Haley Graham (Peregrym) is a rebellious 17-year-old who has a run-in with the law when she and two friends go biking through a residential construction site in Plano, Texas. Haley is arrested and forced by a judge to return to the regimented world of competitive gymnastics.

Haley was once considered one of the most talented gymnasts in the U.S. One year earlier, she made it to the World Championships, but she walked out of competition in the middle of the finals, costing the American team the gold medal and leaving many people hurt and crushed, making her one of the most hated people in gymnastics, if not the most hated.

Haley goes to the elite Vickerman Gymnastics Academy (VGA) in Houston, her ultimate nightmare, run by legendary coach Burt Vickerman (Bridges). Haley has a talk with Coach Vickerman, who convinces her to take up the sport once again, at least until she can enter an upcoming invitational competition. Vickerman convinces her that she can use the prize money from the competition to repay some property damage debts she still owes and leave gymnastics once and for all. Disliking the sport's rigid rules and intense training schedule, Haley is reluctant to come out of retirement. Her attitude toward her fellow gymnasts—as well as her past—causes conflicts.

At the invitational, Haley's talent shines and her return from gymnastics retirement seems for the better. But all is not what it seems in the scoring system. She starts to remember one of the many reasons why she retired to begin with: the flaws in judging. The panels do not look at the difficulty of the move nor do they look at the technique; they merely take deductions for unimportant minor errors. As Haley says, "It doesn't matter how well you do. It's how well you follow ''their'' rules."

In addition, Haley is severely stressed by her domineering mother, Alice (Gia Carides), who has arrived to watch the meet. Her conduct at the World Championship ("Worlds") has not been forgotten by the other athletes and they treat her with open hostility. Haley finally breaks down in the middle of her balance beam routine and, in a repeat of the World Championships a year earlier, leaves the arena before completing the competition. However, before she leaves, she reveals to Vickerman the reason why she walked out of Worlds, singlehandedly costing the American team the gold medal in the process: she had just discovered that her mother was having an affair with her previous coach and her parents got divorced as a result.

Haley then goes back to the judge who sentenced her to the gymnastics academy to inform her that she has dropped out and wants to be sent to either a juvenile hall or military academy, but the judge tells Haley that someone (obviously Vickerman) had just paid off all of her debt for the property damages in her incident with the law, meaning she is no longer under any legal issues and having jerks for parents doesn't need to ruin her life.

Haley then approaches Vickerman, who confirms it by claiming that he used the money that her father had paid him for her gymnastics training. Vickerman persuades Haley to remain with the academy a while longer so she can continue with her training to reach Nationals. Although she did not complete the invitational, Haley continues to train and, with three of her teammates Mina Hoyt (Maddy Curley), Wei Wei Yong (Nikki SooHoo) and Joanne Charis (Lengies), qualifies for the National Championships.

The biased judging leaves her far back in the all-around standings, but this does not keep her out of the event finals. In the first event final, vault, Mina executes an extremely difficult maneuver perfectly but receives a low score (9.5 out of 10). When Vickerman questions the judges, he learns that Mina was penalized on the technicality of showing a bra strap. Haley is next up. However, instead of vaulting, she shows her bra strap to the judges and forfeits her turn in disgust (otherwise known as a "scratch"). One by one, the other gymnasts follow suit, earning a string of zeroes and forcing the judges to award Mina the vault gold medal anyway.

Haley's bold action sparks a movement. The gymnasts talk among themselves and realize that if they could choose the winner, the judging would be fair. They convince all the others in the competition to do the same, choosing one person from each event who they, by consensus, deem the best to be the "winner".

The winner completes her routine; the others jump on and off the apparatus and scratch. It seems the movement will be ruined when Tricia Skilken (Tarah Paige), a longtime judges' favorite and Haley's former teammate and best friend, arrives and threatens the choice of winners by competing herself, but Tricia ends up joining the movement and scratches in the last event as well. What started out as a gymnastics competition turns into a small revolution for the rules and Haley, whose talents are recognized once more and her future seems to be set with numerous colleges offering her athletic scholarships to compete in NCAA gymnastics.

Before a Valentine's Day meeting at the corporate offices in New York City with Jan Levinson (Melora Hardin) and the new CFO David Wallace (Andy Buckley), Michael Scott (Steve Carell), defending Jan to the other branch managers, lets slip that he and Jan "hooked up". At the meeting, Michael shows a sentimental video about the staff at his branch called "The Faces of Scranton" before providing data on the financial status of his branch as asked. Craig (Craig Anton), from the Albany branch, is completely unprepared for the meeting and attempts to cover for it by insinuating that Jan is giving Michael preferential treatment because of the supposed sexual encounter between them. Due to Wallace hearing this accusation, Jan is convinced that her career is over. Michael defuses the situation by telling the CFO that it was a bad joke and Jan is innocent of any unethical behavior. As Michael leaves, Jan kisses him in the elevator, but groans when she realizes they were caught on camera.

Back in the office, Angela Martin (Angela Kinsey) gives Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) a "Dwight" bobblehead doll, and he gives her a key to his home. Phyllis Lapin (Phyllis Smith) is inundated with gifts from her boyfriend Bob Vance (Robert R. Shafer), while Pam Beesly is irritated with Roy Anderson (David Denman) when the only thing he gives her for Valentine's Day is the promise of the "best sex of [her] life". Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) is forced to listen to Kelly Kapoor (Mindy Kaling) talk about her recent date with Ryan Howard (B. J. Novak), who immediately regrets the entire encounter because it happened the day before Valentine's Day. He then turns down Kelly for another date on Valentine's Day. At the end of the day, Jim tells Pam "Happy Valentine's Day" and she watches him longingly as he leaves.

Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) is named Northeastern Pennsylvania Salesman of the Year and must make a speech at an association meeting at the Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel, getting some assistance from Michael Scott (Steve Carell). Before he leaves, Jim Halpert (John Krasinski), in retaliation for Dwight's cocky attitude, gives him tips on how to give public speeches. Unknown to Dwight, Jim's tips are taken from speeches by famous dictators, such as Italian fascist leader Benito Mussolini. When Michael and Dwight make it to the convention, Dwight gets cold feet and Michael goes up and tries to relive his glory days of winning Salesman of the Year two years in a row, but ends up bombing. Dwight finally works up the nerve to give his speech and, using Jim's advice, wins over the crowd with a passionate yet unorthodox speech. Michael ends up leaving the convention room and later entertains Dwight with his tales at the bar.

Meanwhile, back in the office, Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer) begins to write invitations for her approaching wedding with help from Ryan Howard (B. J. Novak) and Kelly Kapoor (Mindy Kaling). Kelly talks about her dreams of getting married someday and is visibly hurt when Ryan responds to her flirtatious question about future weddings by saying he doesn't think he'll ever tie the knot; when Kelly leaves the room, Pam advises Ryan to be considerate of Kelly's feelings but Ryan curtly notes "I know what I said." Jim makes plans for a vacation anywhere away from Scranton. While that is going on, the other employees subtly duel over the thermostat. At the end of the episode, Jim tells Pam that he will be going to Australia and unfortunately, he will be missing her wedding because of it.

Set in the North American wilderness around the end of the 19th century, Little Bear goes on exciting adventures and learns new things with his friends Emily, Duck, Hen, Cat, and Owl. Mother Bear is a homemaker who looks after Little Bear, while Father Bear, a fisherman, is typically away on his ship, fishing.

'''ACT ONE'''

Ella Peterson works for "Susanswerphone", a telephone answering service owned by a woman named Sue. She listens in on others' lives and adds some interest to her own humdrum existence by adopting different identities – and voices – for her clients. They include Blake Barton, an out-of-work Method actor, Dr. Kitchell, a dentist with musical yearnings but lacking talent, and playwright Jeff Moss, who is suffering from writer's block and with whom Ella has fallen in love, although she has never met him. Ella considers the relationships with these clients "perfect" because she can't see them and they can't see her ("It's a Perfect Relationship").

Jeff is writing a play called "The Midas Touch," the first play he's written since his writing partner left him ("Independent (On My Own)"). One day the producer of the play insists that he finish the play by the next morning and meet him at 9:00 am. While asking her to wake him up on time, he turns to Ella (who he only knows as the Susanswerphone lady) for help in writing the play. Meanwhile, Sandor, Sue's rich boyfriend, reveals plans to a group of gangsters to use Susanswerphone as a front for a gambling operation, by pretending to be a record seller and taking orders for "symphonies" as code. ("It's a Simple Little System").

Ella wants to visit Jeff's apartment to help him write the play, but she is intercepted by a policeman who is convinced that Susanswerphone is a front for an "escort service". Ella asks him "Is it a Crime?" to help someone in need? He agrees that it isn't, and lets her go. She arrives at Jeff's apartment and offers him help with his play, and a romance ensues ("I Met a Girl," "Long Before I Knew You").

'''ACT TWO'''

Ella is preparing to go to a party at Jeff's apartment, feeling nervous about meeting his friends. Carl, a friend of hers, helps her regain her confidence with a cha-cha dance ("Mu-Cha-Cha"). The guests at the party are all very pretentious and rich and snobby ("Drop That Name") and they make Ella feel very out of place. She leaves Jeff ("The Party's Over").

Carl, a music nerd, thwarts Sandor's operation when he receives an order for "Beethoven's 10th symphony," because he knows that Beethoven only wrote 9 symphonies. The policeman arrests Sandor. Meanwhile, Jeff comes to Susanswerphone to confess his love for Ella. She quits Susanswerphone in order to make a life with herself and Jeff ("I'm Going Back").

The episode introduces Michael Scott (Steve Carell), the regional manager at the Scranton branch of Dunder Mifflin, a distribution company dealing in paper products that is currently under threat of facing downsizing. The news is delivered to him by the Vice President of Northeast Sales, Jan Levinson-Gould (Melora Hardin), who, along with the other employees, can barely tolerate Michael's foolish antics.

Also introduced are a few of the other workers in the office, including Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson), a socially awkward salesman and part-time, volunteer sheriff's deputy; Jim Halpert (John Krasinski), another salesman who enjoys playing pranks on Dwight; Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer), the receptionist on whom Jim harbors an obvious crush; and Ryan Howard (B. J. Novak), a temporary worker.

The book starts off during the second American Civil War with a Muslim soldier dying in 2017, at the battle of Newark. Flash forward to the Super Bowl in 2042 in Seattle, the capital of the new Islamic Republic, the majority of whose inhabitants have converted to Islam. The nation's culture is a fusion of traditional American and Islamic: the Super Bowl is still played, but the cheerleaders are sword-wielding men and the participants break at half-time for afternoon prayers.

As the story opens, the country is facing a crisis, with competing political and religious factions threatening to destroy the fragile peace that exists within the Islamic States of America. At the same time, behind the scenes, a messianic figure known as the Wise Old One contrives to seize power for himself, and fulfill the ancient prophecy of the restoration of the Caliphate.

The story's protagonist is Rakkim Epps, a Muslim and ex-Fedayeen shadow warrior. Epps must risk everything to save the life of Sarah Dougan, the young historian he loves.

It becomes known that it was in fact Muslim extremists who launched the attacks, including the dirty bomb in Mecca. A fourth, more powerful bomb (later found in China) was scheduled for detonation but the small group of Muslim extremists assigned the task succumbed to radiation poisoning before it could be put into play.

Once the truth was exposed, the parties stepped back from the brink and sought to find a common ground from which to start a more trusting, more open-minded dialog. Thomas "Redbeard" Dougan, Sarah's uncle, dies in the aftermath.

At the epilogue, Rakkim is in a mosque, performing his salat, or ritual prayer. There is a final showdown between Darwin, the "evil" assassin and Rakkim, with both of them almost dying. Rakkim finishes the showdown by killing Darwin with a knife throw to the face, but the rest of the ending sets up the conditions for the sequel.

In a world where males born as vampires join the Brotherhood and drink donated blood from human churchgoers, rather than being killed at birth as in the past, a pregnant woman (Danielle Cormack) gives birth to a vampire. A teenaged Brother, Silus, is told that he and this child, Edgar, are from the same mother. The mother, who is in visible distress, reaches for Silus across the room.

A hundred years later, the Jamestown slum sees a series of attacks on women, all found with their throats bitten. Lilly Squires (Saffron Burrows) leads the human police in investigations. She comes from a workhouse in Jamestown and is one of the few cops who care about the slum residents. A boy who witnessed an attack tells her a Brother was responsible. To avoid public panic, the police claims the deaths result from an outbreak of influenza, which is seen as one of the evils that came from genetic research.

Church cardinals ask Silus (Dougray Scott) to work with the human police. The Brothers know the attacks were carried out by a Brother: Silus's brother, Edgar (Leo Gregory). Edgar sends Silus a recording of his last murder, challenging Silus to stop him before he kills again. Edgar includes the location of his next planned murder. With Silus's help, Lilly puts together a task force to stake out the area. Edgar attacks Lilly and bites her before fleeing. To save Lilly, Silus tells her to drink his blood. When he visits her in hospital, it is revealed that she lost her family to influenza. Lilly has visions from drinking Silus's blood. The newspapers publish a false story of the death of the killer.

Edgar is restrained in a spiked brace in the church basement. Silus, who is soon to join the "inner circle", is told what happened to Edgar. The cardinals, worried that no Brothers have been born in 70 years and no female vampire has been born ever, conducts genetic research, which they publicly ban. Edgar has been developing a virus to make pregnant women give birth to vampires. The virus mutated and turned the women into violent psychopaths. Ten of his research subjects are dead, and the last one is dying. Edgar is also infected and insane, although the virus is taking effect more slowly due to his immune system. He vows to kill Lilly and accuses Silus of being in love with her, although Brothers are forbidden to love.

While Silus is at the church for his investiture as a cardinal, Edgar escapes to Jamestown. He installs a tap and tube system into his forearm to control the flow of his blood. At Lilly's apartment, Silus and her colleague Jones guard her. Silus imagines kissing her as she sleeps. Edgar bursts through a window and knocks out Silus long enough to take Lilly. Meanwhile, the government institutes a quarantine after the virus spreads throughout Jamestown, and humans riot outside the churches.

Silus finds Edgar tainting Jamestown's water source with his blood. However, each suburb has its own water supply. Another cardinal tells Silus that Jamestown will be burned to the ground to destroy the virus and Edgar. He warns Silus his career will be doomed if he ignores the "greater good" and breaches quarantine to save Lilly. Silus breaks into Jamestown anyway. Lilly, handcuffed in the basement of the aquifer, tries to persuade Edgar to stop. He challenges her about her dead child and says her race is good at abandoning children. He finds Silus, and they fight. After injuring Silus, Edgar threatens to disfigure him. Lilly sneaks up behind Edgar and kills him.

Silus kisses Lilly and tells her to look after what she finds in a building and to keep it away from the Brotherhood. Inside the building, Lilly finds another Brother, a dead woman, and a baby. The Brother says that the infant is the first female vampire ever born, created by the virus: the first Perfect Creature. Although Silus is branded a heretic and remains in hiding, he watches over Lilly as she takes care of the baby.

The book is set in the fictional town of Ramsa, New York, and centers around teenager Jessica Ashley Allodola. Jessica is gorgeous and has a perfect body, but the people in her town avoid her. At Ramsa High, many students are afraid of her and some think she's a witch. Instead of trying to bond to people, Jessica writes books about vampires and witches. She has just published her first book, "Tiger, Tiger", under the pen name Ash Night.

As her senior year starts, there are two new students, Caryn Rashida and Alex Remington. Jessica is instantly stunned by the fact that Alex looks exactly like Aubrey, a character in "Tiger, Tiger." However, since Jessica believes vampires aren't real, she convinces herself that he's not Aubrey. Both Caryn and Alex show an interest in Jessica. Jessica finds Alex fascinating but considers Caryn a nuisance.

After a few clues, Jessica finds out that the books she has been writing are completely true. That Alex is actually the vampire Aubrey and Caryn is a Smoke witch. Many of the vampires wish to kill her for exposing their secrets. Aubrey had initially planned to kill her, but after meeting her, he's uncertain of what to do. After Jessica is attacked by Fala, another vampire, Aubrey changes Jessica into a vampire.

Throughout the story, Jessica pieces together clues regarding her birth. Her mother was Jazlyn and had been offered immortality numerous times by Siete, the creator of the vampires. After her husband's death, the pregnant Jazlyn accepted the offer in a moment of desperation and Siete changed her. However, after years of life as a vampire, her regret became too strong. A Smoke witch, Monica, offered to give her back her humanity. Monica died in the process, but she succeeded. A few months later, Jazlyn's child was born. However, the child, Jessica, held no resemblance to either of her biological parents. Instead, after almost two decades in an undead womb, she resembled Siete. Her green eyes, black hair, pale skin, and vampiric traces in her aura were all from him and Jazlyn could not look at her. So Jazlyn gave Jessica up for adoption.

Yuri Detochkin (Smoktunovsky) is a humble Soviet insurance agent that steals cars from corrupt Soviet officials in a manner akin to Robin Hood, disappointed by the militsiya being unable to fight them efficiently. One of the Detochkin's victims is Dima Semitsvetov (Mironov), a retail embezzler mocked but tolerated by his colorful father-in-law Semyon Vasilyevich (Papanov), a retired Soviet Army officer.

Detochkin sells some stolen cars and anonymously transfers the money to the accounts of various orphanages. Detective Maksim Podberyozovikov (Yefremov) investigates his crimes and tries to prosecute him, but faces a serious moral problem in doing so, partly because the suspect appears to be his amateur theatre mate and friend.

The book is narrated by the character of Jack from Jack and the Beanstalk, who tells the stories and deals with the rest of the cast. There is a very loud and annoying Little Red Hen that comes in to complain about no one helping her make her bread (or do anything). Chicken Licken believes that the sky is falling and demands that someone call the President until the table of contents crushes her and the others. Jack introduces Little Red Running Shorts, a counterpart of Little Red Riding Hood, by blurting out the entire story — including the ending — so she and the wolf refuse to be in it. The Stinky Cheese Man, a counterpart of The Gingerbread Man, is afraid to be near anyone because he thinks that they will eat him...but they are really trying to get away from his horrid smell.

Also in the book are "The Princess and the Bowling Ball", "The Other Frog Prince", "The Really Ugly Duckling", "Cinderumplestiltskin" and "The Tortoise and the Hair". In the first, a retelling of "The Princess and the Pea", the Prince finally finds a girl he really loves. Sick of his parents rejecting potential wives when they do not feel a pea under 100 mattresses, he slips his bowling ball under her mattresses when his parents have her over. In "The Other Frog Prince", the frog tells the princess that he will turn into a prince if she kisses him and so she does; he then says "I was just kidding" and hops back into the lake. "The Really Ugly Duckling" (a parody of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Ugly Duckling"), grows up to be a Really Ugly Duck rather than a swan. "Cinderumplestiltskin" combines "Cinderella" and "Rumplestiltskin". In "The Tortoise and the Hair", a re-telling of "The Tortoise and the Hare", the Hare says he can grow his hair (one on the top of his head) faster than the Tortoise can run. So they race, and race, and race, and race; this story has no ending, the last words of it being "not the end".

The foreword includes a parody of "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" as an example of a "Fairly Stupid Tale". Also, the table of contents includes the title, "The Boy Who Cried Cow Patty", a story found nowhere in the book. The latter story was printed on the back of the dust jacket for the book's 10th anniversary edition (whereas the original edition had the Little Red Hen complaining about buying this book, while asking who "this ISBN guy" is and complaining that she is only in three of the pages as a book gag).

In "Goldilocks and the Three Elephants", Goldilocks enters the house of the elephants, but she cannot climb up on any of the three chairs and eat "peanut porridge", so she goes home.

In the special 10th anniversary edition, "The Boy Who Cried Cow Patty" is about a boy who cried "Cow Patty" every time someone did something. One day, he took a shortcut behind Mr. Smith's barn and he jumped over the fence without looking. Not knowing Mr. Smith just shoveled out the cow barn, he lands in a fresh pile of cow patty and cries "Fire!". The firemen came and asked where the fire was, but the boy said that, if he cried "Cow Patty", no one would get him.

H.H. Hart, a bank robber, loses his wife to kidnappers on their wedding day. Subsequently, she is traded as a prostitute by villain Pike Thompson. H.H. Hart races against time to find his wife, with the help of a Scottish preacher. The film features many 3D effects, many of which are intended to "fly off the screen" at the audience.

The player begins with a small budget and a personal assistant who provides guidance. Spielberg gives a pep talk to the player before the first feature can be made. Ted and Terry (or Terry and Ted) offer the player useful suggestions on changing the film's script. Delays can occur during the filmmaking process. Ultimately, the player works with actor Quentin Tarantino and actress Jennifer Aniston, as well as Penn & Teller. Cinematographer Dean Cundey also works on the player's film to keep it within budget.

The film is then edited by the player, who can choose which angles to use, and can add sound effects and a soundtrack. Spielberg then presents the film at its premiere. The studio sometimes offers the player a chance to make the film again with a larger budget. Script and shot options increase as the player advances in experience.

The short film within the game concerns a prisoner on death row (Tarantino) sentenced to death for the killing of an old lady (Katherine Helmond). His partner (Aniston) sets out to clear his name by investigating a pair of sinister magicians (Penn & Teller).

''PENG'' contains the story of The Foot Knux, a young team of Advanced Kickball players and their battle to win the championship. ''PENG'' opens just before the semi-final match of the tourney as the final four teams prepare to kick-it-out for the cup.

Like the other Pendragon books, ''The Quillan Games'' follows protagonist Bobby Pendragon's adventures on Quillan, while showing his friends Mark Dimond and Courtney Chetwynde on their home territory of Second Earth.

Pendragon

Upon arrival on Quillan, Bobby witnesses a fellow Traveler die in the games; but is soon captured by the android 'dados' of Quillan's police force, and recruited as a 'challenger' by the siblings LaBerge and Veego. He is also befriended by another Traveler, Nevva Winter, who explains the social situation. Subsequently, antagonist Saint Dane offers a 'secret' of the Travelers to Bobby, in exchange for Bobby's participation in the Grand X, an upcoming series of games. Bobby initially refuses; but is persuaded to join the Grand X by a secret society of 'revivers' bent on overthrowing Blok. Before this competition, Bobby learns that LaBerge and Veego originated the territory of Veelox, but were taken to Quillan by Saint Dane, and later shown Eelong, Cloral, and Zadaa from which they derive the games' structure. Ultimately, Bobby wins the game and the support of the people, who revolt against Blok; but Nevva, secretly in league with Saint Dane, reveals the revivers' archive 'Mr. Pop' to the dados, who suppress the rebellion. In leaving Quillan, Bobby encounters Nevva's mother, Elli Winter, who assumes the position of Traveler.

Mark and Courtney

Courtney recovers from near-fatal injuries inflicted by Saint Dane, while Mark studies science with Andy Mitchell, a former school bully, with whom he invents "Forge", a mechanized polymer capable of assuming geometric shapes on command. ''En route'' to witness the display thereof in Florida, Mark's parents are killed by the collapse of their aircraft, and Mark flees to another territory. Courtney, investigating this, discovers Saint Dane, who identifies Andy Mitchell as an alter-ego of his own, and returns her to Second Earth. There, Courtney discovers a lifelike robotic cat, and an unusually-advanced computer. When Bobby returns to Second Earth, he and Courtney discover these technologies trademarked 'Dimond Alpha Digital Organization'. Suspecting this name to derive from Mark's own, they also realize that the initials spell the word DADO, the name of the robot police on Quillan. Hoping to discover the precise changes made in Earth's history, they embark for Third Earth, concluding the book.

;Characters in ''The Quillan Games'' '''Bobby Pendragon''': Pendragon is the lead Traveler from Second Earth. He becomes a member of the revival and also becomes Challenger Red in this book. '''Saint Dane''': Saint Dane is the antagonist of the story. He said to Bobby if he competed in the Quillan Games, he will tell him the truth about the Travelers. He acted as a Blok Trustee Mr. Kayto, and Challenger Green a competitor who competed in the Quillan Games. At the end of the book he revealed a mysterious event he called "The Convergence". '''Nevva Winter''': Nevva is the biological daughter of Elli Winter. She pretends to be Traveler but she betrays them after Nevva had destroy Mr. Pop. She works for Blok but also was a member of the revival. * '''Elli Winter''': Elli is the biological mother of Nevva Winter. She has taken her place as a Traveler when Nevva joined sides with Saint Dane. Just like Bobby and Nevva, she works both for Blok and the Revival. '''Mark Dimond''': Mark is an acolyte of Bobby Pendragon on Second Earth. In this book Mark created an invention called "Forge" along with Andy Mitchell (who later to be reveal to be Saint Dane in disguise). Mark had run away from Second Earth in the end of the Quillan Games knowing that the flume would be destroyed. * '''Courtney Chetwynde''': Courtney is an acolyte of Bobby in Second Earth. She later came back home after her accident with Whitney Wilcox in the book "The Rivers of Zadaa". '''Veego''': She is the co-host of the Quillan Games. She has a gruff attitude over Bobby. Veego was recently from Veelox, but was brought to Quillan, after Saint Dane in the form of Mr. Kayto arrived on Veelox. '''LaBerge''': He is the co-host of the Quillan Games alongside his sister Veego. He was the one who designed the games while Veego makes them real. LaBerge was a former phader in Veelox, and was also brought to Quillan, when Saint Dane came in the form of Mr. Kayto. He enjoys clowns, playing a toy called Runkle, and eating a carrot known as Tribbun.

The story tells how the people of the planet Pern discover the special abilities of the watch-whers or whers, a distant relative of the dragons. Subsequently, these beasts are used in mines to warn miners of gas pockets and also to locate stranded miners, should there be a cave-in.

The story begins some years before the 3rd Pass in Camp Natalon, a mining camp. There, the reader is introduced to a young boy Kindan, whose father owns a watch-wher called Dask. During a mining cave-in, Kindan loses his entire family as well as Dask, and is adopted by the Master Harper Zist, who begins to train him to be both an entertainer and a spy, something that Harpers do. This is how Kindan learns that the camp is divided into two parties, Natalon's and his uncle Tarik's.

Meanwhile, the camp is without a watch-wher and minor accidents keep delaying the work. Despite the protests from Tarik and his group, Natalon decides to trade an entire winter's worth of coal for a chance for Kindan to ask a queen watch-wher for an egg. He succeeds and begins the difficult task of raising a nocturnal animal. As no records exist on how to raise or train the watch-wher, Kindan has no clue but is luckily aided by the mysterious Nuella. Together, they train Kisk and, in the process, learn a great deal about this species. This proves to be vital as, towards the end of the novel, Kisk's abilities will save many lives, including that of the camp leader, Natalon.

Picking up several months after the events of the first film, Kenai, now a bear, is living joyfully with his foster brother Koda. Having just awoken from hibernation, the bears begin traveling to Crowberry Ridge for the first berries of the season. However, Kenai is plagued by visions of his childhood friend Nita, to whom he gave a special amulet many years ago after saving her from drowning. Nita, now grown up, is set to wed Atka, a man from a neighboring Inuit village. However, on the day of the wedding, the Spirits appear in the form of a storm that causes a fissure to open up in the ground between Nita and Atka, much to Nita's shock. Believing it to be a sign, Nita consults Innoko, the wisest shaman of the tribes. By communicating with the Spirits, Innoko reveals that the amulet that Kenai gave Nita all those years ago bonded her and Kenai together. The only way for Nita to sever the bond and be able to marry Atka is to find Kenai, go with him to Hokani Falls where he had given her the amulet, and burn the amulet together on the eve of the Equinox, thus returning the bond to the Spirits. Innoko grants Nita the ability to communicate with Kenai and the other wildlife.

Eventually, Kenai and Koda meet up with Nita. At first, Kenai refuses to destroy the bond, but Nita tells him that the Spirits may turn him back into a human and send him to find her. Under pressure from Nita and Koda, who fears that he and Kenai could no longer be brothers if this happens, Kenai relents and the three make their way to Hokani Falls. As they spend more time together, Kenai and Nita rekindle their old friendship, much to Koda's chagrin. The three also run into Rutt and Tuke multiple times throughout their journey, and Nita helps them woo a pair of female Canadian moose. One night, Nita asks Kenai if he ever thought of being human again. When Kenai says that he has considered it, Koda hears this and races up a mountain, anxious that Kenai may leave him. Nita finds Koda hiding in a cave, but both are caught in an avalanche and are rescued by Kenai. Kenai shouts at Koda for almost getting himself killed, but the two reconcile with Kenai assuring Koda that he will never leave him.

The trio eventually make it to Hokani Falls, where they burn the amulet. Without it, Nita can no longer communicate with Kenai or Koda, so she says goodbye. Seeing how miserable Kenai is and realizing that he loves Nita, Koda secretly asks his mother in the spirit world to turn Kenai back into a human so he can be happy. The next morning, Rutt and Tuke inform Kenai that Koda went to the village to retrieve Nita. Knowing that Koda will be killed, Kenai runs after him.

At the village, the tribes prepare for the wedding once again, but Nita, realizing her love for Kenai, tells her father Chilkoot that she cannot marry Atka. At that moment, Koda creates a major commotion in the village in order to get Nita's attention, while Kenai arrives to stop Koda. Rutt and Tuke rescue Koda from two of the villagers, while Atka fights with Kenai, throwing him off of a cliff and into shallow water. Nita rushes to Kenai's side, where the two profess their love for each other. The Spirits appear to change Kenai back into a human, allowing Nita to communicate with Kenai and Koda. Kenai tells Nita that he cannot become a human again and leave Koda, but Nita tells him that she can be with him. With her father's blessing, the Spirits transform Nita into a bear. The film ends with Kenai and Nita's wedding that the tribes, bears, Koda, Rutt, Tuke and their mates happily watch.

The film makes use of a frame tale to present three self-contained "episodes" via flashback. Jane and Tarzan's first wedding anniversary has arrived, and Jane is trying to find a suitable present for her husband, with the help of the elephant Tantor and the gorilla Terk.

When a party is suggested, the trio remembers the disaster that occurred when three of Jane's friends arrived to rescue her, as they mistakenly believed Jane was being held captive in the jungle. After learning the truth, they decide to stay for a visit. Jane organizes an English-style picnic for her friends, but Tarzan refuses to join them after believing Jane was embarrassed by his savage habits. The picnic is interrupted when two panthers, Nuru and Sheeta attack Jane and her friends, forcing them to flee into the deeper regions of the jungle. As Jane taught her friends a few survival techniques, they are once again ambushed by the panthers, only to be saved when Tarzan rushes in. When Jane and her friends leave the next day, they thank her for the adventure and say they hope to come back soon.

Back to the present day, Jane ponders over the idea of expensive gifts, particularly jewelry, prompting Terk to remind her of the time Tarzan tried to get her a diamond. Tarzan had led two men, Johannes Niels and Merkus to a nearby volcano containing a diamond mine and in return, they would give him one of the diamonds to give to Jane, only for them to turn on him once inside, wanting to take all the diamonds for themselves. The volcano then erupted with Tarzan, Jane, and Professor Porter trapped inside, though they managed to escape before the lava flows reached them. Tarzan then rescued Johannes and Merkus, only for them to lose their diamonds in the process. They are arrested after this and taken back to England.

Professor Porter then joins the conversation, suggesting to Jane that she and Tarzan should celebrate their anniversary with a dance. This causes Terk to bring up the time Jane's old friend Robert Canler visited. Things had gone well, despite Tarzan feeling jealous and mistrusting towards Canler (claiming that he is a bad man that reminds him of Sabor), until Canler had revealed he was working as a double agent for the Germans of the German Empire during World War I and had come for a code machine disguised as a music box he gave to Jane for safekeeping. He then kidnapped her, but was tracked down and stopped by Tarzan assisted by RAF pilot Nigel Taylor, who had been on Canler's trail. Taylor commandeers Canler's plane and takes him back to England to stand trial.

Having run out of ideas and realizing anniversaries would not fit in with Tarzan's uncivilized lifestyle, Jane returns to the treehouse in disappointment, only to cheer up after finding it decorated and everyone, including Tarzan, who is wearing his father's suit, had planned a surprise party to make her happy. Terk, Tantor, and the Professor had known about it all along and were simply distracting her while everyone else got the party set up. Tarzan gives Jane a diamond ring made from the same diamonds in the volcano. The celebrations start as everyone dances, including Tarzan and Jane as the movie concludes with the couple dancing under the moonlight with fireflies all around.

IMF operative Ethan Hunt is on a scuba diving mission to explore a shipwreck off the coast of the Black Sea. Once he finishes observing, he encounters two other IMF agents, one of whom shoots a harpoon at the ship to give Ethan his next mission. As explained, Ethan will have to escort Mikail Marcou, a former advisor of Yugaria's current dictator, Simon Algo, and acquire a mini disk from Algo which contains vital information on Algo's operations.

Ethan arrives at the Yugarian Ministry of Information, and despite a few missteps from a new member of the IMF team, Jasmine Curry, the mission runs smoothly and Ethan makes contact with Marcou. Marcou, however, tells him when he is safely in England, the disk will belong to IMF. The plan goes south, as Marcou is shot and killed by Vasyl Berkut, the head of the Yugarian Secret Service. Ethan takes possession of the disk and pursues Berkut. Berkut escapes, then Luther Stickell and Billy Baird extract Ethan at the last minute to evade capture.

Making his way to Los Muertos Laboratories, Ethan disguises himself as a security guard to gain access to the lower levels of the facility, though it was short lived. He enters the computer core and is forced to hide when Jong Ho Li, a contractor and ally to Algo, and Sofia Ivanescu, a software engineer, come to download software onto the core. Once they leave, Ethan hacks the core and Luther reveals Los Muertos' plan to use three strains of neurodioxin. He requests Ethan and new IMF agent George Spelvin (disguising himself as a scientist) abort the mission, but Ethan refuses and destroys the biological weapons. But this sets off an alarm, causing Jong Ho to accuse Sofia of being a spy. He places bombs throughout the facility to cover his tracks, but Ethan disarms them. Outside, Sofia sabotages a helicopter, leaving Jong Ho and his men to Ethan's disposal. In a shootout, Ethan kills Jong Ho and follows Sofia to Yugaria.

Sneaking back in Yugaria's Ministry of Information, Ethan learns of ICEWORM, a deadly computer virus capable of breaking through any type of security system. Unable to access ICEWORM's codes, Berkut orders his men to apprehend Sofia to obtain the codes, inadvertently revealing to an overhearing Ethan that Sofia's father, Nicholas Ivanescu (long thought dead) is still alive, but in league with Algo. Using the electronic wasp and a sniper pistol, Ethan protects Sofia from Berkut's men, but as he tries to explain himself to her, she mistakes him for being Berkut's loyal and runs off. Almost falling to her death, and Ethan saves her. Ethan vows to protect Sofia and she accepts.

Ethan, Sofia, Jasmine, and Spelvin travel to Sansara (a notorious prison off the North African coast) to destroy the remains of the biological weapons that were transported from Los Muertos. Jasmine and Spelvin meet with Berkut and enter the "Rat Trap", with Ethan following the three. Meanwhile, Sofia talks with Algo about the use of ICEWORM, with Sofia revealing that using the virus is a means to avenge her father's apparent death at the hands of Yugaria's previous corrupt government. Ethan finds Algo's chief bioscientist in solitary confinement, who is revealed to be Nicholas. He agrees to help Ethan destroy the neurodioxin, and the latter takes Sofia to the data center so she can help him advance to the lab. Knocking out Berkut with the wasp, Ethan impersonates him and disables the neurodioxin. Meeting with Nicholas, Ethan witnesses Algo kill Spelvin, injure Jasmine, and take Sofia hostage through his microcamera. He plants explosives in the lab, and tells Nicholas to escape. Ethan covers Jasmine as she makes her escape. Unable to find Sofia nor Algo, Ethan escapes thanks to Billy coming back for Ethan.

Learning that Algo is using a plane as a mobile headquarters, Ethan skydives and activates a jetpack to get onto the plane. On board, Algo betrays and kills Berkut by using an experimental rocket launcher. Ethan plants explosives on each wing of the plane. Ethan finds Sofia in the cabin, but Algo surprises him. As he prepares to kill her, Sofia kicks him out of the plane, but not before he grabs her and she falls. Ethan pursues the two, grabbing a parachute from one of Algo's men. He rescues Sofia, and sees Algo landed in the SURMA Building, a company he runs as a front for his terrorist activities.

Ethan and Sofia land on the SURMA Building, where Algo meets them. As Sofia runs away to safety, Ethan hunts down Algo throughout the rooftop. The two meet for a final confrontation, where Algo uses an experimental invisibility device to his advantage. Despite this, Ethan disrupts the technology and kills Algo.

Weeks after the incident, Ethan and Sofia are on a private cruise near Aruba. As Sofia says her dealings with technology are over, she and Ethan kiss, then go scuba diving.

Every year, as the warm season approaches, a certain tree in Great Valley blooms with pink flowers. These "treesweets" are viewed as a delicacy by the dinosaurs of the valley and everyone wants their fair share of it. However, because of the tastiness of the tree sweets, and due to the fact that there seems to only be one such tree in the entire valley, there is hardly enough for every dinosaur. Because of this, none of them may eat the treesweets until the day when they reach the "peak of their tastiness." Littlefoot and his friends Ducky, Petrie and Spike wait to eat the first treesweets of the season. Ducky is about to take one, but Littlefoot quickly tells her to stop, reminding them that they may not take any treesweets until "Nibbling Day". This, however, does not stop Petrie from flying to the tree's crown to attempt to take a treesweet, until Cera's father, emerges and states clearly how every dinosaur in the valley has waited all year to taste the treesweets. As Cera appears before them, she boastfully reminds the group that she is the one who is supposed to eat the first treesweet, having been the one who found the treesweet-tree in the first place, although it was Littlefoot who first found it. Cera also teases Littlefoot for being too little to reach the treesweets, offending him.

Meanwhile, Mr. Threehorn is visited by an old friend, a pink female threehorn named Tria. Topps, whom Tria calls Topsy, promises Tria the first treesweet of the season, and Cera becomes jealous. Cera refuses to make friends with Tria and dismisses her. In addition, Cera becomes violent toward her friends when they make any references involving Tria or her father's nickname. Littlefoot wanders off by himself and sulks about how "little" he is. When he returns to the treesweet tree, he climbs the cliff next to it and tries to prove that he can reach the treesweets himself. As he does, he accidentally slips off the cliff, falls right through the tree, and knocks down every single treesweet. Realizing the trouble that he is now in, Littlefoot faints in dismay. When he wakes up, he finds himself surrounded by several miniature longnecks (known by their group as tinysauruses). They have eaten all the treesweets and quickly run away once the shocked Littlefoot starts screaming in fear.

Upon noticing that every treesweet is gone, the other dinosaurs suspect that Littlefoot is responsible. Afraid to admit that he made the treesweets fall off the tree under Topps' threat of being banished from the valley, Littlefoot makes a parish truth and blames nearly everything that happened on the tinysauruses. At first, everyone laughs at him in disbelief, but when they find teeth marks on an eaten treesweet that are too small for Littlefoot to have made, he is believed and everyone begins to look for the tinysauruses, thinking of them as pests and preparing to drive them out of the valley. As Littlefoot and Cera search the valley, Littlefoot falls down a pothole in the ground where the tinysauruses are hiding. At first, Littlefoot is afraid of them and flees deeper into the cave, but he soon finds them to be nice and befriends them. Upon hearing how difficult it is for the tinysauruses to find food, Littlefoot promises to help bring them as much food as he can every night.

Littlefoot's friends find him while he is bringing food to the tinysauruses. They also fall in the pothole, and upon meeting the tiny dinosaurs agree not to tell the adults. Even Cera, who is still angry with her father, promises to keep it a secret, mainly because she finds out she can relate to them more than they would have imagined. Many of the tinysauruses, including Lizzie, in the colony feel that their leader, Big Daddy, bosses them around too much, though he is only looking out for them. To Big Daddy, the larger dinosaurs of the Great Valley only seem to think that "because they're bigger, it makes them seem more important," and he does not trust the other dinosaurs. By morning, Cera finally decides to be friends with Tria.

When sneaking off to see the tinysauruses the following night, Littlefoot and his friends are discovered by Topps. When he tries to ask them where they are going this time of night, Cera angrily throws the question back at him. He tells the children that he is on guard duty it is the tinysauruses which they have to worry about, then warns them to not let him catch them out late at night again, and sends them home. Afterwards, he meets up with Tria and they spot two of the tinysauruses, Lizzie and Skitter. A chase ensues that ends when Topps and Tria finds the tinysaurus colony. Topps gathers the other adults to let them know that he has found the little creatures. As the grown-ups prepare to block the caverns, Littlefoot, realizing what he must do, admits the full truth that he unintentionally caused the treesweets to fall from the tree first. However, just as he is finished admitting his accident with the adults forgiving him and finally leaving the little creatures alone, the tinysauruses' cave collapses, trapping them inside.

The tinysauruses escape into the Mysterious Beyond, where they encounter two large ''Achillobators'' who chase them back into the Great Valley. Upon hearing that Littlefoot initially blamed everything on the tinysauruses, Littlefoot's friends become upset and do not want to talk with him. Angry at his friends' rejection, Littlefoot leaves and decides to set things right on his own. Meanwhile, Cera apologizes to Tria about her father being hard on her when she tried to stop him from hunting the little creatures down. After a tragic mistake, Petrie, Ducky, and Spike feel remorseful for what they have done and begin to sob over the loss of their friend. With Cera's help, they all try to find Littlefoot and apologize for being hard on him; but they mistake the sharpteeth for Littlefoot, and the two carnivores chase them through the Great Valley. Just as Ducky is about to be eaten, Littlefoot shows up and saves her, Topps and Tria also appear. When all seems lost, the tinysauruses come to the children's aid and fight the carnivores. The grown-ups of the valley eventually reach the group and drive the sharpteeth back into the Mysterious Beyond through the same hole, which they cover up with a large boulder to prevent them from coming back.

After everything is sorted out and friendships are repaired, the tinysauruses become residents of the valley. Nibbling Day finally comes at last, and Littlefoot is able to reach the treesweets by himself after all. As they enjoy the fruity blossoms, everybody of all sizes learn how even small things can make a big difference.

In 17th-century Hungary, recently widowed Countess Elisabeth Nádasdy discovers that her youthful appearance and libido can be temporarily restored if she bathes in the blood of young women. She enlists her steward and lover Captain Dobi and her maid Julie to help with the kidnap and murder of several local girls, whilst beginning a new romance with a young Lieutenant named Imre Toth.

As a cover for her crimes while in her rejuvenated state, she takes the identity of her own 17-year-old daughter, Countess Ilona, whom she has Dobi hold captive in the woods by the mute money gambler. However, castle historian Fabio grows suspicious. Eventually, she kills a prostitute called Ziza, but her blood does not restore her like the others. Dobi finds Fabio, who has a book-chapter about blood sacrifices and tells Elisabeth the truth in return for being allowed to live. He reveals that only virgin blood will restore Elisabeth's youth and beauty.

Elisabeth then kills a peasant girl bought in the marketplace. Fabio tries to tell Toth the truth about her, but Dobi kills Fabio before he can do so. Dobi then exposes Elisabeth to Toth to steer him away from her. Elisabeth forces Toth into marrying her, but her daughter Ilona arrives home, having been brought by Dobi as a sacrifice, then freed by a repentant Julie who loved her as a daughter. At the wedding, Elisabeth grows old again after the priest genuflects his blessings. She tries to kill her daughter in front of the wedding attendees, but accidentally kills Toth instead. Elisabeth, Dobi and Julie are sentenced to death for their crimes and are last seen awaiting the hangman in their cell. In the final scene, the peasants curse Elisabeth as a "devil woman" and "Countess Dracula".

''Countess Dracula'' was inspired by the infamous Hungarian Countess Elizabeth Báthory (1560–1614), a landowner and noblewoman who was accused of murdering dozens of women and girls.

As a human orphan being raised by a family of gorillas after his parents were killed in an African jungle, Tarzan is worried that a fabled monster known as the Zugor will someday attempt to capture him. He is disappointed that he can't run as quickly as the other young apes in his family, and his attempts to prove himself keep resulting in chaos, hurting the baby gorillas and disappointing the mother apes and his adoptive father, Kerchak.

The next morning, when an accident leads his ape mother, Kala, to think Tarzan has died after the gorillas have crossed a ravine, the other apes feel that Tarzan has reached a fitting end. Tarzan believes it's best for everyone involved if he runs away.

Alone in the jungle, Tarzan gets chased by Sabor the leopardess to a rocky place known as the Dark Mountain. When the echo of the monster calls, Sabor runs away just as Tarzan is encountered by two hulking, spoiled gorilla brothers, Uto and Kago, and their controlling, over-protective mother Mama Gunda. They fear the Zugor as much as Tarzan does, and when the booming call of the monster again echoes through the valley, the trio flee and Tarzan is able to escape Dark Mountain. He encounters a crotchety old gorilla who at first keeps the boy distant, but Tarzan discovers this gorilla is actually named Zugor and was pretending to be the monster. He uses hollow trees as megaphones to amplify his voice and pretend to be a monster, scaring other jungle creatures away from his territory and food. Tarzan uses this discovery to blackmail Zugor into letting the boy stay with him. Thanks to Tarzan's cheerfulness and helpfulness, Zugor begins to warm up to him. Tarzan continues to try to figure out what he is along with Zugor, but they both promise not to tell anyone.

Meanwhile, Tarzan's two best friends, the young gorilla Terk and the young elephant Tantor, come looking for him, and Kala also finds out that Tarzan is alive, so she goes looking for him as well, but allows the baby gorillas to join her. Terk and Tantor encounter trouble in Dark Mountain in the form of Mama Gunda, Uto, and Kago, but they are able to escape. Terk and Tantor eventually reunite with Tarzan, and the three become best friends once again. They leave Dark Mountain, and Mama Gunda, Uto, and Kago follow them. Tarzan does not want to return home with them but he reveals that there is no monster. Mama Gunda, Uto, and Kago overhear their conversation and learn it was Zugor who was pretending to be the monster; he gets himself into trouble. Uto and Kago wreck Zugor's treehouse in retaliation for scaring them. Zugor accuses Tarzan for breaking his promise and runs away, refusing to help him face the brothers. Terk and Tantor run to go and warn Kerchak. Kala arrives near Dark Mountain and also encounters trouble with Mama Gunda, Uto and Kago. Tarzan finally realizes what he is supposed to be: a "Tarzan", with his own special tricks that no one else can do in the jungle, Zugor comes to a similar realization, at which he returns to Tarzan and reconciles with him.

Tarzan is able to use tricks and traps to defeat Uto and Kago as Terk and Tantor try to save Kala and the baby gorillas from falling off a cliff; Tarzan saves Kala just in time. where as Zugor holds Mama Gunda hostage, but due to their connection and Zugor accidentally telling Mama Gunda that she has "beautiful eyes", they both fall in love. Uto and Kago return and are shocked to see them together. Tarzan tells Kala that she was right before and he is a part of her gorilla family.

As the movie ends, Tarzan, Kala, Terk, Tantor and the baby gorillas return to the gorilla troop. Kala gives Tarzan a hug and tells him how proud she is of him for rescuing her from the fall and from Uto and Kago. Mama Gunda punishes her sons for destroying Zugor's treehouse and tells them that there won't be any more fighting or wrecking things. Tarzan, Terk, and Tantor decide to play a monster game; Tarzan is now happy and proud of himself, as he now knows what he is supposed to be. Like the original movie, Tarzan stands on a sequoia tree and closes the movie by letting out the typical Tarzan yell.

The book starts with the main character, Bink, in his home village. He must discover his magical talent before he comes of age, or be exiled to Mundania. While on his way to see the Good Magician Humfrey about whether he has a magic talent, Bink runs into three different women, Wynne, Dee, and Iris, as well as Chester and Cherie Centaur, and Crombie the soldier. He finds out from Good Magician Humfrey that he has Magician-caliber magic but that it can't be identified.

Because his talent cannot be discovered, Bink is exiled to Mundania, the land of no magic. While there, he is captured by the Evil Magician Trent, who was exiled 20 years ago for attempting to overthrow the current king. Trent is trying to invade Xanth with his Mundane army to usurp the throne but has been consistently prevented from entering by the magic barrier which surrounds Xanth. He believes that Bink can help him get into Xanth by providing information on the location of the source of the magical barrier, and attempts to coerce Bink into giving him this information. Trent has prepared a special elixir that can temporarily nullify magic and has a special catapult that can hurl this elixir into the land of Xanth. All that Trent needs now are the exact coordinates of the shield-stone. Bink refuses to cooperate and is thrown into a pit with a woman from Xanth that has followed him there named Fanchon. Bink and Fanchon escape to sea but are pursued by Trent's forces. Eventually, Bink, Trent, and Fanchon are all swept into Xanth via a whirlpool but Trent's forces are left behind.

The trio decides to declare a truce until they can safely make their way out of the wilderness. While travelling, the group discovers Castle Roogna, a castle built 800 years ago by one of the early Kings of Xanth but abandoned 400 years later. Here, Bink learns that Fanchon, Wynne, and Dee are all the same person named Chameleon. Castle Roogna is haunted by relatively benign ghosts and zombies and is an area of heightened magical power. The castle in fact seems to possess some form of awareness and had actually used its control of the surrounding area to herd the trio onto its grounds. It detected the presence of two magician-caliber talents in the group (Bink and Trent) and lured them there in the hopes that one of them could become king and restore the castle to its former glory. The group leaves Castle Roogna on their way to the see the King but are eventually forced to break their truce when Bink refuses to join Trent in taking over Xanth. While they are arguing, Iris of illusion shows up and offers to marry Trent and help him become King. Iris craves power, but as a woman she is barred from ruling Xanth so she has decided that the next best thing is to marry a King. Trent and Bink agree to a duel to the death or surrender: If Bink loses then he will stay out of Trent's way but If he wins then Trent will cease his efforts to gain the throne. In the course of this duel Trent deduces Bink's unknown talent, which is that he cannot be harmed by magic. Because Bink is still vulnerable to non-magical harm his talent has gone to great lengths to conceal itself over the years. In any case where Bink could have been harmed by magic he has always been saved by what appears to be a series of coincidences. Because of interference from Iris, Trent declares that the duel must be restarted, but now thanks to his knowledge of Bink's talent, Trent has the upper hand. He is about to kill Bink when Chameleon dives in front of the sword. Trent and Bink then call a truce so that they can obtain healing elixir to save her life. Bink eventually gets to the Good Magician's Castle in the form of a bird, having been transformed by Trent.

Not only does Bink manage to get the healing elixir, but he also manages to find out that the Storm King has died. All the officials of Xanth, including the Council of Elders (which includes Bink's father Roland), arrive on the scene. The Council captures Trent, heals Chameleon, and offers Trent the kingship if he will marry Iris. The Storm King was allowed to remain King well past his prime because there was no suitable successor and by forcing Trent to marry (and presumably produce magician-caliber offspring) the council hopes to prevent that state of affairs from occurring again. Trent's first act as King is to get rid of the magical barrier between Xanth and Mundania and grant Bink (and non-magical folk in general including mundanes) the right to stay in Xanth. Trent's forces, who consisted of mundanes who wished to immigrate to Xanth, begin to settle in various regions of the magical land. Bink and Chameleon are then married and Trent and Iris take up residence in Castle Roogna. Bink and Chameleon obtain a cottage just outside the Castle and Bink is given the title of Official Researcher of Xanth.

Xanth's King Trent has left for dreary Mundania, leaving Dor to practice governing the magical kingdom. Dor's magical talent is communication with the inanimate which for information gathering is very helpful, but for dealing with citizens needing discipline it leaves room for improvement. But when Trent goes to establish trade routes with Mundania, Dor and his friends (a golem named Grundy, the centaur Chet, Smash the ogre, and Dor's love interest, King Trent's daughter Princess Irene) must keep the land in line.

However, the former King Trent does not return when he had planned. After waiting two weeks, Dor gathers his gang and goes on a quest to help rescue Trent.

This mission leads them to Centaur Isle, to find an unknown Centaur Magician. Centaurs are very negative about magical talents, so when they find Arnolde the Centaur and discover his talent, he is exiled and willing to help them rescue Trent. Arnolde's talent is a magical aisle, creating a field of magic around him that allows anyone to use magic in Mundania.

The gang (minus Chet) travel north by rainbow to Mundania. While in Mundania, they find a scholar named Ichabod. From him, they learn that they are in the wrong time strand and must go back to Xanth and re-cross the border. Eventually Dor and his friends find the correct strand and go to the castle where they think Trent and his wife Iris were last. After a nice dinner and a little betrayal, they are locked in a dungeon. After escaping, they smash down walls to find Trent and his new friend King Omen, the proper king of this area.

The group (plus the new additions) struggles to get Omen onto his rightful throne. After exchanging farewells, they decide to return to Xanth with King Trent and Queen Iris.

The book starts off with Tandy the half-nymph being sexually harassed by the nasty demon Fiant while trying to sleep. She has the talent of throwing tantrums that can stun or destroy, but her talent is ineffective against the demon, so she decides to visit her father Crombie at Castle Roogna to see if he can help. Having no means of travel, however, she decides to catch a night mare to take her there. She succeeds, at the price of being battered, except the mare takes her to the Good Magician's castle instead, where she is admitted without challenges due to the difficulties she went through riding the mare.

Cut to a year later, we find Smash the half-ogre travelling to the Good Magician Humfrey seeking to solve a vague dissatisfaction about himself. Using the best of his ogre qualities (strength and naive stupidity), plus his clumsy knowledge of human customs, as well as the occasional bright flash of human intelligence, he navigates his way into the Magician's castle passing various obstacles such as a basilisk and a pond of firewater. Once Smash gains entrance, though, he is too stupid to formulate his question. Magician Humphrey gives him an answer anyway, telling him to travel to the Ancestral Ogres and take Tandy with him, and guard her.

On their travels, Smash and Tandy blunder into an Eye Queue vine, which embeds itself into Smash's head and provides him with human intelligence so he converses in the human way instead of spouting simple ogre rhymes. He soon discovers that the vine also helps give him good ideas, as not all the problems he and Tandy encounter can be bashed to pieces. After the vine, they encounter an assortment of females of various magical races, each needing to fulfill a personal quest including a dryad who needs to protect her tree from woodsmen, the wingless fairy John looking for her similarly incorrectly named counterpart to switch back, Centaur Chem, a longtime friend with the talent of magic mapping who wants to chart more of Xanth, Blythe Brassie who accidentally leaves her hypnogourd homeworld to come to the real Xanth, a mermaid looking for love, and others. Unfortunately also during their travels, Tandy gets trapped in the hypnogourd world and has her soul wrenched from her, though she is later freed by the others. Smash enters back into the gourd and forages a deal with the world's spokesperson (in the form of a coffin): Smash will give his soul to the gourd under a 90-day lien in exchange for Tandy's soul. He then has 90 days to find the dread Night Stallion, ruler of the gourd world, and negotiate to void the lien.

As the travels continue, each female does find what she is looking for, eventually, although Smash's strength saps out of him a little at a time as his soul is gradually recalled as the days pass. Smash makes periodic forays into the gourd world, with the help of a magical and infinite ball of string to mark his way, in search of the Night Stallion, overcoming various world challenges, most of which require both his ogre strength and human intelligence to solve. Finally, when only Chem and Tandy are left with Smash, they come upon the dread Elements region and face a flood in the water region that washes off the Eye Queue vine from Smash's head, right before they enter the most dangerous Void region. As they enter the void, they come to realize that they are trapped and must find a way to get out, which they can't do without Smash's useful intelligence. Smash, using the Void's properties, manages to get his illusion of intelligence back (though at this point it is no longer illusory), and enter the gourd one last time, where he finally finds the Night Stallion and faces new challenges that require all his newfound human intelligence as well as his ogre strength and stubbornness to overcome.

Once Smash conquers the Night Stallion's challenges and wins back his soul, he realizes his human side and falls in love with Tandy, putting his own soul in jeopardy again to save her, but through another deal ends up with only half a soul and half his ogre strength. He finally does arrive at the home of the Ancestral Ogres but notes how stupid and ugly they really are and decides he does not want to stay with them, though, when they threaten Tandy he commits to fighting to save her. After Tandy sacrifices her own soul mid-battle to save Smash (giving him full ogre strength) so he can defeat the ancestral ogres, Smash finally comes to true terms with his human side, even transforming himself into a human so he can make love to Tandy properly.

As Smash and Tandy journey home, they again run into Demon Fiant. As a man, Smash is no match for the demon, but manages to transform back to ogre form, and is able to defeat Fiant permanently, though again his human intelligence is needed to win this battle.

When the book begins, the Good Magician Humfrey, and his son Hugo, run into the Gap dragon while filling a vial with water from the Fountain of Youth. Humpfrey tells Hugo to douse the dragon with the water, and Hugo does so but accidentally sprays Humpfrey as well. Humpfrey regresses to the age of a baby, as does the dragon. Queen Irene realizes Princess Ivy has wandered off, and begins a quest to find her daughter. Luckily, Ivy comes across Humfrey's 8-year-old son Hugo, and – due to her unknown talent of enhancement – Hugo temporarily becomes smarter, braver, and stronger when she tells him he is. Ivy also manages to enhance the positive qualities of the Gap Dragon, and names him Stanley Steamer.

In ''Castle Roogna'', Dor accidentally put a forget spell on the Gap Chasm (the huge rift that splits Xanth in two), while trying to escape a horde of harpies and goblins, with the result being that everyone forgot the Gap Chasm existed, with the exception of the people who live near it. In this book, the forget spell is beginning to disintegrate into "forget whorls" spinning off into the nearby forest (due to the Time Of No Magic caused when Bink released the Demon X(A/N)th), causing confusion and memory loss. Ivy ends up walking through a forget whirl and it causes her to forget how to get home.

Near the end of the novel, all the characters join forces against a swarm of wiggles, which threaten the welfare of Xanth by burrowing through anything and everything in their path.

Princess Ivy, who is now a 5-year-old in this book, asks one of Castle Roogna's ghosts to tell her how he became a ghost. Ivy uses her talent of enhancement - and some caustic Crewel Lye to strip off centuries of accrued grime - to improve the range and clarity of Castle Roogna's magical Tapestry. The Tapestry is a woven hanging which allows anyone to view recent or historical events (although it cannot violate the Adult Conspiracy, nor does it include sound). The ghost, known as Jordan the Barbarian when he was alive 400 years ago, begins his story by recounting how he set off on an adventure with his horse Pook.

Jordan had the magical talent of self-healing — which came in handy as he was cut, stabbed, and dismembered during his travels. In one case, a woman finds him gravely injured and hauls him to her cottage, not knowing of his talent. Jordan ends up falling in love with this woman, Threnody. Unfortunately, the evil magician Yin-Yang had already claimed Threnody to be his wife, and was willing to do anything to have her.

Intending to keep Jordan safe from Yin-Yang, Threnody makes it appear that she has betrayed Jordan. She cuts him into pieces and buries each piece in a different remote location — knowing that if the pieces were reattached, he would be able to heal himself. However, she is never able to break free of Yin-Yang long enough to collect Jordan's dismembered body and eventually kills herself.

After hearing Jordan's story, Ivy decides to gather his body parts herself. Once placed near each other, the pieces mend together and cover back up with muscle and skin (greatly sped up due to Ivy's enhancement). Jordan is alive again — but he wants his new love, the ghost Renee, to be brought to life again too. When Ivy and Jordan use a regenerating potion on Renee's remains (after accidentally teleporting Stanley Steamer the baby Gap Dragon away), Threnody emerges from her grave.

Threnody explains that her "cruel lie" had been done to protect Jordan. After some time, he forgives her and they get married.

On his way to the Good Magician's castle, Esk meets Chex, the winged centaur daughter of Xap Hippogryph and Chem Centaur. Despite having wings, Chex is unable to fly due to her solid equine weight; she is going to ask Humfrey how she can fly. Later, the two of them meet up with Volney Vole, who always replaces S's with V's during speech. Volney has a demon problem of his own, as his home by the Kiss-Me River has become unbearably infested with bugs ever since the demons decided to straighten out the river's undulating curves.

When they discover the Good Magician is missing, they decide to look for him. On the way, they go through a Hypnogourd, where bad dreams are manufactured. Esk meets Bria Brassie, a heavy brass woman, and they fall in love. The team discovers that Chex can make items temporarily light when she flicks them with her tail, which provides a solution to her problem of how to fly.

The story begins with Prince Dolph lying in his sister, Ivy's, bed watching her magical tapestry which shows images from the past and present of ''Xanth''. Dolph is the son of King Dor and Queen Irene, and he has the powerful talent of being able to shapeshift, giving him the power to change into any animal he chooses. While watching the images of the magical tapestry Dolph begins to think about the disappearance of the Good Magician Humphrey. Dolph gets so enraptured with the thought of finding the Magician that he eventually asks his father and mother permission to set out on a quest to find the answers. Queen Irene decides that Dolph is at a fine age to set out for a quest, but as long as he takes with him an adult companion. After some debate and arguing over who should accompany Dolph, Dolph suggests that Marrow Bones accompany him. Marrow is a walking, talking skeleton who has the ability to transform his skeletal body into many shapes as long as Dolph gives him a good kick in the tail bone first.

Once Dolph and Marrow set out on their journey they realize their first stop must be at the Good Magician Humfrey's castle to investigate for any clues to his disappearance. Once in the castle Dolph and Marrow find a hidden room that can only be viewed through a clear rock from above. In the hidden room is a message that reads "Skeleton Key to Heaven Cent". Marrow distinguishes that there is a pun in the message, and a Skeleton Key is really an island made of coral. So Dolph and Marrow set out to find the isle and find the Heaven Cent to bring back the Good Magician Humphrey.

Throughout Dolph and Marrow's adventures through the land of Xanth they encounter many different creatures. There are the always rhyming ogres, bone hungry and smelly harpies, the cruel merwomen, and many others. One of the major creatures that come into play in the book are the nagas. The nagas are a snake-human people who have the power to transform into either a full snake, full human, or mixed form. Dolph and Marrow encounter the nagas when trying to get through a goblin kingdom where the goblins are holding Nada, the naga princess, prisoner. After rescuing Nada, Dolph and Marrow return to the naga kingdom, where Dolph, even though too young, becomes unintentionally betrothed to Nada through a naga tradition. Nada joins Dolph and Marrow on their quest to find the Heaven Cent, and their romantic relationship blossoms until Nada reveals to Dolph that she is actually many years older than he is. Although Dolph is taken aback by this information, his love for Nada does not waver and he keeps the betrothal intact.

When Dolph, Marrow, and Nada finally find the right island where the Heaven Cent is supposed to be they encounter a magical castle where a maiden has been under a magical sleep for 900 years of a 1000-year sentence. The sleeping maiden is named Electra, and she was put under the sleeping spell because 900 years ago she accidentally activated the Heaven Cent. Dolph kisses the sleeping Electra and awakens her, but to Dolph's surprise Electra cannot survive unless she marries the person who broke the spell on her.

Once the entire party returns to Castle Roogna Dolph is left with the decision about what to do with his two betrothed women. After much debate with both women and the King and Queen, Dolph asks for the test of the roses. Dolph chooses the yellow rose for Electra showing friendship and the red rose for Nada representing love. Electra is the first of the betrothed to attempt the test and she quickly chooses the red rose for Dolph representing love. Nada goes second and tries to pick the red rose, but she cannot because she does not truly love him and she is pricked by a rose. Nada then tries to pick a black rose and commit suicide, but Dolph jumps over to her and stops her. Dolph explains that he loves Nada even though the love is not returned. In the end Dolph remains betrothed to each girl even though the King and Queen do not believe in it, but Dolph and the girls believe that, in the next seven years before Dolph can marry, they will work out all the problems.

Princess Ivy sets off with her younger brother's co-fiancees Nada Naga and Electra to retrieve the magic mirror that had been stolen by the evil machine Com-Pewter, in preparation for her quest to find Good Magician Humfrey. After besting Com-Pewter in a battle of wits, Ivy uses the charged-up Heaven Cent to transport her to Humfrey's location.

Meanwhile, in Mundania, an average college boy named Grey Murphy runs a computer program that claims that it will help him meet women. Sure enough, after installing the "Worm" program, Grey meets a series of appropriately named girls who move into the neighboring apartment, starting with Agenda and moving on through Dyslexia and Euphoria. When Ivy arrives, disorientated to find herself in Mundania, Grey starts to fall for her despite her claims that she is a princess from a fantasy world called Xanth.

When Ivy wants to go home, Grey agrees to go with her, even though he doesn't believe that Xanth exists. Even when they've entered Xanth, Grey finds a scientific basis for the fantastical things he sees. His feelings for Ivy grow stronger, although Ivy knows that her regal parents won't allow her to marry a non-magician. The two of them take a trip through the Hypnogourd, where bad dreams are manufactured. After exiting the gourd, Grey, still skeptical of Xanth's magic, turns the Maenads' wine spring into water. Nada realizes his talent: magic nullification - which is a magician-caliber talent. It emerges that Grey is the son of Evil Magician Murphy and Vadne, both banished from Xanth in the book ''Castle Roogna'', although they had never revealed their origins to him.

Che, Chex Centaur’s winged foal, has been kidnapped by a group of goblins. It is up to Jenny, a girl from the world of Two Moons, to save him. Dolph finally has to decide whom to marry: Electra or Naga Nada.

The book begins in mid-crisis: Che Centaur has been foalnapped. Jenny Elf, wandering in a myopic haze through the World of Two Moons with her cat Sammy, accidentally stumbles through a giant hole between dimensions and ends up in Xanth. Jenny eventually discovers Che being held hostage by a group of goblins, and her attempt to rescue him results in them both being captured by another band of goblins.

Nada Naga, Electra, and the original goblin gang work together and succeed in retrieving Che, Jenny, and Sammy from the new goblin kidnappers. Nada and Electra play a game of chance with the goblins to determine to whom Che goes; the goblins win. The four goblins, Che, Jenny, and Sammy go back to Goblin Mountain where Che is to live. There, Che and Jenny learn why the goblins had kidnapped Che in the first place: they wanted him to be the tutor and companion to Gwendolyn, a young goblin princess who was lame and mostly blind. Because the goblins only respect strength and power, Gwendolyn needed to be able to conceal her physical disabilities by riding on Che's back - otherwise she would be overthrown and killed.

As Che and Jenny are getting to know Gwendolyn, Che's parents call together all the winged monsters in Xanth to start a siege on Goblin Mountain. After much chaos, it is decided that Che will return to his parents, provided that they will take care of Gwendolyn as well.

Prince Dolph finally has to decide which one of his fiancees to marry: Electra or Nada.

Dug, a Mundane, is transported in to the magic land of Xanth when he plays a computer game introduced to him by his friend for a bet. The game consists of the player having a companion, who is usually a well known Xanth character, and being led through the magical world of Xanth, defeating challenges along the way and eventually winning the ultimate prize of a magic talent. The catch with the companions is that there is a chance that your companion is false, meaning that at the point where you might finally win, the companion will cause your ultimate downfall. The game also has a way of becoming 3D to the player, and, if the player believes in magic, eventually real.

Dug, being a mundane boy of sixteen, picks Nada Naga as his partner, because of her beauty. Nada Naga begins to lead Dug in the world of Xanth, at first trying to convince him that the magical world is real, but giving up after realizing that Dug stubbornly refuses to believe in magic. Dug travels to the Isthmus village, where he learns the town is being controlled under a horrible censorship. He sets out to destroy the ship. After defeating the censorship, he is kicked out of the game twice, once only temporarily from trying to look at Nada's panties, the second time for good after being defeated by Com Pewter. He comes back to the game and picks Nada to be his partner again but fails to remember that there is a chance that Nada will be a False Companion, which she is. He again has to go through the first part of his adventure, but this time his starting point has changed to the Black Village, home to the new Black Wave. Sherlock, one of the members of the Black Wave, joins Nada and Dug on their journey.

Later in Xanth he meets Kim, another Mundane playing the game. Kim is with Bubbles—a dog she found in a bubble—Sammy Cat, and Jenny Elf (her companion). While Dug was completing the first part of his adventure, Kim was having her own. She first was captured by ogres and had to play a mind game with them in order to escape. She then traveled to the Water Wing, where her and Jenny met Cyrus Merman, who is trying to find a wife. He accompanies them on their journey in hopes of finding a wife on the way. When Kim and Dug meet, Kim develops a crush on Dug, but at first Dug does not return the feeling. The two parties attempt to cross the Gap Chasm, but split up, after Dug and Kim decide to switch companions. Kim, Nada, Cyrus, and Bubbles go toward the ocean where Cyrus ends up meeting the merwoman who ends up being his wife, Merci Merwoman, Mela's daughter. Dug, Jenny, and Sherlock head on down the Gap Chasm, where Dug fights a brief battle with the Gap dragon. The teams both go on to the Good Magician's Castle by different routes.

Gloha Goblin-Harpy is searching for love, and decides to ask the Magician Humfrey where she can find it. He tells her to ask his second son Crombie the Soldier. Gloha goes on a quest for love, accompanied by Magician Trent and Cynthia, a winged centaur filly.

Seeking a spell that will restore the polluted river Swan Knee to a state of purity, guardian Gary Gargoyle finds himself face-to-face with the Magician Humfrey. Humfrey tells Gary to go and find the philter. Instead of serving the usual one year, Gary has to become a man with the help of Trent, who has gone into the brain coral's pool along with his wife Iris, and civilize a 5 year old child named Surprise. Iris comes along for the quest after having a rejuvenation potion. Surprise is a kid with as many talents as there are thinkable, but only one at a time. When Gary gets some direction, they go off to search for the philter in the middle of the madness, which is spreading farther out, in the ruins of stone hinge. Once there, in an attempt to search for where the philter could be Iris recreates the past that Gary revealed to them from ''reading the stones'' After the illusions are being recreated, some illusions that aren't Iris's come and start communicating with the group. Eventually, they find that the illusions are trying to steal Gary's soul. Then they find that there is a demon creating the illusions, and that that demon is the philter, and in order to stop the madness from spreading, and to clean the rivers coming in to Xanth, they have to put the philter back into 'The Interface'. An old spell that the ancients who created stone hinge used to tame the madness, and separate Xanth from Mundania. They had apparently thought that the philter had also gone into 'the interface', but it had managed to hide itself instead of going in. After much confusion, they manage to get the philter into the interface. In finding the philter, they also find out that Surprise can only use each talent once, and then can no longer do the same thing. Surprise became way more mature after learning that she can't perform the same talent more than once, and Gary no longer has to purify the river of Swan Knee.

One year after the events of Geis of the Gargoyle, Demoness Metria, whilst making her husband Veleno deliriously happy, finds that the stork will not acknowledge her summons. Seeking to summon the stork, Metria (and her worse half, D. Mentia) are sent on a quest by the Good Magician Humphrey. Metria is then tasked by the Simurgh to deliver a bag's worth of summons to their respective citizens of Xanth in order to hold a trial for Roxanne Roc. All that remains is to find out why Roxanne Roc is on trial as Metria meets with many old Xanth characters, including Grundy Golem, Sorceress Iris, Magician Trent, Gray Murphy, Jordan the Barbarian and Desiree Dryad.

A young faun discovers his friend has gone missing into the Void and thus, the tree that nymph is bound to will wither and die. The hero wishes to save his friend's tree but in doing so, he risks his own tree. After visiting the Good Magician, Forrest Faun is sent with Mare Imbri to Ptero to find a faun for the tree. His journey later takes him from Ptero to smaller moons that orbit that specific world's Ida.

Becka was a crossbreed - the daughter of Draco Dragon and a lovely human woman who met, by chance, at a Love Spring. Now fourteen, Becka was beginning to wonder where in Xanth she belonged, on the ground with her mother's people or flying the skies with her father's kind. So she journeyed to the Good Magician Humfrey to discover her true purpose in life. Much to her astonishment and surprise, the Magician told her that a great Destiny awaited her, one that would affect the future of all of Xanth.

To unravel the mystery of her Fate, Becka did as Humfrey bade her: traveling on foot to the statue of the dreaded Sea Hag to meet the man who would be waiting for her there, and offering him her assistance. But to her dismay, Becka discovered that the one who awaited her there was a dangerous, despicable libertine who called himself the Dastard.

Once a common country boy, the Dastard had sold his soul to a detestable demon in exchange for the power to erase events and rewrite history to suit his own devious ends. Lacking a conscience and filled with craven self-loathing, he roamed the width and breadth of Xanth in search of anyone happier than he was. Once he found them, he used his malevolent talent to "unhappen" their happiness so that others could share in his misery.

Determined to honor her vow but despairing of her ability to help this man and still preserve her virtue, Becka set out on a wide and perilous journey that led from the mists of Xanth's distant past to the tiny planetoid of Ptero, where everyone in Xanth who might have been actually existed. There she discovered a magic that was far stronger than the Dastard's: the awesome power of the human heart.

Cynthia Centaur and her companions must find the Six Rings of Xanth (Air, Earth, Fire, Water, Void, and the Idea) in order to find the Swell Foop and use it to rescue the Demon E(A/R)^th from the thrall of the Demoness Fornax.

Clio, the Muse of History, discovers the twenty-eighth volume of Xanth, but she cannot read it and does not remember writing it. She goes to consult with the Good Magician, who treats her as a Querent. His Answer is that she should look for the currant, and her Service is to restock the extinct dragon population of Xanth. To this end she needs to recruit dragons from one of Ida’s moons. He also gives her a magical compass that will direct her toward her objective.

Clio uses the service of Becka, the dragon girl from Castle Maidragon to escort her safely among the dragons. She also uses Che Centaur to prepare organic material, mainly peat, to form bodies for the dragon spirits. She finds the dragon moon of Ida recruits with the help of Drew and Drusie, two tiny telepathic dragons, whose relationship is forbidden. With the help of Dragon’s Ida, a dragon herself, she uses the Dragon-net to bring the recruited dragon souls back to Xanth.

Back in Xanth, Clio follows the directives of the magical compass and performs various tasks all over Xanth. She encounters Sherlock, a man from the Black Wave, banished from his village after a series of odd accidents. It turns out that after a decade in Xanth, Sherlock developed a magical talent – to summon and control reverse wood. As part of his experiments with the reverse wood he creates a Golem called Getaway Golem. Sherlock joins Clio in her quest, and later creates a lady Golem called Comealong as a companion for Getaway.

Clios adventure takes her throughout Xanth, including Counter Xanth, where she meets the protagonists of Cube Route, and establishes a computer link with Xanth. She also travels to Mundania where she meets Arnold Centaur and David Baldwin. She also meets Umlaut and Surprise Golem, stranded in the Water Zone when rescuing Ciriana - a five year old girl whose talent is immunity to the Adult Conspiracy. In Castle Zombie Clio meets Thesis, who holds a magical device called The Spancel. She reveals that it was created by the Mundane Sorceress Morgan le Fay, who now resides in Ptero.

Clio goes back to Ptero, to return the Spancel, where she is forced to confront the sorceress. She prevails with the aid of Sherlock, who saves her from the sorceress and from Demon Lithosphere. Finally, they return to Mount Parnassus, where they discover the currant plant in the garden. They revive the plant with the various artifacts retrieved during the quest, and take the big currant it grows. They discover that the twenty eighth volume was replaced with Humfrey's Book of Answers. After Sherlock uses his powers to switch the books back, they use the juice to decipher the text of the book. Back in Mount Parnassus Clio finally realizes that Sherlock’s talent is magician level, making him eligible to marry her. Only after Drew and Drusie intervene is she able to tell him that she loves him back. They adopt Ciriana and decide to live in normal Xanth. Finally, Clio realizes that her whole adventure had been another Demon bet, and verifies it with Venus who acknowledges the fact.

Surprise summons the stork with Umlaut, only to discover with dismay that the stork refuses to deliver her baby due to a clerical error. Off on an adventure to find her child, she seeks the aid of Pyra, who wields a tool that can find, and enter, alternate realities. As Surprise and her entourage search for the correct world, the sinister mechanism behind the whole adventure is revealed.

Civilian scientist Jason Eldridge runs Magnetic Analyzer Computing Synchrotron (MACS), a vacuum tube computer aboard the United States Navy ship USS ''Elmira''. He and his friend Lt. Ferguson Howard realize that, by using MACS to record a roulette table's spins over time, the computer can predict future results. Howard and LTJG Beauregard Gilliam check into a Venice casino's hotel dressed as civilians with Eldridge, defying Admiral Fitch's order that naval officers on shore avoid the casino and wear uniforms. They plan to use signal lamps to communicate with a confederate manning MACS on the ''Elmira''.

At the hotel, dedicated bachelor Howard meets and romances Julie Fitch, the admiral's daughter. Eldridge reunites with former girlfriend and heiress Pam Dunstan, in Venice to marry another man. The betting system is very effective, and the three men accumulate hundreds of thousands of dollars in casino chips; the money gives Eldridge the confidence to propose to Dunstan. However, Admiral Fitch sees and investigates their signals; soon the Navy, the American and Soviet consulates, and Venice city authorities are on alert for a "revolution".

The gamblers get Signalman Burford Taylor, who finds their signal lamp, drunk to detain him, but Taylor escapes and reports to the admiral. Julie Fitch tells her father that she and Howard have "got to marry" each other to save him from court-martial. The Soviets accuse the Navy of using MACS to steal from the casino. To avoid an international incident Howard agrees to intentionally lose all his chips on his last bet, but a riot breaks out between Soviets, Americans, and Italians in the casino over the chips. The movie ends with newlyweds Howard and Fitch celebrating their honeymoon in the hotel.

Assunta Spina is a laundress living in Naples, engaged to a violent butcher named Michele Mangiafuoco. She is also courted intensely by Raffaele. When she accepts Raffaele's offer to dance during an open air feast in Posillipo, as she feels Michele is ignoring her, tragedy strikes. Michele, blinded by rage, slashes her face and is subsequently arrested. During the trial she bears witness in order to rescue him, saying he never wounded her, but the jury does not believe her. She is enticed by the court vice-chancellor to strike a bargain—Michele will stay in the nearby prison of Naples instead of Avellino, and at the end of the punishment Michele will kill the vice-chancellor before Assunta's eyes. She must take responsibility for the act before the eyes of the police in order to save her man.

Yolanda, a female teacher, cannot find the best methods to teach the marginalized children of the slums because of their different origins. Mario, a worker in a bus factory and a typical macho man, is confronted by Yolanda's instinct for emancipation. The two nonetheless become lovers. Their relationship portrays the idea that racism, sexism, and class-based prejudices must be demolished in order to succeed.

Blair Maynard, a divorced journalist in New York City, decides to write a story about the unexplained disappearance of yachts and other small boats in the Caribbean, hoping to debunk theories about the Bermuda Triangle.

He has week-end custody of his preadolescent son Justin, and decides to mix a vacation with work, taking his son along. They fly from Miami to the Turks and Caicos island chain but, while on a fishing trip, are captured by a band of pirates. The pirates have, amazingly, remained undetected since the establishment of their pirate enclave by Jean-David Nau, the notorious buccaneer L'Olonnais, in 1671. The pirates have a constitution of sorts, called the Covenant, and have a cruel but workable society. They raise any children they capture to ensure the survival of the colony, but kill anyone over the age of thirteen years. In short order, Justin is brain-washed and groomed to lead the pirate band, much to Maynard's horror. Maynard tries repeatedly to escape, and finally attracts the attention of the passing United States Coast Guard cutter ''New Hope.'' The pirates attack and capture it, but Maynard is able to use a machine gun aboard to kill most of the pirates and to win Justin's and his own freedom.

Mole's underground home is caved in when the meadow above is crushed by a steam shovel, driven by the Weasels, who are demolishing it for a new location. Mr. Toad, had sold the land to finance his latest obsession: caravanning. Mole finds the Water Rat for solace. Seeing Mole's pain, Rat takes Mole to see Toad. Toad encourages them to join them in his newly bought horse-drawn caravan. A speeding motor car frightens the horse, tipping the caravan over. Toad instantly discards the cart and becomes infatuated with motoring. He is a terrible driver and funds his cars with loans from the Weasels. Their vindictive Chief blackmails him to sell Toad Hall.

After Toad's uncontrollable drive into the Wild Wood destroys a seventh motor car, Toad, Rat, and Mole are lost in the unwelcoming lair of the Weasels. The Weasels attempt to coerce Mole into stopping his friends from interfering with their plans. Toad is also attacked by the Weasels. The three end up in Mr. Badger's underground house. Badger, a close friend of Toad's late father who feels protective of Toad's inheritance, attempts to end Toad's love of motor cars. However, Toad refuses to listen to Badger and is ultimately arrested for stealing and crashing a motor-car outside a pub. During his trial, Toad's defence lawyer is no help at all due to Toad's obnoxious attitude. Furthermore, the Weasels are dominating the public box. The Chief Weasel poses as one of the rabbits in the Jury and manipulates the Jury to give a guilty verdict. After Toad insults the Court and makes a botched escape attempt, the furious Judge gives him a 100-year sentence in a castle dungeon.

Back in Toad Hall, Rat and Mole are evicted by the Weasels, who have taken Toad Hall for themselves. Rat and Mole tunnel under the castle to free Toad, but he is helped by the kind-hearted Jailer's daughter and her sardonic Tea Lady Aunt. Toad escapes, disguised as the latter. Having left Toad's wallet in his cell, Toad, Rat, and Mole board an Engine No. 592, which is coupled to four coaches and pulls out, thanks to the engine driver's help of letting them ride on the footplate. The police, who have stowed away on the carriages behind the engine, demand that the train be stopped by waving furiously at Ratty, Moley, and the driver on the engine, much to Toad's fearing terror. As the engine goes to see what the police want and tries to stop the train, Toad confesses the truth and begs the driver to help him evade his captors about arresting him for stealing motorcars. Feeling sympathetic of what Toad says is true, the driver agrees to help as the police shoot the paint on his engine. Angered, he tosses coal from his engine's tender at the police, but fails to dodge a mail catcher, which catches him and ends up holding him from his train. Toad takes control of the train by pulling the accelerator to speed the engine up, and as Mole accidentally uncouples the coaches, he and Rat are left far behind with the coaches as the police hit a tunnel and hold on for dear life, Toad eventually derails the engine, and having survived the accident from the wreckage of the engine, sets off again, but is abducted by the Weasels.

The full extent of the Weasel's plans are now revealed: they have built a dog-food factory over the remains of Mole's abode and are planning to blow up Toad Hall and build a slaughterhouse in its place, with which they will turn all of the peaceful Riverbankers into dog food. They have also damaged the area near to Badger's home, which provokes him into wanting revenge against them. Badger and Rat attempt to infiltrate Toad Hall disguised as weasels, but are discovered. Along with Toad, they are placed over the factory's mincing machine. The Chief, Clarence and Geoffrey return to Toad Hall to prepare the victory celebration, leaving St. John in charge of the machine. Mole, who has broken into the factory, disables the machine allowing Toad, Badger and Rat to escape.

In a premature sense of victory, Clarence and Geoffrey attempt to murder their Chief using a birthday cake. Clarence and Geoffrey begin to fight each other for leadership, with the other Weasels drunkenly taking sides. This distraction allows the protagonists to stage a raid on the house, leaving all of the Weasels incapacitated in the ensuing fight. It turns out that the Chief has survived the coup against his life. Toad attempts to stop him from reaching the factory, which contains the detonator to blow up Toad Hall, to no avail. Unbeknownst to both of them, the explosives are actually in the factory (Rat had switched the labels on the explosive's containers earlier, leading the Weasels to believe the explosives were actually bone supplies for the factory), and as such the Chief blows himself up along with the factory, leaving Toad Hall intact and Toad's friends alive.

Afterwards, Toad makes a public speech swearing off motor cars and promising to be more mature and less selfish in the future. Mole's home has been repaired. However, Toad is seen secretly talking to an airplane salesman, which shows that he has only moved on to a new craze. Toad flies over the crowd in his new plane, causing mass hysteria and a disappointed Badger swears never to help Toad again. During the end credits, Toad flies across the country and eventually over the sea.

In the past, the pirate Robert the Terrible attacks and boards one of the Kingdom of Monterria's ships, capturing Prince Alexander. Eluding the pirates, Princess Eloise and her servant Willory (played by Archibald Asparagus) send a device that the king made, called a "Helpseeker," to find heroes to save Alexander.

In modern times, three misfits: the "yes man" George (Pa Grape), the lazy Sedgewick (Mr. Lunt), and the timid Elliot (Larry the Cucumber) are employees at a dinner theater. Although they want to be seen as heroes by their loved ones, as lowly cabin boys they think their dream is unattainable. After wrecking the show one night, they are fired and thrown into an alley. The Helpseeker locates them and, after Elliot activates the device, transports the trio to Monterria.

Meeting the Princess and Willory, the group sets off to Jolly Joe's Tavern where they learn that Pirate Robert, the brother of the king before being banished, has kidnapped Alexander in the hopes of exacting revenge on the king. Setting sail in search of the whereabouts of Robert's hideout, the pirate's men capture Eloise and Willory. As George and Elliot continue on their quest, a cowardly Sedgewick decides to stay behind in a cave filled with "cheese curls". After the two leave, Sedgewick discovers the curls are instead living worm-like creatures which chase him out of the cave, forcing him to overcome his fear and laziness.

Meanwhile, George and Elliot arrive on an island populated by a rock giant family, who help them make it to Robert's fortress. Sedgewick meets up with them, having swum the ocean being chased by the living worm-like creatures. Arriving at a hidden bay outside of the fortress, the trio are attacked by a giant serpent. However, Elliot realizes the guardian is actually a mechanical device and is able to shut the machine down from inside and save the two. Once inside, George, Sedgewick, and Elliot rescue the prince and princess but are confronted by Robert who demands to know when the king is coming back. With no other choice, George, Sedgewick, and Elliot admit that they are "only cabin boys," and not heroes. But, suddenly, finding his self-respect, George uses a chandelier to knock the pirate down and the group escapes through the fortress's cistern with Robert in hot pursuit. Back in the bay, Robert's ship opens fire on the group's small boat. The king arrives, sinks Robert's ship, and rescues the group.

After receiving medals from the king and being declared heroes, the Helpseeker returns Elliot, George, and Sedgewick to the restaurant. Unbeknownst to them, Robert has stowed away on their trip back to get revenge on them for defeating him and attacks the dinner theater set and mistakes Sir Frederick (Jimmy Gourd), one of the stage performers, for George. In a final showdown, the trio defeat Robert and send him back to his own time. The audience cheer wildly as the gang earn the respect they had desired. Offered a second chance to be in the show, the three refuse and leave to pursue adventure elsewhere one more time as the Helpseeker blinks once again. The film ends with the entire cast singing "Rock Monster", a parody of The B-52's' hit "Rock Lobster". Once they are done singing, Bob the Tomato finally makes his appearance, as the director. Later, Robert is arrested by the King for his crimes as he is shown dancing to the music during the credits along with his imprisoned minions.

Syd (Chris Evans) receives a phone call from a friend informing him that his ex-girlfriend London (Jessica Biel) is having a going-away party before she moves to California with her new boyfriend in a few days. Syd, who has been deeply depressed since London dumped him, flies into a rage upon hearing the news, and wrecks his apartment. He decides to go to the party uninvited, bringing along Bateman (Jason Statham), a banker who delivers cocaine to Syd as a favor to their mutual dealer.

After arriving at the party at the condominium belonging to the parents of club girl Rebecca (Isla Fisher), Bateman and Syd install themselves in the bathroom, where they snort line after line of cocaine, guzzle tequila and discuss love, sex, God, women and pain. Over the course of the night and a massive pile of blow, Bateman tells Syd to get on with his life.

The private party-within-a-party is soon joined by Maya (Kelli Garner) and Mallory (Joy Bryant), who feign sympathy for Syd to grab some free cocaine. When Syd learns that London has arrived, Bateman challenges him to go out and talk to her.

After a heated confrontation in the middle of the party, Syd and London decide to leave to talk somewhere more private. As they are leaving, a fight ensues in which Syd and Bateman fight the other male guests, barely making it out of the party. London and Syd make up in Syd's car, and later they have sex in London's apartment. In the last scene, at the airport, Syd tells London he loves her. Although this impresses London, she still leaves him.

Miu Nomura always played the piano and found it to be one of the greatest joys in her life. Even when she was a little girl the music she played on her piano made her heart soar, a feeling she desired to share with anyone who would listen, as she eagerly shared her talent on with the piano to those around her. As time passed, she became an introverted teenager far too shy to express her feelings and even unable to do it through her music anymore. It has gotten so bad that her playing has suffered greatly and her piano teacher has grown impatient with Miu's continual failure to live up to the expectations he knows she is capable of reaching if she could just try a little harder.

Miu's crush on an upperclassman named Takahashi doesn't help and only adds to her emotional state. Even her best friend, Yuuki, who notices Miu's crush cannot help because she too has a crush, on a third year track star named Takizawa. What is remarkable though, is this crush of Miu's might in fact be helping her playing, and might make it possible for her to once again find the joy in music she knew as a child, the joy that allowed her to play such beautiful, emotional music that captured the hearts of all those that listened.

It is Miu's teacher's hope that a little pressure on her to compose her own piece and play it at the spring recital, will do just that, but problems with Takahashi, and problems in her own life seem to continue to hinder Miu's growth, despite the spark she has once again shown in her musical playing since developing her crush on Takahashi.

Dr. Alan Feinstone is in the maximum security mental hospital he was sentenced to at the end of the first film. While talking to the psychiatrist, he remembers the murders he committed in his own mind, while convincing the doctor that it was another man who did those things. His remorseful story distracts her from seeing him pull a sharpened tool that he stitched into his own leg, and he uses her as a hostage to escape. Alan's wife Brooke is alive with new dental implants, despite her missing tongue and inability to speak. She hires an investigator to find out where Alan has escaped to, believing that he had been putting away money before he went crazy. Brooke has in her possession some postcards that Alan had left behind, and she believes he is in one of those places.

Alan winds up in the small town of Paradise, Missouri, pretending that he had grown upset at life in the big city. He uses a previously established false identity of Dr. Lawrence Caine, and has a bank account where he had been sending the money he skimmed off from his practice to hide from the IRS. The bank officer Mr. Wilkes introduces Alan to his niece Jamie, hoping that she can rent out her small cottage for "Larry" to live in so she could collect money from it.

Jamie, who physically resembles Brooke, becomes a target of Alan's affections. When he has problems with a cap on one of his teeth, Alan visits the inept town dentist, Dr. Burns, whom he takes an instant disliking to. Alan threatens Dr. Burns with a golf club, causing him to accidentally fall down the stairs to his death. Mr. Wilkes convinces Alan that he should take over as the new dentist for Paradise; Alan soon resumes his murderous ways with a passing tourist (Clint Howard) who accidentally recognizes him from Los Angeles.

As the private detective tracks Alan down to Paradise, Alan learns that Jamie has an admirer named Robbie, who also is the drywall contractor hired to finish his new office. Alan's jealousy causes him to ruin a romantic dinner when it is interrupted by a call from Robbie on her answering machine, despite Jamie's insistence that she only thinks of Robbie as a friend. Meanwhile, Beverley, a teller at the bank, has doubts about "Larry" and finds out his real identity while researching on the computer.

Beverley sets up an appointment to tell him she knows the truth, but when she asks too many questions he realizes that she knows something. He goes behind her and sedates her with nitrous oxide. She finds herself duct taped to the dental chair and cries and begs him to let her go. He puts a mouth clamp in her mouth to keep it open and drills her bottom-right molar tooth to the raw nerve as a "lie detector" to find out who else she has told. If she lied, he would take a sharp plaque scraping hook and painfully force it into the nerve of the tooth he drilled, wiggling the tooth hard at the same time. He repeatedly jams the hook into the exposed nerve causing Beverly tremendous pain. Robbie comes to install some more drywall and rings the office door bell, leaving Alan no choice but to pause his torture session and answer the door. Robbie asks to come in and after Beverley screams Robbie goes rushing to check on her. Just as Robbie is about to rescue her, Feinstone attacks him from outside the doorway. In the ensuing fight, Alan kills Robbie with a hammer, turns back to Beverley and re-tapes her to the dental chair. He takes a pair of dental pliers and plays a game of "truth or tooth". He asks her what did she tell Jeremy about Washington but he doesn't believe her then pulls out her left front tooth, then he asks her what she did tell Jamie. He then attempts to pull her left incisor tooth out, but instead he breaks it by accident which angers Feinstone even more. Alan then painfully drills one of her bottom front teeth down to the nerve, and continues to drill so hard that the dental clamp holding her mouth slips out from the pressure he's applying. Then, out of a final act of desperation and what seems to be her only defense, she bites down hard on the drill causing it to lock up and jam inside her teeth. Infuriated, the mad dentist tells her he has a much better idea, and that he will cut the drill out of her mouth. She then screams, and the scene comes to a close.

Later that night Alan begins to have his obsessive-compulsive visions of germs and decay again after seeing his blood-stained uniform. Suddenly Brooke appears, and begins to seduce him into one of his chairs; just before she can cut his tongue off with a pair of scissors, Jamie knocks her out with an overhead lamp. However, as Jamie is calling the police about Brooke, she spots the bloody hatchet, and opens a closet door to find Robbie's and Beverley's maimed corpses.

Alan turns on Jamie and a fight ensues, with him chasing her to an upstairs bathroom and finally overpowering her. He takes her to an unfinished room in the office, which in his mind is spotless, germ-free and pure white, with opera music playing, and picks up an electric drill (which in his mind is a dental drill) and tries to drill her teeth. Jamie escapes and hides, until Brooke has revived and she and Jamie trap Alan in a hallway. Brooke lunges to stab him with a pair of scissors, but Jamie inadvertently hits her over the head with a 2x4, killing her.

Alan finds Jamie hiding behind some drywall, and after banter between the two, Jamie fires a nail gun repeatedly and hits him with numerous nails. Stunned, Alan walks downstairs into the midst of a surprise welcome party being given to him by the people of Paradise. Alan calmly exits out the front door, leaving the townpeople shocked and Jamie to recover from what just happened. Alan drives off into the night with numerous nails embedded in his head and shoulders. He begins to pull them out, using one as a toothpick for his cap which was lost in his fights with Jamie and Brooke, and maniacally laughs repeatedly.

17-year-old Pete Riley works as the assistant manager at the local 26-screen grand megaplex, a job that he loves and spends the majority of his time at. Rumor has it that the megaplex is haunted by a "phantom", someone who was trapped inside the old movie theater that was demolished to build the current megaplex. Pete, senior manager Shawn MacGibbon, the other employees, and an elderly member of the family who once owned the original theater known as "Movie Mason" (played by Mickey Rooney) who loves movies and thinks he works at the megaplex, are working to prepare the theater for the star-studded premiere of the new Hollywood blockbuster ''Midnight Mayhem''. Wolfgang Nedermayer, the owner of the megaplex, is to be among the guests. To Pete's disappointment, he is forced to bring along his younger siblings, 13-year-old Karen and 10-year-old Brian, to the theater while their widowed mother goes out on a date with her boyfriend George.

Pete dumps his siblings in a movie (which Karen ditches to see a horror movie with her friends) so he can focus on setting up for the premiere, but problems begin to pop up all through the megaplex. The other movies begin to suffer mishaps, which Karen and Brian realize are all related to the titles of the films being shown (for example, a theater showing a movie called ''Cyclone Summer'' has a giant fan moved in front of the screen, which blows everyone out of their seats). Pete, Karen, and Brian work together and discover that the rumored phantom is behind these acts of sabotage. Through online spoilers, Brian and Karen are able to learn the movie's plot, and Pete is able to stop the phantom from sabotaging the premiere. The phantom is revealed to be Shawn, who Nedermayer immediately fires; however, Shawn explodes with anger as he did all this so Nedermayer would finally notice him (and get his name right, since he never did). Shawn is then offered partnership by the director of ''Midnight Mayhem'' to make a movie based on his exploits—''Phantom of the Megaplex: The Shawn McGibbon Story''.

Nedermayer offers Pete the job of senior manager at the megaplex, something Pete has always wanted. Though Pete tells Nedermayer that he'd be honored, he turns down the job. Inspired by Karen and Brian from their help exposing Shawn as the phantom, Pete realizes the importance of his childhood and doesn't want to waste it anymore, asking for the rest of the night off; Nedermayer complies, giving Pete money to treat his girlfriend Caitlin Kerrigan to a nice breakfast after the film. George proposes to Julie, as per suggested by Brian who said a 4–star ending was needed to wrap things up. As everyone enters the movie theater, Movie Mason explains to Brian that he never once believed in the Phantom of the Megaplex; however, "the Werewolf of the Megaplex is another story." Both enter the theater as an employee, known for her horrifying tales, "Scary Terri" closes the doors as a wolf howl sounds.

A chef's spacecraft has crash-landed on an alien world and must escape.

Single mother Esma lives with her 12-year-old daughter Sara in post-war Sarajevo. Sara wants to go on a school field trip and her mother starts working as a waitress at a nightclub to earn the money for the trip.

Sara befriends Samir, who, like Sara, has no father. Both of their fathers allegedly died as war heroes. Samir is surprised to find out that Sara does not know the circumstances of her father's death. Samir's own father was killed by Serbian military near Žuč when he refused to leave the trench he was defending. Whenever Sara and her mother discuss this delicate topic, however, Esma's responses are always vague. The situation grows more complicated when students who can provide a certificate proving that they are the offspring of war heroes can go on the field trip for free. Esma explains to Sara that her father's corpse was never found and that she has no certificate. She promises to try to obtain the document. Secretly, however, Esma attempts to borrow the money Sara needs from her friend Sabina, her aunt and her boss.

Sara is haunted by a nagging feeling that something is not right. Shocked and bewildered when she discovers she is not mentioned as the child of a war hero on the list of pupils going on the school trip, Sara lashes out at Samir. At home, however, she confronts her mother and demands to know the truth. Esma breaks down and finally admits that she was raped at a prisoner camp and forced to have the child who resulted from this violation. Sara realizes she is the child of a Serbian soldier. This discovery brings her closer to her mother and helps overcome her trauma. In the end, Sara leaves for the field trip, not waving to her mother until the last moment. On the bus, the students start to sing a popular 70's song "Sarajevo, ljubavi moja" (eng. ''Sarajevo, My Love''), written and performed by Kemal Monteno, and Sara joins in.

Senior college student Katie Burke is struggling to deal with the stress of completing her thesis and succeeding in an upcoming rigorous interview process. To make matters even more complicated, Detective Wade Handler, a recovering alcoholic, reopens the two-year-old police investigation into the disappearance of her boyfriend, Embry Larkin. An orphaned young man of considerable means, Embry had purchased two tickets to Athens, Greece before his disappearance; the tickets had never been used and Embry's financial assets had not been touched since his disappearance. With the official reopening of the Larkin case, however, Katie begins to see Embry lurking around campus, seemingly stalking her.

Reporting this back to Detective Handler, who dismisses her as he believes Embry to be dead, Katie is not convinced but nevertheless returns to school. Falling asleep in the college library while studying, upon waking she finds a number carved into the wood of the desk. Upon investigation, she discovers it references a library book: ''The Inferno''. There she finds Embry staring back at her from the other side of the book stack.

Confiding these troubling events to her friends, most notably her roommate Samantha, Katie learns that during her relationship with Embry, he had acted extremely jealous and even violent toward another of Katie's admirers, Harrison, for whom Katie held only platonic feelings. Shortly thereafter, Harrison seemingly disappears from campus. Convinced that Embry is responsible, Katie confronts him at a local restaurant, only to be asked to meet him at his family's country house.

Once at the Larkin family's country house, however, a violent confrontation ensues between Katie and Embry. Fleeing from the house and finding comfort in Handler, Katie begins an affair with the detective which spurs her to complete her thesis. With Handler closing the investigation, citing that Embry Larkin was indeed alive, and resigning from his job as a detective, he and Katie plan on temporarily retreating to Handler's cabin in New Hampshire. Meanwhile, however, Handler learns from a forensic expert that a note which had supposedly only recently been written by Embry to Katie was, in fact, two years old.

Waiting for Handler on campus, Katie is once again attacked by Embry, who promises to find her wherever she goes before running off. Informing Handler of her encounter with Embry, Katie asks him if the two of them can just leave, but Handler insists on putting a stop to Embry's threats. Following Katie's direction to where Embry ran off, Handler and Katie venture into Embry's former dormitory, which is now abandoned due to the building's derelict structure. As they walk into one of the building's old tunnels, a former spot for Katie and Embry's trysts, Katie begins to interact with Embry, but Handler sees no one.

Through flashbacks, Katie and Embry have been in the same location two years prior, with Embry cruelly breaking up with her and calling off their planned trip to Greece. It is subsequently revealed that as a repercussion of her father's abandonment of her at a young age, Katie possesses severe psychotic tendencies surrounding abandonment. Distraught over Embry's disposal of her, Katie picks up a rock and strikes him from behind repeatedly, killing him.

Attempting to reason with Katie before telling her she cannot come with him to New Hampshire, Handler takes notice of something at the bottom of the water. Realizing that it is the skeleton of Embry Larkin, Handler is suddenly struck from behind and falls into the water, echoing Embry's murder two years prior. The epilogue reveals that the dormitory is to be demolished for the construction of a new structure on the site, thus cementing the permanent disappearance of Embry Larkin and Wade Handler.

Katie Burke has graduated, and finally gets the job she has always wanted. But co-worker Robert Hanson informs her that he has been promoted and that their relationship must end; a familiar look passes over Katie's face.

The plot opens some time after the Moon Wars, where things for the original cast have taken a turn for the worse. The main character and pilot of Getter-1, Ryōma Nagare, has been framed for the murder of the Getter Machine builder Dr. Saotome after the death of Saotome's daughter, Michiru. However, he is released from jail and is reunited on Earth—unhappily—with his old allies, Hayato Jin and Musashi Tomoe, to fight none other than Dr. Saotome himself, who has seemingly risen from the grave to threaten humanity with his ultimate creation—and most dangerous weapon, the Shin Getter Dragon. The Shin Getter Dragon is a massive weapon powered by the same cosmic Getter Rays which gave life to their machines. However, their efforts to stop Dr. Saotome (not to mention an overzealous Japanese Defense Force), are in vain, as nuclear weapons are used on Shin Dragon.

The resulting explosion and shock wave of Getter Rays wipes out 99% of the human population worldwide. Thirteen years after this catastrophe, as humanity clings desperately to life, the re-emerged extraterrestrial invaders threaten planet Earth once more. The only safeguard against this alien threat is a giant robot that emerges from the wreckage of the nuclear blast—Shin Getter Robo—piloted by an artificially created human named Gō. With the help of Hayato's Super Robot Army and Gō's co-pilots Kei and Gai, Shin Getter fights to keep humanity's dreams alive.

Later, Ryōma returns piloting the Black Getter Robo to aid the new Getter team against Dr. Saotome, who returns with Stinger and Cowen when Shin Getter Dragon re-activates and continues its evolution. It was also revealed that Kei was Dr. Saotome's younger daughter and Michiru's younger sister, who was adopted by Benkei. Soon the invaders put their true plan into action by transforming Jupiter into a Getter Ray Sun and Ganymede, one of its moons, would soon go on a collision course with Earth, prompting both the old and new Getter teams to spring into action to save the planet.

In 1969, three high school footballers tried to drug and kidnap their homecoming dance dates. Their plan works with two girls, but the third, Mary Banner, tries to escape. The football captain chases her into a storage room and punches her, knocking her out. Unable to revive her nor hear her heartbeat, he believes Mary to be dead. Panicking, he locks her body in an old trunk.

Thirty-five years later, in 2004, three teenagers, Samantha (Sam), Mindy and Natalie, jokingly conjure up Bloody Mary during a sleepover, and the next morning all three are gone. After having been missing for one day, they reappear, waking up in an old deserted mill, with no knowledge of how they got there. While most suspect a hoax on the girls' part, Sam and her brother, David, suspect that it is a prank by their school's football players in retaliation for a school newspaper article written by Sam.

While visions of a dead girl bleeding from her head haunt Sam, several pupils die under mysterious circumstances resembling urban legends; football player Roger burns in a sunbed. Heather, the girlfriend of football captain Buck, has spiders erupt from her cheek, driving her to cut her face with a mirror. Football player, Tom, is electrocuted while urinating on an old electrical fence, his ring finger being bitten or cut off. Buck blames these deaths on the Owens siblings. Before her death, Heather made up with Sam and tried to tell her that this had happened before. In her homework, Sam finds notes sent to Heather about the disappearance of Mary Banner and the homecoming kidnappings of 1969. Browsing the school paper's archives, they find out that Mary was never found and is presumed dead, another victim committed suicide in 1982, and the third, Grace Taylor, still lives in town.

They visit Grace, who claims that Mary, or rather, her "life force", is exacting revenge on the children of the five people involved in the kidnappings but cannot (or will not) reveal the names of the perpetrators. While Sam is prone to believe her, David remains skeptical and thinks Grace is the killer. While sneaking around in Grace's house, he also found out that Grace produced or collected artwork on Urban Legends and identifies Grace as the originator of the notes sent to Heather. The siblings go to warn Buck, who admits that he and his mates orchestrated Samantha's disappearance and blames her for the death of his friends. He also reveals that his father, the football coach, was one of the kidnappers in 1969 but did not hurt Mary. Sam, however, suspects that the coach was the one that killed Mary as she saw him put flowers on her headstone earlier.

Meanwhile, an upset Buck tries to relax by drinking and watching a film in a motel. Falling asleep, he wakes up after hearing a dripping sound and discovers the corpse of his dog. A demonic Mary, who crawls out from under his bed, kills Buck with his broken whiskey bottle containing Tom's finger. Different rumours about his death spread immediately.

David visits Grace, who still refuses to reveal the names but directs him to the school archives. Going through the archives, he discovers the identity of the fifth person and rushes home, but finds Sam gone and is suffocated by a hooded figure. Meanwhile, Sam has visions of Mary again, revealing that the girl was not dead when she was locked in the trunk and that she later awoke, realizing she was buried alive. The visions also reveal to Sam the whereabouts of the trunk. Sam visits Grace, who tells her to find and bury Mary's corpse and reluctantly agrees to drive Sam to the school. While Grace is waiting in the van, Sam finds the storage room and the trunk with Mary's decayed corpse. The hooded figure also appears and enters the storage room but Sam locks him inside while carrying Mary's remains outside to the van.

Finding Grace unconscious, Sam drives the van to the cemetery, where she begins to dig a grave for Mary under her headstone. Her stepfather, whom Sam had phoned, also appears and helps her dig. He suddenly hits Sam with the shovel. Grace intervenes and tries to fight off Mr. Owens (Whom Grace recognizes and calls by his name) but he eventually knocks Grace out. Pursuing his stepdaughter through the graveyard, Bill Owens reveals that he was the one that locked Mary in the trunk and that he also killed his stepson (Sam's brother), David. He finally captures her and is about to decapitate her with the shovel when Mary appears in her living form. Smiling towards Sam, she kisses Bill, then reverts to her ghostly form and drags him with her into the grave.

When Sam wakes up, the grave is surrounded by police and medical personnel retrieving her stepfather's corpse. She and Grace are bandaged and treated for their wounds, and they sit consoling one another.

In January 2009, Sam Fisher, a former NSA agent-turned-fugitive, sneaks into a Washington, D.C. cemetery where his daughter, Sarah, who has been recently killed in a car accident, is buried. Fisher is arrested at this grave site, taken into custody and interrogated at the NSA's headquarters in Fort Meade, Maryland. During this time, Sam recalls past events, that are then played as missions.

In the end, Sam admits that he did kill his Third Echelon handler, Colonel Irving Lambert. In the final mission, Sam steals the evidence and escapes from the NSA headquarters where he was being held.

The novels concern the adventures of Sigismundo Celine, an ancestor of the Hagbard Celine character from the ''Illuminatus! Trilogy'', as he blunders through Europe and America during the Enlightenment, constantly fighting to escape becoming a part of history.

In the first book, Sigismundo is an adolescent in Naples, Italy, where his uncle introduces him to the teaching of the Freemasons. In the second book Sigismundo has been banished from Naples because of a lovers' duel. He lives in Paris and is taken captive twice. The first time he is imprisoned in the Bastille, from which he escapes using Masonic techniques of concentration to help distract himself from the pain involved in climbing down from his tower. The second time Sigismundo is imprisoned by a more mysterious group of captors, who seek to convince him that he is a descendant of Jesus Christ. In the third book, Sigismundo finds himself in further exile, in the wilderness of North America.

The main plot focuses on Shrek and his friends attempting to help Donkey put the Dronkeys to sleep in order to watch ''Survivor: Sherwood Forest'' together at the Dragon's Keep. When one of the Dronkeys inadvertently destroys the family's storybook, the group takes turns creating their own stories. After telling enough stories, the Dronkeys do fall asleep only to be woken up after Shrek yells at the game's announcer for talking too much in the epilogue.

After fleeing from her abusive stepfather, Nola (Emmy Rossum) travels to New York City searching for her biological father. She spends her first night sleeping in Central Park, but her luck changes when she is hired by the owner of a small diner. She ends up staying with the frycook/law school student Ben (James Badge Dale) until the real owner of the diner, Ben's landlady Margaret (Mary McDonnell), hires Nola as her assistant for her escort service.

Things go well at the escort service until Niles, a billionaire client of Margaret's service, has a bad session. Niles likes to receive rough physical activity from men cross-dressing as women, but only to a point. Wendy, one of Niles's favorites, went a little too far and sent Niles into a rage. Niles demands Margaret rough Wendy up or else he will have it done, along with inducing the police to investigate the escort service. Nola attempts to help by making up Wendy to look battered and bruised, documenting it with photos, then sending her out of the country until Niles can calm down. Niles's informants spot Wendy, no longer wearing the bruise makeup, trying to flee. Niles responds by arranging a subpoena for Margaret to appear before a grand jury and calling Nola directly, threatening her by revealing detailed information about her upbringing.

Further events lead Nola closer to finding her real father, but not without the help of a journalist (Steven Bauer), who is in need of a story on escort services.

In the future, Earth is recovering from the devastating Robot Wars. Most of humanity lives on the Moon in a domed city called New Washington. They depend on the anti-radiation drug Raddic-Q2 from the distant planet Delta 3. A cargo ship carrying the drug crashes into the dome with disastrous results. Colony leader, Senator Smedley, and science advisor Dr. John Caball, try to contact Nikki, the leader of Delta 3. They find that Omus, the Robot Master (also Caball's former apprentice), has declared himself emperor. Having crashed the cargo ship on purpose, Omus demands the colony's obedience or else he will invade with robots.

Smedley refuses to comply. Caball suggests launching an armed advanced starship called the ''Starstreak'' against Omus. Smedley says that the ship has yet to be tested. Caball boards regardless and, before, launch, exposes himself to deadly radiation from the ship's reactor room. With no time left to obtain radiation drugs, Caball calls for his son Jason to help him pilot the ship. Tagging along are Smeldey's daughter Kim, and Sparks, a teleporting pilot robot from the cargo ship. They will steal the ''Starstreak'' and head to Delta 3.

While in space, a malfunction forces the ''Starstreak'' to stop at Earth. While Caball conducts repairs, Jason and Kim explore in hopes of locating Caball's friend Charley. Small figures that stalk them in the woods. Jason finds Charley dead. Kim has disappeared. Jason and Sparks find her with a group of harmless children who survived the Robot Wars. With more pressing matters to attend to, Jason leave the kids behind with food, but promises to return once their mission is complete.

On Delta 3, Nikki has formed a resistance force. They will try to retake the planet's Citadel from Omus and his robots. The ''Starstreak'' enters a dangerous gravity vortex in space. The crew escape the storm. Delta 3 conveniently appears before them. On the planet, the crew finds Nikki and her people. Robots surround the heroes. A hologram of Omus appears. He has Caball brought before him. Jason and the others sneak inside the Citadel.

Omus shows off his latest achievements to his old mentor. He turned the mining robots into shock troopers. Unimpressed, Caball tries to talk Omus into giving up his plan to control humanity. Omus refuses to listen. He dons a transparent helmet where he shows Caball another creation: a spinning disco ball-like device that drives Caball mad with pain and then kills him.

At Omus' chambers, Jason finds his father murdered. Kim reveals that Caball had severe radiation sickness and was terminally ill anyway. Furious, Jason confronts Omus, whose robots take him prisoner. Thanks to Sparks, all the robots turn on their master and run out of control. Jason and the others flee the control room. Sparks has teleported to one of Omus' cargo ships and taken over the main computer system. The robot frenzy overloads critical systems and explosions rip through the Citadel. Sparks escapes in the cargo ship. The others make it back to the ''Starstreak'' and lift off. Omus sits in his control room as his citadel explodes around him. The destruction of the Citadel causes the whole planet to explode. The last scene shows the two ships returning to Earth, with the cargo ship hauling a supply of Raddic-Q2.

The plot revolves around sixteen-year-old Barbara MacLane, a girl in the suburbs of San Francisco grappling with disappointing romantic prospects, her worries about not being accepted into the University of California, Berkeley, and the fact that she will never catch up to her sister, Rosemary, who is two years older (and a student at Berkeley).

Barbara's feeling of being left in the dust by her sister only intensifies when Rosemary calls home and suddenly announces that she will marry her college sweetheart, Greg. Although this news comes as an unexpected and less-than-pleasant shock to their parents, Barbara becomes enthralled with the romantic details of the wedding, and promptly decides that if she is to be caught up to Rosemary in two years, she needs to step up her search for a boyfriend. Her two potential prospects are Tootie Bodger (Robin to his folks), a tall and rather gloomy trombone player who is more fond of Barbara than she is of him, and Bill Cunningham, a handsome classmate with a Vespa whom Barbara woos with homemade cookies (this somewhat misfires, as he comes to think of her as the "domestic" type and tries to get her to mend a shirt he ripped). Tootie is presented as plodding yet thoughtful, while Bill is conversely dashing but thoughtless.

However, as the stresses of Rosemary's wedding begin to pile up (tension between the lower-middle-class MacLanes and Greg's wealthy parents; the cost of the wedding and the short time frame granted to plan it in; and the sacrifices Rosemary and Greg must make (such as becoming landlords of a dumpy tenement to save on rent), Barbara begins to think that maybe she's not ready to live the life of a serious adult just yet.

At Rosemary's wedding, the sisters' elderly grandmother offers Barbara a bit of advice: "Have a good time while you are young," which Barbara apparently means to follow, focusing less on finding a special sweetheart and more on enjoying socializing with a variety of company and friends.

Category:American young adult novels Category:1963 American novels Category:Novels by Beverly Cleary Category:Novels set in San Francisco Category:University of California, Berkeley Category:1963 children's books

In the novel the nine men are the embodiment of good and face up against nine Kali worshippers, who sow confusion and masquerade as the true sages. The story surrounds a priest called Father Cyprian who is seeking possession of the books but who wants to destroy them out of Christian piety, and a number of other characters who are interested in learning their contents.

Written by Tsugano Kafū and Chikamtsu Yasuzō, the ''Hiko-san Gongen chikai no sukedachi'' was first performed as a ''ningyō jōruri'' play in 1786. It gained popularity and was adopted as a kabuki play in the next year. It was set in the Azuchi-Momoyama period, when Toyotomi Hideyoshi was about to reunify Japan:

Yoshioka Ichimisai, a sword instructor to the Kōri (Mōri) clan, is killed with a sneak attack by Kyōgoku Takumi. His widow Okō and daughters Osono and Okiku swear revenge on him. However, Okiku is killed by Kyōgoku Takumi and her young son Yasamatsu disappears.

Around the same time, Rokusuke goes into mourning for his late mother in a mountainous village named Keya (Keya-mura). He lives a quiet life in the countryside as a farmer although he is a skilled swordmaster. In fact he was a student of Yoshioka Ichimisai. His skill is so famous that the local ruler has proclaimed that anyone who defeats Rokusuke would be hired as a sword instructor. Rokusuke is visited by a rōnin who styles himself Mijin Danjō but is Kyōgoku Takumi in disguise. Holding an elderly woman on his back to raise sympathy, Mijin Danjō asks Rokusuke to help him become a swordmaster. Rokusuke accepts his request and deliberately loses a match.

On his return, Rokusuke finds Yasamatsu without knowing that he is the grandson of his late teacher. He hangs the boy's kimono outside his house hoping that his family will see it. He is visited by an elderly woman, and then by a woman disguised as a traveling priest. She sees the kimono and misidentifies Rokusuke as the enemy. He fends off her fierce attack, and then Yasamatsu identifies her as his aunt Osono. She suddenly becomes very feminine and claims to be his wife, which is a highlight of the play. Then the elderly woman reveals her identify as the swordmaster's widow. Later he is visited by a woodman who asks for a revenge for the killing of his mother. It turns out that the woman brought by Mijin Danjō was the woodman's mother, not Mijin Danjō's. Osono identifies Mijin Danjō as Kyōgoku Takumi, and Rokusuke decides to help their revenge.

Rokusuke is refused to make a match against Mijin Danjō because of his humble state. He becomes a retainer of Katō Kiyomasa after demonstrating his incredible power and skills by a series of sumō matches. He is given the name of Kida Magobee (貴田孫兵衛). Now as a samurai, he challenges Mijin Danjō to a match and successfully defeats him. The play ends with Katō Kiyomasa's departure to the Korean campaign.

Otis Spofford is a young boy with a propensity for causing trouble. He is an only child and he lives with his mother. One of the reasons why Otis likes to cause trouble is because he yearns to make life more exciting. Unfortunately, his behavior means that he does not have any close friends and his classmates are reluctant to form close bonds with him. The book is also about how Otis torments his classmate, Ellen Tebbits. He annoys her because she performs well in school and exhibits excellent behavior. Thus, Ellen is often the victim of Otis's bad behavior.

Each chapter revolves around a prank of Otis's, which often backfires. In one instance, he sabotages the class's science project, which consists of feeding cafeteria food to one rat and bread and soda to another, and monitoring their growth. Otis feeds the underfed rat himself, hoping that it will get soda pop served in the cafeteria. His teacher, Mrs. Gitler, becomes wise to this and tries to get the culprit to confess. Otis opens his mouth and is stunned when Ellen steps forward. Ellen was secretly feeding the rat as well. Subsequently, it is Ellen who is allowed to take the rat home at the experiment's end, much to Otis's displeasure (although she gives it to him when her mother will not allow her to keep it).

Otis's pranks are typically innocuous, such as firing spitballs in class. Near the end of the book he finally "gets his comeuppance," as Mrs. Gitler has long predicted. In order to impress his classmates on a dare, he cuts off a chunk of Ellen's hair, which she had been painstakingly trying to grow "long enough for pigtails". This act turns nearly the entire class against him, and for the first time Otis does not relish the attention he receives from his actions. Otis eventually feels bad about what he did to Ellen when she bursts into tears and flees the classroom.

Ellen and her best friend Austine manage an act of retribution by stealing Otis's shoes while he is skating at the pond, forcing him to walk home in his ice skates. The two girls later accost a dejected Otis on the steps of his apartment and offer him his shoes in exchange for an apology to Ellen, and a promise that he will stop pestering her. Otis concedes, but only after the girls are leaving reveals he had two fingers crossed behind his back the entire time.

The story differs somewhat from the other volumes of the cycle in being less a detective story and more a surrealistic tale of a racial apocalypse in America. The story hinges on the efforts of community leader Tomsson Black to stir up racial tension in Harlem in order to force a radical change in race relations. The novel begins as a hardboiled detective story, then, when the characters' revolt begins, transitions to apocalyptic fiction.

''Lair'' takes place in a world threatened by numerous emerging volcanoes, causing much of the land to be destroyed and the air to be polluted. As a result, people native to the world divided themselves into two kingdoms: the Mokai, whose lands are arid and depleted of resources, and the seemingly noble Asylians, who live in one of the last remaining bountiful, green areas. Desperate to gain the Asylians' land, the Mokai attack the Asylians from the rear. The spiritual leader of the Asylians, the Diviner, preaches that the Mokai are pagans and savages, defying abominations to the will of God, but the Mokai are truly a misunderstood people, hanging on to survival and only attacked the Asylians out of desperation for food (their attacks focused on their granaries).

The game mainly revolves around the pursuits of Rohn, one of the Burners (dragon-riders) Sky Guards (the air force-based military). At first Rohn adopts the feeling of hatred towards the Mokai the Asylians have but over the course of the story begins to have more sympathy towards this misunderstood people.

The leader of the Mokai, General Atta-Kai, approaches the Guardians of Asylia (three individuals with ruling power in Asylia) in peace to ensure the survival of both people. The Diviner, in an act to maintain his power over his people, has Loden, one of the Asylia's Sky Guards assassinate Atta-Kai, one of the guardians and the Sky Guard Captain, Talan, prolonging the war between the two people and capturing Atta-Kai's Blood Dragon in the process. After witnessing the assassinations of both Atta-Kai and Captain Talan, Rohn begins having second thoughts about Asylia's attitude towards the Mokai and releases Atta-Kai's dragon from Loden, thus putting Rohn on thin ice with Loden, the new captain of the Sky Guards.

Loden leads a massive air strike on the Mokai City, bombing the city and attacking what Loden thought to be an armory, but was actually a temple where the women and children had sheltered themselves from the attacks. Rohn is devastated when he discovers the victims and defies Loden, who declares Rohn an enemy of Asylia and delivers near fatal blows to both Rohn and Rohn's Plains Dragon. Rohn's dragon, in an attempt to save Rohn's life, carries him into a desert in Mokai territory but dies in the process from the wound Loden delivered.

Rohn soon reunites with Atta-Kai's Blood Dragon, who adopts Rohn as its new rider. While searching the desert for water, Rohn and the dragon discover the elder of the Mokai, Ren-Kai, under attack from a Spider Wasp, which the two slay. Ren reveals that some of the Mokai managed to survive the bombings and are hiding out in the desert and Rohn helps protect them from Asylian attacks. Ren, knowing that the Mokai people need a new leader, asks Rohn to rescue General Atta-Kai's son, Koba-Kai, who is imprisoned in Asylia. Both Rohn and Koba-Kai defend the Mokai people from further attacks and acquire a small fleet of Asylian ships. The Mokai launch an attack on the Asylians and reclaim Mokai City. After the battle a group of Asylian Burners arrive and submit themselves to the Mokai. Among them is Jevin, Rohn's best friend, who informs Rohn that the remaining two Guardians were executed by the Diviner and that some of the Sky Guard had defected from the Diviner's rule over Asylia and were imprisoned in the Maelstrom (an Asylian prison situated within a dimensional vortex).

Knowing they would need reinforcements, Rohn and Koba-Kai lead an attack on the Maelstrom to free the Burners imprisoned there. During the rescue Rohn battles Loden, who rides a powerful species of gorilla-like dragon called the Bull Dragon. Loden attempts to kill the fleeing prisoners by flinging enormous boulders from the Maelstrom's gravitational pull onto the prison but Rohn intervenes and kills Loden and succeeds in rescuing the imprisoned burners. The combined forces of Mokai and defected Burners charges towards Asylia, battle the Diviner's forces, prevent the volcanoes from erupting and kill the Diviner. During the battle Koba-Kai is shot down by the Diviner's forces. After the battle Rohn finds him and Koba-Kai comments on how beautiful the sunsets in Asylia are, Rohn goes on to say that the new world that the Asylians and Mokai were to build together would never be the same, to which Koba-Kai replied "Let us hope not," before dying. Rohn asks Atta-Kai's Blood Dragon to carry Koba-Kai's body home, afterwards Ren approaches Rohn and tells him that his people are waiting.

Nathan 'Nat' Field is a young boy from Greenville, North Carolina. He was recruited by Arby, a diligent play producer (who can come off rude), to join the Company of boys. They intend on reenacting A Midsummer's Night's Dream and Julius Caesar in London, at the re-built Globe theatre, just as they had done in Shakespeare's time. He is chosen to be Puck in a Midsummer Night's Dream and Pindarus in Julius Caesar. As he was going to their first rehearsal he feels odd and can smell some foul stench. He returns to the house in which he was staying with a family and he feels ill and goes to bed early. He wakes up in a different room with a boy he doesn't recognise talking to him in a heavy Elizabethan accent. He says he thought he had the plague and is relieved to see him better. He realises he travelled back 400 years in time, to the year 1599, when the Globe Theatre was first built. He meets William Shakespeare and acts with him in the play he had rehearsed for in his own time, and experiences theater as it was originally intended. Before he knows it, he is back in the hospital bed, awake and unsure whether what he experienced was real. Later, Rachel Levin and Gil Warmun, his co-actors from the present time, try to find out who he was 400 years ago.

Synopsis

'''Nathan Field''', a talented young actor, arrives at the newly rebuilt Globe theatre in London to play '''Puck''' in '''A''' '''Midsummer's Night's dream''. As rehearsals begin, eerie echoes of the past begin to haunt Nat and he falls ill with a mysterious sickness. When he wakes, Nat finds himself in '''1599''', an actor at the original '''Globe''' - and his co-star is none other than the King of Shadows himself: '''William Shakespeare'''. Nat's new life is full of excitement, danger, and the passionate friendship that he has longed for since the tragic death of his parents. But why has he been sent to the past - and is he trapped there forever?

The game is set before the events of ''Lilo & Stitch'', with 626 being known as a galactic fugitive before he was put on trial.

The game begins with Jumba Jookiba showcasing his latest experiment: 626, who is proven to be superior compared to other experiments such as 621. Jumba assigned 626 to collect enough DNA from the world of the Greemas to create his 700 series of experiments. This caught the attention of the evil Dr. Habbitrale, a rival of Jumba who's been mutating Greemas. Dr. Habbitrale used a gigantic mech to squish 626 before he was sent out through the airlock inside a hamster ball.

Now that the 700 experiments are complete, 626 decides to get more DNA to power teleportation devices and get the United Galactic Federation soldiers out of Jumba's lab. As 626 felt that his quest for collecting DNA is complete, he and Jumba saw 621 putting himself and the DNA in the mutator to prove his superiority. As a result, it enlarged 621 with a deformed body. After 626 defeats 621, Captain Gantu arrives and arrests the three.

Inside the prison, 626 was hired by Jumba to rescue his creator and get inside Captain Gantu's ship. Inside the shaft of the ship, he encountered Gantu and defeated him.

Characters

Stitch (then named Experiment 626) serves as the main protagonist and playable character of the video game.

The game is notable for introducing another experiment: 621, who is jealous over 626 being the superior experiment. The character's name that either Lilo or another character would later give him (Chopsuey) was later revealed in ''Leroy & Stitch'' (2006). However, this game remains the character's only physical appearance in the ''Lilo & Stitch'' franchise.

While escaping Nazis during World War II, a Jewish man buries in the ground two suitcases full of things dear to his heart. The war deprived him of his family and afterwards he endlessly turns over the soil of Antwerp to find the suitcases. It's an obsessive compulsion. He keeps checking old maps and keeps digging, trying to find what he lost. His daughter Chaya is a beautiful, modern girl looking for a part-time job. She finds a place as a nanny in a strictly observant Hasidic family with many children, although her secular manners clearly fly in the face of their beliefs. One of the reasons she is accepted is that the mother of the family is absolutely overburdened by the household, so Chaya stays despite the resistance of the father, who is normally the indisputable authority in the family.

She develops a special bond with the youngest of the boys, four-year-old Simcha, who seems incapable of speaking. While walking in the park she encourages him to speak and it appears that, after some coaching from Chaya (who needs coaching herself), during the upcoming Passover Seder Simcha will be able to chant the section of the Haggadah usually reserved for the youngest speaking participant - the Four Questions.

At first, Simcha's nerves prevent him from chanting, and his brothers begin to chant instead. Simcha finally lifts his voice. The entire family, including Chaya, applauds his efforts, but his judgmental father does not recognize this great step but, instead, criticizes the boy for a mistake. Chaya confronts the father and, in the process, discovers his own pain as a Holocaust survivor and begins to understand her own parents' grief.

The anti-Semitic superintendent of the building is a constant problem for the entire family and now for Chaya. However, as opposed to the observant Jews, she refuses to be a victim and does not put up with his anti-Semitic tricks. She fights him, thus exciting the children's admiration and father's wrath.

Unfortunately, walks with Simcha end in a tragedy: after sneaking to the park, he drowns in the pond while chasing the ducks he loved so much. Some in the community hold Chaya responsible for his death. However, in a scene where Chaya goes to the family's mourning service, the mother feels compassion for Chaya and realizes that Chaya felt a deep connection with Simcha. As an act of acceptance, his mother rips Chaya's shirt, which is a sign of a mourner (a sibling, parent, child or spouse of the deceased) in Jewish tradition.

The boy's father finally, albeit silently, acknowledges Chaya's connection with Simcha when she observes the graveside service.

Chaya's experience allows her to finally accept her parents' past and to embrace her own Jewishness.

The film is a commentary not only on external (gentile) anti-Semitism, but also on the lack of connection and self-acceptance of assimilated Jews.

The game is based on the current story arc from the comics at the time of development. The plot is narrated through the Cerebro and Professor X's communication with each other. Cerebro detects that the technorganic alien race known as the Phalanx have returned and have contaminated a sentinel manufacturing facility. Learning this, Professor X sends the X-Men (Beast, Psylocke, Gambit, Nightcrawler, Wolverine, and Cyclops) to destroy the Phalanx virus, but discovers that the virus has spread to Avalon, home of Exodus and Magneto. Magneto then allies with the X-Men in preventing the Phalanx from taking control of Earth by assimilating all of its inhabitants. They trace the Phalanx to Apocalypse's facility, where he has allowed the virus to spread. After defeating him, they leave to the Savage Land where they defeat a Phalanx clone of Brainchild who was overseeing the assimilation. They continue to the Phalanx ship where they are attacked by Deathbird, and then proceed to the clone factory and the Nexus before confronting Phalanx clones of themselves.

The anonymous main character must track down the wanted outlaw himself, eliminating any and all gang members and hostiles along the way; from the introduction, one can conclude that he or she will be up against renegade Indians, ''banditos'' and "Mad Dog's sleazy crew".

The player proceeds through the game, first by taking a preparatory shooting lesson with a stagecoach driver – played by Ben Zeller, who appeared in the role of the prospector in the original game – and then by choosing one of three guides: Buckskin Bonnie, the Professor and Shooting Beaver. Each guide takes the player along a different, unique route, but they converge in the game's final shootouts, which take place inside a moving train and in Mad Dog's hideout; the latter scene is especially lengthy and culminates with a showdown with McCree himself.

However, hunting down and defeating the infamous gunfighter is not the player's only goal; Mad Dog has hidden a chest full of treasure in his hideout and it is up to the player to get it back from him. At times, the player will discover that the treasure chest is full of sand and obviously does not contain the "lost gold". However, this scene does not always occur unless the player has reached the end using more than one credit; furthermore, the sand scene does not appear on the CD-i or DVD versions of the game.

The game is set in a Hollywood version of 1930s Chicago, where one plays a private detective that has been hired to find out who murdered a nightclub singer named Johnny Rock. The player must attempt to reach Johnny Rock's killer, shooting villains and interrogating individuals. The game takes the player through the gangs of four gangsters with suggestive names - Measles, Mumps, Smallpox, and Lockjaw Lil, each of whom knew Rock and are suspects in his murder - and locations such as a warehouse, a pool hall, a garage and a casino.

The player assumes the role of a star ranger (as in all American Laser Games releases except ''Who Shot Johnny Rock?'', the player character's name is not given, and he is referred to throughout the game as "Star Ranger") who picks up and responds to a transmission by Ursula Skye, the commander of a starship called Colonial Star One. The SOS call lets the star ranger know that the ship has been invaded by an evil group called the Black Brigade, led by Captain Talon. As the entire colony on board the ship is in danger, the player answers the distress call. Following a short target practice tutorial, consisting of shooting at fast-moving asteroids, the player heads out to the Black Dragon to defeat the space pirates.

After the star ranger succeeds in freeing the captives aboard, including Commander Skye, the next task is to find and assemble the Star-Splitter Cannon, which, aside from its main component, requires three crystals to work: the Aqua Blue, the Crimson Red and the Emerald Green. Each of the components can be found on a separate planet, bringing the total of planets the player can visit in any order up to four. However, the crystals must be placed in the weapon in a specific order, which is given to the star ranger by Commander Skye. On the four planets, the star ranger encounters heavy opposition, but once the elements are collected, the final task is to destroy the Black Dragon with the Star-Splitter Cannon, then eliminating its captain.

During World War II in Ukraine, 1944, the remnants of the 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking are fleeing from The Red Army. They seek shelter in an abandoned cabin, but as darkness falls they are attacked by vampires inhabiting a hidden crypt under the cabin.

In present-day Sweden, doctor Annika and her teenage daughter Saga are moving to a town in Lappland, so Annika can work close to the famous geneticist Gerhard Beckert. The polar night has begun, with one month until dawn, much to Saga's dismay.

Saga finds a friend in the enigmatic goth girl Vega, who invites her to a party. Saga decides to go, having nothing better to do. At the local hospital, the medical student Sebastian finds some pills which Beckert has been using to treat a comatose patient. Sebastian thinks the pills are drugs and tries them. Rather than getting high, he starts to develop acute hearing and improved vision, is able to talk to dogs and tormented by extreme thirst. Vega shows up at Sebastian's house to pick up the drugs she paid him to provide for the party. Sebastian tells her he has forgotten to get them, but as Sebastian rushes to meet his girlfriend Cornelia's parents, Vega finds the pills and steals them.

At the hospital, Annika looks after the coma patient, who suddenly bites her. Annika looks to Beckert for aid, but he knocks her unconscious when he realises what has happened. It turns out that Beckert is the last survivor of the massacred platoon who, after a showdown in the cabin, was left the only survivor along with a child vampire named Maria. Beckert brought Maria to northern Sweden with the intention to create a cure for vampirism, but he eventually changed direction to create a new species of human-vampire hybrids. The pills are capsules of vampire blood Beckert has used to covertly spread and study vampirism. Annika manages to free herself and fight off Beckert who turns into a monstrous vampire form. Annika drives a stake into Beckert's heart and runs him over with an ambulance, destroying him.

Vega gives the pills to John - the party host - who consumes a pill. John puts the remainder in a bowl of punch to liven up the party, unwittingly infecting multiple guest including Vega. John eventually turns into a vampire and starts mauling his guests. As others succumb to vampirism, the party turns into a bloodbath. Saga hides in the basement, but is attacked by Vega. Saga manages to escape into the backyard, followed by Vega. Saga impales Vega on a garden gnome, who disgruntledly complains about her undignified death. The police arrive to investigate noise complaints (the neighbours mistake the vampires for drug users), and are soon overrun by the vampires. Saga is driven off in an ambulance as the vampires surround the police. John taunts them by saying ''Don't worry. This will be over any minute. Dawn is... just a month away!''

In the ambulance Saga encounters Maria who tells her that they will be sisters. As Saga looks to the driver seat she sees Annika looking back with red vampire eyes.

The book concerns the struggle of Shan Frankland, a police officer in the year 2376, to cope with biological changes that have been made to her body by an alien species.

The Bezeri are no more. The effects of the cobalt-salted nuclear weapons have had devastating effects on their population and has wiped them out completely. Aras and the rest of the Wess'Har have a strong desire to see those responsible punished. They have already destroyed the ''Actaeon'' and its crew that refused to abandon ship. Those who did are now the occupants of the habitat called Umeh Station on the planet Umeh, as it is called by the Isenj who live there. Aras is battling his conflicting loyalties and genetics. Part of him wants to blame Bennett for Shan's death as he was involved and another part recognizes that Bennett now shares genes with himself and Shan. Aras and Bennett take a trip to the transplanted colony from Constantine, now called Mar'an'cas. Aras feels the need to see the Garrod family and see to the colony's well-being. He finds, unsurprisingly, that he is no longer welcome. They admit him as they do not have the force to stop him but they make their feelings clear.

Eddie Michallat is increasingly becoming more involved in the politics of the different worlds interacting. He is friends with the Isenj Minister Ual; who is finding that as he fights to preserve his world from the potential wrath of Eqbas Vorhi, so Umeh seems intent on its own destruction. He is inescapably bound to Wess'ej as tries to honor the memory of Shan Frankland and her sacrifices for everyone involved and his growing friendship with Aras, Bennett and the Wess'Har community. He still is a reporter at heart but that seems to be changing as his conscience affects his decisions for stories more and more. The information he provides now has the power to create war on Earth and the realization is sobering. Eddie decides to tell the real reasons for the destruction of Christopher, the death of Shan Frankland and also of the coming of the World Before and its possible ramifications, to the people of Earth. The Wess'Har have demanded the delivery of Mohan Rayat and Lindsay Neville. Minister Ual has been told by his government that they will only do so only if the Destroyer of Mjat (name given to Aras for the destruction of the Isenj city on Bezer'ej) is turned over to them. Ual, knowing that the Wess'Har do not negotiate, has decided to oppose his government by secretly allying with Eddie and the Royal Marines at Umeh Station to capture Neville and Rayat and turn them over to the Wess'Har. He knows this will be the end of his career and possibly his life but for the sake of Umeh, he feels he must do this.

The Wess'Har scouts have discovered the body of Shan Frankland. Nevyan takes a shuttle out to recover her body. To her surprise and astonishment, they discover, once her body is aboard, that Shan is still alive. She has been floating, frozen in the depths of space for months and her ''c'naatat'' has somehow kept her dormant but alive. Her body appears as a mummy; waxy and emaciated. They return to F'nar and reveal this to Bennett, Aras, Eddie, and the rest of the F'nar community. They immediately set about taking care of her to nurse her back to health. She does eventually recover enough to wake up.

Meanwhile, the World Before has come. A patrol ship lands and disgorges a crew of only males. They are the first ship and advise that another will be along as well. The Wess'Har do what they can to be accommodating but Nevyan does not like the way the Eqbas males seem interested in ''c'naatat''. Eventually the second ship from Eqbas Vorhi arrives and it is massive. The ship itself rearranges and two smaller ships split off from it; one to reconnoiter Bezer'ej and the other for Umeh. The tension on Umeh heightens with this and the Isenj try to make the Wess'Har withdraw but to no avail.

Shan is filling out and getting stronger thanks to the care of Ade and Aras. She finds that she has feelings for both men and Aras, whose people practice polyandry, finds this acceptable and would like a house brother but fears that Shan will come to prefer Ade because of their shared homeworld. Ade is having a harder time contemplating a polyandric relationship but is coping as best he can. As Shan gets stronger she begins getting involved in the politics and the goings-on of F'nar. She also makes a trip to Bezer'ej to view the destruction and what the Eqbas are doing to repair the damage. While there, they discover that the blast did not destroy the ''c'naatat'' and that there are some survivors of Bezeri. The Bezeri only want to talk to Aras, though. When Aras journeys to the world, the Bezeri tell him that they want those responsible turned over to them for "balancing". Aras knows that the Bezeri would include the Royal Marines in their list of those responsible, so to protect Ade, Aras lies and says that it was just Neville and Rayat. The Bezeri also want Aras to come stay with them underwater to help them rebuild and recover what they've lost. Aras is torn by his duty to the Bezeri and his duty to stay with Shan and make her happy.

The Eqbas are moving right into their roles as peacekeepers and environmental control. They advise both Earth and Umeh to prepare for their coming and the changes that will entail. In the instance of Umeh, population control and environmental cleansing—and in the case of Earth, they plan to restore the plants and animals held in the gene bank; whether Earth likes it or not. They are also cleaning up the damage on Bezer'ej in record time. On Wess'Har, one Eqbas named Shapakti, is performing miracles. He has found a way to separate ''c'naatat'' from its human host, using sample tissue from Shan, but not from its wess'har host. He also started creating a jungle habitat using DNA and genomes from the gene bank.

Aras decides that he will go live with the Bezeri in spite of the pain it will cause him to be separated from Shan. Ade wants Shan to be happy and feels that he is in the way of Shan's and Aras' happiness so he decides to force Aras not to go. The solution presents itself in the form of Mohan Rayat and Lindsey Neville. Lindsey wants to redeem herself (and not die) and feels that the best way to accomplish this is to live underwater and serve the Bezeri. This would mean becoming infected with ''c'naatat''. Ade agrees to this and infects both her and Rayat and send them to the depths with the Bezeri. Shan knows nothing of all this at this point and seems to finally accept her role as an ''isan'' to Ade and Aras in their polyandric relationship.

The video stars Denis Lavant as a man wearing a heavy parka and walking along the middle of the road in a busy car tunnel. He appears to be disoriented, mumbling and shouting incoherences, only occasionally including intelligible words such as "Cristo", "Allahu Akbar", and "sinner!" Some of the cars honk at him and swerve out of his way. All of a sudden a car hits him from the side, and he is left on the ground. The car, a Saab 900, continues its course without stopping or slowing down. After a while, the man stands up and starts walking again as if nothing had happened. Then another car hits him; this time the hit occurs straight on and sends him flying a couple of feet. A passing motorist watches with contempt as the man rolls in the street. The man gets up again. A car swerves by and slows down alongside the man, occupied by three young men played by British actor Craig Kelly as the vehicle's driver and UNKLE's James Lavelle and Richard File as passengers. The driver repeatedly inquires as to the man's destination, who for his part seems oblivious to their presence and continues along his way blurting, "Saint Christopher"; the driver soon tires of this and speeds off whilst calling out, "Nice coat, man!" Another car hits the man, and he gets up almost instantly. More accidents occur, some cars honk, some cars swerve out of the way — but none stop.

The man removes his parka and throws it on the ground. He is shirtless underneath, and we see his chest covered with bruises and cuts. After the ritornello, leaving just a piano and drums playing, the man stops as well. He smiles and opens his arms in a crucifix-like position. A Vauxhall Cavalier MK2 is coming his way and makes no intention of stopping. The car hits the man, but this time he stands unmoved, and the car is destroyed upon impact.

Nanna Maria, the matriarch of a Fijian extended family living in a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand, feels that the heart and passion has gone out of her clan. One morning, she demands that her grown grandchildren put on a big family feast at which she will name her successor. The grandchildren—Soul, Charlene, Hibiscus, Erasmus, and her favorite, Tyson—reluctantly turn up, Tyson with his new Danish girlfriend, Maria. Family conflicts play out as the difficult day progresses, but in the end the grandchildren—and eventually Nanna's children too—join with cousins and others in a traditional celebration.

In February 1958, the Second Cross-Winter Expedition for the Japanese Antarctic Surveying Team rides on the icebreaker ''Sōya'' to take over from the 11-man First Cross-Winter Expedition. The First Cross-Winter Expedition retreats by helicopter, leaving 15 Sakhalin huskies chained up at the Showa Base for the next Expedition.

Due to the extreme weather conditions, ''Sōya'' can not get near enough to the base and it is decided not to proceed with the handover, leaving the base unmanned. The team is worried about the dogs, as the weather is extremely cold and only one week of food for the dogs has been left. They wish to rescue them but in the end are unable to, due to a shortage of fuel and drinking water.

Eight of the fifteen sled dogs manage to break loose from their chains (Riki, Anko, Shiro, Jakku, Deri, Kuma, Taro, and Jiro), while the other seven starve. As the eight journey across the frozen wilderness, they are forced to survive by hunting penguins and seals on the ice shelves and even on eating seal excrement. As the months pass, most die or disappear. Riki is fatally injured by a killer whale while trying to protect Taro and Jiro. Anko and Deri fall through the ice and drown in the freezing waters. Shiro falls off a cliff to his death, and Jakku and Kuma disappear in the wilderness.

Eleven months later, on 14 January 1959, Kitagawa, one of the dog handlers in the first expedition, returns with the Third Cross-Winter Expedition, wanting to bury his beloved dogs. He, along with the two dog-handlers Ushioda and Ochi, recover the frozen corpses of the seven chained dogs, but are surprised to discover that eight others have broken loose. To everyone's surprise, they are greeted warmly at the base by Taro and Jiro, brothers who were born in Antarctica.

It is still unknown how and why they survived, because an average husky can only live in such conditions for about one month. In the movie, the director used the data available, together with his imagination, to reconstruct how the dogs struggled with the elements and survived.

Traveling through deep space, the ''Enterprise'' stops to investigate an odd phenomenon of phantom sensor readings. Meanwhile, ship's counselor Deanna Troi experiences pain and loses consciousness as her empathic abilities suddenly cease to work.

The crew discovers they cannot resume course, as the Enterprise is caught up in a group of two-dimensional lifeforms.

Without her powers, Troi suffers a tremendous sense of loss, and goes through several classic psychological stages, including denial, fear and anger. Ultimately, despite the reassurances of her friends, she resigns as ship's counselor, believing that without her empathic abilities she cannot perform her duties.

Commander Data and Commander Riker determine that the two-dimensional creatures are heading for a cosmic string, with the Enterprise in tow, and that once they reach the string the ship will be torn apart. Realizing that Troi's loss and the ship's predicament are somehow linked, Captain Picard pleads with her to try and communicate with the strange creatures.

After attempting to warn the creatures of the danger posed by the cosmic string, Troi posits that they are seeking out the cosmic string in much the way a moth is drawn to a flame. Working from this hypothesis, Data simulates the vibration of a cosmic string, using the deflector dish at a position well behind the ''Enterprise''. The simulations eventually cause the creatures to briefly reverse their course, breaking their momentum long enough to allow the ''Enterprise'' to break free.

Freed from the two-dimensional creatures' influence, Troi's empathic ability is restored. She discovers that her powers were never lost, but were instead overwhelmed by the two-dimensional creatures' strong emotions. Troi returns to her old job with a renewed confidence.

Dr. Frank Matson, a physician, steals $200,000 from the henchmen of mob boss John Wheeler, after a robbery that Wheeler has pulled off along with Ollie, a member of his gang. Forced to go on the run, Matson also takes Wheeler's girlfriend Laura Thorsen with him.

After hiding out in Mexico, word gets back to Matson that Wheeler knows where he is. He and Laura return to Los Angeles planning to return the money, only to find Wheeler has been shot by Ollie. About to meet the same fate, Matson produces a gun and kills Ollie instead.

Laura is waiting for him at a cafe. As they leave, Matson turns to go phone the airline to get away with Laura, but is hit by a car coming down the one-way street.

Ted Forrest (Richard E. Butler), who works for the Dynasty Club, is murdered by Keith Heading (John Diehl) and his men on the street. They switch a computer tape in Ted's car before police arrive.

Johnny Stewart (Damon Wayans) is a lifelong con man who performs scams with his younger brother Seymour (Marlon Wayans). When Johnny meets Amber Evans (Stacey Dash), he tries to impress her by obtaining an honest job at the company where she works—Dynasty Club, a credit card firm.

He becomes a mailroom clerk. Chris Fields (Mark Beltzman) trains Johnny how to do the job. Keith threatens Chris in the men's restroom, terrifying Chris. Johnny realizes that he needs money to woo Amber. He develops a scheme to commit identity theft with the credit card information of deceased cardholders to which he has access due to his mailroom position. He justifies his actions because he knows that he is stealing from only the company and not harming the individual cardholders.

Lieutenant Walsh (Joe Santos), who was once the partner of Johnny's deceased father, asks Chris questions about Keith. Chris is stabbed and killed by Keith's hitman in the subway station. Lt. Walsh investigates Chris's murder and find credit card receipts on him. Keith promotes Johnny from mailroom clerk to supervisor to replace Chris.

With Seymour's help, Johnny charges large amounts of money to the cards with the intention of impressing Amber. Keith is head of security at Dynasty Club, and he also runs a virtual stolen credit card operation. He records Johnny stealing a returned credit card and pressures him to join the credit card criminal enterprise.

Seymour takes a stolen credit card and attempts to buy a four-fingered ring. However, a security alarm blares, indicating the stolen card. Seymour tries to escape but is caught by mall security and questioned by police.

The police authorize a sting operation on Seymour to record Keith's conversation and to capture him. Lt. Walsh becomes furious about the operation. Keith's hitman tries to kill Johnny for blackmail until he shoots Walsh in the arm. Keith kidnaps Seymour, and Johnny goes after him until he escapes. Keith tries to kill Johnny by shooting him in the shoulder. A fight ensues between them until Johnny kills him by hanging him. Seymour and Amber visit Johnny lying in the hospital bed injured and decide to settle down.

In answer to Michael’s (Steve Carell) apparently constant recitation of Chris Rock's "Niggas vs. Black People" routine, the corporate offices of Dunder Mifflin send a representative (Larry Wilmore) from Diversity Today to hold a meeting regarding diversity training. Michael finds it insulting and, as a response, holds his own diversity meeting. He shows a brief video that addresses nothing of significance, claims that his heritage is "two-fifteenths Native American," and instructs everyone to wear index cards with a certain race on it and to treat others however they might treat people of those races. When he delivers a racist impression of an Indian person to Kelly (Mindy Kaling) (who is in fact not wearing a card, having missed the activity due to a meeting), she takes offense and slaps him.

Meanwhile, Jim (John Krasinski) desperately tries to re-up an annual sale that will amount to a quarter of his yearly commission, but he is ultimately undercut by Dwight (Rainn Wilson). However, during the end of the diversity meeting Pam (Jenna Fischer) dozes on his shoulder, leading Jim to conclude that it was nevertheless "not a bad day".

Jan Levinson-Gould (Melora Hardin) tasks Michael Scott (Steve Carell) with picking a new healthcare plan for the office, dictating that he must choose a provider and simply pick the cheapest plan. Unwilling to reveal the bad news that healthcare benefits will likely be cut to the employees, Michael at first tasks Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) with handling the healthcare decision, but Jim instead recommends Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson), who eagerly accepts the assignment. To work on the plan, Michael allows Dwight to use the conference room as a temporary workspace, though Dwight lets the power go to his head and refers to his workspace as an office.

Dwight picks a very cheap plan with little coverage, no benefits, and a large deductible. Not willing to confront the disgruntled employees, Michael hides out in his office claiming he is very busy. When the other employees confront him about Dwight's bad plan, he chastises Dwight and tries to liven the employees' spirits by telling them he has a big surprise prepared for them at the end of the day, though even he is not sure what the surprise will be. In another desperate attempt to avoid questions, Michael leaves the office and tries to plan the surprise.

Back at the office, Dwight distributes forms that ask employees to list any ailments or illnesses they may have so that it may be covered. Jim and Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer) conjure up fake diseases that frustrate Dwight. Jim later locks Dwight in his "workspace" as Michael, having failed to procure a better surprise, returns with ice cream sandwiches. While trapped in the conference room, Dwight calls Jan, attempting to get Jim fired, but Jan is not only outraged that Michael left the office and left Dwight in charge, but also that he handed off the healthcare plan duties to him. Dwight later gathers the employees in the conference room, forcing them to publicly reveal their ailments.

At the end of the day, the employees confront Michael to hear about the surprise, but Michael's awkward stalling tactics cause them to finally realize there is no surprise, and they leave. With only him and Dwight left in the office, Dwight casually mentions to Michael what Jan said to him.

Although time has dragged on, the downsizing rumors at Dunder Mifflin have not ceased. Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) feels particularly threatened by the impending crisis, and, in an act of desperation, forms an alliance with his office nemesis Jim Halpert (John Krasinski). Jim sees the alliance as an opportunity with great potential and agrees as a lark. He immediately enlists Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer)'s help in the situation. The two continue to perform a series of office pranks at the expense of Dwight.

Meanwhile, Michael Scott (Steve Carell) tries to boost morale in the office by having an office birthday party for Meredith Palmer (Kate Flannery), even though her birthday is a month away. Michael agonizes over writing the perfect greeting in her birthday card. In the end, his joke (and subsequent rejected ones) fall flat and ruins the party. At the same time, Oscar also gets him to donate money to his nephew's cerebral palsy walk-a-thon, which Michael accidentally overcontributes to in an effort to look like a good boss.

At the end of the day, after a breakthrough in his pranks on Dwight, Jim giddily grabs Pam's hand in an attempt to explain what has just happened. However, Pam's fiancé Roy Anderson (David Denman) catches this and sees it as an attempt by Jim to make a move on Pam. Jim tries to convince Roy that it was just "office pranks" and asks Dwight to back him up, but he simply denies any involvement leaving Jim awkwardly embarrassed. Dwight reveals that he had no problems betraying Jim, despite the fact that he recently fell into one of Jim's tricks.

John Belushi sings the blues number "I'm the King Bee" with the Killer Bees on ''Saturday Night Live'' in 1976. In March 1982, he is found dead via overdose and sent to the coroner's office. As night passes, a mysterious force wakes John up from the dead. Figuring out where he is, he screams out of the hospital, and is picked up by a taxi. The driver, Angel Velasquez, notices John and names a character he played; the character, a man who is a coke addict, is actually about him, and reveals himself to be John's guardian angel. He takes him to Chateau Marmont where he sees that he died the previous night. With Angel, John goes through his life and the mistakes he made when drugs interfered.

In flashbacks, John meets Judy Jacklin before he forms the band The Ravens in the 1960s. In 1972, John is trained at The Second City to "make them laugh until it hurts." On the night before the airing of the first episode of ''Saturday Night Live'', John gets Arnie Fromson to manage him, signing a contract. John becomes one of the biggest stars on the show, and meets Cathy Smith to experiment on drugs to improve his comedy. His popularity gets him a feature film role in ''National Lampoon's Animal House''. Playing on the beach, John accidentally asks Judy to marry him, and she accepts. John goes into deep sleep after taking a shot, which leads his wife Judy, and friend and actor Dan Aykroyd, to wake him up and discuss how much money he is spending on cocaine. John and Dan’s friendship sparks the success of their singing duo, The Blues Brothers, leading to the feature film adaptation, where John takes large amounts of cocaine to get through the filming; despite Judy trying to help him control his usage, it leads into fights with director John Landis. The drug use gets him into arguments with Dan and Arnie, and ultimately Judy, so he decides to lay it off and get better during the filming of ''Continental Divide''. However, the urge is too much for him and he returns to drug usage. In March 1982, with the help of Cathy Smith, John decides to try a different drug by injection: a speedball.

Intercut within all of this, Judy talks to Bob Woodward about making a book all about John Belushi's life. At first he isn't sure about doing it, but then decides to go ahead. He interviews Judy, Arnie, and Cathy about their experiences with John, but Bob begins to focus more on why John wanted to go on drugs. Seen by John and Angel, John tries to get himself to talk to Bob. After talking with Dan, Bob heads to John's room at the Chateau Marmont where he tries to piece together the mindset of John's final night alive was like. John and Angel make a bet: if John wins a pinball game (on a pinball machine themed after The Blues Brothers), he'll live. Sadly he loses, but gets to talk to Bob before he ultimately passes on. Bob and John argue over the latter's drug usage, with Bob pointing out Judy being hurt by his actions, while John explains the pressure the film and television industries had put on him. When the time passes, John tells Bob to "breathe for him," just as he passes on in Bob's mind, leaving him speechless after learning of the ironic toxicity of the comedic environment. Audio of an interview with Cathy has her asked if the two ever had a sexual relationship, which she replys "No, he loved his wife". The movie ends with John Belushi as Joe Cocker singing "You Are So Beautiful" on ''SNL'' as the title "Wired" forms over the scene.

In 1947 Catholic priest Father O'Shea makes his way to a remote mission in China to replace a priest who had been killed there. He meets Dr David Sigman, Sigman's wife Beryl, and nurse Anne Scott, the only other Western residents. They run a hospital for the surrounding villagers, at a time when competing warlords and communists are engaged in civil war.

O'Shea delivers his debut Sunday sermon, in both English and Chinese for appreciative parishioners. His work among them, and his observance of local customs, soon earn him their respect.

Anne becomes uncomfortable as she is romantically attracted to him. Beryl suggests to her husband that Anne be sent back to the United States, but he refuses to consider it, needing her at the hospital. Beryl suggests that O'Shea consult with Reverend Martin, a Protestant minister at another American mission, for advice. He agrees.

When O'Shea meets Martin, he makes a startling, unsolicited confession. He says he is not a Catholic priest, but Jim Carmody, an American pilot who had flown supplies over The Hump during World War II. He crashed during the war and was rescued by a local warlord, General Yang, becoming his trusted second-in-command ... and his prisoner. When one of Yang's soldiers killed Father O'Shea, Carmody deserted and decided to masquerade as the replacement priest. After recounting his story to Martin, Carmody writes a full account to the Catholic bishop.

General Yang tracks down Carmody, bringing an army and insisting that Carmody resume serving him. Carmody proposes they settle the matter with their customary game of dice, wagering five years' loyal service against his freedom and the safety of the local villagers. After Yang loses, he coerces Carmody into playing again, this time for the future of the Protestant mission. When he loses again, Yang resigns himself to perpetuating the myth of Father O'Shea, who is saintly enough to turn aside a powerful warlord.

Before Carmody leaves the mission, to the regret of all the villagers, he tells Anne the truth.

Cassie and Sean, as well as ex-boyfriend Matt and good friend Annabel, go to a club situated in an old church. There, Cassie sees Deathmask (Carl Paoli), a man wearing a clear, plastic mask; and Hideous Dancer (Ken Moreno), an imposing man with a scarred face. Deathmask tries to grab her on the dance floor, but she pushes him away and steps outside the club with Sean.

In the parking lot, Matt eavesdrops on their conversation. Sean confesses his love for Cassie, who claims she feels the same way. When Sean returns to the club, Matt convinces Cassie to give him a last 'goodbye' kiss. Sean sees this, and reacts badly to it, giving Cassie the silent treatment as they drive off. Cassie, who is behind the wheel, continually looks away from the road until the car crashes. Cassie's next memory is of being rushed to the hospital; Matt and Annabel are unharmed, but Sean has been killed on impact.

During the school term that follows, Cassie has several visions of Sean. She also has visions of Deathmask and Hideous Dancer in the company of Matt and Annabel. On several occasions, she believes she is being chased by the two men, although Annabel and Matt assure her that the incidents are all in her mind. After one chase, Cassie faints and is rescued by Father Jude, a young priest who is sympathetic to her fears and offers to listen if she ever needs someone to talk to.

A few nights later, after being chased again, Cassie knocks at the church door, and Father Jude gives her sanctuary. He gives her an amulet depicting St Jude and allows her to sleep in his small room in the church. Upon awakening that morning, Cassie sees that the calendar in the room reads 1981. She enters the office of the attending priest (Rick Snyder) and asks to speak to Father Jude but is told that Father Jude died in 1981.

After being made to participate in a swim competition, Cassie is chased by Deathmask. Defending herself with the tube of a fluorescent lamp, she ends up stabbing him in the stomach, but when Cassie returns with Matt, they find there is no body in the pool. Even though she believes that Matt and Annabel are conspiring against her with Deathmask and Hideous Dancer, Cassie requests that Matt take her home to her mother. Instead, he drives Cassie to the club, saying that he wishes to pick up Annabel. Cassie follows him but gets lost, eventually finding Annabel with a new lover, Raven (Angela Featherstone). When Raven tells Cassie to "leave or die", Cassie exits the club and makes her way back to the parking lot. There, Matt drunkenly insists on another "goodbye forever" kiss, but Cassie smashes a bottle on his head, knocking him unconscious, before pushing him from the car and driving away. She then arrives at the site of the accident, witnessing Annabel dying from it.

After then being run over by a car, Father Jude approaches her, offering assistance; after taking it, she comes to in the hospital. On a gurney next to her is Raven, who speaks a few words of comfort before dying. Father Jude arrives and explains everything she has experienced has been a sort of coma dream – in the original accident, Cassie and Sean had survived, while Matt and Annabel were killed. The occupants of the other car – Raven, Deathmask, and Hideous Dancer – were also fatally injured. Cassie has spent the course of the film in an astral state, wherein those who were killed in the accident attempt to keep her with them. Father Jude – who is an angel from heaven – and her visions of Sean were what kept Cassie alive. He then asks if she would be willing to die in order to save Sean's life. She agrees, and he then asks her if she would be willing to live for him. Cassie says that she doesn't want to die. She then awakes in a hospital room with her parents and Sean by her side; they embrace.

Ray Kinsella lives and farms in Iowa where he grows corn with his wife Annie and their five-year-old daughter Karin. Kinsella is obsessed with the beauty and history of American baseball, specifically the plight of his hero, Shoeless Joe Jackson, and the Black Sox Scandal of the 1919 World Series. When he hears a voice telling him to build a baseball field in the midst of his corn crop in order to give his hero a chance at redemption, he blindly follows instructions. The field becomes a conduit to the spirits of baseball legends. Soon, Kinsella is off on a cross-country trip to ease the pain of another hero, the reclusive writer J.D. Salinger, as part of a journey the ''Philadelphia Inquirer'' called "not so much about baseball as it's about dreams, magic, life, and what is quintessentially American."

Corporate informs Michael Scott (Steve Carell) that an incentive program has been set up where the top Dunder Mifflin sales representative will be rewarded with a prize of up to $1,000. As Michael decides on choosing that prize, Katy Moore (Amy Adams), a pretty young purse saleswoman, comes into the office to sell her wares. When Michael sees her, he offers to let her set up shop in the conference room, which catches every male's eye. As he shows her around the office, Michael tries to impress her while doing his best to impede the chances of any other office male. Roy Anderson mentions that he would go for her if he were not dating Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer), and an angry Pam corrects him that they are engaged.

Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) convinces Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) that he should approach Katy and if all else fails, he should buy a purse, which he does to Pam and Jim's delight. When Michael hears she'll need a ride home, he does his best to offer himself, going so far as to spend the aforementioned $1,000 on an espresso machine to impress her. While Pam is sitting on Jim's desk and talking to him, Roy comes up and tries to apologize to Pam, eventually getting her out of her bad mood by tickling her; an uncomfortable Jim leaves his desk. Later, he strikes up a conversation with Katy, and in the end, she decides to get a ride from Jim, leaving Michael and Dwight devastated. It is revealed that Katy and Jim are also going out for a drink, to the apparent jealousy of Pam.

12-year-old Jennifer Burrows and 11-year-old Ryan Walker meet aboard an airplane and are immediately at odds. Four years later, Ryan is the mascot at his high school, while Jennifer is elected Homecoming Queen at hers. During the halftime ceremony between their two schools, Ryan is chased by the rival mascot and loses his mascot head, only to find it run over by Jennifer's ceremonial car. Jennifer later finds Ryan and tries to console him about his costume. They part ways once more, realizing they are too different.

A year later, Ryan and Jennifer are students at UC Berkeley. Ryan is in a steady relationship with his high school sweetheart Betty, and Jennifer is living with a musician. Ryan and Betty break up after realizing their differences. Ryan meets his roommate Hunter, aka Steve, a self-described ladies' man with countless elaborate (and unsuccessful) ploys for sleeping with women.

Jennifer moves in with her best friend Amy after she and her boyfriend break up. Ryan and Amy start going out, and he renews his friendship with Jennifer, even after Amy has her "breakup" with him for her. They take walks, console each other over break-ups, and gradually become best friends. Jennifer even talks Ryan into dating again, as he starts seeing a girl named Megan.

One night, in a cynical mood towards love, Jennifer breaks down and Ryan tries to console her. To their equal surprise, they have sex. Afraid of commitment, Jennifer says that sleeping together was a mistake, and that they should pretend it never happened. Hurt and lovesick, Ryan breaks up with Megan and withdraws into his studies.

As months pass, Jennifer graduates and readies herself to travel to Italy. She encounters Ryan, whom she has not seen since their night together, at a hilltop overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge. Ryan confesses his feelings towards her, but she tells him that she does not feel the same way. He wishes her well in Italy, and leaves.

On the shuttle to the airport, Jennifer passes the same hilltop where they used to spend time together and realizes that she indeed loves Ryan. She immediately races back to her apartment and finds Amy frantically getting dressed to greet her. Steve confidently strolls out of Amy's bedroom and tells Jennifer that Ryan is heading back to Los Angeles on an airplane.

While waiting for departure, Ryan hears Jennifer confess her love for him in Latin. After some convincing, and feeling the wrath of a flight attendant, they rekindle their romance where they first met — on an airplane.

Five years after the events of the first film, a girl named Phoebe, tells a group of boys at a campfire about the killings at Camp Arawak. Her head counselor, Angela, forces her to go back to the cabin. After the pair get into an argument, Angela hits Phoebe over the head with a log before cutting out her tongue. The next day, campers Molly, Ally, Mare, Demi, Lea and sisters Brooke and Jodi, question Angela on the whereabouts of Phoebe. She tells them she had to send her home. Later that day, Angela discovers Brooke and Jodi smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol. She initially let them go only to find them fornicating with one of the boys the next day. Angela chases the boy off. Afterward, Brooke wakes up on a grill and discovers Jodi's charred remains. Angela then pours gasoline over Brooke and burns her to death as well. That night, the boys start a panty raid which Angela breaks up. During a jock strap raid against the boys Mare flashes her breasts. Angela decides to drive her home and murders her with an electric drill. The next night, campers Anthony and Judd try to scare Angela, dressed as Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees. The plan backfires when Angela, dressed as Leatherface, slashes Anthony's throat and murders Judd with a chainsaw. The next day, Angela sets a trap for Ally and forces her down an outhouse, drowning her in feces, urine and leeches. That night, Demi reveals to Angela that she phoned the families of the girls "sent home" and discovered the girls aren't at home. Realizing she could be caught, Angela strangles Demi with a guitar string, before stabbing Lea to death when she finds Demi's body. The next day, head counselors Uncle John and T.C. fire Angela for "sending too many campers home". Molly and Sean go into the woods to cheer her up but the pair discover the bodies of the other campers, before Angela ties them up. After learning the whereabouts of Molly and Sean, T.C. goes after them but Angela throws battery acid in his face, killing him. Sean is decapitated after he realizes Angela is the murderer from the Camp Arawak incident five years ago. Later, Angela leaves the cabin and Molly frees herself. Upon returning, Molly knocks Angela out and escapes. After an extended chase through the woods, Molly falls onto a rock and is presumed dead. After killing the remaining campers, Angela hitchhikes but the driver quickly annoys her and she kills her. Molly regains consciousness and makes it out of the woods but the truck pulls up behind her. Molly is horrified to learn that Angela is the driver and she screams, ending the film.

Generations ago on planet Zi, at the height of human development, Zoids were used in an epic war that eventually led to the destruction of the world. So devastated was the world that the planet was barely habitable for humanity and nature. The catastrophe was named "Gods' Fury" and was considered a supernatural event by locals who believed the world was punished because of humanity's foolishness.

Using one of their most powerful and largest Zoids, the surviving people of this conflict rode on Gildragons for safety and shelter. While one group returned to the earth and founded Iron Rock City, another group built a floating city in the heavens called Sky City. The people there rebuilt their society and eventually began researching ways to restore the planet. After many years of research, they planned to use their advanced bio-mechanical technology to restore the world in order to eventually re-inhabit the land their ancestors almost destroyed; as they lived in their advanced city, they became hubris, comfortable where they are and no longer desired to return.

Although not returning, the technology they developed was implemented upon the planet, which utilized to what the surviving locals refer as generators. It has unique capabilities to maintain energy and growth for machinery and life in the surrounding area. Eventually, Sky City would encounter energy depletion and scouted Zi with their own secret agents. As other agents monitored the growth and progress of the humans that survived "Gods' Fury," others approached people to make special arrangements. The council of Sky City chose a city called Digu and traded off advanced technology for Reggel (universal energy resource, like oil, from their generators). Their arrangement not only involved treaties, but also sending a Sky citizen to be adopted as part of the agreement. The King of Digu would accept Jiin as his son and Digu has since invested resources and developed their own technologies to form their own army, the Digald Army. Eventually, Digald would mass-produce their own special units, Bio-Zoids (a nigh-indestructible unit in combat, only weakness is weapons made of Zi-alloy and damage inside its mouth), with the aid of technology provided by Iron Rock.

The Bio Zoids were made in rapid numbers and gradually started conquering neighboring villages, towns, and cities that had generators to help produce more energy for Digald's energy consumption. They used special stones that could detect a human's ability to pilot a Bio-Zoid and drafted them into Digald forces, never to see their friends and family again. Though known and feared throughout the continent, people couldn't do much to defend themselves as their Zoids were no match against the formidable armor of the Bio-Zoids and they couldn't survive without having a generator; people either surrendered or were destroyed.

The story of ''Zoids Genesis'' actually begins around here, as Lord Ra-Kan (heir to the Kira Kingdom) roams the world with Princess Mii (niece to Ra-Kan) after his kingdom has fallen to Digald. Though his kingdom had fallen, Kira's survivors rebuilt a new city called Zuuri in a new secret location far from Digald's influence. Young Ruuji Familon was working with his father to help recover Zoids from the bottom of the ocean in their village, Miroodo. While Mii and Ra-Kan was within the local area, so was Major Zairin (a top commander of Digald). Zairin would discover that Miroodo had a small generator for Digald forces to claim; his troops arrived and attacked Miroodo. Ruuji could never activate a Zoid, but the situation was dire and he jumped into the just-excavated Murasame Liger (that utilizes a Zi-alloy katana). This Zoid answered to Ruuji's call and activated to aid him against the Bio-Raptors attacking his village.

Ra-Kan and Mii joined Ruuji in their fight against Digald. Eventually, a battle between Zairin and Ruuji lead to the accidental damage to Miroodo's generator. With the generator damaged, this led to the fear of Miroodo's destruction (as all settlements depended on them); Ra-Kan agreed to aid Ruuji in finding a generator mechanic. This quest for finding a generator repairman would lead Ruuji to befriend Kotona (formally trained assassin of Iron Rock), Garaga (former anti-Digald rebel leader), Ron (Sky City spy agent), and Seijuurou (former Zoid champion and Ruuji's combat teacher; dying from cancer). In between Ruuji's quest, they discovered Murasame Liger had the ability to evolt (change combat forms) into Hayate Liger (high-speed combat form) and it played a pivotal role in their survival. Eventually though, Ruuji and his Liger would play a larger role in things to come.

Through their adventures, Ruuji was unable to find a person capable of repairing the generator; his travels made him realize even if the generator could be fixed, Digald's expansion will eventually rule everything including Miroodo; Ruuji suggested to Ra-Kan to fight against Digald and eventually Ra-Kan agreed that Digald's expansion couldn't continue. With the resources and forces of Zuuri, Ra-Kan began organizing a counter-offense army. They invited many resistance groups to their cause, but only a few had interest in joining them as there was strong fear and reluctance to confront the Digald Army; with the eventual successes of the ''Digald Suppression Army'', their reputation garnered the attention of many and their forces eventually grew in numbers.

Ron had always been concerned about Jiin's activities and secretly utilized his advanced resources to help Ruuji and Ra-Kan; the team was eventually introduced to Sky City (where Seijuurou was cured of his condition) in hopes to convince the council to provide aid in their cause. Unfortunately, the council was not moved to assist as they felt the troubles below don't concern them nor thought of Jiin as a serious threat against their superior technologies; that would be proven terribly wrong. In Sky City's hubris, Jiin betrayed his own people and launched Bio-Raptor Guis on an aerial assault against Sky City and sank the citadel; many of its citizens survived and found refuge in Zuuri, but they had difficulty adapting to primitive life and forced to recognize their conceit. It was only then the Sky City elders revealed their original intent to the rebellion: they intended Jiin to take over Digald to have an Earth-based vassal force for military might as well as long term reggel supply. Unfortunately, Jiin's ambition was too great and they were betrayed by their overconfidence in controlling him, leading to their demise. With Sky City destroyed, there was no real power left to oppose him, except for the resistance forces, which he considered as a mere nuisance.

Meanwhile, Jiin's power and influence grew within Digu. After the death of their king, Jiin declared himself emperor and eventually a god to Digald. His new policies were not only more draconian, but it alienated many of the officers under Jiin. However, it was not an issue to Jiin, since he is able to extract human souls into the bodies of Bio-Zoid droid pilots; he tripled his forces without the need for human pilots. Zairin was obsessed with defeating Ruuji until he discovered the shocking truth of their bolstered forces, it snapped him out of his obsession and caused him to defect. Eventually, word had spread within Digald forces about their pilots were extracted human souls, many of Digald Forces defected to the Digald Suppression Army.

After long hard battles against Digald Forces, it was an unusual alliance when most of the human officers of Digald defected to the anti-Digald army. Ruuji felt their anti-Digald army title was no longer appropriate and renamed themselves the ''Jiin Suppression Army''. A large final battle was waged against Jiin in his Bio-Tyranno. After a very difficult fight, Ruuji destroyed Jiin with Mugen Liger (evolt form after Hayate Liger) and ended the conflict to restore peace to the lands. After the battle, it was discovered that Murasame Liger had unique regeneration technologies that can help revive Miroodo's generator; Ruuji returned to his village and helped restore life back to his hometown.

Julia Jenz (Jill Schoelen) arrives at Dr. Schifrin's house for a routine baby-sitting gig. Soon after Dr. Schifrin and his wife leave, a mysterious man knocks on the door. The man tells Julia that his car is broken down and asks to come inside to use the phone. Julia refuses him admittance, but agrees to call the auto club. She finds the phone is dead. Afraid to divulge this detail, Julia lies and says that she called the auto club. The auto club never arrives, and the man returns repeatedly asking for help. Hoping he'll go away, Julia continues to lie, but the conversations gradually become increasingly threatening. Meanwhile, Julia notices things are not as they appear in the house and comes to understand that someone's in the house. At this time, Julia also discovers the children have been abducted. The intruder is seen in the house as she narrowly escapes. It is later revealed that the children Julia babysat were never found or heard from again.

Five years later, Julia is an introverted college student still traumatized by the incident. To make matters worse, strange things happen from time to time in her apartment, and Julia comes to believe that the children's abductor is stalking her. Jill Johnson (Carol Kane), now a counselor at the college Julia attends, offers to help with the trauma of Julia's past experience as well as the current events taking place. Jill contacts John Clifford (Charles Durning) to come to Julia's aid and help figure out who is stalking her. For protection, Jill helps Julia purchase a gun and teaches her how to use it.

Julia comes to believe the intruder is entering her apartment while she's sleeping and decides to stay with Jill until she feels safe to return to her own home. Having been through a similar situation years before, Jill and a reluctant John investigate the incident from Julia's past and conclude the stalker may be a ventriloquist capable of throwing his voice; he employed this skill to make it seem like he was outside when speaking to Julia during the original stalking incident when the Schifrin children were kidnapped. As they investigate, Jill and John receive news that Julia has shot herself in the head while at her apartment. Jill promises to find her stalker.

John eventually tracks down the children's abductor at a club where the latter performs as a ventriloquist, just as John hypothesized, but the perpetrator escapes. John tracks down the perpetrator's home, and there finds pictures of Julia in the hospital and Jill's apartment. Having returned to her apartment, Jill notices a carton of juice bearing the faces of the abducted children Julia babysat. Frightened, she arms herself and the offender begins to taunt her; he is seen wearing makeup that allows him to 'disappear' from sight against Jill's apartment walls. He attacks and in the altercation, Jill is shot. John shows up just in time to shoot and kill the intruder.

Some time later, Jill is recuperating in the hospital where Julia is located and is wheeled to Julia's room to discover her out of her coma, having survived the self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

High school freshman Airi Hoshina's only ambition in life is to someday live in a cozy home with a loving husband and find joy in the little things in life. She revolves all her activities and hobbies around this concept including getting to school on time every day because the school legend says that the longer one's non-tardy streak is, the better boyfriend one will find.

However, her perfectly mapped out life ambition is derailed when she drops a small mirror that has been passed down in her family for generations on her way to school. Upon returning to retrieve the trinket she discovers it in the possession a cheeky, strangely dressed 7 year-old. She at first fails to retrieve the mirror by rushing off when the first bell rings so she doesn't break her no tardy rule. When she returns and finds the boy still waiting in the same spot with the mirror, he introduces himself as Aram and says he came through the mirror and is waiting for his companion to contact him. Realizing he is alone and thinking he is a foreigner from the embassy, Airi invites him to wait for his companion at her house so he isn't by himself in the city. She welcomes the company since her parents have been traveling abroad for several years and her grandparents often vacation leaving her living in her house alone the majority of the time.

The two develop a friendship quickly as Aram likes that she treats him like any other person, and he stays the night in Airi's room since his companion has yet to contact him. Airi wakes up the next morning to the surprise of her life when she finds Aram has turned into a 17-year-old overnight. Aram's companion Lei finally appears through Airi's mirror and explains that Aram is actually the youngest prince of a magic kingdom called Astale. He reveals that she is actually a descendant of Princess Chrisnele, who is considered a traitor for abandoning her kingdom for love in Airi's world. The mirror was a portal that belonged to her. Aram fled through a separate portal to her world because his older brother Jeile attempted to place a curse on him that would age him into an old man and seal off his magic when he is engulfed in darkness. Aram was slow to escape the spell, and a partial amount of it still took effect aging him into a teenager and making his magic exceptionally difficult to control. Lei declares that the only thing that can restore Aram to his true form is the kiss of one's most beloved maiden. As Aram is too young to have such a woman he declares that Airi, the closest thing he has had to a female friend, is his most beloved maiden. Airi is against the idea as she wants to save her first kiss for her soul mate leaving her and Aram stuck together until he turns back into his true form and can use magic again.

The comedic series revolves around the escapades of Haruhi Fujioka, a scholarship student at the prestigious Ouran Academy, a fictitious school for rich kids located in Bunkyo, Tokyo. Looking for a quiet place to study, Haruhi stumbles upon the abandoned Third Music Room, a place where the Ouran Academy Host Club, a group of six male students, gathers to entertain female "clients" with sweets and tea. During their initial encounter, Haruhi accidentally destroys an antique vase valued at ¥8,000,000 (around US$80,000) and must work off the debt as the club's errand boy. Her short hair, slouching attire, and gender-ambiguous face cause her to be mistaken by the Hosts for a male student, though they soon realize her actual gender and the fact that she's a "natural" in entertaining girls, promoting her to full-Host status.

After falling unconscious during a late night drive, the unnamed protagonist wakes up in an unfamiliar tomb.Reams, 1984, p. 35 This tomb is the crypt of Medea, and it is filled with hostile creatures and deadly traps. The protagonist is forced to explore the crypt in hopes of escaping. only appearance in the game.

Very little plot is made available to the player during the course of the game. No information is given about how the player ended up in Medea's tomb, and no background information is ever given about Medea. In fact, the protagonist does not ever encounter Medea during the course of the game, and the only mention of her is through an inscription that she wrote.

Part 1

The group heads off to Ross's wedding in London, leaving behind a heavily pregnant Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow), and Rachel (Jennifer Aniston), who has declined the invitation because it would be too hard for her to see her ex-boyfriend get married.

In London, Joey (Matt LeBlanc) and Chandler (Matthew Perry) go see the sights in a musical montage featuring The Clash's song "London Calling", with Joey filming everything on his camcorder. Chandler becomes embarrassed by his friend's enthusiasm, and after Joey buys a large Union Flag hat from a vendor (Richard Branson), they part company. They reunite in their hotel room and Chandler apologizes. Joey impresses him with a video recording with Sarah, Duchess of York (who plays herself), but quickly becomes homesick after a phone call from Phoebe.

Emily takes Monica (Courteney Cox) and Ross to the church where the wedding will be, but they discover it is being demolished earlier than originally scheduled. Monica later suggests Emily postpone the wedding until everything is perfect. She passes the thought on to Ross, angering him; he tells her people have flown from America to be there and that it is "now or never"; she chooses "never". Monica berates Ross for his insensitivity and Ross apologizes to Emily, showing her the ceremony can still take place in the half-demolished hall that he has tidied up. She agrees.

In New York, Rachel realizes she still loves Ross, and is further taken aback that the entire group apart from Ross knew about it. Phoebe tries to help Rachel get over her feelings for Ross, but to no avail. Rachel soon decides to fly to London to tell him she loves him, ignoring Phoebe's protests.

Part 2

At the rehearsal dinner, Ross introduces his parents, Jack and Judy (Elliott Gould and Christina Pickles) to Emily's, Steven and Andrea (Tom Conti and Jennifer Saunders). Jack and Judy have volunteered to pay for half of the wedding expenses but, when they discover extravagant costs, Ross spends much of the evening trying to bargain down his future in-laws. Chandler makes a toast that is not well received by the guests and Monica is taken aback when a drunken guest mistakes her for Ross's mother. She and Chandler console each other over alcohol and wake up in bed together the next morning.

On the flight from New York to London, Rachel annoys other passengers by telling them about her relationship with Ross. Eventually, one of the passengers (played by guest star Hugh Laurie) has enough of this, and calls her out on her selfishness, pointing out that while Rachel claims to love Ross, she is going to ruin the happiest day of his life, and she should accept how things are. He also says that she and Ross were definitely "on a break". Phoebe tries to contact someone by phone to warn them about Rachel, eventually getting through to Joey at the hotel on the morning of the wedding. Joey devises a plan with Monica and Chandler for the three of them to intercept Rachel, but he does not see Rachel arrive in the hall, as he is distracted by kissing a bridesmaid who had seduced him the night before. Rachel sees Ross and Emily kiss after he has urged their parents to stop their argument over the wedding. She realizes how happy Ross is with Emily and wishes him good luck.

Phoebe phones Joey to hear the wedding and is relieved that Rachel has come to her senses. As Ross says his vows, he accidentally says Rachel's name rather than Emily's, leaving a shocked registrar to ask Emily if he should continue, while the camera shoots from character to character, settling on a shocked Rachel.

A group of United States Army paratroopers led by Captain Nelson are dropped into Burma to locate and destroy a camouflaged Japanese Army radar station that is detecting Allied aircraft flying into China. For their mission, they are assigned Gurkha guides, a Chinese Army Captain and an older war correspondent whose character is used to explain various procedures to the audience.

The mission is an overwhelming success as the 36-man team quickly take out the station and its personnel. But when the airborne troops arrive at an old airstrip to be taken back to their base, they find the Japanese waiting for them at their rendezvous site. Captain Nelson makes the hard decision to call off the rescue planes, and hike out on foot.

To reduce the likelihood of detection, the group then splits up into two smaller units to meet up at a deserted Burmese village. But when Nelson arrives at the meeting place, he finds that the other team had been captured, tortured and mutilated by the Japanese. Only Lt. Jacobs survives, and he too dies after telling Nelson what had happened. The surviving soldiers are then attacked and are forced again to retreat into the jungle. The men must then cross the swamps in their attempt to make it back to safety through enemy-occupied jungle.

Fighting an almost constant rearguard action, Nelson's paratroopers also succeed as decoys leading Japanese troops away from the site of the British 1944 aerial invasion of Burma.

Con artist Rosalyn Willoughby (Going) in Hollywood and puppeteer Fletcher McBracken (Fraser) in San Antonio have the same dream, which links them to each other. He travels to L.A. to find her, but at first she resists him. The film is set in Los Angeles, California, San Antonio, and San Marcos, Texas.

Like Pinocchio, Buratino is a long-nosed wooden puppet. According to the story, he is carved by ''Papa Carlo'' (the story's version of Geppetto) from a log, and suddenly comes to life. Upon creation, Buratino comes out long-nosed due to Papa Carlo's sloppy woodworking. Papa Carlo tries to shorten it, but Buratino resists.

Papa Carlo then sells his only good jacket in order to buy textbooks for Buratino and sends him to school. However, the boy becomes distracted by an advertisement for a local puppet theater show, and sells his textbooks to buy a ticket to the show. There he befriends other puppets, but the evil puppetmaster ''Karabas Barabas'' (the story's Mangiafuoco character) wants to destroy him because Buratino disrupted the show.

Karabas Barabas releases Buratino after he learns that Papa Carlo's home contains a secret door for which Karabas has been searching. A Golden Key that Karabas once possessed, but later lost, opens this secret door. Karabas releases Buratino and even gives him five gold coins, asking only that Buratino watch after his father's home and make sure they do not move.

The story proceeds to tell of Buratino and his friends' hunt for the Golden Key and their struggle against the evil Karabas, his loyal friend Duremar, and a couple of crooks: Alice the Fox and Basilio the Cat (based on The Fox and the Cat), who are after Buratino's coins. After that, the events proceed similarly (although not identically) to Collodi's ''Pinocchio'' until the scene where the coins are stolen, after which the plots split apart completely.

George Raft, a Hollywood dancer, returns to Manhattan and recalls working in a nightclub with a bootlegger's girlfriend.

At night in her bayside mansion, wheelchair-using Countess Federica Donati is attacked and strangled to death by her husband, Filippo Donati. Moments later, Filippo himself is stabbed to death by an assailant, and his corpse is then dragged to the bay. Upon investigation, the police find what they believe to be a suicide note written by the Countess, but Filippo's murder goes undiscovered.

Real estate agent Frank Ventura and his lover Laura plot to take possession of the bay. After the Countess refused to sell her home and property to them, the couple hatched a scheme with Filippo to murder his wife. To finalize their plan, Ventura needs Filippo's signature on a set of legal documents. They have no idea, however, that Filippo himself has been killed.

Their curiosity piqued by news of the murder, four local teenagers break into the seemingly deserted mansion and are murdered. The Countess's illegitimate son Simon, who lives on the grounds in a separate shack, is the killer. After killing Filippo, he is now conspiring with Ventura, who offers Simon a huge cash pay-off to sign the relevant legal documents. Their scheme is dealt a potentially ruinous blow when Filippo's estranged daughter Renata appears, determined to ensure that her father's estate comes into her possession. A search for a will proves unsuccessful, and Ventura, who believes that Renata may be the rightful beneficiary, urges Simon to kill his stepsister.

Accompanied by her husband Albert and leaving their young son and daughter in a caravan nearby, Renata visits the house of Paolo Fossati, an entomologist living on the grounds of the Donati estate. Fossati's wife, Anna, tells them that Filippo was responsible for the Countess's death and says that Simon will probably end up with the property. Renata, unaware that she had a stepbrother, makes plans with her husband to murder Simon.

After discovering Filippo's mangled and rotting corpse on Simon's boat, Renata and Albert head to Ventura's house. Upon their arrival, Ventura attacks Renata, but Renata gains the upper hand and stabs Ventura with a large pair of scissors in his femoral artery. Paolo Fossati, who witnesses the assault, attempts to telephone the police but is confronted by Albert, who strangles him to death. Renata kills Anna with an ax to ensure there are no additional witnesses.

Ventura's partner Laura arrives, planning to meet up with him. When Simon discovers that it was the pair who had plotted with Filippo to kill his mother, he strangles Laura to death. No sooner has he exacted his revenge than Simon himself is murdered by Albert. The wounded Ventura reappears, but Albert kills him after a brief struggle.

Secure in the knowledge that there are now no other living heirs, Albert and Renata prepare to return home to await the announcement of their inheritance when they are shot dead from the caravan by their son. He has mistaken their shotgun for a toy. Thinking that their parents are playing dead, the son and daughter rush off outside to play along the bay.

''Deltora Quest''

The first series of ''Deltora Quest'' follows the journeys of Lief, the son of a humble blacksmith [in disguise], who, on his sixteenth birthday, sets out to fulfil his father's quest to restore the Belt of Deltora. Joining Lief is an ex-palace guard named Barda. Along the way they meet with Jasmine: a wild girl from the Forests of Silence, who has long, brown hair and green eyes. She can speak to trees and has two pets: a raven named Kree and a small, grey, furry creature called Filli. Their quest is to find the seven gems of the fabled Belt of Deltora: the topaz, the ruby, the opal, the lapis lazuli, the emerald, the amethyst, and the diamond. The gems each have a special power and are hidden in dangerous locations around Deltora. The three friends must face numerous perils to reach them. Once the Belt is complete and the proper descendant of the first King of Deltora, Adin, wears the belt, the evil tyranny of the Shadow Lord will be forced back to the Shadowlands. The books in this series are ''The Forests of Silence'', ''The Lake of Tears'', ''City of the Rats'', ''The Shifting Sands'', ''Dread Mountain'', ''The Maze of the Beast'', ''The Valley of the Lost'', and ''Return to Del''.

''Deltora Quest 2''

In ''Deltora Quest 2'', Lief, Barda, and Jasmine go on a quest below the land of Deltora, and travel through strange societies underground. They were formed by the three tribes of the former inhabitants of the Shadowlands, which was long ago a beautiful land called Pirra, which the Shadow Lord repressed by preventing the magic of the Pirran Pipe from protecting the land. The three adventurers convince each tribe to lend them their pieces of the Pipe, before Lief, Barda and Jasmine travel into the Shadowlands itself to use the Pipe to hold off the Shadow Lord and his evil power long enough for the thousands of Deltoran slaves to escape. The books are ''Cavern of The Fear'', ''The Isle of Illusion'', and ''The Shadowlands''.

''Deltora Quest 3''

In ''Deltora Quest 3'' the three companions once again must save Deltora, this time from the Four Sisters, evil creations of the Shadow Lord. These four Sisters sing their songs of death across Deltora, poisoning the land and gradually causing Deltora's crops to wither, resulting in famine across the land. With only a part of a torn map left by Doran the Dragonlover, they set out to find these Sisters and destroy them. Each Sister must be destroyed with the aid of a dragon. When each Sister and the Sister's guardian are destroyed, another fragment of the map is found. Eventually they discover that the Sisters are hidden in the four most eastern, northern, western and southern corners of Deltora. The Sister of the East is hidden in Dragon's Nest. The Sister of the North is hidden at Shadowgate and the Sister of the West is on the Isle of the Dead. The Sister of the South is hidden in the city of Del, which happens to be the hometown of Lief. However, after Lief, Barda and Jasmine defeat the last Sister, Lief realises that in the exact middle of Deltora, a huge bubble made of poisonous grey liquid is rising from the land. Together with Barda and Jasmine and all the dragons, he must defeat it. The books are named after the Sister's locations: ''Dragon's Nest'', ''Shadowgate'', ''Isle of the Dead'', and ''The Sister of the South''.

Supplementary works

In addition to the books which tell the story, the ''Deltora'' series includes a number of companion books (also authored by Emily Rodda):

'''''Tales of Deltora''''': This book tells of how the land of Deltora came to be, including the origin of the seven gems and the Shadow Lord. It includes tales that make up some of the legends, evolution of secrets, and 20 new illustrations by Marc McBride. The book is "written" by Josef, who in the ''Deltora Quest 2'' and ''Deltora Quest 3'' series is the palace librarian of the city Del. The book was published by Scholastic Press in 2006. A new version was published in 2013 which included three extra stories of the isle of Dorne, bridging the gap between the ''Three Doors'' trilogy and the ''Deltora Quest'' series by expanding on the history of Dorne as well as the Shadow Lord.

'''''Secrets of Deltora''''': This book was "written" by Doran the Dragonlover as a travel guide for Deltora.

'''''The Deltora Book of Monsters''''': This book goes through all the monsters and other deadly things that exist in the world of Deltora, from the original ''Deltora Quest'' to ''Dragons of Deltora''. The book includes the beasts throughout history and significant landmarks, such as Reeah from the City of the Rats. The book is also "written" by Josef, the palace librarian in King Lief and King Alton's time.

'''''The Land of Dragons''''': Although it does not have the word "Deltora" in the title, this book is related to the ''Deltora Quest'' series. It contains tales of the isle of Dorne, bridging the gap between the ''Three Doors'' trilogy and ''Deltora Quest''. The book was offered for free as part of the Australian Council of the Arts ''Get Reading!'' Program. The tales of Dorne were later included in a 2013 paperback re-release of ''Tales of Deltora''.

Other books include ''How to Draw Deltora Monsters'' and ''The Ultimate Deltora Quiz Book''. The former book, which details the drawing of Deltoran monsters, was primarily authored by illustrator Marc McBride.

At the Melbourne Writer's Festival, Rodda announced that the lands in ''Rowan of Rin'' are set in the same world as Deltora, to its east. In the back of the paperback version of the ''Star of Deltora'' books (starting with ''Shadows of the Master)'' there is also an author's note that states that ''Rowan of Rin'', ''The Three Doors'' and ''Deltora Quest'' are set in the same world.

Chief Miles O'Brien has gone missing on the planet New Sydney searching for Morica Bilby, the widow of a member of the Orion Syndicate whom he befriended while undercover. Because Ezri Dax's family, the Tigans, own a mining operation on a nearby planet, she is sent to find O'Brien.

Returning home for the first time in several years, Ezri is reunited with her domineering mother, Yanas Tigan—a shrewd businesswoman—and her brothers Norvo and Janel, who work for the business. Yanas promises to look into O'Brien's disappearance, while criticizing Ezri's life choices. Norvo is happy to see Ezri, while Janel is bitter about how infrequently she visits. Catching up with Norvo, Ezri urges him to move away from home, escape their mother's constant criticism, and pursue his interest in art, about which he is intensely self-critical.

The local police deliver O'Brien to the Tigan home, having rescued him from a run-in with the Orion Syndicate. O'Brien has found Morica Bilby dead, and suspects she was killed by the Syndicate; the police reject this theory on the grounds that the Syndicate would never murder the widow of one of their own.

O'Brien helps Janel repair some mining equipment, which has had inexplicable malfunctions lately. Bokar, an agent of the Orion Syndicate, warns Janel that O'Brien's life will be in danger if he doesn't leave immediately. O'Brien guesses that the Orion Syndicate is intimidating the Tigans and gets Ezri's permission to check the mining company's financial records. He is stunned to learn that Morica Bilby was on the Tigan payroll at the time of her death, implying that someone close to Ezri may be involved in Morica's murder.

Ezri confronts her family with O'Brien's findings. Janel admits that Morica was on the payroll to repay a debt to the Syndicate, which bailed the mining company out of a financial crisis, but he denies killing Morica. Angered that her son struck such a corrupt deal behind her back, Yanas doubts his innocence. To everyone's surprise, Norvo admits that he killed Morica after she tried to extort more money from the family. He tries to justify his action by saying that he was never trusted to make big decisions. As a result, Norvo is sentenced to 30 years in prison. When Yanas asks Ezri to reassure her that she isn't responsible for her son's downfall, Ezri does not answer.

Walking the streets of Moscow, indistinguishable from the rest of its population, are The Others. These beings possess supernatural powers and can enter the Twilight, a shadowy world that exists in parallel to our own. Each Other owes allegiance to either the Dark or the Light forces. Each side has a patrol to ensure the opposing side follows the rules of an agreement put in place millennia ago. The Light's patrol is called Night Watch and the Dark's patrol is called Day Watch, in accordance with the times when each is active.

Unauthorised Personnel Permitted

''(this story is told from the point of view of Alisa Donnikova)''

In the prologue, a woman named Natasha visits a witch and requests that she cast a spell to make the woman's estranged husband fall in love with her again. After Natasha strikes a deal with the witch, members of the Night Watch suddenly arrive and arrest the witch, to Natasha's great surprise and confusion.

The story shifts to Alisa Donnikova, a young yet powerful Dark Other, who leaves her house to attend a meeting with her comrades on the Day Watch. The team is on a mission to apprehend and recruit an uninitiated Other, the practicing Dark witch from the prologue who has so far eluded the bureaus responsible for finding and initiating unlicensed practitioners of magic. It seems a routine operation, but when they arrive, the Night Watch team has already made the arrest. A fierce battle ensues, during which Alisa almost dies. Drained of her powers, she is sent to recuperate at a youth camp near the Black Sea. There she meets Igor. The chemistry between them is instant and irresistible, and Alisa finds herself falling in love. But then comes a shattering revelation: Igor is a Light Magician. Alisa suddenly realizes that he was one of those involved in the battle that left her crippled. Had they known what they were, they would have not entered their relationship. But now that they know, Igor (who reacts with rage, feeling he was tricked) challenges Alisa (who reacts with a more depressed note of sadness) to a duel. Alisa allows Igor to choose the site of the battle: off-shore, in the sea. Alisa chooses not to fight back, allowing Igor to magically push her under the water and drown her. She calls Zabulon for help but is shocked to find out Zabulon has planned her death all along. While this is going on, Makar, a boy that had become infatuated with Alisa, swims out to rescue her and also drowns.

Note: The first scene of this story forms the basis for the opening of the film Night Watch. In the movie, it is Anton (not Natasha) who goes to the witch. Rather than asking that his spouse fall back in love, he asks her to cast a spell that would kill his wife's love child with her adulterous lover (he later learns that the child was actually his own). Both scenes play out in much the same way from there, but the arrival of the Day Watch and subsequent battle do not take place in the movie.

A Stranger Among Others

''(this story is told from the point of view of Vitaly Rogoza)''

A man named Vitaly Rogoza awakens while walking through a park late at night with no memory of his past and no knowledge of his identity. Acting on an internal instinct whose source he cannot understand, he is able to protect himself from a werewolf and board a train to Moscow. Once in Moscow and still acting on instinct, he registers his presence as a Dark Other with the Day Watch and proceeds to stumble into a series of seemingly accidental encounters with the Night Watch, often resulting in a Night Watch member dying. He kills Tiger Cub in self-defense as she seeks revenge for him setting a trap that (legally) kills a Night Watch investigator trespassing in his hotel room.

While this is taking place, a Day Watch splinter group named the "Regin Brothers" stages an attack on the Inquisition to steal a powerful artifact named "Fafnir's Talon". Only four Regin Brothers survive and they head to Moscow. Members of the Night Watch and the Day Watch both learn that the Regin Brothers will be landing in a plane at Moscow International Airport.

At the airport, both groups set up camp; the Night Watch tries to thwart the plane's landing while the Day Watch seeks to ensure it proceeds smoothly. Vitaly wanders away from the main group of Day Watch agents and inadvertently stumbles upon the Regin Brothers and two powerful Night Watch members, Gesar and Svetlana. Gesar kills one of the Regin Brothers who attempts to flee, but Vitaly accidentally winds up in possession of the talon. He steals power from Svetlana and creates a portal that allows him to escape to a forest outside Moscow. After meeting some youths camping in the forest, Vitaly returns to Moscow. Instead of returning to the Day Watch offices with the talon, however, his instincts lead him to Maxim from the first novel, who is now a member of the Inquisition. At Maxim's behest, Vitaly relinquishes the talon. Soon thereafter, the Inquisition calls a meeting to determine what is happening and who should be held responsible. Anton is called to attend, but Zabulon encourages him to commit a small act of "betrayal" by not going, with the promise that he will be able to live freely with Svetlana and avoid bloodshed.

After Vitaly and Anton have a car accident (deliberately staged by Anton) on the way to the meeting, Svetlana concludes that Anton and Vitaly are engaged in a duel that will result in Anton's death. When Vitaly arrives before Anton at the meeting alone, she assumes the worst and strikes him with all of her considerable power, leaving her dangerously drained (like Alisa above). Vitaly absorbs Svetlana's power, although his clothes and MiniDisc player are destroyed. Anton then appears and gives Vitaly his own MiniDisc player as a replacement. The Inquisition concludes that Vitaly is a mirror and not an Other in the ordinary sense; thus he does not come under the terms of the Treaty and is free to pursue his own destiny. Vitaly was able to neutralize Svetlana by his presence and restore the balance between the Night Watch and Day Watch. Svetlana is sufficiently reduced in power, so that she and Anton are now theoretically able to live as equals, as Zabulon promised. Vitaly leaves the courthouse, listening to music, and dissipates into the Twilight, his purpose fulfilled.

Another Power

''(this story is told in third-person, though the action continually switches its focus between the first novel's narrator, Anton, and a second-level Dark Other, Edgar)''

The third story revolves around a trial by the Inquisition to investigate the events of the first two stories. The first part of the story deals with various involved parties travelling to Prague (where the trial will be held), the second part involves the characters meeting in a number of different configurations and talking, the third part involves the trial itself.

All of the surviving major characters of the first two stories are on their way to Prague, which is the new location of the Inquisition after the Regin Brothers destroyed the old one. Edgar, a fairly high level operative, is going to plead the Day Watch's case. Edgar assures the 3 remaining Regin Brothers that the Day Watch will protect them. Anton is going as a prosecutor for the Night Watch. Igor is already there being put up (but not held in custody) by the Inquisition.

In Prague, Anton meets an American Air Force pilot who is also a Light Mage. The pilot is proud of his work (bombing Kosovo). Anton is appalled that anyone can perform such evil acts and still align themselves with the Light. Anton and Edgar meet over beer and discuss Dark versus Light philosophy. Edgar shows that he is not an especially enthusiastic Dark Other, but he is dedicated to doing his job. Anton then goes to visit Igor while Edgar, left to his own devices, uncovers a lot of evidence to indicate that Zabulon is setting him up to be killed in order to facilitate the resurrection of Fafnir. He is frightened and angered by this prospect.

Meanwhile, Anton, eager to distract the suicidal Igor, gets him roaring drunk on Vodka and attempts to draw him into a strategy session to try to figure out what the Day Watch is up to, with some success. They wonder whose destiny it was that Olga changed at the end of ''Night Watch'' and here it is revealed that, though Svetlana's child—foretold by Gesar to be a girl—would have always been a powerful Light Other, the changes mean that her birth has been timed to make her daughter a Light Messiah. Gesar arrives and pleads with Igor to stick around for at least another 20 years. Igor is non-committal.

The next day, the trial begins. The Regin Brothers are tried first and are found guilty only of lesser crimes: though they transported Fafnir's Talon, they did not participate in its theft. They are stripped of all but the very least of their magical powers and then allowed to go. The focus of the trial then shifts to the events of the novel's first story. A number of minor charges against Gesar and Zabulon are dismissed via technicalities. Anton accuses Zabulon of indirectly arranging the duel between Igor and Alisa and blames Zabulon for the death of Makar, the young boy who drowned trying to save Alisa. Edgar and Zabulon challenge the Night Watch operatives to present proof, but neither Anton nor Igor can do so.

In order to get to the bottom of the case, the Inquisition temporarily resurrects Alisa, who implicates Zabulon in her demise, stating that Igor was not responsible for her death. Igor is cleared of all charges. However, when Alisa is sent back to the Twilight, Igor follows her, dying himself. Zabulon is ecstatic, admitting that he had indeed planned to sacrifice Alisa in order to remove Igor, saying that Igor was the only one that could have trained the upcoming Light Messiah. Since Zabulon's plan involved an even trade—Alisa for Igor—he has not violated the treaty, and the Inquisition clears him of charges. As Svetlana leaves, she tells Zabulon, "May no one ever love you." Gesar sends Anton to find her, while the rest of the individuals at the trial depart the scene. Edgar approaches a member of the Inquisition, Witezslav, who invites Edgar to "try on" an Inquisitor's robe. Edgar reluctantly takes the robe from Witezslav while mentioning that Svetlana's "curse" is pointless because Zabulon doesn't need anyone to love him anyway.

Note: This story is the only one in the hexalogy without a first-person narrator.

The story is about two twin brothers, Azriel and Gavriel (both played by Yehuda Barkan). Azriel is a shy and religious Jew who works in a fruit shop in Jaffa. Gavriel is a hoodlum and hustler who runs a snooker bar. Gavriel and his friend Hanuka make easy money by swindling innocent people into gambling on snooker games. One day Gavriel is forced to renew contact with his brother, because he is in trouble with a gangster who won the bet on a snooker game, and the only way to pay is by selling the family estate which is co-owned by the two brothers.

In 1899, a terrorist group led by the Fantom breaks into the Bank of England to steal Leonardo da Vinci's blueprints of Venice's foundations. Then they kidnap several German scientists while blowing up a zeppelin factory.

The British Empire sends Sanderson Reed to Kenya Colony to recruit adventurer and hunter Allan Quatermain, who had retired following the death of his son. Quatermain at first refuses until a group of assassins is sent to kill him, resulting in the death of his longtime friend, Nigel. In London, Quatermain meets "M", who explains that the Fantom plans to start a world war by bombing a secret meeting of world leaders in Venice. To prevent this, M is forming the latest generation of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, consisting of Quatermain, Captain Nemo, vampire chemist Mina Harker, and invisible thief Rodney Skinner.

The League travels to the London Docklands to recruit Dorian Gray, Mina's former lover who is immortal due to a missing cursed portrait. The Fantom and his assassins attack but the League, aided by U.S. Secret Service Agent Tom Sawyer, fends them off. Gray and Sawyer join the League. They then capture Edward Hyde in Paris, who transforms back into his alter ego, Dr. Henry Jekyll, and joins the League after being offered amnesty. The League travels to Venice in Nemo's submarine, the ''Nautilus'', but they soon deduce there may be a mole on board when a camera's flash powder residue is found in the wheelhouse and one of Jekyll's transformation formulas disappears. Suspicion falls on the missing Skinner.

The ''Nautilus'' arrives in Venice just as the bombs detonate, causing the Piazza San Marco and the rest of the city to start collapsing. Sawyer uses Nemo's automobile to stop the destruction, while Quatermain confronts the Fantom, who is unmasked as M. Dorian, the traitor, murders Nemo's first mate Ishmael and steals the ''Nautilus'' exploration pod. M and Dorian leave a phonograph recording for the League declaring that their true goal is to ignite the world war, and that Dorian has been collecting physical elements of the League to create a heavily armed version of the ''Nautilus'', invisible spies, vampire assassins, and Hyde-like soldiers, and to sell the superhuman formulas off to the highest bidder. The ''Nautilus'' is damaged by bombs hidden on board, but Hyde saves it by draining the flooded engine rooms. Skinner secretly messages the League, informing them that he has sneaked aboard the exploration pod and telling them to follow his heading.

The League reaches northern Mongolia where it reunites with Skinner and plots to destroy M's factory with explosives. Nemo and Hyde rescue the scientists and their families while fighting Dante who overdoses on the Hyde formula. Skinner sets the explosive charges, and Mina battles and eventually kills Dorian by exposing him to his portrait. Quatermain and Sawyer confront M and identify him as Professor James Moriarty, longtime archenemy of genius detective Sherlock Holmes who had changed identities following his alleged death at the Reichenbach Falls. Sawyer is taken hostage by an invisible Reed; Quatermain shoots the latter, only to be fatally stabbed by Moriarty. Moriarty flees but Sawyer shoots and kills him and the formulas sink into the icy water. Quatermain then dies.

Quatermain is buried beside his son in Kenya. The League recall how a witch doctor had blessed Quatermain for saving his village, promising that Africa would never let him die. The remaining League members—Nemo, Mina, Skinner, Jekyll, and Sawyer—depart, agreeing to keep using their powers for good in the coming 20th century. The witch doctor arrives and performs a ritual that summons an unnatural storm, with a bolt of lightning striking a rifle Sawyer left on Quatermain's grave.

A famous inventor ("The Professor") creates an extra-powerful weapon—an explosive mosquito. King Cain XVIII dreams of conquering the world and marrying the princess, but she is also loved by Yan, a vagrant musician. Yan's love leads him to surmount many obstacles and simultaneously thwart the insidious plans of the king.

The official plot, as given by SNK, is as follows: "In February, 2017 of the new Japanese era there is a man trying to rule the Neo Geo World. "I will topple Neo Geo's most powerful warriors and put myself on the throne!". We knew that if he managed to obtain Neo Geo world's awesome power, world domination would not be far from his reach. This man, who sat at the heart of the "WAREZ Conglomerate" with overwhelming financial power behind him, had already set out on his ambitious path to gain Neo Geo World's power. Those who knew the truth of his intentions were already trembling with fear... As Neo Geo World drew closer to the verge of disaster, a WAREZ sponsored fighting competition was announced. This event is called "Neo Geo Battle Coliseum". The federal government is worried about the situation, and has secretly dispatched its two best secret agents, Yuki and Ai. A world on the verge of eternal darkness... The future of Neo Geo World is now in the hands of the warriors." (The name of the organization that hosts the tournament, WAREZ, is an obvious play on the word ''warez'', as SNK Playmore blames software piracy as one of the contributing factors to its 2001 bankruptcy.)

Characters

Forty characters are playable featuring two original characters and two original bosses and the rest from eleven different SNK series.

• '''Original''' ** Yuki ** Ai ** Mizuchi (Boss) - A clone of Orochi from ''The King of Fighters '97'', created by WAREZ ** Goodman (Boss) - The leader of WAREZ
• '''''The King of Fighters''''' ** Kyo Kusanagi (NESTS Saga version) ** Iori Yagami ** K' ** Shermie
• '''''Fatal Fury''''' Terry Bogard (''MOTW'' version) ** Geese Howard ** Mai Shiranui Rock Howard **Kim Kaphwan ** Tung Fu Rue ** Jin Chonshu ** Jin Chonrei ** Hotaru Futaba
• '''''Art of Fighting''''' and '''''Buriki One''''' ** Ryo Sakazaki / Mr. Karate II (''Buriki One'' version) ** Robert Garcia ** Lee Pai Long ** Mr. Big
• '''''Samurai Shodown''''' ** Haohmaru ** Nakoruru ** Shiki ** Genjuro Kibagami ** Asura
• '''''Metal Slug''''' ** Marco Rossi ** Mars People (Unlockable)
• '''''The Last Blade''''' ** Kaede ** Moriya Minakata ** Akari Ichijou ** Keiichiro Washizuka
• '''''Athena''''' ** Athena (Unlockable)
• '''''World Heroes''''' ** Hanzo Hattori ** Mudman ** Fuuma Kotaro ** Neo Dio (Boss)
• '''''King of the Monsters''''' ** Cyber Woo
• '''''Aggressors of Dark Kombat''''' ** Kisarah Westfield
• '''''Fu’un''''' ** King Lion (Unlockable Hidden) ** King Leo (NPC Boss version of King Lion)

Ukridge and Corky run into a friend of Ukridge's, a chauffeur driving a shiny new Daimler, and he offers to take them for a ride. Along the way they are seen by a creditor of Ukridge's, who they shake off, and almost hit a young girl, who Ukridge insists they drive to her home near Clapham Common. He befriends her family, who are impressed by the car and Ukridge's famous Aunt Julia.

When Corky meets Ukridge a week later in the British Museum, he is accompanied by two children. He reveals he has been visiting the house, mainly for the free food, and promising to take the family out on trips in his friend's car, which they believe to be his, and to introduce them to his aunt, who, he reveals, has disowned him, in a letter which states "from now on, I have no nephew".

Returning from short holiday, Corky hears from George Tupper that Ukridge is engaged. Visiting his friend, he finds him with a black eye, and hears the tale of how Ukridge found himself inadvertently engaged to the girl from Clapham Common, and got punched by a rival suitor named Finch. As they talk on Ukridge's doorstep, the creditor from the car ride arrives, and Ukridge hides. A friendly passer-by soothes the enraged creditor, arguing that he knows where Ukridge lives; Ukridge moves out of his house, remarking on the good fortune that led him to use the pseudonym "Mr. Smallweed" when dealing with the man.

Ukridge and Corky form a plot to get Ukridge out of the engagement by feigning ill-health, but as Corky is delivering his speech to the family, the passer-by arrives. He is George Finch, Ukridge's rival for the girl; he reveals that Ukridge is an impoverished imposter, in fact called Smallweed, and produces the creditor to prove it. He also bears a letter from Ukridge's aunt, claiming that she has no nephew. Once Corky has paid off the debt to the creditor, the two are chased from the house.

Corky runs into Looney Coote at Sandown Park Racecourse, where the latter has had some luck on the horses but lost his wallet; we hear of the impending dinner of Wrykyn Old Boys. There, after heavily endorsing a bookmaking business he has become a silent partner in, Ukridge hears that his old pal Boko Lawlor is standing for Parliament in the forthcoming by-election at Redbridge, and goes down to help. He sends Corky many telegrams detailing the successes of the campaign, and persuades him to pen a song to help the cause.

Corky meets Coote again, and hears that his expensive new car has been stolen. Sending Coote on his way to Scotland Yard to report the theft, Corky heads down to Redbridge to see how his song is going down. Dragged out to canvas, he finds that the situation is not as simple as Ukridge implied - the seat is very close and could go either way. Boko reveals that Ukridge is pivotal to the campaign, and worries that any scandal concerning Ukridge could ruin his chances.

At a large and important meeting, Corky steps out into a corridor for some peace, where he meets a police officer who is clearly antagonistic to Lawlor. Hearing the man plans to arrest Ukridge for stealing a car, Corky tries to stop him, but fails - he announces Ukridge is under arrest to the mob, who turn on Lawlor.

Back in London, Ukridge berates Looney Coote for reporting his car stolen, despite Ukridge leaving a note to say he was borrowing it. Of course, the note is still in the great man's pocket. Looney is happy, however, having been inspired by the incident to bet heavily on a horse named "Stolen Goods". On Ukridge's advice, he used Ukridge's bookmaker friend, who was bankrupted by Looney's large win and is looking for Urkridge to share the loss with.

Eunice is taken on as a housekeeper by a family of four. She has kept her illiteracy a secret and is obsessed by continuing to keep it so. Unknown to her new employers, she has already murdered the father for whom she had been caring, and has falsified her references. Her inability to adapt to her place in society is masked by the cunning with which she conceals the truth about herself. Misinterpreting every act of kindness she is offered by her employers, she eventually turns on them, stealing the guns that are normally kept locked away. With the aid of a fellow social misfit, she murders the entire family. But Eunice's illiteracy prevents her from recognizing and disposing of a written clue that was left behind. Eventually a tape recording of the shooting made by one of the victims is discovered. Eunice is charged with the crime, and is mortified when her illiteracy is revealed to the world during the court proceedings.

About to leave the country, a young Russian woman is ambushed in her Tucson apartment after calling her contact about a Boeing 747 she witnessed landing in the desert. The lead assailant, Kerr, tortures her for information about her roommate before drowning her in an aquarium.

Former Olympic gymnast-turned-daredevil skydiver Ditch Brodie participates in an illegal BASE jump off of a skyscraper, despite his jump school being under tight scrutiny by the FAA. Upon returning to his school, he's approached by a beautiful but nervous woman named Chris Morrow, who insists on performing a static jump from cruising altitude immediately. Playing along due to her flirtatious attitude, Ditch agrees to take her himself. During the flight, Chris briefly spots another aircraft below. When Ditch checks to see if his pilot has noticed it, Chris cuts ties with Ditch and jumps on her own. Ditch spots Chris tumbling uncontrollably below him, and is unable to save her before she hits the ground at terminal velocity. An investigation ensues, and the school is closed down indefinitely.

Feeling guilty and confused, Ditch rifles through Chris' personal belongings, and finds her apartment key. There he finds a photograph of Chris performing a jump, thus contradicting her earlier claim of inexperience, and Ditch is attacked and chased off by Kerr. At the flight school, Ditch is approached by Assistant District Attorney Ben Pinkwater, who tells Ditch he may be charged with manslaughter for Chris' death. Later, Ditch sees the same plane that had been following him during the jump, and follows it to a shack where he finds Chris alive, having faked her own death. She then takes Ditch on an unexplained nighttime jump at an aeronautics plant, promising to clear his name if he co-operates. Chris has Ditch infiltrate the plant via a smokestack and disable the security system before stealing a hidden optical disc. Kerr and his men arrive, forcing Ditch to flee from gunfire back to his school. Wanting his name cleared, he arranges a meeting with Chris and Pinkwater at a scrapyard, but upon arriving Ben kills Chris' partner Lex, revealing himself to be a cohort of Kerr's. A firefight ensues, and Chris and Ditch escape using a makeshift rocket car.

Taking shelter in the desert, Chris reveals that her real name is Krista Moldova, and that she and her pursuers are former KGB operatives left unemployed due to the collapse of the Soviet Union. "Pinkwater" and his men have fallen in with the Russian mob, and have hijacked a shipment of gold bullion intended for the Moscow reserve, and intend to use it to finance a coup d'état against the democratic Russian government. Using the optical disc retrieved by Ditch, Chris determines the location of the missing Boeing 747 carrying the shipment. She and Ditch get on board and find the gold, but are discovered by Pinkwater's men. The two barely escape, and Ditch decides to quit while Chris heads off to face Pinkwater alone.

As Ditch is about to leave on a bus, he finds a picture taken by Chris holding up a sign reading "Ditch Brodie Did Not Kill Me," thereby exonerating him. Having a change of heart, Ditch drives off to the airfield just as Pinkwater and his men take off, having kidnapped Chris. Posing as an FAA agent, Ditch convinces a biplane stunt pilot to fly him up and onto the 747. Ditch gets on board just as Chris is stuffed in the trunk of Kerr's sports car to be killed. Ditch and Kerr get into a fight, driving the car out of the cargo hold and plummeting toward the ground below. Ditch manages to force Kerr off, and gets Chris out of the trunk before it hits the ground. The two land in a nearby wind farm, and the plane, damaged in the fight, is forced to land. As police swarm the runway, Chris and Ditch are attacked by a parachuting Pinkwater, and Chris is stabbed in the back. Ditch attacks Pinkwater and pulls his back-up chute, sucking him into a nearby turbine and killing him.

Some time later, Ditch and Chris receive official commendations at the Kremlin for their actions in preventing the coup.

Corky is in the Welsh town of "Llunindnno" to report on the emergence of a popular revivalist speaker, and is amazed to run into Ukridge outside a theatre - he has been ejected for attacking a man who had stolen his seat, attempting to lift him out by the ears. Ukridge is in town to promote a boxing match between a local man and "Battling" Billson, this time as manager of the affair, sharing the ticket sales with his partner from his failed bookmaking enterprise.

Corky attends the stirring revivalist meeting, and later meets Billson, who was also at the meeting. Billson, swayed by the speaker, has become an advocate of teetotalism and non-violence, and has been disputing drinkers in local pubs. Ukridge, dismayed that Billson refuses to fight, intends to take his place, having made an agreement with the other boxer that he will treat Ukridge gently. When they meet, however, Ukridge recognises the boxer as the man whose ears he pulled.

Sure the other man will break his word, Ukridge is petrified, but when the fight seems to be going well, he assumes the other is merely a poor fighter. When Ukridge hits the other man's nose, breaking the central clause of their deal, the Welshman lets loose, and is on the verge of destroying Ukridge when Billson steps into the ring, determined to end the violence. Ukridge runs off as Billson, enraged by the booing crowd and a few punches from the Welshman, launches into a spectacular fight.

The Welshman's agent arrives at Ukridge's house to collect the money owed, but Ukridge's partner has fled with the takings. When all looks black, Billson arrives, confirming the partner has fled, but carrying the bag of money, which he took from the fleeing man. He hands it over to Ukridge, and strolls off to spread the light.

On the morning of September 11, 2001, United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is eating breakfast at the Pentagon with several members of the US Congress, hoping to procure an increase to the US defense budget. Rumsfeld says that they will soon need the funding as "something" is likely to occur soon given recent provocations by terrorists and rogue states.

As hijacked airplanes crash into New York's World Trade Center, US President George W. Bush is at Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Florida. White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card informs him that "a second plane has hit the second tower, America is under attack." After a few minutes, Bush prepares to leave the school, interrupting a reporter's question so as to not alarm schoolchildren as to the events unfolding in New York.

Bush then orders Rumsfeld to take the US to DEFCON 3, putting the US Armed Forces in high alert. He discusses the situation with US Vice President Dick Cheney and order the grounding of all civil aviation. He leaves Florida on Air Force One headed for Washington, DC. While in the air, Naval Intelligence uncovers a credible threat against "Angel" (the day's codeword for Air Force One). Fighter jets escort the plane in response.

The US Secret Service evacuates the White House of non-essential personnel while US Cabinet members are escorted to the Presidential Emergency Operations Center. Cheney and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice are informed that there is a non-responsive aircraft headed for Camp David. Cheney orders fighter jets to attempt contact, stating that if the plane does not respond or turn around it is to be shot down. The plane disappears off radar; Cheney assumes he has just caused the deaths of those on board. Bush is apprised of the situation and is told that the FAA suggests that the military did not shoot down the plane, but rather a group of passengers learned of the events in New York and took matters into their own hands. Bush wants to head back to Washington, DC, and after conferencing with the George Tenet, Director of Central Intelligence, and other members of his cabinet, he orders that Air Force One head there immediately.

Bush arrives at the White House that evening and addresses the US people, informing them that they are now in a "War on Terror". Over the next hours and days, Bush consoles survivors and meets numerous times with his cabinet to determine an appropriate response, which ultimately leads to his declaration that "either you are with us or you are with the terrorists" and the subsequent wars in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

Found as an infant drifting in space, Acorna, the Unicorn Girl, has become a young woman. She still has her tiny, translucent horn and her "funny" feet and hands. And she still has her miraculous ability to make plants grow and heal human sickness. But Acorna has strange dreams of a gentle folk who mind-speak by touching horns. With her "Uncle" Calum, one of the three grizzled asteroid prospectors who rescued, protected, and raised her, she sets off to find her people. No sooner does she leave than a mysterious craft appears, piloted by the Linyaari, a gentle race with telepathic powers. The Linyaari are roaming the galaxy, spreading the alarm about the deadly Khleev- and searching for a beloved little girl they had given up for lost, long ago...

At a pterodactyl's nest several of the eggs hatches. A trio of hunters, scouting the Turkish–Armenian border are suddenly attacked by a pterodactyl. While defending themselves, they become outmatched and are all killed.

Michael (Cameron Daddo), and Kate (Amy Sloan), are leading a group of teenagers for camping and through a science expedition. The students are Gwen, Jason, Willis (Steve Braun), and Angie (Mircea Monroe). They stop at a Turkish forest and begin exploring, eventually discovering a dead pterodactyl and mounds of pterodactyl feces. While the others examine the spore, Angie wanders off and decides to go for a swim. When she jumps into the water, a pterodactyl appears and attacks her. She struggles to escape, and runs into Jason, who was searching for Angie. In the confusion, he moves to the lake to investigate. Upon reaching the lake, the pterodactyl drags him away. Angie tells the others that she was attacked by something that looked like a bird, but Michael dismisses the idea. Michael and Willis desperately go searching for Jason, but unnoticed by them, he has been killed.

That night, Captain Bergen (Coolio) and his squad sneak into the Russian camp and captures the terrorist Clarke, (Todd Kramer). Captain Bergen find Michael and his group camping, so they decide to follow them.

The next morning, while preparing to leave, Michael's jeep is ambushed by a group of Russian terrorists. When the pterodactyls attack, the group flees with Captain Bergen and his squad rescuing them. In the struggle, Gwen is killed by a pterodactyl while escaping. Michael questions their presence; Bergen says that he and his squad members have been assigned to capture a Russian terrorist by hand. While the group continue on foot, Angie shows her feelings to Willis, for his bravery.

A second wave of pterodactyls suddenly appear. During the attack, Angie is wounded and succumbs to her injury. Several soldiers are also killed, and Kate is snatched in the process. After the attack, Captain Bergen and the group continue, to find a shelter. Flocks of pterodactyls start raiding the shelter, bringing it down to pieces. The group, arms and defends themselves from the invaders. With the group gaining the upper hand, the remaining invading pterodactyls retreats. Willis and one of Bergen's remaining soldiers Zelasny are injured. They are told to remain at the shelter, while the rest journey to the nest to rescue Kate.

Later, Zelasny (Jessica Ferrarone), dies from her wounds and Willis is killed by invading pterodactyls. Meanwhile, in the nest, Kate grabs a soldier's walkie-talkie and contacts Bergen. She escapes the nest and runs over the group once again. When the rescue line is set up for Kate to cross, Serling (George Calil), travers and grabs Kate to swing to Michael. Serling slips off the rope, falling to the rocks below. Bergen salutes his soldier and runs off as Serling before succumbing to his injury, detonates the bomb, in the nest, killing all of the pterodactyls. As they get off the mountain, the last pterodactyl attack in revenge. Bergen fires a missile saying, "the music's coming down and guess what I'm your DJ", but is killed. Michael keeps the missile on target and finally kills the last flying reptile. As Kate and Michael share a kiss and walk away, an ''Allosaurus'' emerges from the volcano's crater.

When Jimmy Corcoran is hired to help prepare the memoirs of a deceased colonial, he is amazed to see his friend Ukridge visiting the house, pretending not to know him. He had, earlier that day, received a bottle of patent medicine and a parrot, delivered by Ukridge, so he is even more amazed when Ukridge brings up parrots to his employer, Lady Elizabeth Lakenheath.

Ukridge later reveals that he has fallen in love with and wooed Millie, Lady Elizabeth's niece and ward, and together they have kidnapped the parrot in order to help obtain the aunt's consent to their marriage. Ukridge is also involved in the sale of "Peppo", the patent medicine.

The parrot scheme is successful, but Millie's aunt wishes to meet Ukridge's Aunt Julia. Knowing that any such meeting will result in the revealing of Ukridge's past, they must stop the two from coming into contact until Aunt Julia, currently working in rural seclusion, leaves for a tour of America.

When Lady Elizabeth is invited to a meeting of the Pen and Ink Club, Corky goes to Aunt Julia's house to intercept a speech she is due to make at the meeting, hoping that the lack of a speech will prevent her from attending. Julia has returned early, however, and is highly suspicious of Corky's presence. Next day at the Lakenheath's he expects to find Ukridge's name turned to mud, but all is well; Lady Elizabeth was unable to attend the meeting, as her precious parrot was sick.

Ukridge reveals that the plucky Millie had plied the parrot with Peppo, rendering it dangerously inebriated.

Millie and Ukridge would later marry, and on occasion rely on Lady Elizabeth to pull them out of hot water, as in ''Love Among the Chickens'' (1906).

''Extreme-G'' is set in the distant future where Earth is reduced into a wasteland. From their new-found planet the human colonists watch their remote controlled bikes wreak havoc through their ancient cities and fight their way to determine which racer manages to qualify.

In London, on the day of the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games, the Tenth Doctor and Rose investigate the disappearance of three children and a spot of fresh tarmac which cars momentarily break down on. They realise that the source of the problems is a solitary 12-year-old girl named Chloe Webber. She has the unique ability to cause people to disappear by drawing them, causing Dale Hicks, Danny Edwards and Jane McKillen to go missing. The Doctor hypnotises Chloe and finds out that she is possessed by an immature Isolus, an alien life-form that travels through space with a family of 4 billion siblings. Six days ago, this particular Isolus crashed its pod to Earth due to a solar flare. The Isolus relates to and befriends Chloe, who had a troubled childhood. The Isolus has also caused Chloe to draw a life-sized, exaggerated figure of her late, abusive father.

The Doctor explains that if they can find the Isolus pod and provide it power, the alien will leave Chloe. A frantic Chloe draws the TARDIS and the Doctor, trapping them both in one of her sketches and forcing Rose to try to find the pod herself. She rationalises that the pod is located on the hottest spot on the street, a patch of fresh tarmac, and is able to dig it up, ignoring Kel's complaints about her misuse of council equipment. Meanwhile, Chloe has caused the entire crowd at the Olympic stadium to disappear and now is set on making everyone in the world disappear. Rose realises that the pod is powered by both heat and emotion and throws it towards the Olympic Torch – a symbol of hope, fortitude, courage, and love – as it passes down the street. The missing children and the crowd at the Olympics reappear, and Rose realises that the drawing Chloe had made of her father will similarly come to life. Rose and Chloe's mother, Trish, are able to calm Chloe by singing the "Kookaburra" song, causing the unseen monster – having fed off of Chloe's emotions and fears – to disappear.

As the torch bearer approaches the Olympic Stadium he collapses, and the Doctor promptly and suddenly appears, picks up the torch, and completes the run to light the Olympic Flame. The heat of the flame and the emotion of the crowd power the pod, allowing the Isolus to leave Chloe and return home. Rose remarks to the Doctor that nothing will ever split the two of them up. The Doctor becomes uneasy and muses that a storm is approaching.

The plot echoes that of ''Digimon Frontier'': Several children receive messages on their cell phones asking them if they want their lives to change. Some answer yes, some answer no. Five who answer yes are summoned to the Digital World where they receive the ability to become Digimon and fight to end Cherubimon's reign of terror.

The Cybermen have the Tenth Doctor, Rose, Mickey, and the Preachers surrounded until the Doctor uses the recharging power cell from the TARDIS to incinerate the Cybermen. The group escapes with Pete, but Jackie is trapped inside, he attempts to go back and rescue her but the Doctor tells him that anyone inside the house will be dead. As they flee, Pete explains to the Preachers that he is the Preachers' secret source of information on John Lumic. Pete had mistakenly thought he was communicating with law enforcement. From his hovering zeppelin, Lumic activates the EarPod devices and uses them to control the people of London and bring them in for conversion at the factory in Battersea Power Station.

When they reach the factory, the group discovers Lumic's zeppelin moored nearby and heads towards it. Ricky is killed by the Cybermen while trying to scale a fence to meet Mickey. Mickey and Jake decide to board the zeppelin to destroy the EarPod transmitter on board, Pete and Rose try to find Jackie, and the Doctor and Mrs. Moore try to find their way to Lumic. Pete and Rose are captured by the Cybermen and taken to Lumic when a now-converted Jackie catches sight of them. Mrs. Moore is killed by a Cyberman, but the Doctor discovers that each unit contains an emotional inhibitor. He deduces that if he disables the signal from the inhibitors, the realisation of what they have become will kill the Cybermen. The Doctor is captured by a Cyberman and taken to Lumic.

In Lumic's office, the Doctor discovers the Cybermen have converted Lumic into the Cyber Controller. Mickey and Jake successfully disable the transmitter, causing the humans to flee the factory. The Doctor subtly tells Mickey over a surveillance camera to find the inhibitor code in the Lumic family's database. He finds it and sends it to Rose's phone. The Doctor plugs the phone into the computer systems, causing the inhibitor signal to drop and sending the army of Cybermen into despair. The Cybermen explode, setting the factory on fire, and the group escapes to the zeppelin. The Enraged Cyber Controller attempts to follow, but, after Pete destroys part of the ladder using the Doctor's sonic screwdriver, the Cyber Controller falls into the Inferno of the factory to his death just as it explodes.

The Doctor plugs in the recharged power cell and revives the TARDIS. Rose reveals to Pete that she is his daughter from the parallel universe. Overwhelmed, Pete walks away. Mickey, feeling that Rose no longer needs him, decides to stay in the parallel universe to help care for Ricky's elderly grandmother (whose counterpart in Mickey's universe died years earlier) and to help the Preachers stop the remaining Cybermen.

Victor Frankenstein, a cold, arrogant and womanizing genius, is angry when his father forbids him to continue his anatomy experiments. He ruthlessly murders his father by sabotaging the old man's shotgun, consequently inheriting the title of Baron von Frankenstein and the family fortune. He uses the money to enter medical school in Vienna, but is forced to return home when he impregnates the daughter of the Dean.

Returning to his own castle, he sets up a laboratory and starts a series of experiments involving the revival of the dead. He eventually builds a composite body from human parts, which he then brings to life. The creature goes on a homicidal rampage until it is accidentally destroyed when a vat where it has been hidden is flooded with acid.

In the film, sewage worker Roy Dreary and a number of unusual characters meet up with strange extraterrestrials traveling to earth in a giant pie in the sky. Dreary develops an obsession with mashed potatoes, whipped cream, and maraschino cherries. He encounters singing mailboxes, truck radios that spout bubbles and bubble music, and one pie in the face after another, before finally finding himself at the Sara Loo pie factory-and his close encounter of the nerd kind.

Other characters include a wide-eyed cherubic child, a famous French scientist, a bewildered wife, plus Darth Vader on a motorcycle complaining that he is blocking the road. The film also includes a mysterious code (which turns out to be the first nine digits of the mathematical constant pi) and an oversized xylophone on which Dreary signals to the aliens. All of the character voices are over-dubbed by voice artists Corey Burton and Sandy Stotzer.

Nuclear physicist Robert Bruce Banner is caught in the blast of an exploding gamma bomb while rescuing Rick Jones. The massive dose of gamma rays alters Banner's genetic structure, causing him to transform into the Hulk, a monstrous being with superhuman strength. The Hulk is taken prisoner by members of the Pantheon – a superhero team that specializes in tactical missions – so that their leader Agamemnon can convince the Hulk that his powers can be used to benefit mankind. As Pantheon members Paris and Ulysses transport the Hulk into their secret base, the Mount, their ship crashes, freeing the Hulk. After the Hulk fights through the Mount and bests Atalanta, Ulysses, Ajax, and Hector, he is assigned by Agamemnon to stop Piecemeal, who has taken hostages in a Scottish castle. The Hulk then rescues Atalanta from Lazarus and Trauma in Antarctica, and thwarts a siege of the Mount by the U-Foes. The Hulk is suddenly transported to the Future Imperfect, where he battles the Maestro – an alternate version of the Hulk – and sends him back in time to the gamma bomb test. The explosion that created the Hulk destroys Maestro.

Kenji, a human, and Milfa, an elf, decide to get married despite belonging to different species. Kenji discovers that his penis is too big to enter Milfa, due to the difference of sizes between humans and elves. The series explains the efforts they make to overcome this problem.

First OVA

Kenji and Milfa get married, and are the only ones in the church for the wedding except for the minister, due to a high level of general tension and dislike between humans and elves. Soon, however, Kenji and Milfa find their own problems when Kenji discovers during sexual foreplay that Milfa's vagina is no bigger than a belly-button, thus preventing them from having sex and starting a family together. Kenji, however, hears of the mystical Harpy Ooze, a lubricant that may solve their problems.

Kenji sets off to find the Ooze, reluctantly leaving Milfa alone in the elf-hating human town. Milfa, however, earns the respect of the townspeople after saving two children from a rampaging hydra. Kenji, meanwhile, finds the lair of the Harpies: female, angel-like creatures who are known to abduct and rape young men so as to have children. Kenji is captured by the Harpy Princess, Pisda, who subsequently rapes him. Kenji tries to resist, but is unable to stop himself impregnating her. As a reward, however, Kenji is given a bottle of Harpy Ooze.

Second OVA

Returning home, Kenji and Milfa attempt to have sex again, this time with different positions, but are still unsuccessful. Milfa decides to visit the local gynecologist, without telling Kenji.

While Kenji is away, Milfa goes to the clinic and meets several other women with similar problems. Kenji, meanwhile, returns home and discovers a dead security guard and a stunningly beautiful young woman who turns out to be his grandmother, Mitsuko, a sorceress who steals men's spirits by having sex with them in order to maintain her youthful appearance, and so did it to the security guard. Mitsuko informs Kenji that Milfa has gone to the clinic, and Kenji panics: the owner of the clinic is the infamous, lecherous incubus, Dr. Perio, who is a former friend of Kenji's. Knowing that Perio will try to rape Milfa, Kenji rushes to her rescue with Mitsuko in tow.

Milfa meets Perio, who immediately begins touching her up and undressing the both of them. However, when Milfa suddenly headbutts Perio, it turns out to have been a hallucination he had been planting in both of their minds for sexual pleasure. Kenji suddenly bursts in, ready to kill Perio, but Perio flees from the treatment room until he is ambushed by Mitsuko, who proceeds to rape him and steal his spirit, subsequently killing him.

Kenji and Milfa return home.

The story begins with Des Grieux attending a concert with his mother; he experiences strange and suggestive visions during one piano performance – by the beautiful Hungarian Teleny. Des Grieux becomes fascinated by the man and by the sporadically and frequently sexual telepathic connection he feels with Teleny, and this feeling becomes a mixture of curiosity, admiration, and desire, which quickly leads to jealousy. Des Grieux knows that Teleny attracts many men and women before their relationship begins. Eventually they meet and share their experiences of their unexplained bond which quickly leads to a passionate affair. Des Grieux feels very torn about loving and desiring a man and attempts to genuinely sexually interest himself in a household servant, but in so doing indirectly leads to her death. Thus shaken, he vows not to fight his feelings and allows Teleny to introduce him to an underground sexual society of males desiring men. Their love continues through a blackmailing attempt and their emotional struggles, until Teleny declares a need to leave for a time, ostensibly for a concert performance. During this time Des Grieux goes to Teleny's apartments only to find Teleny in bed with Des Grieux's mother, who had offered to pay Teleny's debts in return for sexual favours. The two part badly; Des Grieux nearly commits suicide and remains isolated in the hospital for many days. When he leaves he goes to Teleny only to find that his lover has stabbed himself in remorse, and is bleeding to death. Des Grieux forgives Teleny; they re-declare their love, and Teleny dies.

After a fierce storm, Captain Nathaniel Hawk arrives on the island of Oxbay. His first mate Malcolm Hatcher is retiring, and so Hawk must hire a new first mate and crew. As he leaves Oxbay, a French armada attacks the colony and captures it. Hawk manages to slip away and warn the English governor on Redmond Island, Robert Christopher Silehard, that Oxbay was attacked.

The governor sends Hawk on a series of quests to aid him in the war against France: Nathaniel is sent to investigate the condition in Oxbay; prevent a supply ship from reaching Oxbay; unload English troops in the jungles of Oxbay and rescue the English spy from the clutches of the French.

While preparing for his next quest - annexing Oxbay, Nathaniel meets his old friends: Danielle Greene and Ralph Fawn. However, Ralph is killed when the soldiers arrive to arrest Danielle and Nathaniel himself is captured and imprisoned. While in prison he gets to know an old ex-cannoneer Edgar Attwood who was fired for drinking too much rum. He can be later hired by the player into his crew.

Some time later governor Silehard arrives and tells Nathaniel that a big mistake has occurred. He sends Nathaniel Hawk on another series of quests until Nathaniel meets an old inventor who aids him in finding a treasure that could defeat the ghost ship called the Black Pearl.

There are also a large number of side quests. For instance, in one such side mission Hawk is enlisted to help a Dutch colonist find several kidnapped children.

Lili, a 14-year-old, is caravan camping with her family in Biarritz. She is self-aware and holds her own in a café conversation with a concert pianist she meets, but she has a wild streak, and she's testing her powers over men, finding that she does not always control her moods or actions, and she's impatient with being a virgin. She sets off with her brother to a disco, latching onto an aging playboy who is himself hot and cold to her. She is ambivalent about losing her virginity that night, willing the next, and determined by the third. The playboy's mix of depression and misogyny ends their unconsummated affair, leaving Lili to hunt elsewhere at the campground. She eventually finds an awkward teen her own age, and they clumsily share their first time together.

is believed to be more than 1500 years old.

On a slope of Mount Maenalus in Arcadia is an olive grove that grows around a marble tomb and the ruin of an old villa. There, one gigantic tree resembles a frighteningly distorted man, and the roots of the tree have shifted the blocks of the tomb.

The narrator explains that the beekeeper who lives next door told him a story about the tree: Two renowned sculptors, Kalos and Musides, lived in the colonnaded villa, which was "resplendent" in its day. Both men created works that were widely known and celebrated. They were devoted friends, but different in disposition: Musides enjoyed the nightlife, while Kalos preferred the quiet of the olive grove. It was there he was said to receive his inspiration.

One day, emissaries from "the Tyrant of Syracuse" ask the sculptors each to create a statue of Tyché ( ). The statue, they are told, must be "of great size and cunning workmanship", since it is to be "a wonder of nations and a goal of travellers." The most beautiful statue will be erected in the Tyrant's city, Syracuse. Kalos and Musides accept the commission. Secretly, the Tyrant expects the sculptors not only to compete but to cooperate, resulting in statuary that will be truly magnificent.

The work proceeds, and although Musides is still social and active, he seems morose—apparently because Kalos has fallen ill. Despite Kalos' weakened state, his visitors detect in him a serenity that contrasts Musides' dismay. Despite the efforts of his doctors and his friend Musides, Kalos weakens. When Kalos' death seems imminent, Musides weeps and promises to carve for him an elaborate marble sepulchre. Kalos asks that twigs from specific olive trees in the grove be buried near his head. Soon after, Kalos dies in the olive grove.

Musides builds the tomb and buries the olive twigs. From the burial place of the twigs an enormous olive tree grows at an incredible rate. An especially large branch hangs over the villa and Musides' statue.

Three years later, Musides' work on the statue is complete. The Tyrant's agents arrive, then head to town to stay the night. That evening, a windstorm whips down the mountain. When the Tyrant's people return to the villa the next morning, they find it utterly destroyed; the great tree branch has fallen, and Musides' statue has been crushed into unrecognizable pieces. Musides himself is nowhere to be found.

The end of the story recalls the Latin aphorism that precedes the text: "''Fata viam invenient''" ("fate will find a way").

A man's body wrapped in a shroud is shoved into a Transylvania grave in 1874. An executioner (Milton Reid) drives a stake through its heart. Immediately afterward, Carl (Victor Maddern), severely physically disabled, emerges from hiding and kills the gravedigger (Otto Diamant). Carl summons a drunken doctor (Cameron Hall) to perform a heart transplant on the body then murders the doctor.

Six years later, Dr. John Pierre (Vincent Ball) is convicted of "malpractice leading to manslaughter" after an emergency blood transfusion, which has never been done successfully, fails, killing his patient. As John's fiancée Madeleine (Barbara Shelley) watches, John is sentenced to life imprisonment in a penal colony. But instead, he gets sent to a Prison for the Criminal Insane, run by Dr. Callistratus (Donald Wolfit). When John meets Callistratus, he learns that he is to help with Calistratus' blood-typing research so that transfusions can be safely done, especially for those with an unnamed "rare and serious blood condition."

At his trial, John maintained that the patient's death was unavoidable and asked the judge (John Le Mesurier) to write to Prof. Meinster (Henry Vidon) in Geneva to vouch for him. The judge says he already had, but Meinster replied that he doesn't know John.

At the request of Madeleine and her uncle (John Stuart), Meinster travels to Transylvania, where they meet with Auron (Bryan Coleman), a member of the Prison Commission. Meinster insists that the court never contacted him. Auron, who is on Callistratus's payroll, had intercepted the letter to Meinster and forged a reply. He now must reopen the case.

John grows increasingly uncomfortable with his work because the blood is from unwilling inmates, many of whom die. Auron revisits Callistratus and tells him that the Prison Commission has ordered John's release. Callistratus tells John that the Commission has denied his appeal and informs the Commission that John and another inmate, Kurt (William Devlin), died in an escape attempt. John and Kurt then actually try to escape but fail. Kurt is presumably killed by the vicious Dobermans, which keep the prisoners in line. Madeleine refuses to believe that John is dead and takes a job as Callistratus' housekeeper so she can investigate.

John discovers that Kurt's grave is empty. Auron visits Callistratus again and recognises Madeleine from their meeting. Auron goes to her room and attempts to rape her, but is stopped by Carl, who has fallen in love with her. Callistratus demands an explanation of the assault. Madeleine tells him what happened. Auron denies it and tells Callistratus about her relationship with John. Callistratus throws him out. Insulted, Auron threatens to expose Callistratus. After leaving, Callistratus sends Carl after him, and Auron is not seen again.

Callistratus takes Madeleine to his laboratory and chains her to a wall. John arrives to rescue her but is also chained. Callistratus orders Carl to strap Madeleine to an operating table, but Carl refuses. Callistratus shoots him. Callistratus straps her down himself and wheels out Kurt, now just a torso with a head and one arm. Callistratus tells John that he was executed for being a vampire because of his previous work with blood, but had put himself into suspended animation. The heart transplant revived him, but he now has the "rare and fatal blood condition" he spoke of earlier. He needs constant transfusions and has drained all the blood of many inmates. He now intends to transfuse Madeleine's blood into Kurt.

John yells to Kurt to "resist," and Kurt grips Callistratus' arm. As they struggle, they move close enough for John to knock Callistratus unconscious and free himself. Kurt dies from the exertion. John unstraps Madeleine and takes Callistratus hostage, demanding free passage from the prison. They walk free but Carl, who survived Callistratus' shot, frees the hounds then dies after being shot again by the guards. The Dobermans tear Callistratus to shreds.

At the height of World War II, American-born Susan, Lady Ashwood, (Irene Dunne) is a nurse in a British hospital, awaiting the arrival of 300 wounded men. Via flashback, she thinks back to how she came to Britain many years before.

In 1914, Susan and her father, small-town Rhode Island newspaper publisher Hiram P. Dunn (Frank Morgan), come to Britain, intending to stay for two weeks. Old Colonel Forsythe (C. Aubrey Smith) introduces Susan to Sir John Ashwood (Alan Marshal), a baronet and one of the landed gentry, with an estate and manor house. They fall in love, and despite some friction over her being American, they marry.

Their honeymoon is cut short when World War I breaks out. John is also an army officer; he rejoins his regiment and goes to war in France. Susan and John's mother, Lady Jean (Gladys Cooper), wait for news, good or bad. John's brother Reggie (John Warburton) is killed in action. John finally gets a chance to be with Susan for a few days in France, which they spend in Dieppe. During their stay, the United States declares war on Germany.

Susan returns to Britain and has a son, also named John. She, baby John, and Colonel Forsythe watch as newly arrived American troops parade through London. John is killed near the end of the fighting, never having seen his wife again or his son.

Susan and young John (Roddy McDowall) live in the Ashwood manor house with Lady Jean. Having inherited the baronetcy, he is addressed as "Sir John", even as a boy, and takes seriously his duties as proprietor of the manor. He develops a childhood infatuation with Betsy Kenney (Elizabeth Taylor), daughter of a tenant farmer. Young John invites two visiting German boys to the manor for tea. The German boys shock the Ashwoods by spouting bellicose militaristic sentiments.

Susan becomes afraid that there will be another war and that she will lose young John as she lost his father. After Lady Jean dies, she decides to sell the manor and take John to America. But when she tells him why, John refuses, insisting that he will go into the army as his father did, and fight for Britain if war comes. Susan changes her mind, and they stay in Britain.

World War II begins, and Sir John (now played by Peter Lawford) becomes an officer, while his sweetheart Betsy (now played by June Lockhart) becomes a Wren.

The flashback ends, as wounded men arrive at Susan's hospital. To Susan's horror, John is among them, severely wounded. Later, in the wards, a doctor tells Susan John is dying. John tells her he was wounded in fighting at Dieppe and of an American soldier who died near him. He speaks of the importance of winning a complete victory and a lasting peace. At that moment, American soldiers again parade through London, passing by the hospital. Susan proudly describes them to John as he dies.

Differences from source

The source poem has no mention of a romantic partner for Susan's son, John. The poem clearly states that John is following his father into the army, but ends with only Susan's fear that John might die in the war, not that he has even been sent to fight yet.

In 1980, on the night he fails to win an Emmy Award, Matt Hobbs proposes to his longtime girlfriend Beth. He says the only thing holding him back is his dedication to his career, one which may not always work out, and Beth says that's one of the things she loves most about him. Seven years later, with a baby crying and no job for Matt, Beth is overflowing with resentment. By 1993, the pair have been divorced for several years and are living on opposite coasts. Matt auditions for a role in pompous, self-absorbed, and clueless film producer Burke Adler's new project but fails to get the part. He does however agree to chauffeur Adler occasionally. Matt flies to Georgia to pick up his daughter Jeannie for what he believes is a brief visit and discovers Beth is facing a prison term and Jeannie will be living with him for the duration of her sentence. The two return to Hollywood and struggle with their new circumstances and building a relationship (Matt hasn't seen the six-year-old since she was four). When Matt goes in to make a screen test for a lead in a film, he leaves Jeannie with a friend at the studio, and when he picks her up he's stunned to learn she's been cast in a sitcom. There are multiple sub-plots, including one focusing on Matt's relationship with staff script-reader Cathy Breslow and another concerning test screening analyst Nan Mulhanney and her tumultuous relationship with Adler.

After winning a lifetime achievement award, esteemed screenwriter Steven Phillips (Brooks) has a rude awakening. Believing the award has no real meaning, he finds out it means his career is over. His studio reneged on renewing his contract, telling him he's "lost his edge." Junior exec Josh Martin (Mark Feuerstein) tells him his new script is dull and to be off the lot by 5.

Desperate to revive his career, he seeks advice from very successful screenwriter Jack (Bridges), who arranges an introduction to Sarah (Stone), a modern-day muse who can inspire anyone. She has lavish demands (expensive hotel rooms, gifts from Tiffany's), much to his wife Laura's chagrin (MacDowell).

Steven isn't sure if she is authentic or a charlatan. She takes him to Long Beach, where they bump into writer-director Rob Reiner, who Sarah clearly knows. There, Steven gets an idea for a movie set in an aquarium, with Jim Carrey as the lead.

As Sarah's demands increase, Steven's apprehensive wife begins to be won over. Through the muse's encouragement Laura decides to pursue her dream of baking and selling cookies, to great success.

To save money, Sarah is invited to move into their house. Steven, however, is frustrated because she spends more time helping others—Hollywood writers and directors like James Cameron and Martin Scorsese, who come to Steven's house to see her. He even surrenders his own bedroom to her, sleeping in the guest house.

When he pleads for a good ending for his aquarium screenplay, Sarah points Steven in the right direction, inspiring him with a great idea. Steven's agent Hal is thrilled and urges him to finish the script as quickly as possible, which he does.

The following morning, though, two visitors come to Steven's, doctors from a mental clinic. They tell him Sarah is an escaped psychiatric patient from their asylum with multiple personality disorder. They find the whole "muse" idea hilarious. When they try to find Sarah to take her back, they discover that she has escaped and decide not to look for her, as she can come and go anytime she wants.

The junior exec, Josh, loves Steven's script, but breaks the news it is already in production at another studio—by Rob Reiner. A broken-hearted Steven goes to work in his wife's new cookie business.

Things look up when the agent calls to tell Steven that the Reiner project fell through and the studio wants to purchase his version, contingent upon a few changes. An excited Steven goes to the studio, where a secretary reveals that Josh was fired for stealing and they have a new boss in charge, Christine. Steven is shocked to see Christine is Sarah in a black wig. She takes Steven's arm and insists that they discuss the changes over a nice, expensive lunch, which she expects him to pay for. Steven frantically tries to comprehend what is happening.

The play focuses on the British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and the British government's handling of the diplomatic breakdown over the Argentinian invasion of the Falkland Islands (the Islas Malvinas to the Argentines), which was United Kingdom's largest Foreign Affairs emergency since the Suez Crisis of 1956. In particular, it charts the behind-the-scenes dealings within Thatcher's Conservative government and between it and its military and the United States and Argentine governments, in the diplomatic breakdown that gave way to war and an eventual British victory. In response to the Argentinian invasion, the Thatcher government calls for a total maritime exclusion zone around the islands, and directs a large naval force to set sail for the islands.

Lord Carrington resigns as Foreign Secretary, taking responsibility for the failure to foresee the invasion, a resignation which Thatcher reluctantly accepts; his replacement, Francis Pym, is a reticent member of the war cabinet, and cautions Thatcher against a military response, including in the presence of Alexander Haig and an American delegation. Haig enters the affair to attempt to mediate the dispute between the Thatcher and Argentinian sides, the latter led by the military dictator Leopoldo Galtieri. Secretary of State for Defence John Nott, acting on behalf of his government, demands total withdrawal of Argentinian garrisons, in compliance with UN Resolution 502.

British response to the involvement of United Nations Secretary-General Pérez de Cuéllar is also portrayed. Other dramatic elements include portrayal of the internal dynamics of the war cabinet and the government's representations in the House of Commons—in response to Argentine landings on the British island of South Georgia and their subsequent reclaiming by British forces, the sinking of the Argentine naval cruiser, the ARA General Belgrano, and the losses of British life when the British guided missile destroyer HMS ''Sheffield'' was struck by an Argentine exocet missile. The drama ends with Thatcher's declaration of the end of hostilities in the House of Commons.

"The Tomb" tells of Jervas Dudley, a confessed daydreamer. While still a child, he discovers the padlocked entrance to a mausoleum belonging to the Hyde family, whose nearby mansion had burnt down many years previously. Jervas attempts to break the padlock, but is unable to. Dispirited, he takes to sleeping beside the tomb. Eventually, inspired by reading Plutarch's ''Lives'', Dudley decides to patiently wait until it is his time to gain entrance to the tomb.

One night, several years later, Jervas falls asleep once more beside the mausoleum. He awakes suddenly in the late afternoon, and fancies that as he awoke, a light had been hurriedly extinguished inside the tomb. Jervas then returns to his home, where he goes directly to the attic, to a rotten chest, and therein finds the key to the tomb. Once inside the tomb, Jervas discovers an empty coffin with the name "Jervas" inscribed upon the plate. He begins to sleep in the empty coffin each night, yet those who witness him sleeping see him asleep outside the tomb, not inside as Jervas believes. Jervas also develops a fear of thunder and fire, and is aware that he is being spied upon by one of his neighbors.

Against his better judgment, Jervas sets out for the tomb at night, with a storm looming. He sees the Hyde mansion restored to its former state; there is a party in progress, which he joins, abandoning his former quietude for blasphemous hedonism. During the party, lightning strikes the mansion, and it burns. Jervas loses consciousness, having imagined himself being burnt to ashes in the blaze. He next finds himself screaming and struggling, being held by two men with his father in attendance. A small antique box is discovered, having been unearthed by the recent storm. Inside is a porcelain miniature of a man, with the initials "J.H." Jervas fancies its face to be the mirror image of his own. It seems that Jervas was the reincarnation of Jervas Hyde, who came back to be laid with his ancestors in the family tomb, as he was not when his ashes blew away in all directions.

Jervas begins jabbering that he has been sleeping inside the tomb. His father, saddened by his son's mental instability, tells him that he has been watched for some time and has never gone inside the tomb, and indeed, the padlock is rusted with age. Jervas is removed to an asylum, presumed mad. He asks his servant Hiram, who has remained faithful to him despite his current state, to explore the tomb – a request which Hiram fulfills. After breaking the padlock and descending with a lantern into the murky depths, Hiram returns to his master and informs him that there is, indeed, a coffin with a plate which reads "Jervas" on it. Jervas then states that he has been promised burial in that coffin when he dies.

This unusual biography traces the life of Flush from his carefree existence in the country, to his adoption by Ms. Browning and his travails in London, leading up to his final days in a bucolic Italy. The story begins by alluding to Flush's pedigree and birth in the household of Barrett Browning's impecunious friend Mary Russell Mitford. Woolf emphasises the dog's conformity to the guidelines of The Kennel Club, using those guidelines as a symbol of class difference that recurs throughout the work. Declining an offer from the brother of Edward Bouverie Pusey for the puppy, Mitford gave Flush to Elizabeth, then convalescent in a back room of the family house on Wimpole Street in London.

Flush leads a restrained but happy life with the poet until she meets Robert Browning; the introduction of love into Barrett Browning's life improves her health tremendously, but leaves the forgotten dog heartbroken. Woolf draws on passages from the letters to depict Flush's attempted mutinies: that is, he attempts to bite Browning, who remains unharmed.

The drama of the courtship is interrupted by Flush's dognapping. While accompanying Barrett Browning shopping, he is snatched by a thief and taken to the nearby rookery St Giles. This episode, a conflation of three real times on which Flush was stolen, ends when the poet, over her family's objections, pays the robbers six guineas (£6.30) to have the dog returned. It provides Woolf the opportunity for an extended meditation on the poverty of mid-century London, and on the blinkered indifference of many of the city's wealthy residents.

After his rescue, Flush is reconciled to his owner's future husband, and he accompanies them to Pisa and Florence. In these chapters, his own experiences are described equally with Barrett Browning's, as Woolf warms to the theme of the former invalid rejuvenated by her escape from paternal control. Barrett Browning's first pregnancy and the marriage of her maid, Lily Wilson, are described; Flush himself is represented as becoming more egalitarian in the presence of the mongrel dogs of Italy.

In the last chapters, Woolf describes a return to London after the death of Barrett Browning's father; she also touches on husband and wife's enthusiasm for the Risorgimento and for spiritualism. Flush's death, indeed, is described in terms of the strange Victorian interest in knocking tables: "He had been alive; he was now dead. That was all. The drawing-room table, strangely enough, stood perfectly still."

Jacobo, an owner of a sock factory, lives his life with routine and isolation. When his brother, Herman, comes to visit him for a wedding, Jacobo turns to his head-supervisor of the factory, Marta, to help him. Jacobo asks Marta to pretend to be his wife to impress and convince his brother that he is part of a loving, healthy marriage. In the days awaiting Herman's arrival, Jacobo and Marta re-decorate and clean Jacobo's apartment, take pictures together to place around the apartment, and put on a facade of a happy marriage. Marta and Jacobo's relationship grows, however, it's clear the two have very little in common. There is an awkward gap between the two characters, and it seems as though there is a barrier between them.

Jacobo is aware that his brother has become more successful since moving away while he devoted his time to nursing their dying mother, rather than establishing the success of his own business. Jacobo greets Herman at the airport and they exchange socks from their respective factories. Herman's visit is initially quiet and uneasy as the brothers clearly have little in common. The relationship between the two brothers felt awkward and uncomfortable because they acted as if they were two strangers, not two biological brothers. Shortly before he is due to return home, Herman asks Jacobo and Marta to accompany him on a visit to a resort in Piriápolis where he and Jacobo spent time as children with their parents. Marta is keen to go and Jacobo reluctantly agrees. During their visit to Piriápolis, Marta and Herman become closer, potentially developing feelings for one another. There is suspicion of a secret relationship, to which Jacobo catches on. Furthermore, Jacobo hints at possibly having deeper feelings for Marta. However, Herman's outgoing and charismatic personality seems to sway Marta, reducing any chance Jacobo has with her. Through the duration of this trip, Jacobo remains cold and unemotional towards both the other characters and seems anxious for the trip to end.

Herman hands Jacobo a stack of money just before he is to return home as recompense for the time he spent caring for their mother. Jacobo first refuses to accept the money, but after hearing Herman perform a love song to Marta which she is seen listening to earlier in a Karaoke restaurant where the three of them dine, he accepts it. Jacobo has even more resentment towards his brother for developing a relationship with Marta. Herman is married and has children while Jacobo is alone but Herman also now has Marta in his life. Jacobo feels resentful and jealous of his brother Herman. This is another defeat for Jacobo.

Later that night Jacobo goes alone to a casino, placing all the money on Black 24 in a game of roulette, and to his surprise wins. He keeps some of the money but wraps the larger part up as a present for Marta. As they say goodbye to Herman, Marta presses a note into his hand, telling him to read it on the plane. When they get back home, Jacobo calls a taxi for Marta and gives her the cash, which she is last seen holding in the back of the cab. Routinely, Marta says "See you tomorrow," but does not turn up for work the following morning. Jacobo goes through the same routine as always, continuing on with his dull life without Marta.

In the Magical World, the future queen is chosen by selecting two young witches and sending them to the Human World, where they'll compete to capture the hearts of boys. Whoever has collected the most by the end of the competition is crowned queen.

This generation's Queen Candidates are best friends and polar opposites Vanilla Mieux and Chocolat Meilleure, the daughters of the current queen and her former competitor (respectively). They're aided by their assigned mentor and guardian, pop idol witch Rockin' Robin, and their two animal familiars, Blanca the mouse and Duke the frog.

But the girls have more to deal with than just competing for hearts at school. There's something weird about the cool, mysterious middle school boy Pierre, who resembles the evil king Glace—and he seems to be after Chocolat. Now, both trapped within their own new goals, the two witches must fight their way and retain a friendship which no magic can defeat.

Commander Riker, Lieutenant Commander Data, and Doctor Crusher are visiting the Melona IV colony, when the Crystalline Entity appears and begins tearing up the planetary surface. Although the rapid evacuation into the caves is mostly successful, two of the colonists, one of which Riker expresses a possible romantic interest in, die in the onslaught. The Enterprise comes to the survivors' aid and free them after the Entity leaves.

The Enterprise sets out in pursuit of the Entity, with the help of Kila Marr, who is a xenobiologist and expert on the creature. Marr does not trust Data, as she is aware that Data's brother Lore has assisted the Entity in the past. Captain Picard hopes to challenge this perception by having Data work closely with Doctor Marr, in spite of Counselor Deanna Troi's worry that his suggestion will not suffice Doctor Marr's feelings of animosity.

While working around the caves of Melona IV, Marr continues to show animosity towards Data. Slightly confused, Data tries to convince her that he is nothing like Lore and has no affiliation with the Entity whatsoever. When he asks her what makes her think he had anything to do with the Entity, Marr reveals the source of her prejudice: her 16-year-old son was killed by the Entity at Omicron Theta, which was also Data's homeworld. She proves Data her sense of revenge and justice good by threatening that if she finds out that he is involved with the Entity as she suspects him to be, she will have him "disassembled piece by piece." Picard tells Marr that he does not intend to kill the Entity without first attempting to communicate with it. Marr is skeptical of this approach, but she and Data work out a method for talking to the Entity. As Dr. Marr works with Data, she comes to understand that Data and Lore are quite different androids, recognizing Data's stoic yet virtuous personality and high intellect. During their research, Marr discovers Data is programmed with the memories and experiences of the Omicron Theta colony, including those of her dead son, Raymond "Renny". Data tells her about how much her son admired her work as a scientist. At Marr's request, Data reads extracts from her son's journals, in the teenager's voice, causing the emotionally moved woman to cry over hearing the sound of her dead son's voice.

The Enterprise locates the Entity and begins sending a series of graviton pulses toward it. The creature responds, and emits a response pattern which is a clear sign of comprehension. Picard is elated at a potential first contact, but Marr, in a sudden lapse of sanity, due to the long-held desire to avenge the death of her son, alters the pulse to emit gravitons in a continuous beam, and locks the program so it cannot be stopped. The beam reaches a level of resonance where the Entity is shattered. Marr addresses Data as though he is her son, telling him that she destroyed the entity for him.

Having finally taken her long-awaited revenge, but sacrificing her career in the process, Marr is near collapse. A disgusted Picard has Data escort Marr back to her quarters. In her quarters, Marr asks Data how long he will function, and he replies that he was programmed to function for an eternity. Relieved, Marr tells Data that as long as he functions, her son is alive. Speaking to him as if he were her son, Dr. Marr pleads to Data to let "Renny" know that she destroyed the Entity for him, in the hopes that her deed will give her son's spirit a sense of peace. However, Data informs her that her son would not have approved of her destroying the Entity, stating that he loved her work as a scientist but that in her grief over his death, she destroyed the very reason her work is so important and that he cannot help her. Reality sets in for a horrified Dr. Marr, as she silently reflects on what she has done.

Albert is an unmarried schoolmaster living with his dominating mother and secretly in love with his neighbour and fellow teacher Louise. Widely regarded as ineffectual, he embarrasses everybody by his panic during an Allied air raid. However, Louise is engaged to George, the head of the railway yard, who, like many in the town, believes that collaboration with the German occupation is the only logical course.

Her brother Paul, who works in the yard, is an active resister and, trying to kill the German commandant Major von Keller with a grenade, instead kills two German soldiers. After turning a blind eye to previous acts of resistance (such as a wrecked train) in the hope of preserving good relations with the town, von Keller must now act and takes 10 local hostages, saying they will be shot in a week if the guilty person who threw the grenade is not found. Albert's mother, jealous of Louise, tells George that it was Paul. George tells von Keller and then, in a crisis of conscience, shoots himself. Albert bursts in a minute later, furious at discovering his mother's treachery, and is found with George's corpse and gun.

Regarding it as a matter for the civilian courts, the Germans expect Albert to be condemned. When in his defense he starts an impassioned plea for resistance, the prosecutor requests an adjournment. That night, von Keller comes to his cell and offers a deal: If he will keep quiet next day, new forged evidence will acquit him. To emphasize the point, in the morning the 10 hostages (including his friend Professor Sorel) are shot beneath his window. Back in court, Albert is all the more eloquent in the cause of liberty and the jurors proclaim him innocent. Freed and back in his schoolroom, with a proud Louise by his side, he is reading to the boys the ''Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen'' when German soldiers come to take him away.

The game begins in the fourth year of the reign of Emperor Travianus Augustus Caesar, as Octavius, a captain in the Roman navy, is sailing his ship, the ''Tortius'', through the dangerous "Sea of Storms" to the "Latonic Provinces". However, the ship is hit by a sudden storm, thrown off-course, and, after several days, driven onto the coastline of an island, marooning the crew. Octavius quickly deduces the island is unknown to the Empire, and thus, rescue is unlikely. Seeing a plentiful supply of food, the crew decide to settle.

Setting out to explore, they discover a gateway-like structure with a Latin inscription, "Consiste ut procederas" ("Settle down in order to make progress"). Perplexed at the contradictory nature of this message, they continue to build up their settlement. Thirteen months later, a portal opens in the gateway, and Octavius concludes the inscription means that for the gateway to function, they must first construct a vibrant settlement.

Entering the portal, they are transported to another island, and after several months, find evidence of Nubian inhabitants. The Nubians greet the Romans peacefully, telling them about their "holy relic", which Octavius realises is another portal. He asks for access to it, but the Nubians refuse, and Octavius determines to take it by force. After five months of fighting, the Romans defeat the Nubians, and enter the portal. Over the next few years, as they use a series of portals to jump from island to island, they come into conflict with more Nubians, as well as Vikings and Japanese, before eventually emerging on what they believe to be the final island on their journey home.

Ten years after being shipwrecked, they locate the final portal, but are shocked to learn it is guarded by hostile Romans. However, they are able to fight their way through, finally returning to the Empire.

Data and Worf do not share La Forge's excitement about the first trial run of soliton wave transportation technology that the ''Enterprise'' will be assisting with. La Forge notes that witnessing the soliton wave transportation would be like witnessing Zefram Cochrane engage the first warp drive. Worf receives a communication from his human mother who requests to visit bringing his son Alexander. On arrival, they reveal that it was not intended for him to go back. Worf's mother explains that Alexander is too much of a burden on them. After enrolling Alexander in school, Worf finds many new problems with the arrival of his son. Alexander soon lies and steals during a school field trip.

A distortion during the wave transportation experiment damages the ''Enterprise'' and the test ship explodes. The wave exponentially increases in power and speed, set on a collision course with a colony at Lemma II.

Alexander continues to cause problems in school while Worf reviews his parenting habits. He contemplates sending Alexander to a Klingon school, believing that it is best. However, Alexander feels he is being rejected by Worf.

The ''Enterprise'' dissipates the wave with photon torpedoes. Alexander is saved from a damaged area of the ''Enterprise'' by Riker and Worf. Afterwards, Worf lets Alexander stay on the ''Enterprise''.

The ''U.S.S. Enterprise'' is sent to investigate the disappearance of the research vessel ''Vico'' which had been dispatched to explore the Black Cluster in section 9–7. They encounter the ship adrift just outside the cluster, with apparent heavy battle damage. Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner), Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton), and Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frakes) beam aboard to investigate. Everybody on the ''Vico'' is dead, except for one survivor - a young, traumatized boy named Timothy (Joshua Harris). Commander Riker tries to have Timothy beamed into sickbay on the ''Enterprise''. But the attempt is futile, due to the boy being pinned down by a fallen beam that is interfering with the energizing matter stream. Ensign Hutchinson tells Riker that in order to beam the boy onto the ''Enterprise'', they need to get him out of the debris and take him to the unshielded corridor of the ''Vico''. Data tells Riker that he can lift the wreckage to free the boy, but that it might quicken the imminent hull breach. At Data's suggestion, Riker and Geordi return to the ''Enterprise''. Using his strength to lift the beam, Data frees Timothy and they rush to the corridor, allowing them to be beamed back into the ''Enterprise'' just in time before the hull collapses.

As Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) examines him in sickbay, Timothy tells the crew that his ship was attacked by some unknown aliens who forcibly boarded the ''Vico''. Having lost both his parents (his mother, the systems engineer of the ''Vico'', was found dead in another part of the ship, while his father, the ''Vico'' s second officer, was likely blown into space when the ''Vico'' s bridge was exposed), Timothy is very afraid and struggles to blend into his new surroundings, isolating himself from the other children and the other adults. Timothy only trusts Data, mostly because he rescued him. Data also finds himself concerned for the boy and learns about how parental figures provide important support to a child's emotional well-being after listening to Geordi recalling a traumatic event when he was a child.

Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) investigates the ''Vico'' s destruction with Geordi and Data. Geordi says that there were no records or evidence indicating that any boarding parties came onto the ''Vico''. Picard suspects that Timothy isn't being entirely honest, but can't question him since Timothy is still in shock. Worried about Timothy's emotional well-being and having witnessed the growing connection between the boy and the android officer, Counselor Deanna Troi asks Data to spend time with Timothy. She tells Captain Picard that it is possible that Timothy might open up to Data about the truth of the ''Vico'' s destruction. Picard encourages Data to follow what Troi suggests, and Data agrees. Before starting his task in watching over Timothy, Data asks Troi about how he should proceed. Troi replies, "Just be with him. Your presence he trusts and that what he needs most right now."

Data visits Timothy who is busy constructing a model of a Dakkoran temple. Data helps complete the model using his quick reflexes, much to Timothy's amazement. When Timothy asks him how he was able to build the model at such a high speed, Data explains that as an android, he is designed to excel in both physical and mental capacities, while not being able to express emotions. Fascinated by his android rescuer and intrigued by the fact that androids can't experience emotions, Timothy starts behaving like him. Timothy's new android persona - complete with Data's vernacular, body movements and Timothy's insistence that he is an android, mildly surprises and amuses Counselor Troi during a one-on-one appointment in the Ten Forward dining loft. Troi concludes to Picard and Data that Timothy is using the android persona as a way to help him cope, even suppress his emotions of trauma. She says that this android-persona will pass, but that it will go on until Timothy regains his emotional strength back. Picard instructs Data to make Timothy "the best android he can possibly be".

Data takes Timothy under his wing, teaching the orphaned boy on what it means to be an android. He grooms the boy's hair to look exactly like his own and accompanies him to his physical examination with Dr. Crusher, who plays along with the android idea. Timothy reveals that he has nightmares and is very afraid, but he believes that by behaving like an android he can suppress his emotions. While the two are painting, Data notices Timothy painting a violently expressive painting of what looks like an abstract explosion and asks whether it represents something. Timothy says that the painting doesn't represent anything, insisting that it is "just a painting". Data assures Timothy that he can tell him anything he wishes.

Over time, Timothy begins to open up to other people, even smiling and laughing at one point during school. Although she is happy with Timothy's progress, Troi feels that Data's work is not done yet, as she remarks, "A laugh is one step in the right direction, we need to help him take a few more steps." She suggests that Data tell Timothy about how humanity fascinates him, stating that it might help Timothy to be a boy again. At the Ten Forward bar, Data and Timothy dine on soft drinks. Upon Timothy's question on what he thinks of the drink, Data states that while he can analyze the components and textures of a dessert, he cannot taste. Data longingly muses over what it would be like to taste one's dessert and feel the anticipation and delight over a confection - a behaviour he observed in humans. Timothy argues that androids are faster and stronger than humans and that they do not need to feel bad all the time, but Data asserts that while androids are able to excel at skills of physical and mental abilities, they are incapable of emotions - like feeling proud over an accomplishment, something that humans are capable of doing. His final statement to Timothy is "I would gladly risk feeling bad at times, if it also meant that I could... taste my dessert."

Meanwhile, the ''Enterprise'' enters the black cluster. Lieutenant Worf (Michael Dorn) notices strange sensor readings that appear, disappear then reappear from starboard bow to port bow. Riker and Picard conclude that the wavefronts are echoing the ''Enterprise'' s movements through the black cluster, distorting the motion sensors. A troubled Picard muses that while sensor distortion is uncommon in travelling through black clusters, none of the previously explored black clusters demonstrated gravitational waves as extreme as the Section 9-7 Back cluster. Eventually, the distortion becomes so strong, the sensors become useless. Captain Picard finds out that the ship was not destroyed by aliens after Data concludes that the distortion caused by the gravitational wave fronts in the black cluster interferes with all kinds of phaser fire. With Troi and Data present, Picard gently demands that Timothy tell the truth. Timothy firmly sticks to his story, insisting that the ''Vico'' was attacked, but Data calms him down, convincing him to tell the truth by telling him that androids do not lie. Timothy tearfully admits that he accidentally killed the crew of his ship when his arm touched a button on the computer control panel which caused the destruction of his ship. Data tells him that it is not possible since all starships require "user code clearance". Picard and Troi support this, assuring the distraught Timothy that because of the "user code clearance", he is not responsible for the tragic deaths of his parents.

Suddenly, a shock wave hits the ''Enterprise'' and Timothy says that his ship was also hit by a shock wave. Picard tells Worf to raise shields, but a new shock wave is even stronger than the first one. More power is diverted to the shields and another wave hits and is even stronger. While listening to the banter between captain and the crew, Timothy remembers that the ''Vico'' s crew were doing the same procedures of adding more power to the shields. With Timothy by his side, Data heads to the science aft on the bridge, computing the shield's strength and the rising strength of the shock waves. Picard and Geordi discuss putting the energy of the warp engine to the shields. Timothy states that is what they said the same "warp power to the shields" order on his ship.

Data suddenly asks Picard to lower the shields and Picard orders Worf to lower the shields, which he does. The next shock wave is harmless and the ''Enterprise'' is safe. Data had realized that giving energy to the shields caused even heavier shock waves (the more power the ship generated, the heavier the impact), and these were ultimately responsible for the destruction of Timothy's ship. Due to Timothy's memory and Data's speedy analysis, the ''Enterprise'' has been saved from the ''Vico'' s fate. The ''Enterprise'' leaves the black cluster.

Counselor Troi and Data watch Timothy in school and Troi concludes that while he is still filled with pain, Timothy has reverted to being a boy. Data has a heart-to-heart conversation with Timothy, who apologizes for acting like an android. Data, however, says that he has heard that imitation is the highest form of flattery and is not offended. Timothy asks if they can still do things together, Data replies that he would be pleased, even happy to count Timothy as one of his many human friends. In response, Timothy momentarily takes on an androidish expression and says, "That would be acceptable," before smiling.

The Federation starship ''Enterprise'' conveys a delegation of Ullians to Calder IV. Tarmin, their leader, explains that Ullians are telepathic historians who conduct their research by retrieving long forgotten memories, and demonstrating this on volunteers by helping Keiko O'Brien recall a lost childhood memory, and revealing Dr. Crusher is thinking about her first kiss. Tarmin continues to explain their abilities that require years of training, and his son Jev, also part of the delegation, has not yet reached his potential. Jev is upset at this implication and leaves. Counselor Deanna Troi follows and talks to him, pointing out that her own mother, Lwaxana Troi, is also quite overbearing. After finding a common bond, Troi leaves for her quarters. While there, she recalls a romantic interlude with Commander William Riker, but as the memory gets more intense, Riker begins to assault Deanna, ignoring Deanna's screams of "No!". Suddenly, Riker is replaced by Jev. Troi screams out in pain and collapses, later to be found in a coma.

Riker speaks to Jev as the last person seen talking to Troi, and asks if he would submit to medical tests to make sure the Ullians do not carry any harmful toxins or pathogens. Jev agrees, but later Riker suffers from a similar flashback and also collapses. Dr. Crusher's tests reveal nothing, but her scans of Troi and Riker show an electropathic activity typical of a rare neurological disorder, Iresine Syndrome. Captain Picard asks the Ullians if they would allow for further scanning, which Tarmin agrees to. None of the Ullians, nor any of their volunteers during the demonstration, show this disorder. Later, Dr. Crusher succumbs to a similar flashback, and Picard puts Lt. Commander Data and Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge in charge of the investigation. Following Dr. Crusher's research, Geordi looks to other cases of Iresine Syndrome in Federation records, eventually discovering two that occurred on Hurada III while a Ullian delegation was present. Picard requests the Ullians to confine themselves to quarters until they resolve the issue.

Troi wakes from her coma, and when news of this arrives to Jev, he requests to help probe Troi's mind to find out what happened. Picard allows it, and with Jev's help, Troi recounts the memory, ending with the replacement of Riker by Tarmin. Jev asserts that for his people, forcefully inserting oneself into a memory is a crime, and contacts his homeworld to let them know of Tarmin's crime. As they near their destination, Jev comes to say goodbye to Troi, apologizing for his father. When Troi offers sympathy, Jev engages another mind probe, causing the same memory to occur for Troi. Just then, security personnel arrive and take Jev into custody; Data and La Forge had discovered two additional instances of unexplained comas on Nel III, and that Tarmin was on his home planet at that time. As the ''Enterprise'' sets course for the Ullian homeworld, Tarmin is cleared, and Riker and Dr. Crusher recover from their comas.

The storyline follows the lives of a group of teenagers running an e-zine about their daily experiences. The main characters are Zoey (Ksenia Solo), an average upper middle-class girl who thinks of herself as a bit of a nerd, and Jack (Bronson Pelletier), a boy of First Nations origin. The series deals with teenage topics, including relationships, sex and drugs. Every season, two to three new characters are introduced, who join in writing the e-zine. These characters are usually added to explore new areas of teen life and problems.

The show is no longer in production, although reruns continue to air on APTN. In 2008, the Global Television Network also began airing the show's first season. TFO, the French language educational broadcaster in Ontario, has also aired a French dubbed version of the program. In 2012, ''renegadepress.com'' made its American debut on the Starz channel Starz Kids & Family.

The ''Enterprise'' has been assigned to the Moab sector to track a stellar core fragment from a disintegrated Neutron star. They find the fragment is due to pass near Moab IV, threatening a human colony on the planet. On contacting the colony to arrange for evacuation, its leader Aaron Conor (John Snyder) refuses, though he allows an away team down to discuss the matter. Conor explains that the colony was formed 200 years prior to create a perfect society using genetic engineering and selective breeding, and he and the other leaders feel that evacuation would destroy the perfect order they have achieved. They discuss other alternatives and ''Enterprise'' Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge is introduced to Hannah Bates (Dey Young), a scientist. Bates proposes using a multi-phase tractor beam, powered by the ''Enterprise'' s warp core, to push the fragment from its path, which La Forge agrees would be a possible solution. After some deliberation, Bates is allowed to leave the colony to the ''Enterprise'' to oversee the process. Meanwhile, Deanna Troi and Conor start to develop a romantic attraction as they try to convince the other leaders that evacuation is the best option.

Aboard the ''Enterprise'', Bates' solution is found to be effective, but the equipment required is damaged too quickly to be used. La Forge recognizes her solution could be augmented with similar technology that enables his VISOR to operate, allowing the equipment to last long enough to manipulate the fragment safely away from Moab IV. La Forge comments that this solution wouldn't be possible in the current colony's manner of perfection as imperfections like blindness would have been outright eliminated. As they continue simulations, they find that the solution is not perfect, but La Forge suggests that they reinforce the colony's shielding during the fragment's passing, allowing the colony to survive the fragment's passage. Conor initially refuses as this would require more ''Enterprise'' personnel to transport to the colony, and he fears cultural contamination, but relents when Bates convinces him this is the only solution. The ''Enterprise'' is able to push the fragment far enough that the colony appears to be safe.

As the other ''Enterprise'' crew return to the ship, La Forge and Bates check on the status of the colony shielding. Bates reports there are microfractures that will soon fail, and recommends full evacuation. La Forge, having not seen these on his VISOR, recognizes that Bates falsified the readings, as she wishes to leave with the ''Enterprise'', recognizing that the colony has languished behind the technological improvements of the Federation. Admitting her lie, she requests asylum aboard the ''Enterprise''. Several other colonists express their desire to leave. Troi brings Captain Picard to the colony to discuss the matter with Conor. Though Picard recognizes that the colony's society will be altered by agreeing to asylum, he cannot refuse this request as a fundamental right of human free will. Conor reluctantly agrees, and allows Bates and 22 other colonists to leave with the ship. As they leave orbit, Picard comments how this affair is a clear example of the necessity of the Prime Directive; the intervention of the Federation to save the colonists may have, in the end, proved just as dangerous to the colony as any core fragment could ever have been.

Mickey Mouse enters Pluto in a ritzy dog show. The two arrive there in a makeshift wooden car. While Mickey grooms Pluto, Pluto starts swooning over Fifi the Peke. When Pluto is called to the judge's stand, Mickey quickly retrieves him. Things don't look good for Mickey and Pluto after he attacks the judge (due to him being rude to Pluto), resulting in the two getting kicked out. Upon hearing trick dogs coming onstage to perform, Mickey decides to reenter Pluto in the dog show as a trick dog, but Pluto is nervous about the idea. When a photographer attempts to take a picture of the trick dogs, the camera's flash powder ignites a curtain, causing a fire to break out in the building. Fifi gets stuck under a fallen microphone stand. As Mickey is about to go back in with Pluto as a roller skating dog, a crowd of people and dogs run out. Pluto hears Fifi and bravely goes in, still wearing his roller skates. Mickey tries to follow, but is stopped by falling debris. After hitting a column and narrowly avoiding a collapsing part of the floor and a falling wall, Pluto skates his way across wooden beams and saves Fifi just before the floor that she's on gives way. They escape the burning building by crashing through a window and land on a drain pipe that folds down like a spring and launches them out onto the street. Mickey and the others gather around Pluto and the judge awards Pluto with a medal as everyone cheers for him, hailing him as a hero. Pluto then uses his ear to pull Fifi behind the medal, presumably sharing a kiss.

Gwendolyn Leonard epitomized the term "self-involved." After being fired from her corporate job, she was reduced to moving in with her former assistant, spunky Terry Reynolds, and starting up a new promotions business as her partner. Terry and her brother Danny shared a loft apartment atop a clock tower in New York City, and Danny worked as bartender at Clockworks, the restaurant below, while he pursued his dream of becoming a writer. Clockworks was owned by Guy Mann, an average Joe who adamantly pursued Gwen, though she kept him at arm's length (his response to each of her blow-offs was "Oh, yeah!").

Also regularly seen was Mrs. Francis, a crotchety unemployment agent whom Gwen ultimately inspired to quit her job and open an eggroll shop; Ashley Mann, Guy's son who worked as a female impersonator; Scott Bickley, Danny's lecherous agent who moonlighted as a suit salesman; and Steve Summer, a former classmate of Gwen's who'd carried a torch for her for decades. Infrequently seen were Gwen's snobbish mother Rita (Dixie Carter) and Terry and Danny's loud-mouthed mother Tina (Randee Heller).

Marjorie is a young woman who works in a museum and lives with two female roommates, Pat and Terry in Los Angeles. One night, while getting into her car, she is attacked at knifepoint by a masked assailant, who forces her to touch him sexually.

Marjorie manages to escape, but not before the mugger makes off with her purse. She goes to the police but is told there is very little they can do. One week later, while Marjorie's roommates are at work, her nightmare comes true as the assailant (named Joe) casually enters her house, having used her personal information to find out where she lives.

A terrifying sequence of events unfolds as Joe subjects Marjorie to a continuous barrage of mental and physical assaults. The tables finally turn, however, when Marjorie overpowers Joe by spraying his eyes and mouth with insect repellent as he's getting ready to rape her.

Marjorie then ties Joe up and subjects him to the same kind of physical and mental assaults he used on her earlier, even reducing him to tears as he pleads for his life when he learns that he's ingested some of the insect repellent Marjorie sprayed at him. When Terry and Pat return home, they try to convince Marjorie, who is contemplating murdering Joe, to think about the consequences of her actions, because Joe didn't actually rape or attempt to kill her. Joe attempts to fabricate a story that he had a one-night stand with Marjorie at a party some time ago, which her roommates almost believe. Marjorie calls him a liar and attacks him, finding the sheath knife he used on her in the first attack, proving her story to Patty and Terry.

Marjorie forces Joe to admit his guilt by torturing him with the blade, and at one point threatens to castrate him if he does not tell the truth. Defeated, a sobbing Joe confesses that he watched the house and stole letters to find out details of the women's lives, and that he intended to rape and kill Marjorie and her roommates that day. He also confesses to the rapes and presumed murders of three other women. Finally at peace, Marjorie allows Patty and Terry to get the police.

A ditzy New Yorker (Julie Hagerty) is devastated to learn that her husband has been unfaithful and impulsively decides to go to Paris to escape. When she consumes too many sedatives and oversleeps on the plane, missing her connection, she winds up in Tel Aviv, penniless and with no luggage or friends. After connecting with a cabdriver and part-time soldier (Amos Kollek), she finds herself stranded on a kibbutz near the Golan Heights where she must learn to cope with a series of misadventures and a very unfamiliar lifestyle.

Pharaun and Ryld journey to a tavern, where Ryld plays ''sava'' (a chess-like game) while Pharaun goes to the basement, where various female drow captives are available for males to do with as they see fit with. Pharaun talks with one of them who reveals the name of several elopers. While he is there, Ryld is attacked by other males whom he has taught. Afterwards, the two companions talk about the quest and decide the males are eloping because of the unusually harsh rule of the females in the last few weeks. Pharaun reveals that he has reason to believe that Lolth is gone and as such the females cannot use divine spells anymore, and are limited to scrolls and magic items. Ryld, though skeptical at first, eventually believes him.

They learn of an uprising among the lower class creatures led by a mysterious prophet, and decide to pretend that they support the elopers. They kill a group of Drow to prove their "dedication" to the cause and are reluctantly taken in. They learn that the mastermind behind the rebellion is an evil illithid lich (called an "alhoon" or an "illithilich"), and that when he sends a mental signal, all the lower creatures will attack.

While this is all happening, Gromph Baenre is sending various demons to attack Quenthel Baenre, all taking the guise of various aspects of Lloth, e.g. a demon spider, a demon of chaos, a darkness demon, and others. While this happens, a group of students at Arach-Tinilith decide that Lloth is disfavouring Quenthel, and resolve to kill her. She learns of this plan and has the offending students killed.

Another subplot involves an ambassador from the neighbouring city of Ched Nasad being refused the right to leave by Triel Baenre. She eventually attempts to leave and is stopped by a traitor in her household. She then escapes the city, but is caught and taken to Triel. She realizes someone has turned Triel against her and is tortured by Jeggred Baenre, Triel's draegloth son.

Eventually the lower races get the signal to rebel. Pharaun escapes from the Illithid and gathers the forces of Menzoberranzan to fight. A battle ensues, where much of Menzoberranzan is marred. At the end, the general populace realizes the weakness of the priestesses, and Pharaun, Ryld, Quenthel, Jeggred, and the ambassador, Faeryl Zauvirr, are sent to Ched Nasad to see if they are also afflicted.

At Fairmount High School, Ohio in the suburbs of Dayton, a group of teenage students begin their school with an assembly featuring a band called "High on Life", though they are selfish at teachers and the principal. As the band continues to play onstage, Mark "Dags" D'Agastino and Reggie Barry decide to sabotage the assembly by exposing the band is lip syncing their music and playing the song recordings at inappropriate times. After a typing class (during which the teacher suffers a heart attack and dies), the seniors cut school and throw a party for Principal Moss. Moss eventually gets informed about the party from the student body president Steve Nisser. When he returns home, he gives the group detention, forcing them to write a letter to the President of the United States, explaining what is wrong with the education system.

The next day while arriving at school, Moss and the new typing class teacher notices that various newspaper station vans are there assuming that something has gone wrong within the building. Mrs. Winston tells him that Jason Lerman is inside the building after meeting the seniors. Moss makes the announcement over them being invited by the President, who amazingly enjoyed their letter, to Washington, D.C. to discuss it. However, it is actually just a plot devised by the corrupt U.S. Senator to humiliate the President. The bus arrives at a convenience store, where Dags and Reggie lock Moss in a flooded washroom, and they steal alcoholic beverages. They are pursued by Travis, a crazed ''Star Trek'' fan and crossing guard, who hitches a ride with an Asian family. While on their way, Moss falls into a "coma" after taking pills given to him by bus driver Red. At this point, the students go on a rampage celebrating over Moss passing out and throw another party, while Carla Morgan, the school slut, puts makeup on Moss.

The next day, the bus is pursued by Travis and the police. Red apparently dies from a drug overdose, and the bus nearly plows into a lake. Dags manages to stop it in time, but the car lands on the water and Travis escapes. Arriving at Washington, the group checks into a hotel and decides to take a class photo at a cemetery. Miosky uses fart lighting on J. Edgar Hoover's flame to distract Travis. That night, the seniors secretly lace a box of chocolates with tequila and give it to Miss Milford. When Milford seduces Moss, the students begin to leave to go to a party at the hotel next door, but Steve Nisser threatens to blow the whistle. Dags orders Mioski to take care of him. At the hotel, while the other students enjoy the party, Lisa Perkins takes Dags to the rooftop where she seduces him. The next day, she suddenly discovers the plot to use the students and embarrass the President.

At the same time, Senator Lerman unexpectedly wakes up Moss and Milford, who—shocked at finding themselves in the same room—prepare themselves and the seniors for their meeting with the President. However, when they open the room, they do not find them there but only a tied-up Steve Nisser. Moss and Milford find the missing students, as they are informed of Lerman's plot as Lerman baffles to the discovery. The senator subsequently kidnaps Miosky and takes him to the White House with the others in hot pursuit. When they arrive at the White House, the senator insults the seniors, but Moss unexpectedly stands up for them. The senator's plot is ultimately exposed and the seniors return home. The film ends with a montage of the characters and where they ended up after the events.

The story, a spy thriller, is centered on a young Jewish-American man named Benjamin "Ben" Furst, who is initially introduced as a college student studying political science. After passing several tests, including a fake mugging, he is recruited by a beautiful young woman named D. D. into the Central Intelligence Agency and told that he is going to be the first agent of Project Fire (hence the title of the comic), an experiment to test whether training agents out of ordinary citizens can be successful.

Ben passes and becomes an agent under the command of Linda Dagger. He is placed in England to pose as a journalist named Jake Donaldson, and he is dispatched from time-to-time to set up assassinations in places around the world ranging from Japan to Brazil. He gradually becomes disillusioned with his lifestyle and job, and he begins to suspect that he is being set up himself.

One day, D. D., who had previously always treated him coldly, has sex with him. When Ben wakes up the next day, he is attacked by contract killers; Ben kills them and then breaks into CIA headquarters. He discovers that Project Fire is not a new experimental project, but rather something that has been going on for years; each such Project Fire agent is killed once the agent's superiors decide he has become a liability. Ben attempts to escape with the information, but he is captured by Linda Dagger.

Dagger sends D. D. to kill Ben, but Ben kills D. D. instead and escapes. He tries to send the information he has to a journalist to publicize, but before he can, at the end of the comic, Dagger finds him again and informs him that he either works for her or dies.

''The Cowboy Way'' follows two championship rodeo stars and lifelong best friends, Pepper Lewis and Sonny Gilstrap as they travel from New Mexico to New York City in search of their missing friend, Nacho Salazar, who came to the city to pay for his daughter's trip to the U.S. from Cuba. When they discover that he's been murdered, the pair set out to find the killer.

The game centres on the voodoo priest and warrior Akuji (voiced by Richard Roundtree), who had his heart ripped out on his wedding day, and through the use of voodoo magic is now cursed to wander the Underworld.

However, Kesho (voiced by Jamesetta Bunn), his would-be bride, finds him in hell and speaks to him in soul form: she informs him that it was Orad, Akuji's own brother, who orchestrated his murder.

She begs Akuji to escape and stop him, as their families are preparing for war, and Orad is preparing to sacrifice her to the gods.

Upon traveling through the first level of the Underworld and consulting loa Baron Samedi (voiced by Petri Hawkins-Byrd) Akuji discovers he has a chance for redemption: if he traverses hell and collects the souls of his ancestors, which the Baron despises for their evil, then he will grant Akuji safe passage out of the underworld.

On his way through, he must also defeat the wardens of each of the vestibules of hell, which will enable him to advance on his quest for the souls.

Eventually, after Akuji retrieves the Seal of Sadiki, the Baron steals it from him and reveals he'd tricked Akuji into collecting the souls of his ancestors so it would allow him to break free of his own imprisonment in the Underworld and exact his revenge on the mortal world while also making Kesho his servant once he sacrifices her. Kesho further confirms that the Baron had orchestrated Akuji's murder by possessing Orad and had also earlier used her voice to lead Akuji to him. Akuji engages the Baron in one last battle and succeeds, rescuing Kesho who in turn restores Akuji's heart, sending them back to the mortal world.

At the beginning of the episode, Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge, Lt. Commander Data, and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Crusher are testing an interface which allows La Forge to use the VISOR-compatible circuitry in his brain along with a virtual reality suit to control a probe by remote control. This way La Forge can use the probe to go into areas that would be too dangerous for crew members to enter. When testing is complete, La Forge is informed that the ship his mother commanded has disappeared, and all aboard are presumed dead.

La Forge uses the interface to remotely control the probe and look for survivors on the USS ''Raman'' that is trapped in a gas giant's atmosphere. He finds that there is no one left alive on the ship, but believes that he encountered his mother on the ship. Continued use of the probe soon exposes La Forge to unhealthy levels of neural stimulation.

La Forge is convinced that his mother was on board the ship, and wants to use the probe to communicate with his mother. But Dr. Crusher and Captain Picard refuse to allow him to use the interface suit again. La Forge decides to use the suit anyway. While in contact with the probe, he encounters the being who appears to be his mother again, but learns that she is actually a lifeform native to the gas giant. This being talks La Forge into taking the ship closer to the planet, so that she and others like her trapped on the ship can go home.

After he is reprimanded by Picard for his disobedience, La Forge concludes that his mother is in fact dead, and that it had all seemed so real he had thought he had a chance to say goodbye to her.

An intern is shot mysteriously on an East River pier adjoining Bellevue Hospital. The chief investigating detective views this as a difficult case, so with the cooperation of the commissioner of hospitals, he assigns detective Fred Rowan, who had been a medical corpsman, to go undercover as intern Fred Gilbert.

Rowan becomes involved with the attractive nurse Ann Sebastian and also becomes friendly with Pop Ware, a popular elevator operator. Ware, who works part-time taking bets, seems initially to be a benign, but it becomes apparent that he has been loaning money to the interns, including the slain intern and Rowan's roommate Steve Anderson, who is depressed and commits suicide.

Rowan deliberately loses money betting with Ware, and Ware says that Rowan can pay off his bet by stealing narcotics. Rowan plays along, encouraged by Ann, but eventually stops providing drugs to Ware. When Ware tries to kill Rowan, he is killed in a shootout on the hospital roof.

Investigators find that Ann had worked as a courier for Ware. Rowan, turning aside Ann's pleas, places her under arrest.

The film stars Wendy Hughes and Robyn Nevin as two sisters who are locked in a custody battle over their young nephew, PS, played by Nicholas Gledhill. PS has been raised by his aunt Lila (Nevin) and her husband George since his mother died soon after his birth. When Lila's richer sister Vanessa (Hughes) returns from overseas, she seeks custody of PS, citing the opportunities she can give him.

At Chicago Union Station (though filmed at Los Angeles Union Station), Police Lieutenant William "Bill" Calhoun is approached by an apprehensive passenger named Joyce Willecombe who believes that two men aboard her train may be up to no good.

The two men deposit a suitcase in a storage locker. When Bill retrieves it, Joyce recognizes the clothing as belonging to Lorna Murchison, the blind daughter of wealthy Henry Murchison, Joyce's employer. When Mr. Murchison is brought in, he admits Lorna has been kidnapped and held for ransom, but does not want the police to get involved as they might endanger his daughter's life. Bill and his boss, Inspector Donnelly, persuade him to accept their help. The railway station where Calhoun works has been chosen as the location to pay off the ransom. Bill and Donnelly race against time to save Lorna and bring the kidnappers to justice.

When the kidnappers make contact with Murchison at the station, Joyce recognizes them. The police trail one of them, Gus Hadder, but he spots them and runs, only to die in an accident. The police prevent his death from being reported in the newspapers. Later, Joyce spots Joe Beacom, the leader of the gang, and sees a third kidnapper, Vince Marley. Beacom drives away (though Joyce memorizes the license plate number), but the police arrest Marley. When he refuses to talk, Donnelly tells Bill to kill him and make his death look accidental. When the policemen pretend to prepare to throw Marley in front of an arriving train, he breaks and tells them where Lorna is being held. However, Beacom and his girlfriend Marge Wrighter have already taken Lorna somewhere else by the time they break in.

When a patrolman spots Beacom's car, a gunfight breaks out. The policeman is killed, and Wrighter is fatally wounded in the crossfire. In the hospital, she tells Bill and Donnelly that Beacom intends to kill Lorna after he gets the ransom. She also reveals that Beacom used to work at the station.

Beacom, dressed as an employee, forces a parcel clerk at gunpoint to accept the suitcase with the ransom money and switch it with another one that looks just like it. The clerk tells the messenger who brought the ransom to take the second suitcase somewhere else. However, Joyce notices part of a coat sticking out of it. Bill tries to apprehend Beacom, but is shot in the shoulder. Beacom flees to the municipal tunnel underneath the station, where he left Lorna, with Bill in hot pursuit. Bill manages to shoot and kill Beacom and rescue Lorna. Afterward, Joyce (who has developed an attraction to Bill, and vice versa) notices Bill's wound.

Cash-strapped Peter Plunkett owns a dilapidated Irish castle that he has converted to a bed and breakfast. Owing money to an Irish-American businessman named Brogan, Plunkett attempts to turn the castle into "the most haunted castle in Europe" for the tourist trade. Inspired by his mother's stories about the castle being haunted, he and his wacky Irish staff set about creating ghostly costumes and effects for their first group of American guests.

Initially annoyed by the inept "hauntings", the American guests (including Steve Guttenberg, Beverly D'Angelo, Connie Booth, Peter Gallagher and Jennifer Tilly) soon discover that Castle Plunkett's real ghosts have taken umbrage at being cheaply exploited and have staged a full-scale paranormal event.

Two ghosts, Mary Plunkett and Martin Brogan (played by Daryl Hannah and Liam Neeson), become romantically entangled with Guttenberg's and D'Angelo's characters. This romantic twist becomes the main focus of the plot.

54 years after the end of the last game, an extraterrestrial swarm of microscopic robots, called "nanites", have invaded earth and infiltrated military bases in every country, including F.G.R.'s forces. All military vehicles infected by these robots became fully automated and began indiscriminate attacks on every country in the world, resulting in mass devastation. The small number of military craft that have not been infiltrated yet by the small robots have been recovered. A small combat force has been assembled to fight against the entire world. Losing contact with military headquarters, the Strikers appear once again to save the world.

In an accident, Professor Ian Fraser encounters a magnetic field that reverses the form of living matter. When his hand is caught in the strong magnetic field, it is altered, becoming a mirror of itself. Realizing the importance of magnetic fields, Fraser theorizes that a much stronger magnetic field has the potential to open a door into another world.

Knowing the cost, Fraser approaches Dwight Hartley, a wealthy magnate grieving over the loss of his son. At a dinner party given by the millionaire, Fraser, his wife and colleague Eva, and another colleague watch as Mrs. Palmer, a medium, appears to contact Hartley's dead son. However, Fraser exposes her as a fraud. After Hartley angrily dismisses Palmer, Fraser reveals his discovery. Hartley appears skeptical, until Fraser shows that his left hand, the hand that had been caught in the electrical field, has now become a right hand. Hoping that Fraser's discovery might allow him to reach his dead son, Hartley agrees to support him.

With Hartley's support, the Frasers, and fellow scientist Lincoln Russel, set up power electrical equipment inside of a metropolitan power plant. While experimenting on inanimate objects and small animals, Fraser is approached by Benson Sawyer, Hartley's managing director. Sawyer, who has designs on Hartley's company, insists that Fraser's discoveries should go through him. Ultimately, Fraser enters the test box, and Eva engages the field. Now within a much more powerful magnetic field, Fraser finds himself approaching what may be a boundary between his universe, and another one.

Unknown to either of them, Mrs. Palmer and her assistant Edgar Price have appeared at the power plant, and watch as Fraser's experiments proceed. Angry at Fraser for revealing Mrs. Palmer as a fraud, Price seeks to sabotage the experiment. Palmer urges caution, warning that they could be meddling in something extremely important. Price isn't dissuaded, arguing that it is Fraser who is meddling. With Fraser within the magnetic field, Price shorts one of the plant's generators, electrocuting himself in the process. With the field losing power, the boundary begins to collapse. Fraser, now trapped in the field, can see his wife, but can't hear or reach her. Not knowing if he can be heard, Fraser shouts out his observations, that the world looks transparent, and that another landscape appears superimposed over it. Fraser has no way of knowing if he is looking at a different planet, or Earth in another time. Remembering Hartley, Fraser calls out to Dion, Hartley's dead son. Hartley, overcome by emotion, also calls out to Dion. Knowing that the world is fading out to him, Fraser reaches through the field with his hand. Eva, knowing she may lose her husband, grasps his hand, ultimately pulling her husband back to their world. Hartley, desperate to reach his son, enters the magnetic field, and is apparently vaporized. Eva, having brought her husband back, holds him tight.

Domineering millionaire John Dexter drives a group of explorers and scientists to pursue an ancient lake monster that is reputed to live in the waters of a South American dictatorship. Using underwater detection equipment aboard Dexter's yacht, the creature is spotted swimming along the lake bed. After several attempts, the creature is captured and taken to the local university for study.

The creature is immobilized and stored inside a freezer to aid in its preservation while out of water. Meanwhile, Dexter makes plans to transport it to the United States to place it on display. San Blas' absolute ruler, Juan Mercurio, has his own plans to use it to attract tourists to his country's faltering World's Fair, claiming the animal as a national treasure. During its captivity, the creature is revived due to an inept guard's negligence, and emits ultrasonic waves that cause the freezer door to implode. It is recaptured before it can fully escape its confines, and an armed guard from Mercurio's palace is ordered to stand watch. Dexter overpowers him, and arranges for the creature's transport on his private plane back to the States.

As Dexter and his assistants prepare the monster for its trip, they are shocked to see more of the creatures emerging from the lake. A marine biologist, previously employed by Dexter, urges them to turn the creature loose. Reluctantly, they comply, watching as it joins the others. Dexter, shooting at the creatures in an effort to stop them, is abruptly halted by a piercing, ultrasonic pulse. The creatures crawl back into the lake and disappear under the water. With the combined energy of their earth-shattering sound waves, the creatures topple the dam created by Mercurio during his reign of power, killing him, and flooding San Blas, destroying all that he had built.

Military forces have cordoned off a ghost town, aptly named Morgue, located in a remote section in the deserts of California while awaiting the arrival of a spacecraft from the planet Zanti. The perfectionist rulers of that planet, after making radio contact with our government, have decided that the Earth is the "perfect place" to exile their undesirables and criminals in exchange for sharing technological advances with Earth. They threaten total destruction if their penal ship is attacked, or if their privacy is not maintained. During the negotiations, Ben Garth, a bank robber on the run, along with his reluctant, morally deficient accomplice/girlfriend, Lisa, cross the cordon, and run down an armed sentry during the approach of the Zanti ship. After seeing the ship land, Ben climbs a small mesa to investigate the landing site. A Zanti regent emerges from an open hatch of the ship and kills Garth. The Zanti are revealed to be grotesque oversized ant-like beings with malicious human-like faces. The Zanti regent pursues Ben's now-terrified accomplice. Believing that their privacy was violated, the remaining Zanti prisoners commandeer the penal ship and land it atop the roof of the military command post. When the Zanti prisoners attack Earth's nervous soldiers, a brutal firefight ensues, and all of the aliens are massacred. The soldiers and airmen anxiously await the expected reprisal, but, instead, they receive a message of thanks from the Zanti leaders who explain that they were incapable of executing members of their own species so they sent them into the hands of a race who possessed no qualms about killing — the human race, referring to us as "practiced executioners".

A convict named Chino Rivera, sentenced to life imprisonment after being charged with first degree homicide when he killed his sister's abusive husband, volunteers to be a human guinea pig for a matter transportation experiment. In reality, the experiment is supposed to be an exchange of technology between Earth and an alien race called the Chromoites. When an inhabitant of Chromo, designated as their 'volunteer', materializes in the testing lab, it creates havoc until it is finally subdued, and then allowed to freely explore the countryside surrounding the research facility. As problems ensue and researchers die, the convict is blamed, only to find that the Chromoite, after murdering one of the scientists, has been sent to Earth to experiment with ways of producing food, artificially, for his starving race. The doctor assigned to monitor the convict, following his injury when he attempted to escape, discovers the alien apparently eating an unknown substance that it had chemically germinated in a pond near the research facility, after they had previously informed the Earth scientists that their species sustained themselves through photosynthesis. The lead researcher re-establishes communication with the Chromo scientists, after capturing the 'volunteer', to admonish their actions, with them admitting their deception, believing that we would not have aided in their plight, while explaining that their 'volunteer' is actually one of their renowned scientists who is invaluable to their cause in finding a means of feeding the millions of inhabitants on Chromo. At that point, the researcher calmly states, "You could have asked...all you had to do was to ask".

Deimos and Phobos One are two Martians – whose names also happen to be those of Mars' moons– the latter being a researcher who wants to understand the concept of murder (they are portrayed by actors Carroll O'Connor and Barry Morse, respectively, who play their characters as a sort of Holmes-and-Watson team). Upon his arrival on Earth, Phobos One contacts Deimos, whose 'cover' is working as a pawnbroker in a large American city. The duo, inconspicuously, investigates a shooting that is about to take place in a downtown hotel lobby that resulted from a love triangle, predicted and then reported by Martian Central Control. Using a machine that can manipulate the flow of time in a manner much the same as one might do with recorded video, they review this same event over and over again. They rewind time in order to watch the incident unfold at various speeds, forward and backward. Finally, they slow the passage of time down to such an extent that the participants seem to be standing still, the bullet suspended in flight, so that they can examine all of the nuances that, at "normal" speed, pass by too quickly for adequate, scientific observation. Phobos One is unable to simply remain a passive observer, and finally gives in to the temptation to tamper with the scenario and alter the outcome; he arranges the scenario so that the bullet is deflected at the last moment, preventing the murder from ever taking place. Phobos decides to remain on Earth indefinitely, finding that he enjoys life as a human being.

In 1929, a pair of young newlyweds receives a mysterious box-like object wrapped as a wedding gift with a cryptic label reading "Don't Open Till Doomsday". Unbeknownst to his bride, the bridegroom is zapped by a beam of light emanating from this object when he removed it from the wrapping, and seemingly disappears out of existence. Thirty-Five years later in 1964, an eloping couple arrives at the house in the hopes of using it as a honeymoon spot, now a half-derelict mansion owned by Mrs. Kry, an eccentric old woman who turns out to be the aforesaid bride, driven to insanity after her husband disappeared. After the younger bride herself disappears inside the box, it is revealed that Mrs. Kry has been luring young couples to her house, in the hope of "trading" them for her lost bridegroom, with an alien intelligence residing inside the box. Later, the young bride's father arrives on location to take his wayward daughter back with him, and is also abducted by the alien, finding himself inside the box—actually, a pocket dimension occupied by an amorphous, one-eyed creature from an anti-matter universe, who is bent on destroying our universe. The father, his daughter and Mrs. Kry's lost bridegroom are there, as well. The creature, having become lost during his journey between dimensions, addresses them, assuring them they'll be freed on the condition that they help him to achieve his goal—reuniting him with his eight other companions, all of whom were inhabitants of their universe, each carrying an essential element which, when joined together, would result in the annihilation of our universe. Facing refusal, and being further hindered by an angered Mrs. Kry, along with the father's false promise to aid in the search if freed from captivity, the enraged alien resorts to self-destruction after setting the daughter free, thus 'uncreating' himself, and obliterating the entire mansion, the father, Mrs. Kry and her bridegroom in the process, with the young couple narrowly escaping the carnage.

Ben Fields, married to Francesca Fields, is an entomologist seeking a lab assistant. Regina, a giant mutant queen bee in human form, who is searching for a human mate to evolve her species, takes the job. Regina is accepted into their household after fabricating a story of accused infidelity by her 'former' employer's spouse, whom she chose to keep anonymous to prevent anyone from knowing about the alleged affair. When the subject of drones comes up, Regina is oddly enthusiastic about the beauty of the bee's mating ritual and the willingness of the drones to die in the process. Suspicious of her background, while being treated with disrespect and contempt, Francesca discovers Regina has lied; as well as seeing her abruptly morphing into a giant bee while apparently drawing nectar from a flower in their garden. At one point, due to the metabolic changes while in human form, Regina experiences spasms of pain, and is examined and treated by the Fields' personal physician, who reveals to them his belief that Regina may not be who she appears to be. Later, with her knowledge of Regina's attempts to seduce her husband, Francesca confronts her, whereupon Regina unleashes the bees of her hive kept in Ben's laboratory, attacking and then stinging Francesca to death. Ben, grief-stricken, accuses Regina of murdering his wife. Now understanding and horrified by her true identity and purpose, he forcefully rejects her advances, and gives her his view of the human mating ritual, in contrast to her earlier statements. In an ensuing struggle, she falls from his bedroom's second story balcony to the ground below. She is not killed, transforms back into a queen bee, then flies off.

Three of society's outcasts — men named Spain, Plannetta, and Castle — are taken to a compound that serves as the headquarters of a subversive secret society known as the Invisibles. In their initial debriefing, Spain immediately recognizes the man speaking to them as the governor of an unnamed state. The "governor" rebuts him, saying that his only role is as ruler of the society of the Invisibles. Their purpose is to infect key government and business figures with crab-like creatures who attach themselves to people's backs and take over their minds. By doing so, the Invisibles plan to conquer the world. Each of the new recruits will be given a target to infect following his inoculation. Castle's inoculation is unsuccessful, and he ends up deformed, as is one of the aides at the compound.

It turns out that Spain is actually an agent for the GIA, sent to infiltrate the Invisibles. He sneaks out to meet his contact in the woods and states his plan to try to establish a friendship with the desperately lonely Plannetta so he can get Plannetta to call his "kid brother" so that they can meet up later. In reality, the number is that of GIA headquarters. Spain's plan hits a hitch when Johnny (his contact) is killed and brought in as a corpse for the trainees to practice on.

Spain is assigned to infect General Hillary Clarke in Washington, D.C., while posing as his faithless wife's chauffeur. However, the reality is that the Invisibles are onto him. Clarke is already infected, and Spain was sent there so that Clarke could infect ''him'' when his inoculation wore off. Spain manages to escape when Clarke says too much and is momentarily tortured by his Invisible. As Spain flees, Clarke's wife is driving up, and she hits him with the car, breaking his leg. Spain blacks out from the pain. When he comes to, Mrs. Clarke is tending to his injury, but he limps away and steals a car before Clarke can find him.

Spain finally manages to find Plannetta, only to meet another twist of fate: he was Plannetta's target all along. Weeping because he thinks Spain betrayed him, Plannetta sets an Invisible on the ground, which begins to crawl toward Spain. The Invisible does not move quickly, but neither does Spain in his condition. In the nick of time, his fellow GIA agents arrive, shooting both the creature and Plannetta, thus saving Spain's life. However, Spain can only think of the fact that the Invisible menace is everywhere, although a GIA agent assures him that the threat is over because the agency has captured General Clarke's aide Oliver Fair, who is "cooperating".

A scientist, Richard Bellero (Martin Landau), builds a powerful laser device that he shoots into the sky from a laboratory on the top floor of his home, but the invention is not practical enough to satisfy his demanding father, Richard Sr. (Neil Hamilton), who views his son as a failure and has made plans to hand control of the Bellero company to someone outside the family, to the great chagrin of Richard's ruthlessly ambitious wife Judith (Sally Kellerman). One night after Richard has left the lab, a peaceful bioluminescent extraterrestrial from a world which "hovers just above the ceiling of your universe" rides the laser down to earth. Judith tries to shoot the alien with a laser gun, but the alien protects himself by using a small device in his hand that instantly raises a powerful shield around him. Recognizing that this technology would bring her husband great acclaim and fortune, Judith gets Richard to leave the house by persuading him to go fetch his father. She then tries to coax the alien into giving her his shield's control device, but he disagrees, fearing his technology would fall into the wrong hands. Judith then tricks him into lowering his shield and shoots him, stealing his shield control device. Judith and her maid Mrs. Dame (Chita Rivera) secretly drag the apparently dead alien's body to the cellar.

During a demonstration in front of Richard and his father, who do not know that the alien has been shot, Judith raises the shield, but is unable to take it down and becomes trapped inside it. Mrs. Dame, desperate to save Judith from death by asphyxiation, goes to the cellar and is startled to find the alien still alive but very weak. The maid begs him "Can you help?" The alien replies, "Can I not?" Just before dying, the alien lowers the shield by using his own glowing blood, the substance that powers the control device. Despite her being rescued, however, Judith insists that she is still trapped by the shield—the imagined shield, perhaps, of her own guilt over killing an alien that thought only of helping her. As the episode ends, she places her hands helplessly on the "shield" that is no longer there. On one hand is a spot: a glowing drop of the murdered alien's blood that presumably will stain her palm forever.

A group of four young prodigies has mysteriously vanished, now all influential figures, and it is noted that they all hailed from the same remote area, Spider County, and that they share the same middle name of Eros, an obscure planet in the Krell galaxy orbiting the Orion constellation. A government agent (Milford) is sent to investigate the one young prodigy, Ethan Wechsler (Kinsolving), who is still in Spider County. He has been incarcerated and accused of murdering a young girl's suitor after he telepathically "overhears" an ill-mannered remark made towards her, and following a physical altercation between them where the suitor was killed by Ethan as an act of self-defense.

Because of his unique abilities and loner attitude, Ethan is ostracized by the citizens of Spider County, thus compelling his "father" (Smith) to rescue him from his human captors and return him to Eros, together with his fellow prodigies, where they can be honored and revered for their special gifts, and not feared and despised. Following numerous attempts at escape and recapture, Ethan is finally reunited with his "brothers". He professes his love for the young girl, Anna Bishop (Gatteys), and is steadfast in his refusal to return with his father to Eros, having enjoyed his life on Earth despite encountering prejudice and mistrust throughout the years. The father reluctantly agrees to his son's wishes and, after Ethan convinces his brothers to remain on Earth with him, the alien patriarch departs for his homeworld in Orion without the passengers he had expected would have, unconditionally, accompanied him.

Lt. Howard (Dabney Coleman, in an uncredited role), a member of a team of astronaut-researchers, finds strange mushroom-shaped organisms clinging to the wall of the space lock, calling them "space barnacles". Exposed to light and air inside, one exhibits aggressive growth and develops a beautiful flower. During study of the organism under the microscope following the spewing of large spores, the flower emits a noxious gas that incapacitates Howard, after which he dies. After burying Howard in space, the other astronauts begin a scheduled return to Earth, bringing the new species with them, not knowing that it caused Howard's death. Containers with the specimens inadvertently open during hard maneuvering, and start rapidly multiplying and filling the shuttle with deadly gas, forcing the crew to don space suits. Learning of the potential danger to life, their superiors on Earth order the crew to remain in orbit until a method can be found to eliminate the threat posed by the specimen. As the spacecraft runs out of fuel, the half-dead crew is ordered to land. They crash some distance from the rocket base, and a team of scientists and military personnel race to rescue the astronauts and contain the organisms. The incapacitated astronauts are evacuated, but the organisms begin to sow upon the surrounding countryside. The commanding officer and an astronaut's wife are forced to flee on foot when their vehicle becomes overgrown, but are completely surrounded by the organisms. As all hope for survival begins to fade, a thunderstorm appears and drenches the land. Unexpectedly, the rain causes the flowers to wilt and die, and the earth is saved.

Frustrated and disillusioned physicist Dave Crowell (Don Gordon) has found a temporary and undemanding job - 'piloting' a flying saucer mock-up spaceflight simulator at a third-rate amusement park - to escape from his former Defense Department employers' demands to develop more effective weapons of mass destruction. However, an alien from the planet Empyria (Simon Oakland) stealthily modifies the attraction into an actual interplanetary spacecraft; and, passing himself off as a weird roving sideshow, invites aboard a group of misfits, each of whom is refusing to confront unpleasant realities in his/her life. The Empyrian offers the group a second chance to better themselves - an opportunity to colonize a small planetoid called Tythra that, paradoxically, will threaten both the alien's home world and Earth, just 82 years down the line; by inhabiting it, the colonists will alter its orbital path and thus avert the disaster. However, to turn this dream into a reality, each must overcome an entrenched unwillingness to face his or her own true nature to pull together as a group. As violence escalates quickly between the distressed abductees and the flight crew, with one passenger accidentally being ejected into space during a physical altercation, Crowell eventually manages to convince the Empyrian that the operation is doomed to failure; he explains that it is against human nature to expect someone to freely accept their shortcomings and admit their failures. Instead, he advises him to seek help directly from Earth's governments and scientists, in order to initialize a proper collaboration for the sake of each individual, by asking for volunteers to accompany them to Tythra - he assures the alien that he would probably have a whole ship full of people willing to receive a second chance at life. Approving of Crowell's choice, the Empyrian states that "he trusts his judgment", and reverses the course of the ship to return the reluctant abductees back to Earth.

Scientists and researchers in a base on the Moon discover living creatures encased in a seamless, perfectly round orb, which proves to be the repository of a benevolent alien intelligence that is fleeing tyranny in its own system. The beings inform the startled scientists that they are the five greatest minds in the universe, having escaped their home planet, Grippia, located in the constellation Xenes, to prevent their advanced knowledge from being used to conquer the galaxy. They had landed on the Moon due to a lack of sustainable energy, with our sun being too weak to provide them with enough power to continue their flight. The scientists offer the aliens sanctuary while they attempt to re-energize; and, in exchange, they begin to record their combined wisdom on the base's computers to preserve it before they are captured. When the Tyrants arrive in pursuit, the researchers have to decide how much they should risk in the gathering of knowledge. The Grippians convince the scientists to release them to the Tyrants to prevent their imminent destruction, following the death of one of the researchers when trying to defend them. This act of compassion and sacrifice, in the face of almost certain death, is demonstrated as the Grippians self-destruct before they can be taken aboard the Tyrants' craft, thus denying them the knowledge they were so desperately seeking.

An astronaut lands on an alien planet to investigate the death of one of a group of Earth scientists who are testing to see if the planet is suitable for colonization. The scientists, including Julie, his old flame, behave strangely, but refuse to explain why. They are particularly nervous around Reese Fowler, a fellow researcher who seems to wear his polarized goggles all the time, necessary due to the extreme brightness of the planet's sun. One of the scientists attempts to leave a hastily scribbled note in the astronaut's spacesuit pocket, warning him of what has been happening; he exits the room, only to bump into Reese, who seems to read his mind, and then destroys him with a mere touch. The astronaut is led to a remote cave by Julie and another researcher where he discovers that the others live in fear of Reese, who developed superhuman abilities when he was accidentally exposed to the planet's radioactive isotope-laden rainfall, which has mutating properties, resulting in the scientist's loss of hair and in the development of protruding eyes. Reese, knowing that if the others return to Earth he will be left behind because of the danger he poses, has been holding the others captive, while threatening his touch if they reveal the secret of his plight, all the time searching for a cure. The astronaut must somehow overcome a man who can read minds, and kill with a touch. To prevent Reese from knowing of his plans, the investigator is given a post-hypnotic suggestion to forget what he has learned, then—provided with a code word to recall the events—inform his superiors on Earth following his return. In an unfortunate twist of fate, Reese discovers the deception, and pursues the investigator and Julie into the cave, where they had met once before, with the intent to destroy them; however, due to his sensitivity to darkness, Reese apparently dies from the intense pain while trying to absorb the dim glow of a candle's flame into his light-starved eyes.

Wade Norton, a young drifter, finds an old man dying by the side of a remote country road. He picks up the man's pocketwatch, which contains a large photo of a young woman. Seeking help, he enters a mansion he sees atop the hill, whose inhabitants are surprisingly unhelpful but uncannily curious about the age of the man whom he found. With the exception of a soulful young woman whose image is in the watch, all seem mean-spirited and uninterested.

Trying to leave through the front door, Norton is forced backward and upstairs by a mysterious compulsion to discover that the house is the lair of an amorphous, gelatinous alien being who is keeping the group of desperate humans suspended in time until it can comprehend the disposition of humanity. It interrogates him then returns him to the group residing in the house where he is to learn the reason for their captivity.

The young woman, knowing the potential fate of the drifter, leads Norton to an escape route, which is through a gate attached to a small cemetery plot accessible from the mansion. However, she discloses to him that she cannot accompany him through the gate because all her years will catch up with her, and she will die. Thus, the drifter chooses to remain with her in spite of the warnings. As she realizes he will be trapped among them for eternity, she departs through the gate herself and, having eschewed her protection from the passage of time, withers and turns to dust. The observing alien has found the factors missing in its equation: love and self-sacrifice. Releasing Norton, who has discovered in himself hope, it proceeds to deconstruct the house and destroy its tenants. The mansion returns momentarily to its true appearance, that of a rock shaped like an enormous brain, and then disappears.

Mike Benson, ex-boxer and small-time crook, and Laura Hanley, a divorcee, each emotionally wounded by life, are abducted at critical points in their lives by The Senator, a sporting alien representing the citizens of the planet Andera. The Anderans have overcome war, pestilence, avarice and envy, are no longer driven by wants and needs, and find that their lives have become quite stagnant; therefore, they replace their boredom with a constant supply of "fun & games". Mike and Laura are "electroported" to an arena planet where they are to be pitted in mortal combat against two primitive aliens from the Calco galaxy for the entertainment of the jaded audience on Andera. The goal of the tournament is species survival; the home planet of the losing team will be obliterated in a cataclysmic display lasting five years for the further enjoyment of the citizens of Andera. During the combat, Mike and Laura learn to function as a team. When the male Calco alien, having killed its mate to double its own food supply, confronts Mike on a footbridge over a river of lava, Laura kills the creature with its own saw-bladed boomerang. Mike, hanging by his fingertips and weakened by the ordeal, finally falls off the bridge into the lava. Laura, believing Mike to be dead, mourning his passing and praising his efforts in defending the human race from extinction, is informed by The Senator that since the alien perished in the lava first, Mike's life was spared, and they are declared the winners, thus saving Earth. In that split second, they are electroported to safety, unaware of what had transpired and free to resume their mundane lives.

Roy Benjamin and his wife, Aggie, are delighted, but puzzled when they meet Mr. Zeno, who explains that he is a government educator sent to cultivate the mind of their gifted son, Kenny. Roy becomes worried, however, when he discovers that Kenny is learning things that are not accepted by earthly science, including a device given to Kenny by Mr. Zeno that has the ability to control weather patterns. When Roy discovers that the government's Educational Enrichment program knows nothing about Mr. Zeno, he confronts the educator, only to discover that he is an alien, re-educating children in a plot to take over the world. Kenny now has super-human knowledge, and even possesses a few mental powers, having seemingly become loyal to the alien. Nonetheless, it is revealed in the end that Kenny knew of Mr. Zeno's plans since the beginning (Zeno having believed children to be more easily impressionable and more gullible than adults), and decided to feign loyalty in order to better thwart them. Managing to render the alien powerless by using the sound-wave-powered weather machine against him, removing the essential element from the atmosphere that would enable his kind to survive on Earth, Kenny forces Mr. Zeno to retreat back to his homeworld, Venon, thus ruining the alien's plans of conquest.

A six-block suburban area –people and all– is teleported to Luminos. The Luminoids will study the feasibility of enslaving humans because Luminoids suffer from a genetic disease which condemns them to become as immobile as rocks as they age.

Eventually, a suburbanite is introduced to the hideous Luminoid rulers, who reveal their plans and that the punishment for disobedience is to be touched by a Luminoid and thereby contract their terrible disease.

The humans realize that they've been trapped with no chance of returning home. They accept that their former lives are over. Even submission to the Luminoids would not prevent inadvertent infection. All that's left is defiance and protecting the rest of humanity back on Earth. In a moving final scene, they willfully contract the disease from each other because mankind chooses death over slavery on Luminos.

A well-crafted riff on Frankenstein. While experimenting on subatomic particles, physics researchers start a chain reaction that seemingly controls the researchers themselves. Scientist after scientist is consumed, turned into nuclear 'zombies' by what seems to be a form of sentient particle from another dimension. The reaction grows towards a terrible climax. The survivors fear they may be powerless to stop it. Just as the ever-expanding particles are about to engulf the lab and explode into an atomic cataclysm that could destroy the world, the head of the research facility calculates a formula that reverses the effects of the reaction, incorporates a random element, and neutralizes the new lifeform.

The plot involves two women who kill a blackmailer. Driving through the countryside with the body in the trunk, looking for a good place to bury him, they take refuge from a storm in a house containing a blind man and a strange young inventor who is experimenting with time. Unlike the traditional "time travel" devices, this one is intended to "tilt the cycles of time" and bring the dead back to life...which is what happens to the murdered blackmailer.

Detailed synopsis

The story begins in the French countryside, where a car can be seen driving at high speed. The driver, Andre Pavan a wealthy playboy, is kissing his girlfriend Kassia Paine while Kassia's friend Leonora Edmond sits in the back seat.

Andre decides to stop at a small lake for a swim, stripping down to his swim trunks. He orders the women to make him a drink, and they do so – but lace the cocktail shaker with a leaf from the deadly Thanatos plant. Andre, with jovial cruelty, makes the women serve his drink while he stands in the water, ruining their "fine stilletto heels" as he puts it. He drinks a toast to blackmailing Leonora's father in London, and dies immediately, but with a strange smile on his face.

The women load Andre's corpse and clothing into the trunk of the car and drive in search of a place to bury it. Leonora is unnerved by the whole thing, and becomes more nervous after they encounter a funeral procession. When night falls and a thunderstorm starts, Leonora's nerves are on edge. Kassia tries to calm her, but then the trunk comes open. They stop the car to check on Andre, who hasn't moved. But a lightning flash makes it seem to Leonora as though he had blinked, and she runs off, frightened. Kassia catches up to her and tries again to calm her, but both women see a shadowy figure standing nearby. This is too much for Leonora, who runs to a nearby house. A blind man, Monsieur Colas, answers the door and lets the women in from the storm. Colas explains that "Mr. Hobart" is not at home, but will return soon.

The house is spacious but oddly decorated: the most prominent features are a broken clock with a clown face, and a toy tightrope walker. Leonora seems particularly drawn to the tightrope walker. At last, Tone Hobart, an odd inventor, comes home. He apologizes to the women, explaining it was him they saw outside. He goes upstairs to his room, asking not to be disturbed as he works on his invention. As he opens the door, Andre's corpse can be seen placed on a strange device. Kassia decides to check on the car – and Andre, leaving Leonora alone.

Leonora looks on in mesmerized fascination at the tightrope walker. Hobart enters the room and asks her about what happened to Andre. Leonora answers truthfully, seemingly under hypnosis. When Hobart "snaps her out of it", he invites her upstairs to see Andre live again and be free of her guilt over the murder. He explains he'd created a device that can "tilt" the past into the present and resurrect the dead, including himself. Reluctantly, Leonora agrees to see the device. They come to Hobart's room – which is dominated by the time tilter, a large collection of clocks all connected by wires to a pole in the center of the room. The loud ticking is too much for Leonora, who runs back downstairs and faints. Hobart is more interested in the fact that Andre is not there.

When Leonora awakens, Kassia has returned. Hobart has gone outside to look for Andre – and takes a moment to look through the window from outside, unnervingly. Colas explains, with some indignation, that he is not Hobart's servant, as the women had supposed, but the house's owner, and Hobart is his boarder. Colas explains further that Hobart had apparently died, and when his body was placed on the time tilter, he came back to life.

The women decide to leave but get no further than the front door when they see the car has backed up to the entrance, the trunk opens and a fully-clothed Andre pops out, smiling and holding his empty cocktail glass. He cheerfully asks, "Refill?" This is too much for Leonora, who runs upstairs into what seems to be an empty room. Colas goes outside to find Hobart, and finds him lying in the road between a set of tire tracks, but unhurt. Hobart now realizes that he has unleashed a monster and comes back to the house to correct that mistake.

Surprisingly, Kassia and Andre are kissing passionately. Andre takes a moment to ask how he died, and when Kassia tells him they used a leaf from the Thanatos plant. Andre is still intent on blackmail. Kassia tries to dissuade him as Andre is already rich. Andre replies, "I'm noisy rich. I want to be quiet rich." Kassia says one has to be born to that and comments on Andre's motivations. Andre cheerfully replies, "You've pierced the heart of my psychic disorder," but remains intent on carrying out his plot.

Hobart loads a pistol, intending to force Andre to return to the time tilter. Andre is more amused by this than anything else, especially when Hobart becomes enthralled by the tightrope walker toy, allowing Andre to disarm him. Andre fires a shot into the easy chair, inches from Hobart's head. He tosses the pistol aside, singing "London Bridge is falling down" and drives off with Kassia. They do not get far, though. Kassia leaps out of the car and Andre stops, backs up, and then tries to run over Kassia as she lies in the road. Kassia is able to leap out of the way and the car crashes, killing Andre again, with an odd smile on his face.

Hobart realizes he has failed and goes upstairs, seeing Leonora near an open briefcase. Inside is a letter that Hobart wrote when he was a boy, which Hobart reads to Leonora from memory, apologizing to his father for leaving school to find a way to bring dead people (initially his mother) back to life. (There is an inconsistency here, as the camera clearly shows the words on the letter saying that Hobart actually apologized to his father for "killing the cat".) Hobart asks Leonora to destroy the time tilter after he has used it to return himself to the past, where he is dead. Leonora panics, runs into the time tilter room and closes the door behind her. Hobart is able to open the door and push Leonora away from the device. He steps into it and disappears.

A flying saucer has landed in a remote part of the United States and wiped out a military patrol sent to investigate. Falsely believing that the saucer contains nuclear material, the authorities decide on a wild scheme: they recruit Louis Mace (Robert Duvall), a disaffected CIA agent, to infiltrate the ship.

Genetically modified to pass as an alien, Mace finds that he has unique insight into the alien "invaders" nature, the genetic material that has been used to modify his appearance seemingly taking precedence over his human nature. He also begins to question his allegiance, and eventually sides with the aliens, finding out that they're benevolent and have no desire to come in contact with humans in any way, being simply stranded on Earth after their ship's engine broke down.

Accepting to lend their trust to Mace and acknowledging him as one of them, the aliens propose that Mace return to their home planet with them. Torn between his desire to be free and his loyalty towards his superiors, Mace first reacts aggressively, killing one of the two aliens, but he eventually realizes the cruelty of his act and feels remorse for showing these harmless visitors what dark instincts inhabit the human nature. It is also implied that the alien that Mace killed was the one whose DNA had been used to modify Mace's anatomy; effectively making him a duplicate of the creature.

The remaining alien nonetheless forgives him and allows him to leave Earth with them. At first distressed by that choice, Mace's superior eventually allows him to do so, believing this would be a chance for Mace to be at last free of his condition.

Eighteen hundred years in the future, two infantrymen clash on a battlefield. A random energy weapon strikes both, and they are hurled into a time vortex. While one soldier is trapped in the matrix of time, the other, Qarlo Clobregnny (Michael Ansara), materializes on a city street in the United States in the year 1964.

Qarlo is soon captured and interrogated by Tom Kagan (Lloyd Nolan), a philologist, and his origin is eventually discovered. Qarlo has been trained for one purpose – to kill the enemy, and that is all he knows. Progress is made in "taming" him after Kagan translates his seemingly unintelligible language – "Nims qarlo clobregnny prite arem aean teaan deao" – into colloquial English..."(My) name is Qarlo Clobregnny, private, RM EN TN DO"; his name, rank and serial letters, which is what any soldier would reveal if captured by the enemy. After a short time in captivity, Qarlo comes to live with the Kagan family, despite the reluctance expressed by Tom Kagan's government associates.

However, the time eddy holding the enemy soldier slowly weakens. Finally, he materializes fully, and tracks Qarlo to the Kagan home. In a final hand-to-hand battle, the soldiers kill each other, but the question is posed whether Quarlo sacrifices his life just to kill the enemy or to save the Kagan family he has become attached to.

After completing the first crewed mission to orbit Venus, astronaut Jeff Barton (Shatner) returns to Earth with recurring nightmares and an increasing inability to stay warm. Barton's condition continues to worsen and is accompanied by a peculiar webbing of his fingers. Only after his nightmares become more vivid does he recall an unrevealed alien encounter in the Venusian atmosphere. Barton's doctors suspect the astronaut had been genetically affected by his mission, and they then struggle to treat and cure him before his mutations completely take over.

Dr. Robert Stone, an absent-minded optic engineer, is a brilliant researcher in a field that few appreciate. His brother, a prominent government physicist, refuses to take him seriously and has essentially shut Dr. Stone out of his life. Dr. Stone's attractive secretary, Ms. Elizabeth Dunn, is in love with him and has read all of his recondite scientific papers, but Stone is blind to her feelings and myopically perceives only the details of his science.

The story begins as policemen investigate the destruction of Dr. Stone's office, the latest in a series of attacks on optometric facilities. After they leave, Dr. Stone realizes that his own glasses are broken and decides to try a pair of prescription lenses designed for patients who suffer from double vision, lenses made from meteoric quartz. Putting on the glasses, he recoils in horror as he sees a creature that appears to be made of ''energy''. The creature attacks him, smashing his glasses, steals a page from Stone's notebook on which are written the names of patients who have been prescribed the lenses, and quickly vanishes.

Stone ascertains that the creature must exist in only two dimensions, as when he turns sideways he becomes invisible, and is able to move through walls. Stone visits his physicist brother to talk over the idea, but his brother dismisses him as mad. Dr. Stone has his secretary order several new pairs of the meteoric eyepieces, and tries to track down the patients sought by the two-dimensional creature. One has been injured, another is found dead, and the third, a welder, managed to ward off the creature with his welding torch (later Stone is told by the creature that in the second dimension, fire is all-powerful because two-dimensional organisms, like dry leaves or paper, are easily set aflame). It is also discovered that a large building has been cut in half. Stone's brother and the police begin to investigate these occurrences. Meanwhile, in the excitement of the moment, Stone suddenly seems to notice the love-struck Ms. Dunn for the first time, remarking after putting on a different pair of glasses that something about her "looks different," as she glows with adoration towards him.

Soon, the creature appears again to Stone after he puts on a pair of the meteoric glasses. The creature, the titular Eck, explains that he was trapped in our dimensional plane when he fell through an experimental portal. He needs to return to the second dimension through the rift and close it, or else the rift could cause all kinds of things from his dimension to spill through. Eck is unable to see properly in three-dimensional space, and requires lenses to correct his two-dimensional vision so that he can find the rift. Eck gives Stone one of his eyes, a translucent triangle shaped object, though he asserts that a lens must be constructed in 24 hours as he is dying. Stone begins to grind the interdimensional lens. Meanwhile, Eck watches a TV broadcast about himself. Thinking the broadcaster is also two-dimensional, he jumps into the TV set to seek help. This causes him to become luminous, and thereafter can be seen without the special glasses.

The now-visible Eck wreaks more havoc in the city, then returns to Dr. Stone's office. The police and Stone's brother have determined that Stone is harboring the creature, and break into his office with a flamethrower. They attack Eck with fire, and apparently kill him. After they leave, Dr. Stone and Elizabeth find Eck alive, having deceived his attackers. They produce the interdimensional lens, which Eck tries to take with him through a wall but cannot as the lens is three-dimensional. Stone and Elizabeth offer to bring the lens with them to the public square, where the rift is located. Eck exits through the wall, Stone asks Elizabeth if she would like to go to the square to "say goodbye to a friend," and the two exit as a couple, Stone's arm still around Elizabeth's waist.

Professor Peter Wayne is disturbed to hear that his university colleague, Dr. Roy Clinton, is pursuing forbidden drug experiments with a group of graduate students. When one of the students turns up dead, Professor Wayne investigates Clinton's activities. He discovers that consciousness-expansion can have powerful and dangerous consequences.

A group of five juvenile delinquents in their teens are doomed to be prosecuted as adults for their crimes unless they take part in a new and experimental "program" led by a Vietnam veteran Native American named "Indian Joe" Tegra (Stephen Lang). The five teens include two rival gang leaders, Ruben Pacheco (Michael Carmine), the leader of the Home Boys serving a three-year sentence for aggravated assault and armed robbery; Moss Roosevelt (Leon Robinson), the leader of the 27th Avenue Players, also serving a three-year sentence, for assault and armed robbery; Carlos Aragon (Danny Quinn), a drug trafficker serving a four-year sentence after being arrested in a police sting; James Lee "J.L." MacEwen (John Cameron Mitchell), the youngest and most violent of the teenagers, serving a 10-year sentence for manslaughter of his abusive and alcoholic father and various arson charges; Dorcey Bridger (Al Shannon), a car thief serving three-plus years for various auto theft and over 15 escape attempts from various juvenile halls.

Forced into the swamps, the teens must learn to survive in the dangerous swamp and how to work together. Upon completion of the program, the group buys a vacant house in a dangerous part of Miami and slowly rebuilds the neighborhood, kicking out the pimps, prostitutes and drug dealers. This offends the former illegal inhabitants of their house, all loyal customers of drug baron Cream (Laurence Fishburne). The conflict leads to armed fights, in which Joe is killed. The surviving members of the group take the fight directly to a drug manufacturing facility that is equipped with an M-134 Minigun.

The film stars Summer Phoenix as the title character, in the role of a young Jewish woman living in London with a sister who is about to marry a young Jewish man. Breaking with her secularized yet traditionally-inclined family, Suzie falls in love with the non-Jewish Darren (Leo Gregory). She fears introducing him to her family because of their opposition to intermarriage.

A city couple driving in the countryside make a turn into a mysterious valley road where their car hits a rock and stops working. After the couple leave their car, the wife has a slight accident in which she rolls downhill and sprains her ankle. When the husband reaches her, they realise they are being stalked and attacked by tumbleweeds which appear to be possessed by some form of energy. At first they attempt to keep the tumbleweeds at bay with fire, but soon run out of firewood.

At this point they are saved by a severely disturbed (possibly schizophrenic) farmer named Lamont, who explains that things have been awkward in the valley ever since a "meteor" landed two weeks before, causing his farm to be destroyed. Lamont tells them he stayed merely out of curiosity, but now the possessed weeds, trees and rocks won't allow him to leave either. The three make their way to Lamont's house where they spend a frightening night surrounded by tumbleweeds first, and then thousands of frogs. The wife discovers Lamont's diary containing eloquent and intelligent passages regarding his awareness of an apparent alien presence. In the morning, they walk back to the car without trouble, only to be attacked by living rocks once they get there. One rock apparently kills Lamont. The couple run back to the farmhouse, where Lamont eventually returns and sits down in a chair, remaining motionless, speechless and in a trance-like state, with the couple trying to rouse him, and then realizing that he has been possessed by an unknown entity. The husband then decides that the only way they are ever to escape is to attempt to communicate with whatever is behind the possessions. The husband manages to make contact through self-hypnosis, and is briefly possessed by what appears to be a non-corporeal alien mind that came to Earth out of mere curiosity, but failed to establish communication. The extraterrestrial presence bemoans its vain attempt at communicating with humans and eventually departs after transmitting the idea that mankind perhaps needs more time to evolve in order to communicate with it. After its departure, everything returns to normal, allowing the couple to return to their car. On their way home, the husband compassionately philosophises that, while both of them are only a few miles away from their home, the alien intelligence must be far further from its own.

Jang Bogo (Choi Soo-jong) rises from a lowly slave to the military commander of the sea during the Unified Silla Dynasty. Along the way, he battles pirates, and engages in a heated rivalry with Madam Jami (Chae Shi-ra), a Silla noble who squares off against Jang Bogo for trade rights in the South Sea. Yeom Jang (Song Il-gook), Jang Bogo's charismatic comrade, supports Jang in his ascension to become the "Emperor of the Sea." But Yeom Jang competes with Jang Bogo for the love of Lady Jung-hwa (Soo Ae).

Two astronauts on the ''M-1'' spaceship land on Mars in the year 2021; when one goes out to explore he is heard screaming and his last transmission indicates that he had no idea what was happening to him. When the second astronaut goes out to investigate, he too makes a similar transmission. Three years later a second mission, ''M-2'', lands with a crew of four consisting of Major Merritt, Captains Buckley and Lazzari and Lieutenant Johnson. They are tasked both to explore and to determine what happened to the ''M-1''. When Captain Lazzari is sent to explore the ruins of the ''M-1'', he goes behind the ship to examine it and screams in unbearable agony, just like the previous crew. Captain Buckley and Lieutenant Johnson go to investigate and Buckley finds only bloodstains. Johnson, armed with a nuclear bazooka, wanders off and disappears. The two remaining crew are ordered to stay within the confines of the ship in the last hours before take-off. However, Captain Buckley has a vision wherein the planet's deserts appear as sand-filled oceans; he then slips out to examine these "oceans". While exiting the ship he cuts his hand; he rubs the blood onto a scrap of cloth and throws it out into the desert. He learns that a Sand-Beast – a crustacean-like animal that swims through the sands like a shark – is at fault for the deaths. Major Merritt, the leader of the expedition, was asleep when Captain Buckley exited, but goes out to find him and becomes trapped on a rock when the Sand-Beast pursues him. With ten minutes left until lift-off, Captain Buckley creates a distraction by running across the sands; this allows both Merritt and Buckley to reach the shore unharmed. They shoot the Sand-Beast, using the nuclear bazooka Johnson left behind when he was killed. The fatally wounded Sand-Beast submerges beneath the surface, but five other Sand-Beasts, drawn by the noise and blood of their dying kin, soon emerge. The two remaining astronauts realize, "There's a whole army of them". Major Merritt and Captain Buckley communicate with control on Earth that they are coming home.

Working on behalf of corporate interests, scientist Jonathan Meridith has created a miniature version of a remote planet (in the titular Wolf 359 system) in his laboratory. Due to the miniaturization, this artificial world knows an accelerated development, thus allowing Meridith to study its evolution through an electronic microscope, and to observe the birth of archaic life forms on its surface. However, soon a mysterious lifeform evolves along with the developing experiment. It is aware of the scientist's presence—even acting aggressively toward him at some point. Manifesting by night in the absence of light, the creature takes a physical shape into the laboratory itself, destroying all life inside it, including plants, a colony of ants and a couple of guinea pigs. Becoming aware of the situation, Meridith weighs the value of his experiment versus the possible dangers. He resorts to firing his lab assistant and sending his wife back home, in order to keep them away from harm. Pursuing his studies, the scientist soon discovers the creature inhabiting the planet seems to be a manifestation of the planet itself, similar to its collective mind, and bent on destruction. As the evolution of the miniature world progresses, Meridith observes a reproduction of the darkest moments of Earth's history at its surface (including the development of nuclear weapons). Lowering his guard one night, the scientist is suddenly attacked by the creature; he is, however, saved by his wife. She returns from home at the right moment to breach the miniature planet's containment cell, causing its atmosphere to escape so that the creature is destroyed along with the planet. In the epilogue, Meridith can be seen recording his final report on Wolf 359, saying that the experiment is over and the planet destroyed. Yet he also mentions that the experience could be successfully recreated in the future, if only one could find a better planet.

Defence attorney Thurman Cutler is coaxed out of retirement to take the case for the defence of a robot, Adam Link, against the charge that it willfully murdered its creator Dr. Charles Link. Placed on trial, Adam sits alone in the courtroom, apart from his only friend Nina Link, the professor's niece. Testimony reveals that once Adam was activated he began a trial and error process of learning like that of a child. This suggests that some of his later acts, construed as violent, were in fact a matter of the mechanical man not understanding his own strength, or subtle or vague areas of human thought and emotions. Unfortunately the defence never fully recovers from the revelation that Adam read the novel ''Frankenstein'' while absorbing all the books in the Doc's library, and the judge pronounces the robot guilty, even though the Doc's death was accidental. Before Adam can be hauled away to be dismantled, he breaks free of his bonds outside the courthouse to throw a child aside from the path of an oncoming truck, but is smashed into scrap metal in the process. Cutler notes sardonically: "That terrible monster won't ever harm anybody again."

It is the year 2025; fourteen years previously wealthy research academic Henderson James had Captain Karl Emmet smuggle a Megasoid to Earth. It is illegal to possess a Megasoid as they are highly dangerous, always thinking about killing, unless in a reproductive cycle, which this one now is. When the Megasoid escapes to hide amongst the stuffed exhibits at a nearby space zoo, James, lacking the courage to track it down and kill it himself, has a clone of himself illegally made for the purpose by clone bootlegger Basil Jerichau. Strict guidelines govern the production of these "duplicates", which must be destroyed before vestigial memory renders them indistinguishable from the originals.

The clone botches its mission at the zoo and the Megasoid gets away after informing the clone that he is a duplicate. A trace of memory leads the duplicate James to the home of Captain Emmet. Emmet panics and tries to phone the police; the duplicate James knocks him out cold; and, accumulating more of the real Henderson James’ memories as he goes, he finds his way to "his" own home. The wounded Megasoid returns to the James home and hides in the bushes. Duplicate James meets the real James’ wife, Laura, who sees in him a more youthful version of her husband before he became obsessed with studying the Megasoid. The real James has gone to bribe Emmet into killing the duplicate James once he has completed his mission. Returning home, he leaves Emmett on the grounds to await duplicate James’ arrival. Unfortunately, Emmett is attacked and killed by the Megasoid. Entering his home, the real James meets his duplicate. Seeing a more compassionate version of himself gives him the courage to kill the alien, as he believes Laura would be happier with the duplicate.

Henderson James and his duplicate hunt for the Megasoid. James shoots the alien after it has torn his duplicate apart. He discovers that his clone was dying all the time, from a timed release of poison into his blood stream; a precaution provided by the clone bootlegger. A less cynical Henderson James is now reconciled with his wife.

Scientist Eric Plummer comes under the sinister influence of a creature from outer space, capable of materializing in human form, but lacking human emotions. As a prelude for the invasion of Earth by his kind, an extraterrestrial being, Ikar, studies the human race. The one thing he cannot comprehend is emotion. Meanwhile, obsessed scientist Plummer is nearing a nervous breakdown, trying to complete a magnetic disintegrator that will convert matter into pure energy. As Plummer's weapon would aid Ikar's invasion force if completed, Ikar makes a deal with Plummer (who is unaware of Ikar's purpose). He will help Plummer complete the invention by offering his technical knowledge to provide the new equations necessary for the invention's completion in exchange for the scientist's ability to feel emotions for a "test drive".

It is revealed that Ikar comes from a hive world with strictly defined roles, divorced from emotion and personal identity. Big brains (like himself) do the thinking, while soldiers do the fighting, and females produce the offspring as their only function.

Due to the interference of Plummer's girlfriend, Janet Lane, Ikar is unable to control or understand his adopted emotions. This causes the experiment to backfire. The alien has great difficulty in understanding such things as love and beauty - concepts utterly foreign in his world. Ikar's behavior comes to the attention of his superiors, who dispatch soldier-forms of his species to discipline him. Meanwhile, Plummer uses Ikar's data to harness a fantastic energy source and fashions a weapon capable of destroying all life.

Ikar, who has begun to experience emotions such as anger and desire for Janet, who compares Ikar's world to an ant colony. He returns the scientist's emotions to him. Ikar is now being pursued by his own species, as a threat to the planned invasion. It is revealed the aliens' homeworld is overpopulated, and they have chosen Earth to be their new home. In the end, having experienced emotions and now feeling sympathy for Plummer, Ikar kills two of the soldiers but is himself disintegrated before Plummer destroys the last soldier. In disgust, Plummer destroys his weapon, erasing all traces of his work and evidence of the aliens.

Four scientists, a newspaper man and a construction tycoon agree to spend 261 days in isolation in an interstellar flight simulation to planet Antheon, a world that would be a potential target for future human colonization. A "panic button" is included in case any of the subjects wants to end the simulation. However, hitting the button ends the entire simulation, and all participants will forfeit cash awards for completing the experiment. Unbeknownst to all, the experiment has been infiltrated by an extraterrestrial being, one who causes the subconscious mind of the various passengers to go amok: one of the passengers finds the doll of his deceased daughter on his bed, while another one is almost choked in his sleep by invisible hands. As months pass on board, relations between passengers become increasingly tense and uneasy, each one being faced with his own part of darkness. Horror eventually escalates with the plants of one passenger coming to life and destroying one another and the presence incarnating itself into one of the plants and making it grow into a huge, hideous creature. The extraterrestrial mind eventually reveals itself to the entire crew, claiming to be one of Antheon's indigenous inhabitants. The humans are accused of planning to come to Antheon with intentions of aggressive invasion and conquest, one thing the aliens cannot accept. In the end, the simulation is interrupted.

The space race continues as the American military strives to be the first to successfully land a man on Mars. But the best candidate for the job, Col. Barham, is dying of an incurable ailment that has left him unable to walk. There is great debate whether a human being could survive a trip to Mars and whether a computer could adapt to unforeseen circumstances. It is decided to separate the Colonel's brain from his body and keep it alive, with neural implants connecting it to visual and audio input/output for the mission combining an astronaut's brain with a computer. But without a body, the brain becomes extremely powerful and develops megalomaniacal tendencies that endanger the life of his wife and others.

Jim Darcy, the pilot of an X-15 rocket-powered research aircraft, and his wife, Linda, become trapped 10 seconds ahead of their time, enabling them to watch time unfold to catch up with them at the rate of about one second every 30 minutes. In the time left before returning to synch with normal time, they see that their daughter, Janie, is about to be hit by a rolling military truck whose parking brake had not been set. Jim and Linda's inability to move objects in the "real" world prevents them from resetting the truck's parking brake or pulling young Janie out of danger. Their problem is aggravated as they soon learn that at the moment when time "catches up" with them, they must assume the exact positions they had been in five hours earlier, when this whole thing started, or they could remain in that state forever.

They meet an unnamed and seemingly malevolent individual (Kay Kuter, but only identified as "Limbo Being" in the cast list) who earlier experienced the same situation, but failed to make it back in time. When it reveals that it could take from them their chances to return to reality Jim and Linda come to see just how grave their situation is: one or both could end up being stuck in this state forever.

On discovering that he can move and manipulate items in the crashed plane and car, Jim hits upon a way to save his daughter from death. He removes seatbelts from his wife's car and ties them to the back wheel of the menacing truck. He then ties the other end around the brake lever so that the truck's brakes will engage the moment the time warp ends. (It was, by that time, moving at 10 mph.)

With no time to spare, they hurry back to the crash site and assume their original positions. When time catches up the seatbelt pulls the emergency brake, stopping the truck. Their daughter is safe, the world returns to normal, and no one is the wiser.