending him out the window with a single punch.

Determined to rescue Ava, Dwight recruits Marv to help him, and they mount an assault on Lord's compound. Marv attacks Manute, putting him in traction, and tearing out his eye. Dwight confronts Damien Lord, who denies Ava's accusations, and an enraged Dwight beats him to death. As he reacts in horror, Ava appears and shoots Dwight several times, taunting him, and thanking him, for helping her murder her husband, and take over his fortune. She shoots him in the face and forces him to fall out of a window, where Marv rescues him and takes him to Old Town. Dwight's old flame, Gail, recognizes him and saves his life. With the help of Gail, and the deadly assassin Miho, Dwight undergoes reconstructive surgery on his face, and plots his revenge.

Meanwhile, two detectives, Mort and Bob, investigate Damien's death. Ava claims Dwight was an obsessive ex-lover, and he killed her husband in a jealous rage. Bob is skeptical, but Ava seduces Mort, who believes her every word. They begin an affair and Ava pressures him to find and kill Dwight. When Mort, obsessed with Ava, attempts to track Dwight down in Old Town, an action that would break the truce between the police and the prostitutes, Bob attempts to stop him. An enraged Mort shoots Bob in the face, then commits suicide afterward. Out of options, Ava reluctantly partners with the mob boss Wallenquist.

Dwight, with his face newly reconstructed, is accompanied by Gail and Miho, posing as Wallenquist's man from Texas. Inside Ava's estate, however, Manute sees past the new face, and captures Dwight. Gail and Miho strike from Dwight's car, and Dwight shoots Manute with a hidden .45 he had up his left sleeve. Six bullets fail to kill him, and Manute aims shakily at Dwight, as Ava unexpectedly grabs one of Manute's guns, shooting Manute several times. She attempts to convince Dwight to pair with her, and that the pain he suffered revealed his true intentions, but Dwight shoots her mid-kiss, and she dies in his arms.

"The Long Bad Night (Part II)"

Johnny visits an unlicensed doctor, Kroenig, who shoots up heroin before trading his services for Johnny's last $40, and his shoes. Realizing he left Marcie unprotected, Johnny rushes to his hotel, but finds Roark waiting for him, along with Marcie's dismembered head and hands. Again, Roark lets him go. Intent on taking down Roark, Johnny scrounges a dollar from a sympathetic waitress, Bertha, which he uses to regain enough money playing slots to buy his way into Roark's game the following night. Playing a card shark's con, Johnny folds his first few hands, allowing Roark to taunt him about his dead mother. He once again cons Roark into going all in, then reveals his winning hand. Johnny taunts Roark, reminding him that tonight's story of how the same man beat him twice will follow him for the rest of his life. His vengeance completed, Johnny smiles resignedly, a single tear running down his face as Roark shoots him in the head, commanding his men to get rid of the body.

"Nancy's Last Dance"

Four years after "That Yellow Bastard", Nancy Callahan is in a deep depression over John Hartigan's death. She is obsessed with getting revenge on Senator Roark for having driven Hartigan to kill himself. As she wallows in despair, the ghost of Hartigan watches over her, unable to reach her but still attempting to help. On the same night that Johnny joins the backroom poker game, Nancy attempts to shoot Roark from the stage of Kadie's, but she can't bring herself to pull the trigger.

Nancy hallucinates a visit from Roark, and shortly thereafter cuts her hair and smashes a mirror, using its shards to cut her face. She decides to get Marv to help her kill Roark by showing him the scars, and making him believe that Roark was responsible. As they step out of the club, they meet a motorcycle gang that are there to shoot up the place. Marv kills two, but leaves their leader for Nancy to finish off. The pair mount an assault on Roark's compound. Marv slaughters Roark's bodyguards, while Nancy picks off the guards with a crossbow. Marv is wounded, but Nancy continues alone to confront Roark. Roark shoots her first in the side, then the leg, and is about to finish her off. Suddenly, Hartigan's ghost appears in the mirror, startling Roark long enough for Nancy to recover and kill him.

''Mega Man Xtreme'' takes place within the ''Mega Man X'' series timeline, during the 22nd century in which humans and intelligent androids called "Reploids" coexist. Daily life is under constant threat by "Mavericks", Reploids that have turned to a life of crime. The series follows the exploits of X and his partner Zero, a pair of "Maverick Hunters" led by the benevolent Dr. Cain. This police force has been responsible for suppressing the threat of robotic, criminal activity, particularly that of a dangerous Maverick leader named Sigma. At the opening of the normal difficulty mode of ''Mega Man Xtreme'', a hacker named Techno from a band called the "Shadow Hunters" breaks into the world's Mother Computer, destabilizing all of the networks and allowing Mavericks to run wild everywhere. X awakens to find himself on the highway from his first adventure to stop Sigma. Realizing it is merely a simulated replication, the protagonist is greeted by Zero, who informs X that the Maverick Hunters have partnered with a computer genius named Middy to halt the madness.

With Middy's help, X dives into cyberspace to erase the battle data of four Maverick bosses from his previous missions. Once they are beaten, X makes his way to Mother Computer core and defeats the Shadow Hunter Zain, only to see Zain's companions Techno and Geemel retreat and Sigma unveils himself as the mastermind behind the hack. Dr. Cain manages to find Sigma's hideout, and X warps there via the Mother Computer core. At the hideout, X confronts Techno, firing his buster at the computer used to hack into the Mother Computer. Techno reveals that in order to hack into the Mother Computer he had to upload his own CPU into the computer X destroyed. Middy arrives, revealing that Techno is his twin brother. Having been controlled by Sigma, Techno comes to his senses and dies. X continues on, finds Sigma, and finishes the Maverick off. The computer core begins to detonate, but as X escapes, Middy chooses to stay, stating that he and his twin brother share a CPU and perishes alongside Techno. The hard mode of ''Mega Man Xtreme'' partially extends the storyline, where Zero informs X that someone else has illegally accessed records from the Mother Computer and reproduced more Maverick data. The heroes soon learn that Geemel and Sigma are again responsible and destroy both villains in a similar fashion.

The ''Mega Man X'' universe is set within the 22nd century, where humans and intelligent robots called "Reploids" live amongst one another. A tumultuous coexistence, some Reploids go "Maverick" and exhibit violent and destructive behavior. To extinguish such activity, a taskforce of "Maverick Hunters" is established by the human scientist Dr. Cain. The series chiefly follows the adventures of the Hunters X and Zero, who have saved the world from the Maverick leader Sigma numerous times. ''Mega Man Xtreme 2'' takes place between the events of ''Mega Man X3'' and ''Mega Man X4'', during which X and Zero, with the aid of their new friend Iris, are sent to investigate erasure incidents on the mysterious Laguz Island. Reploids around the Earth have been losing their "DNA Souls", leaving them as useless piles of junk.

It is quickly revealed that the DNA Souls are being used by a "Soul Eraser" named Berkana to resurrect a growing army of undead Mavericks from the past. Berkana was once a Reploid researcher who created a DNA Soul chip that reproduced deceased Mavericks. She steals the souls of Reploids to enhance her own power, and that of her loyal partner Gareth. Once on the island, X and Zero encounter and destroy several powerful Mavericks from their past adventures. Rather than stop them early on, Berkana allows the two heroes to progress so that they may strengthen their DNA Souls for her to take. X and Zero confront both Gareth and Berkana inside the Reploid Research Laboratory and defeat them. Sigma then reveals himself as being behind the plot. X and Zero prevail over the Maverick leader, the DNA Souls are returned to the hollow Reploids, and peace is restored once again. Zero fears that Iris' brother, the Colonel of the Repliforce army, will blame him for getting Iris involved in the incident. X, however, feels that the experience will ultimately help her.

At the Presidio Army base in San Francisco, US Military Police officer Patti Jean Lynch is shot dead while investigating a break-in and two San Francisco Police Department officers are killed in the getaway. Jay Austin, an SFPD Detective and an ex-Military Police officer, is sent to investigate. He clashes with Lieutenant Colonel Alan Caldwell, the base provost marshal.

Years earlier, Austin and Lynch were partners while serving as MPs and Caldwell was their commanding officer. When Austin arrested Lieutenant Colonel Paul Lawrence, Caldwell did not support him. In the aftermath, Austin was demoted and decided to leave the Army.

The investigation casts suspicion on Lawrence, as Lynch was killed with a Tokarev 9mm pistol. Lawrence is the registered owner of a Tokarev, but claims he lost it in a poker game. Austin also learns that the getaway car used by Lynch's killer was registered to a civilian named Arthur Peale, who is wealthy and owns a holding company.

Austin tries to question Lawrence about the Tokarev, but Caldwell intervenes. Recognizing that they have shared jurisdiction on the case, they uneasily team up to investigate. Caldwell states that if the Tokarev bullet that killed Lynch were to match a bullet fired earlier from Lawrence's Tokarev at the Presidio firing range, then Caldwell will arrange for Lawrence to surrender to Austin. In the meantime, Caldwell and Austin visit Peale, who claims his car was stolen and has an alibi for the night Lynch was shot. Caldwell sees Vietnam-era paraphernalia in Peale's office. Caldwell learns that Peale was previously in the CIA and a military advisor in Vietnam at the same time Lawrence was there.

Austin gets the ballistics report back on the Tokarev, which confirms that Lawrence's gun killed Lynch. Austin corners Lawrence when he leaves the Presidio, resulting in a footchase through Chinatown. Lawrence is killed in a hit and run. Caldwell is furious that Austin disregarded their agreement. Caldwell confides in his friend, retired Sergeant Major Ross Maclure, who served with Caldwell in Vietnam.

Caldwell and Austin both figure out that the killer at the Presidio was trying to break into a storeroom to retrieve a bottle of spring water. Following the lead to the water company, Austin gets the name of the delivery driver, George Spota. Caldwell recognizes the name as someone who served under Lawrence in Vietnam. Austin confirms that Spota's car hit and killed Lawrence during their footchase, and Caldwell learns that the water company Spota works for is owned by Peale. Austin and Caldwell follow Spota during his deliveries. Spota makes a delivery to Travis Air Force Base and picks up a water bottle that was transported to the base from the Philippines.

Austin and Caldwell see the conspiracy come together. Spota, Lawrence, and Peale all knew each other in Vietnam. Spota picked up a delivery of water from the Philippines, but accidentally left that water bottle in the storeroom at the Presidio. When he realized his mistake, he went back to retrieve it, but Lynch surprised him during the break-in, and he shot her.

Just as they figure this out, they see Maclure drive up. Caldwell realizes that Peale and Lawrence would have needed someone like Maclure to carry out the smuggling, because Maclure had contacts in the US military in Asia. Spota and Peale open the bottle that came from the Philippines, revealing diamonds inside. Maclure comes in and surprises them by pulling a gun. Peale reveals that Lawrence was blackmailing Maclure. Peale tries to convince Maclure to let the smuggling continue, but Maclure is disgusted and heartbroken over the death of Lynch. He says the smuggling must stop, but then is stripped of his gun by Peale's men. Just as Peale is about to kill Maclure, Caldwell and Austin enter. A gunfight ensues during which Peale and his men are killed and Maclure is fatally wounded.

Caldwell asks Austin to delay his police report by 48 hours to give Caldwell time to bury Maclure with his honor intact. Austin agrees. At a military funeral, Caldwell tearfully eulogizes Maclure. Caldwell reconciles with his daughter Donna, who is developing a mutual attraction with Austin, and grudgingly admits Austin into the family.

John LeTour, a 40-year-old New Yorker, is one of two delivery men for Ann, who supplies an exclusive clientele in the banking and financing sector with drugs. While Ann contemplates switching to the cosmetics business, LeTour, who suffers from insomnia, has lost his perspective in life.

One night LeTour meets his ex-wife Marianne, with whom he once shared an intense but destructive relationship due to drug abuse. Although they stopped taking drugs, Marianne refuses his offer for a new start. After spending one night together, she tells him that this was her way of saying goodbye. Unbeknown to Marianne, her mother died at the hospital while she was with LeTour. The next time she meets LeTour, she attacks him, demanding that he get out of her life once and for all.

Meanwhile, the police start observing LeTour because one of his clients, Tis, is connected to the drug-induced death of a young woman. On his next delivery, LeTour witnesses a heavily drugged Marianne in Tis' apartment. Only minutes after his departure, she falls several stories to her death. LeTour gives the police a lead to Marianne's last whereabouts. At the wake, Marianne's sister Randi tells him not to feel guilty for what happened.

When Tis orders a new supply and insists that LeTour deliver it, he senses that Tis wants to dispose of him. Ann accompanies him, but Tis' guards force her to leave the room. In the subsequent shootout, LeTour kills Tis and both of his henchmen, but is left critically wounded. He lies down on the hotel bed, showing no anger or pain, only a profound weariness, as police sirens can be heard in the distance.

Ann visits LeTour in jail, where he expresses his hopes for a better future. The film hints at the possibility that Ann will wait for him.

The novel takes place in the slums of Brooklyn during the Great Depression, and follows the narrator, Harry Odum, from his early childhood to his death. His father, Hap, abandons the family, leaving Harold to be raised by his mother, Kate. Harold falls in with his friends from the neighborhood, who take him along to participate in petty crime. He soon join up with "Bug", the neighborhood kingpin, and moves his way up through the local crime syndicate. He eventually becomes the neighborhood mob's killer for hire. Meanwhile, Kate spirals deeper into alcoholism and mental illness, and grows ever more possessive of her son.

Through it all, the only person Harold feels any love for is his mother; he develops an Oedipal complex and an inability to sexually relate to anyone without resorting to his alter-ego, Madden. In the guise of this other self, he rapes a local girl, Iris, with whom he later falls in love.

Harold attempts a relationship with Iris, but Kate threatens her away during a family dinner. The next day, Harold flies into a psychotic rage and rapes and kills his own mother, who he thinks committed suicide. A dazed, traumatized Harold then goes for a ride with some of his partners-in-crime, who are afraid he, in the mental state he is, lets information of any crime that might involve them, and make sure he never talks about it.

Michel goes to a horse race and steals some money from a spectator. He leaves the racetrack confident that he was not caught when he is suddenly arrested. The inspector releases Michel because the evidence is not strong enough. Michel soon falls in with a small group of professional pickpockets who teach him their trade and invite him to join them on highly coordinated pickpocketing sprees in crowded public areas.

Visiting his mother, Michel meets Jeanne who begs him to visit his mother more often. His friend Jacques goes on a date with Jeanne and invites Michel along. But after stealing a watch, Michel leaves Jacques and Jeanne at the carnival. While they are at a bar, the inspector asks Michel to show him a book by George Barrington about pickpocketing, bringing the book to the police station on an appointed date. Michel goes down to the station on that day, with the book. At the station, the inspector barely glances at the book. Michel returns to his apartment realizing that it was all just a ruse to search his apartment. However, the cops failed to find his stash of money.

Michel's mother dies, and he goes to the funeral with Jeanne. Later, the inspector visits Michel in his apartment, and tells him that his mother had some money stolen, but later dropped the charges, probably knowing the thief was her son. The inspector leaves without arresting Michel, who decides to leave the country. He travels from Milan to Rome and ends up in England where he "spent two years in London pulling off good jobs", but throws his earnings away on alcohol and women.

Returning to France, Michel returns to Jeanne, who has had a child by Jacques but did not want to marry him and is now left with nothing. Michel begins to work again to support her, but gives in to temptation and goes back to steal at the horse track, where he is caught by a plainclothes policeman. Jeanne regularly visits him in jail. On one such visit, Michel realizes he is in love with her.

The player takes the role of Tom Jetland, a down-on-his-luck space traveller trapped on Mars after crashing his ship. While searching for jobs to make enough money to get back off the planet, he discovers a conspiracy hiding contact with what seems to be alien life.

The player visits the four Martian cities of Primus, Progeny, Parallax, and Proscenium, traverses the Martian surface, and visits abandoned mines.

The combat system features a bird's eye view of the battlefield. The player queues instructions for the party's characters to perform in real time.

The book begins with a brief introduction to the main character, Leo, at an early age, which is followed by his move from his home state of Pennsylvania to Arizona when he is 12. Before the move, his Uncle Pete gives Leo a porcupine necktie as a farewell present, inspiring him to collect more like it. After his birthday and collection of porcupine neckties are mentioned in a local newspaper when he's 14, Leo receives a second porcupine necktie, left anonymously.

The story picks up two years later with the arrival of Stargirl Caraway at Leo's school, Mica High. Leo learns that up until this point, she has been homeschooled, but even that doesn't seem to excuse her strange behavior; for example, she comes to school in strange outfits—kimono, buckskin, 1920s flapper clothes, and pioneer clothes. She also brings a ukulele to school every day, as well as her pet rat, Cinnamon. She is so different that at first, the student body does not know what to make of her. Hillari Kimble, a well known and somewhat popular girl at Leo's school, declares that Stargirl is a fake, and speculation and rumors abound.

One of Stargirl's quirks is singing happy birthday to students when it is their birthday, bringing her ukulele to school to do so. When Hillari orders Stargirl not to sing to her on her birthday, Stargirl sings Hillari's name but directs the song to Leo and mentions in front of everyone that she thinks he is cute. Though at first rejected by most of the students, Stargirl gains a measure of popularity and is asked to join the cheerleading squad after she succeeds in getting the crowd excited about the school's losing football team while cheering for them at a game. Students mimic her behavior, and at lunch, she no longer sits alone. Her antics on the squad spark a boom in audience attendance at sporting events.

However, Stargirl's popularity is short-lived. Thanks in part to her efforts, the football and cheer season is the best in the school's history, and school spirit flourishes; however, students begin to resent Stargirl's habit of cheering for both teams, which before had added to her popularity. Their anger comes to a head during the filming of the student-run television show, ''Hot Seat,'' which is run by Leo and his best friend Kevin. During the show, a "jury" of students is invited to ask questions of the guest star. This show's guest is Stargirl, and the session turns into an embarrassing attack on Stargirl's personality and actions. An advising teacher cuts the show short, and it is never aired, but the damage is done. Shortly thereafter, Stargirl stops cheering for both teams at games, but cannot stop herself from comforting a hurt player from the opposing team during a playoff basketball game and is blamed for Mica High's loss in the following game. She is shunned by the entire student body, except for her friend Dori Dilson, Leo, and, to some extent, Kevin.

Leo praises Stargirl for her kindness, bravery, and nonconformity, and the two begin a tentative romance. They spend more and more time together, and Leo experiences her unusual lifestyle and starts helping her with various projects, such as leaving cards for people they don't know and dropping change on the sidewalk for others to find. For a while, he is deliriously happy with their relationship, but as reality sets in, he realizes that the entire school is shunning both of them. In response, Leo convinces Stargirl to act more "normal." She starts going by her real name (Susan), wears typical teen clothing, and becomes obsessed with being accepted and popular. These actions fail to produce results.

Stargirl decides that the best way to become popular is to win the state's public speaking competition, which she does. But when she returns to the school expecting a hero's welcome, only three people show up. Realizing that she has achieved nothing by trying to fit in and has betrayed her true self, Stargirl reverts to her former personality. Seeing that dating Stargirl is getting him shunned by his peer group, Leo parts ways with her so he can be accepted in social company, choosing his peer group as a group over his sweetheart.

Despite the parting, Stargirl attends the school's spring dance—the Ocotillo ball—with Dori. Leo watches as Stargirl arrives at the dance on a bike covered in sunflowers. Though initially ignored by the other attendees, something about Stargirl attracts attention and temporary acceptance. She convinces the bandleader to play the "Bunny Hop," and the other students come to join her in the dance until the only people not in line are Hillari Kimble and her boyfriend, Wayne Parr. When the dance ends, Hillari confronts Stargirl, tells her that she always ruins everything, and slaps her as hard as she can. Stargirl returns Hillari's attack with a kind kiss on the cheek. No one in the town sees Stargirl again after that night, and Leo learns that she and her family have moved away to Minnesota.

Flashing forward fifteen years, a now-adult Leo notes that his former high school has become permanently changed, and wonders what has happened to Stargirl. In the end, he reveals that he has received a porcupine necktie in the mail one day before his most recent birthday—presumably from Stargirl.

The story continues with the sequel, ''Love, Stargirl'', which is written from Stargirl’s perspective about her new life after Mica Area High School.

The film depicts Steve Coogan playing himself as an arrogant actor with low self-esteem and a complicated love life. Coogan is playing the eponymous role in an adaptation of ''The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman'' being filmed at a stately home. He constantly spars with actor Rob Brydon, who is playing Uncle Toby and believes his role to be of equal importance to Coogan's, calling himself the "co-lead".

The film incorporates several sequences from ''Tristram Shandy''. Not all of these are part of the film-within-the-film. The latter are limited to the story of Tristram's conception, birth and christening; Uncle Toby's experiences at the Battle of Namur and Tristram's sudden and accidental circumcision at the age of three. Uncle Toby's wooing of Widow Wadman (Gillian Anderson) takes place in a sequence dreamed by Steve Coogan and after the cast and crew have viewed the "completed" film ending, with Walter Shandy fainting at the sight of his wife giving birth, the question "How does the book end?" is followed by the concluding scene of the novel, in which Yorick says "It is a story about a Cock and a Bull – and the best of its kind that ever I heard!" Yorick is not in the film-within-the-film; in this scene he is played by Stephen Fry, who appears elsewhere in the film as Patrick, a caricatured version of the actual curator at Shandy Hall. The DVD extras include a scene of Fry talking with the curator he portrays.

The story is recounted by the protagonist, Count Antoine de C, in the first person. Hundreds of years ago, Antoine's noble ancestor was responsible for the death of a dark wizard, Michel Mauvais. The wizard's son, Charles le Sorcier, swore revenge on not only him but all his descendants, cursing them to die on reaching the age of 32.

The protagonist recounts how his ancestors all died in some mysterious way around the age of 32. The line has dwindled and the castle has been left to fall into disrepair, tower by tower. Finally, Antoine is the only one left, with one poor servant, Pierre, who raised him, and a tiny section of the castle with a single tower is still usable. Antoine has reached adulthood, and his 32nd year is approaching.

His servant eventually dies, leaving him completely alone, and he begins exploring the ruined parts of the castle. He finds a trapdoor in one of the oldest parts. Below, he discovers a passage with a locked door at the end. Just as he turns to leave, he hears a noise behind him and sees that the door is open and someone is standing in it. The man attempts to kill him but Antoine kills him first. His dying words reveal that he is none other than Charles, who actually managed to successfully fabricate the elixir of life, enabling him to personally fulfill the curse generation after generation.

While there is no necessary objective to ''Lego Island'', a special mission will occur if the player has built the police helicopter and is playing as Pepper Roni. Pepper's caretakers, Mama and Papa Brickolini, who run and own the Pizzeria, receive a call from the island's jail. Mistaking the caller for police officer Nick Brick, Pepper is sent to deliver a pizza to the jail, which allows the Brickster to escape from his cell by using the pizza's fumes to melt the lock. He escapes in the police helicopter and steals the power brick from the top of the Information Center before heading to the residential area on the other side of the island. If the helicopter is not built, the Brickster will not be able to escape and will reject the pizza. Once the Brickster escapes, Nick and Laura Brick, the Infomaniac, and Papa and Mama Brickolini discover what happened and Pepper then embarks on a mission to recapture him.

After Pepper, Nick, and Laura reach the residential area, they discover that the Brickster has stolen the ambulance from the hospital and is planning to disassemble the town with a laser gun powered by the stolen power brick. Pepper chases after the Brickster, collecting individual helicopter brick pieces that the Brickster drops while he stops in random areas to disassemble any buildings and plants that are nearby. Should Pepper catch up to the Brickster while he is doing this, he will quickly move. After obtaining five pieces, the Brickster quickly heads for a cave entrance where he drops one more helicopter piece and disappears into the cave. After the Brickster has gone into hiding, Pepper searches around the island for the remaining four pieces of the helicopter. Any of the previous six helicopter pieces that Pepper didn't collect earlier can still be picked up. Once all ten pieces are recovered, the Infomaniac sends Pepper to the police station to rebuild the helicopter. Alternatively, if the Pizzeria, Information Center, and Police Station are the only remaining buildings and all five pieces are not collected in the meantime, the Brickster will instead dissemble the Pizzeria and the player immediately skips to the part where they must rebuild the helicopter. Once the helicopter is rebuilt, the Infomaniac, Nick, and Laura advise Pepper to use it to help them catch the Brickster using pizzas to slow him down and donuts to speed up Nick and Laura before the Brickster, now driving a stolen police motorcycle (it is unknown what happened to the ambulance), can disassemble the remaining buildings.

Two different endings can occur, depending on whether the player succeeds or not. If all the buildings have been disassembled (except for the Information Center), it will trigger the ending that shows the Brickster standing on the power brick, gloating about his victory with pieces of buildings scattered all around him. However, the Infomaniac then reassures the player that they can rebuild the island and the Brickster will be returned to his cell. The other ending unlocks if the Brickster is reached by the police, leading to the Brickster being caught and thrown back in jail, the power brick returning at the top of the Information Center, and everyone celebrating Pepper's success. The Infomaniac thanks the player, who is once again free to roam around the island.

Mikhal's World is under attack by "The Skulls". It has become overrun, and the humans are ordering an emergency evacuation. The player has two minutes to reach an escape ship or be left behind. After this, the player is dropped onto Planet Oasis and begins training. But while target training is underway, "The Skulls" attack, forcing an immediate evacuation from the area.

War has broken out all over Oasis, with the humans losing badly. The player's team is sent to grab all supplies from Oasis (In a return to the jump training mission) and prepare the jumpship for evacuation. Eventually, a total evacuation is ordered on Oasis, but the player must retrieve 'special technology' from the now abandoned military base on Oasis before leaving. Right after the player escapes, Oasis is annihilated by some form of alien technology, and, in Hackett's words, "Have turned it into some kind of planet from hell".

The humans plan a last-ditch attempt to destroy 'The Skulls', but their first priority is to secure Planet Anubis, where the miners have discovered something in the mine shafts. No survivors are found, but the player is sent to destroy the mine shafts and whatever may be in there. The player soon discovers that 'The Skulls' were living underground, but sick and tired of constant threat by the miners, they set out to eradicate all humans from existence. But while moving through the mine shafts, the player falls deep into the Skulls' lair. The player first meets a 'Queen' in this level, and after defeating it, the CDF find and evacuate the player. They prepare to send the player's team onto the enemy's current stronghold, the Juggernaut, but are ambushed along the way.

The Ulysses is shot down, and the player is dropped by accident onto Ragnarok. After meeting up with another survivor, the player is forced to take down the enemy's air gun that is keeping the CDF from rescuing the player and the player's teammate. After the air gun is destroyed, the player is sent to investigate the Ulysses to rescue Commander Hackett, retrieve the command data from him, and afterwards, assist the troops in a war at the ravine. It is decided that the Ulysses is too dangerous to be left standing, so the player is sent back to destroy it. Afterwards, the player leaves Ragnarok, and resumes the mission of destroying the Juggernaut. They first capture the Mastermind to find out the codes for the security locks on the Juggernaut, and after killing the second queen, the player rushes off the Juggernaut before it explodes. They unfortunately find out, however, that Oasis (now known as DeadWorld) has been established as 'The Skulls' main base of operations, and they are set to beat the humans once and for all by eradicating their home - Earth.

A last-ditch attempt is thrown to disable their primary attack and turn it against them, ending the Skulls threat once and for all. The player manages to get inside the gun, and is given a limited amount of time before it fires. While disabling the gun, the player meets the sole boss of the game, The King. After his defeat, it turns out that he was the main control for the gun, and without him, the Skulls are doomed. The player reactivates the gun and escapes seconds before the planet destroys itself. The player is then given one last message before the logo and credits: "Stay there, Captain. We're coming to get you."

Alternate scenes

• If the player does not escape Mikhal's world in time, the planet blows up, but the dropship does not appear, indicating the player did not escape.
• On Oasis, there is a mission where the player is told to blow the base reactors up. If the player fails, the screen brightens extremely, and the player instantly collapses and disintegrates (Of all the scenes, this is not a cutscene, it is gameplay).
• If the player does not escape the Juggernaut before it blows up, like the Mikhal's World scene, there is no dropship shown when it blows up.
• If the player is killed by the King, or runs out of time on the Final Mission on DeadWorld, a long cutscene is shown where the DeadWorld gun fires, and produces similar results as with Oasis/DeadWorld.

Following the accidental death of her deaf father, Dot, an orphaned teenager who is also deaf-mute, is sent to live in Connecticut with her godparents, Paul and Olivia Deer, and their teenaged daughter, Nina. Dot and Nina had been friends in childhood, before Dot lost her hearing as a result of a medical condition. The aloof Nina resents Dot's presence in the home and insults her repeatedly. Meanwhile, Dot observes that Olivia, an unfulfilled interior designer who was close friends with Dot's mother, is an alcoholic with a prescription drug addiction. Late one night, while returning to her bedroom, Dot observes Paul and Nina having sex in Nina's bedroom, unbeknownst to them. It becomes clear that Nina and Paul have had a years-long incestuous relationship, which Nina uses as leverage against her father to get whatever she wants.

At school, Dot is a social outcast, though Connor, a basketball player, takes an interest in her, much to the chagrin of Nina's abrasive friend, Michelle, who is pursuing him. One afternoon, Nina returns home early from cheerleading practice and overhears Dot playing Beethoven on the family's piano. When one of the strings breaks, Nina hears Dot swear loudly, before vocally harmonizing with the strings as she tunes them. Realizing Dot is neither deaf nor mute, Nina withholds her knowledge of this. At lunch the next day, acting under the guise that Dot cannot hear, Nina assays her by confessing her hatred of her father, and details her plan to murder him.

That evening, Dot goes on a date with Connor, who is able to communicate with her by lip reading. Dot returns home to find Paul and Nina in bed together, and deliberately breaks a vase in the hallway, interrupting their rendezvous; Nina realizes the action signifies Dot's alliance with her. Later, Dot comforts Nina in her bedroom as she cries herself to sleep. The following night, after a basketball game, Connor confides numerous personal secrets to Dot, including his attention deficit disorder and his chronic masturbation. The two proceed to have sex in the school swimming pool. Meanwhile, Nina returns home from the game and is visited by Paul in her bedroom while she irons her cheerleading uniform. Mustering the courage to proceed with the murder, Nina tells him to close his eyes, and that she has a secret to show him; she proceeds to approach him with the hot iron to burn his face, but is interrupted when Dot returns home. Nina puts the iron down, and instead lies to her father that she is pregnant and needs a thousand dollars for an abortion. He agrees to give Nina the money the next day.

Nina and Dot prepare to attend the school's spring dance the following night. While getting ready, Nina tells Dot she is going to kill Paul that night and run away with the abortion money he is giving her. She explains that she will find work as a stripper, believing she can become famous "like Courtney Love." Before the girls depart for the dance, Paul confronts Nina after finding tampons in her purse, and accuses her of lying about the pregnancy. Meanwhile, Dot, who is playing "Moonlight Sonata" downstairs, hears the argument. The confrontation becomes violent, and eventually descends into a rape before Dot comes to Nina's defense, strangling Paul to death with a piano wire. Olivia, in a drug-induced stupor, stumbles upon the scene, unfazed by her husband's corpse, but amazed by the revelation that Dot can hear.

Michelle arrives at the house to pick Nina and Dot up. The two quickly change their dresses, which are soaked in blood, and leave. At the dance, Dot reveals to Connor that she can hear and speak; angered by her deception, he storms away. Nina and Dot leave the dance, and walk to a riverbank in the woods, where they bury a backpack containing their blood-soaked clothing. Nina asks Dot why she pretended to be deaf-mute. Dot explains that, after her mother died during her childhood, she stopped speaking and began communicating only with sign language, as it made her feel closer to her father. When the girls return home, they find police cars at the house, and Olivia turning herself in for Paul's murder. Olivia apologizes to her daughter, and atones for having allowed Paul's sexual abuse of Nina go ignored. The following morning, Nina and Dot sit together and play piano, freed from their respective fathers.

A year after the events of the first film, Mitch Robbins is a much happier and livelier man, having moved out of the city. He is the manager at the radio station, and has employed his best friend, Phil Berquist. However, he is plagued with nightmares about deceased trail boss, Curly, and believe he may still be alive. On his 40th birthday, Mitch sees a man resembling Curly on the train. He later finds a treasure map belonging to Lincoln Washburn hidden in Curly's old cowboy hat, albeit with a missing corner. He and Phil investigate the map's contents and learn that Lincoln was Curly's father and a train robber in the Old West. In 1908, he infamously stole and hid one million dollars in gold bullion in the deserts near Las Vegas. With an impending trip to Las Vegas for a convention, Mitch decides to search for the gold (now worth twenty million) along with Phil, and his immature younger brother, Glen.

Several mishaps ensue, such as Glen accidentally burning a hole in the map with a magnifying glass, Mitch nearly falling off a cliff while retrieving it, and Phil believing a rattlesnake bit him when he sits on a cactus. They are ambushed by the two cowboys who sold them their supplies. They demand the map, since Phil recklessly blabbed about the gold. Just as they are poised to kill them, a man resembling Curly appears and fights them off. He is Duke, Curly's identical twin brother. He explains that long ago, their father had plans to find the gold with his sons once he was no longer being monitored, but he died before he could. On her death bed, their mother gave Curly the map, and he contacted Duke to find him so that they could find the gold together, but he died on the cattle drive the previous year. Duke learned from Cookie that Mitch had Curly's belongings, and so sought him out, though Mitch believed he was Curly. Though Duke is prepared to take the map and find the gold by himself, Mitch chastises him for his attitude, reasoning that Curly would not approve. Out of respect for Curly, Duke relents and allows the others to accompany him and share the gold.

A reckless act by Mitch causes a stampede in which the map and almost all their supplies are lost. Thanks to Glen's memory, they are able to press on and find the location of the cave where the gold is hidden. They eventually find it, but are confronted by two armed cowboys also seeking it. In the ensuing fight, Glen is shot, but Duke discovers the bullets to be blanks with red paint pellets. At that moment, Clay Stone, the organizer of the cattle drive, appears along with some of their old friends, such as Ira and Barry Shalowitz. Clay explains that the cowboys are his sons and he has been looking for Duke for some time. Having left the cattle business, he is now making a living taking men on a trip to find the gold, which is revealed to be lead bars painted gold. Though Mitch, Phil, and Glen feel lost, Duke remains convinced that the gold is out there somewhere, and stays behind as the others return to Las Vegas.

Mitch is visited by Duke in his hotel room, who confesses that he had planned to cheat Mitch and the others out of the gold, but couldn't bring himself to do so, having found his 'one thing' to be honesty. Through Mitch's skepticism, Duke also reveals that he possesses the missing corner of the map, which points to where Lincoln reburied the gold in 1909, and presents a bar of it to Mitch as evidence. He tries to scratch the gold off with a knife, and screams in joy upon realizing that it is real after all.

The film opens as Rose is found drifting alone in a small rowboat. Two fishermen find it and pull her onto their own boat, barely alive and in a horrible state. Her voiceover indicates she had been rescued from some terrifying experience and the film's events are flashbacks of it.

Young and pretty, Rose is part of a group of tourists on a small de recreo boat run by a crusty old captain and his handsome mate, Keith. Also on board are Dobbs, who is the boat's cook; Chuck, another tourist; and a bickering married couple named Norman and Beverly. After trouble with the engine, the navigation system goes haywire when they encounter a strange orange haze. The others sense that something is wrong. Norman in particular becomes abrasive. In the darkness of night, a hulking cargo ship suddenly appears and sideswipes their boat. The Captain sends up a flare, which momentarily lights up the eerie sight of a huge, rotting vessel wrecked nearby.

The next morning, everyone wakes to find the Captain missing. Realizing the boat is slowly taking on water, everyone evacuates in the lifeboat and makes for a nearby island. They see the huge wreck in the light of day; she appears to have been there for decades, nothing more than a skeletal framework, and now seemingly immobile, stranded on the island's reef. The group is startled to find the body of the Captain, apparently drowned while he was trying to check the underside of the boat for damage. They explore the island and discover a large, rundown hotel. At first they think it is deserted, but they discover a reclusive old man living there.

The man seems alarmed by their story, saying there is no shipwreck on the island and seems to recognize the name they say was the one they saw on the ship, and he goes down to the beach to personally investigate. Under the water, strange zombie-like men gather, walking from the wreck along the ocean floor to the island. As Dobbs gathers items to help prepare food, the zombies corner him in the water and one of them attacks; before it kills him, Dobbs falls in a cluster of sea urchins and is horribly mangled. Rose discovers his body while swimming. As they pull the body to shore, Keith finds a piece of torn uniform bearing the insignia of the Nazi SS in his hand. Back inside the hotel, their reluctant host tells them that he was a Nazi commander in charge of the "Death Corps", a group of zombies designed to be unstoppable super-soldiers that could thrive in any environment, with his group specialized for aquatic operations. The creatures were intended to be a powerful weapon for the Nazis, but they proved too difficult to control, with incidents involving them attacking their own soldiers. When Germany lost the war, he sank their ship and went into exile on the island. With the ship having raised herself from the ocean floor to the reef, he says the zombies have returned and that they are doomed. The Commander goes down to the beach again and sees a few of the zombies off in the distance. He tries to order them to stop, but they refuse to obey. He tries to chase them, but they end up drowning him.

The others locate a boat that the Commander told them about and pilot it out through the streams to the open water. They lose control of the boat, and it sails away from them, empty. A zombie drowns Norman in a stream, and another chases Rose back to the hotel, where she kills it by pulling off its goggles. Chuck, Beverly, and Keith return to the hotel, and they barricade themselves in the refrigerator unit. The close quarters and stress cause the survivors to begin infighting, and Chuck accidentally fires a flare gun, blinding Beverly. Keith and Rose escape to an old furnace room, where they hide inside two metal grates, while Beverly hides in a closet. The zombies drown Chuck in a swimming pool outside.

The next morning, Keith and Rose discover Beverly dead, drowned in a large fish tank. Now on their own, they try to escape in a small sightseeing rowboat with a glass bottom. The zombies attack, and although Keith manages to defeat one by pulling off its goggles, a second one grabs him and drowns him just as the dinghy breaches the reef and drifts free. Rose sees Keith's lifeless body pressed up against the glass bottom of the boat and screams.

The film comes full circle, and Rose's voiceover returns. She is now in a hospital bed, seemingly writing in a journal. Her dialogue begins to repeat itself over and over, and she is revealed to be writing nonsense in her journal, showing that she has gone insane. The film ends with one last shot of the rotting ship, still stranded on the reef.

Connie Dickason is the strong-willed daughter of a ranch owner, who is under the control of powerful local cattleman Frank Ivey, a man her father once wanted Connie to marry. Connie instead takes up with a sheep rancher who is run out of town by Ivey, leaving a note behind that he is handing the title over to Connie.

The conniving and manipulative Connie persuades ranch hand Dave Nash to be her "ramrod," or ranch foreman. He recruits an old pal, Bill Schell, who bends the law to his own purposes now and then but is fiercely loyal to Dave, to come help him run the ranch and fend off the ruthless Ivey.

Rose Leland is in love with Dave and he feels great affection toward her. Connie seduces both Dave and Bill to do her bidding, however. She even persuades Bill to stampede her own cattle, without Dave's knowledge, just so Ivey will appear guilty to the law. Sheriff Jim Crew goes to arrest Ivey and is shot down in cold blood. Dave is ambushed by a couple of Ivey's men. He kills one of them, Red Cates, but is badly wounded. Bill hides him, but Connie carelessly exposes their hideout. Bill volunteers to distract Ivey and his men while Dave turns to Rose for shelter. Ivey hunts down Bill in the mountains and shoots him in the back.

Dave has had enough. He confronts Ivey in the street, armed with only a shotgun, but beats him to the draw. Connie is delighted. At last, she has her land and her man. Dave, though, wants nothing more to do with her, returning to Rose's arms.

The Ninja Turtles (Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, and Donatello) are on a mission to retrieve the Life Transformer Gun from Shredder, a device that could restore their sensei Splinter back to his human form. The Turtles' first objective is to rescue their reporter friend April O'Neil, who is being held captive by Bebop and Rocksteady somewhere in the city. After rescuing April, the turtles must swim underwater to disarm a series of bombs set to destroy a dam, rescue Splinter from the Mecha Turtle, destroy a giant Mouser, find the Technodrome and eventually defeat Shredder.

At the Summers's home after dinner, Buffy confesses to Giles that she is worried about her ability to love. Giles suggests he and Buffy go to a sacred location in the desert so that she can undergo a vision quest. When they arrive, Giles performs a ritual to create Buffy's guide. A mountain lion appears and directs Buffy into an open desert that reminds her of her dream. Buffy wakes to find her guide, in the form of the First Slayer, on the opposite side of a large fire. The guide advises Buffy that love is at the center of all Slayers and that love will bring Buffy to her gift. When Buffy asks "What gift?", the guide tells her death is her gift.

Glory orders her minions to watch the Slayer and see who is new and special in her life, as that person is likely to be the Key. That night, one of the minions watches the group through a window at Xander's apartment; Dawn secretly takes Anya's earrings from a table. Spike receives his Buffybot from Warren, commissioned in "I Was Made to Love You". Spike and his Buffybot pretend to fight, which inevitably leads to sex. While Spike is sleeping it off, the Buffybot heads out to patrol for vampires. She runs into Xander and Anya in a graveyard and successfully masquerades as Buffy. Later, Xander and Anya oversee Spike and the Buffybot having sex in the cemetery, and shocked, Xander goes to confront them after reporting on the matter to Willow and Tara. However, Glory's minions assume Spike is the Key, and knock Xander unconscious and take Spike. This upsets Glory because the Key has to be pure and she knows a vampire cannot be the Key, but she decides to torture him in the hope that he knows where the Key is.

Worried about Spike, the Buffybot fails to notice Xander unconscious at the crypt, leaving him there, and goes to Xander's apartment for help. Willow initially tries to be understanding, but ends up sternly talking to the Buffybot (whom she mistakes for Buffy) about her sexual relationship with Spike, until Xander comes home and fills everyone in about Spike being taken by Glory's minions. Realizing Glory has a captive who knows that Dawn is the Key, Willow, Xander, and the Buffybot head to the Summers' residence for weapons so they can rescue Spike and stop him from revealing Dawn's secret. When the Buffybot goes upstairs to change, the real Buffy enters, which clears up all the confusion and leaves the gang disgusted at the thought of why Spike had Warren build the Buffybot. The real Buffy tells the gang she knows where to start looking for Spike and Glory, and is ready to kill them. Meanwhile, Glory is brutally torturing Spike, who refuses to tell her the Key's location and subjects Glory to a symphony of verbal abuse. Spike manages to escape through the elevator. When the elevator lands at the lobby, Spike collapses in relief when he sees Buffy and Xander rush in. They are soon joined by Giles and the Buffybot, who gets injured in the fight. Two of Glory's minions run away, and confess to Glory that the Slayer and her friends rescued Spike. The Hell-God is not pleased and responds violently, causing the two of them to scream out in pain.

At The Magic Box, Willow examines the Buffybot and is determined to repair her, much to Buffy's chagrin. Xander, though disgusted by the purpose of the Buffybot, expresses some sympathy for Spike; he and Giles saw the extent of Spike's injuries when they brought him back to his crypt, during which they were unable to discover whether or not Spike sold Dawn out. While Spike, beaten and bloody, rests, Buffy enters the crypt pretending to be the Buffybot. When Spike explains Glory wanted to know who the Key was, Buffy, mimicking the Buffybot's directness, offers to tell her, but Spike, upset, warns her that no one must know, since if anything happened to Dawn, it would destroy the real Buffy, and he would rather die than let that happen. Touched, Buffy kisses him. Spike pulls back as he realizes it is actually Buffy; who departs after telling him she will never forget what he did for her and Dawn.

Chow plays a naive young kung fu student, who leaves his rural home on a small island to find his fortune in Hong Kong under the dubious guidance of his uncle (Bryan Leung), who cons him into using his natural skills as a snooker player for the uncle's financial gain. The film also stars real world six-time world snooker finalist Jimmy White as Chow's final opponent.

In November 1903, young women are being killed in London, each with a silk stocking stuffed down her throat. Watson seeks help from the retired and disenchanted Holmes, who determines that the victims are well-born ladies, not prostitutes. Evidence found includes a thumbprint, a pair of ladies' dancing shoes, broken glass, a strong smell of chloroform and a silk stocking removed from a victim's gullet. It seems that the killer has a foot fetish.

Holmes questions a survivor - a young girl who was apparently set free by her captor because she has a club foot - and arranges for her to "accidentally" see the footman that he suspects is the killer, despite his ironclad alibis. The girl identifies him as her kidnapper, but the thumbprint clears the suspect. Holmes then baits a trap for the killer: he uses the sister of a victim and has her perform in a classical tableau at an event attended by the King and Queen. Her Grecian-Roman costume is revealing, and her sandals expose her feet. After the performance, she walks away to be alone; the suspect drugs her and is quickly caught by Holmes and placed in custody. The sister returns home and is tucked into bed by her father.

However, the suspect's thumbprint doesn't match the evidence. Holmes suspects the killer has an identical twin, and that the real killer is still on the loose. Holmes telephones the father of the "bait" sister to warn him, but the real killer has kidnapped her from her bed just minutes earlier. The viewer sees the killer carrying her over his shoulder as blood drips from her face, where he cut her with broken glass.

The police force the other twin to lead them to his brother, but he escapes the police. Holmes finds the killer and his victim just in time; the young woman has a silk stocking tied around her neck, and Watson has to cut it and perform something that looks like CPR, which was known in similar form from the late-18th century but did not come into standardised common usage until the mid-20th century. Holmes gets the killer twin to confess that he wanted his victims' attention, because they looked at him while in captivity. Both twins are then taken into custody.

At the end, Watson marries his fiancée Jenny Vandeleur, an American psychoanalyst who had aided in the investigation. They leave on honeymoon, and Holmes is left sitting alone at the table.

Robotboy is the latest creation of the world-renowned scientist Professor Moshimo. Due to fears that Robotboy would be stolen by his arch-enemy Dr. Kamikazi and his main henchman Constantine to be used to take over the world, Professor Moshimo entrusts Robotboy to 10-year-old Tommy Turnbull, his biggest fan living in San Francisco, USA. While being protected by Tommy and his two friends Lola and Gus (or "G-Man" as he calls himself), Robotboy learns how to behave and act as if he were a real boy while occasionally battling Dr. Kamikazi and Constantine who sought out to capture him.

Ozaki (Aikawa), a mentally unstable yakuza, kills a chihuahua outside a restaurant after becoming convinced that it is actually an attack dog trained to kill gangsters. Seeing Ozaki as a security risk, the head of the Azamawari yakuza clan (Ishibashi) orders fellow underling Minami (Sone), who is Ozaki’s brother, to kill him and dispose of his body in a company depot.

Minami, reluctant to murder Ozaki, unwittingly kills him when he pushes him to the ground in an attempt to stop him from killing an innocent woman who he mistook for an assassin. After finding the road he was driving along mysteriously replaced with a large lake, he enters a coffee shop to find a phone. Minami is given a complimentary meal that makes him violently throw up in the bathroom and returns to discover that Ozaki's body is missing. When he asks the people in the town, he finds most of them apprehensive and uncooperative. He then sets out to explore the nearly-deserted, run-down suburb of Nagoya in a desperate attempt to recover the body, only to find himself caught in a series of increasingly surreal situations. He meets several strange characters including an elderly innkeeper obsessed with her breast milk, her strange brother who can supposedly channel spirits, a waiter who died three years ago in a car accident and ''gozu'' or a man with a cow's head, who appears to him in a dream. Minami tracks Ozaki to a junk yard, where he is told that he was murdered and turned into a skin suit. He returns to his car to find a girl (Yoshino) who claims to be Ozaki. After sharing intimate details of their life, as well as one of his dreams, he believes her.

Minami and the female Ozaki spend the night at a hotel. During the night, Minami hears what sounds like a voice emanating from the female Ozaki’s vagina while she sleeps. She wakes up and asks Minami if he wants to have sex with her; he rejects her advances.

The next day, Minami drives the female Ozaki back to his gang’s office, with the intent of explaining the situation to his boss. However, once they arrive, the female Ozaki claims that she is actually the daughter of another yakuza family’s deceased boss, and that she wishes to start working for Minami’s boss.

The boss takes the female Ozaki to his office to have sex with her, leaving Minami outside. The boss inserts the handle of a ladle into his anus, as this is apparently the only way he can achieve an erection. Minami sneaks back into the office, and confronts his boss; in the ensuing physical altercation, the boss falls backwards, impaling himself on the ladle achieving orgasm. Minami electrocutes the unconscious boss with exposed wires from a light fitting, then leaves with the female Ozaki.

Minami and the female Ozaki return to Minami’s home. Minami gives in to his temptations, and at the behest of the female Ozaki, they begin to have sex. However, as soon as he penetrates her, something latches onto his penis from within the female Ozaki; as Minami recoils in horror, a human hand emerges from the female Ozaki’s vagina. The original male Ozaki then extricates himself from the female Ozaki as Minami cowers in the corner of the room.

In the final scene of the movie, the two male brothers, along with the female Ozaki, are seen walking down the street together, arms linked.

Mary Audrey can't stand gambling. Her grandfather, William, whom she calls "Gramps," is a compulsive gambler. Mary puts him to work in her Beverly Hills book store to keep him away from his bad habit.

A professional gambler, Larry Scott, places a $200 wager with Gramps, who can't pay up when Larry's horse wins. Larry falls for Mary, however, woos and weds her, then takes her for a Las Vegas honeymoon without revealing his real profession.

Mary discovers the truth and angrily arranges a quick divorce. Sacramento Sam, gambler pal of Larry's, hatches a scheme with the casino's help. Mary will be permitted to win $500 gambling by the house, with Larry and Sam secretly covering the bet. Maybe she won't hate gambling so much this way.

It works, but too well. Mary begins genuinely winning and won't quit. Larry and Sam go broke covering her bets. Larry returns to Beverly Hills, where he finds Gramps running a bookie operation out of the book store. They go back to Vegas and have everything riding on one last game of poker, which Gramps loses deliberately so Larry can win the money and Mary's heart.

In the year 2199, a new order, Satania, is ruling the world. This was caused in the beginning of the 21st century, when the Third World, under the name of "Batallón de la Cochambre", made a revolution called "la guerra del hambre" (the war of hunger). This made the world's dominant powers to use all their bacteriological and nuclear arsenals, causing the destruction of all animal and plant life, but not destroying all humanity. A selected group of corporate leaders, politicians and computer programmers, organized by the enigmatic figure of "elmaestro.com", created Satania, a world without violence, revolutions or the right of the people to think by themselves to create another option. Years passed in a world where reading was forbidden, sex was practiced in the "clean way" (virtually), oxygen was rationed, and society was slowly falling on itself. In Necropolis, the official capital of Satania, a group of "doubters" (people who were not conformed with digital life and with an automatic society) began the search of another way of life, based more on the spiritual ways, and running away from the advances that will lead to the destruction of the Earth. Bribing the biggest hacker in the zone, "alamierda.es" (toshit.es), with oxygen credit cards and the most powerful hallucinating drug that ever existed (which is, a video of notable moments of a game show), they search in the hard drive of "elmaestro.com" (themaster.com) for the reason why humanity reached that point.

They find a CD-ROM that narrates the story of Diego Cortéz, a swordsman that protects an enigmatic pilgrim from Puente La Reina to Santiago de Compostela, known to be the pilgrimage of the Way of St. James and they both make a long voyage of self-discovery. When they finally reach Santiago de Compostela the pilgrim kills Diego, after revealing he is Astaroth (the Devil). He then goes to the nearby church. To close the agreement, the Devil leaves a CD-ROM with an inscription on it, "You are in Satania, this is the end of the road!".

At the start of the movie, the young and handsome Kanō Sōzaburō (Ryuhei Matsuda) is admitted to the Shinsengumi, an elite samurai group led by Kondō Isami (Yoichi Sai) that seeks to defend the Tokugawa shogunate against reformist forces. He is a very skilled swordsman, but it is his appearance that makes many of the others in the (strictly male) group, both students and superiors, attracted to him, creating tension within the group of people vying for Kanō's affections.

Edmund and Terry find the entrance through the Twin Rock, where a long escalator descends into the bowels of the earth. The underground region is illuminated by large balloons filled with a blue, dazzling gas, which float in the underground sky.

At the bottom of the escalator a narrow quay, ''Surface-by-the-Sea'', borders a large gulf. Edmund and Terry are separated here. Edmund is taken to Fattyborough, the capital of the Fattypuff kingdom, on the ship ''Fattiport'', while Terry is ordered to board the steel vessel ''Thiniport'' for Thiniville, capital of the Thinifer Republic.

Edmund soon assumes an important position in the administration of Fattypuff, whose inhabitants are friendly, happy, and who live only for drinking and eating. Everything there is round and cushioned; the architecture is domes and baroque. Terry also rises through the ranks quickly in the land of the Thinifers, workaholics all, who scarcely eat, and who rush to and from their country, which is all high, sharp spires and thin railway cars.

For centuries Fattypuffs and Thinifers have been mortal enemies, having fought one another already in the ''War of the Captive Armies''. Their main source of tension lies over ownership of an island in the gulf that separates the countries, and what to call it - the Fattypuffs prefer "Fattyfer," the Thinifers "Thinipuff." Negotiations, in which Edmund and Terry participate, are unsuccessful, and the countries go to war. The Thinifers emerge as the victors, and annex the Fattypuff kingdom.

The consequences of this annexation are unexpected. Many soldiers of the occupying army of the Thinifers begin to marry Fattypuff girls, and return to their homeland with affection for the country that they conquered. The Thinifers begin to adopt Fattypuff cuisine, habits, and attitudes. Consequently, the Thinifer president proclaims that the two peoples form a new nation, the ''United States of the Underground''. King Plumpapuff of the Fattypuffs is made constitutional sovereign, while the Thinifer president is made his chancellor. All distinctions by weight are abolished. A toponymic compromise is reached: the island of ''Fattyfer-Thinipuff'' is called ''Peachblossom Island''.

Edmund and Terry are allowed to return home, where their father has been looking for them at the base of the Twin Rock. They spent ten months underground, but only an hour has passed on the surface.

Narrated omnisciently, the novel opens with Cincinnatus C., a thirty-year-old teacher and the protagonist, being sentenced to death by beheading for the crime "gnostical turpitude" in twenty days' time (though this timescale is undisclosed to Cincinnatus). After being taken back to a "fortress" by the cheerful jailer Rodion, Cincinnatus talks to his lawyer and dances with Rodion, before inscribing his thoughts on paper, as a spider dangles from the ceiling. Throughout the plot, Cincinnatus repeatedly inquires of various characters about the date of his execution, but to no avail. Cincinnatus is displeased to learn from the prison director, Rodrig, that he will be getting a cellmate. Cincinnatus soon meets Emmie, Rodrig's young daughter, and then reads the foolish prisoner's rules etched into the wall, flips through a book catalogue, and is brought by Rodrig down the hall to observe his incoming cellmate through a peephole.

Almost a week after the trial, Cincinnatus excitedly expects his unfaithful wife (and unrequited love), Marthe, but she postpones her visit. There is some confusion surrounding the director's transformation into Rodion, the jailer, who expels Cincinnatus from the cell so he can clean it, allowing Cincinnatus to wander, dreaming of freedom and running away. Cincinnatus sees Emmie again, bouncing a ball in front of a picture of a garden he mistakes for a window. The next morning, Cincinnatus meets his new prisonmate, the charismatic Monsieur Pierre, over whom the director fawns adoringly, but Cincinnatus shows his disapproval.

On the eighth day of his imprisonment alone, Cincinnatus resumes his writing, fearfully confessing his painful emotions. He longs for a world, away from superficiality, for people like him, who have a deeper understanding of their existence. In the morning, Marthe arrives with her whole family, including another lover, but Cincinnatus cannot cross the cell, cluttered with temporary furniture for the guests, in time to speak with his wife before everyone is ushered out. Next, Pierre revisits and chides Cincinnatus, as the once director did, for his lack of gratitude at everyone's pleasantness in the prison. A few days later, Cecilia C., Cincinnatus's estranged mother, enters the cell against Cincinnatus's wishes, and she explains the strange circumstances surrounding his birth and his father especially. That night Cincinnatus hears odd noises, and the wall caves in, revealing that Pierre has been digging a tunnel between their cells. Pierre invites him to see his cell, but Cincinnatus emerges from another hole, where Emmie guides him into a dining room in which Rodrig and his wife are eating dinner with Pierre. Cincinnatus is invited to eat too, and Rodrig hands him a photohoroscope album chronicling Emmie's future life.

Later, back in Cincinnatus's cell, Pierre is revealed to be the executioner and the date of Cincinnatus' execution is finally disclosed: the day after tomorrow. The city officials soon convene at the city manager's house to meet with Pierre and Cincinnatus. Afterwards, Cincinnatus, again racked with fear, writes about it, wishing he could not feel it. Rodion enters the cell with a moth as a meal for the spider, but it escapes. Marthe next visits alone, and they converse about Cincinnatus's letter. She begs him to repent of his "wrongdoings", to which Cincinnatus dismisses her for the final time.

The day of Cincinnatus' execution finally arrives. As Rodion and Rodrig clean and dismantle the cell, the spider is revealed to be a toy. Terrified, Cincinnatus is taken by carriage to the square, where townspeople have already congregated. He musters enough strength to climb the scaffold on his own. In the ensuing moments, M'sieur Pierre dons his apron and demonstrates to Cincinnatus how to lie on the block. Cincinnatus begins counting backwards from ten in preparation for the apparent beheading. Suddenly, he gets up and walks down the scaffolding, presumably free from his physical body and existence.

The story unfolds on a snowy day at the upscale Wengler home; all the characters who appear in the scene are female.

Eloise Wengler is a jaded suburban housewife in an unhappy marriage to Lew Wengler. Mary Jane is her former college roommate who works part-time as a secretary. She is divorced. Neither woman graduated from the college they attended together. Ramona is Eloise’s little daughter. Socially inept, withdrawn and bespectacled, she is accompanied everywhere by her imaginary friend, Jimmy Jimmereeno. Grace is the Wenglers' African-American maid.

Mary Jane visits Eloise at her home and they spend the afternoon reminiscing about their college years, chain-smoking, and drinking themselves into a stupor. Ramona returns home, and Mary Jane gushes over the girl. Eloise commands her daughter to divulge the particulars of Jimmy Jimmereeno to the guest, and Mary Jane declares the make-believe boy “marvelous.” Ramona retreats outdoors to play.

The women resume their drunken and desultory ramblings. Eloise relates the story of a young soldier, Walt Glass, with whom she fell in love when single. She still clings to Walt's memory (he was killed in a freak accident while serving in the Pacific), and expresses bitter regret that she married Lew. Eloise embarks on a tirade against men, and Lew in particular, who lacks, she feels, the traits most lovable in Walt – “humor” and “intelligence”. She relates an event in which she and Walt were running to catch a bus, and she sprained her ankle. Referring to her ankle in good humor, Walt had said, "Poor Uncle Wiggily…” In divulging the details of Walt’s death, Eloise breaks down, and Mary Jane attempts to comfort her.

Ramona reenters the room and having overheard her mother’s remarks, announces that Jimmy has been run over by a car and killed.

The women continue drinking until they fall asleep in the living room. After dark, Eloise is woken by a phone call from her husband Lew, and after a short, sarcastic exchange, hangs up on him.

Grace, the live-in maid, approaches Eloise and respectfully asks that her visiting spouse be allowed to stay the night due to the severe weather. Eloise curtly rebuffs her employee and denies the request.

The drunken Eloise goes upstairs to Ramona’s bedroom where the child is sleeping. Turning on the light, she sees the girl lying at the extreme edge of the bed, a habit of hers to make space for her imaginary friend. Eloise wakes her up and reminds her that Jimmy has been killed, but Ramona tries to avoid a confrontation by inventing a new friend named "Mickey Mickeranno." Flying into a rage, the exasperated Eloise takes hold of Ramona and drags her to the middle of the bed, and orders her to go to sleep in that position.

After switching off the light and standing long in the doorway Eloise holds Ramona's glasses against her cheek, cries and repeats the words “Poor Uncle Wiggily” again and again. Sobbing, she tucks in the frightened and crying girl and leaves the room. Downstairs, she awakens Mary Jane from her alcohol-induced slumber, and weeping, beseeches her dismayed friend to reassure her that as a freshman in college, she had been “a nice girl”.

Takosuke and Pentarou recruit various characters for an agency whose main goal is riches, power, and world peace. The agency helps people who have problems. In addition to Vic Viper and Lord British, Hikaru and Akane, Michael and Gabriel, Koitsu and Aitsu, and Mambo and Samba, Ivan and Toby, two rockhopper penguins, Option and Multiple, sentient versions of Vic Viper and Lord British's drones, Ace from ''TwinBee Yahho!'', who pilots the Shooting Star, and an unnamed woman who pilots the Black Viper, a spacecraft that originates in the game, also get recruited.

After completing (or not completing) all the missions, Takosuke steals the profits of the agency for himself and runs away, with the characters chasing him. Depending on how the player finishes the final level, there are two endings. The bad ending sees Takosuke escape with the money and have fun with various women while the player characters look depressed. The good ending has Takosuke get crushed to death by the buttocks of a giant naked woman named Kaori, in which the player characters celebrate.

"Links" are the common monsters from folklore and mythology (except vampires, whose existence is specifically identified as preposterous), and are described as being the missing link between apes and humans (although other human-like species have evolved, for instance gargoyles, who are identified as humanoid descendants of dinosaurs). They live in hiding and/or disguise among the human population. On occasions when Links are seen by humans, they are usually dismissed as hallucinations or optical illusions, except by those who are especially perceptive. Special Unit 2 is the top-secret division of the Chicago police specifically designated to handle Link-related cases. Other units of the police department are specifically ordered to stay out of Special Unit 2's way, which provides a great deal of leeway and access for cases.

Detective Nick O'Malley (Michael Landes) and his newly assigned partner, Detective Kate Benson (Alexondra Lee), are the two central characters. Nick is a maverick veteran in Special Unit 2. His initially callous, jaded and at times cruel demeanor is revealed to be a result of guilt over the loss of his previous partner; Julie. A criminal called The Chameleon cut her up into "600 inch-sized cubes". (It would later be revealed that Nick and Julie were having a secret affair.) Kate is one of the rare individuals who acknowledge the existence of Links instead of finding a more acceptable (albeit incorrect) explanation for the traditionally unexplained phenomena that they cause. Her refusal to deny her observations jeopardizes her career as a police officer and estranges her from her fellow officers. Kate's tenacity and conviction leads to her recruitment by Special Unit 2.

Supporting characters include Captain Richard Page (Richard Gant), SU2's commanding officer with a prosthetic metal hand that serves as the focus of running gags. The unit's liaison with the Link community is Carl (Danny Woodburn), a verbally aggressive gnome known for kleptomania and armed robbery, who is mutually antagonistic towards Nick. Nick and Carl's love-hate relationship contributes some of the humor within the fantasy universe of the show. Carl is completely invincible to everything but a diamond-coated saw and dragon fire/teeth.

Other members of the unit are the technical experts, who provide background, research and technology on various Links. Initially the primary technician is the acerbic Link biologist Sean Radmon (Sean Whalen), succeeded in Season 2 by Jonathan (Jonathan Togo), SU2's obsessively enthusiastic technician who analyzes Link evidence and produces a seemingly endless stream of Link-related inventions with positive glee. Another recurring character introduced in Season 2, is Alice Cramer (Pauley Perrette), who is the Unit's public relations person and acts to convince the press and witnesses that the crimes and strange events committed by Links are merely toxic spills, mass hallucinations, drugged out street gangers, etc. Another recurring character is Jerry (Mike Rad), someone who drifts from job to job and occasionally encounters Links. (For example, in the first episode, Carl attempted to stick him up at the store where he was working.)

The unit further maintains secrecy by hiding the physical location of the unit's headquarters behind the facade of a Chinese laundry. The detectives drive unmarked cars and utilize sophisticated weaponry and technology to deal with Link threats.

A partial list of Links encountered by SU2 in the course of the episodes include a trash-talking Gargoyle, the scheming Pied Piper posing as a children's television host, the homicidal Sandman, Jack The Ripper and deadly snake-haired Medusa, all revealed to be criminals in these particular cases. Most of the monsters are portrayed as behaving rather human-like, forming urban communities.

Former actor Bill Williams (Tom Arnold) is about to commit suicide over his ruined career. He throws out all his stuff and gives his clothes to a homeless man. The man drinks Bill's vodka and takes half of his pills messing up his suicide plan and takes off. Bill drinks his alcohol and then takes the remaining pills. He then lies down in the bathtub. Three days later an eccentric film agent named Johnny Bernstein (Henry Winkler) shows up at the apartment with a business offer for him. He says a billionaire, Davis Roman (Joe Mantegna), will hire Bill to write and co-star in a movie exactly like 1994's ''True Lies'' so that his son, Aaron Roman (Eric Gores), whose favorite film is ''True Lies'', can live out his dream of being an actor and star of an action movie. Not knowing much about the boy or the billionaire, Bill agrees to do the project since he would make considerable profits.

Later at the park, Bill encounters the man previously in his apartment. His name is Guy Prince (Richard Edson), and he hasn't had a job in over 10 years. Bill finds he has a lot in common with Guy and asks him if he's interested in acting. Guy agrees and he becomes Bill's unconventional "best friend".

Johnny, Bill, and Guy later show up at the lavish Roman mansion, meeting with Davis and his wife, Shelby (Shannon Elizabeth). As they are a nice couple, Bill thinks they have a nice, normal son. However, when Aaron shows up, Bill becomes uncomfortable and assumes he will be making a bad film with a mentally impaired person. He attempts to back out of the offer when his ex-wife, producer Susan Mandeville (Linda Hamilton), comes in with a film crew and tells everybody she will be producing the movie. Shortly after she shows up, Davis tells Bill about how smart and dedicated Aaron is despite having cerebral palsy. Bill, remembering the money he will receive, agrees again to make the movie. Aaron, very excited to see Bill in person, tells him about his interesting movie ideas as they begin to write the script. Although some of Aaron's ideas are unrealistic, Bill becomes confident they will be able to shoot the movie, which Aaron decides to call ''Two Spies''. Guy is enjoying himself as well as he flirts with the local women and spends time drinking all the Roman's booze. When Aaron tells Bill he wants to kiss a beautiful woman while in a hot tub for the closing scene, Bill agrees.

Julian was the last direct relative of Constantine the Great to take up the purple, his father being Constantine's half-brother. As emperor, he attempted to destroy the influence of the Christian church. His goals were to bring back firstly the worship of the old Roman pantheon, secondly other religions including Judaism (he attempts to restore the Jewish Temple), and thirdly - with special emphasis upon the growing crisis on Rome's frontiers - Mithraism, a mystery religion that had been popular among Roman soldiers.

The book takes the form of the correspondence between two Hellenistic pagans, Libanius, who is considering writing a biography of Julian, and Priscus, who possesses Julian's personal memoir. Christianity has, by this stage, become the official religion of the Roman Empire (as decreed by the emperor Theodosius), with rioting and inquisition causing extreme violence between traditionalists and Christians, and even between Christian sects. Only thirty years after the novel took place, the city of Rome would be sacked by the Goths.

The memoir relates Julian's life from the time so many members of his family were purged by his cousin, the emperor Constantius II (whom he succeeded on the throne), his "exile" to libraries as a child, and his subsequent negative childhood experiences with Christian hypocrisy and conflict over dogma (see Arianism). As he matures, a rift forms between Julian and his disturbed half-brother Constantius Gallus, who is made Caesar (heir to the purple) by Constantius II; Julian claims, for his safety, to have no interest but philosophy, so he undertakes a journey to Athens to study under the city's greatest teachers. Here, he first sees Libanius, the book's narrator, and has an affair with a female philosopher, Macrina. He also comes to know some of the early Church Fathers in their formative years, including the agreeable Basil of Caesarea and the abrasive and dishonest Gregory of Nazianzus. Julian becomes a lector, a minor office in the Christian church, but he continues to learn about the traditional religions: he studies Neoplatonism in Asia Minor under Aedesius, and is initiated into the Eleusinian Mysteries in Athens (which he would later try to restore).

Julian is eventually made Caesar in place of Gallus, who was executed by Constantius II for cruelty, debauchery, and to satisfy Constantius's legendary insecurity and paranoia. This leaves Julian the successor to Constantius II, and he is given (at first nominal) command of Gaul, under attack by the Alamanni. Subsequently, Julian seizes hands-on military and administrative control from his 'advisors,' and, against expectations, experiences overwhelming military success over the Germans at Strasbourg. Upon the death of Helena, Julian's wife and Constantius's sister, and in the face of Constantius's ever-increasing manic paranoia, Julian undertakes a short rebellion against Constantius, which ends bloodlessly, with Constantius's natural death during the journey to confront Julian, and Julian's accession to the title of Augustus.

Julian's early reign is successful, with the removal from office of court eunuchs, whose true role Julian sees as being to drag on the state coffers and to isolate the emperors from real-world concerns. He also undertakes attempts to prevent the spread of Christianity; referring to the religion throughout the novel as 'back-country' and a 'death-cult' (and churches as 'charnel-houses', for their reverence of relics), Julian sees the best means to do this as to block Christians from teaching classical literature, thus relegating their religion to non-intellectual audiences and thwarting attempts by Christians to develop the sophisticated rhetoric and intellectualism of traditional Roman and Hellenistic religions. Here, Julian's headstrong nature begins to affect his ability to know his own capabilities, evident in several clashes with the Trinitarian clergy and with advisors. Nonetheless, Julian takes the opportunity to outline his arguments against Christianity, and to lay out his vision for reforming and restoring Roman civic life. His reforms are under way when, in spite of his own faith in prophecy, Julian undertakes an ill-omened campaign to reclaim Roman Mesopotamia from the Sassanid Empire.

This marks a significant turning-point in the novel, as it is the end of Julian's memoir. The rest of the novel consists of field dispatches and diary entries detailing Julian's campaign, with commentary by Priscus and Libanius's reflections. Initially, Julian is extremely successful (in spite of his relying on Xenophon's dated Anabasis for geographic details of the region), reaching Ctesiphon and defeating the Persian emperor in several decisive battles. However, after Persian scorched-earth tactics leave Julian's army with no food or water, it becomes apparent that the Christian officers' loyalty is in question, and that a plot may be afoot to kill Julian. Priscus recounts a short conversation with another non-Christian advisor during the campaign, in which he is told simply, 'we're not safe'. Indeed, Julian's dispatches begin to show delusion on the part of the emperor, and in spite of his steadily eroding grasp of reality and his own limitations, he presses on until a near mutiny of his soldiers. Not long after, during the return to Roman territory, Julian rushes to fight off a Persian attack on the line, eschewing his armor, since his aide Callistus has not repaired its broken straps. Julian returns to camp mortally wounded, and in spite of the efforts of his physician and friend Oribasius, he dies without picking a successor. Here, Vidal's narrative departs slightly from the known story of Julian, as it becomes apparent in the novel that Julian was wounded by a Roman spear. Upon the removal of Julian's body, Priscus secretly rifles through Julian's belongings, taking Julian's memoir and diary for himself and saving them from censorship. The Christian officers win the debate over whom to elevate to the title of Augustus, settling on the simple-minded and drunken Jovian. The campaign ends in disaster, and Jovian cedes significant portions of Rome's eastern territory to the Sassanid Empire.

The rest of the novel consists of the continuing correspondence of Libanius and Priscus; Libanius asks Priscus what he knows about Julian's death, himself suspecting that there was always a plot among the Christian officers to kill Julian. Priscus responds (with the assurance that his role as the source of such information would be kept anonymous) that, upon visiting Callistus years later, Priscus asked whether Callistus, who rode into battle with Julian on the day of his death, saw who killed the emperor. Callistus's originally one-dimensional and vague tale began to take on more detail, and when Priscus again asked whether Callistus knows the killer's identity, Callistus responded that he did, of course: 'it was I who killed the Emperor Julian'. Callistus recounted breaking the straps on Julian's armor before the fatal engagement, and personally stabbing Julian with his spear. Priscus asked how Callistus could have hated Julian, his benefactor. The Christian Callistus responded, chillingly, that he did not hate Julian, but admired him, and that 'every day [Callistus] pray[s]' for Julian's soul. Priscus closes the anecdote by begging Libanius to keep his name out of any published account of Julian's death, citing Callistus's powerful co-conspirators from the army and Theodosius's well-documented brutality, and Libanius's worst fears about Julian's death are confirmed.

The novel ends with Libanius's sending a letter to the emperor Theodosius seeking permission to publish Julian's memoir; it is denied. Lamenting his ill health, Theodosius's politically motivated proscription of traditional religion, and the end of intellectual culture and its replacement by widespread religious violence and intolerance, Libanius meets John Chrysostom, his former best student, giving a sermon at a Christian church. Libanius finally realizes that traditional religion is defeated, seeing as even the best and brightest of his students have enthusiastically adopted Christianity. Irritated by John's solemn triumph, Libanius calls Christianity a death-cult, and in response, John Chrysostom morbidly implies that Christianity embraces the coming death of the classical world. By extension, though somewhat more vaguely, John claims that he awaits the coming apocalypse. In closing, Libanius writes, prophetically, that he hopes the coming collapse of reason and the Roman world will be only temporary, likening the dying of the Empire to that of his oil lamp, and expresses the hope that reason and 'man's love of light' would one day bring back the prosperity, stability, and intellectualism of the pre-Christian empire.

''The Man'' was written before the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution. It depicts a political situation in which the office of Vice Presidency is vacant due to the incumbent's death. While overseas in Germany, the President and the Speaker of the House are in a freak accident; the President is killed, the Speaker of the House later dies in surgery. The Presidency then devolves onto Douglass Dilman, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, a black man earlier elected to that office in deference to his race. Dilman's presidency is challenged by white racists, black political activists, and an attempted assassination. Later, he is impeached on false charges for firing the United States Secretary of State. One of his children, who is "passing" for white, is targeted and harassed. At the end of the book, the protagonist—though having credibly dealt with considerable problems during his presidency and gained some popularity—does not consider running for re-election.

''A Question of Upbringing'' opens with the narrator reflecting on a view of some men working outside in the cold, and this leads to an eventual reference to Poussin's painting ''A Dance to the Music of Time.'' The narrator (Nick Jenkins) proceeds to recall his school days in 1921–22, when he, Charles Stringham, and Peter Templer had been friends. The character of a more senior student, Kenneth Widmerpool, is the subject of the initial remembrances; there is also a recollection of a visit from Nick's Uncle Giles and a practical joke played by Stringham on the boys' school housemaster. Templer and Stringham each depart permanently from school before Nick, but the boys nonetheless remain friends. Nick meets Stringham's mother, the glamorous Mrs Foxe, and her husband, Cdr. Buster Foxe, "a chic sailor." After Nick leaves school, he also visits the Templers. There he sets eyes for the first time on Templer's sister Jean; he also meets the somewhat older Sunny Farebrother and Jimmy Stripling. Afterward, Nick encounters Widmerpool again while staying in France in order to improve his French. There, Nick first starts to consider Widmerpool as more than just a slightly farcical character when Widmerpool displays unexpected powers of persuasion in reconciling two of the other residents.

Nick goes to university, where he encounters Sillery (a don whose main interest is establishing connections and pulling strings), fellow students Mark Members and J.G. Quiggin, and former student Bill Truscott. Stringham also eventually arrives at university, but is not enamored with it. The friendship between Stringham and Templer is tacitly ended when Templer visits with some London friends, Bob Duport and Jimmy Brent, and ends up driving all of them (Nick included) into a ditch. Stringham soon leaves university, going to work for Sir Magnus Donners. The book ends in London. Nick has come to town to dine with Stringham, but Stringham backs out on the dinner in order to attend a party. Nick realizes that the connections among the boyhood trio of friends, while maybe never particularly tight, have now almost entirely loosened: each is going his own way, at least for a time, until they are again brought into contact one with another as part of the "Dance." The book ends with Nick meeting his Uncle Giles for dinner. Upon arriving at the restaurant, Nick observes that Uncle Giles is reading ''Some Things that Matter'' by George Allardice Riddell.

Just before a nuclear war breaks out, a scientist at the British National Research Centre puts Paul (Rob Bartlett) and his girlfriend Jenny (Wendy Parsons) into suspended animation so they can live to see better days. 25 years later, the unit runs out of power and the couple is reanimated.

They camp in peace for a few days, until they are beset and captured by a biker gang. The gang take Jenny and Paul to their home, a decadent city led by the Messiah (Patrick Olliver), a nazi chic-wearing megalomaniac with a deformed hand. Jenny is enrolled into the Messiah's harem while Paul is thrown in a cell. He is contacted by a sympathetic jailer called Barbara (Debri Stevens), who promises to arrange his escape and spare him from being forced to participate in "the Run".

A prisoner with no name, known as Hero (Eddie Kirby), joins Paul and tells him he was the only man to ever survive the Run. They team up to escape: when Barbara arrives to feed them, they initiate a fight with her guards, which they win with Barbara's help. They subdue the rest of the gang by releasing captive mutants, who gleefully start killing the bikers. They then hijack a car and pick up Jenny. They fight some more gang members when they reach a gasworks at the outskirts of the city, and keep driving until they run out of petrol.

They encounter a pregnant woman (Kate Kneafsey), who shares their hatred of the Messiah and shelters them among her people. A romance begins to blossom between Barbara and Hero. That night, however, they find Jenny dead and realise that their hosts are cannibals. They kill all but the pregnant woman, who reveals that she was raped by the Messiah and that the gang were using her resulting pregnancy to make her seem sympathetic to the rebels. They forgive her and decide to move on to elude pursuit by the Messiah's cronies. They don't go far before being ambushed by mutants, and they use up all their petrol incinerating them.

Hero comes up with a plan: he trains Paul until he is fit enough to survive the Run, then lets him get captured by the Messiah. Paul performs the Run, which turns out to involve running down a hill while handcuffed to a metal wire which is fed with high-voltage electricity, all while fighting mutants bare-handed. Paul runs down the hill all the way into the forest, where the Messiah cannot see him, and thus allows Hero to get rid of the mutants for him and break his cuffs. Hero also captures a crony and handcuffs him to the wire to act as a decoy.

The Messiah learns of the trick though, and sends all his men after the two. They dispatch most of them with ease, although Hero has a protracted wrestling match with a burly crony. He eventually succeeds in impaling his opponent with a fence post. The Messiah is finally left vulnerable, and his harem girls take turns stabbing him, until Paul finishes him off with a machete. Paul promises to end the Messiah's evil and found a new society based on good.

Some time later, Paul is building a house for his village of good. The pregnant woman has had her baby, and he allows her to shelter in the house to breastfeed. The film ends with a shot of the baby's hand, which is deformed just like the Messiah's.

James Arnold "Dad" Ross and his son, James Jr. ("Bunny") are introduced as they drive through southern California to meet with the Watkins family, who are leasing out some oil property they own. They find out that the family is deadlocked about how the properties and proceeds should be divided. While Dad and Bunny go quail hunting on the Watkins' goat ranch, they find oil. At Bunny's urging, Dad tries to prevent the elder Watkins from beating his daughter Ruth, trying to convince them that he has received a "third revelation" which prohibits parents from beating their children. The plan backfires when Eli, Ruth's brother, interjects himself into the discussion and claims that ''he'' has received the revelation.

As drilling begins at the Watkins ranch, Bunny begins to realize his father's business methods are not entirely ethical. After a worker is killed in an accident and an oil well is destroyed in a blowout, Dad's workforce goes on strike. Bunny is torn between loyalty to Dad and his friendship to Ruth and her rebellious brother Paul, who support the workers. Paul is drafted into World War I and, when the conflict is over, remains in Siberia to fight the rising Bolsheviks. Back home, Bunny enrolls in college, and he becomes increasingly involved with socialism through a classmate, Rachel Menzies. Paul returns home and tells of his travels, explaining he has become a communist.

Bunny accompanies Dad to the seaside mansion of his business associate Vernon Roscoe. Dad and Roscoe flee the country to avoid being subpoenaed by Congress in the Teapot Dome scandal. Before Dad goes away, Bunny proposes parting ways with his father and earning his own way in the world; Dad is confused and hurt, but not unsupportive. Overseas, Dad meets and marries Mrs. Olivier, a widow and Spiritualist, but soon passes away from pneumonia. Bunny decides to dedicate his life and inheritance to social justice while Roscoe moves to get control of the bulk of Dad's estate. Bunny and his sister Bertie are swindled out of most of their inheritance by Roscoe and Mrs. Olivier.

Bunny marries Rachel and they dedicate themselves to establishing a socialist institution of learning; Eli, by now a successful evangelist, falsely claims that Paul underwent a deathbed conversion to Christianity.

''Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars'' features Alex Kidd and Stella searching for the twelve Zodiac signs. Alex's mission is to run through each level, knocking down enemies, and obtain the six miracle balls. These balls are hidden inside such unusual places as a Christmas present, the ''Fantasy Zone'' ship out of action, a pumpkin, a clamshell, a golden egg, and a desk bell. Levels include Toy World, Machine World, World of Make Believe, Water World, Monster World, and Giant's Body.

Once the six miracle balls are obtained, Alex must then venture in outer space to carry them to the holy land of Ziggurat. After the last level, the Shrine of Jiggarat, is complete, the player must run through all the levels again, but with new enemies. The player is under a time limit, and if the time expires, the player will lose a life.

The game is noteworthy for the scream Alex lets out whenever he gets hit, falls, or loses all his time.

Will and Danny Jensen are brothers, and the film begins with an interview with their parents. They talk about Will and Danny's youth-pageant championships and their singing abilities. Will and Danny's parents can't sing, as their poor attempt shows.

Will Jensen (Will Swensen) is an aerobics instructor and is popular with women (the blonde he is constantly seen with is a different girl on camera each time. He sees the band as his. Kirby later says that Will is near controlling, but not quite.

Danny Jensen (Danny Tarasevich) is an ice hockey player and has a life philosophy that is a fusion of Buddhism and Mormonism. His introductory interviews are done in front of posters of Ozzy Osbourne and Donny & Marie. Whenever he has a moral dilemma, he thinks, "What Would Donny & Marie Do?" (WWD&MD).

Will and Danny Jensen are the remaining members of an LDS boy-band from Provo, Utah that recently lost its third member because of "artistic reasons." Will and Danny begin the search for a new third member of their band that does not yet have a name.

They begin by posting flyers and holding auditions in their own house. After that fails, they start searching local plays and baseball games (for singers of the national anthem). They eventually decide on the star of a production of ''Forever Plaid'' at a local community theatre. He turns them down without reservation. They then do an impromptu try-out of one of the costars, Kirby Laybourne (Kirby Heyborne), and recruit him for the group. Kirby is a scrapbooking specialist who works at Daisy Cutter Scrapbooking Company. His CTR ring is his most important possession.

The group needs a manager, so Will and Danny hire their nephew (who is older), Grayson Jensen (Peter Brown), for the job. The first gig he books for them is as the targets of a pie-throwing booth at a local fair. They sing while pies are being thrown at them. They are not pleased with their manager.

Their second gig is at a local wedding reception in a church gymnasium. The gymnasium is partitioned off so that half is for the wedding reception. When they begin to perform, one of the microphone stands collapses. A boy scout troop begins to shoot hoops in the other end of the gymnasium. Kirby turns up the music to overpower the sounds of the basketball playing and causes feedback. The bride and groom then begin to argue and the bride walks out. Then the group ends their performance and argues vociferously with their manager during which the manager uses the words "fetchers", "flippin'", "heck" and "butt". Will tells him, "Watch your language!"

In the next scene, Will says, "I, for one, am fine with the fact that we had to let Grayson go. There is a certain level of conduct that is expected from a boy-band's manager. I know that Justin Timberlake's manager doesn't throw out language like that." At the next official group meeting, the first order of business is to find a new manager. The band ends up hiring an old girlfriend of Kirby's who works at Provo Theatre Company, Jill Keith (Jennifer Erekson).

Meanwhile, Will has set up their next gig to perform at a local fireside. Will splurges and purchases headmikes that are "the same model as Jessica Simpson used at her last two mall appearances." One of the men who hears them there has a recording studio in his house and offers to record their music so he asks, "What's your band's name?" They hold a brainstorming session in a park and come up with the name "Everkleen" (eventually shifting to the spelling, "Everclean.")

They decide that they need to hire a professional choreographer, a local ballet instructor, Yvonne Bolschweiler (Maureen Eastwood). She insists on them working hard without backtalking.

After recording their first album, they begin to get some paying gigs. It doesn't take long until they have a tour starting in Salt Lake City, Utah and including Logan, Utah; Salem, Utah; and Moscow, Idaho. During their tour, the reservations that they had made for the Days Inn in St. George, Utah had been lost and, "There's no room in the inn." They camp out that night on the Red Hill in Utah, with a short campfire song named "I Am Called Buttercup." This is the first concert where they let Kirby sing lead vocal, in the song "Spiritchal as Me".

Some time after this performance, they read a review in the newspaper which pans their performance. It was written with such highbrow words that they think that it is a good review.

At a performance at Utah State University, Kirby loses his CTR ring down a drain just before a performance. In one of the earlier interviews, he conveys how important it is to him. He can be seen clearly performing below par. During the performance, the band manager gets someone to take the drain apart and retrieve the ring, which she returns to Kirby during the performance.

One of the songs that they perform in their concerts is titled "Dang, Fetch, Oh my Heck" It starts out with the lyrics, "Dang! Fetch! Oh my Heck! What the holy scrud? / H-E double hockey sticks! That's frickin' flippin' crud!" Their former band manager, Grayson, who is at the performance walks out calling them hypocrites, and saying some other near-profanities.

Their next performance is at the Jensen family reunion. It will be the first time since the band has seen Grayson since he was fired. When they encounter each other, they are cordial. Everclean performs to some applause. Then Grayson introduces the singing group that he has been managing for the past few months, moosebutter (an actual a cappella comedy group) who performs to wild applause.

The Everclean tour ends up at Centerville High School (Provo, Utah), where the Jensen brothers went to high school. While practicing for the performance, Will doesn't appreciate that a high school junior is managing the technical aspects instead of a senior. This escalates in to an argument between the band members from which they all walk away. The band manager talks to Will and convinces him to listen to the tape that Kirby has made of the song that he wrote and wants to perform. Will then apologizes to Danny. They both call up Kirby who is listening as they leave a message on his answering machine. Will and Danny are practicing Kirby's song just before the performance not knowing if Kirby will show up.

He does show up, and Will admits that the group can't get along without Kirby. The last scene is a performance of Kirby's song by Everclean, with Will and Danny singing backup.

Part I

In the prologue Ivan's mother and her lover are murdered by the boyars. Later Ivan is enthroned as Grand Prince of Moscow.

Part I begins with Ivan's coronation as Tsar of all the Russians, amid grumbling from the boyars and silent jealousy from his cousin, Vladimir of Staritsa and especially from Vladimir's mother and Ivan's aunt, the evil-looking Evfrosinia Staritskaia. Ivan makes a speech proclaiming his intent to unite and protect Russia against the foreign armies outside her borders and the enemies within – a reference to the boyars, who are already seen as discontented with his coronation. Shortly after, Ivan marries Anastasia Romanovna and there is a wedding celebration. This causes him to lose the friendship of his two best friends, Prince Andrei Kurbsky and Fyodor Kolychev. The latter receives Ivan's permission to retire to a monastery, while Kurbsky attempts to resume his romance with the Tsarina, who repels his advances.

The marriage feast is interrupted by news of the burning of several boyar palaces, carried into the Tsar's palace by a mob of the common people who also complain that the Tsar is being led astray by the Tsarina's family (the Romanovs), the Glinskys and the Zakharins. Ivan calms the crowd, but is interrupted by envoys from the khanate of Kazan, who send him a ceremonial knife with the suggestion that he do himself a favor by using it to commit suicide. Ivan immediately proclaims that his kingdom is at war with Kazan.

The next scene shows the 1552 siege of Kazan, in which Ivan's army digs saps underneath the city and fills them with gunpowder. Kurbsky, nominally in command, is reprimanded by Ivan for senseless brutality (he ties Tatar prisoners to palisades within earshot of the walls of Kazan and tells them to shout to the city to surrender; the defending archers immediately shoot the prisoners). The city of Kazan falls to the Russian army.

During his return from Kazan, Ivan falls seriously ill and is thought to be on his deathbed; Orthodox priests come to give him the last rites before he dies. Ivan sends for his relatives and orders them to swear allegiance to his son, the infant Dmitri, reminding them of the need for a single ruler to keep Russia united. They demur, with Ivan's aunt, Evfrosinia Staritskaya, openly urging the others to swear allegiance to her son, Vladimir, instead. Emotionally overwrought, Ivan collapses and is thought dead. The relatives, celebrating, all begin to swear allegiance to Vladimir, the "boyar tsar" they have hoped for; meanwhile, Kurbsky is uncertain of his own loyalty, trying to decide between the two sides. However, when the Tsarina says, "Do not bury a man before he is dead," Kurbsky realizes that Ivan is still alive, and hurriedly swears his allegiance to Ivan's infant son, Dmitri. He is sent, as a reward, to the western border of the kingdom to defend against the Livonians and Poles. At the same time, Ivan dispatches Alexei Basmanov, a commoner he likes, to the south to take care of the Crimean border. The fact that Ivan promotes a commoner over them creates more discontent amongst the boyars.

The Tsarina now falls ill, and while Ivan is receiving bad news from all fronts, the boyars plot to kill her. Evfrosinia comes into the palace with a cup of wine hidden in her robes, in which she has put poison. Just as the royal couple receive word that Kurbsky has defected to the Livonians, Evfrosinia slips the cup of wine into the room and listens from behind a wall. The news that Kurbsky is a traitor gives the Tsarina a convulsion and Ivan, looking around for a drink to calm her, takes the poisoned wine and gives it to her.

The scene changes to show the dead Tsarina lying in state in the cathedral, with Ivan mourning beside her bier. While a monk reads biblical verses over the body, Ivan questions his own justifications and ability to rule, wondering if his wife's death is God's punishment on him. However, he pulls himself out of it, and sends for his old friend, Kolychev, the monk. At this point, Alexei Basmanov arrives, suggesting that Ivan instead surround himself with men he can really trust – common people, "iron men," the Oprichniki – and offers his own rather startled son, Fyodor, for service. Ivan accepts, and sets about recouping his losses. He abdicates and leaves Moscow, waiting until the people beg him to return, saying that he now rules with absolute power by the will of the people.

Part II

Part II opens in the court of King Sigismund of Poland, to whom Kurbsky swears allegiance. Sigismund promises to make Kurbsky ruler of Ivan's territories, once he exploits the tsar's absence by conquering them. The plan is foiled when an emissary announces that Ivan has returned to Moscow.

A flashback shows Ivan as a child, witnessing his mother being poisoned and removed, then as a young teenager standing up to the condescension of the boyars who want to rule over young Ivan's head. He begins by reforming the land distribution - he takes the boyars' lands, then reinstalls them as managers, increasing his own power at their expense. His friend, Kolychev, arrives, now the monk Philip; after a heated debate, Philip agrees to become metropolitan of Moscow, as long as Ivan gives him the right to intercede for condemned men. This is mutually agreed upon, but as soon as it is settled, Ivan, propelled by his lieutenant Malyuta Skuratov, finds a way around this: he executes condemned men quickly, before Philip can use his right. In this way he has three of Philip's kinsmen executed.

Fyodor Basmanov, the first of the Oprichniki, helps Ivan figure out that the Tsarina was poisoned, and both suspect Evfrosinia of poisoning the cup of water. Ivan orders Fyodor not to say anything about it until they are certain beyond doubt of her guilt.

The boyars, close to desperation, plead their case to Philip and eventually win him over. He vows to block Ivan's abuse of power, and confronts him in the cathedral while a miracle play is being presented. As the argument heats up, a small child, carried on the boyars’ shoulders next to Evfrosinia, calls out, asking whether this is the “terrible heathen king”. Ivan, angry, proclaims that he will be exactly what they call him – terrible. He is now sure that Evfrosinia poisoned his wife, the Tsarina, and he has Philip seized. The boyars now decide that their only option is to assassinate Ivan, and the novice Pyotr is selected to wield the knife. Malyuta Skuratov arrives to invite Vladimir to a banquet with Tsar Ivan and the Oprichniki.

''(From here, the film is in colour.)'' At the banquet, Ivan gets Vladimir drunk while the Oprichniki sing and dance around them; a tipsy Vladimir mentions that there is a plot to kill Ivan, and that he, Vladimir, is to replace him as Tsar. Fyodor Basmanov notices Pyotr, the assassin, leaving and signals to Ivan who, pretending surprise at Vladimir's revelation, suggests Vladimir try being Tsar for a while. He has the Oprichniki bring throne, orb, sceptre, crown and royal robes, and they all bow down to "Tsar Vladimir". Then Ivan tells Vladimir to lead them to the cathedral in prayer, as a Tsar should lead. ''(Back to black-and-white.)'' Hesitantly, Vladimir does.

In the cathedral, the assassin runs up, stabs the mock Tsar and is immediately seized by Fyodor and Malyuta. Evfrosinia arrives, jubilant at the apparent death of Ivan, until she sees Ivan alive; rolling the corpse over, she realizes it is her own son. Ivan orders Fyodor and Malyuta to release Pyotr, the assassin, and thanks him for killing not only “a fool”, but “the tsar's worst enemy”. He sentences Evfrosinia, who is holding the crown her son was wearing and is singing over his dead body as if deranged. ''(Back to colour.)'' At the end, Ivan is seen proclaiming that all his enemies within Moscow are ruthlessly vanquished and he can now turn his attention to those outside.

Peter Sanderson (Steve Martin) is a workaholic tax attorney, separated from his wife Kate (Jean Smart) and often too busy for their children, Sarah (Kimberly J. Brown) and Georgie (Angus T. Jones).

Peter arranges a blind date at his home with Charlene Morton (Queen Latifah), a woman he has been chatting with online. Misled by her photograph and description, he is shocked to discover that she is actually a felon who corresponded with him from prison. Charlene tries to blackmail Peter into clearing her name of armed robbery, claiming she is innocent, but he throws her out after several attempts.

Just as Peter is about to meet with a difficult client, Mrs. Virginia Arness (Joan Plowright), he is ambushed by Charlene, who draws the lustful attention of his friend and colleague Howie Rottman (Eugene Levy). Agreeing to help expunge Charlene's record and let her stay at his house, Peter lies that she is his nanny. Charlene is disrespected by Kate's unpleasant sister, Ashley (Missi Pyle), but subdues her in a vicious locker-room brawl.

Peter takes Charlene to dinner, and Kate is upset to spot them dancing together. Returning home, Charlene coaches a drunk Peter on winning Kate back, and they are caught in a compromising position by Peter's bigoted neighbor, his boss’ sister. Charlene helps Georgie overcome his struggles with reading, rescues Sarah from unwanted advances at a party, and guides Peter toward becoming a more understanding parent.

Impressing Kate with his new commitment to spending time with their kids, Peter attempts to invite her over but is interrupted by a call, to Kate's disappointment. He races home to meet Mrs. Arness, who invites herself to dinner and reminisces fondly about her family's degrading treatment of black servants, angering Charlene. A TV news report declares Charlene a fugitive, having broken out of prison, and includes security footage from a bank robbery, appearing to prove that a masked Charlene committed the crime.

Mrs. Arness leaves, refusing to sign the lucrative contract for Peter's firm, and Peter sends Charlene away. At the office, he discovers Mrs. Arness has notified the FBI, and sneaks out to his car. He is threatened at gunpoint by Widow, Charlene's ex-boyfriend, who warns him not to reopen her case, but Peter manages to drive off. Realizing Widow must have framed Charlene, Peter returns home to ask for his children's help finding her.

Sarah admits that she gave Charlene his cell phone, which Peter calls and picks Charlene up. He explains that she was set up by Widow, who is likely at a club downtown. Peter drops Charlene off at his house, saying he is returning to the office, but instead goes to the club. Buying street clothes off of a passer-by, Peter enters the club in disguise. Kate arrives at Peter's house to find the children waiting while the FBI search the premises.

Charlene calls Howie to drive her to the home of Mrs. Arness, who refuses to let Charlene explain herself, leading Charlene and Howie to kidnap Mrs. Arness and her beloved French bulldog. Charlene calls Sarah and realizes Peter went to the club, where Peter attempts to blend in but is captured by Widow.

Peter gets Widow to confess to having committed the robbery disguised as Charlene. Arriving at the club, Mrs. Arness gets drunk and high while Charlene calls the authorities, and she and Howie confront Widow. After a scuffle for his gun, Widow shoots Charlene, and the FBI storm the club. Charlene is saved from the bullet by Peter's titanium cell phone, and Peter reveals that he recorded Widow's confession on a boombox, leading to Charlene’s exoneration and Widow’s arrest.

Having secured Mrs. Arness as a multibillion-dollar client, Peter and Howie start their own firm. Moving into their new office, Peter is surprised by Charlene, and they exchange thanks for their impact on each other's lives. Kate arrives, and she and Peter reconcile as his cell phone rings. He tosses it out the window and they kiss; downstairs, Charlene and Howie appear to do the same.

In an alternate London where the British Empire dominates the world through control of magic, and commoners are governed by the ruling class of magicians, five-year-old Nathaniel begins an apprenticeship to magician Arthur Underwood, Minister of Internal Affairs.

At the age of ten, Nathaniel is presented to a gathering of magicians including the formidable Simon Lovelace, who dismisses Nathaniel's talents and humiliates him. Embittered toward Underwood, Nathaniel plots revenge. Through a scrying glass, Nathaniel sees Lovelace receive a package containing the powerful Amulet of Samarkand. Lovelace plans to use the Amulet to seize control of the government.

Days after his twelfth birthday, Nathaniel summons the djinn Bartimaeus and charges him to steal the Amulet. Bartimaeus, ordered to spy on Lovelace, travels to the magician Sholto Pinn's curio shop. He learns the Amulet had been under government protection. Bartimaeus' presence is discovered and he is detained in the Tower of London. Underwood confiscates Nathaniel's summoning paraphernalia, and is called to the Tower to interrogate Bartimaeus.

At the Tower, Bartimaeus is unsuccessfully interrogated by Pinn and Jessica Whitwell, Minister of Security. Bartimaeus escapes and flees, unwittingly leading Lovelace to the Underwood house. Lovelace threatens Underwood and discovers the Amulet in his study. Nathaniel reveals himself as the thief, but his master encourages Lovelace to kill his apprentice instead of him. Lovelace's spirits destroy the house; the Underwoods perish but Bartimaeus saves Nathaniel.

Nathaniel and Bartimaeus travel to Heddlehem Hall to stop Lovelace's coup. Bartimaeus battles a mysterious bearded mercenary, who displays extraordinary resistance to magic. Nathaniel is discovered by Lovelace and his master Schyler, who offers an ultimatum: to join Lovelace's new order, or die. Nathaniel kills Schyler using magical firework-cubes, and he and Bartimaeus arrive at the conference of magicians. Nathaniel attempts to warn the attendees but Whitwell places him in an impenetrable bubble as Lovelace, shielded by the Amulet, blows an ancient horn to call forth the immense spirit Ramuthra, who destroys the surrounding magicians and spirits. Bartimaeus distracts Lovelace, allowing Nathaniel to seize the Amulet. Ramuthra obliterates Lovelace, and Nathaniel delivers the words of dismissal and breaks the summoning horn. Ramuthra disappears, and Nathaniel presents the Amulet to Prime Minister Rupert Devereaux. Nathaniel becomes the quiet hero of the government. He strikes a bargain with Bartimaeus: in return for keeping Nathaniel's true name a secret, the magician will not summon him again. With Bartimaeus’ grudging respect, Nathaniel unbinds him, beginning a true magician's life under a new master, Jessica Whitwell.

While on a visit to the (fictional) Belmont Bevatron in the 1957 novel's near-future year of 1959, eight people become stuck in a series of subtly and not-so-subtly unreal worlds. The instigating incident is a malfunction of the particle accelerator, which places all of the injured parties in states of total or partial unconsciousness.

Jack Hamilton, the central protagonist, is dismissed from his job at the California Maintenance Labs due to McCarthy-era paranoia about his wife Marsha's left-wing political sympathies; this dismissal is instigated by security chief Charlie McFeyffe. Bill Laws, an African-American possessing a PhD in Physics, is employed as a lowly tour guide for the Bevatron. Arthur Sylvester is an elderly political conservative and believer in an obsolete geocentric cosmology, derived from a schismatic Bábí offshoot. Joan Reiss is a pathologically paranoid woman, and Edith Pritchet is a maternal but censorious elderly woman. Her son David, along with Charlie McFeyffe, complete the eight-member tour group.

After the Bevatron fails, all eight members of the tour group are injured by a collapsing walkway and high levels of radiation. They awake to a world where miracles, prayer, and curses are common-day occurrences. Hamilton and Charles McFeyffe travel to heaven and glimpse a gargantuan eye of God. They discover that they are inside the mind of Arthur Sylvester and knock him unconscious, hoping that doing so will return them to reality. Instead, they continue to a different universe. The next universe is a caricature of Victorian morality in which Edith Pritchett has abolished everything which she considers unpleasant, and the third universe reveals the paranoid delusions of Joan Reiss.

Finally, the group arrives in a Marxist caricature of contemporary US society. The characters discover that Marsha Hamilton did not create this world. Instead, Charles McFeyffe is revealed as a Communist who is using his position as chief security officer to further the ideals of the Communist Party.

After McFeyffe is knocked unconscious, the group believes they have returned to the real world. Jack Hamilton and Bill Laws form a small business that seeks advances in stereophonic technology. The disclosure of McFeyffe's Marxist allegiances is dismissed as unproveable. The novel ends ambiguously, as it is unclear if the group has returned to reality or is still living in someone else's universe.

In ages past, a malevolent race called the Arakacians discovered a place where space-time leaked a type of fluid. This fluid granted immortality to anyone who consumed it. The Arakacians built an empire and enslaved the known universe for centuries; they were unstoppable. The Arakacians were finally vanquished after the fountain chamber (where they gathered the water of life) was sealed by freedom fighters. The key to the chamber, a glowing crystal that will lead the bearer back to the fountain, but would drive anyone who possessed it insane, was cast into space and lost among the stars.

In a present-day asteroid excavation, space crewman Tyler and his colleague find the key by accident. Tyler touches the key and instantly goes insane. Tyler kills his mining partner, and takes over the ship, killing most of the resisting crew except for Dr. Schechter, and the pilots Lambert and Germain. His search for the planet with the fountain leads to Eden, a planet that is designated F.A.K.K.² (Federation-Assigned Ketogenic Killzone to the second level), but has inhabitants whose bodies carry the immortality fluid. Tyler invades Eden, and kills many of the Edenites, capturing some so he can extract the immortality fluids from their bodies. He also keeps the attractive Kerrie for his own sexual purposes. When Germain resists the idea, he is left on Eden.

Kerrie's sister Julie, who survived the attack, finds Germain and they team up to follow Tyler. At a renegade space station, Julie finds Tyler at a restaurant and critically injures him. However, he ingests a vial with the immortality serum and heals instantly. In the ensuing gunfight, Tyler blows up the club. Julie escapes the explosion; she and Germain board a shuttle-craft that latches onto Tyler's ship with a tractor beam before it jumps into hyperspace. Discovering them mid-travel, Tyler tries to shake them off, but the fight causes the hyperspace to collapse and the two ships to crash.

Julie wakes up on the desert planet called Oroboris, and meets a mysterious cloaked sage named Odin and his assistant, Zeek, a rock-like creature, both of whom are guardians of the ancient fountain. Elsewhere, Tyler's ship has been destroyed and most of his crew and abductees are dead. Tyler orders Dr. Schechter to extract Kerrie's fluids. He explores the planet and finds a race of reptilian beings, which he conquers by defeating their champion and then their leader in a death match. Julie enters the reptilian city in disguise as a woman that the reptiles found for Tyler. That night, she seduces Tyler, but when she tries to kill him, Zeek captures her and takes her back to Odin. Julie infiltrates Tyler's ship where she discovers Kerrie is still alive. She takes out Dr. Schechter, frees Kerrie, and escapes as the complex explodes. As a result, Tyler vows to make Julie immortal so he can "screw her and kill her every hour of every day for all eternity." With only three vials of serum, he orders his troops to storm the citadel where the immortality fountain is located.

At the citadel, Julie undergoes a ritual where she is outfitted in armor. She, Kerrie, and Germain help the fountain's guardians defend against Tyler's army. In the fighting, Lambert suffers a near-fatal injury and while reaching for Tyler's last vial of immortality serum, he knocks it loose from Tyler's belt and it breaks on the ground. Tyler, enraged, kills Lambert for the blunder. Tyler then walks to the pit of immortality and is about to put the crystal into the fountain's final lock but is stopped by Julie. She stabs Tyler in the left eye before he is able to place the crystal in the lock. A fight ensues, but Tyler appears to have the advantage, until Odin intervenes, which allows Julie to finally kill Tyler. After Tyler is left dead, Odin, throwing off his cloak, reveals himself to be the last of the Arakacians. He has been in hiding all these centuries, waiting for someone to find the chamber key and be drawn to the fountain. He intends to claim it as his own, and reestablish the Arakacian empire. However, Zeek pulls the crystal key from the pedestal, locking Odin inside the fountain chamber forever, and flies into outer space. As Germain and Kerrie help Julie to her feet, Zeek envelops the crystal into himself and becomes a new asteroid to hide the key for all time.

In ancient Egypt, an evil sorcerer named Scarab kills the pharaoh's son, Prince Rapses, to become immortal. Entombed alive for his crime (Rapses' body was also never found), Scarab revives in the modern world and begins his search for Rapses' reincarnation, a San Francisco-dwelling boy named Presley Carnovan, to retrieve the spirit of Rapses so he can become immortal. Rapses' (Presley's) bodyguards, Ja-Kal, Rath, Armon, and Nefer-Tina, along with Rapses' cat, Kahti, awake from the dead to protect him from Scarab. They use the power of Ra to transform into powerful guardians.

Each of the mummies is aligned with the power of an Egyptian god. Ja-Kal uses the spirit of a falcon, Rath uses the spirit of a snake, Armon uses the spirit of a ram, and Nefer-Tina uses the spirit of a cat. They are able to call upon it for magical armor and powers to fight superhuman evildoers by shouting "With the strength of Ra!". Once their strength is exhausted, they must rest in their sarcophagi to regain the ability. The mummies also have the power to make a horrifying face, usually used to scare away nosy bystanders.

In addition to Scarab, the mummies often had to contend with gods and spirits from Egyptian myth summoned to the modern world, including Anubis, Set, Geb, Apep, Bast, Sekhmet, Bes, and many others, usually as part of one of Scarab's schemes that went out of his control.

While Cobra Commander and Serpentor blame each other's stewardship of Cobra as the root cause of the organization's failures, Pythona, a woman from the secret civilization Cobra-La, infiltrates the Terror Drome. While there, she reveals to Serpentor that Cobra-La was responsible for inspiring Doctor Mindbender to create Serpentor through dream manipulation. At her urging, Serpentor plans to capture G.I. Joe's latest weapon, the Broadcast Energy Transmitter (BET).

Cobra assaults the Joes as they test the BET in the Himalayas. The Joes use the BET to activate their automated weapons systems. Serpentor is captured and Cobra Commander orders a retreat. Cobra Commander leads his troops into Cobra-La.

As the Joes celebrate their victory, a new group of rookie Joes are brought onto the team, including the allegedly clumsy kunoichi Jinx, military police officer Law and his dog Order, former basketball player Big Lob, EOD specialist Tunnel Rat, undercover officer Chuckles, and Duke's reckless half-brother, Lt. Falcon, a Green Beret.

In Cobra-La, the Joe forces are ambushed and detained within the Lovecraftian living environment. The Cobra soldiers are met by the civilization's leader Golobulus, who has Pythona and his other henchman, Nemesis Enforcer, arrest Cobra Commander. While there, Cobra learns about their history: 40,000 years ago, Cobra-La was an ancient civilization that ruled Earth. However, the Ice Age, the evolution of humans and their development of scientific technology resulted in Cobra-La's survivors being forced into caverns within the Himalayas. Cobra-La rebuilt their society in secret as centuries passed. Golobulus vowed to destroy humanity so that his people could reclaim the earth. He eventually discovered a nobleman who was working on biological weapons. The nobleman later became Cobra Commander, charged with conquering the world for Cobra-La. However, Cobra Commander's repeated failures caused Golobulus to use a Psychic Motivator on Doctor Mindbender to create Serpentor.

Meanwhile, a disguised Zarana uses Falcon to infiltrate Serpentor's holding cell. For abandoning his training, Falcon is put on guard duty by Duke. After Falcon abandons his post to flirt with Jinx, the Dreadnoks and Nemesis Enforcer free Serpentor, injuring Alpine, Bazooka and Gung-Ho in the process. General Hawk scolds Falcon for abandoning his post and confines him to his quarters until court-martial.

In Cobra-La, Cobra Commander is tried and Golobulus reveals his plans to launch spore pods, filled with mutative spores into space and use the BET to hatch them thus dooming humanity. He punishes Cobra Commander for his repeated failures following his trial by exposing him to the spores, which transforms Cobra Commander into a snake. He flees and makes his way to the Joes' camp with Roadblock.

Convinced by Duke to spare Falcon from a harsh punishment, General Hawk reassigns Falcon to the "Slaughter House" where he is to be retrained by Sgt. Slaughter and his "Renegades" consisting of ex-Viper Mercer, former football player Red Dog, and former acrobat Taurus. On a weaponless recon mission in the Terror Drome, the five learn of Cobra's plans and that the Baroness has discovered the location of the BET. As Falcon and the others destroy the Terror Drome, Cobra launches an assault on the Joes. The Joes launch a counterattack on Cobra, but the BET is stolen. Serpentor attempts to kill Falcon, but Duke intervenes and falls into a coma.

Falcon, the Renegades and the new recruits head to the Himalayas to stop Cobra-La. The G.I. Joe team is led to Cobra-La's lair by Cobra Commander. The new recruits prove themselves valuable soldiers as the Joes rescue their captured teammates. Falcon, Jinx and Sgt. Slaughter confront Golobulus, Pythona and Serpentor. The ensuing fight culminates in Jinx and Slaughter sending Pythona and Nemesis Enforcer falling to their apparent demise. Finally, Falcon sends Serpentor out of Cobra-La and reconfigures the BET to incinerate the spore pods in space and destroying Cobra-La. Immediately following the battle, the strike team receives news that Duke has come out of his coma and is recovering.

The environmental situation

In the face of all sorts of natural disasters of an unprecedented scope, an ever-increasing percentage of the U.S. population demands leadership from their president. So far, however, Fletcher has turned a blind eye to ecological concerns, repeatedly dismissing warnings from scientists and environmentalist groups alike as the rantings of "eco-nuts". For example, when wildfires in California not only kill off 38 of Hollywood's celebrities gathered for a private party in Malibu, but also fell the 2,200-year-old General Sherman tree in Sequoia National Park and thus destroy a symbol of American strength and continuity, Fletcher rationalizes his practically non-existent environmental policy by concluding that the fire must have been started by arson, while at the same time ignoring the drought which, at least partially caused by human intervention, enabled the fire to spread so quickly in the first place. The novel predates the terrible wildfires of October 2007 and summer 2018.

The terrifying consequences of environmental destruction have become a day-to-day reality to people all over the world. The United Kingdom, for example, America's closest ally, suffers "the loss of much of East Anglia" due to flooding, and Prime Minister James Halstead, as a gesture of friendship, sends Fletcher "the last cod from the North Sea for at least ten years", a specimen which, he adds, could just as well be "the last North Sea cod ever". In Nepal, inexperienced engineers trying to drain a glacial lake cause the surrounding moraine to burst, which results in a valley being flooded and in 62,000 Nepalese losing their lives. And in the United States, New Orleans is flooded and destroyed and 23,142 people are killed when Hurricane Wendy, a Category 5 hurricane, hits the city. In another symbolic case, the bald eagle - the symbol of America - is on the verge on extinction.

In these troubled times, many state leaders turn to the American President for support, a fact which on occasion makes Fletcher J. Fletcher reflect on the state of the union and that of the globe at large:

Domestic politics

In theory, the United States is still a democracy. In practice, Fletcher is heading a War Cabinet. The FBI, the CIA and the Pentagon have assumed most of the tasks of the former government. In order to avert attention from the many presidential lapses, the members of Fletcher's inner circle have become ruthless beyond imagination. For instance, when the President meets "Inspirational Moms and Dads" in the White House and chats animatedly in front of the television cameras with Chuck and Geraldine, a couple who have four kids, his media chief is at first pleased with her boss's performance and the extensive media coverage this event gets. When, however, a few days later that father runs amok kills his wife and their four children, she decides that something has to be done to get the meeting between the President and a murderer out of the headlines. This is the only reason why, during an impromptu conference, the Defense Secretary and she decide to launch an airstrike against Haiti on the following day. In the morning she informs Vince Lennox, Special Assistant to the President, that

"[...] we're about to bomb Haiti. Should we wake the President?"
"Why are we bombing Haiti?"
"We have evidence of terrorist groupings planning an attack on the United States."
"You mean that sad little bunch of leftist guerrillas? The ones we've known about for ages?"
"Terrorist groupings, Vince."
"Oh, I get it. We need to deflect attention from Chuck and Geraldine."
"That's one way of looking at it. I'd say it was Chuck and Geraldine ''and'' the celebs ''and'' General Sherman."
"Anna. Are you really sure about this? [...] People will be killed."
"Anna Prascilowicz gave Vince a long hard look. "You know, Vince, sometimes I worry about you." Four hours later the airstrike on Haiti went ahead. In the depths of the Haitian mangrove swamps, one guerrilla, eleven fishermen and twenty-two villagers were killed in the space of seven minutes. The President went live on television that night to praise the nation's vigilance in saving America from a ruthless terrorist attack.

At a later point in the novel, the President's inner circle will even launch a chemical attack on the unsuspecting—and innocent—Justices of the Supreme Court, all nine of whom will be killed in the attack.

Citizens' First Amendment rights are more and more ignored by the Administration. For example, freedom of the press is practically non-existent; many political opponents have had to go underground after the media were ''gleichgeschaltet''. Covert listening devices have been widely installed so that no one can be sure that their conversation is not being listened to, recorded, transcribed, and archived for future use.

The U.S. defense budget is the largest in history, while there is no discernible social safety net any longer. The Administration encourages citizens to live by traditional American values. Foreign food imports as well as vegetarianism are frowned upon; the number of females in leading positions has been reduced to a few token women; teen abstinence rallies are regularly organised; homosexuality is generally considered unnatural. A strong Christian element pervades the decision-making process in the White House.

The product of these developments is a thoroughly hypocritical society. Vince Lennox, for example, who frequently has to eat cheeseburgers with his boss, does not dare admit to the President that he is actually a vegetarian. Various celebrities publicly support the campaigns for moral integrity and sexual abstinence while behind closed doors indulging in pornography, promiscuity and all kinds of perversions. The President himself, whose son comes out during a live television broadcast, more and more often locks himself in his private study adjacent to the Oval Office to "be alone with his God", a phrase which is very soon recognized by everyone on the presidential staff as a euphemism for drinking bourbon.

The solution: ''MPR'' and ''Operation Deliverance''

More and more members of the Fletcher Administration realize that something has to be done about the global environmental crisis. However, influenced by a confidential study made by a government-sponsored think tank, they draw all the wrong conclusions. Instead of promoting a simple lifestyle and drastically reducing toxic emissions, they warm to the idea of ''MPR''—''Mass Population Reduction'': Fewer people on the planet will also result in less pollution, and that, in the long run, will be the only way to save humanity. The plan is to trigger a pandemic which, within a few hours, will kill six billion people—96 per cent of the world's population, i.e. everyone except the population of the United States. The means for doing so is a newly developed lethal virus which will immediately kill all humans unless they have been vaccinated against it. A new governmental campaign is to make U.S. citizens believe that America's enemies are plotting to attack the United States with biological weapons, and thus scare them so much that they have themselves inoculated. (The chemical attack on the Supreme Court is a tactic to shock the initially reluctant population into getting inoculated.) After "Operation Deliverance" has been carried out, Americans are to colonise the globe. This plan, America's rulers believe, has also been sanctioned by God.

Preparations start at once. President Fletcher publicly announces that the United States is preparing a global environmental survey as the starting point of a new ecological policy which will be implemented once the data from the survey have been processed and publicized. A date is set, state leaders around the globe applaud the United States for its initiative, there are standing ovations in the United Nations General Assembly, and all countries with the exception of North Korea agree to grant overflying rights to U.S. military aircraft, which is how the alleged survey will be conducted. Secretly, however, these aircraft are now equipped with sprayers which will enable them to spread the highly contagious new virus quickly and efficiently around the world.

At the same time mass production of the new vaccine sets in, and soon afterwards the new vaccination programme for all U.S. citizens is started. Just in time before being inoculated himself, Fletcher J. Fletcher realizes that he is allergic to eggs and thus, for medical reasons, cannot be given the vaccine. It turns out that German technology can solve the problem, as there is one company in Cologne which can produce the vaccine without the help of eggs. So, in due course, the President of the United States also gets his shot.

Immediately after Operation Deliverance has finally been launched, reports of U.S.citizens dying by the hundreds—although they have been inoculated against the virus—reach the White House. Only too late do scientists find out that, due to the vaccine having been hastily mass-produced, certain production regulations were neglected (regulations that were cut by the administration for being a nuisance to business), which resulted in the vaccine being inefficient. ("The free market made America and the free market destroyed America.")

In the end, Fletcher J. Fletcher is the only human survivor, as his vaccine was the only one produced outside the United States. He continues living in the White House for several years until his death.

''The Crop'', is set in the early 1980s in Australia, and is about larrikin nightclub owner, Ronnie 'Blade' Gillette (George Elliot), and his barmaid girlfriend Geraldine (Holly Brisley). Two months after random breath testing has been introduced, Blade realises he's going broke. Afraid of driving under the influence, his customers are not buying his grog, they're going out to the carpark to smoke dope.

Like any good businessman, Blade decides he needs a strategy. He decides to grow some dope as a way out of his financial hole. Blade and his best mate, Wack (Rhys Muldoon), set about growing their crop of weed on a property owned by the father of his girlfriend but they soon get caught in a bind between crooked cops and a ruthless moneylender.

Despite starring Craig Owen (former footballer, actor and punter who is now well past his prime in all respects and who is living in the shadow of his past glories), the film was a disastrous flop...

Todd Armstrong (Avalon) and Craig Gamble (Hickman) are California college undergraduates who unsuccessfully date co-eds Linda Hughes (Deborah Walley) and Barbara Norris (Yvonne Craig). Arrogant, handsome, athletic classmate Freddie (Aron Kincaid) has no such problems and chooses not to fight off all the women chasing after him. As president of the Ski Club, Freddie organizes a midterm vacation trip to ski country (in gorgeous Sawtooth National Forest) in Idaho. Although they know nothing about skiing, Todd and Craig follow Linda and Barbara on this bus trip, to try to learn "the secret of Freddie's technique".

Once at the rustic ski resort, Todd and Craig pose as frumpy, non-threatening, young English women, Jane and Nora, with terrible accents. When not interrupted by a mysterious ice skating, yodeling polar bear, or toying with psychologically-imbalanced and lederhosen-clad lodge manager Mr. Pevney (Robert Q. Lewis), they observe the girls in their group up close, to learn how to succeed with women, and figure out how they have gone wrong.

To make Linda jealous, Todd attracts the attention of gorgeous, curvy Swedish ski instructor Nita (Bobbi Shaw) when he's dressed as himself. But Freddie becomes obsessed with Craig when Craig is dressed as a woman, not accustomed to girls who play "hard to get". Nita persuades Todd, over Freddie's goading, to compete in a ski jump against Freddie. Todd's jump, featuring absurdly comical special effects, forces Craig to shoot him down, resulting in a broken leg.

Todd crawls through miles of deep snow, late at night, with his broken leg covered in a plaster cast, to Nita's house. Toting a bottle, he learns that Nita is not the exotic minx she pretends to be, but aspires to be treated like an "American girl", that is, with much "talk" and little "action".

Back at the lodge, Freddie, still obsessed with Craig's "female" character, Nora, tries to break down "Nora's" room door. Stuck inside, Todd and Craig contemplate their next move as they escape through a window. Somehow, they hail a taxi, and rack up an enormous fare to Santa Monica, California. Freddie follows on a moped piloted by fur-coated lodge manager Pevney. The rest of the group abruptly ends its spring break and follows behind on the bus.

Todd, Linda, Craig, and Barbara arrive, with the rest of the group and Pevney, at Todd's parents' beachfront house. There, the two couples share their true feelings and the boys surprise the girls with their ruse.

Delusional Freddie runs into the Pacific Ocean, calling to his beloved Nora, after Craig tells him that when she heard Freddie was coming, she started swimming: By now, she is "somewhere between here and Japan." Craig encourages Freddie to hurry; maybe he can catch her "somewhere near Guam".

"Pretty mean thing to do," Craig says to the audience, reassuring us that they will tell Freddie everything tomorrow, "If he comes back..."

The story centres mainly upon six characters: Gordon (a Lieutenant of the Royal Scots Fusiliers); Audebert (a French Lieutenant in the 26th Infantry and reluctant son of a general); Horstmayer (a Jewish German Lieutenant of the 93rd Infantry); Father Palmer (a Scottish priest working as a chaplain and stretcher-bearer); and two famous opera stars, German tenor Nikolaus Sprink - Walter Kirchoff - and his Danish fiancée, mezzo-soprano Anna Sørensen.

The film begins with scenes of schoolboys reciting patriotic speeches that both praise their countries and condemn their enemies. In Scotland, two young brothers, Jonathan and William, join up to fight, followed by their priest, Father Palmer, who becomes a chaplain. In Germany, Sprink is interrupted during a performance by a German officer announcing a reserve call up. French soldier Audebert looks at a photograph of his pregnant wife, whom he has had to leave behind (in the occupied part of France, just in front of his trench), and prepares to exit into the trenches for an Allied assault on German lines. However the assault fails, with the French and Scottish taking many casualties while William loses his life.

In Germany, Anna gets permission to perform for Crown Prince Wilhelm, and Sprink is allowed to accompany her. They spend a night together and then perform. Afterward, Sprink expresses bitterness at the comfort of the generals at their headquarters, and resolves to go back to the front to sing for the troops. Sprink initially opposes Anna's decision to go with him, but he agrees shortly afterward.

The unofficial truce begins when the Scots begin to sing festive songs and songs from home, accompanied by bagpipes. Sprink and Sørensen arrive on the German front line, and Sprink sings for his comrades. As Sprink sings "Silent Night", he is accompanied by Father Palmer's bagpipes from the Scottish front line. Sprink responds to Palmer and exits his trench with a small Christmas tree, singing "Adeste Fideles". Following Sprink's lead Audebert, Horstmayer, and Gordon meet in no-man's-land and agree on a cease-fire for the evening.

The various soldiers meet and wish each other "Joyeux Noël", "Frohe Weihnachten", and "Merry Christmas". They exchange chocolate, champagne, and photographs of loved ones. Horstmayer gives Audebert back his wallet containing a photograph of his wife, which was lost in the attack a few days prior, and they connect over pre-war memories. Father Palmer celebrate a brief Mass for the soldiers (in Latin as was the practice in the Catholic Church at that time), and the soldiers retire deeply moved. However, Jonathan remains totally unmoved by the events around him, choosing to grieve for his brother. The following morning, the Lieutenants agree to extend the truce to allow each side to bury their dead, followed by cordial fraternisation for the rest of the day. As their soldiers play football, Audebert and Horstmayer sympathise, speaking in French of their memories of Paris and Lens, and their families. Horstmayer offers to take a letter to Lens for Audebert's wife. The next day, as the German forces shell the Allied position, Horstmayer offers to shelter the French and Scottish soldiers in his trench, an offer Audebert and Gordon return to protect the Germans from their own retaliatory bombing. Before parting, aware that the truce has now truly ended, Audebert and Horstmayer lament that they can not be friends, and hope that they both survive the war. As Audebert congratulates Horstmayer on his French, the German reveals that his wife is French.

Prior to the bombing, Horstmayer learns that Anna and Sprink left without the German superior's assent to entertain fellow front soldiers and informs both that Sprink is going to be arrested for disobedience. As the Germans regain their trenches, Anna and Sprink remain behind and ask Audebert to take them as captives, in order to avoid separation. Letters that they hand over to him from the German soldiers (who had been hoping Anna would deliver them when she returned to Berlin), as well as letters from soldiers all across the front, are intercepted by military authorities, revealing that the truce had occurred.

Father Palmer is being sent back to his own parish and his battalion is disbanded as a mark of shame. Despite emphasising the humanity and goodwill of the truce, he is rebuked by the bishop, who then preaches an anti-German sermon to new recruits, in which he describes the Germans as inhumane and commands the recruits to kill every one of them. Father Palmer overhears the sermon and removes his cross as he leaves.

Back in the trenches, the Scots are ordered by a furious major (who is angered by the truce) to shoot a German soldier who is entering no-man's-land and crossing towards French lines. All of the soldiers deliberately miss in response, except the bitter Jonathan, who shoots the targeted German soldier. Audebert, hearing the familiar alarm clock ringing outside, rushes out and discovers that the soldier is a disguised Ponchel, his batman. With his dying words, Ponchel reveals he gained help from the German soldiers, visited his mother, and had coffee with her. He also informs Audebert that he has a young son named Henri.

Audebert is punished by being sent to Verdun, and he receives a dressing down from his father, a general. In a culminating rant, young Audebert upbraids his father, expressing no remorse at the fraternisation at the front, and his disgust for civilians and superiors who talk of sacrifice but know nothing of the struggle in the trenches. He also informs the general about his new grandson Henri. Moved by this revelation, the general then recommends they "both try and survive this war for him".

Horstmayer and his troops, who are confined in a train, are informed by the German Crown Prince that they are to be shipped to the Eastern Front, without permission to see their families as they pass through Germany. He then stomps on Jörg's harmonica and says that Horstmayer does not deserve his Iron Cross. As the train departs, the Germans start humming a Scottish carol they learned from the Scots, "''L'Hymne des Fraternisés''/ I'm Dreaming of Home".

The series is initially set in September 2005 in Okinawa City (Koza) on Okinawa Island near the US Kadena Air Base. Under the care of her adoptive family, the protagonist Saya Otonashi had been living the life of an anemic amnesiac, but otherwise ordinary schoolgirl. However, her happy life is shattered when she is attacked by a Chiropteran, a hematophagous bat-like creature that lives by feeding on human blood. Saya learns that she is the only one who can defeat them, as her blood causes their bodies to crystallize and shatter. Armed with her special katana, Saya embarks on a journey with her family, friends, allies, and her chevalier Haji, to rid the world of the Chiropteran threat and recover her identity. The course of the journey reveals the background history of the Chiropterans and Saya's mysterious past, which extends into the mid-19th century. Over the course of the series, Saya travels across the world from Japan to Vietnam, Russia, France, and finally the United States.

Allan Maxwell (Cliff Robertson) is an engineer who has dedicated himself to researching microwave background noise using a device powered from his radio station. He inadvertently gets an extraterrestrial being from Andromeda on his three-dimensional television screen. Using his computer, Maxwell is able to translate the being's thought patterns into English. Both are conducting illicit experiments; Maxwell should not be using the radio station's power, and the being is not allowed to use equipment for exploration. The being asks about the human's "holes in face", whereupon Maxwell explains the purposes of his nose and mouth. The being explains that it is a "nitrogen cycle" life form, that there is "no death in our dimension", and that wars are "... forbidden. Reason we are not allowed to contact you, you are danger to other galaxies." The two have further enlightening philosophical conversation, in which no epistemological basis is given for the Andromedan's affirmation that Maxwell's "brain waves" will "go on" subsequent to the death of his carbon-based body. The being explains, "electromagnetic forces underlying all ... electromagnetic force intelligent" and "Infinity is God. God, infinity, all the same", in response to Maxwell's query regarding whether the being believes in God as an intelligent force. Maxwell appears to accept the Andromedan's explanations as the knowledge of a superior being.

Much of this interaction, along with Maxwell's earlier discussion of Faraday with his wife, is a play on James Clerk Maxwell, the father of electromagnetic theory and his predecessor Michael Faraday, as is the alien's reference to quaternions when stating that its species uses "4 dimension numbers" to identify themselves rather than names.

In the evening, Allan reluctantly leaves the radio station to be feted at a banquet. He leaves the channel open to the extraterrestrial being who warns, "Do not increase power levels." DJ Eddie Phillips, who is substituting for Allan's brother Gene "Buddy" Maxwell (Lee Philips), after being told not to, turns up the power to full, causing the extraterrestrial to be transmitted to Earth as a three-dimensional electromagnetic being. The 'Galaxy Being', as it is dubbed, wreaks inadvertent havoc, killing Eddie and injuring several other people by burning them with natural radiation. The extraterrestrial encounters Allan in person, who convinces it to turn down the heat, and then guides it back to the transmitter shed. They are soon cornered by local authorities, who accidentally shoot Allan's wife, Carol (Jacqueline Scott). The Galaxy Being then uses beneficial radiation to heal the wound.

When the Galaxy Being emerges, the authorities attempt to kill it; but it protects itself by destroying the bullets in flight, again with radiation. As a warning demonstration (and perhaps to prevent other aliens from coming), the Galaxy Being destroys the transmitter tower. The crowd is told, "There are powers in this universe beyond anything you know ... there is much you have to learn. Go to your homes. Go and give thought to the mysteries of the universe. I will leave you now, in peace." At this, the crowd disperses.

The Galaxy Being then chooses not to return home inasmuch as it has violated a law forbidding contact with Earth. So, after first reassuring Allan that "There is no death for me," answering his concerns that it would disintegrate, the Galaxy Being reduces its microwave intensity which causes it to fade out from the Terran realm. Its last words as it vanishes into another putative dimension are "End of transmission".

An undisclosed Asian government, presumably Mao Zedong's Communist China, based upon the description in the opening narration, plans to take over America by infiltrating and substituting officials at the White House. During the presidential campaign, William Lyons Selby, the candidate predicted to win the presidential election, is murdered and replaced by a lookalike, a doppelgänger. Selby is indeed elected, and the impostor assumes the office of President of the United States.

Though he fools the nation at large during his first few months in office, his daughter, Carol, soon begins to suspect that the man in the White House is not her father. Carol observes that Selby remembers dates and other publicly available information, but forgets private information, such as his food preferences and details of her husband's research projects. She voices her concerns to the Vice President, Ted Pearson, who disbelieves her, at first, until he is targeted for replacement by an assassin who breaks into his residence, is discovered lying in wait, and is chased off before he can effect the replacement, he being already in the guise of Pearson, which Pearson observes in disbelief.

Carol's husband, a physician and medical researcher, recalls that a peer-reviewed scientific journal disclosed Soviet experiments wherein a hominid animal's soft tissue had been successfully altered, and he speculated that the "serum" which was employed had been advanced significantly beyond that which was previously disclosed, to include human subjects, and he explained this to the Vice President. Now convinced that Carol's expressed concerns are plausible, Pearson informs Frank Summers—the head of the Secret Service detail assigned to the White House—of the plot, and his suspicion that Selby is actually an impostor, but Summers' team fails to confirm Selby's true identity using forensic science.

Prior to a planned summit meeting, the leader of the Asian government confers with his impostor at the White House, wherein the Asian reveals to Selby the second phase of his conspiracy—to replace various cabinet members (Labor, etc.) and numerous private industry chief executives (banking, broadcast and print media, oil, steel, etc.) in order to complete his takeover of America.

When Selby arranges a second attempt at replacing the Vice President, the conspirators, including the Vice President's doppelgänger, are captured, brought before the President and numerous invited guests during a state reception, and, along with Selby, are publicly exposed, with the real Pearson placing the doppelgänger Selby under arrest, charging him with murder (of the real Selby) and conspiring to overthrow the United States government.

Summers proposes an armed response against the Asian government, but Pearson, now as President, declines.

The Federation starship ''Enterprise'', under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), approaches the Kavis Alpha binary star system to perform astrophysics research under the guidance of Dr. Paul Stubbs (Ken Jenkins), analyzing the decay of neutronium as a result of a stellar explosion that occurs every 196 years and is due to occur in the next few hours. Stubbs plans to launch a probe, dubbed the Egg, to gather the data, a result of a lifetime's development. Meanwhile, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Crusher (Gates McFadden) has returned to her duties on the ''Enterprise'' after a stint at Starfleet Medical.

As the expected time of the stellar explosion nears, the ship malfunctions in odd ways (such as blaring The Stars and Stripes Forever), and the issue is traced to the computer core. Acting Ensign Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton), who had been working on a project involving microscopic nanites, realizes that he may have inadvertently let two nanites from his experiments loose. The nanites were programmed to find ways to work together and evolve. A scan of the computer core reveals that the nanites have determined a way of replicating themselves and have taken up residence in the computer core. With the computer controls unreliable, the crew and Dr. Stubbs attempt to see if they can remove the nanites from the core. However, Dr. Stubbs shoots the core with a burst of gamma radiation, destroying a large number of the nanites. They retaliate by flooding the bridge with nitrogen dioxide, which the crew overrides. Dr. Stubbs is confined to quarters, but the nanites attempt further revenge by shocking him with electricity. Captain Picard prepares to flood the computer core with gamma radiation to remove the nanites completely, but the android Second Officer Commander Data (Brent Spiner) establishes communication with the nanites and allows them to use his body to speak with Picard. Picard realizes that the nanites are self-aware and conscious and took Dr. Stubbs' actions as hostile, but they want peace. Picard negotiates a deal to send the nanites to Kavis Alpha IV, designating it as their homeworld. The nanites agree and repair the damage to the computer core before they leave it. Dr. Stubbs launches his probe on time and collects numerous volumes of data.

Wilby Daniels (Dean Jones) is now a successful attorney who is married to Betty (Suzanne Pleshette), and they have a son named Brian (Shane Sinutko). Returning to the town of Medfield from a vacation, the family discovers that they have been robbed of almost all their possessions, and Wilby blames the local district attorney John Slade (Keenan Wynn), who is reputed to have connections with organized crime, particularly with warehouse owner Edward "Fast Eddie" Roshak (Vic Tayback). After being robbed a second time later that night (along with their Navy admiral neighbor, Gordon C. Brenner), Wilby vows to run for district attorney to make his town safe again.

Meanwhile, the two thugs who had robbed the Daniels', Freddie (Richard Bakalyan) and Dip (Warren Berlinger), observe the Borgia ring at the local museum and assume it might fetch a large sum, so they steal it. The ugly ring with a scarab on it can only be pawned off to local bumbling ice cream salesman, Tim, (Tim Conway) who is the owner of a large Old English Sheepdog named Elwood. Tim figures he will give the ring to his girlfriend Katrinka (Jo Anne Worley), a local roller derby star and pastry assistant.

While dressing himself in preparation for a live television broadcast to announce his candidacy, Wilby hears a report of the Borgia ring being stolen. He freezes in terror, then reveals his former shape-shifting secret to his wife, who is certain his story cannot be true; he warns her that if the inscription on the ring (''"In canis corpore transmuto"'') [I transmute into the body of a dog] is spoken aloud he will turn into a shaggy dog. Soon afterward, Wilby is moments before his live television debut as Tim discovers the inscription on the ring and reads it aloud, causing Elwood to disappear – only to reappear moments later as he takes over Wilby's body. Moments before the cameras roll Brian notices that shaggy hair is growing all over his father, who reacts in horror, as he realizes he is turning into Elwood the shaggy dog. He rushes from the house and cameras in his dog form and briefly confounds Tim, who can’t understand why his dog Elwood suddenly can speak. The spell wears off, and Wilby is now in his human form again and determined to find the ring as he faces the prospect of being a candidate in the public eye who never knows when he might turn into a dog.

Soon, Wilby's fears come true as Katrinka receives the ring and once again the inscription is read, just as Wilby is giving a public address at a ladies garden club (the Daisies). Betty warns him of his shaggy condition a split-second before his canine form would become apparent to all gathered and creates a near riot while trying to escape. Once again, Tim finds Wilby in Elwood's form and is convinced that his talking dog could make millions; when Tim wanders off momentarily, Wilby returns to his human form, leaving a silent Elwood to confound Tim further. Meanwhile, Raymond (Dick Van Patten), an agent of Wilby's rival, John Slade, gets suspicious and wonders why Wilby keeps disappearing.

Desperate to find the ring, the hunt leads to Katrinka, who seems to have lost it in a vat of cherry pie filling intended for a John Slade fundraiser. Offering a reward to whoever finds the ring, Katrinka and her colleagues go into a mad dash to find it, eventually escalating into a large-scale pie fight. In the pandemonium, the ring once again finds itself in the hands of the local thugs who this time attempt to pass it off to an undercover police detective. Once again in the hands of the museum, the inscription is read aloud as a point of reference; in the middle of the police station, Wilby (who had arrived to confirm the ring had been recovered) finds himself turning into Elwood once again. This time, Slade's agent puts two and two together when he overhears the museum's curator explaining the ring's reputed power and how his predecessor (from the first film) told him a story of a young man that turned into a sheepdog years ago.

Slade is informed of this weakness in his rival, is dubious at first, and then invites Wilby to his office to test out the theory. He advises Wilby to withdraw his campaign. Wilby refuses and tells Slade that when he is elected, he will have him investigated regarding his criminal connections. Slade then reveals he has his ring. With a reading of the inscription, Slade is thrilled to see Wilby Daniels turn into the shaggy dog right before his eyes and makes a call to the local pound. Wilby escapes hearing Slade repeat the inscription several times, which guarantees that the spell will not wear off, and he will be trapped in a dog's form for some time to come. Slade ignores warnings that reciting the incantation too often could cause the spell to transfer to him and keeps reciting the incantation over and over.

Wilby eventually disguises himself as a female roller-derby competitor to elude Slade, who as district attorney has the entire police force and animal control at his disposal. Eventually, Wilby is caught and taken to the local dog pound where he is able to understand the other dogs, who band together to help him escape.

With the help of Brian and Tim (who still thinks his dog Elwood can speak until Wilby tells him the truth about what really happened), Wilby gets evidence that John Slade is connected to organized crime. Wilby and Tim trick Slade into showing up at Roshak's warehouse, and Wilby uses a tape recorder to collect information that confirms Slade's wrongdoings. With the help of his dog friends from the pound, he also manages to retrieve the ring from John Slade, who unfortunately has read the inscription aloud so many times that the curse has now passed onto him, causing him to transform into a bulldog. Finally, Wilby gets elected district attorney, Slade is stopped by the police for speeding, and is supposedly jailed (although it is never actually revealed), and Tim gets engaged to Katrinka. Together, they adopt Wilby's dog friends from the pound.

While patrolling near Cardassian space, the starship ''Enterprise'' is suddenly attacked by a Cardassian vessel. Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) is able to convince its commander, Gul Macet (Marc Alaimo), to stand down, and learns that Macet's attack was in retaliation for a Federation ship attacking a Cardassian science station two days prior. Picard confirms this with Starfleet, and is told that the starship ''Phoenix'', commanded by Captain Benjamin Maxwell (Bob Gunton), was responsible, and ordered to locate the vessel. Picard invites Gul Macet and two of his officers to come aboard as observers to maintain the fragile peace between the Federation and Cardassia. As the ''Enterprise'' looks for signs of the ''Phoenix'', Picard discovers that transporter chief Miles O'Brien (Colm Meaney) was a former crewmember under Maxwell on the ''Rutledge'' during the Cardassian war, and invites him to join a briefing with Gul Macet. There, O'Brien reveals he still harbors some resentment for the Cardassians, revealing that Maxwell's family was killed by Cardassians. Gul Macet infers that Maxwell must be out for revenge, but O'Brien denies this.

The ''Enterprise'' locates the ''Phoenix'' on an intercept course for a Cardassian freighter, but they will not be able to reach it in time. Picard lets Gul Macet relay the position of the ''Phoenix'' to a closer Cardassian cruiser, but Maxwell outmaneuvers and destroys both the warship and the freighter, killing over 650 Cardassians.

Shortly thereafter, the ''Enterprise'' rendezvous with the ''Phoenix'', and Maxwell transports aboard, greeting O'Brien as an old friend. Alone, Maxwell asserts to Picard that the Cardassians are re-arming themselves; the science station was a cover for a military base, and the freighters are carrying weapons. Picard admonishes Maxwell for his behavior unbecoming a Starfleet captain, and gains his assurance that he will pilot the ''Phoenix'' directly back to Federation space. However, en route, the ''Phoenix'' breaks course towards another freighter. Maxwell is poised to destroy the freighter, demanding that the Federation officers be allowed aboard to see proof of the Cardassians' deception. The ''Enterprise'' crew notes that the freighter is equipped with a field that blocks their scans. Picard prepares to fire on the ''Phoenix'' to maintain the peace, but O'Brien requests permission to beam over to the ''Phoenix'', using a transporter trick to sneak past its shield, and talk to Maxwell. Aboard the ''Phoenix'', O'Brien and Maxwell reminisce about their time aboard the ''Rutledge'' and sing a song from their past. O'Brien is able to convince Maxwell to stand down. Maxwell transfers his command to his first officer and the ''Phoenix'' starts its return to Federation space, while Maxwell returns to the ''Enterprise'' with O'Brien, to be held there pending return to Starfleet.

As the Cardassian observers are returned to their ship, Picard cautions them that while Maxwell's actions may have been improper, his suspicions are not without merit; the so-called "science station" is located in a strategic military position with little scientific value, and the shields on the freighters were specifically designed to block Federation scanning. He cautions Gul Macet that the Federation will be watching the Cardassians very closely in the future.

In the 1830s in the Rocky Mountains, fur trapper Flint Mitchell meets at the summer "rendezvous" with other mountain men, cashing in his furs, drinking, and enjoying contests among his friends. He organizes a hunting "brigade" into the beaver-rich Blackfoot territory, buying horses and recruiting trappers, despite protests from his Scottish friend and former trading partner, Brecan, who lives among the Blackfoot and warns him that the land belongs to them. Flint outbids Brecan for Kamiah, the granddaughter of Blackfoot medicine man Bear Ghost and adopted daughter of a Nez Perce chief, Looking Glass. Brecan wants to return her to the Blackfoot, to promote peace between the tribes, while Flint wants to marry Kamiah and ensure the brigade's safety.

Pierre, a French Canadian trapper, and Captain Humberstone Lyon, another Scotsman, who fought in the Battle of Waterloo, join Flint on the dangerous expedition. Kamiah successfully guides Flint and his men on their trek through the high passes filled with crippling snow drifts, and delivers them to the Blackfoot territory, where they build a stockade. Flint narrowly escapes capture and death at the hands of Ironshirt, a young Blackfoot prince and war chief, who kills Baptiste DuNord, one of Flint's best trappers. Ironshirt steals the brigade's horses, but Flint impresses Bear Ghost, who orders them returned.

Though he marries Kamiah for reasons other than love and cannot speak her language, Flint falls in love with her. As Flint and Kamiah grow closer, Flint and Bear Ghost become good friends. Bear Ghost prevents Ironshirt from harming Flint and his men, but catastrophe strikes when Roy DuNord, another of Flint's men, kills Bear Ghost to avenge his brother's death. Although Brecan kills Roy, and Flint sinks into a grieving depression over the death of Bear Ghost, Ironshirt succeeds Bear Ghost as chief and resumes his campaign to drive the white trappers out of his country.

In the spring, Kamiah gives birth to a boy, Chip. On the way to the rendezvous, the brigade is attacked by a large war party under Ironshirt, and Kamiah is killed. With Chip strapped to its back, Kamiah's horse bolts during the attack and is chased by Ironshirt, who is intent on killing the boy. Flint manages to kill Ironshirt, however, and rescue his son. As the years pass, Flint takes Chip to live in the Blackfoot camp, where, Flint believes, Kamiah would have wanted him. Although Flint intends to have the boy formally educated in the East, Chip persuades him year after year to postpone his schooling, and he learns the ways of the mountains from his father.

Raoul de Cambrai, the posthumous son of Raoul Taillefer, count of Cambrai, by his wife Alais, sister of King Louis d'Outre-Mer, whose father's lands had been given to another, demanded the fief of Vermandois, which was the natural inheritance of the four sons of Herbert, lord of Vermandois. On King Louis's refusal, he proceeded to war. The chief hero on the Vermandois side was Bernier, a grandson of Count Herbert, who had been the squire and firm adherent of Raoul, until he was driven into opposition by the fate of his mother, burned with the nuns in the church of Origny. Bernier eventually slew the terrible Raoul in single fight, but in his turn was slain, after an apparent reconciliation, and the blood-feud was left for his sons.

Roland (Taye Diggs) is getting married and is currently missing. Slim (Richard T. Jones), who scoffs at the idea of marriage, is furious at Roland for disappearing. The story flashes back to Mike (Omar Epps) as a youth (Sean Nelson) when he first encounters Roland (Trent Cameron) and Slim (Duane Finley), his first real crush on a girl Alicia (Malinda Williams), and the three young men's misadventures as teenagers growing up in 1980s Inglewood, California ("The Wood").

Shy and awkward, Mike is quickly befriended by Slim and Roland. On a dare from Slim and Roland, Mike reluctantly grabs Alicia's butt, leading to a physical altercation with her older brother Stacey (De'Aundre Bonds), a Blood gang member. While he is beaten up, Mike earns Stacey's private respect for having courage to fight back.

Meanwhile, in present day, Mike and Slim get a call from Tanya (Tamala Jones), an ex-girlfriend of Roland's, saying that Roland is at her house, extremely drunk. When they arrive, they argue with Roland for putting his relationship at risk, as the wedding is just hours away.

Flashing back to the '80s, the boys are on their way to the first dance of the year, stopping at a convenience store that gets held up by Stacey. Stacey recognizes the boys and offers them a ride to the dance. The group is nearly arrested after being pulled over for a broken tail light. Mike's quick thinking prevents one of the cops from finding Stacey's gun and they are let go when the cops respond to a call about the stick-up Stacey and his friend just committed.

Impressed, Stacey begins a new friendship with Mike by apologizing for their prior run-in. However, he explains that he was protecting his sister, and, seeing how much Mike likes her, gives him advice on how to win her over. When they arrive at the dance, it is almost over, but Mike is able to secure a dance with Alicia and also get her number. Later, Mike and Alicia date for a time before breaking up and remaining friends.

In the present day, while reminiscing, Roland becomes sick and accidentally vomits on Slim and Mike. Now, the men only have an hour left before the wedding and they have to get cleaned up, so they take their clothes to the cleaners.

Mike, returning to their memories when they were juniors in high school, remembers them thinking about sex, ways to get it and making a lot of bets as to who has it first. Mike has a girlfriend and Alicia has a boyfriend. Despite both of them already being in a relationship with somebody else, one day Mike and Alicia walk to her house from the library talking about the Homecoming dance.

They hear "If This World Were Mine" on the radio, the song to which they had the first dance. Alicia and Mike begin getting intimate, but Alicia stops him and tells Mike to retrieve a condom from Stacey's room. Mike finds a condom in Stacey's room, but before he can leave, has to hide under his bed, so as not to get caught when Stacey and his girlfriend come home. After they leave, Mike goes back to Alicia's room and they finally make love. Mike wins the bet, but he doesn't tell Roland and Slim out of respect for Alicia.

It's revealed in the present that after high school, Alicia and Mike went their separate ways with Alicia going to attend Columbia University in New York while Mike decided to stay home and attend The University of Southern California even though Roland reveals that Mike could’ve followed her as he did get accepted into New York University. The boys finally make it to the wedding and Roland apologizes to a furious Lisa for leaving her worried. Before the ceremony begins, Mike has a fond exchange with a now-grown Alicia (Sanaa Lathan). Roland and Lisa get married. Mike reminisces on the Homecoming dance, declaring that he, Roland and Slim will be the boys from "The Wood".

The player character is a member of an elite police squadron called Delta Patrol, commanding a battle cruiser in the Delta Sector of space. The Delta Sector's dangers include lost ships, alien bandits, and unknown forces of destruction, and the character's assignment is to terminate the enemy forces that hide within them. Destroying an entire wave of attacking aliens earns credits that the player may use to buy weapons and ship modifications.

May Canady is a woman in her mid-twenties, who suffered from a troubled childhood due to her lazy eye. She has very few social interactions, her only "true friend" being a glass-encased doll named Suzie made by her mother and given to May for her birthday with the adage "If you can't find a friend, make one." May works as a vet assistant. Her optometrist fixes May's lazy eye, first with glasses, then with contact lens. May becomes friends with Adam, a local mechanic. She has a fixation on his hands, which she considers to be the most attractive part of him, and they start dating. May's lesbian colleague, Polly, begins to flirt with May. One day, May remarks that Polly has a beautiful neck. During their flirtation, Polly gives May a pet cat, Lupe.

May invites Adam to her apartment and he shows her a film that he made for his university titled ''Jack and Jill''. The film reveals a story of two young lovers, who go on a picnic, and end up eating each other. May becomes aroused by the cannibalism in the film. During an intense make-out session, she bites Adam on the lip, and it bleeds. Disturbed, Adam abruptly leaves. May shouts at Suzie and shoves her in the cupboard. She begins volunteering at a school for blind children, where she takes a liking to a sullen young girl named Petey, who makes her a clay ashtray with the name "MAY" pressed into it. She gives in to Polly's advances and starts a short affair. Adam stops calling her and May overhears him say that he is glad he could get rid of her. Devastated, she visits Polly, but finds her with another girl named Ambrosia, furthering May's grief. When even Lupe refuses to come near her, May becomes enraged and throws Petey's ashtray at her, killing the cat and shattering the ashtray. She becomes delusional, and believes that Suzie is talking to her.

May takes Suzie to school and tells the blind children that Suzie is her best friend. The children struggle to take the doll out of the glass case, and the case shatters. May and the children are cut by the broken glass. Scooping up the ruined doll, May returns home devastated. The following day, she meets a young punk. He asks her if she wants to get some candy with him, and she accepts. May does not admire him very much, but likes the tattoo on his arm. At her house, he finds the cat's corpse, and calls May a freak. May breaks down and stabs him in the head, killing him. After putting much thought into her future actions, May claims she needs "more parts".

On Halloween night, May dresses in a homemade costume resembling Suzie, adopts a normal personality, and goes to Polly's house, where she slits her throat with a pair of surgical scalpels. When Ambrosia arrives, May stabs her in the temples. Next, she visits Adam and his new girlfriend at his house. May murders both of them with the scalpels. At home, she designs her "new friend", a life-sized patchwork doll made from the punk's arms, Polly's neck, Ambrosia's legs, Adam's hands, his girlfriend's ears, and Lupe's fur for the hair. Using the broken remnants of the "MAY" ashtray to form an anagram, she names the doll "Amy". She realizes that Amy has no eyes and cannot "see" her, so she gouges out her lazy eye. Crying in pain and bleeding, she puts the eye on Amy's head and begs the doll to look at her. She collapses on the bed beside the doll, and caresses it. Her creation comes to life, and brushes her face affectionately with Adam's hands.

Local radio station KOZY 102.1 is sponsoring a "Halloween Haunt" featuring an appearance by real-life nu metal band Korn. Priest Maxi is unhappy about both and conducts a one-man protest campaign, calling Halloween an abomination of God and Korn Satanists that play violent music. Stan, Kyle, and Kenny are excited about Halloween, but Cartman is already thinking about Christmas because he expects to be showered with presents. They visit various mediocre attractions and get frightened by a gang of fifth-graders who play a prank on them involving pirate ghosts. Stan decides to retaliate by digging up Kyle's recently buried grandmother, Cleo Broflovski, and scaring the fifth-graders with it. Kyle, while uneasy about the scheme, reluctantly agrees to go along.

Meanwhile, Korn, driving in a van which resembles the Mystery Machine, crash it after spotting pirate ghosts on the road.

After digging up Cleo's corpse, the boys leave it barely concealed at the harbor, where it is promptly eaten by a stray dog. During the night, they meet Korn (and a ''Scooby-Doo''-like character, Nibblet) after their encounter with the pirate ghosts. The following morning, the graveyard's watchmen inform Mrs. Broflovski about the missing corpse, and describe to her in graphic detail what the culprit, who they assume to be a necrophiliac, might be doing to the corpse.

Cartman intercepts a life-sized blow-up Antonio Banderas sex doll ordered by his mother, which he mistakenly assumes to be a Christmas present for him, and takes it around town to show off. The boys return to the docks in their costumes hoping to win the contest for best costume, with Kenny wearing an elaborate costume of the ED-209 robot from ''RoboCop''. To Kenny's disappointment, everyone (including Korn) is able to clearly recognize him. At the town square, the grave watchers are explaining the concept of necrophilia very explicitly until the Pirate Ghosts show up and terrorize the town. A few citizens are blown up and one ghost decapitates two others. Priest Maxi shows up and blames Korn for causing all this trouble. The town gets angry and set up a lynch mob to get rid of the "devil worshipers."

Korn and the boys go investigate the "Mystery of the Pirate Ghosts and the missing body." After a few mishaps typical of ''Scooby-Doo'' episodes, it is revealed that Priest Maxi was behind the Pirate Ghosts, which he simply conjured up with rather impossible light tricks and sounds (the explanation to some of the citizen's deaths earlier caused by the Pirate Ghosts is left unsolved and unknown). The mystery of Cleo Broflovski's missing corpse is solved when the dog regurgitates the body. The Halloween Haunt goes as planned, with Korn debuting "Falling Away from Me" which shocks the crowd, as their cheery personality in the episode is a strong contrast to the song. The boys get their revenge against the fifth-graders while Korn is playing, scaring them with the corpse and Cartman's Antonio Banderas doll gets popped by Nibblet. Kenny's spectacular ED-209 costume does not win him first prize, which goes instead to Wendy Testaburger wearing the same Chewbacca costume as in the previous first-season Halloween special "Pinkeye". During the closing credits, Kenny ends up getting killed by miniature Snowspeeders as in ''The Empire Strikes Back'' while inside his costume and rats arrive to eat his body.

Millions of years ago, creatures known as Sarnathians ruled the Earth, centring their values on torture of other creatures that were opposed to their rule. Their aim was to rule the universe using a mysterious orb that granted them great power. Thousands of years later, the orb became too powerful and eventually caused a tear in the inter-dimensional fabric of the Realm of Reality and the Realm of Unreality, thus rendering the Sarnathians extinct.

The orb itself was buried deep in the ground for millions of years, until it was discovered by Karnath, an evil sorcerer. Upon finding the orb, Karnath fused it into his own magical staff, and on doing so learned the history of the Sarnathians. He became obsessed with the orb and the task of releasing these beings from the Realm of Unreality. After years of isolation in his castle, as his own death was drawing near, Karnath was finally able to cast a powerful spell over his staff. This spell was designed such that upon contact with the orb, it would unleash its most powerful state and tear the fabric of reality once more.

The staff was then hidden deep below the castle and inscribed with powerful magical symbols to protect it. Before he died, Karnath broke the key into sixteen pieces and hid them throughout his castle. Centuries later, an aristocrat adventurer, Sir Arthur Pendragon, ventures inside the castle in order to defuse the orb before midnight. Should he fail, its power would be unleashed, and the resulting inter-dimensional rip would wipe out the human race.

''Double Image'' is a ''noir'' thriller from Morrell set in modern-day Los Angeles. It tells the story of a war photographer named Mitch Coltrane, who decides to give up photographing atrocities after an assignment in Bosnia nearly costs him his life. While at home recovering from a gunshot wound from the above-mentioned job, he sees an advertisement in a magazine stating that a legendary photographer from the 1920s and 30's named Randolph Packard will be giving an exhibit of his work. Coltrane attends the exhibit and finds himself face-to-face with Packard, now a sickly old man, who takes a liking to Coltrane and invites him to his private residence the next day. Coltrane and Packard decide to collaborate on a job, in which Coltrane will go to various locations throughout the L.A. area and take photographs of the very same houses which Packard has photographed over half a century ago, in order to show how much Los Angeles has changed over the decades. But before Coltrane can begin his work Packard dies, leaving him a collection of photographs. Coltrane begins the assignment and quickly becomes fascinated by one of the houses in Packard's photographs. Upon finding the house he discovers that it has been maintained in perfect condition with no renovations over the years and he promptly decides to purchase it, since Packard owned the residence and it is now for sale. He also makes a discovery in the house's basement: a hidden vault filled with thousands of pictures of a beautiful young woman. Along with his girlfriend Jennifer, Coltrane begins to try to discover who the beautiful woman was and finds himself enmeshed in a web of deceit and treachery.

Julie is driving her two teenage children in a red Vauxhall Cavalier Mark III to school. She and her daughter are wearing their seatbelts, but the young son is not. A voiceover announces "Like most victims, Julie knew her killer." On the screen, we see Julie is so concerned with trying to avoid a Ford Transit Mark II which appears to be tailgating her that she's not concentrating on the road ahead. She crashes into a parked car (Vauxhall Astra Mark II) by the side of the road.

Her son, who is sitting directly behind her, is thrown forward, killing her instantly as her skull is smashed in by his forehead. The film ends with her lifeless body lying across the wheel. Her daughter is screaming in horror in the front passenger seat. Her son slumps back into his seat with a just bleeding nasal fracture, confused as to what just happened.

Robert is a young boy who suffers from mathematical anxiety due to his boredom in school. His mother is Mrs. Wilson. He also experiences recurring dreams—including falling down an endless slide or being eaten by a giant fish—but is interrupted from this sleep habit one night by a small devil creature who introduces himself as the Number Devil. Although there are many Number Devils (from Number Heaven), Robert only knows him as the Number Devil before learning of his actual name, Teplotaxl, later in the story.

Over the course of twelve dreams, the Number Devil teaches Robert mathematical principles. On the first night, the Number Devil appears to Robert in an oversized world and introduces the number one. The next night, the Number Devil emerges in a forest of trees shaped like "ones" and explains the necessity of the number zero, negative numbers, and introduces ''hopping'', a fictional term to describe exponentiation. On the third night, the Number Devil brings Robert to a cave and reveals how ''prima-donna'' numbers (prime numbers) can only be divided by themselves and one without a remainder. Later, on the fourth night, the Number Devil teaches Robert about ''rutabagas'', another fictional term to depict square roots, at a beach.

For a time after the fourth night, Robert cannot find the Number Devil in his dreams; later, however, on the fifth night, Robert finds himself at a desert where the Number Devil teaches him about triangular numbers through the use of coconuts. On the sixth night, the Number Devil teaches Robert about the natural occurrence of Fibonacci numbers, which the Number Devil shortens to ''Bonacci numbers'', by counting brown and white rabbits as they reproduce multiple times. By this dream, Robert's mother has noticed a visible change in Robert's mathematical interest, and Robert begins going to sleep earlier to encounter the Number Devil. The seventh night brings Robert to a bare, white room, where the Number Devil presents Pascal's triangle and the patterns that the triangular array displays. On the eighth night, Robert is brought to his classroom at school. The Number Devil arranges Robert's classmates in multiple ways, teaches him about permutations, and what the Number Devil calls ''vroom numbers'' (factorials).

On the ninth night, Robert dreams he is in bed, suffering from the flu, when the Number Devil appears next to him. The Number Devil teaches Robert about natural numbers, which the Number Devil calls ''garden-variety numbers'', the unusual characteristics of infinite, and infinite series. Robert finds himself at the North Pole, where the Number Devil introduces irrational numbers (''unreasonable numbers''), as well as aspects of Euclidean geometry, such as vertices (''dots'') and edges (''lines''). By the eleventh night, Robert has shown considerable increased interest in mathematics, but questions its validity, to which the Number Devil introduces the concept of mathematical proofs, ending with the Number Devil showing Robert a complicated proof of basic arithmetic. On the twelfth night, Robert and the Number Devil receive an invitation (which names the Number Devil as Teplotaxl) to Number Heaven, as Robert's time with the Number Devil has finished. At Number Heaven, Robert learns of imaginary numbers, which Teplotaxl describes as ''imaginative numbers'', as well as the Klein bottle. Walking through Number Heaven, Teplotaxl introduces Robert to various famous mathematicians, such as Fibonacci, whom Teplotaxl calls ''Bonacci'', and George Cantor, or ''Professor Singer''. The book ends with Robert in class using his newfound mathematical knowledge.

Code 1: Dante

The story begins as Enzo enters Dante's still unnamed office, and offers Dante a job of rescuing a girl by the name of "Alice" for a $4,000,000 reward, an uninterested Dante tells Enzo to leave the shop. Dante then proceeds to look for Enzo to accept this job, only to find him in the process of being attacked by a group of sand creatures while in a brothel, and is subsequently rescued by Dante. The scene jumps to a library and the reader is introduced to two new characters, Vergil and Arkham. Arkham approaches Vergil while he is scanning a bookcase for a book. While Arkham tries to gain Vergil's attention by interpreting the legend of Sparda, Vergil effortlessly proceeds to slay a library attendant, revealing her to be a demon. The scene fades as Arkham incites Vergil to tell him the truth behind the legend. Dante is next seen standing outside a seemingly deserted mansion. After threatening and driving away Enzo, Dante enters the mansion through the second floor window, in that room he finds Alice sitting in a chair. Alice is afterwards revealed to be a demon as she proceeds to attack him. After asserting that the now dead demon is not Alice, Dante is next seen as he finds a photo of a young Mary. Meanwhile, Vergil walks aimlessly through the rain effortlessly slaying a gang of humans after their leader chastises him and attempted to take hold of his sword. He finds a drunken Enzo sitting outside of a building, who mistakes him for Dante, Vergil figures out his brother is present in that town and proceeds to look for him. Caught in the midst of Dante's fire, a possessed doll whom Alice refers to as Rabi leads Dante to the true Alice, who refuses to leave without Rabi. As a bell tolls three o'clock, Rabi announces that it is teatime. Dante then encounters a demon resembling the Mad Hatter, who states he has Alice and is not willing to give her back, seated at a floating table with Rabi and a platter upon which is a lid, opened to reveal the head of another demon Alice and after a discussion between said demon and Dante it is exterminated. The Hatter-like demon and Rabi now alert Dante of Vergil's return, only to be found an illusion when Dante shoots at them. He then proceeds to slay a cat-like demon (a possible avatar for the Cheshire Cat). Rabi, shielding Dante from the needle-like remains of the cat demon, then reveals that it was he who gave Dante the job and admits that it was a cover to see Sparda's heir in action. Alice's demonic form is subsequently revealed after turning into a beautiful woman, though Dante reverses this. Dante leaves the mansion after being informed that his payment has been wired to his liaison and refusing to sell his amulet, passing Vergil in a hall, though unnoticed by Dante until he disappears Vergil slays Rabi after he explains the significance of Dante's cooperation and is seen leaving the mansion at the end of the book, meeting a sobbing Alice in the process. After angrily confronting Enzo in functioning Love Planet (unlike the ruins seen in the game), Dante is next seen dreaming of the attack that killed his mother and separated him from his brother, who was also presumed dead. Soon after awakening a determined Dante is seen leaving the establishment with Rebellion, a sword given to him by his late father, in hand.

Code 2: Vergil

This chapter begins with Vergil and Arkham arriving at the entrance to one of the seals of the Temen-ni-gru. Arkham explained the nature of the structure to Vergil and proceeded to suggest an alliance. Arkham proceeds to explain that the demons sealed by Sparda were bound by large rune-covered spikes; to release them, it was required that Vergil give them one thing; their names. Before Arkham had time to finish his explanation, the sealed demon takes hold of Vergil's consciousness. Vergil finds himself in a graveyard as a child surrounded by countless demonic skeletons. After losing hold of Yamato and being perilously injured, he uses his demonic strength to break free and destroy the army of skeletons. As Vergil realizes their message he regains control of his body and removes the statues head, before letting it choose its own name. The demon chooses the name Goumon (meaning pride), and the seal is broken, freeing the demon.

The action then jumps to Dante, out on the streets as he is being attacked by a group of demons. He quickly dispatches them and proceeds to visit a bar, where the bartender proceeds to make him a pizza and inform him of various murders that seemed to be committed by the same person, and asks that Dante investigate it; when Dante states his disinterest, the bartender takes his pizza back. Enzo shows up immediately afterward and begs Dante to help him with the client Dante canceled on, professing that he will be killed if Dante refuses. When Dante says he'll help, he leaves. Mary, who was in the bar with a drunken and unconscious friend, asks for and is granted permission to let her friend stay. Meanwhile, a frustrated Vergil tries to decipher a book containing ancient accounts of the legend of Sparda. He is summoned by Arkham to the basement of the mansion, where Arkham reveals that he was able to locate one of the seals necessary to open the gate to the demon world. However, they are unsure of just how many more seals there are, as the texts only mention four despite the first seal having mentioned seven. Vergil decides to destroy the ones they do know of, while Arkham researches the rest. In the meantime, Mary, on her way home, encounters Alice wandering around the city. Alice guides her to Dante's establishment. When Dante arrives Alice attacks him and steals the amulet that was a gift from Dante's mother. He follows her to a church where he encounters the Mad Hatter demon that he encountered in the mansion. Suddenly the floor crumbles under his feet and he falls to the church's basement. Here, Dante encounters one of sealed demon statues Vergil seeks. The demon tries to convince him to release the seal Sparda placed on it by giving it a name, seriously injuring Dante in the process. He managed to escape its grasp after his demonic powers began to awaken.

Once Dante defeats the demon in question, the Mad Hatter toys with Dante, and tries to convince Dante give the sealed demon a name. Dante, however, sees through the Mad Hatter's attempts to do so, inquiring as to just what will happen if he does; the Mad Hatter refuses to answer. However, before this can go any further, Vergil arrives and almost instantly releases the third of the four seals; Vergil broke the second seal, on Greed, before arriving at the church. Per usual, Vergil allows the demon to choose a name for itself, and it chooses Sloth. After conversing with Dante, exchanging several threats of mortal injury with him in the process, Vergil reveals his plan of raising the Temen-ni-gru, thus opening the gate of the demon world. When Dante declares his intent on stopping Vergil, Vergil then proceeds to taunt Dante by showing him the half of the amulet that Alice stole earlier, prompting him to attack. However, after a quick battle, in which Vergil trounces Dante, Vergil throws his brother's half back to him; Vergil then taunts Dante again, stating that he could retrieve the amulet from him whenever he wanted. This chapter concludes with Arkham preparing to start the ritual to raise the Temen-ni gru.

Code 3: Lady

There was supposed to had been a third volume titled "Code: 3" that was hinted at the end of volume 2, but for unknown reasons it was never released.

After experiencing visions of a nun, author Marie Adams (Romy Windsor) is in the middle of a meeting with her agent, Tom Billings (Antony Hamilton), when she has another vision of a wolf-like creature lunging from a fire, and begins to scream hysterically. Marie's husband, Richard (Michael T. Weiss), discusses her condition with her doctor, agreeing that Marie's overactive imagination is leading her into some dangerous territory. The doctor advises Richard to take Marie away from the pressures of her life for a few weeks. Richard locates a cottage in the small town of Drago, some hours from Los Angeles. Tom drives Marie there, but then departs quickly in the face of Richard. Marie looks around the cottage and declares it to be perfect; but that night, while she and Richard are making love, Marie is disturbed by the sound of howling out in the woods.

The next day, Marie and Richard look around Drago, where they meet the mysterious Eleanor (Lamya Derval), a local artist who owns a shop of antiques and knick-knacks, and the Ormsteads, who run the local store. Marie takes her dog for a walk, and becomes distressed when he runs off. That night, Marie dreams of wolves, of herself running through the woods, and of the same nun of whom she had visions. Richard drives into Los Angeles for a meeting, and Marie spends time chatting with Mrs. Ormstead, who tells her about the previous couple to occupy the cottage, and that they left town without a word. Marie is walking home through the woods when, suddenly, she sees before her the nun of her visions. She runs after her – but it turns out to be Eleanor in a dark cape. Eleanor points out a shortcut to the cottage, which Marie takes. She discovers a cave on the way, and what is left of her dog.

In horror, Marie runs through the woods, suddenly aware that she is being pursued. At the cottage, Richard quiets his hysterical wife and checks outside, but sees nothing; not even the dark figure nearby. The next morning, Marie witnesses a strange apparition: an elderly man and woman who appear in her living room and who warn her to go away. Marie is momentarily distracted by a car pulling up outside, and the next instant her ghostly visitors are gone. The newcomer is Janice Hatch (Susanne Severeid), who is holidaying in the area and is a fan of Marie's writing. Marie invites her in and, as they are talking, mentions the howling that she hears at night.

After some hesitation, Janice reveals that she used to be a nun, and that her closest friend, Sister Ruth (Megan Kruskal), disappeared over a year ago, only to be found in Drago speaking incoherently of the devil, a bell, and the sound of howling. After a long illness, Ruth died without ever being able to explain what happened to her; and Janice, determined to discover the truth, left the convent. Marie is disturbed by the mention of a nun, and becomes even more so when Janice shows her a photograph of Sister Ruth: it is the nun from her visions. Meanwhile, Richard, becoming frustrated with Marie's instability and visions, becomes drawn to Eleanor and sleeps with her.

Marie eventually learns that all the inhabitants of the village are werewolves and Sister Ruth was babbling "Werewolves are here", rather than "We're all in fear", as everyone had assumed. When she tells Richard what she has learned, he angrily dismisses her claims and goes for a walk in the woods by their house. As he is walking, he sees Eleanor seemingly waiting for him, leading to the pair becoming intimate. Eleanor turned heel during their tryst, as she transformed into a werewolf and bit Richard before running off. He stumbles back to the house and tells Marie he saw the werewolf. But that night after being examined by the town doctor, he claims he just fell down. Richard begins acting strangely and the next night, as he is walking in the woods, transforms into a werewolf as the villagers, who are also revealed as werewolves look on and then attempt to attack Marie.

Marie escapes and following the storyline of the original folk tale she lures the inhabitants to the local church using its bell and then burns them all alive, including Richard. The film ends with a burning werewolf lunging at Marie out of the fire just as she had foretold in her vision.

Small-time promoter/hustler Marvin Lazar (Curtis) sees a potential money-making venture in the Bears that will help him to pay off his debts. After seeing a TV spot about the Bears, he decides to chaperone the baseball team for a trip to Japan in their game against the country's best little league baseball team.

As implied in ''Breaking Training'', the Bears had to defeat the Houston Toros for a shot at the Japanese champs. In the process, the trip sparks off a series of adventures and mishaps for the boys. A subplot involves the interest of Kelly Leak (Haley) in a local Japanese girl, and the cultural divide that comes to bear in that relationship.

About half of the original or "classic" lineup of Bears players return (many like Jose Agilar, Alfred Ogilvie, Timmy Lupus and Tanner Boyle are not featured). Three new players are featured: E.R.W. Tillyard III, Abe Bernstein and Ahmad's younger brother, Mustapha Rahim.

The film recreates the ambiance of the era and invokes the hopes inspired by Kennedy through the use of actual broadcast and newsfilm footage of the senator intercut with dramatic sequences involving mostly fictional characters. It uses an ensemble plot device similar to that employed in the 1932 film ''Grand Hotel'', and by Robert Altman in ''Nashville''.

The characters include John Casey, a retired hotel doorman who spends his days in the lobby playing chess with his friend Nelson; Diane, who is marrying her friend William with the hope his marital status will have him deployed to a military base in Germany rather than the battlefields of Vietnam when his tour of duty begins; Virginia Fallon, an alcoholic singer whose career is on the downswing, her put-upon husband/manager Tim, and her agent Phil; Miriam Ebbers, a beautician who works in the hotel salon, and her husband Paul, the hotel manager, who is having an affair with switchboard operator Angela; food and beverage manager Daryl Timmons, whose racist attitude gets him fired; African American sous chef Edward Robinson and Mexican American busboys José and Miguel; hotel coffee shop waitress Susan; Jimmy and Cooper, campaign volunteers who are sidetracked by an acid trip they take with the help of drug dealer Fisher; married socialites and campaign donors Samantha and Jack; campaign manager Wade and staffer Dwayne, who is in love with Angela's colleague, Patricia; and Czechoslovakian reporter Lenka Janáčková, who is determined to get an interview with Kennedy.

At the end of the film, Kennedy is shot after giving his acceptance speech. A man named Sirhan Sirhan would be convicted of the killing. After being shot, Kennedy is cradled and protected by Jose until help arrives. As Kennedy's speech "On the Mindless Menace of Violence", delivered in 1968 to the City Club of Cleveland, Ohio, is played over the aftermath, it is revealed that Samantha, Daryl, Cooper, Jimmy and William are among those injured by Sirhan's wild firing. Sirhan is apprehended, while Kennedy is rushed into an ambulance (as are the others eventually), and everyone else is moved by the events that have just taken place. Closing titles reveal that Kennedy died of his injuries the following morning with his wife Ethel at his side, and the other victims of the shooting survived.

Penny (Rachel Miner), a young woman traumatized by a childhood auto accident that killed her parents, accompanies her therapist Orianna (Mimi Rogers) on a road trip to a mountain community as part of her therapy to overcome her fear of cars. On the way, Orianna hits — but does not seriously injure — a hitchhiker, whom she then offers a ride. The hitchhiker is silent during the ride, except to point out his destination.

After dropping off the hitchhiker, they discover that he has punctured one of the tires. Orianna sets off to get reception for her cell phone but fails to return. Penny goes off to find Orianna but trips and falls, having injured her ankle earlier. When she wakes up, she's back in the car, which has been wedged between two trees. Orianna, whose death has been recorded on a video camera, is beside her. Penny tries to call for help, but the hitchhiker continues to terrorize and torture her. Several people who live and work nearby are killed by the hitchhiker when they attempt to help her or get in his way.

Penny is tortured for another few hours; and, when she tries to crawl out of the car window, the hitchhiker grabs her right foot and cuts off one of her toes. After finally falling asleep, she turns around to find the hitchhiker sitting in the back wearing Orianna's clothes, who then pulls off the hood (revealed to be a demented female mental patient) and tries to strangle her while saying, "Don't forget your breathing exercises, ''Penny''." She manages to fight off the hitchhiker by stabbing her in the eye with a pencil and escapes from the car, only to trip from her injured foot. The hitchhiker finds her and tries to attack, but a man driving a pick-up truck drives past in time to hit the hitchhiker. The hitchhiker appears to be dead at this point, and the truck driver is panicking. He tells Penny to wait in the vehicle while he assists the hitchhiker. Penny feels a bit of relief as she watches the man and the dead hitchhiker. But terror boils up when she realizes the hitchhiker is still moving.

On December 8, 1980, Mark David Chapman shocked the world by murdering 40-year-old musician, former member of The Beatles and activist, John Lennon, outside The Dakota, his New York apartment building. Chapman's motives were fabricated from pure delusion, fueled by an obsession with the fictional character Holden Caulfield and his similar misadventures in J.D. Salinger's ''The Catcher in the Rye''. In one instant, an anonymous, socially awkward and mentally unstable 25-year-old fan of The Beatles, who had fluctuated between idealizing Lennon and being overcome with a desire to kill him, altered the course of the history of music.

A man whose painfully restless mind thrashes about uncontrollably between paranoia, sociopathic lying and delusion is summed up in such character revealing comments as "I'm too vulnerable for a world full of pain and lies" and "Everyone is cracked and broken. You have to find something to fix you. To give you what you need. To make you whole again."

From his lies to cab drivers (identifying himself as The Beatles' sound engineer) to his socially unacceptable behavior around Jude, a young fan he meets outside The Dakota, to his argument with paparazzi photographer Paul, Chapman keeps the psychoses bubbling below the surface as his grasp on reality deteriorates into a completely misguided rage.

The film, starring Emma Thompson in the title role, focuses on her unusual relationship with the author Lytton Strachey, played by Jonathan Pryce, as well as with other members of the Bloomsbury Group.

The film is divided into 6 chapters.

• ''Lytton & Carrington 1915'': During the Great War, Lytton Strachey is travelling to the country and staying at Vanessa Bell's house. There he meets Carrington for the first time, initially assuming she is a boy and not hiding his disappointment when disabused. Lytton is due to face a hearing with the military to decide his fate as a conscientious objector. While taking a countryside hike, Carrington shares with Lytton a similar disappointment at not being a boy. Lytton forces an awkward kiss onto Carrington, infuriating her. Early the next morning, Carrington walks into his bedroom intending to cut his beard off in retaliation for the kiss, but stops in contemplation of him sleeping and falls in love with him. Lytton avoids war and prison on medical grounds.
• ''Gertler 1916–1918'': Mark Gertler has been attempting to have sex with Carrington for four years, with a great number of their shared circle conspiring to pressure Carrington to acquiesce. Lytton is ostensibly part of these machinations but the two end up falling deeper into their own relationship. While on a trip to Wales, Lytton proposes that he and Carrington live together: acting on this, Carrington searches for a house and finds and refurbishes Mill House in Tidmarsh. She and Lytton have sex and soon after Carrington unpleasantly gives into Gertler's demand for penetration. When Gertler later finds out that Carrington and Lytton are moving in together, he assaults Lytton.
• ''Partridge 1918–1921'': Carrington meets Ralph Partridge, who has come back from the war. Her relationship with Lytton has taken on a sadomasochistic cast, and she introduces Ralph in the hopes that Lytton will be attracted to him. Ralph expresses his contempt for conscientious objectors and bemusement at the successful publication of ''Eminent Victorians''; nevertheless the rugged man has great appeal to Lytton and the three of them embark on a relationship. Lytton goes on vacation to Italy. Ralph has made clear his intent of either marrying Carrington or emigrating to Bolivia to run a sheep farm. Ralph bullies Carrington into believing that, if Ralph is no longer with him, Lytton will move out of Mill House. Carrington marries Ralph and writes Lytton a poignant letter reifying their devotion to each other, to which Lytton responds in kind. On their honeymoon, Carrington and Ralph meet with Lytton in Venice, who seems pleased with how things have shaken out.
• ''Brenan 1921–1923'': Despite her marriage, Carrington continues to spend most of her time at Mill House while Ralph remains largely in London. Carrington presumes Ralph has managed to pursue affairs in the city. Ralph introduces his friend Gerald Brenan to Lytton and Carrington. Brenan is planning to leave for Spain for the sake of economy and takes a liking to Carrington, which is mutual. He demands she leave Lytton to be with him. She refuses but they continue the relationship until they get caught by Ralph. Lytton manages to persuade Ralph not to leave Carrington and secretly Carrington and Brenan continue the affair while Carrington goes through her lesbian awakening.
• ''Ham Spray House 1924–1931'': Lytton and Ralph jointly buy Ham Spray House. Lytton moves in with Carrington while Ralph, Brenan and others are frequent guests. In 1924 Henrietta Bingham leaves Carrington. Subsequently, Carrington stops having sex with Brenan in 1925 and in 1926 Ralph begins an affair with Frances Marshall in London. By 1929, Lytton is in a sadomasochistic relationship with Roger Stenhouse whilst Carrington, following a series of largely unrequited lesbian affairs, is seeing Beacus Penrose, a strapping seaman with little to say who tries to change her to fit his fantasies. She becomes pregnant by Beacus but has an abortion. Lytton takes an apartment in London where he intends to live with Roger, but it becomes clear that the relationship will not last.
• ''Lytton 1931–1932'': Roger and Lytton break up, Beacus loses interest in Carrington. During a tea party Lytton becomes ill; Carrington is initially optimistic but it becomes evident that his illness is terminal. Carrington tries to commit suicide by locking herself in the garage with the car motor running but is rescued by Ralph. When Lytton finally dies, attended by Ralph, Carrington and Gerald, he states "''If this is dying, I don't think much of it.''" Carrington is devastated and buys a rifle but also makes plans to travel in the near future. Once all the guests have finally left, Carrington burns Lytton's personal possessions. Eventually, after another botched attempt, Carrington resolves and goes through with shooting herself. The wound ends up being fatal. Ralph and Frances go on to be conscientious objectors in The Second World War.

Karen Newman feels like her world is coming undone and has soured on the idea of marriage. In her diary, she gives each day a letter grade; lately, her days have not been graded higher than a C-minus. She is overjoyed to learn that her sixth-grade teacher will be Miss Pace, who is nice and popular, but when the first day of school comes, she is crushed to find that Miss Pace, after getting married over the summer and is now Mrs. Singer, has become what Karen describes as a "witch". Worse yet, her parents, Bill and Ellie, who have been quarreling more and more each day, announce that they are splitting up. Bill moves out of the family home and plans to go to Las Vegas to file for divorce, much to Ellie's delight and Karen's consternation.

When Karen's older brother, Jeff, finds out that Bill is going to Las Vegas, he argues with Ellie and runs away. Bill postpones his trip to Las Vegas to help find him, which, instead of bringing him closer to Ellie, causes him to quarrel with her even more violently than before. Jeff eventually returns on his own, ending the crisis, but not the animosity. Karen tries every possible way she can think of to stop the divorce from happening, including sending anniversary cards and feigning illness, but her efforts are ultimately fruitless. She does this because there is a streak run by her family for not getting a divorce. She does not want to let her grandparents down. At the end, she decides that, in spite of the impending divorce, things will get better. Her last diary entry in the book has her giving the day a B-plus.

Myrl Redding (John Cusack) is a horse trader living with his son Cage (Drake Bell), wife Cora (Miranda Otto) and some ranch hands. When Redding attempts to take his horses to a horse market in Casper he discovers local wealthy landowner, Henry Ballard, has erected a tollbooth on the road to Casper, which goes through Ballard’s property. Ballard, who disagrees with Redding regarding making Wyoming a state (which will restrict Ballard’s commercial opportunities), charges Redding ten dollars to pass through his land. Unable to pay, Redding leaves two horses as collateral for payment along with a Native American ranch hand, Crow, to ensure the horses are not mistreated.

After selling the horses at Casper, Redding returns to Ballard’s ranch to discover that the horses are malnourished and beaten, with Crow nowhere in sight. Redding vows that Ballard will pay to restore the horses’ health, while Ballard refuses to pay anything. Redding approaches a local lawyer seeking to sue Ballard, however the lawyer is doubtful the local judge, Judge Wilkins, who is friends with Ballard, will do anything. Redding soon learns that the Judge Wilkins has indeed thrown out the lawsuit, prompting his wife to attempt to meet the Attorney General, who’s wife she is friends with, escorted by ranch hand Woody. During her visit, some of Ballard’s men attack Woody and throw him in front of a horse carriage, which swerves to avoid him and ends up hitting and killing Cora. Redding, furious at the law’s failure to do anything about the death of his wife and the loss of his horses, rallies a local militia of ranch owners and farmers and attacks Ballard’s home, sending him fleeing.

Ballard manages to plead his case to the Governor of Wyoming, who dispatches a sheriff to arrest Redding. Redding manages to ambush the Sheriff’s men and in the confusion one of Ballard’s men is killed. Seeking to ease the escalating violence, the Governor of Wyoming offers Redding amnesty if he surrenders. Redding accepts but later sends a letter promising to support Crow’s tribe against the United States, jeopardizing his amnesty agreement. He is subsequently charged and convicted of murder. Ballard, meanwhile, is brought to Court and ordered to restore the horses’ health by a sympathetic judge, Judge Tolliver, who also orders Ballard imprisoned for two years. Nonetheless, Judge Tolliver is forced to sentence Redding to be executed following his conviction.

After saying goodbye to his son, Redding his hung and executed. Wyoming becomes a state, and Redding’s son Cage and Woody take the two healthy horses back to the Reddings’ ranch.

A constant and verbose off-camera narrator guides the viewer through the life of a tomato. Beginning at Mr Suzuki's tomato field, the tomato is then sold to a supermarket, where it is acquired by Mrs Anete, a perfume salesperson, together with some pork. Each exchange requires the presence of money, which is, together with the tomato, the constant element in the story.

Mrs Anete intends to prepare a tomato sauce for the pork, but, having considered one of Mr Suzuki's tomatoes inadequate, she throws it in the garbage. Together with the rest of the garbage, the tomato is taken to Isle of Flowers (Ilha das Flores), Porto Alegre's landfill. There, the organic material considered adequate is selected as food for pigs. The rest, which is considered inadequate for the pigs, is given to poor women and children to eat.

Spring Snow starts in 1912, as Emperor Taishō begins his short reign and Japan's upper classes (''kazoku'') are mimicking the tastes and manners of Europe's aristocrats. Among them are two children, Kiyoaki Matsugae (Satoshi Tsumabuki) who is the only son of the Marquess Matsugae and Satoko Ayakura (Yūko Takeuchi) who is the only daughter of the Earl Ayakura.

Even as a child, Satoko had romantic aspirations for her friendship with Kiyoaki. However, her father (Kenjirō Ishimaru), wary of the womanizing ways of Kiyoaki's father (Takaaki Enoki), fears for his daughter's involvement. He instructs her tutor, Tadeshina (Michiyo Ōkusu), to ensure the girl's heart is not broken.

A decade later, as Kiyoaki is finishing Gakushūin high school, the beautiful and eligible Satoko is still stuck on her childhood sweetheart. To avoid her, Kiyoaki playfully considers setting her up with his uptight school friend, Shigekuni Honda (Sousuke Takaoka), and writes a lurid confession of frequent trips to Tokyo's entertainment (the theatre of Goethe's ''Faust'') quarter, then posts the letter to Satoko before Shigekuni can stop him. That evening, Kiyoaki has second thoughts, and requests the letter be destroyed, as his decadent adventures were fabrications.

As a baby, Santa Claus is found in the Forest of Burzee by Ak, the Master Woodsman of the World (a supreme immortal), and placed in the care of the lioness Shiegra; but thereupon adopted by the Wood Nymph, Necile.

Upon reaching young adulthood, Claus is introduced by Ak to human society, wherein he sees war, brutality, poverty, child neglect, and child abuse. Because he cannot reside in Burzee as an adult, he settles in the nearby Laughing Valley of Hohaho where the immortals regularly assist him and Peter Knook gives him a little cat named Blinky.

In the Laughing Valley, Claus becomes known for kindness toward children. On one occasion, his neighbors' son Weekum visits him; and Claus having made an image of Blinky to pass the time, presents him with the finished carving, calling it a "toy". Soon, the immortals begin assisting him in the production of other carvings: the Ryls coloring the toys with their infinite paint pots (the first toy was not colored). When he makes a clay figure reminiscent of Necile, he proclaims it a "dolly" to evade naming Necile to the children ("doll" results when children shorten the name). Claus presents the first one to Bessie Blithesome, a local noblewoman, after consulting with Necile and the Queen of the Fairies about whether he should give toys to wealthy children. Later dolls resemble Bessie herself; and later still, counterfeit infant girls.

The Awgwas, evil beings who can turn invisible, steal the toys that Claus is giving to the children, because the toys are preventing the children from misbehaving. This leads to Claus making his journeys by night and descending through chimneys when he is unable to enter the locked doors. The Awgwas nonetheless prevent so many of Claus's deliveries that Ak declares war upon them after failing to get them to cease their attacks. With the aid of the Asiatic Dragons, the Three-Eyed Giants of Tartary, the Goozzle-Goblins, and the Black Demons from Patalonia, the Awgwas believe their might superior to that of the immortals as they fight them in the war. The Awgwas and their allies are destroyed by their opponents with Ak killing the Awgwa King while the remaining Giants of Tartary retreated. Claus is not present for any of the battle. When it is concluded, Ak tells him simply "The Awgwas have perished".

As his journeys continue, Claus is aided by two deer named Glossie and Flossie, who pull his sleigh full of toys. With their aid, he reaches the dominions of the Gnome King, who wants toys for his children, but trades a string of sleigh bells for each toy given by Claus. In restriction of the deer's service to a single day annually, their supervisor Wil Knook decides upon Christmas Eve, two weeks away from the hearing, believing this will mean a year without taking the reindeer from their homes; but the Fairies retrieve the toys the Awgwas stole and bring them to Claus, allowing Claus's first Christmas to proceed in spite of Wil. As Claus continues giving gifts, he earns the title "Santa" ("Saint" in most Romance languages).

Claus sees stockings placed by the fire to dry as a good place for his surprises; but when he finds a family (sometimes taken to be Native Americans, or caricatures of the same) living in a tent with no fireplaces, he places the gifts on the branches of the trees just outside the tent.

When Claus is in his 60s, the Immortals realize he is near the end of his life, and a council, headed by Ak (Master Woodsman of the World), Bo (Master Mariner of the World), and Kern (Master Husbandman of the World) gathers together the Gnome King, the Queen of the Water Spirits, the King of the Wind Demons, the King of the Ryls, the King of the Knooks, the King of the Sound Imps, the King of the Sleep Fays, the Fairy Queen, Queen Zurline of the Wood Nymphs, and the King of the Light Elves with the Princes Flash and Twilight, to decide the fate of Santa Claus. After much debate, he is granted immortality just as the Spirit of Death comes for him.

At the end of the book, the immortal Santa Claus takes on four special deputies: Wisk the Fairy, Peter the Knook, Kilter the Pixie, and Nuter the Ryl.

Baum's short follow-up, "A Kidnapped Santa Claus", further develops his relationship with his deputies, who must work in his place when Claus is captured by five Daemons. Later, children's parents and various toy-making companies take part in gift-giving, and Santa Claus withdraws to his valley.

After the death of her aunt, the protagonist Charlotte and her cousin, her aunt’s stepson Arthur Prime, find a tin of imitation jewelry which includes a string of pearls. Charlotte is immediately fascinated with the pearls, and wonders if they could be a gift from when her aunt was an actress. Arthur disputes this and is insulted at the thought of some gentleman other than his father giving his stepmother such a gift. Charlotte quickly apologizes and agrees that the pearls could be nothing more than paste. With Arthur’s enthusiastic approval, she keeps the jewelry in memory of her aunt.

When Charlotte returns to her governess job, her friend, Mrs. Guy, asks her if she has anything to add color to her dress for an upcoming party. When Charlotte shows Mrs. Guy the jewelry, she too becomes fascinated with the string of pearls, insisting that they are genuine. Mrs. Guy wears the string to the party; and when Charlotte finds out that everyone believed that they were real, she insists that they must be returned to her cousin. Mrs. Guy claims that it was Arthur's foolishness to have given away the necklace, and that Charlotte should feel no guilt in keeping it.

However, Charlotte decides to return the pearls to her cousin, who still refuses to consider the pearls real. A month later Mrs. Guy shows her a wonderful string of pearls, telling Charlotte that they are the same ones that Charlotte had inherited from her aunt. Charlotte is surprised because Arthur claimed he had shattered them, when in fact he had sold them to the store where Mrs. Guy bought them.

Party boy Bobby is a low-level mail clerk in a big real estate investment firm, but he has a trump card—an executive at the firm he works for: Waymon Tinsdale, an uptight African-American in middle management who is on the verge of making partner in the firm. They make a deal in which Waymon will try to move Bobby to the trainee broker program if he will help him meet beautiful party girl Natalie, the girl of his dreams. There's only one problem: Everyone will have to adapt.

The show was based on the exploits of clean-cut, square-jawed Rocky Jones, the best known of the Space Rangers. These were Earth-based space policemen who patrolled the United Worlds of the Solar System in the not-too-distant future. Rocky and his crew would routinely blast-off in a V-2-like, chemically-fueled, upright rocketship, the ''Orbit Jet'' XV-2. It was later replaced by the nearly identical ''Silver Moon'' XV-3 on missions to moons and planetoids, where the odds of success seemed remote, yet they would always prevail. Although they might destroy a rocketship full of unseen villains, their space pistols were never fired at people, and conflicts were always resolved with only fistfights.

Although many strange worlds were visited, the alien characters usually spoke American English, and always appeared as normal humans, albeit wearing bizarre costumes in normal environments. The script-writers did not appear to know the difference between planets, moons, stars, and constellations, so that the specific locations Rocky and his sidekicks visited are generally unknown to astronomers.

Half-hour episodes were usually grouped into storylines that consisted of three "chapters" that were broadcast in successive weeks. A few of the storylines were completed in a single episode.

The player controls Bob, a putto sent by God to remove the corruption and sin on Earth. The dictator of Earth, Father Prime, is conducting experiments into other dimensions on the dark side of the Moon. Soon after landing on Earth, Bob's existence is deemed illegal and he finds himself hunted by police, along with the military. Meanwhile, Father Prime's experiments succeed in bringing Satan into the mortal plane. After making his way through the cyberpunk city of Faktur, Bob confronts and defeats Father Prime. Bob is then asked to return by God, telling him that if humans are prepared to tamper with His creations, there is no place for Him on Earth and leave them to their own devices. Bob refuses, and this turns out to be a ruse by Satan to lead the cherub astray.

After making his way through the industrial parts of the city, Bob infiltrates a nuclear power station and transports himself to the facility on the dark side of the Moon, ultimately confronting and banishing Satan, which destroys the facility. Bob is then thrown onto a barren part of the Moon. Bob repeatedly requests God to take him home but is met with silence.

Calintz, once having been a high-ranking royal guard, has left his home of Shudelmir many years ago to seek adventure elsewhere. Though having left his home in a peaceful state, Calintz decided to return home years later only to find Shudelmir in chaos. The sheer growth of monsters, as well as the rise of two important factions, have left Calintz with no choice but to join the Schwarz Strum as the 7th Squad Leader. Rumors have surfaced about the origin of the monsters. Particularly, the monster growth has been attributed to the enthroning of the new Emperor, Shulenlord. Many people believe that Vermillion, one of the two rising factions, is releasing the creatures in hopes of dethroning the new Emperor, and that the Emperor is retaliating against Vermillion in this same fashion. Amidst this conflict, political struggles between the fallen Princess, Juclecia, and the new Empress, Leona, have contributed a fair share to the chaos of Shudelmir. Having lost her mother to a senseless crime of murder, Juclecia was stripped of her royal authority and cast out into the rural district to conscribe to the lifestyle of a mere commoner. Though Juclecia was entitled to inherit her mother's throne, she held no say in the enthronement of the new Empress nor the Empress' decision to abolish Juclecia's royalty. Rallying the support of other nobles, Juclecia hopes that she can achieve Empress Leona's dethronement and restore peace to her kingdom.

Cliave, father to Princess Juclecia and Emperor Shulenlord, invaded and destroyed the prosperous Kingdom of Krios many years ago. This invasion was thought to take place in order to preserve the integrity of Cliave's power, as he feared that Krios had grown too strong. Ironically, Krios was Cliave's homeland, and his own uncle was its ruler. Still, Cliave would regard his own family as a political enemy and carry on his back the shame of hailing ruthless destruction against Krios. Krios' remaining citizens, reduced to mere slaves, had risen up against their adversity and formed the Vermillion faction. Heading up this group were two mysterious figures—the ominous Ferenan, and the strange outsider, Tristan. Though Vermillion intently sought to rebuild Krios, their violent methods were often put into question, and have earned the group a fearful reputation with the public. Focusing their attention on Shudelmir's political presence, Vermillion has met much resistance from the Schwarz Strum.

The game takes place in the land of Efferia, where a seemingly endless war has raged between the continent's two species: Humans and Yason. Humans and Yason are similar in appearance, but Yason have lighter skin and differently shaped ears. The protagonist of the game, Calintz, is a high-ranking leader of the Tears of Blood, a mercenary squad hired out by the Human Alliance to deal with problems they cannot, or will not, touch. Since the group is not part of the official army, the mercs are disliked by the Alliance soldiers. The core group also consists of Azel, a youthful sword wielder who looks up to Calintz, Eonis, a powerful mage, and Haren, a martial artist. Save for Azel, all group members have a heavy grudge against the Yason for the deaths of friends and family. The Blast Worms, highly skilled Yason soldiers, are led by the Four Warriors, an elite group who wields great power and magic.

When the Alliance's use of the "forbidden magic" fails, Calintz stops an assault by one of the Four Warriors' summoned familiars. After destroying a bridge to prevent enemy advancement, he finds himself in a cavern being healed by an unfamiliar woman. Because she suffers from amnesia, all she remembers is her name, Reith, and that she can use very powerful healing magic. Eventually, they find their way out of the cave and, as a show of thanks for saving him, Calintz offers to take her to Amabat, a city of high-ranking and powerful priestesses, thinking her to be one of them. As the story progresses, Reith, as well as the Tears of Blood and Blast Worms, learn that she is a much more important piece of the puzzle than anyone had realized. When she begins to regain her memories, Reith, who is also Queen Amila, begins her mission to find the traitor of the Yason as well as the mastermind behind the plot of resurrecting the Light of Salvation. This is where the dark truths behind the war begin to unravel where Agreian, the General of the Human Alliance, turns out to be the mastermind (or known as "Neikan") for reviving the Light of Salvation as well as prolonging the war between the Yason and Humans. Will Calintz and the rest of the Tears of Blood be able to stop Agreian for good?

The single player campaign followed eight agents working for the counter-terrorist organization SION (Special Intelligence Operations Network).

The story opens with Jimmie, at this point a young boy, trying by himself to fight a gang of boys from an opposing neighborhood. He is saved by his friend, Pete, and comes home to his sister, Maggie, his toddling brother, Tommie, his brutal and drunken father, and mother, Mary Johnson. The parents, Irish immigrants, terrify the children until they are shuddering in the corner.

Years pass, Tommie and his father die as Jimmie hardens into a sneering, aggressive, cynical youth. He gets a job as a teamster, having no regard for anyone but firetrucks who would run him down. Maggie begins to work in a shirt factory, but her attempts to improve her life are undermined by her mother's drunken rages. Maggie begins to date Jimmie's friend Pete, who has a job as a bartender and seems a very fine fellow, convinced that he will help her escape the life she leads. He takes her to the theater and the museum. One night Jimmie and Mary accuse Maggie of "Goin to deh devil", essentially kicking her out of the tenement, throwing her lot in with Pete. Jimmie goes to Pete's bar and picks a fight with him (even though he himself has ruined other boys' sisters). As the neighbors continue to talk about Maggie, Jimmie and Mary decide to join them in badmouthing her instead of defending her.

Later, Nellie, a "woman of brilliance and audacity" convinces Pete to leave Maggie, whom she calls "a little pale thing with no spirit." Thus abandoned, Maggie tries to return home but is rejected by her mother and scorned by the entire tenement. In a later scene, a prostitute, implied to be Maggie, wanders the streets, moving into progressively worse neighborhoods until, reaching the river, she is followed by a grotesque and shabby man. The next scene shows Pete drinking in a saloon with six fashionable women "of brilliance and audacity." He passes out, whereupon one, possibly Nellie, takes his money. In the final chapter, Jimmie tells his mother that Maggie is dead. The mother exclaims, ironically, as the neighbors comfort her, "I'll forgive her!"

During a routine flight to Minneapolis, a passenger (Susan Dey) aboard Global Airways Flight 502, a Boeing 707, discovers a bomb threat written in lipstick on the mirror of a first-class bathroom. Captain Hank O'Hara (Charlton Heston) believes it to be a hoax, but when a second handwritten threat is left on a stewardess's serving tray he is convinced to take the cryptic threats seriously and follows the instructions -- "Bomb on plane divert to Anchorage Alaska. No Joke, No Tricks. Death"—by changing course for Alaska. To avoid an explosive decompression if a bomb goes off, he flies at lower altitude, increasing fuel consumption.

The captain ignores a warning by a passenger, a jazz cellist (Roosevelt Grier), that he suspects his erratically behaving seatmate, Sgt. Jerome K. Weber (James Brolin), to be the hijacker. The weather at Anchorage is so poor, a United States Air Force ground-controlled approach specialist (Claude Akins) is called in. His radar shows a small aircraft with radio failure that is approaching the same runway, but Flight 502 has too little fuel to go around. O'Hara sees the other aircraft at the last moment and manages to avoid a collision and land safely.

Once on the ground, passengers attempt to disarm Weber, a Vietnam veteran driven insane by war trauma. Whether he has a bomb or not, Weber is certainly armed with guns and grenades and manages to fight off an attempt by other passengers to disarm him and threatens to detonate a grenade in his hand if anyone attempts to interfere with his plans.

Weber is taken to the cockpit where he demands the aircraft be refueled. While the hijacker is occupied in assuming control, the lead stewardess (Yvette Mimieux) oversees the escape of the economy-class passengers by emergency slide. Weber becomes outraged but allows the remaining passengers and three stewardesses to leave. He keeps the remaining crew as hostages, and most of the first-class passengers, including a U.S. Senator (Walter Pidgeon) and a pregnant woman (Mariette Hartley) who has gone into premature labor due to the crisis. A federal agent tries to slip on board, but is caught by Weber and becomes another hostage. Weber demands to be flown to Moscow, where he intends to defect to the Soviet Union.

Although the Soviets deny clearance into their airspace, the increasingly agitated Weber forces the pilots to continue on. As they enter Soviet airspace, O'Hara orders that the landing gear and flaps be lowered to a full landing configuration and broadcasts their situation to Soviet ground control. The aircraft is surrounded by Soviet fighter jets who eventually escort the plane to the Moscow airport. The hijacked airliner is allowed to land at Moscow, but ordered to stop short of the terminal as armed soldiers surround the plane.

The remaining crew and passengers are finally released, leaving O'Hara and Weber as the last ones on board. Weber, who had nursed fantasies of being received by the Soviets as a hero, is jubilant to have seemingly achieved his dreams and gloats to O'Hara that he never even possessed a bomb. But when he realizes the Soviet forces are surrounding the aircraft to attack him and not welcome him, he straps on a bandolier of grenades and prepares to open fire. When O'Hara tries to intervene, Weber shoots him and leads the captain down the airstair to the landing strip. As the soldiers prepare to fire and Weber pulls a pin from a grenade, O'Hara manages to push the hijacker away from him. Weber is shot and lands on his own grenade which detonates killing him instantly. O'Hara survives and is placed on a stretcher. As he gazes skyward, he smiles with relief, spotting another aircraft that has just taken off.

Buck O'Brien (Mike White) is a 27-year-old amateur playwright with the maturity level of an adolescent. When Buck's mother dies unexpectedly, he invites his close childhood friend Chuck (Chris Weitz) to the funeral. Chuck (who is now calling himself "Charlie") is a successful music industry exec with a fiancée, Carlyn (Beth Colt). He and Buck experimented sexually with each other when they were 11, but Charlie has repressed these memories and acts as if they had not occurred. Chuck had moved away while they were still children, and Buck has pined after him ever since. During their awkward reunion, Buck makes a sexual advance on Charlie in the bathroom. Charlie rebuffs him, and returns to Los Angeles with Carlyn, but not before extending an obligatory invitation for Buck to visit him there. Buck then withdraws $10,000 from his bank account, packs up his car, and takes up residence in a motel in Los Angeles. He also begins scripting a play on a yellow legal pad: titled "Hank and Frank and the Witch", an obvious plea for Charlie's love.

Too shy to announce his presence right away, Buck starts trying to see Charlie at his office at Trimorph Entertainment. Buck also surreptitiously follows Charlie to find out where he lives. While standing in front of the playhouse across the street from Charlie's job, he strikes up a conversation with Beverly (Lupe Ontiveros), the house manager. Buck hires Beverly to produce his play, and casts Sam (Paul Weitz), a talentless actor who bears a strong resemblance to Charlie, in the lead. Buck then works up the nerve to approach Charlie and his girlfriend. After being invited to a party that Charlie and Carlyn host, Buck becomes aware of just how far apart he and Chuck have grown; he feels rejected by Charlie's new friends. He also becomes resentful of Carlyn, who he erroneously believes is interfering with their friendship. As a result of this mind-set, Buck's behavior becomes increasingly erratic and obsessive.

The end of the film deals with both Chuck and Buck confronting each other over their past. The two have sex, and Buck wants Charlie to stay afterward, but Charlie says they must part ways. Buck is distraught afterward, but eventually realizes he has found a new life at the playhouse. When discussing a play over dinner with Beverly, Buck notices Charlie has arrived with Carlyn. Charlie and Buck exchange glances across the room, but Buck ultimately disregards them and goes back to his conversation. Buck comes to the theater to find an invitation to the wedding. Buck arrives at the wedding party and offers the couple his blessing with his presence. Buck and Carlyn make peace as Buck effectively moves on from his obsession with Charlie and keeps their sexual encounter a secret from Carlyn.

Following the events in ''Category 6: Day of Destruction'', the superstorm that hit Chicago is continuing to grow in size and strength, with tornadoes hitting Paris and destroying the Eiffel Tower. Judith Carr (Gina Gershon), the new head of FEMA struggles to coordinate efforts to prepare for the aftermath of the storm and provide aid to ravaged areas. She calls in her former college lover, Dr. Ross Duffy (Cameron Daddo), and her father Senator Ryan Carr (Robert Wagner) to help her try to determine what is causing the storms and how to deal with the political issues. "Tornado Tommy" (Randy Quaid), who survived his seeming death in the previous film, returns to aid in tracking the storm in the United States, assisted by scientist Faith Clavell (Shannen Doherty). Similar storms are developing around the country and an interaction between urban heat islands and "falling chunks of mesosphere" fuels the storms making it more powerful. Hurricane Eduardo strikes toward Florida, while the Category 6 storm hits Buffalo, New York and heads towards, and destroys most of New York City.

During these catastrophic events, two Christian fundamentalists (James Brolin and Swoosie Kurtz) fake the arrival of the plagues of Egypt to lure in new converts, culminating in their kidnapping of the first-born children of Judith Carr and other high-ranking officials. When Tommy and Faith get their data to FEMA in New York, Judith realizes that Hurricane Eduardo is heading towards Washington, D.C. and the Category 6 storm in New York is heading in the same direction. When both storms collide with the mesosphere, it turns into a "Category 7" hurricane, obliterating anything in its path. The force of the storm is so massive, that a category 7 could potentially cause a global catastrophe, possibly leading to the apocalypse.

Réda (Nicolas Cazalé) is a French-Moroccan teenager due to sit for his Baccalauréat in southern France. When his devout father (played by Mohamed Majd) asks Réda to drive him on a pilgrimage to Mecca, he reluctantly agrees. The route taken by the father and son goes from Provence, France through Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Syria, and Jordan before reaching Saudi Arabia.

During this road trip of thousands of kilometers, the once-icy father-and-son relationship starts to thaw. Réda speaks only in French to his father, who is seen speaking only Arabic. Later, the father shows that he speaks impeccable French: his choice to speak only Arabic to his son is, therefore, purposeful.

Along the way, the two meet several interesting characters, including an aged woman clad in black who, though they attempt to leave her behind, reappears in various scenes. The son learns about Islam and why his father preferred to go by car rather than plane. Different situations show differences between the father and son. In one instance, for example, after the father claimed to have been robbed, Réda refuses to give any of the remaining money to a begging mother with a child, but his father does so.

During their journey, Réda dreams that he is watching his father herding goats and that his father does not respond when he calls for help to be saved from quicksand.

After many hardships, they reach Mecca but the father, unknown to Réda, dies shortly after they arrive. That night, Réda goes looking for his father, but instead sees a person herding goats who barely glances at him. After Réda finds out that his father has died, he sells the car and gives the money to a beggar.

The story is set in unnamed rural town in Virginia, which is frequented by several plantation owners living around it. The town relies on trade from the cotton plantations for its economy. Understanding this, the plantation owners, in contrast to their neighbors in surrounding towns, have adopted a benign approach toward their slaves to keep them peaceful and assure the safety of the town. Several characters in and around the town are introduced throughout the story, demonstrating how this process works and the delicate balance of such a process in action.

The film tells the story of a freelance fashion magazine writer named Claire Rocher who meets Elisabeth Becker, an actress. Claire's life soon turns upside down after the actress decides to hire her as personal assistant.

The loosely documentary-style film is centered on the experiences of a New York model, who travels from San Diego, California, to an occult center on the island of Maui, Hawaii. While there, "she encounters various devotees of surfing, clairvoyance, zen, yoga, meditation, Tai-Chi and the odd ufoloist". As it unfolds, a free concert by Jimi Hendrix is staged in a former pasture in the upcountry region (2,000 feet above sea level) near Olinda, southeast of the center of the town of Makawao, on the northwest, upcountry slope of Haleakalā. A few hundred island hippies, surfers, and local residents show up to witness the event. Hendrix performed with the post–Jimi Hendrix Experience "Cry of Love" tour group, drummer Mitch Mitchell and bassist Billy Cox. A group of Hare Krishnas chanted "Om" for a few minutes and Wein introduced the group. Although Hendrix played two full sets (approximately 50 minutes each), due to technical problems, only about 17 minutes of film footage was deemed usable.

Abram lives in Harran, a rich city. His wife Sarai (Barbara Hershey) is childless, and their only heir is Eliezer of Damascus. One day he hears the voice of God, who says that he must leave Harran and travel to an unknown land. God promises to make a great nation from him and renames him Abraham and his wife Sarai as Sarah. The pattern for the plot is the Genesis chapters 11–25.

The novel consists largely of a series of letters written by its heroine, Emily Barlow, to her friend, Sylvia Carey. When Emily sails from England for India in June 1814 her ship is attacked by Moorish pirates and she is taken to the harem of Ali, dey of Algiers. Ali rapes her and subjects her to his will, awakening her sexual passions. Emily's debasement continues when Ali insists on anal sex, arousing the horror of her correspondent Sylvia, who expresses her indignation at Ali's behaviour, in a letter that the latter intercepts. Annoyed at her attitude, Ali arranges for Sylvia to be abducted and brought to the slave market of Algiers. After an elaborate charade in which Ali pretends to be a sympathetic Frenchman, bidding to save her from sexual slavery, and engaging her in a fake marriage, he deflowers her and awakens her sexuality, as he had done with Emily. Revealing his true identity Ali enjoys both girls together. This sexual idyll is eventually terminated when an addition to the harem objects to anal rape, cuts off Ali's penis with a knife, and then commits suicide. Seemingly unfazed by this, Ali has "his lost members preserved in spirits of wine in glass vases" which he presents to Emily and Sylvia, sending them back to England with these tokens of his affection.

The novel also incorporates interpolated stories concerning the erotic misadventures of three other girls abducted into the harem, and enlarges on the fate of Emily's maid Eliza who, presented by Ali to Muzra, bey of Tunis, is bound, flogged and raped in turn.

The book was one of those condemned as obscene by Lord Chief Justice Campbell when Dugdale was prosecuted in 1857.Sova (2006) p.150

Yamazaki Tanpopo moves from Hokkaidō to Tokyo in order to begin high school in an entirely new environment. When she goes to see her new school, Meio Academy, she meets a young man who is replanting a Tanpopo (dandelion) flower. At school the next day, Tanpopo is not only amazed by the modern facilities but also that she is in the same class as the young man she met the day before: Kugyou Kouki, the son of the owner of Meio. When she greets him, Kouki pretends not to know her and she is shocked that he would act so differently from their previous meeting.

Meanwhile, the students at the school discover Tanpopo is a commoner from the country side and begin to bully her. In an effort to change the social hierarchy of the school and also find some new friends, Tanpopo cheerfully starts the "Planting Club". Soon, she attracts the attention of students like the insincerely kind Saionji Tsukiko and Kouki, who begins to show his kinder side. However, just as Tanpopo and Kouki's friendship develops and their gardening club grows, secrets of Kugyou family life are revealed. Increasing tensions result as Tanpopo begins to fall in love with Kouki and he reciprocates, though is held back as he is engaged to another girl of the same status.

''Apaches'' follows the misadventures of a group of six young children (Kim, Sharon, Michael, Danny, Tom and Robert) in a rural British village who enjoy playing on a nearby farm pretending to be "Apache warriors".

Throughout the film the children all die in various different accidents due to their carelessness; Kim is run over by a tractor she was standing on, Tom drowns in a slurry pit he falls into, Sharon dies from accidentally drinking chemicals while pretending it was alcohol, Robert is crushed by a falling gate Michael knocked over, and Danny crashes a tractor he is riding on into a ditch. Danny continues his narration after his death, and talks calmly about his family all arriving for a "party" being prepared earlier in the film.

Michael, also present, is revealed to be Danny's cousin – the only child not to have been killed by his own reckless behavior, despite Danny having described Michael as "daft". Danny's voice fades into a ghostly echo as he sadly says he wishes he could have gone to the party. The closing credits show a long list of real children who had died in actual farm accidents in the year before ''Apaches'' was made.

Two soldiers have been robbed and murdered while guarding a shipment of gold. Into town rides Haven (Dick Powell), a military intelligence officer traveling incognito. When he rides into town, the hotel clerk (Burl Ives) is sitting at the front desk, playing his guitar and singing “a man can't grow old where there's women and gold,” segueing the lyrics into a clear warning to leave town.

A beautiful saloon singer (Jane Greer) catches Haven's eye. After he meets Mrs. Caslon (Agnes Moorehead), who owns the gold mine, Haven hears that someone called "Charlie" is the brains behind the scene. He finds out to his surprise that Charlie is the singer.

Charlie's lawyer, Bristow (Raymond Burr), is $6,000 in her debt and therefore might be involved in the gold theft. Haven beats up Charlie's saloon bouncer in a fight and is offered a job as transport chief for the gold. Charlie's friend, Prince (Gordon Oliver), meanwhile, is growing jealous of her interest in Haven.

While transporting a shipment of gold, the man riding shotgun, Goddard (Regis Toomey), is killed and Haven knocked cold. When he comes to, he manages to track, catch and kill the robber carrying the gold. He shoos away the dead man's horses and follows them to their home stable, at the sawmill owned by Charlie. Haven pretends to be an ignorant hand working for Charlie, and is tasked with transporting the stolen gold in the horses' saddlebags back to town to Charlie and Prince.

He hides the gold, and confronts Prince and Charlie. After some to-ing and fro-ing with the gold and an affidavit dictated to Bristow by Haven, Charlie convinces Bristow that he ought to confront Haven. Haven convinces him rather that he is the next target of Prince and Charlie as he knows too much. Bristow, terrified, tries to get away but is shot by Prince. Haven is pinned down, but after persuading the sheriff to arrest him for the crime, Haven escapes, and learns that Charlie's men plan to disguise themselves as soldiers to steal more of Mrs. Caslon's gold.

He foils this plot, then arrives back at the saloon, to arrest Charlie, but also because he is in love with her. Prince sneaks up intending to shoot Haven, but his bullet hits Charlie instead. Haven kills Prince. Before she dies, Charlie tells Haven that she loves him, and Haven confesses his love for her.

Haven rides away as Burl Ives sings “a man can't grow old where there's women and gold.”

The story resumes after the evacuation of Ember, an underground city, which has been cut off from the surface for more than 200 years. The 400+ refugees from the city cannot return, as the city's resources are nearly depleted, and have no idea how to survive on the surface. After following a road for three days, they arrive at the village of Sparks, exhausted and hungry. The leaders of this village, Mary, Ben, and Wilmer, reluctantly agree to take in the refugees for 6 months, theoretically long enough to teach them to survive independently. They are allowed to stay in the abandoned and decrepit Pioneer Hotel. Tick Hassler, a former hauler of carts in Ember, organizes a series of projects intended to improve their quality of life and chances for the future, but which tend to be more grandiose than practical.

Concern soon arises about whether there is adequate food for everyone in Sparks; if food stocks are insufficient for the winter, it would be disastrous for both groups. The Emberites have little knowledge of the surface (having been deliberately deprived of such knowledge at the founding of the city, so they would not try to leave), and their ignorance annoys the people of Sparks. Torren, an unhappy boy from Sparks, destroys a large amount of tomatoes in a furious rage, and then decides to accuse an Emberite (Doon) of the act to further build hatred between the two people. Vandalism against the people of Ember heightens the anger on both sides. The resultant reduction in the quality and quantity of food provided to Emberites only makes them angrier. Sparks' leaders vote 2-1 to stop having Emberites in homes for meals, as was the policy before, and instead have them pick up food to eat elsewhere. Then, Ember's people learn that they will be ejected from the village in the middle of winter, which they had not understood.

Meanwhile, Lina leaves with a roamer who travels to old cities to find treasure, hoping to find the city she has been dreaming of and drawing. There she finds not a beautiful city like she expected, but a crumbling ruin of a metropolis (San Francisco after the Disaster). She returns to Sparks after more than a month, disappointed, and is very surprised by the deteriorating political situation.

After the people from Ember are deliberately inflicted with itchy rashes by an unknown person, at a time of extreme heat, angry Emberites start to gather in the town square. Tick Hassler urges them to attack the market stalls, seize food, and run, which some of them do. That evening, the village leaders meet and vote (the same) 2-1 to order all former citizens of Ember to leave immediately. When the people of Ember try to decide what to do, Tick organizes a group of people to fight back if the people of Sparks try to make them leave by force or continue to deprive them of adequate food.

In the morning, this group enters the large square, followed by the rest of the people of Ember. Ben, who voted to order them to leave, brings the "Terrible Weapon", which is a machine gun built before the "Disaster", from the town hall basement. Ben threatens to 'fire' on them, but Tick and his men charge at the weapon, not knowing what it is. When Ben tries to shoot them, Mary forces him to fire over the crowd by kicking the front upward. As Ben tries to lower it and shoot at the crowd, the age and poor storage of the cannon and its ammunition cause it to explode. The explosion starts a fire, which engulfs a large tree in front of the town hall and threatens to destroy numerous buildings. The Emberites watch passively as the people of Sparks try to extinguish the fire: some hope for the fire to spread, but most of them are simply too afraid, of the fire and their fellow Emberites, to do anything.

At this point, Lina decides to help the people of Sparks fight the fire. As this happens, Doon sees that Torren is trapped in the burning tree by the building and saves him before he catches fire. These acts cause most of the people of Ember to gradually join the firefighting efforts, until the fire is extinguished.

This turns around the spiral of resentment, and with everyone thinking more clearly and less parochially, it is discovered that Tick Hassler perpetrated the vandalism against the Emberites to gain support, and the tomato incident is resolved. The two groups decide to cooperate, with Mary declaring that "we are all the people of Sparks". At the end of the book, Doon manages to construct a simple electric circuit, based on a science book found amongst the books piled in a room in the village's storehouse.

The story takes place in the office of Dr. Harper, a psychiatrist, where a man named Lester Billings talks to the doctor about the "murders" of his three young children, describing the events of the past several years. His first two children died mysteriously of apparently unrelated causes (diagnosed as crib death and convulsions, respectively) when left alone in their bedrooms. The only commonalities were that the children cried "Boogeyman!" before being left alone, and the closet door ajar after discovering their corpses, even though Billings is certain the door was shut.

Approximately a year after their second child's death, Billings' wife Rita became pregnant with their son Andy and subsequently moved to a different neighborhood far from the old one. A year passes without incident with Andy sleeping in the master bedroom with Billings and Rita. Billings believes that the monster eventually tracked his family down, intruding the house and slithering around at night. Not long after, Rita leaves to take care of her ill mother, leaving Billings and Andy alone.

Feeling the malevolent presence growing bolder in his wife's absence, Billings began to panic, and decided to move Andy to a separate bedroom, knowing that the monster would go for him. That night, Andy cried "Boogeyman!" while being put to bed and, an hour later, was attacked and killed by the Boogeyman. Billings, upon seeing the creature throttling Andy, fled to a local 24-hour diner. He later returned home at dawn, called the police, and discovered Andy's corpse on the floor with the closet door ajar. Billings convinced the police that Andy had attempted to climb out of his crib during the night and broken his neck.

As Billings finishes his story and starts to leave, Dr. Harper recommends making future appointments with the nurse. Finding the nurse absent, Billings returns to Harper's office and finds it empty, with the closet door ajar. The Boogeyman emerges from the closet, casting off its disguise of Dr. Harper.

Alba is out running one day when she is kidnapped by a psychiatrist and his patient. They remove Alba to an estate in rural France where she is forced to participate in the patient's entomological fantasies.

When Alba goes missing, her adult companion Serge is distraught. He hatches a plot to save her which involves the theft of multiple Rolls-Royces.

When a painter comes to the estate to paint Alba in a dragonfly costume, Alba befriends him. Alba manages to escape the estate, but she finds herself traumatized, broke, and lost, with criminals trailing her closely. Eventually Alba and Serge are reunited.

The plot consists of a series of real life events from 1989 to 2004, and going through a series of hypothetical events through 2014. The first sentence of the running commentary quotes Charles Dickens' ''A Tale of Two Cities'': "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."

In 1989, Tim Berners-Lee invents the World Wide Web.

In 1994, Amazon.com is launched. It is a store that sells everything, personalized for its users, that can even offer suggestions.

In 1998, Google is unleashed by two Stanford University students, promising a faster, more effective way to search.

In 1999, Blogger is founded. Google comes out with Google News, a service unique in that it requires no human intervention.

In 2002, Friendster is released.

In 2003, Google buys Blogger.

In 2004, the rise of Gmail gives competition to Microsoft's Hotmail. Microsoft's Newsbot comes as a response to Google News. Picasa and A9 are also released this year. In August, Google goes public, acquires Keyhole (now Google Earth), a company that maps the world, and begins digitizing and indexing world libraries. Reason Magazine sends its subscribers satellite photos of their homes, with information tailored to them inside.

From this point ''EPIC'' passes into the realm of fiction.

In 2005, Microsoft buys Friendster in response to Google's action. Apple Computer comes out with WifiPod, which allows users to "send and receive messages on the go". Then, Google unveils the Google Grid, a universal platform offering an unlimited amount of space and bandwidth that can be used to store anything. It allows users to manage their information two ways: store it privately or publish it to the entire grid.

In 2007, Microsoft Newsbotster, a social news network, ranks and sorts news. It allows everyone to comment on what they see.

In 2008, Google and Amazon merge to form '''Googlezon'''. Google supplies Google Grid, Amazon supplies their personalized recommendations. Googlezon is a system that automatically searches all content sources and splices together stories to cater to the interests of each individual user.

When explaining how Googlezon profiles its users, the identification card of a man named Winston Smith appears on screen. Smith is the main character in George Orwell's classic novel ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'', in which a dystopian society is ruled by a media-distorting government. The photograph on the identification card depicts Robin Sloan.

In 2010, the news wars rage between Microsoft and Googlezon. These "News Wars of 2010" are notable in that they involve no actual news organizations.

In 2011, the slumbering Fourth Estate awakens to make its first and final stand. ''The New York Times'' sues Googlezon, "claiming the fact-stripping robots are a violation of copyright law", but the Supreme Court rules in favor of Googlezon.

In 2014, Googlezon unleashes '''EPIC''', the Evolving Personalized Information Construct, which pays users to contribute any information they know into a central grid, allowing the system to automatically create news tailored to individuals, entirely without journalists. The word "EPIC" is an amalgam of three fundamental physical and mathematical constants; e (Euler's number), pi (π) and c (the speed of light in a vacuum). These are depicted in the shadow of the EPIC logo.

EPIC stores and categorizes not only news, but the demographics, political beliefs, and consumption habits of every user. At its best, EPIC is "a summary of the world—deeper, broader and more nuanced than anything ever available before ... but at its worst, and for too many, EPIC is merely a collection of trivia, much of it untrue." EPIC is so popular that it triggers the downfall of ''The New York Times'', which goes offline and becomes "a print newsletter for the elite and the elderly." The narrative follows the epic format, with the clashing of antagonistic entities, conquests and retreats, a concern for genealogy, and the central moral question, often rough and binary but also thrilling, of good vs. evil.

The narration ends with the statement: "Perhaps there was another way."

Jimbo and Chef visit Mayor McDaniels' office, arguing about the South Park town flag: Jimbo wants to keep it, for it has been around since the time of the town's founding; Chef, however, insists it is racist. The South Park flag depicts four white figures hanging a black one on a gallows, inciting Chef's indignation and leads him to believe that the whole town is racist. Chef immediately starts to rally support in order to change the flag. Neither he nor Jimbo can gather a lot of support, as very few townspeople have strong opinions either way on the issue. In school, the class is assigned to debate the "Change the Flag" issue. Stan and Kyle lead the team that wants to keep the flag the same, while Wendy and Cartman lead the side that wants to change it (with Cartman only volunteering presumably to irritate Wendy). During lunch, Stan and Kyle ask Chef for help, not knowing he had just converted to Islam. Upon hearing that they think that the flag should not be changed, Chef gets agitated and verbally abusive towards the boys, who have no idea why Chef is so upset about the flag.

Wendy leads her team in the library when Cartman suddenly interrupts the process with his own strategy. He gets the team to dig up some dirt on Stan and Kyle, hoping to win the debate with ''ad hominem'' attacks on their credibility. Meanwhile, Kyle and Stan are at Kyle's father's law office studying how freedom of speech is an issue with the flag. While this is going on, Kenny eats 60 antacid tablets, believing they were mints, and then takes a drink of water, causing himself to explode. At the City Hall, members of the KKK march up, loudly voicing their support for the current flag as a symbol of "white power". This causes discomfort amongst Jimbo, Ned, and a number of the other flag supporters: they do not wish to be sided on any issue with the Klan. To remedy this problem, Jimbo and Ned infiltrate the clan and suggest that if they want the flag to remain unchanged, they should advocate that the flag ''should'' be changed, because the majority of people will always vote against whatever the Klan wants. The leader embraces the idea, and the Klan switches sides. After Ned and Jimbo escape, they run into Chef while still wearing their Klan robes. Chef, mistakenly believing they are KKK members, drives off in anger before they can even explain, but not before splattering them both with mud from his car.

The mayor fails to appease Chef by revising the flag so that the black stick figure being hanged appears to be smiling, and decides not to make the decision herself. She lets the kids' debate club decide the fate of the flag. This puts a lot of pressure on Wendy, who, in their study sessions, suddenly begins to feel attracted to Cartman. This scares Wendy, because Stan's her boyfriend and she and Cartman actually hate each other. Bebe later explains the concept of sexual tension to her, advising that she should kiss Cartman just to get it out of her system. During the debate, Wendy is distracted because she is attracted to Cartman and cannot deliver her opening remarks. She walks over and kisses him in front of the whole town, breaking the built-up tension and leaving Stan shocked. After this, she is able to continue her standpoint by claiming that the flag should be changed because of it depicting violence towards people. When the turn of Stan's team comes, Kyle gives their side of the issue by saying that killing is just a natural part of life and should not be a big deal. Shortly afterwards, Chef stands up and demands they address the racist aspect of the flag, only for him and the rest of the adults to discover that the children had not even perceived the flag as racist; Instead, they saw the flag depicting a man being hanged without registering his color, and they had just thought that the issue at hand was about capital punishment.

Chef is touched by this, and, while still acknowledging that he thinks the flag should be changed, he admits that when he believed the whole town was racist and threw the slur "cracker" around, ''he'' was the one being racist. Jimbo also apologizes for being on the KKK's side and tells Chef that he has no problem with black people; Chef in return assures Jimbo that he recognizes him as a good man. After Jimbo and Chef decide to come to a compromise, Kyle declares that they do not need to debate anymore, although Stan is still frozen with shock after seeing Wendy kissing Cartman. In the end, ethnic diversity is added to the flag: the black stick figure is now being hanged by a group of stick figures of differents colors, including a black one to prevent racism. Chef delivers the moral of this story: his inclination to anti-racism almost made him a racist himself, and that perceiving things according to race leads only to further racism.

In the final scene, Wendy says that she is glad that everything is over with and that her feelings for Cartman have disappeared. Cartman agrees and laughs nervously. Wendy runs after Stan, calling his name, leaving Cartman completely alone. After a few moments, Cartman sighs and walks away sadly, implying that he might have started to develop genuine feelings for Wendy.

For a class presentation, Eric Cartman delivers his own against what he calls "gingers": people with red hair, freckles, and pale skin due to an alleged disease called "Gingervitis". He describes them as being disgusting, inhuman, unable to survive in sunlight, and having no souls. Kyle Broflovski, who labels Cartman's presentation as a hate speech, points out that he too has red hair, to which Cartman says that there is a second class of redheads, the "daywalkers", who have red hair but not pale skin and freckles.

In Kyle's attempt to prove Cartman wrong, he decides to do a presentation countering Cartman's facts, arguing that being a "ginger kid" is an inheritable trait. To prove this, Kyle and Stan Marsh visit a family who have redhead children. To their shock, the non-Ginger parents of the Ginger kids, who each carry a recessive gene that has caused them to have Ginger kids, possess the same prejudice towards Ginger kids as Cartman. The father of the Ginger kids informs Kyle that marrying an Asian woman ensures that the recessive gene is not passed down, and mentions a friend who is marrying an Asian woman for that reason. When Kyle makes his presentation, Cartman stands up for his claims and uses Biblical references, alleging that Judas Iscariot was a Ginger. As a result, Cartman's speech causes a new-found prejudice towards Ginger kids in the school. The gingers are treated as outcasts and forced to eat in the hallway rather than the cafeteria. Stan, Kyle, and Kenny McCormick agree that they need to teach Cartman a lesson.

At night, the three sneak into Cartman's room and use skin bleach to make his skin pale, dye his hair red, and put Henna tattoos of freckles on his face. Cartman wakes up in the morning to discover that he now has the disease "gingervitis" and has become a Ginger himself. Cartman is taken to the doctor, who turns out to be prejudiced himself and soon insults him, even suggesting that Mrs. Cartman have him put down, which she considers. At school, Cartman is laughed at by Butters Stotch, and faces discrimination from the very people he himself convinced to despise Gingers. He is forced to join the gingers in eating in the hallway despite his attempts to convince them that he is still who he was. In response to this, Cartman establishes the "Ginger Separatist Movement" to promote the better aspects of being ginger.

Initially peaceful, Cartman's movement quickly becomes violent and Nazi-esque in tone, arguing that Gingers are a "great race", though when he tries to name a successful "ginger", the gingers are forced to simply declare themselves as being like "Ron Howard… and others." He and his organization start holding protests, including beating up a brunette who played Annie, for playing a redhead but not actually being one. Eventually, Cartman convinces the Ginger kids to decide to kill all the town's non-gingers by telling them "The only way to fight hate… is with MORE hate!"

An hour before dawn, the boys decide to sneak into Cartman's room and change him back to his original appearance. However, on their way over to his house, Ginger kids start to creep out of seemingly nowhere and follow them. At first, though terrified, the boys try to ignore them and decide to go home. Kenny is suddenly snatched away, prompting Kyle and Stan to break into a run. Meanwhile, children across the town are abducted from their homes by the Ginger kids. Eventually, Stan and Kyle are the only ones left. They lock themselves in a barn for protection but the Ginger kids break in and capture them both.

All the non-gingers are taken to the Sunset Room at the Airport Hilton Hotel, complete with a lava pit and refreshment buffet. They are all imprisoned in cages and will be chosen for sacrifice one by one.

"Daywalker" Kyle is chosen as the first. Cartman states a "half-ginger" is much worse than one with no such trait. However, he asks that before he dies, he say something private to Cartman. Kyle whispers in Cartman's ear that he is not in fact a "ginger". Now thinking only of self-preservation, he realizes that if his own cult were to learn of his true physical identity he too would die with every other non-"ginger kid" of the town. Cartman pretends to have had an epiphany that everyone should live in harmony and peace since Kyle's speech, then gets everyone to sing a song about how the different races should live together in peace. As the non-gingers are freed, an annoyed Kyle calls Cartman a "manipulative asshole" for his hypocrisy. Cartman gleefully responds "Yes, but I'm not going to die".

In a hospital in Tokyo, a university professor named Kenji Murai is visited by a man who asks him about the events that led him to the hospital. The story is about a group of crew and passengers on a day trip on a yacht, including Murai; his shipmate assistant Senzō Koyama; writer Etsurō Yoshida; celebrity Masafumi Kasai, the owner of the yacht; professional singer Mami Sekiguchi; and student Akiko Sōma. A sudden storm causes the yacht to nearly capsize. Though the boat remains upright, it sustains severe damage during the storm and drifts uncontrollably. The group arrive at a seemingly deserted island and begin to explore. They come across ponds full of fresh rain water and a large forest of mushrooms. The yacht's skipper, Naoyuki, warns them not to eat the mushrooms because they might be poisonous.

As they cross the island, they come upon a wrecked yacht on the shore whose sails are rotted and its interior is covered with a mysterious mold. Finding that the mold is killed by cleaning products, they work to clear it from the ship. In doing so, they begin to suspect that the ship was connected to nuclear tests conducted in the vicinity of the island, with the resultant fallout forcing a bizarre mutation on various organisms native to the surrounding area, including the mushrooms. As the days pass, the group grows restless as their supply of food stores starts to run low. Kasai refuses to help find a way off the island and steals from their food stores instead. After becoming concerned about their provisions, Yoshida decides to try eating the mushrooms.

One night, as Kasai is raiding the food stores, he is attacked by a grotesque-looking man who promptly disappears after encountering the group. Suddenly, Yoshida's behavior begins to grow erratic, leading him to be locked inside Kasai's room right after he pulls a gun on the group. Naoyuki decides that in order to survive, the team must leave the island. The others disagree, leading him to depart on his own. Mami frees Yoshida and they attempt to take over the ship, shooting and killing Senzō in the process. Murai and Akiko manage to take control from the two and force them off the ship. Murai finds the yacht adrift and swims out towards it. He finds Naoyuki missing and a note left behind explaining that he is responsible for the deaths of his group and had jumped overboard. On the ship, Kasai is confronted by Mami, who entices him to follow her into the forest. Perpetual rainfall has caused wild fungal growth, and Kasai realizes that those who have been eating the mushrooms have turned into humanoid mushroom creatures themselves. The mushrooms are addictive and cannot be resisted after the first bite. Kasai is last seen collapsing as mushroom creatures begin to swarm him.

Others who have turned into mushroom creatures attack Akiko and Murai. They are separated and Akiko is kidnapped. As Murai tracks her down, he discovers that she has been fed mushrooms and is under their influence along with Mami, Yoshida, and Kasai. Murai attempts to rescue Akiko, but he is overwhelmed by the mushroom creatures and flees without her, making his way onto the yacht and escaping the island. Several days pass later, Murai is finally rescued. As he waits in the hospital, he begins to wonder if he should have stayed with Akiko on the island. His face is revealed to show signs of being infected with fungal growths. Murai states after that it did not matter whether he stayed or not, but he would have been happier there with Akiko. The screen fades as Murai notes that humans are not much different from the mushroom creatures.

Stan mediates a dispute between Francine and his new wife. Francine demands that Stan put them on a plane back to the States, but he reminds her that in Saudi Arabia, what the man says goes. Meanwhile, Hayley is cornered by the vice police, but a strange man intervenes and says he's her brother, saving her. And out in the desert, Steve comes to after crashing his Mercedes into an oil derrick. Roger is delivered to his new husband, who is very wealthy. Seeing alcohol flowing freely, Roger no longer minds his servitude. Hayley hits it off with Kazi, who lets it slip that he's in al-Qaeda. She begs him not to blow up the American embassy, then passionately kisses him. Back in Langley, Bullock gets a call from Francine asking him to give Stan his job back. Bullock informs her that he had already made the offer, but Stan turned him down. Steve is wandering through the desert. He prays to God for help and God - in the form of Angelina Jolie - descends from the heavens. Roger is enjoying his plush life as a concubine when his new husband comes in, ready to consummate the relationship.

Elsewhere, Hayley and Kazi have already consummated theirs. In the bazaar, Francine confronts Stan about Bullock's offer. Stan says his word rules, so Francine breaks into a song about how awful Saudi Arabia is, stripping down into her bra and panties during the number. When she finishes, the moral police arrest her, as one of the rules is musicals are forbidden. Stan visits Francine in jail, and when he learns that her cellmate has been in jail for 23 years for stealing a candy bar, agrees to go to the embassy to get help for Francine. Meanwhile, Roger is trying to avoid relations by telling his husband about the glorious epic that is ''Beverly Hills, 90210''. Out in the desert, God tells Steve to stop worrying about becoming a man and advises him to enjoy his childhood as long as possible. Hayley wakes up and finds a note from Kazi waiting for her: he's going through with his plan to attack the U.S. embassy, the same embassy that Stan just walked into. Hayley sprints over.

When she gets there, Hayley finds Kazi working at a Shwarma King stand by the embassy. Other girls laugh at her, saying Kazi tricks all American girls into thinking he's a terrorist. Inside, the consulate tells Stan he can get an American out of jail with no problem; he just needs to see Francine's passport. Unfortunately, Stan has already burned all the family's passports. Steve returns from the desert and tells the townspeople he has spoken with God, and God gave him a perfect plan to create peace in the Middle East. The townspeople hail Steve as a visionary, until he mentions that God is a woman. They can't wrap their heads around this and decide to kill Steve. At her trial, Francine is sentenced to death by stoning. Stan declares that he won't let Francine die alone, he's going to be stoned with her; he is sentenced accordingly by pretending to be a homosexual.

At the stoning, Steve is buried next to his family after calling God a woman. Hayley's there too after she beat Kazi into a coma. But before the audience can start throwing rocks, President Bush choppers in and declares that democracy has arrived. He throws an American flag through the judge and pulls the Smiths out of the ground as the Saudis celebrate. However, it is revealed that this was all just a fantasy Stan had. The throwers pick up their stones. But the judge gets a call ordering the Smiths released. It turns out that Roger had his husband make the call. The Smiths arrive back on American soil and Stan kisses the ground and performs a musical number about how America is not the worst place in the world. Roger arrives in a suitcase and states that "What happens in Saudi Arabia, stays in Saudi Arabia".

As dusk begins to fall, the unnamed narrator of the story, the new Captain of a British vessel currently anchored at the mouth of the Meinam River in the Gulf of Siam, stands on the deck of his ship before joining his crew for supper. The time is approximately eight o'clock.

At supper, the Captain remarks that he saw the masts of a ship anchored amongst some nearby islands. The Chief Mate explains that the ship to which the Captain is referring is probably another English one, waiting for a favorable tide to sail home. The Second Mate elaborates: the ship is the ''Sephora'', from Liverpool, and is bound home from Cardiff with a cargo of coal, which he had learned from the skipper of a tugboat who had previously come aboard to fetch the Captain's letters.

The Captain makes a magnanimous gesture by offering to take the anchor watch himself until one o'clock, after which time he will get the Second Mate to relieve him. Again alone on deck, the Captain meditatively smokes a cigar and again considers his own "strangeness" to the ship and its command, and his unfamiliarity with the crew. The rest of the crew sleeps soundly.

The Captain notices that the rope side ladder, hung over the side of the ship to accommodate the skipper of the tugboat, has not been brought in. As he begins to pull it, he feels a jerk at the other end and curiously looks over the rail into the sea. He sees a naked man floating in the water and holding the end of the ladder. The man introduces himself as Leggatt. He has been in the water since nine o'clock, which makes the Captain consider his strength and youth. Leggatt climbs up the ladder and the Captain rushes to his cabin to fetch him some clothes. The Captain learns that Leggatt was until recently the chief mate of the ''Sephora'', having been stripped of the title after he accidentally killed a fellow crewman while trying to repair the ship's foresail during a storm. The Captain tells Leggatt that they should retire to his cabin so as not to be discovered by his own Chief Mate. The Captain hides Leggatt in his cabin, returns to the deck, summons the Chief Mate to take over the anchor watch, and then returns to his cabin.

Leggatt continues his story: although the murder was unintentional, he was placed under arrest and kept in his cabin for almost seven weeks. Approximately six weeks into his confinement, Leggatt asked the Skipper to leave his door unlocked that night, while the ''Sephora'' sailed through the Sunda Straits, so that he could jump off and swim to the Java coast, but the Skipper refused.

Three weeks later, the ''Sephora'' came to its present location, and Leggatt discovered that the ship's steward, wholly by accident, had left the door to his cabin unlocked. Leggatt wandered onto the deck and jumped off into the sea. He swam to a nearby islet while the ''Sephora'' crew lowered a boat to search for him. Leggatt removed his clothes and sank them, determined never to return. He swam to another small island, saw the riding light of the Captain's ship, and swam to it. Eventually, he reached the rope ladder, completely exhausted after swimming over a mile.

The Captain helps Leggatt into his bed, where he falls asleep immediately. The Captain eventually falls asleep himself. The next morning, the steward enters the Captain's cabin to bring him his morning coffee, but does not notice Leggatt because the Captain has drawn the curtains that separate the bed from the rest of the cabin. The Captain becomes paranoid that someone will discover Leggatt and decides that he must show himself on deck. He learns that a ship's boat is coming toward the ship and orders the ladder to be dropped over the side, leaving Leggatt in hiding.

The ship's boat is carrying the Skipper of the ''Sephora'', who boards the Captain's ship looking for any sign of Leggatt. The Skipper is distressed over Leggatt's actions and disappearance, explaining that he has been at sea for thirty-seven years and has never seen anything like what happened with Leggatt. The Captain offers the explanation that perhaps the heavy sea—rather than Leggatt—had caused the death of the crewman, but the Skipper tells him that this could not have been the case. He then tells the Captain that he will have to report Leggatt as a suicide.

The Skipper is, however, suspicious of the Captain and remarks that while the mainland is seven miles away, the Captain's ship is only two miles away from the ''Sephora''. Hoping to clear the suspicion, the Captain shows the Skipper the rest of his cabin and stateroom, announcing his intention to do so, so that Leggatt will know to remain absolutely still. As the Skipper descends the ladder to return to his ship, he begins to ask the Captain if he suspects Leggatt to be secretly stowing away on board, but the Captain quickly dismisses him with, "Certainly not."

The Captain and Leggatt have another secret conversation. Leggatt tells the Captain that the ''Sephora'' Skipper lied when he said that he gave the order to repair the foresail. Rather, he whimpered about their "last hope" while Leggatt repaired the foresail without being told to do so. The Captain, wholly convinced of Leggatt's innocence, understands that the weather, on the night Leggatt killed the crewman, "crushed an unworthy mutinous existence."

Leggatt's presence in the Captain's cabin causes the Captain to constantly think of him, and the Chief Mate and the helmsman begin to notice the Captain's odd, stealthy behavior. While the tension grows more unbearable, Leggatt hides mostly in the Captain's bathroom and sleeps with him in his bed. Leggatt eats tins of preserves stored in the Captain's locker and drinks the Captain's morning coffee.

Leggatt asks the Captain to maroon him on a nearby shore, since he does not intend to return to England to be tried and hung. The Captain initially refuses, but then agrees to grant Leggatt his wish.

At midnight, the Captain goes on deck and orders the ship to change its tack and approach the east side of the Gulf. The Chief Mate silently hints at his disapproval and tells the Second Mate that the order shows a lack of judgment. By noon, the Chief Mate wonders when the Captain will order a change of course, but the Captain tells him that they will be sailing as close to the islands as they can to find some "land breezes" to propel them more quickly than they were moving in the middle of the Gulf. The Chief Mate expresses his shock at such a reckless decision.

That night, the Captain tells Leggatt that he will steer the ship near Koh-ring, an island that seems inhabited, maneuvering it to within half a mile of the shore so that Leggatt will not have to swim far to reach land. Leggatt warns him to be careful, lest a mishap cost the Captain his first command. The Captain returns to the deck and orders the Second Mate to open the quarter-deck ports. He then returns to his cabin and tells Leggatt to escape out of the quarter-deck ports while the rest of the crew is occupied. He also tells him to lower himself to the sea with a rope to avoid a splash. Leggatt grabs the Captain's arm as a silent gesture of thanks.

That night, the Captain visits Leggatt for the last time. He gives him three sovereigns, which Leggatt initially refuses but eventually accepts. Neither man says anything when they separate for the last time.

When the Captain returns to the deck, he is startled by the ship's proximity to land, but he knows he must maintain this course to help Leggatt escape. He orders the helmsman to continue their course while the other crewmen stare in disbelief. As they approach Koh-ring and the ship comes dangerously close to running aground, the members of the crew begin vocalizing their concern. The Chief Mate cries that the ship's bottom will be torn off.

Although the Captain remains stern before the crew, he is filled with doubt about their chances of survival. The dark sky, combined with the shadows from the hills of Koh-ring, make navigation very difficult, and the Captain wishes he had some kind of mark in the water by which to gauge his steering. Suddenly, he sees a white object in the water within a yard of the ship's side—he recognizes it as his hat, which he had given to Leggatt and which had fallen off his head when he began his swim to shore. The Captain uses this mark to help him steer the ship, which avoids being grounded and steers clear of any further danger. The Captain now feels in perfect command of the ship and his crew. As his ship sails on, he watches his hat disappear from view and thinks of Leggatt, "striking out for a new destiny."

On the Berlin subway, a mysterious, masked man offers university student Cheryl two tickets to a free screening at the Metropol, an isolated and recently renovated local cinema. Cheryl talks her friend Kathy into going with her; at the theater, they meet two preppy college boys, George and Ken. Other attendees of the screening include a blind man and his guide daughter; a married couple; a boyfriend and girlfriend; and a pimp named Tony along with his two prostitutes. One of the prostitutes, Rosemary, scratches her face with a bizarre mask that is on display in the lobby. The film being shown is a violent, disturbing horror film about four teenagers who discover an old tomb and dig up the grave of a sixteenth-century fortune-teller called Nostradamus. When the teenagers dig up Nostradamus's coffin, they find no body and instead an old book and a mask identical to the strange mask in the lobby. When one of the movie's characters puts the mask on and is scratched by it just like Rosemary was by its doppelganger, he then turns evil and slaughters his friends.

Feeling ill, Rosemary goes to the bathroom, where she transforms into a bloodthirsty, red-eyed demon similar to the one in the film. Rosemary attacks her friend, Carmen, who then transforms into a demon in front of the rest of the cinema-goers. The group of uninfected people race to any exit they can find, only to find that they have all been bricked up making escape impossible. Although they attempt to barricade themselves in the balcony, many are attacked and infected by the demons. One of the demons escapes into the city when four punks break into the building through a back entrance; the punks are soon transformed into demons as well.

In the cinema, only George and Cheryl remain uninfected. Using a display motorcycle and sword props from the foyer, they ride through the auditorium, slicing down many demons. George kills nearly all of them when suddenly, a helicopter crashes through the roof. George and Cheryl use an emergency grappling hook and winch to climb to the roof, where they are attacked by the mysterious man from the subway. They are able to kill him by impaling his head on an exposed bit of rebar. The two climb down to the street and discover that the demonic infection has spread throughout Berlin. They are then chased by a horde of demons before being picked up by a jeep of well-armed survivors. As they drive out of the city to safety, Cheryl (having been infected at some point in the theater) transforms into a demon. But before she can harm George, one of the jeep's survivors shoots with a shotgun, killing her. As Cheryl's body collapses into the roadway, George (the sole survivor of the cinema) and the survivalists drive out of the city to an unknown future.

Tanaqui is a young woman. She resides in a small town called Shelling. She and four siblings look different from the rest of the townsfolk. Their family has three idols—the so-called Undying. The country is invaded by Heathens. They are the ancestors of the people of Dalemark in the other three novels. Tanaqui and her siblings flee to avoid being killed by the people of their own village; they physically resemble Heathens.

The Spellcoats is not a diary, nor is it "told" as many stories are. It is woven. Tanaqui weaves a story into a "spellcoat" that she weaves.

The first spellcoat tells of how the five siblings (Gull, Robin, Hern, Tanaqui and Duck) traveled downriver on their boat. First, they encounter the mysterious magician Tanamil, then the Heathen king Kars Adon, and finally, at the sea, the evil mage Kankredin, whose aim is to take over the power of the river by taking over the five children's souls.

The second spellcoat tells how they escape from Kankredin, but then the five siblings are captured by their own King, "the king of the natives." This king has lost his kingdom. He is bivouacking with the remains of his army trying to avoid the Heathens. The King confines the children because he needs one of the children's idols to assist him. Tanaqui continues to weave during her confinement with the King, she realizes that the spellcoats that mages wore gave them powers that were woven into their spellcoats. This convinced her that the words woven into spellcoats will have the power to defeat Kankredin.

Realizing that Tanaqui is the only one able to stop Kankredin and his mages with her weaving, her elder brother Hern convinces the combined forces of their own people and the Heathens to take a stand, and hold off Kankredin while Tanaqui completes the second spellcoat. Tanaqui weaves frantically and finally she completes her spellcoat with a waking vision she experiences.

In an epilogue written by Elthorar Ansdaughter, Keeper of Antiquities, we learn that the spellcoats were discovered hundreds of years later, during the approximate time period of Drowned Ammet and Cart and Cwidder, in the mountains of North Dalemark near Hannart. Elthorar notes the close correspondence between various figures in the stories and their apparent counterparts in the legends and folktales of the people of Dalemark.

Like the other three novels of the Dalemark Quartet, The Spellcoats is a story about a physical journey, during which revelations occur. As in the other three books, the presence of magic is not readily apparent at its beginning, but slowly creeps into the story.

Nicholas Urfe is a young Englishman, who has taken a teaching position on the Greek island of Phraxos, following the previous instructor's suicide. For Nicholas, it is a chance to sample different surroundings and an opportunity to escape from a relationship with his emotionally unstable lover Anne.

At first, Nicholas' life on Phraxos is uneventful but peaceful. However, he soon becomes involved with a reclusive man named Maurice Conchis, who owns an estate on the opposite side of the island, and has a beautiful young woman named Lily as his companion. On being introduced to the couple, Nicholas' life begins to unravel, and he tries to find out who the mysterious Conchis really is.

Is he a psychiatrist? A film producer? A Nazi sympathiser? Or a magician who controls the lives and destinies of those around him? Nicholas quickly begins to lose his grip on reality, sinking deeper into Conchis's game.

During visits to Conchis's estate, Nicholas has a series of experiences which gradually become more unexpected and bizarre. Many are related to (or are re-enactments of) past events from Conchis's life. Ultimately, these events begin happening off the estate as well at unexpected times and places, raising questions as to how much power and control Conchis can actually exercise over others' lives.

The story climaxes with a "trial" directed by Conchis, with Nicholas (and many others) participating.

The final scene, which may be interpreted as a coda, concerns Nicholas' relationship with Anne, and whether or not it will continue.

Once upon the last day of a golden summer, Christopher Robin attempts to tell his friend Winnie-the-Pooh some sad news, but Pooh is uninterested and continuously changes the subject until Christopher Robin forgets about it. After spending the day playing, Christopher Robin leaves Pooh with the quote, "You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think," but the drowsy Pooh does not understand the sentiment. Autumn arrives the next morning, and Pooh awakes to find a pot of honey at his doorstep, failing to notice a note attached to it. After eating the contents and staining the note in honey, Pooh searches for Christopher Robin to ask about the honey pot, but discovers that he is missing. Pooh's friends – Piglet, Tigger, Rabbit, and Eeyore – have not seen Christopher Robin either and cannot decipher the note attached to the pot, so they go to Owl for advice. Although he is able to remove some of the honey from the note, Owl misinterprets it as a request for help from Christopher Robin. Further mispronouncing the word "school" as "skull", he deduces that Christopher Robin has been taken to a distant and dangerous place called "Skull", a cave where the monstrous "Skullasaurus" resides. Owl equips the group with a map and sends them into the "Great Unknown" of the Hundred Acre Wood.

Throughout their journey through the Great Unknown, the group hears strange noises behind them, which they assume is the Skullasaurus. The group slowly begins to realize just how helpless they are without Christopher Robin in the outside world. Piglet, Tigger, and Rabbit come to believe they do not have the courage, strength, or intelligence respectively to go on; Piglet is abducted by a swarm of playful butterflies in a tranquil field, leaving him feeling terrified and useless, Tigger falls into a deep gorge and is unable to bounce out to safety, eventually causing the others to dive in with him, and Rabbit continuously makes bad leadership decisions following Owl's inaccurate map. Pooh tries to comfort them each with the advice Christopher Robin had given him, but fails due to his inability to remember exactly what he said. When Rabbit finally breaks down and admits he has no idea where they are going, the group comes to terms with their failure and sulk in a nearby cave. While everyone is asleep, Pooh privately laments on the pain he experiences from losing Christopher Robin.

The next morning, the five friends realize they had spent the night in the Skull Cave. The group enters and splits up to find Christopher Robin; when Rabbit, Tigger, Piglet, and Eeyore eventually reunite, they are scared away by Pooh's distorted reflection as he walks towards them from behind a crystal wall, mistaking him for the Skullasaurus. As Pooh winds up stuck in a small crevasse, his friends believe that he has been eaten. They discover the "Eye of the Skull" where Christopher Robin is supposedly trapped, and overcome their fears and doubts to reach it. Observing his friends' teamwork, Pooh excitedly frees himself from the tight gap, only to slip down a long descent and fall into a deep pit that he is unable to escape. While there, he realizes that Christopher Robin is still with him in his heart, even when they are not together, just as Christopher Robin had promised. As Piglet, Rabbit, Tigger, and Eeyore enter the Eye, they are found by Christopher Robin, who has been searching for them as well. He clears up Owl's misunderstanding of the note, explaining that he wanted Pooh to "help [him]self" to the honey pot he gave him and that he was really at school (which is what Christopher Robin tried to tell Pooh earlier). The roars of the Skullasaurus they have been plagued by were actually the noises of Pooh's stomach growling, indicating that the monster wasn't real.

After Christopher Robin rescues Pooh from the pit, the group exits the cave, only to discover that from the outside, it and the other places they have crossed are not nearly as big and scary as they seemed when Christopher Robin was not with them (their frightening appearances were all just illusions). That evening after the group returns home, Christopher Robin says he will be returning to school the next day, but Pooh declares that he will always be waiting for him, and the two happily watch the sunset, knowing they will always have each other in the sanctuary of the Hundred Acre Wood.

Rose Morgan, a middle-aged English literature professor at Columbia University, lives with her vain, overbearing mother, Hannah. While attending her sister Claire's third wedding (to Rose's former boyfriend Alex), Rose tells her best friend, Doris that she has reached the point where she knows she will never get married. But she also thinks how wonderful it might feel to have a partner who really knows her.

Gregory Larkin is a Columbia mathematics professor who cannot connect with students and loses perspective as soon as he is aroused by an attractive woman. A few moments after Gregory begins a talk about his new book, his ex-girlfriend Candace arrives. She flusters him so much that he has a panic attack and is unable to continue. While recovering, Gregory begs his best friend, Henry, not to let him go home with Candace, but he leaves with her the moment she offers. Back at Gregory's place, Candace leaves immediately after having sex. She is still with her new boyfriend, but wanted to bolster her ego because he was cheating on her.

Left in a state of frustration and rejection, Gregory decides to place a personal ad that reads, "Columbia University professor (male) seeks woman interested in common goals and companionship. Must have Ph.D. and be over thirty-five. Physical appearance ''not'' important!"

Claire secretly responds to the ad for Rose, and that night Gregory asks Rose out to dinner. They begin a relationship akin to dating, but without any physical intimacy beyond an occasional hug. Three months later, Gregory proposes. He emphasizes that their relationship will be built on common interest and caring, not sex, though he does agree to occasional sex, provided Rose gives him enough warning. Gregory and Rose marry in a courthouse ceremony. The relationship continues to grow and become more emotionally intimate, with hints of physical attraction.

While discussing his book tour at breakfast, Rose asks if now is enough warning to tell him she would like to have sex tonight. She tries to make the scene seductive, while he tries to keep it benign. They end up passionately on the floor, until Gregory resists and pulls away. He expresses disappointment in her, calling her behavior "female manipulation", without admitting he only stopped because he was being swept away. Hours later, while Gregory is asleep, a devastated Rose sneaks out and goes back to her mother's.

During her stay with her mother, she is handed a photograph of herself as a little girl. Her mother describes how pretty she was back then, and that her father had never held a baby, until she came along. He "never let her go," Hannah told Rose. This greatly changes Rose's view about herself: "I was pretty?" After this, Rose decides to undergo a makeover (changes her diet, exercises, does her hair, starts wearing curve-favoring clothing and makeup). Meanwhile, missing his wife, Gregory cuts his European book tour short and comes home to Rose. However, when he tells Rose he doesn't like the changes, she tells him that she cannot continue being married, moving back in with her mother.

When Alex finds Claire in bed with her masseur, they separate. Rose comforts him, but she realizes the fantasy of Alex is a lot better than the reality. Gregory starts lashing out at students, distraught about his failing marriage. He ends up on Henry's couch, an emotional and physical wreck, insisting he loves Rose and does not know what to do. Henry encourages him to fight for her.

Before sunrise, Gregory goes to Rose's apartment. He tells Rose he loves her and he so desperately wanted her that night, it caused him to pull away. They mutually confess their love and, when Gregory says he wants to marry her, she reminds him that they are still married. The sun comes up, and they catch a taxi home.

Bob and Elizabeth Rueland (David Duchovny and Joely Richardson) live and work in Chicago — Bob as an architect, Elizabeth as a zoologist at Lincoln Park Zoo.

On the night of her fundraiser for a new primate house, Bob promises Elizabeth he'll finish the building. Elizabeth is killed in a car accident leaving the fundraiser, and her heart is transplanted to artist Grace Briggs (Minnie Driver), who has suffered from heart disease since the age of 14 and is near death.

The surgery is successful; Grace is able to live a normal life for the first time and plans to make her first airplane trip to Italy to paint. Grace's best friend Megan Dayton (Bonnie Hunt), encourages her to start dating in spite of her self-consciousness about the long surgical scar on her chest.

Grace writes a letter to the donor's family after the surgery, thanking them for the heart she received; it takes her over a year to finally find the courage to mail the letter. Bob works to build the primate house Elizabeth raised money for; he is still depressed a year after her death. He recognizes that he must resume his life as he becomes frustrated seeing that his dog hasn't gotten over the loss either.

Bob's friend, veterinarian Charlie (David Alan Grier), organizes a blind date for him at O'Reilly's, a self-styled Irish-Italian restaurant. The date goes very badly, as his date is very obnoxious, petty and self-absorbed. However, Bob finds that he is drawn to the waitress — Grace, who is also the granddaughter of the restaurant's owner, Marty O'Reilly (Carroll O'Connor).

Although they are both unaware of the connection they have through Elizabeth's heart, Bob and Grace begin to date. As they grow closer together, she is reluctant to tell him about her medical history. After several months of dating, Grace finally decides to tell Bob about her transplant. However, before she gets the chance, she finds in his house the letter she had sent several months earlier.

Horrified by the discovery, Grace flees and tells Megan what has happened. Megan's husband, Joe, (Jim Belushi) becomes infuriated as he has misunderstood Grace's panic and thinks Bob must be married. Megan then explains the situation to him in six monosyllables: "Grace has Bob's dead wife's heart!" When Grace meets Bob again, she tells him the truth. Speechless, he leaves.

Against Megan's advice to not run away from the situation, Grace goes to Italy alone. Back at home, Bob realizes that although he will always miss Elizabeth, he "aches" for Grace. He decides to go after her, and they reunite in Italy. They return to Chicago for the dedication of the new primate house.

As the film ends we see Wally (William Bronder) and Sophie (Marianne Muellerleile) dancing happily at their wedding reception at O'Reilly's restaurant, and Charlie holding Joe and a visibly pregnant Megan's toddler, while they join Grace and Bob on the dance floor.