Kyo Sogoru, a high school boy living in a city called Maihama, leads a normal life of school, romance, and the swim club. Kyo's life changes when he sees a beautiful girl, Shizuno Misaki, at the pool one day and discovers he is initially the only person who can see her. In order to keep his high school's swimming club open by recruiting more members, Kyo hopes to enlist Shizuno to appear in a promo video shot by Kyo's close friend, Ryoko. Shizuno agrees, but on the condition that he does something for her in exchange – pilot a mecha for an organization known as Cerebrum.

Agreeing to her request, Kyo is drawn into a world of fighting giant robots in a game-like world that he must save from Deutera Areas formed by aliens known as Gards-orm that threaten to destroy the earth. However, Kyo soon comes to realize that the world that he is living in might not even be real at all and begins to find that everything he is doing is strangely familiar. As he questions the nature of the reality he lives in, Kyo must continue to fight in order to protect the lives of those important to him.

Beginning in 2024, when society in the United States has grown unstable due to climate change, growing wealth inequality, and corporate greed, ''Parable of the Sower'' takes the form of a journal kept by Lauren Oya Olamina, an African American teenager. Her mother abused drugs during her pregnancy and left Lauren with "hyper-empathy" or "sharing" – the uncontrollable ability to feel the sensations she witnesses in others, particularly the abundant pain in her world.

Lauren grows up in the remnants of a gated community in Robledo, California, twenty miles from Los Angeles, where she and her neighbors struggle but are separate from the abject poverty of the world outside. Outside of the community are numerous homeless and mutilated individuals who resent the community members for their relative affluence. Public services such as police or firefighters are untrustworthy, exploiting their positions for profit and making little effort to help. Lauren's father, a Baptist pastor, holds the community together through mutual aid and careful use of resources, such as making bread from acorns. However, Lauren is increasingly certain that despite all efforts, society will continue to deteriorate and the community will no longer be safe; Lauren secretly prepares to travel north, as many do in search of rare paid jobs. The newly elected radical, authoritarian President Donner loosens labor protections, creating a rise in company towns owned by foreign businesses. Lauren privately develops her own new belief system based on the belief that "God is Change" is the only lasting truth, and that humanity, dubbed Earthseed, should "shape God" in order to aid themselves. She comes to call this religion Earthseed.

Lauren's younger brother, Keith, rebelliously runs away to live outside the walls of the community. For a time, he survives by joining a group of ruthless thieves who value him for his rare literacy, but he is eventually found dead after torture. Later, Lauren's father disappears while leaving the community for work and is accepted as dead.

When Lauren is eighteen in 2027, the community's security is breached in an organized attack by outsiders: most of the community is destroyed, looted, and murdered, including Lauren's family. She travels north, disguised as a man, with Harry Balter and Zahra Moss, two survivors from her community. Society outside the community walls has reverted to chaos due to resource scarcity and poverty. U.S. states have become akin to city-states, with strict borders. Money still has value, but travelers constantly fear attacks for resources or by pyromaniac drug-users, cannibals, and wild dogs. Mixed-race relationships are stigmatized, and women fear sexual assault. Slavery has returned in the form of indebted servitude.

Lauren gathers people to protect along her journey and begins to share the Earthseed religion, which is developing into a collection of texts titled ''Earthseed: The Books of the Living''. She believes that humankind's destiny is to travel beyond the deteriorating Earth and live on other planets, forcing humankind into its adulthood, and that Earthseed is preparation for this destiny. Lauren begins a relationship with Bankole, an older doctor who joins the group, and agrees to marry him. Bankole takes the group to the land he owns in Northern California, where the group settles and Lauren founds the first Earthseed community, Acorn.

''Parable of the Talents'' is told from the points of view of Lauren Oya Olamina, her daughter Larkin Olamina/Asha Vere, and Lauren’s husband Taylor Franklin Bankole. The novel consists of journal entries by Lauren and Bankole and passages by Asha Vere. Five years after the events of the previous novel ''Parable of the Sower'', Lauren has founded a new community called Acorn centered around her religion, Earthseed, which is predicated on the belief that humanity's destiny is to travel beyond Earth and live on other planets in order for humanity to reach adulthood.

The novel is set against the backdrop of a dystopian United States that has come under the grip of a Christian fundamentalist denomination called "Christian America" led by President Andrew Steele Jarret. Seeking to restore American power and prestige, and using the slogan "Make America Great Again", Jarret embarks on a crusade to cleanse America of non-Christian faiths. Slavery has resurfaced with advanced "shock collars" being used to control slaves. Virtual reality headsets known as "Dreamasks" are also popular since they enable wearers to escape their harsh reality.

During the course of the novel, Acorn is attacked and taken over by Christian American "Crusaders" and turned into a re-education camp. For the next year and a half, Lauren and the other adults are enslaved and forced to wear "shock collars". Their Christian American captors exploit them as forced labor under the pretext of "reforming" them. Lauren and several of the women are also regularly raped by their captors, who regard them as "heathen". In 2035, Lauren and her followers eventually rebel and kill their captors. To avoid retribution, they are forced to disperse into hiding. By 2036, President Jarret is defeated after a single term due to public dissatisfaction with the "Alaska–Canada War" and revelations of his role in witch burnings.

Lauren looks for Larkin for over a year, travelling throughout Northern California and Oregon in her search. At the same time, she decides to re-establish Earthseed by teaching individuals about the religion during her travels and training them to educate others. She gains a significant following among the affluent in Portland, Oregon and one of her more ardent supporters helps her publish ''Earthseed: The First Book of the Living'', which contains the verses she wrote defining the religion. This launches both Earthseed and her influence nationwide and at the same time, as she is hopeful for the future of humanity amongst the stars, she gradually abandons hope that she will find Larkin and gives up her search.

Meanwhile, Larkin is adopted by an African American Christian America family and renamed "Asha Vere Alexander" after a popular Dreamask hero. Unloved and abused by her adoptive parents, Asha grows up never knowing who her biological parents are. As an adult, Asha reunites with her uncle Marcos "Marc" Duran, who was believed to have perished in the events of the previous novel and has since become a Christian America minister. With Uncle Marc's help, Larkin becomes an academic historian but leaves the Christian faith.

Unknown to Asha, Uncle Marc had previously re-established contact with his long-lost half-sister Lauren. Marc claimed that the "Crusaders" were rogue elements who do not represent Christian America. He tells Asha that her mother is dead, and never told Lauren he had found her daughter. With Jarret's legacy in disgrace, Lauren's Earthseed religion grows in popularity in a post-war United States and throughout the rest of the world, funding scholarships for needy university students and encouraging humanity to leave Earth and settle in other worlds.

After Asha learns that Lauren is her biological mother, she manages to meet with her. Though Asha is unable to forgive her mother for choosing to dedicate her life to Earthseed instead of continuing to look for her, Lauren tells her daughter that her door is always open. After learning that her half-brother Uncle Marc hid the fact that Asha was related to Lauren, Lauren severs all ties with her estranged brother, which further strains her relationship with Asha. They talk occasionally over the next 23 years but never truly bond as Asha decided "She never really needed us, so we didn't let ourselves need her." Lauren dies at the age of 81 while watching the first shuttles leaving Earth for the starship ''Christopher Columbus'', which carries settlers in suspended animation to the first human colony on another world.

The antagonist is a tall, "no-nonsense" television journalist named Shannon Michaels, described as the product of two Celtic parents, who is pushed out by Global News Network, and systematically murders the people who ruined his career.

Meanwhile, the protagonist, a "straight-talking" Irish-American New York City homicide detective named Tommy O’Malley, is charged with solving the murders that Michaels has committed, while competing with Michaels for the heart of Ashley Van Buren, a blond, sexy aristocrat turned crime columnist. Some reviewers have said that Michaels and O'Malley are "thinly veiled versions" of O'Reilly.

Michaels' first victim is a news correspondent who stole his story in Argentina, and got him into trouble with the network. He then stalks the woman who forced his resignation from the network and throws her off a balcony. After that he murders a television research consultant who had advised the local station to dismiss him by burying him in beach sand up to his neck and letting him slowly drown. Finally, during a break in the Radio and Television News Directors Association convention, he slits the throat of the station manager. After this, he is pursued by O'Malley and Van Buren, where he attempts to lose them by crossing a runway in front of a speeding jet. Although he makes it, his car's right back tire is cut by the jet's wing, causing the car to spin, flip over, and be subsequently melted by the exhaust from the jet, which explodes. Michaels dies in extreme agony, as his contacts (used to hide his identity) burn into his eyes and a chunk of the car crushes his head in.

Having escaped the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, Countess Sofia Belinskaya is working as a taxi dancer, if not worse, in a seedy Shanghai bar in 1936 to support her family of aristocratic White Russian émigrés, including her daughter Katya, her mother-in-law Olga, her sister-in-law Grushenka, and an aunt and uncle by marriage, Princess Vera and Prince Peter. Although employment is scarce and her meagre income is almost the Shanghai Russian family's only income, Sofia's relatives scorn her for her work and insist she keep it a secret from her child.

Sofia meets Todd Jackson, a former official of the US State Department who several years earlier lost first his wife and child, then later a daughter in separate terrorist bombings. The bombing that killed his daughter also blinded him. With his job at risk and dreaming of running a nightclub, he gambles his savings on a bet at the racetrack. Winning, he opens an elegant nightclub catering to rich cosmopolites and invites Sofia to be his principal hostess, an offer she accepts; in her honour, he calls the club "The White Countess". Over time, they fall in love, but strive to keep work separate from their personal lives. Both are clearly suffering, and could be of much more help and support for the other. Neither is able to act until prodded by necessity upon the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War. This conflict causes the balanced political climate to disintegrate, followed by a mass exodus from the besieged city.

Set in Hamburg, West Germany, several criminals take advantage of the West German bank privacy laws to use safe deposit boxes in a West German bank to store large amounts of illicit cash. These include a Las Vegas mobster as well as a ruthless drug smuggler known as the Candy Man and a crooked overbearing U.S. Army sergeant and his meek-mannered partner the Major, who conspire on a big heroin and LSD smuggling score. Joe Collins (Warren Beatty), an American bank security consultant, has been spying on them and makes mysterious and elaborate preparations to steal their money (totaling more than $1.5 million) with the help of Dawn Divine (Goldie Hawn), a hooker with a heart of gold.

Joe has Dawn phone in a bomb threat to the bank president, Mr. Kessel (Gert Fröbe), to create a diversion. Joe locks himself inside the bank vault with a gold bar normally displayed in the lobby to supposedly save it. The bank is closed and evacuated while Joe uses duplicate keys to empty the criminals' three safe deposit boxes into Dawn's large-size deposit box. (It is implied that Joe had obtained the necessary bank information and secretly copied the criminals' keys while they were engaged in sexual trysts with Dawn.) Despite the fact that Kessel insists on burning through the wall to rescue Joe instead of waiting for the time lock to open, Joe succeeds in the heist and is hailed as a hero for "preventing" the robbery of the gold bar.

The next day, the three criminals, one by one, discover that their boxes are empty, and thus they cannot complete their illegal schemes, nor do they dare to go to the police to report the thefts, since they would then risk revealing their own dishonest pasts. The Las Vegas mobster flees the country while the Sarge, his partner the Major, and the Candy Man search Dawn Divine's apartment, as she was their common link, and find clues that connect her to Joe. Sarge calls Kessel to get Joe's home address, but Joe is quickly tipped off by Kessel and he hurriedly sends Dawn to the train station with a suitcase packed with her take — $765,000 — promising to meet her later someplace out of the country.

A long climactic chase begins as Dawn gives the Major the slip at the train station while the Candy Man and the Sarge chase Joe across a rail yard and through the Elbe Tunnel. Joe escapes on a car carrier truck, lugging his suitcase, but the Candy Man and the Sarge follow and catch up in the morning at a frozen lake in the countryside, where the Candy Man crashes his car through the ice and drowns.

Joe escapes again by hopping a train, but during the night the Sarge catches up to him, only to find that Joe's suitcase contains nothing but a bottle of champagne and wads of newspaper. They conclude that Dawn double-crossed Joe by repacking the suitcases (and thus taking all the money for herself) while he was getting the car, and the Sarge proposes a plan to Joe to go after Dawn together. However, upon swallowing a mouthful of the champagne, the Sarge instantly goes into violent convulsions and falls down dead. The bottle was one of two that the Candy Man had filled with a solution of concentrated LSD to sneak through customs earlier in the film. It's clear from Joe's reaction that he had no idea of the bottle's contents, and was just about to imbibe himself.

An epilogue shows Dawn staying at the Hotel del Coronado, joyfully driving a gleaming new yellow Corvette, and cuddling in bed with an unseen someone. The other suitcase is sitting near the bed, and Joe's bomber jacket hangs on the coat rack. Dawn calmly explains to Joe that she was certain that the criminals wouldn't kill him and leave them with no way to get at the money; Dawn had planned all along to still share the money with Joe as they'd originally arranged, and so she had merely taken the money in order to keep it from anyone who'd pursued Joe. The poisoned champagne bottle she left for him is not discussed; she'd likely had no idea that its contents had been switched for LSD, either.

Joe (Hal Holbrook) is a cynical American journalist assigned to work in the Soviet Union, where he meets Oktyabrina (Goldie Hawn), a spirited and erratic Russian ballet dancer who lives illegally without proper documents. Their ensuing romance opens new possibilities for both; but also draws the attention of the Soviet authorities.

In 1882 San Francisco, popular dance hall girl Amanda Quaid learns that Mormon millionaire Josiah Widdicombe is seeking a well-bred governess for his children. Looking for an easier life, Amanda needs $65 to buy clothes for the interview. She accepts an invitation from gambler Charlie "Dirtwater Fox" Malloy to join him in his hotel room, where she discovers he is carrying a satchel full of stolen money that he acquired by double-crossing the Bloodworth gang in a bank robbery. Drugging Charlie and stealing the satchel, she buys a new outfit and successfully interviews with Widdicombe as the "Duchess of Swansbury."

When Charlie finds the money gone, he heads east on his horse Blackjack and catches up to the stagecoach carrying Amanda to Salt Lake City, Utah. Charlie recognizes Amanda and makes her agree to give him a portion of her salary in exchange for keeping her real identity a secret. On their trip, they encounter snakes, rapids, horseback pursuits through towns, a Jewish wedding, and the Bloodworth gang who capture them and take back the money. The pair are tied down with stakes and left to die, but manage to escape when Amanda uses a pair of lorgnette spectacles to burn through the ropes.

The couple almost make it to Salt Lake City, but Charlie is not willing to give up the money and hatches a plan to get it back from the Bloodworth gang. He sets booby traps at the gang's ranch and starts a fire in the barn, retrieving the loot in the process. In the ensuing chase and gunfight, the gang members are killed but Charlie is wounded. Charlie believes he is dying, but Amanda calls him lazy, grabs the satchel and walks toward Salt Lake City; Charlie and Blackjack get to their feet and follow.

Anita (Hawn) is an American actress who decides to vacation in Rome. There, she becomes involved in a romance with her friend's married lover Guido (Giannini).

Eleven-year-olds Gemma Jackson and Alice Barlow are best friends, ever since they were born on the same day and were in the same hospital. Gemma is a tomboy who likes playing wild and exciting sporty games. Alice is very girly girl who loves the color pink and enjoys ballet. Despite their differences and opinions, the two girls spend almost every single day together, and on their birthdays they always wish to stay friends forever.

One day though, Gemma notices a change in Alice when she becomes miserable. Alice tells Gemma that she and her parents are moving to Scotland which is hundreds of miles away. Gemma and Alice are both devastated at the thought of being separated, but Alice's snobbish mother "Auntie Karen" claims that Alice will make new friends when they move. Not wanting this, Alice suggests that she and Gemma run away - and do so during the leaving party on the day before the move. Gemma suggests they catch a train to London. On the way they are recognized by Billy "Biscuits" McVitie whose baby sister was christened the same day (Biscuits' family were seen in the churchyard after the ceremony which Alice and Gemma passed en route to the train station); he tells his mother and she informs Alice's and Gemma's parents who catch the girls before they can board the train.

Gemma gets the blame when no one believes Alice's claims to it being her idea. At school, Gemma turns on Biscuits, who had been her mate, to being her worst enemy. But Biscuits remains polite to Gemma even after Gemma ambushes him at the boy's toilets. The two of them eventually get paired together for a school project contest about a famous person, to which Gemma ignores Biscuits despite agreeing to do the project on his celebrity choice, a famous TV chef called "Fat Larry". Gemma's Grandad then invites her on a car ride to Scotland where he needs to taxi an old lady to London. At the same time she can visit Alice and spend a day with her and Gemma happily agrees. Gemma fixes her friendship with Biscuits and he helps her bake a cake to take Alice so they can make the best friends wish.

Upon arrival at Alice's new massive house the two share a happy reunion and is allowed to stay for the day. During the visit Alice shows her new pink room and her new stuff. Later in the day Gemma meets Flora Hamilton, who is a classmate to Alice at her new school. But Gemma sees that Flora is trying to become Alice's best friend by showing off and treats Gemma's behavior as childish, she even lies that Alice claimed Gemma's family as being really poor. When the cake is presented to them at dinner Alice asks that she and Gemma cut the cake to make a wish. But Auntie Karen spitefully gives Flora the knife and she steals their wish. Gemma finally snaps and shoves the cake in Flora's face.

Gemma is made to leave but Alice assures Gemma they are still best friends. On the ride home Gemma remains good as gold and helps her Grandad assist the old lady, Mrs. Cholmondly, who is very grumpy, pushy and demanding. When she gets home, Gemma and Biscuits' Fat Larry Project ends up winning the contest. On her birthday, Gemma is given loads of lovely presents. And after school Biscuits' family are invited to join Gemma's family to celebrate her birthday. After a dinner of takeaway pizza and birthday cake, Gemma receives a card from Alice saying that they will remain best friends forever despite no more contact.

Sunny Ann Davis is a seemingly ditzy blonde who works as a cocktail waitress in Washington, D.C. She rents a small room in the home of a gay couple, has a lousy love life and drives a rust bucket of a car that she cannot afford to repair.

The car breaks down, blocking the route of a diplomatic convoy that is traveling to the White House. Unsympathetic to Sunny's predicament, the Diplomatic Security Service treat the incident as a possible security threat and move into full security mode, guns drawn. Sunny is naive to the seriousness of her situation, concerned only that she will now be late for work.

At the Safari Club where Sunny works, her night is getting worse. Her date cancels and she is forced to wear an emu suit because all of the other costumes are now taken by waitresses who arrived on time. She hates the costume because it invites unwanted sexual propositions. Even though she is "so broke," she refuses an offer from a patron requesting special "favors" in return for cash, as well as a loan from a waitress friend, Ella.

On her way home, Sunny is curious about the media attention surrounding a gala dinner, so she stops to watch the dignitaries leaving the event. A man of Middle Eastern descent rudely pushes past her. Sunny feels something hard in his coat pocket. She asks if he has a gun. To her horror, he does. A shot is fired, but Sunny prevents him taking aim at his target by biting his arm. In the ensuing commotion, both Sunny and the gunman are forced to the ground and another shot is fired. Sunny cries out, realizing she has been shot.

Through news media reports, we learn that Sunny has been taken to the hospital and is being lauded as a heroine. She has prevented the assassination of a visiting Emir, who had been in Washington to further relations between the US and his "small, but strategic Middle Eastern country", El Othar. Doctors remove a bullet from Sunny's left buttock. While recovering, she finds herself thrust into public adoration, receiving mail from celebrities and countless marriage proposals.

Michael Ransome, a Middle Eastern desk chief from the State Department, pays a visit to help Sunny get through her first press conference since the shooting. Sunny answers each question about her life with humor and charm, revealing herself to be hugely likeable, intelligent and patriotic. She also reveals that she has never voted, preferring to consider herself as just an American, rather than any political label.

Back at the White House, politicians Crowe and Hilley are watching the conference. They joke that if Sunny is to be believed, she could run for office because of her appeal to so many large groups of voters, including working women, small town folk, senior citizens, gays, the "law-and-order bunch," baseball fans, bar flys and animal lovers. They contact the President of the United States (who is napping during this most important speech), and arrange for him to call Sunny at the hospital.

The Emir whose life Sunny saved was being wooed by the US, which wants to establish a military base in his country because of its ideal geographic location in the Middle East. He decides that he will allow the US to build its base in his country — on the proviso that they allow him to claim Sunny as another wife. Without the President's knowledge, the State Department decides to trade Sunny for the base without her knowledge.

The Vice President of the United States offers her a job within the Protocol Department of the Government. She has to look up what "protocol" means in a dictionary, but when she realizes he is offering her a well-paying job, she accepts.

Sunny approaches her new job with nervous excitement, She attends formal dinners and meets dignitaries from foreign countries. At one dinner, she is introduced to Nawaf Al Kabeer, who thanks Sunny on behalf of the Emir, and presents a car to her, as a thank-you gift from the Emir. She returns it, having researched that as a government employee, she is unable to accept gifts. But this act infuriates both the Emir and the State Department.

Sunny is unaware that in the Emir's country, the local population is aware that Sunny is to be a new Queen, and anger is growing. Sunny is told that the Emir wants to meet her personally, and that she is to "show him a good time." She looks upon this invitation as a way to help her old boss Lou by arranging a party at his failing Safari Club, where she used to work. Lou has not closed the bar to his regular patrons and Sunny has invited friends of her own. The party gets out of control, the Police make arrests and all of this is filmed by the media.

Ambassador St. John sees this as a perfect opportunity to finally make the trade. She tells Sunny to go with the Emir to "represent her country" and make amends. Sunny arrives in the Emir's country to find a mural of herself in wedding attire. She realizes it's a set-up, that she was traded so the US could build its base.

The Emir confirms this. Unable to produce sons, he needs a new wife. Before an angry Sunny can respond, a violent coup d'état takes place in the Emir's country of Otah, and the two are forced to flee.

Back in the US, the government denies knowledge of the trade and the public is now questioning whether Sunny knew all along of the plan. She must also face a Congressional inquiry to find out the truth. Ransome quits his job in disgust at what was done to Sunny.

At the inquiry, Sunny cuts the proceedings short by accepting blame, having taken an important job without fully understanding the political affairs of her country. But she reminds everyone that leaders have a responsibility toward the people. She warns the political powers in the room that, from now on, she will watch all of them "like a hawk."

Two years later, Sunny has married Ransome and they have a baby. She is also running for Congress in her hometown of Diamond Junction in Oregon, and gets a call telling her that she has won.

Molly McGrath is the daughter of a famed football coach who is dying to head her own team. When her wish is finally granted, Molly leaves her job coaching girls' track at an affluent high school (Prescott High School) to take over a football team at an inner-city Chicago high school (Central High School)—the kind of place where guard dogs are needed to patrol the campus. At first the new coach's idealism and optimism are suffocated with racial and gender prejudice, but eventually her overriding spirit begins to whip her unruly team into shape. Molly hustles teenage criminal and former star football player Levander ‘Bird’ Williams into rejoining the team and adds the massive and comedic Phillip Finch. At the same time, she must also struggle to win a battle for the custody of her two young daughters. The real test for Molly comes when her Central High team faces Prescott in the city championship.

Marianne "Muffie" Graves (Goldie Hawn), a former hippie, is a successful lawyer completing a business deal in Detroit, Michigan. At a gas station, she crosses paths with a man that looks and sounds exactly like her hippie ex-fiancé, Rick Jarmin (Mel Gibson), who disappeared in a plane crash 15 years previously and is presumed dead. The man pretends to be a Vietnam War veteran and Marianne apologizes, says that Rick would never have served in that war, and then leaves. The terrified man then makes a call saying that he has been recognized and needs to be moved.

Fifteen years earlier, Rick testified against a murderous drug-smuggling DEA agent named Eugene Sorenson (David Carradine) and has been in the witness protection program ever since. Unfortunately, his old handler has retired and his new handler, FBI agent Joe Weyburn (Stephen Tobolowsky), is being blackmailed into colluding with Sorenson. Promising to have Rick moved immediately, Weyburn writes down the gas station's address and leaks it to Sorenson.

Meanwhile, Sorenson has been released on parole; his partner, Albert "Diggs" Diggins (Bill Duke), picks him up and they set out to kill Rick for revenge and to smooth the passage of their new dealings with the Colombian drug cartels.

Marianne returns to confront Rick just as Diggs and Sorenson show up at the gas station with shotguns blazing. During the gunfight, Rick gets buckshot in his buttocks and his kindly old boss is killed. Marianne escapes with Rick, but Sorenson and Diggs pin the gas station owner's murder on Rick. They are forced to go on the run as Weyburn wipes out Rick's file and sends police to catch them.

To clear their names, Rick needs to reach his old handler. They use contacts from Rick's former life-in-hiding, including at a beauty salon where he was pretending to be an effeminate gay man and was the star hair dresser, and an old flame, a veterinarian who removes the buckshot.

During a night spent in a hotel room, Rick tells Marianne everything that happened 15 years ago. They share their feelings and have passionate sex.

They reach the home of his old handler and find out he has Alzheimer's disease and thus doesn't remember Rick. Sorenson, Diggs and Weyburn show up, so Rick and Marianne retreat to a nearby zoo where Rick once worked. He releases animals from their cages to assist in their defense, and Diggs is mauled to death by a lion, while Weyburn is eaten by piranhas. Sorenson winds up electrocuted. Wounded, Rick winds up suspended over a tiger in a pit, requiring Marianne to save him. When she is not quite able to reach him, he offers her the extra incentive of marriage and children, which does the trick. They are then seen boating into the sunset in the Caribbean.

Adrienne Saunders is happily married to her art dealer husband, Jack. They have a daughter named Mary. After the local museum curator is mysteriously murdered, Jack falls under suspicion of selling forged treasures to the museum. Jack has to suddenly go to Boston on a work related trip, but Adrienne hears from a friend that she thought she saw Jack in town. Adrienne confronts him, but he denies being in town. As pressure mounts on Jack over a forged relic, Adrienne receives word from the police that Jack died in a car accident. In trying to wrap up Jack's affairs, Adrienne begins to suspect that her husband was not who he claimed to be. When she sees a high school yearbook picture of her husband attributed to a man named Frank Sullivan, she realizes that she has been deceived.

She tracks down Jack's cousin, Evelyn, who confirms that Frank and Jack were inseparable in high school. After Jack died, she never saw Frank again. Evelyn explains that Frank's father was an alcoholic and that his mother worked as a toll booth operator. She directs Adrienne to Frank's mother, who lives in a rundown Brooklyn apartment. Frank's mother, Rosalie, bitterly receives the news of her granddaughter, telling Adrienne that Frank was always selfish and never looked in on her.

A stalker lurks at Adrienne's loft. He comes in to Adrienne's bed while she is asleep and caresses her. He watches Mary, who is spooked by the man in her room at night. One day, as the housekeeper finishes her chores, she surprises the stalker. He leaves her almost dead in the bathroom and ransacks the apartment.

At work, Adrienne gets an urgent message from Mrs. Sullivan and rushes to her apartment. When she arrives, the door is open, and Mrs. Sullivan is nowhere to be found. "Jack" appears, and Adrienne slaps him for his cruelty. Jack explains that when his friend died, he was distraught and fell into Jack's identity during the mourning process. He reveals that a man named Dan Sherman is blackmailing him. Jack faked his death to escape, knowing that he would have to give up his life with Adrienne and Mary. He tells her that Sherman is insistent on having an Egyptian necklace in their apartment, and he asks Adrienne to look for it. As she leaves the apartment, Jack watches her from the window beside the body of his murdered mother.

During her search for the necklace, Adrienne discovers a Parks Department photo ID. It bears her husband's picture and the name Dan Sherman. She tracks down an address and pays a surprise visit to the house. A pregnant Mrs. Sherman is on the phone and lets her in, thinking she is with a moving company. Adrienne looks around the house and sees wedding pictures of her husband with Mrs. Sherman. In a photo album, she sees a picture of Mary, who Mrs. Sherman says is her husband's dead sister. The person on the phone is Jack, who asks her to give the phone to Adrienne.

He congratulates Adrienne on tracking down his new life and reveals that he has kidnapped Mary. Mary traded the necklace to another girl, and Jack instructs Adrienne to retrieve it and meet him at their loft to exchange Mary for the necklace. At the loft, Adrienne asks to see Mary, and Jack explains that she is downstairs playing in the car. When Adrienne tries to go see her, Jack pins her against a wall and demands the necklace first. Adrienne stabs him and flees. After a long chase throughout a construction area, Jack corners her in the freight elevator. He reveals his true nature as always doing "what comes next" to preserve himself. Adrienne lures Jack into the elevator shaft, where he falls to his death; Adrienne had been holding on to an unseen elevator cable to give the illusion of being in the elevator car. Later, Adrienne and Mary pack up to move out of the loft and start a new life somewhere else.

Divorced mom Tracy Cross (Hawn) raises her 12-year-old son, Christopher (Arnott), in Key West in 1969 around the time of the Apollo 11 moon landing. Chris narrates the film in voiceover and talks about his "screwed up" life living with his mother in a cheap hotel. Chris' father (Carradine) was an Annapolis trained fighter pilot who had served in Vietnam. However, he became seriously disturbed after bombing a civilian hospital and burned his uniform as a "killers costume". Falling into alcoholism, he deserts Chris and Tracy moving into a commune separating himself from society. Chris hasn't seen his father in three years and still loves him deeply.

Chris delivers papers and fish to help support his mother who works as a bartender and waitress. He unwittingly discovers that there are drugs hidden in the fish he is delivering and becomes a small time drug dealer out of desperation when he finds his mother, Tracy, has resorted to working as a stripper to support them. She is ashamed when he confronts her with this, but she tells him that sometimes in life one has to do what is not good to get what is. Chris visits his father in the commune and attempts to get him to reconcile with Tracy but to no avail.

A stranger, Joe (Howard), comes to town and strikes up a relationship with Tracy. This further disturbs her son. Joe turns out to be a law-enforcement undercover agent, working to bring down the drug ring. His relationship with Tracy and her son complicates matters as the time comes to make the arrest. Chris narrowly escapes being killed when he delivers the drugs and it degenerates into a shootout. In the end, he spends the night in jail and is put on probation learning a valuable lesson. He and Tracy move into a mobile home park and she retires from stripping. The Apollo moon landing is mentioned throughout the film as a sort of metaphor and Chris mentions in the end how happy the astronauts must have been to have returned to the earth no matter how screwed up it is.

Three men are walking through the woods, they hear strange noises and catch glimpses of something moving in the undergrowth. Suddenly they are attacked by unseen creatures. Two men are killed, but one escapes and flees the woods.

Hercules strolls into a village after returning from one of his adventures, and is greeted by Iolaus. It is established that Iolaus is getting married and that Hercules is the best man. The two men set off for Alcmene's house. While walking through the woods, they reminisce that it has been a long time since they last saw each other. Iolaus tells Hercules about his bride-to-be, Ania. They stumble upon a little girl crying alone near an altar. She tells them that a monster killed her father while they were placing an offering to the goddess. Hercules tries to comfort the girl and asks if he can help, but the girl transforms into a monster. Hercules chops off its head, and thinking it is now dead, he and Iolaus begin walking away. They hear a noise and turn around to see that the monster is not dead, and has now grown two new heads in the place where the previous one was. The monster is a Hydra. Hercules tells Iolaus to grab the torch from the altar, Hercules cuts off the heads and burns the Hydra, preventing it from growing new heads, thus killing it. After the Hydra is destroyed a peacock feather remains in its place, and Hercules tells Iolaus that Hera is responsible for the Hydra.

Hercules and Iolaus finally reach his mother's house. Iolaus invites them both for dinner, then leaves. While the four are enjoying dinner, Ania glimpses a man outside the window and Hercules goes to investigate. It is the Gargarean Pithus, the man who escaped the creatures at the beginning of the film. He explains to Hercules about his village being attacked by creatures and Hercules agrees to help. Iolaus persuades Hercules to let him go along for one last adventure before he is married, Hercules reluctantly relents and says that he can come along. The three men set off for the village. When they arrive Hercules asks where all the women are, Pithus tells him that they were stolen by the creatures in the forest. Hercules and Iolaus head off to find the beasts and rescue the village's women. In the forest they are ambushed by the beasts, managing to stave off the attack for a time until Iolaus discovers that the beasts are really women. He chases after one but is fatally injured in the fight, and dies in Hercules' arms. Hercules is then surrounded by several of the 'beasts'. Two of them approach him with spears. One of the 'creatures' cries out and says "No Stop!", and then raises her mask. It happens to be a woman, who then says "The queen will want to kill him". Hercules is in utter shock to discover the true nature of the 'beasts'.

Hercules is then seen being taken captive by the women, bound in chains and gagged with a black leather strap. He is surrounded by the "Amazon Women Warriors" and led through the village full of women. An older woman offers to buy Hercules and several taunt him along the way to see the queen. When he arrives Hippolyta tells him that she knows he is here to defeat them. Hercules tells her she is wrong. Using a magic candle, Hippolyta turns Hercules into a baby telling him she will show him what he is really like. As Hercules reverts to infant form we are shown flashbacks to Hercules's youth and times when he has been told by people how to behave toward women. Later he returns to adult state, realizing that Hippolyta is right and that his attitude toward women is wrong, he tells her that he can change. She says that he cannot change and that all men are the same. Hippolyta goes to consult with Hera, she tells Hippolyta to lead an attack on the village.

Hercules escapes from the Amazons and warns the men of the village of the forthcoming attack. He prepares them for when the women arrive. The women ride into the village and order the men to remove their clothes, telling them they are here for only one thing. The men tell the women to sit and talk with them for a while. Pithus's wife enters her home, and her son Franco asks if she really is his mother. He tells her he often dreams about her but she has no face, she removes her mask and shows her face to Franco. Hercules stands up to Hippolyta, who says she's not afraid of Hercules. He kisses her, she tells him she is not afraid and kisses him back. The two make love. The following day the women are still with the men. The Amazons return to their city and both men and women reminisce about the night before. Hera tells Hippolyta that Hercules has tricked her and orders her to attack the village again, this time killing all the men and boys. Hippolyta refuses but Hera possesses her. Hera, now in control of Hippolyta's actions, orders the women to attack the village.

Hercules stops Hippolyta and realizes that she is possessed by Hera. She rides off and Hercules goes after her. As they fight Hercules tries to get through to Hippolyta, telling her that she is stronger than Hera and to fight her control, but it proves futile. Pithus then arrives to aid Hercules, preventing Hera from striking a killing blow to him. She grabs Pithus and holds a knife to his throat. Despite Hercules’s plea, Hera cuts Pithus’s throat, which ignites Hercules’s fury enough to best her. Hercules is about to deal the fatal blow, but stops as he realises he would be killing Hippolyta, not Hera. Hercules flees, but Hera follows, goading him, and eventually cornering him at the top of a large waterfall. He tells Hera that if he or Hippolyta has to die then he will give up his life for her, saying he could not live his life without her. Upon hearing this Hera runs Hippolyta's body over the edge of the waterfall, killing her.

Hercules returns to the City of Amazons and retrieves the candle Hippolyta used to send him back to his childhood. Zeus appears and tells him the candle does not work in the way Hercules wants it to. Hercules replies that Zeus could make it work that way. Zeus tells Hercules that if he did that he would be in big trouble with Hera, but Hercules persuades him anyway. Zeus blows out the candle and Hercules is taken back to the night of the dinner. Ania sees Pithus outside the window and Hercules goes to tell him that the village does not need his help. He explains that all the men need to do is treat the women with respect and things will sort themselves out. Pithus returns to the village and when the women come the men sort out the problems that have been occurring. Alcmene asks Hercules if there is a woman out there who will make him happy like Ania did for Iolaus, and Hercules replies that he is sure there is as he thinks about Hippolyta.

Three foot messengers are running along the riverside, one of them stops to take a drink from the river. As he stoops down to quench his thirst, a female figure composed of water rises out of the river and pulls him under, drowning him. While the other two men run on, one man is hit by a boulder and killed, and the remaining man escapes.

Elsewhere, a young woman is collecting flowers when the ground begins to shake. She flees back to the village to warn them that a giant is coming. The giant follows the woman to the village and rips the roof of the tavern. Hercules presents himself to the giant and the giant challenges Hercules to a fight. Hercules goes outside and he beats the giant. As the village celebrates the giant's defeat, the exhausted messenger from earlier in the film arrives in the village, and asks for Hercules' help. He explains to Hercules that his people have been driven from their city, the lost city of Troy.

Zeus appears and Hercules asks him if he will help him. He asks his father how to find Troy and is told that Hera vanished it, and to find it Hercules must find the one true compass which will point the way to Troy. Hercules heads off to find the compass, he finds a tribe of men preparing to sacrifice a young virgin woman to their water god. Hercules saves the girl from being sacrificed, while unknowingly being watched by a mysterious robed figure. The woman tells Hercules that her name is Deianeira. Later in the evening as they camp for the night, Deianeira tells him a story that she is the daughter of a King. She sees the dark figure and asks who he is and why she is being followed, but the figure does not answer. Later Hercules and Deianeira arrive at the slave market looking for Queen Omphale of Lydia, the last person to have possessed the compass. In order to get to see the Queen, Hercules sells himself as a slave, and the Queen buys him. After spending the night with the Queen Hercules gets the compass, and he and Deianeira continue searching for Troy. Deianeira gets attacked by some men, but the figure in the dark robe saves her and tells her to follow her destiny.

Hercules and Deianeira head on to Troy, they arrive at the ocean and the figure standing on the cliffs summons a sea serpent to do Hera's bidding. It swallows Hercules and Deianeira, but Hercules kills the monster from inside and they are washed up on the shore. Deianeira sees Troy in the distance and tells Hercules that she now remembers this is where she is from. Deianeira and Hercules get caught in a trap and taken to the king. The king is ill and he and his daughter are reunited. He tells Deianeira that the Cult of the Blue Priests have taken over the city and the people have taken refuge in the woods. He tells her to rule them well, and then dies.

Hercules tutors the people of Troy and prepares them to battle to take back Troy. Deianeira realizes that the people cannot beat the Cult of the Blue Priests and goes looking for the Blue Priest. The people notice that Deianeira is missing and Hercules and the people use a tunnel to get into the city. As the people fight the cult members Hercules goes looking for Deianeira, he finds her about to be sacrificed to Hera and saves her. The Blue Priest and Hercules fight and Hercules cuts off the Priest's head. A huge storm approaches, and Zeus tells Hercules that Hera is coming for Deianeira, Hercules saves her and Hera takes Hercules instead. As Deianeira is crowned Queen of Troy, Hercules is thrown down from the sky elsewhere. A man approaches him asking him for help, Hercules agrees and the two men walk off to the next adventure.

Private investigator Philip Marlowe is hired by wealthy widow Elizabeth Bright Murdock to recover a missing Brasher Doubloon, a rare and valuable coin. Mrs. Murdock suspects it was stolen by her son's estranged wife, Linda Conquest, a former singer. Returning to his office, Marlowe is followed by a blond man in a coupe. Mrs. Murdock's son Leslie Murdock visits Marlowe and tries to learn why his mother hired him. Murdock reveals that he owes nightclub owner Alex Morny a large sum of money. Marlowe learns that Linda Conquest had two friends: Lois Magic and a Mr. Vannier; Magic is now married to Morny. Marlowe visits Mrs. Morny at home and finds her with Vannier, who acts suspiciously. Marlowe is again tailed by the blond in the coupe and confronts him. He is George Anson Phillips, an amateurish private detective, who wants to enlist Marlowe's help on a case he cannot handle. Marlowe agrees to meet him at his apartment later.

Marlowe visits a rare coin dealer, Mr. Morningstar, who confirms that someone tried to sell him a Brasher Doubloon. Marlowe agrees to buy it back the next day, and after leaving overhears the dealer trying to call Phillips. Marlowe keeps his appointment with Phillips but finds him dead. Police arrest the drunk next door for the murder and give Marlowe an ultimatum to reveal all he knows.

Marlowe receives an unaddressed package containing the coin. He calls Mrs. Murdock but she claims the coin has already been returned to her. Marlowe returns to the coin dealer and finds him dead. Alex Morny's henchman invites Marlowe to visit Morny at his nightclub, where Linda Conquest is singing. Morny demands to know why Marlowe visited his wife, but eventually realizes he is not Marlowe's quarry. Morny offers to hire Marlowe to investigate Vannier, giving him a suspicious receipt for dentistry chemicals that Vannier lost. Marlowe also talks to Linda and decides she is probably not involved in the theft.

Returning to the Murdocks, Marlowe is told a story he doesn’t believe: Leslie Murdock gave the coin to Morny to secure his debts, then changed his mind and retrieved it. Marlowe leaves, beginning to suspect a dark secret involving Merle, the timid family secretary, and Mrs. Murdock's first husband, Horace Bright, who died falling out of a window. The police say the drunk has confessed to the murder of Phillips, but Marlowe discovers he is covering for his landlord and is unlikely to be the real murderer.

Merle arrives at Marlowe's apartment having a nervous breakdown. She claims to have shot Vannier, although her story doesn’t make sense. Marlowe visits Vannier's home, finds him dead, and discovers a photo of a man falling from a window with a woman behind him. Morny and Magic arrive, and Marlowe hides while Morny tricks his wife into leaving her fingerprints on the gun near the body to incriminate her. After they leave Marlowe puts the dead man's prints on the gun instead.

Marlowe visits Mrs. Murdock and reveals what he has figured out: Horace Bright once tried to force himself on Merle, and she either pushed him or allowed him to fall out of a window to his death. Vannier knew and was blackmailing the family. Mrs. Murdock admits it is true and says she regrets ever hiring Marlowe. Marlowe confronts Leslie Murdock, revealing that he knew Murdock and Vannier had a plot to duplicate the coin using dental technology. They had Lois Magic hire Phillips to sell the fakes, but Phillips was frightened by the assignment and mailed the coin to Marlowe. Vannier killed Phillips and the coin dealer to cover his tracks. Leslie killed Vannier because he threatened to ruin Leslie if their scheme ever got out. Leslie confirms the plot, but Marlowe declines to turn him in. The police discover Vannier's role in the counterfeiting and the murders of Phillips and the coin dealer, but they rule his death a suicide.

Marlowe tells Merle it was Mrs. Murdock who pushed her husband out of the window and then blamed Merle for it. Marlowe drives her cross country, to the home of her parents, safely away from Mrs. Murdock. He watches her and her family as he drives away and says, "I had a funny feeling as I saw the house disappear, as though I had written a poem and it was very good and I had lost it and would never remember it again".

Created in a time when the Cold War was becoming hotter, ''Nextworld'' is Osamu Tezuka's parody of the tense relationship between the USA (represented as the 'Nation of Stars') and USSR (known in the work as the 'Uran Federation'). The main storyline focuses on atomic tests that create a race of mutant animals known as Fumoon, with psychic powers and intelligence beyond humans, who formulate a plan to evacuate hundreds of animals and a small group of people off the planet Earth. The reason for this is due to a large toxic cloud approaching the Earth, threatening to wipe out all life. Meanwhile, the two warring superpowers draw closer and closer to a confrontation.

The anime film (based on the manga) is similar, but omits characters from the manga. Another difference is that Kenichi (a character who also appears in the ''Metropolis'' manga and its anime adaptation) is a teenager in the film, whereas he is a child in the manga.

On March 10, 2003, the Japanese Self Defense Force conducts an experiment which is meant to shield military equipment from the effects of solar flares and EMPs with the use of electromagnetic shields. But something goes wrong, and all soldiers assigned to the test suddenly find themselves stranded on a battlefield in the Sengoku period (the year 1549) and under attack by a samurai army. When the first men are killed, the unit retaliates with its formidable arsenal. 74 hours later, a reverse effect occurs, and a wounded samurai warrior suddenly appears in the 21st century.

Two years later, former JSDF First Lieutenant and now world-weary restaurant owner Yusuke Kashima (Yōsuke Eguchi) is approached by Major Mori (Katsuhisa Namase) and First Lieutenant Rei Kanzaki (Kyōka Suzuki), who inform him that his lost superior, Colonel Tsuyoshi Matoba (Takeshi Kaga), is actually stranded in the past and ask for his help. All over Japan, black holes have formed which threaten to devour the present; Mori and Kanzaki are sure that Matoba is altering history. Using the same conditions as before, a second team under Mori's and Kanzaki's leadership is to be sent into the past and recover Matoba's unit; Kashima is to act as an observer and liaison to Matoba. Kashima refuses to participate, but then Linuma Shichibei (Kazuki Kitamura), the samurai who had appeared after Matoba's unit had been sent back in time, seeks him out and asks him what he is actually living for when he is not interested in saving the world. This challenge rekindles Kashima's interest, and he agrees to come along.

As the recovery team arrives, they rescue a youth by the name of Tosuke (Akiyoshi Nakao), but also come under attack by both samurai and modern weapons, and, with some help from Shichibei (whose lord, Saitō Dōsan, had allied himself with the attackers) they are quickly captured. The survivors are brought to nearby Mount Anmo, where a castle has been erected which bears somewhat improvised, but clearly anachronistic features like an oil refinery. Soon, they meet the leader of the army, Oda Nobunaga - who is actually Matoba, who has grown resentful of his own time period and intends to write Japan's history anew. Matoba has established himself as a warlord and assumed Nobunaga's identity after having killed him during one of his first battles. Now, using a battery from the magnetic shield as a kit-bashed nuclear device, he plans to make Mount Fuji erupt, thereby eradicating the Kansai region and establishing himself as supreme ''Shōgun''. He approaches Kashima with the offer to participate, but the latter firmly refuses.

In the meantime, Shichibei learns that his lord has wed his daughter, Nōhime (for whom the young samurai seems to feel more than respectful reverence) to the warlord and that the new arrivals are to be executed. While Shichibei is wracked with self-doubt about the fate of his benefactors, his own experiences in the future and the duty to his lord, Tosuke manages to sneak inside the fortress, where he comes in contact with Nōhime. When she learns of his resolve, she encourages Shichibei to follow his own heart and secretly prepares to free the prisoners.

The next morning, Kashima is to fight Shichibei for the freedom of himself and his men, but before a deadly blow can be struck, Shichibei tries to convince his lord to turn away from Matoba. Just as Saitō Dōsan orders Shichibei’s death, Tosuke uses a commandeered APC to provide the soldiers a route of escape and their weapons. They manage to snatch the majority of their equipment, but Major Mori is killed covering Kashima’s and Kanzaki’s escape, and Kanzaki herself is recaptured. With just about 21 hours left to return to their own time period, the surviving JSDF soldiers nevertheless decide to return to Anmo to stop Matoba. In the course of their planning, Kashima learns that Tosuke is actually Toyotomi Hideyoshi – a name which gives him hope for the future again. Soon, Shichibei returns to plead to his lord one final time and finally succeeds by appealing to a father’s love for his daughter, while Tosuke is sent to the emperor for an official authorization to declare Nobunaga a traitor.

The next morning, Saitō Dōsan returns to Anmo with fake news that Kashima and the remaining soldiers are headed for Kyoto to ask the emperor for assistance. Taking the bait, Matoba has the majority of his forces move out. As soon as this is done, Kashima and a group of his men, assisted by Dōsan’s samurai, conduct acts of sabotage and attack the castle guards. Kashima fights his way to Matoba, who is just about to launch the bomb, and finally manages to kill him, but the bomb is still set to explode.

As the oil refinery is destroyed, the explosion triggers an earthquake which destroys the castle. Kashima and Kanzaki are – along with the bomb – evacuated by helicopter and quickly brought to the point of entry, where Kashima hopes that the electromagnetic effects created by the time shift will cause the timer to stop. With only seconds to spare, they manage to return to their point of entry and are transported back to their own time; the time bomb is stopped and the present restored.

The village of Vileness Flats is constantly under attack by the Atomic Shopping Carts, armored carts with large drills. A bridge keeps the Carts away, but the villagers enlist the Siamese twin tag-team wrestlers, Arf and Omega, to protect them. Arf and Omega summon the immortal Indian priestess Weescoosa for assistance, who strafes the village from the sky in a fighter plane - unable to tell villager from villain as they are all so small. Arf and Omega fight off the invading Shopping Carts, and a banquet is held in their honor where the mayor thanks them. Steve, Vileness Flats' resident religious leader, gives a lengthy, boring speech. The twins heckle and throw their food at Steve, and he walks away, dejected.

Steve has his own problems. No one but his mother knows that he is actually two people – Steve, the religious leader of Vileness Flats, and Lonesome Jack, the leader of the Bell Boys and the mastermind of the meat raids. To complicate matters further, both Steve and Jack are deeply in love with Weescoosa, who has spent eternity searching for her one true love. Sadly, whenever it looks like she has found him, he dies.

The defeat of the Atomic Shopping Carts leads to another problem for Vileness Flats – the Bell Boys, a gang of midgets who live in the desert on the other side of the bridge. They disguise themselves as meat in order to cross the now-safe bridge, to steal the real meat from the village. These raids are depriving the villagers of necessary protein. The raids are causing unrest in the village and fights are breaking out, due to lack of food. The villagers ask Arf and Omega to deal with the Bell Boys, and they agree. Before they do anything, however, they head off to a local nightclub, Uncle Willy's, to relax.

The first act is The Mysterious N. Senada, performing the songs "Kamikaze Lady" and "Eloise", and the second is a performance of the Randy Newman song "Lonely At The Top" by the seductive singer Peggy Honeydew. Honeydew flirts with both twins, causing them to become jealous of each other. Honeydew is part of a plan to dispatch the twins so that Lonesome Jack and the Bell Boys will be safe to attack the village.

Steve, confused and worried about the whole mess, decides to jump into a local volcano to kill himself and thus get rid of the problems facing Vileness Flats, but his two selves end up facing off on the volcano top as most of the town of Vileness Fats, and Weescoosa, look on. At the nightclub, Arf and Omega become so enraged with each other that they become engaged in a knife fight. A closing benediction is offered by Uncle Willy, as the victorious brother drags his dead twin from the club.

In the Western Desert of World War Two, a party of British "Desert Rats" soldiers and a party of Australian soldiers are holed up in a remote building, when an ambulance of Italian "nurses" arrive.

The pilot was badly received and was never developed into a series. The pilot was directed by Roy Gould who had worked for David Croft at the BBC.

Margaret Harwood, the mousy daughter of esteemed wine merchant Sir Mason Harwood, discovers a magnum of wine, vintage 1811, bearing Napoleon's seal. Sir Mason instantly offers it to his best customer, T.T. Kelleher, who sends his friend, Oliver Plexico to retrieve it. Three other interested parties converge on the valuable rarity: a Greek billionaire, to whom Margaret's unscrupulous brother has independently sold the bottle; an amoral French scientist, who believes it contains the secret to a rejuvenation formula that he will kill to obtain; and a murderous thug, who wants to sell it himself.

The bottle changes hands several times as the parties race across Europe from the Scottish Highlands to Èze. In the end, the criminals are defeated, and Margaret and Oliver fall in love. Sir Mason offers the bottle in private auction to both the legitimate "owners", but they are outbid by Oliver, who is revealed as a multimillionaire adventurer scientist. Against advice, Oliver opens the $5 million bottle and freely shares the excellent wine.

Jimmy Grimble (Lewis McKenzie) is a 15-year-old misfit living in Manchester, where nothing seems to go his way. Jimmy is constantly threatened by the school bully, "Gorgeous" Gordon (Bobby Power); he is also not sure what to make of Johnny (Ben Miller), a lost-in-the-ozone biker who is dating Donna (Gina McKee), Jimmy's mum; and he has a crush on one of his classmates, Sara (Samia Ghadie), who seems to like him, but his powers of speech fail him when he tries to talk to her. Like most Mancunians, Jimmy loves football. He is a fervent supporter of Manchester City and attends home games with Donna's ex-boyfriend, Harry (Ray Winstone). Jimmy also loves to play football, but while Eric (Robert Carlyle), the coach of his school's team, thinks he has potential, "Gorgeous" is already a skilled player, and when Gordon's father informs the school he will make a large and much-needed donation if their team makes it to the Manchester Schools Cup final, it looks like Jimmy will be on the bench for a while. But when an old woman gives Jimmy a pair of boots that once belonged to one of City's greatest players, his skills on the field begin to change.

The film opens in 1975 at a place called Headstone Manor, which is being used as a "businessman's weekend retreat and girls' summer camp". A few minutes into the film, a group of satanic monks enter the house and kill 18 of its occupants.

In 1983, Doctor Lukas Mandeville (Kenny Everett) and Doctor Barbara Coyle (Pamela Stephenson) are sent to investigate radioactive readings in the area that have been traced to Headstone Manor, now known by locals as the House of Death. Along with several other scientists, Mandeville and Coyle set up their equipment in the house, while the Sinister Man (Vincent Price), a 700-year-old Satanic priest, prepares a rite in the nearby woods to purge the house of its unwanted guests.

During this time, Mandeville reveals that he was once a successful German surgeon named Ludwig Manheim, who was reduced to "smart-arse paranormal research crap" after a humiliation in the past. Coyle also encounters a poltergeist, and the two engage in sexual intercourse.

Several satanic clones of Mandeville, Coyle and the other scientists enter the house, and begin killing off the originals and taking their place. When Coyle is about to be killed, she is abducted by the poltergeist but also cloned. The satanic monks then take off in a spaceship, revealing that these monks are aliens using the house for their activities on Earth. The film ends with the spaceship soaring into the skies.

Set in a Medieval world made of Floating Land Masses, two men, Gwizdo and Lian-Chu, are professional dragon hunters who have known each other since they were children. Perpetually flat broke, they are forced to continually stay at the Snoring Dragon Inn until they can get another dragon-hunting contract to pay their rent. The proprietress of the inn is Jeanneline, a three-time divorcee with two daughters, one of whom is also a professional dragon hunter who doesn't see her mother much.

Eighteen years after the events of ''Gregory's Girl'', Gregory Underwood (Sinclair), now a 35-year-old English teacher in his former secondary school, has fantasies about 16-year-old student Frances (McKinnon). His politically motivated lessons inspire Frances and Douglas, another student, to plot to overthrow a businessman they suspect of trading in torture equipment.

Amphitryon and his men are transporting a Cretan criminal named Antaeus by ship. Amphitryon worships Zeus, and mocks his prisoner for worshiping Hera by scarring his arm with a lightning bolt symbol. Antaeus breaks free and jumps overboard.

Alcmene, Amphitryon's wife, is High Priestess of the Harvest Festival, a yearly ritual devoted to Hera, which involves the human sacrifice of a male. After it is discovered that the intended victim, Tiresias, is a hermaphrodite, the priestesses decide to release him, but gouge out his eyes.

On her way home, Alcmene is assaulted and raped by a large man, his face not visible in the darkness. The crime is witnessed by a lyre player, Linus, who declares the culprit to be Zeus, due to the lightning symbol on his arm. Amphitryon arrives home, comforts his wife, and makes love to her. Alcmene becomes pregnant.

Alcmene gives birth to fraternal twin sons. She believes this will make her heir to the House of Perseus in Thebes, but is informed that her uncle already had a son, Eurystheus, who will be the heir. She visits the Harpies, to determine which child belongs to Amphitryon and which belongs to Zeus. One Harpy attempts to nurse one baby, who bites her breast. The Harpies declare him Son of Zeus, name him "Hercules --glory to Hera", and order Alcmene to kill him, departing afterward.

Alcmene names the other son, Iphicles, and begs Amphitryon to kill Hercules. Her husband cannot bring himself to do it, so Alcmene sends two snakes into Hercules' crib. The baby picks them up and squeezes them to death.

As a teenager, Hercules is very headstrong, foolish, and prideful. He is constantly ridiculed and disdained by his mother, brother, and King Eurystheus. He develops an unrequited crush on Alcmene's protégé, Megara, who refuses to associate with him because she worships Hera. While being tutored by Linus, Hercules loses his temper and strikes Linus in the head, knocking him out. Everyone mistakenly believes he is dead, so they exile Hercules to the mountains. Before he leaves, Amphitryon tells him he is Son of Zeus.

Hercules lets this news go to his head, but Chiron chides him, saying that our choices define us, not our blood. One day, Hercules is invited to join his father and King Theseus in a hunt for a wild boar, Ragged-Tusk. During the hunt, he encounters the wood nymph, Deianeira, who is bathing, and steals her clothes. Linus, who had been her guest at this time, poses as his own ghost and frightens him into returning the clothing to her. After returning the clothes, Deianeira joins the hunt alongside Hercules. Ragged-Tusk gores Hercules in the thigh before Deianeira can kill the boar with her arrows.

The wood nymph brings the boy into her home and treats his injuries. He clumsily tries to kiss her, but she gives him a lesson in applying tenderness and affection instead of force and lust. Hercules confides that he had never experienced these things before. Deianeira confides that the human sacrifices and other barbaric spectacles are not Hera's will, but corruptions brought on by the people in charge of the rituals. She gives him an archery lesson. He proposes to her, but she tells him he is still in love with Megara.

He meets Megara, unaware that she is drunk and/or drugged, and has sex with her. The next day, Megara hates him more than ever, declaring that he had violated her, then declares him the father of her children. Later, he and Chiron are training, when they are attacked by Antaeus. The two are overwhelmed by the man's superhuman strength and are nearly killed, until he is driven off by passing soldiers. Hercules, realizing how deficient his talents are, finally decides to take his training seriously.

Years later, Hercules has grown into a disciplined warrior with superhuman strength. He teams up with Linus and Amphitryon to battle the Hydra, which is attacking the countryside. The monster has initially only two heads, but they discover it regrows them doubling their number every time they cut them off. However, they learn to overcome this ability by setting its neck stumpts on fire, killing it. Unfortunately, Amphitryon is killed, but not before telling his son how proud he is.

As a reward for saving the town, Hercules is given Megara to marry, but neither she nor their three sons from their earlier encounter love him. Megara, King Eurystheus (her lover), and Alcmene plot his destruction, for being Son of Zeus and technically, Hera's enemy. They drug him, then send his sons to kill him. Hercules defends himself and kills them, realizing too late who they were. In despair, he throws himself into a fire and attempts to stab himself. A lightning bolt knocks him unconscious and rain extinguishes the flames.

Deianeira treats his injuries, and makes love to him while he is still in a drugged and feverish state. They visit Tiresias, now a prophet, who declares that to atone for his sins, he must perform six labors for King Eurystheus and the now Queen Megara.

For the first labor, he must kill the Stymphalian Birds. He and Linus find them, discovering they are the same Harpies from earlier, and kill them, taking back their heads as proof. Alcmene secretly pours blood on one head to revive it, and ask it for advice on how to kill Hercules. It suggests the Nemean Lion.

Megara gives birth to a daughter, Iole, but Tiresias prophesizes that Iole's husband will kill Eurystheus, putting him on edge.

For the second labor, he must kill the lion. Hercules and Linus journey to its cave. Alone, Hercules finds a seductive, beautiful woman hiding nude in the cave, but she is revealed to be a sphinx turned into human in order to deceive him, and she transforms into her true form to attack him. Hercules kills the monster and puts on its indestructible skin as a cape.

For the third labor, he must capture the Cretan Bull. The Cretan Bull is really the leader of a gang of marauders. Hercules, Linus, Chiron, and an army led by Nestor stand against the gang. As the gang is defeated, The Bull kills Chiron. Hercules unmasks him, he is Antaeus. They battle, evenly matched, but when Antaeus boasts that his strength comes from the earth itself, Hercules knocks him into a river, rendering him helpless. Hercules brings him back to Thebes, and suggests locking him in a tower, cutting him off from the earth and keeping him too weak to break free.

Hercules and Linus return to Deianeira's home to rest. She is caring for a boy named Hyllus, and claims that he is adopted. Hercules and the boy quickly bond, and Linus deduces that he is Hercules and Deianeira's son from their earlier encounter.

Megara walks in on Iphicles and Eurystheus having a sexual encounter. Eurystheus names Iphicles his heir. In despair, she bribes Antaeus with a handful of dirt for advice on how to kill Hercules. He suggests the man-eating mares.

For the fourth labor, he must tame the man-eating mares, and give Iole the necklace belonging to their leader. He and Linus sail with Jason and the Argonauts to the island where they live. Along the way, they discover Hyllus stowed away, wanting to join them. When they arrive, they find King Theseus, who had been shipwrecked on the island and is now the lover of Queen Hippolyta of the Amazons, who live on the island too. She tells them the mares are due to arrive that night, and they must leave if they are to survive. At nightfall, the Amazons transform into the man-eating mares and attack. During this time a young girl mare when attacking rams into Jason's spear, she transforms back into a human and cries out in pain as she falls. Hercules pulls Hippolyta's necklace off, turning them back to normal. The Amazons apologize, saying they had no choice, that it was Hera's bidding, but Hercules picks up the girl who was killed by Jason asking if they really believe that bloodshed and suffering are what the goddess wants. He goes on to claim this was not the goddesses will, but was human-doing. Remembering Deianeira's words, he proclaims they have a choice in following such superstitions.

Alcmene and Megara conduct another Harvest Festival, but Alcmene discovers too late that the sacrifice is Iphicles. As Iphicles is stabbed to death as part of the ritual, Megara pulls the distraught Alcmene aside, saying that slow revenge is sweet. After the ritual, Megara approaches Alcmene, who is attempting to move Iphicles' body. Megara acknowledges that after so many years of adoration, Alcmene had turned on Megara and plotted against her with Eurytheus. Megara goes on to say that Alcmene had shaped her to be who she is, and that Alcmene is to blame for Megara's treacherous ways.

Hercules returns with the Amazons. Deianeira works up the courage to tell Hercules that Hyllus is his son, and that she loves him. As one might expect, Hercules is shocked. He immediately thinks back to the night Deianeira first made love to him, which until now he had thought to be a dream. She tells him he has a home with Hyllus and herself now, if he wants it. He accepts, and they make love.

Hercules gives Iole the necklace for a second, then destroys it to prevent its curse from ever affecting anyone again. Hercules, Theseus, and the Amazons manage to convince Thebes to abolish the Harvest Festival and other barbaric rites.

For the fifth labor, Hercules must defeat Eurystheus in contest of archery skill, the challenge being to 'bring down' the Ceryneian Hind. If Hercules loses he must perform an extra labor, but if he wins, he gets one favor. Hercules declares the favor will be the betrothal of Hyllus to Iole, securing a union of the warring families and ending the conflict between them. Deianeira warns that the Hind is sacred and to spill a drop of its blood is an offense punishable by the gods, but Hercules tells her to trust him. After the contest begins, the Hind appears with Hyllus on its back. Eurystheus shoots first, uncaring of the danger to Hyllus. Hercules deflects the shot by firing an arrow through Eurystheus', and a second through two of the Hinds legs without hitting any of its blood vessels. In his haste to win the contest, Eurystheus approaches the Hind with intent to kill it, but is stopped by Hercules. Hercules leaves judgment to Creon, who announces Hercules the winner given the task was only to bring the hind down, not kill it. Despite Hercules' victory Eurystheus dishonorably recants his public acceptance of Hercules' requested favor, wary of the prophecy.

Megara secretly releases Antaeus, plotting to do away with both Hercules and Eurystheus, then taking over.

For the sixth labor, Hercules must defeat Cerberus. Hercules and Linus row down a river into a cave, where they meet Antaeus. He points out that his strength is at its maximum, being that they are underground. Hercules nevertheless gains the upper hand and nearly drowns his opponent, but Linus finally realizes that ''he'' was the one who raped Alcmene, not Zeus. Shocked, Hercules nearly loses, but decides it doesn't matter. No matter who his father is, he will continue to be a hero. A section of the cave collapses on Antaeus, killing him. Hercules takes a medallion that Megara had given the brute.

Hercules meets with Alcmene and Tiresias at a clifftop. Tiresias grants that Hercules has completed his last labor and is no longer indebted to Eurystheus, but cautions that the conflict between the two is not resolved. After telling him that she is proud of what he is accomplishing, Alcmene hugs and kisses Hercules for the first time in his life. She says she cannot live in his new world, and then intentionally falls off the cliff to her death.

Hercules comes before Eurystheus, the gathered crowd questioning his victory in the absence of evidence of Cerberus' demise. There is no Cerberus, but since Antaeus stood in its place, he has completed the last labor. Hercules states that he never had any intention of trying to take the throne, all he wants is for Eurystheus to keep his word and grant the betrothal of Hyllus and Iole. The King refuses and orders his army to attack. The crowd sides with Hercules, as it is composed of many Hercules has helped personally and many others who view him as a hero. At the climax of the battle, Eurystheus and Hercules stand with bows aimed at each other. A guard appears, holding a knife to Hyllus' throat. Eurystheus orders Hercules to lower his bow, but Hercules counters that Eurystheus would then kill them both. As tension mounts, Hercules fires an arrow into the guard holding Hyllus and deflects an arrow from Eurystheus. Immediately after the guard falls dead, Hyllus throws a knife into Eurystheus, fulfilling the prophecy. Iole runs to Hyllus, and with his dying breath Eurystheus fires an arrow at Hyllus and Iole, intent that their union never happen. Simultaneously, Megara rushes forward to pull Iole from Hyllus, but she is struck in the back with the arrow from Eurystheus. As she dies, Hercules tells her the union of Hyllus and Iole could heal the rift between the warring clans and possibly the rift between Zeus and Hera themselves. Megara responds that their union cannot heal ''her'' wounds, which is why she's opposed to it.

In the final scene, Hercules and Deianeira get married. They kiss, then Iole and Hyllus kiss, as well.

Eighteen year-old Rick Kane has just graduated from high school. He uses his winnings from a wave tank surfing contest in his native state of Arizona to fly to Hawaii for the summer before the start of college, in order to try to become a professional surfer. He takes a plane to Honolulu with plans to stay with a surfer that he met in Arizona six months previously. He finds the friend tending bar at a seedy gentlemen's club.

At the bar Rick meets up with two pro surfers, Alex (Robbie Page) and Mark (Mark Occhilupo), and stays with them at the house of Lance Burkhart. In the morning, he goes out surfing with Alex and Mark and realizes that surfing in the ocean is totally different to surfing in a wave tank. He is not as good as he had initially thought. They end up at Sunset Beach and tries to paddle out, not knowing how to duck dive he struggles his way out to the line-up. During this scene he gets in the way of Vince Moaloka (Gerry Lopez), who is leader of a local group named "The Hui" ("The Club"). This causes Vince to wipe out and leads to a confrontation where Rick is chased off the beach, after he realizes his stuff was stolen from the beach by another member of the Hui.

With nowhere to go, he fortuitously runs into Turtle (John Philbin). Kane also meets and falls in love with Kiani (Nia Peeples), a beautiful local girl, coincidentally the cousin of Vince, who helps him acclimate to the local culture and customs. Turtle introduces him to Chandler (Gregory Harrison), a surfboard shaper and soul surfer, who teaches Rick about soul surfing and Rick masters the art of appreciating and riding the waves. During Rick's stay, Chandler is marveled at Rick's talent for art and he then designs a new graphic for Chandler.

The film's antagonist is Lance Burkhart (Laird Hamilton), a famous, top-ranked surfer whose competitive and materialistic values conflict with the spiritual teachings of Chandler ("You still have a single-fin-mentality"). The film climaxes with a surf contest on the Banzai Pipeline as Rick ends up competing against Lance in a duel of skills and beliefs. During the final round, Lance cheats by pulling on Rick's leash, causing him to wipeout. Chandler, initially hostile towards competitive surfing, is outraged, but Rick reminds him that it wasn't about winning, but going the distance.

As Rick prepares to leave for college in New York, he thanks Chandler for his friendship and lessons. While waiting for his flight, Rick is greeted by Turtle and Kiani. He shares a goodbye kiss with Kiani, and Turtle shows Rick a newspaper catching Lance in the act, who was disqualified. Rick promises to come back to the North Shore.

Jack Conrad awaits execution in a corrupt Salvadoran prison. He is "purchased" by a wealthy television producer and transported to a deserted island in the South Pacific along with nine other condemned criminals from prisons around the world. They are "offered" the opportunity to avoid capital punishment and win back their freedom with a pocket full of cash by fighting to the death in an illegal game to be filmed and broadcast live over the Internet.

A bomb is placed on the ankle of every contestant, each featuring a 30-hour countdown timer, and a pin (similar to a grenade) that will detonate the bomb after a ten-second delay. The winner will have the bomb removed and be given their freedom as well as a pocket full of cash as the prize. Ian Breckel, the producer, is aiming for online ratings that equal or beat the latest Super Bowl reception of 40 million television viewers.

As the broadcast progresses, FBI agents discover Conrad's real identity as Jack Riley after a tip from one of Conrad's former classmates. Conrad is discovered to be a former Delta Force operative who was captured on a Black ops mission to El Salvador after bombing a building controlled by drug dealers. Conrad's girlfriend Sarah becomes aware of the situation and watches the show at the local bar she works at as it unfolds.

Ewan McStarley and Saiga team up to remove the competition, while Yasantwa uses her wiles to trick others to their death. After seeing the show's broadcast tower before the show, Conrad infiltrates the tower and calls Sarah, managing to tell her the latitude of the island before he is forced to leave.

After the other seven contestants have died, Conrad is left alone against McStarley and Saiga. He stabs Saiga, and McStarley flees. Eventually, a helicopter drops a shotgun down to McStarley, who uses it to hunt down Conrad. After Conrad falls into a stream, McStarley runs into the cameraman and his armed guard dressed in ghillie suits while searching for Conrad, and shoots them, picking up the guard's MP5 submachine gun.

When McStarley and Conrad meet again, Conrad ends up rolling over a cliff and into a stream to avoid being shot by McStarley's shotgun. Conrad is presumed dead by the fall, and McStarley is declared the winner. As McStarley is being driven to the control tower to collect his prize, Breckel hears that the FBI has sent United States Navy SEALs to take him into custody. After he meets McStarley and de-activates his bomb, he tells him that he will not receive his prize money as it is revealed that Breckel has fixed the game in McStarley’s favor. McStarley takes an MP5 from one of the guards, and kills the tech team in the building, one by one, even though they truthfully did not know that Breckel was abandoning them all. When he corners Julie, Breckel's girlfriend, he is confronted by Conrad, who shoots him several times after talking briefly about McStarley's past. Conrad grabs McStarley's two machine guns and chases down Breckel, who is fleeing the island in a helicopter. After emptying the two guns firing at the helicopter, he is given McStarley's re-activated ankle bomb by Julie. Conrad throws it into the helicopter, and Breckel reaches for it; however, the helicopter explodes, and crashes into a cliff, killing Breckel and bringing his vicious game to an end.

Conrad is driven back to Sarah's home in Texas, a free man. Sarah, who presumed him dead after he fell off the cliff in his struggle against McStarley, greets him.

David (Derrel Maury), a new student at Central High, meets Mark (Andrew Stevens), an old friend whom he once helped out of a jam at their previous school. Mark tells David that the school can be like a country club for him if he befriends Bruce (Ray Underwood), Craig (Steve Bond), and Paul (Damon Douglas), the bullies who rule the school student body; Mark has become their somewhat reluctant accomplice.

Over the next few days, David witnesses Bruce, Craig, and Paul torment the other students, including the scrawny Spoony; the overweight Oscar; Arthur, the school's hearing-impaired librarian; and Rodney, who drives a rundown car that is vandalized by the bullies. After David forcibly thwarts the trio's attempt to rape two female students, Mary and Jane, in an empty classroom, the bullies approach Mark and tell him he only has one more chance to talk David into minding his own business. When this fails, the three bullies decide to take matters into their own hands. Meanwhile, David has taken a liking to Mark's girlfriend, Theresa.

One evening, David is repairing Rodney's car in his garage when the bullies appear and kick the jack out from under the vehicle. One of the wheels crushes David's left leg, crippling him.

After being discharged from hospital, David takes revenge on the trio by arranging fatal "accidents": he electrocutes Bruce by sabotaging his hang-glider to fly into a power line, tricks Craig into high-diving into an empty swimming pool, and pushes Paul's van off a cliff with Paul in it.

The school changes after the bullies' deaths. At first the students support each other, but soon the formerly tormented students become bullies themselves, and try to form alliances with David to control the school. In due course more deaths occur: Arthur is killed when his hearing-aid malfunctions, Oscar's locker explodes when he opens it, and Rodney's car blows up when he starts the engine. While camping under a cliff, Spoony, Mary, and Jane find a box of dynamite but ignore it; when they return to their tent for a threesome, an explosion causes a rockslide, killing them also.

The police blame Spoony, Mary, and Jane for the carnage, but Mark is aware that David is responsible. He tells Theresa they must prevent David from killing more people at the school dance with a bomb he has planted in the school basement. Realizing the only way to stop David is by playing on the last sympathies he has towards them, Mark and Theresa enter the gym where the dance is being held and tell David that if he really wants to kill everyone then he will have to kill them too. David rushes to the basement and retrieves the bomb, and as he tries to defuse it, he takes it outside where it explodes, killing him. To save David's reputation, Mark and Theresa agree to tell the police that Spoony, Mary, and Jane had planted the bomb, and that David had given his life to save everyone.

A junior high school basketball game between the cities of East Appleton and West Appleton ends in a tie. The two cities, both vying for a trophy known as The Mighty Apple, must determine the winner through a bowling competition. Alex Thompson and his friends, Delia, Elisa and Ken, are in West Appleton Junior High School's bowling club; they discover that Todd McLemore, a popular basketball player, is also a member of the club, as his friends Leo and Flip had signed him up as a prank.

At a bowling alley operated by Alex's father, Kevin Thompson, Todd reluctantly trains for the upcoming bowling competition with Alex and his friends. He criticizes Alex and his friends for not demonstrating a strong willingness to win, which they deem as overconfidence. Alex later attends a party with Todd, rather than train at the bowling alley with his friends, upsetting them. Todd's bowling improves, while Alex's bowling becomes worse as he continues to spend time with Todd.

The children later redecorate Kevin's bowling alley to bring in customers. Todd uses his popularity to convince various businesses to donate supplies such as paint and flashing lights for the bowling alley, where a party known as the "Bowling Ball" is held and attended by dozens of people. Delia, Elisa, and Ken leave the party early, as they feel betrayed by Alex now frequently hanging out with Todd and his friends. After the party, Alex overhears Todd's friends talking among each other and discovers that they are only pretending to be friends with Alex to increase the chances of their school winning back The Mighty Apple.

Jeff McLemore, Todd's father and the mayor of West Appleton, makes a wager with mayor Hanburger of East Appleton: the winning team, in addition to receiving The Mighty Apple, will also get to choose the name for a new school that is under construction. Hanburger hires Whipsaw McGraw, a bowling champion, to train his bowling team. From the city, the West Appleton bowling team receives low-quality team shirts for the bowling competition. The team is also told about the wager between the mayors, after which Alex quits the team out of anger.

Todd attempts to convince Alex to rejoin the bowling team, and reveals new shirts with the team's name, Alley Cats, on it. Kevin later tells Alex that he used to be friends with Jeff when they were younger, but ended their friendship after accusing the other of losing a baseball game, which they both believe resulted in the city losing The Mighty Apple. Kevin tells Alex to not let a dispute end a friendship.

Alex rejoins the bowling team for the competition the next day. At the end of the competition, Todd's bowling results in a 7-10 split, which he could never master during his training. Delia substitutes for Todd. Using her knowledge of physics, Delia rolls a spinner slowly down the lane and spares, winning the competition, to everyone's surprise. Todd tells his father that it does not seem fair for a school to be named over a game of bowling. Alex and his friends decide to compromise and name the new school Appleton Central.

In a distant future, water is so scarce and rationed that it is considered an immensely valuable substance, both as a commodity and as a currency in ice cubes. The Templars of Mithra control the water and they destroy worlds that have natural water, leaving the galaxy virtually dry. Pirates dedicate their lives to raiding ships and looting the ice from the cargo holds to make a living.

Jason is the leader of a band of pirates that raid a Templar cruiser for its ice, and discover the beautiful princess Karina in a stasis pod. He decides to kidnap her, waking her up, and alarming the Templars. Jason and his pirates flee, but are pursued by Templar ships. Jason lets some of his crew, Maida and Zeno, escape while Roscoe stays to help Jason. Both Jason and Roscoe are captured.

After their capture, they meet Killjoy on their way to become slaves but first they will be 'redesigned': castrated and lobotomized. As Roscoe and Jason are shuffled into the processing facility, Killjoy walks past in a stolen monk's habit as priests are spared "just in case". Our heroes are spared this fate, however, when Princess Karina intervenes and purchases them as her slaves, having them work as servants. That evening, they are reunited with Killjoy (disguised as a robot). Jason, Karina, Roscoe, Killjoy, Karina's servant Nanny and her robot butler Percy manage to leave the planet before the Supreme Commander arrives to arrest her.

Princess Karina hires Jason so she can find her father, who has gone missing while searching for the so-called "Seventh World": a lost, mythic planet rumored to contain vast reserves of water. The existence of such a world would threaten the Templars' water monopoly, and therefore their hold on power. The Supreme Commander of the Templars orders Zorn to pursue Princess Karina in order to locate the Seventh World for the Templars.

At some point, Jason keeps a secret that a nasty creature is hiding in their spaceship. Later, they are about to eat a turkey when the creature bursts out of it and runs away. On their next planet, Jason and Roscoe are reunited with their fellow pirates, Maida and Zeno. They proceed to locate the "lost" planet, which contains massive amounts of water and protected by a time-distortion field. The planet must be approached on a specific course or the ship will be lost in time forever. As the heroes' ship enters the distortion field, Zorn pursues and attacks them with a host of Templars and robots. This results in a climactic battle as time randomly speeds up and everyone quickly ages into extreme old age.

In the end, the day is saved by the now-adult son of Karina and Jason, the result of a romantic tryst just before entering the time distortion field. As the heroes exit the field, everyone's ages regress to what they originally were, leaving Jason and Karina with the knowledge that they will have a child together. The Templar ship has disappeared as it veered off the designated course during the attack and has now become lost in time for eternity. The crew looks on as they approach the Seventh World, which is revealed to be Earth.

A boy named Chris Page finds a box at a local antiques shop that contains an eerie shrunken head. He and his sister, Jill, inadvertently play a special series of notes on a flute and call the head magically to life. It reveals itself to be Chicopacobacowana, a 2000 yr-old tribal rainmaker deity from the jungles of the Amazon.

'Chico' had been taken from the jungle by explorers three years previously, and had been awaiting an opportunity to return to his tribe ever since - he is vital to the tribe both as protector and because he has the power to make it rain. The head had been sold to the antiques shop inadvertently, and is being sought by an antiquities dealer (Stanley Thornton) who knows it to be priceless.

Two thieves (Doug and Des) who had earlier attempted to rob the antique shop, learn of a cash reward that Thornton is offering for Chico, and they attempt to capture him. The series centres on the children's adventures as they try to help Chico and to evade Thornton and the thieves.

When Katharine (Lynn Redgrave) throws a party on Halloween, a psychic called Arnita (Tyne Daly) predicts that one of the three couples present at the party will break up by the end of the year. The guests don't take her seriously. Arnita doesn't tell them that she can see a fourth couple at the party, the long dead Mae (Samantha Mathis) and Edward (William Hurt). As days go by, Katharine grows increasingly jealous of her lover Rick (Harry Connick, Jr.), and his flirting with her neighbor Sandra (Cindy Crawford). Sandra is married to Paul (Jamey Sheridan). Marta (Monica Keena) and Billy (Dylan Bruno) are rock musicians who live in the same building as Katharine.

In college studying archaeology, Dai Sawamura deciphers the symbols of the Nazca Lines in Peru. Impressed by this feat, the recruit and train him to be Earth's third Space Sheriff. He's given the code name ''Shaider'' in memory of an ancient warrior who defeated Emperor Kubilai and brought down his Fuuma Empire 12,000 years ago. When Fuuma returns, Dai is deputized as he returns to Earth to battle Fuuma.

Circa 10,000 BC, a hunter-gatherer tribe called the Yagahl live in the Ural Mountains and survive by hunting woolly mammoths. The tribe is led by a hunter who has killed a mammoth single-handedly and earned the White Spear, and venerate Old Mother, an elderly woman with shamanistic powers. The mammoths begin to dwindle, and the village chief finds a young girl named Evolet who survived a massacre of her village, perpetrated by what Old Mother calls "four-legged demons" who will come when "the Yagahl go on their last hunt". She prophesies that whoever kills the leader of the "demons" will win both Evolet and the White Spear, becoming the next village chief. The tribe believe that the "demons" are mammoths, whose return will save them from starvation. The chief, however, does not believe the prophecy and leaves to find another way to save his people. He entrusts the White Spear, his son D'Leh, and the true purpose of his quest to his friend Tic'Tic. The rest of the tribe, including D'Leh's rival Ka'Ren, believe that D'Leh's father was a coward and fled. Over time, D'Leh and Evolet fall in love.

When the mammoths finally return, D'Leh hunts them with the men of the tribe under Tic'Tic's leadership and manages to kill one by accident, inadvertently winning both the White Spear and marriage to Evolet. The village believes Old Mother's prophecy is coming true, but D'Leh is consumed by guilt for not earning the White Spear fairly. After speaking with Tic'Tic, he gives up the White Spear, forfeiting his marriage to Evolet. The next day, horse-raiders attack the camp, enslaving Evolet and several others and killing many of the tribe. D'Leh, Tic'Tic, Ka'Ren, and young boy Baku set out to rescue their fellow Yagahl, but Evolet is recaptured with Ka'Ren and Baku during an attack on the slavers by terror birds, and Tic'Tic is wounded. While hunting, D'Leh falls into a pit, where he rescues a ''Smilodon'' before escaping himself. After Tic'Tic recovers, they make their way to a village of sedentary farmers and learn of a prophecy from the Naku, another tribe; whoever talks to a Smilodon they call the "Spear-Tooth" will help free their people. D'Leh realizes the prophecy is about him when the Smilodon he rescued arrives and refuses to kill him. They also learn that D'Leh's father was a guest of the Naku until the slavers captured him. Tic'Tic finally reveals to D'Leh that his father did not abandon the tribe. Rather he set out to save it, but let the others believe he had fled to prevent them from following him.

Several tribes form a coalition to pursue the raiders with D'Leh as their leader. They find the ships holding Evolet and their families but fail to reach them before the raiders cast off. The war party nearly dies out while journeying through a treacherous desert, but D'leh learns to use the North Star to navigate the dunes. On the other side of the desert, they discover an advanced civilization, ruled by an enigmatic god-king known as the "Almighty". Here it is discovered that the kidnapped Yagahl are used as slave labor to build a pyramid. The warlord who kidnapped Evolet tries unsuccessfully to win her love, only to be arrested by the Almighty's priests when they find he has taken her without permission. During a night scouting raid, D'Leh learns of the Almighty and the fate of his father, who perished as a slave. The party is spotted by the guards, who are killed by Tic'Tic before he succumbs to his wounds. Meanwhile, the Almighty's priests believe that Evolet is destined to kill The Almighty, based on the whip scars on her hands matching the stars they call the "Mark of the Hunter" and an ancient prophecy foreseeing their civilization's downfall. The Almighty deduces that Evolet is merely the herald of the true Hunter, which leaves him and his priests unsettled. D'Leh starts a rebellion among the slaves, killing many of the Almighty's forces, though Ka'Ren is killed.

The Almighty offers Evolet and the other hunters to D'Leh in exchange for abandoning his rebellion. D'Leh feigns acceptance but kills the Almighty with a spear, breaking his illusion of godhood. During the ensuing battle, Evolet is killed by the warlord who is then killed by D'Leh, but is restored to life when Old Mother sacrifices herself. With the Almighty dead and his civilization destroyed, the Yagahl bid farewell to the other tribes and return home with seeds given to them by the Naku to start a new life.

Neelix is aghast when a Haakonian named Dr. Ma'Bor Jetrel contacts ''Voyager'' and asks to meet him. The Haakonians fought a long, destructive war against his people, the Talaxians, fifteen years ago. Jetrel was responsible for developing the Metreon Cascade, a superweapon that killed over 300,000 people on Talax's moon Rinax, including Neelix's family. Jetrel says he has come forward to examine Talaxians like Neelix who helped evacuate survivors from Rinax, in the process exposing themselves to high concentrations of metreon isotopes that can cause a fatal blood disease, metremia. Although he considers Jetrel a monster, Neelix agrees to be examined and Jetrel informs him that he has incipient metremia. Jetrel convinces Captain Janeway to make a detour to the Talaxian system. Using the ship's transporter systems, Jetrel feels he will be able to develop a cure by retrieving samples of the Metreon cloud still surrounding Rinax.

Janeway agrees but Neelix is still bitter. He angrily condemns Jetrel for the devastation he caused, only to learn that the scientist is also paying the price — his wife left him in the wake of the attack on Rinax, his children refuse to acknowledge him, and he is in the final stages of metremia with only a few days to live. The ship's arrival at Rinax opens old wounds for Neelix. He confesses to Kes that he lied for years about being part of the Talaxian defense forces. He never reported for duty; instead, he spent the war hiding on Talax. Later, Neelix seeks out Jetrel in sickbay, only to find the Doctor deactivated and Jetrel covertly conducting experiments. Suspecting the worst of Jetrel, Neelix tries to notify Janeway but the scientist renders him unconscious.

Jetrel heads for the transporter room, where he is confronted by the Captain. Jetrel pleads with Janeway to let him conclude his work and bring back the deceased Talaxian victims of Rinax. He believes that he can use the transporter to regenerate their dissociated remains and confesses he came to ''Voyager'' as a pretext to use the ship's transporter; Neelix does not have metremia. Janeway allows Jetrel to proceed but the improbable experiment fails. The scientist collapses, knowing that he will never be able to redeem himself. Neelix pays a last visit to Jetrel and tells him that he is forgiven, allowing the Haakonian to die with some semblance of peace.

In 1851 in the Carpathian Mountains of Romania, Elvira and her maidservant Zou Zou (Mary Jo Smith), on their way to a can-can revue in Paris, get kicked out of an inn for a slight monetary discrepancy. After making their way out of the village, they are rescued by Dr. Bradley Bradley (Scott Atkinson), who takes them to stay at Castle Hellsubus, in the hills high above the village. While there, Elvira meets the residents—and discovers that she happens to resemble the deceased former wife of his Lordship the Count Vladimere Hellsubus.

The story follows an ancient feud between two frontier families that is inflamed when one of the families takes up cattle rustling.

The ranchers are led by Jean Isbel and, on the other side, Lee Jorth and his band of cattle rustlers.

In the grip of a relentless code of loyalty to their own people, they fight the war of the Tonto Basin, desperately, doggedly, to the last man, neither side seeing the futility of it until it is too late. And in this volatile environment, young Jean finds himself hopelessly in love with a girl from whom he is separated by an impassable barrier.

Set in 1988, John (Reece Dinsdale), an ambitious young police officer in the Metropolitan Police, is sent undercover along with colleagues Trevor (Richard Graham), Eddie (Perry Fenwick) and Charlie (Philip Glenister) to join a violent football firm associated with Shadwell Town Football Club. Their mission is to track down the 'generals' - the shadowy figures who orchestrate the violence. Posing as Painter and decorators John and Trevor begin frequenting the main Hooligan pub, "The Rock" at lunch times and later start visiting on match days. After becoming familiar with Linda (Saskia Reeves) the barmaid and some of the regulars they start attending matches with hooligans Martin (Sean Pertwee), Nik (Charles De'Ath) and Gumbo (Lee Ross), where during one pub crawl they get into a brawl with Arsenal fans.

As a bus of Midchester fans goes past the pub, John tells Trevor that he needs to find out where they are going and runs out of the pub, following the bus which is eventually held up in traffic. The bus is then ambushed and attacked by the Shadwell firm who have followed John from the pub. Firm leader Bob (Warren Clarke) who was initially suspicious of John, now lauds him as a hero for leading the charge against the away fans.

The hard-drinking and hard-fighting macho culture (where Saturday's match and Saturday's fight are all that matters) prove irresistible to John and he finds himself slowly becoming one of the thugs he has been sent to entrap. En route to the next game, Martin informs John of the location of the next fight between Shadwell and an opposing firm. Trevor calls ahead from a service station payphone to inform the police of the details. With the location given away, the police are on the scene and make arrests.

Martin, now heavily suspicious of John and Trevor, accuses them of being police officers. John's answers convinces Bob and Martin that they are who they say they are. Later, John pretends to be unable to read when playing on a pub quiz machine which appears to get rid of any certainty that he is a policeman. John's relationships with Marie (Claire Skinner) his wife, his superiors and even his team become strained. He begins to ignore his wife which causes an argument during which John attempts to violently have sex with her.

In the next round of the FA Cup, Shadwell are drawn away at local rivals, Wapping. Before the game, Bob convinces John and Trevor to come with them to where the home fans are in order to start a fight. Martin and Nik call them mad and the rest of the gang head off to the away end. Trevor sees one of the Shadwell hooligans with a machete, panics and leaves.

Eventually a fight occurs and the group are ejected. John is led away by several policeman but breaks free, running into the Shadwell end where he is greeted as a hero. Marie organises as a beach holiday but after an argument the pair break up and she returns to her parents' house. John, in a drunk stupor, turns up at Linda's house and the pair begin an affair.

Shadwell's next opponent is away at Tyneburn and during a stand off inside the stadium the home fans begin throwing objects, one of which a dart hits and injures Gumbo. Martin and Nik attempt to climb up over the fence separating the two fans but are pulled down by the police. Following the game, the firm chase off a group of Tyneburn fans but this leads them to a deserted market place where they are confronted by their firm who are armed with weapons. With Shadwell outnumbered other members of the gang run away leaving John and Martin who charge at the gang. It is later revealed that one of the Tyneburn fans was fatally stabbed and subsequent CCTV footage viewed by Trevor, Eddie and Charlie shows that John is responsible. Trevor however trashes the video tape to spare John of conviction.

Later back in "The Rock", Bob tells John that one of the "generals" Wynton wants a word with him. Wynton passes John a packet of drugs and tells him that he has been watching him and that he could use his skills in the criminal underworld. The following morning John returns to the investigation HQ to find out that the operation is being closed down and later back at New Scotland Yard he is told that the team are to be commended but would now have to serve several weeks of beat police duty at their respected divisions, to which Trevor pleads that if any of his targets see him and John in uniform then they would be killed. As the group are coming out of the meeting an officer from the licensing department thanks the team for their evidence and tells them that they've been able to use the information in their report to shut down The Rock. He returns to Linda's house but she attacks him for getting The Rock shut down and says she knew he was a Police Officer the first time she saw him.

John, who is now an alcoholic, attempts to reconcile with Marie but his attempts are rebuffed, which leads to a confrontation with her parents and they are forced to scare him off their property with their dogs. Returning to work as a beat policeman he has a mental breakdown when looking at himself in uniform in the locker room. He later returns home and trashes his entire house. As his addiction takes over, John is later seen emptying cocaine into his breakfast cereal as he sits in his trashed house.

The closing sequence shows a Neo Nazi march through the streets to which a shaven-headed John is taking part. Trevor, who is watching the march, approaches him to ask him what he is playing at, but is rebuffed. John says that he is, again, working undercover. There is a degree of ambiguity as he stands to attention performs a Nazi salute and chants Sieg hiel over and over again. This makes it clear that whatever the truth, John is unable to prevent himself from sinking into his character.

The Callum children spend their Easter holidays on The Broads with family friend, Mrs Barrable, who is staying on the small yacht ''Teasel'', moored near the village of Horning. There they encounter the Coot Club, a gang of local children comprising Tom Dudgeon, twin girls 'Port' and 'Starboard' (Nell and Bess Farland), and three younger boys — Joe, Bill and Pete (the "Death and Glories"). The Coot Club was formed to protect local birds and their nests from egg collectors and other disturbances. Protecting wild birds was a relatively new concept at the time.

A noisy and inconsiderate party of city-dwellers (dubbed the 'Hullabaloos' by the children) hire the motor cruiser ''Margoletta'' and threaten an important nesting site of a coot with a white feather (one of many monitored by the Coots) by mooring in front of it, and refuse to move when politely requested to do so. Despite warnings "not to mix with foreigners", Tom stealthily casts off the ''Margoletta'''s moorings to save the nest and then hides behind the ''Teasel''. He hides for fear of disgracing his father, who is the local doctor. Casting off boats is considered unthinkable on The Broads, where the local economy is so dependent on boating. Mrs Barrable does not give Tom away to the Hullabaloos and instead asks him to teach the Callums to sail.

Tom, Port, and Starboard join the crew of the ''Teasel'', and together with Mrs Barrable and her pug William, the children teach Dick and Dorothea the basics of sailing up and down the Broads. The women of the party sleep in ''Teasel'' and Tom and Dick share Tom's small sailing boat ''Titmouse''. Dick shares the Coot Club's keen interest in local bird life, and Dorothea uses the voyage as fodder for her new story, "''Outlaw Of The Broads''", based on the Hullabaloos' vow to catch Tom. They chase the crew of the ''Teasel'' all over the Broads. Through a piece of imprudence on the part of Mrs Barrable, ''Teasel'' and ''Titmouse'' are caught on a falling tide on Breydon Water and go aground, just too far apart to be able to pass things between them. William the pug is encouraged to make a heroic journey across the mud towing a thread, by which a rope is hauled across to share food, without which some of the party would have had to go unfed for 12 hours.

They are still stranded on the mud when the ''Margoletta'' arrives. There is no escape, but the Hullabaloos, in their joy at running their quarry to earth, manage to crash the ''Margoletta'' into a wooden marker post, holing her hull and putting the crew in danger of drowning. At that moment the Death and Glories appear, having rowed all the way from Horning to warn Tom of the Hullabaloos' approach. They conduct a dramatic rescue, and are rewarded by the owners of the ''Margoletta'' with a salvage award which enables them to refurbish their vessel. The Hullabaloos depart without thanking their rescuers, and Tom can return home in the knowledge that the reputation of the doctor's family is intact. It turns out that the Hullabaloos were alerted to Tom's whereabouts by George Owdon, a Horning youth who makes money by selling birds' eggs to collectors, and who therefore has no love for the Coot Club. This rivalry is the subject of the sequel, ''The Big Six''.

The story begins a few weeks after the events of ''The Moomins and the Great Flood'', as the Moomin family are settling into their new life in Moominvalley. Sniff, who is now living with the Moomins, discovers a mysterious path in a nearby forest. As he and Moomintroll explore it, they meet the mischievous Silk Monkey and arrive at a beach, where Moomintroll goes pearl-fishing. Meanwhile, Sniff and the Silk Monkey find a cave, and the three decide to hide Moomintroll's pearls there.

The next day, as they go back to the cave, they find the pearls arranged in the shape of a star with a tail. Back at Moominhouse, the Muskrat, a philosopher whose home was ruined by Moominpappa's bridge-building and who is now staying with them, explains that the pearls depict a comet. He directs Moomintroll to the Observatory on the Lonely Mountains, where the Professors would be able to tell him whether the comet will hit the Earth.

Moomintroll and Sniff set sail towards the Lonely Mountains, and on the way they meet Snufkin, who joins them. The river takes them into a cave under the mountains where they almost fall into a hole, but at the last moment a Hemulen inadvertently rescues them when he mistakes Snufkin's harmonica-playing for a rare caterpillar and reaches his butterfly net into the cave to catch it. They find themselves in the Lonely Mountains and set off towards the Observatory. On the way they are attacked by an eagle and Moomintroll finds a gold ring, which Snufkin tells him belongs to the Snork Maiden he had met a few months earlier.

At the Observatory, one of the professors tells them that the comet is going to hit the Earth, and gives them the exact date and time that it's going to happen. Realising they only have a few days left, they hurry back towards Moominvalley, noticing that the heat from the comet's approach is starting to dry up smaller streams. In a forest they come across the Snork Maiden being attacked by a poisonous bush. Moomintroll saves her, and she and her brother join them. Further on, they arrive at the sea to find it all dried up. They use stilts to cross it, and the Snork Maiden saves Moomintroll from a giant octopus.

On the other side of the sea they meet another Hemulen, and manage to survive a tornado by using his dress as a glider. Finally they arrive in Moominvalley and the whole family, together with the Hemulen, the Muskrat and the Snorks, go to the cave, making it there just in time to seek shelter from the comet. Believing the impact to have destroyed everything, they fall asleep, only to discover the next morning, to their great delight, that the comet had missed the Earth altogether and everything is back the way it used to be.

The Headsman tells a story of loyalty tested by two friends during Europe's 16th-century Inquisition. Orphans Martin (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and Georg (Peter McDonald) bond as children, but walk very different paths as adults. Georg follows his calling to join the church, while Martin becomes an army captain. When fate places Martin in the role of executioner, he must choose between friendship and fundamentalist doctrine.

Buxom Los Angeles TV horror hostess Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, quits her job after the station's new owner sexually harasses her. She plans to open an act in Las Vegas, but needs $50,000 for the project. Upon learning she is a beneficiary of her deceased great-aunt Morgana, she travels to Fallwell, Massachusetts, to claim the inheritance, which includes a mansion, a recipe book and Morgana's pet poodle, Algonquin.

In Fallwell, Elvira's worldly attitude and revealing clothes set the conservative town council against her, but theater operator Bob Redding befriends her. The town's teenagers quickly accept her, to the chagrin of their parents, who consider her a bad influence. Bowling alley owner Patty is interested in Bob, and at Elvira's late-night horror film festival at Bob's theater she succeeds in humiliating Elvira. Elvira struggles to sell the house so she can depart for Las Vegas. Meanwhile, she is unaware that her harsh but seemingly-harmless uncle Vincent Talbot is actually a warlock who is obsessed with obtaining Morgana's spellbook. He offers Elvira $50 for the book. When he visits Morgana's house to buy it from Elvira, Algonquin hides it much to Vincent's dismay. He plans to kill Elvira and conquer the world, and has been fueling the townspeople's hostility.

Elvira tries to impress Bob with a home-cooked dinner, but mistakenly uses the spellbook as a cookbook and summons a creature that attacks them. Elvira learns that the cookbook was actually her mother Divana's spellbook, and that Morgana hid her as an infant to protect her from Vincent. When Elvira tries to unleash the creature against the Morality Club at their picnic for revenge, she prepares the brew incorrectly and it instead has an aphrodisiac effect; the adults begin behaving sexually, dancing and removing their clothing while Elvira observes nearby. She is accosted by Vincent, who again offers to buy the book for a much higher price which is this time refused by Elvira. When Patty confronts Elvira, the resulting fistfight ends up humiliating Patty by revealing that her bra is stuffed.

Vincent leads the townspeople in arresting Elvira for witchcraft, which is still illegal in the state. They decide to burn her at the stake. The teenagers try to free her from jail but fail and accidentally lock themselves into a different cell. Bob tries to recover the spellbook from the mansion, but is tied up by Vincent and his goons, who take the book. Algonquin transforms into a rat and frees Bob by gnawing through his bonds. Elvira is tied to a stake and the fire is lit, but she uses Morgana's ring to summon a rainstorm which quenches the flames; she then escapes with Bob. At the mansion, Elvira and Vincent engage in a magical battle that sets fire to the house. Elvira banishes Vincent to the underworld, while the house and all of the magical artifacts are destroyed.

The next day, Elvira prepares to leave town. The townspeople apologize for their behavior, and they ask Elvira to stay. She kisses Bob but, as she is homeless, she insists that she must leave. As his sole living relative, Elvira has inherited Vincent's estate, which allows her to open her show in Las Vegas, where she performs a lavishly produced musical number.

Moomintroll, Sniff and Snufkin discover the Hobgoblin's top hat on a mountain-top, unaware of its strange powers. An egg shell discarded into the hat becomes five clouds the children ride and play with. Next day the clouds have disappeared and nobody knows where they came from. Moomintroll hides inside the hat during a game of hide-and-seek and is temporarily transformed beyond recognition.

Once they discover the magic powers of the hat and use it for a few transformations, the family resolves to get rid of it and throw it into the river. But Moomintroll and Snufkin recover it at night and hide it in the cave by the sea, where the Muskrat is spooked when his dentures transform into something mysterious and terrifying.

The Moomin Family travel to the Island of the Hattifatteners on a boat they have found, and the Moominhouse is transformed into a jungle when Moominmamma absent-mindedly drops a ball of poisonous pink perennials into the hat. At night the jungle withers, and it is used as firewood to cook the huge Mameluke that the children previously caught while fishing.

Thingumy and Bob arrive clutching a large suitcase containing the King's Ruby, which they stole from the Groke. After a court case (presided over by the Snork) the Groke agrees to exchange the ruby for the Hobgoblin's Hat.

Thingumy and Bob steal Moominmamma's handbag to use as a bed, but return it when they realise how upset she is.

The Moomins hold a party to celebrate the finding of Moominmamma's handbag, during which the Hobgoblin arrives (with a new hat) demanding the King's Ruby, but is refused by Thingumy and Bob.

To cheer himself up, the Hobgoblin grants everyone at the party a wish. Although not everyone gets exactly what they wished for, the Hobgoblin is delighted when Thingumy and Bob wish for a duplicate ruby to give him – the Queen's Ruby. (As it turns out, the Hobgoblin can grant the wishes of others, but not his own.)

After the end of the Civil War, Confederate army captain Justice Cain (Scott Brady) retires from the military. He becomes a farmer and lives a peaceful life with his son, Jody (by his deceased first wife) and his new wife, Angie (Tereza Thaw), the biracial ex-slave of Cain's former father-in-law.

Unbeknownst to Cain, a group of six soldiers previously under Cain's command (and known as "Cain's Cutthroats"), Ameson (Robert Dix), Billy-Joe (Darwin Joston), Tucker (Bruce Kimbale), Farrette (Don Epperson), Mason, and Crawford, has recently been released from a Union prison. The former Confederate soldiers have become a roving band of homicidal highway robbers, and their ultimate goal is to re-form a squadron led by Cain and renew attacks upon Union targets.

The men find Cain and tell him of their plans, but when Cain refuses to join them, tells them that the "Old South" is dead, and derides their unrealistic plan to attack the north, they become enraged, attack him, and tie him up. Ameson, the leader of the group, rapes Angie while Cain watches helplessly. Billy-Joe, the most deranged and volatile of the men, attempts to rape her afterwards, but she fights him off. Fuming about what he perceives as Angie's sexual "rejection" of him, Billy-Joe kills her. Cain then screams insults at Billy-Joe, who shoots both Cain and Jody, killing the little boy instantly.

Realizing that Billy-Joe's uncontrollable rage has set them on the path of no return, the men attempt to cover their tracks by burning down Cain's farm, but they leave unaware that Cain is still alive.

With the help of Preacher Simms (John Carradine), a bible-quoting bounty hunter, and Rita (Adair Jameson), a former prostitute (and Tucker's ex-girlfriend), Cain systematically tracks down and kills the men. However, Cain becomes increasingly sadistic with each killing, and Simms begins to question whether Cain is more interested in achieving justice or indulging his own bloodlust. After killing most of the men, Cain finds Billy-Joe and shoots him in the crotch several times, so that he dies a slow, excruciatingly painful death. This disgusts Simms and Rita, and they abandon Cain.

Cain then sets out alone to kill Ameson, the last surviving member of the gang. However, Ameson is captured by Union soldiers and executed by firing squad before Cain can reach him. Cain, now alone in the world and robbed of the satisfaction of killing the man who raped his wife, sinks to the ground and weeps in despair.

A nearby volcano causes a massive wave to flood Moominvalley. While escaping the flood the Moomin family and their friends find a building floating past, and take up residence there. They believe it is a deserted house until they realise someone else lives there, Emma, who explains that it is not a house but a theatre. The moomins start to understand about the scenery, props, and costumes they have found. The theatre drifts aground and Moomintroll and the Snorkmaiden decide to go and sleep in a tree. When they wake next morning the theatre has floated away again and they are alone. Meanwhile, Little My accidentally falls overboard, and by some strange coincidence is rescued by Moomintroll's adventurous friend Snufkin who is setting off to seek revenge on a grumpy Park Keeper. He tears down all the "Do not walk on the grass" notices, fills the lawns with electric Hattifatteners and sets free twenty-four small woodies who immediately adopt him as their father. The coincidences continue as Moonmintroll and the Snorkmaiden meet Emma's deceased husband's niece, the Fillyjonk, and all three get arrested burning the signs that Snufkin tore up. Meanwhile, in the theatre, Emma helps Moominpappa write a play and the family decide to stage it. The woodies find a playbill for the play and cajole Snufkin into taking them to the theatre. The Hemulen who has arrested Fillyjonk, Moomintroll, and the Snork Maiden also finds a playbill and leaves his cousin to guard the prisoners while he heads off to see the play. The cousin is persuaded of their innocence and lets them out to go to the play too, where everyone is reunited and ends up on stage, the play itself collapsing into a big reunion party. When the floods recede everyone gets to go home.

The film begins with the alien abduction on Scalleum, a remote island off the coast of Wales, of Cat Williams and her boyfriend. Cat's boyfriend is gorily killed through brutal anal probing, and Cat is (also gorily) implanted with an alien fetus. Cat's story attracts the attention of Michelle "Foxy" Fox (Emily Booth), the bosomy host of the cable TV show ''Weird Worlde'', who brings a film crew to the island — her cameraman boyfriend Ricky (Sam Butler); Jack the sound man; nerdy UFO expert Gavin Gorman; and actors Bruce Barton and Candy Vixen (the latter, Foxy's producer assures her, "because she's good, not because she's my girlfriend").

The island is accessible via a narrow causeway only at low tide. The ''Weird Worlde'' crew sets out in their van, but it is dark by the time they reach the Williams family's creepy farmhouse, where they meet Cat and her three hulking and sadistic brothers (who speak only Welsh with English subtitles). The crew (with the exception of Gavin Gorman) initially assume that Cat's story is a hoax, and even go so far as to make a crop circle in a nearby field so they can film it for the show, to Gorman's great disgust. However, it soon turns out that the aliens are all too real and rather malevolent.

The film crew teams up with the Welsh Williams brothers to fight off the aliens, with a great deal of blood and gore. One highlight features Ricky running down some aliens in a combine harvester, to the tune of "Combine Harvester (Brand New Key)" by The Wurzels.

Eventually, the alien child inside Cat claws its way out; on board the alien ship, Foxy is impregnated with another alien fetus while Gavin loses his virginity to a shapely female alien; Bruce, Candy, and the Welsh brothers meet various horrible demises; Ricky blows up himself and four alien pursuers in a tank of liquid manure; back at the house, the female alien rips Foxy in half; and finally Gavin manages to use his laptop (in a sequence reminiscent of ''Independence Day'') to overload the ley lines of the nearby stone circle. As Cat's alien child rips his arms off, Gavin manages to press the space bar with his nose, sending the stones shooting into the underside of the alien craft, which crashes into a convenient mountain. Jack the sound man, meanwhile, having been blinded by alien ichor early in the film, swims across the channel to the mainland, only to discover that he's lost the videotape that was the only proof of their extraterrestrial encounter.

The film ends with a clip from an alien talk show reminiscent of ''Jerry Springer'' (and subtitled in English), on which Gavin's female alien is trying to explain how her entire crew was killed by humans and she herself carries the love child of one of those humans. The audience roars with laughter, and the host cuts her mike.

The world is controlled by the US/UN, a sort of semi-benign meta-dictatorship which does not rule directly but enforces a series of basic laws on a vast number of microstates, many of which are in a near-constant state of low-intensity warfare. Among the laws enforced on them is a prohibition on certain directions of research, such as intelligence augmentation or artificial intelligence. Precisely what is prohibited is of course secret, and as violation of the prohibitions will result in the swift and efficient death of everyone directly involved, scientific research is a dangerous proposition at best.

The main characters (a Trotskyist mercenary, a libertarian teenager from a fundamentalist microstate, and an idealistic scientist) find themselves caught up at the centre of a global revolution against the US/UN. The revolution was planned and partially automated by financial software, and it was set to break out after a certain set of conditions are met.

The stakes are raised at the end of the book, when it is revealed that the autonomous financial software has evolved into an intelligent form, which might cause the paranoid US/UN to make a "clean break" with Earth, knocking the planet back to the Stone Age with the orbital defence lasers.

One rainy night in Santa Barbara, California, Richard Bone's car breaks down on a side road. He sees a large car draw up a little way behind him. A man throws something into a garbage can. At first, Bone thinks nothing of it and proceeds to meet his friend, Vietnam veteran Alex Cutter. The following day, a young girl who has been brutally murdered is found in the garbage can, and Bone becomes a suspect.

When Bone sees who he thinks is the same man in the Santa Barbara "Founder's Day Parade" local tycoon J.J. Cord Cutter begins to take an interest in the case. His interest soon becomes a conspiracy theory that develops into an investigation with his skeptical friend and the dead girl's sister, along for the ride. After Cutter attempts to blackmail Cord as a way of making Cord incriminate himself, Cutter's house mysteriously burns down with his wife, Mo, inside.

Convinced that Cord had been trying to silence Bone, Cutter begins researching Cord. He steals an invitation to a party at Cord's house and gets Bone to drive him. When Cutter tells Bone he plans to kill Cord, Bone attempts to leave the party but is blocked by other parked cars and instead goes after Cutter to convince him not to kill Cord. After being chased by security, Bone winds up in Cord's office. After a brief conversation in which Cord assumes that Cutter's war experience has made him paranoid, Cutter suddenly crashes through the window after stealing one of Cord's horses. As Cutter is dying from injuries from the broken glass, Bone asserts that Cord killed the girl. Cord states "What if it were?" Bone steadies Cutter's gun in Cutter's hand and fires the pistol as the film cuts to black.

Steve Morgan (Tierney) is a charming sociopath who has just robbed and killed a cinema cashier. Seeking to escape, he hitches a ride to Los Angeles with unsuspecting Jimmy 'Fergie' Ferguson (North). Part way the pair stops at a gas station and pick up two women. Encountering a roadblock, Morgan persuades the party to spend the night at an unoccupied beach house. The police close in as one by one Morgan begins killing the threesome.

A struggling talent agent and huckster Sammy Kamin travels to Romania on business after splitting up with his wife. After his young client fires him, Sammy crashes his car and is rescued, while unconscious, by an enormous Romanian man named Max who is close to 8 feet tall.

Sammy thinks the rescuer is God, as he can only see Max's giant hands. When Sammy wakes up, he thinks he is in Heaven. But he is confused to find a statue of Jesus next to his bed, as he was raised Jewish. He then realizes Max has brought him to a monastery, where he was raised after being given up for adoption by his parents because of his height.

Once he wakes up and interacts with Max, he sees potential stardom in him. Sammy attempts to broker his introduction into the movies. In doing so, he exploits Max' desire to visit a long-lost paramour, Lilliana, in Gallup, New Mexico. First, Max obtains the role of a villain in a movie, but he is so drunk that he vomits on the protagonist (Sammy's former client). However, the scene is included in the movie.

One day, Sammy talks to Steven Seagal about including Max as a villain in one of his movies, convincing him that he needs a different kind of villain. At first Seagal rejects him because there was another actor who would take that role, but he changes his opinion after listening to an extract of a Shakespearean play done by Max.

Suddenly, after some medical exams, Max is diagnosed with heart disease which cannot be treated with a transplant because his heart is so big. Sammy decides to find Lilliana, and tries to convince her to meet Max again, but she rejects the invitation. Sammy then convinces his wife to take the role of Lilliana and after some words, Max asks her for a kiss.

Afterwards, Sammy and his wife decide to get back together again, after realizing that they were truly in love and that their son needed them.

Sam got Max a three picture deal and tv series deal, but they left the business out on top. Sammy eventually decides to return Max home to Romania. Max refuses to go back, but finally he enters his old house, and meets his parents again and reconcile with him. Max died after a year or two. Sammy ends up watching Max's first filmed scene in a cinema with his family. Max dies shortly after, because of his heart, but he changed many people's lives forever.

''Metal Warriors'' takes place in the year 2102, where the United Earth Government is under siege from the Dark Axis military force led by the dictator Venkar Amon, who has waged a war against them for three years on Earth, however the titular freedom-fighting group equipped with robotic combat suits are the few remaining people defending the planet. Assuming the role of lieutenant Stone, players control him through a variety of missions that initially are set in space and completing objectives such as rescuing agent Marissa from Axis 5 and capturing both an enemy supply ship and a heavily guarded asteroid base in order to obtain vital resources for the group, with the latter proving to be successful enough to promote Stone from lieutenant to captain of his crew. However their recent success quickly attracts the attention of the Axis army, who engage in attacking the group's main ship with threatening enemy fire that Stone and his crew must defend with the stolen Prometheus units.

After the recent event, the group is tasked with disabling an anti-spacecraft cannon located in Alaska to ensure safe landing for air operations that would eventually lead to the removal of Axis forces on Earth. After stealing the experimental flying Drache machine from a jungle facility on Chile, fighting through the bombed-out Dorado city, capturing subterranean mining Axis installations and obtaining a command key from an enemy communication tower, the group finally reaches the Axis command center where a super weapon is rumored to be in construction, with Stone and his crew leading the final assault. Once Stone reaches the depths of the center, he confronts Venkar Amon and defeats his super weapon in a battle between fully mobile flying armored suits, however Amon tries to escape with a hijacked Nitro suit but he dies incinerated alongside the base. Stone safely escapes from the explosion but his Nitro suit is wrecked after landing on the ground, marking an end for both Dark Axis and the war.

dancing in ''Hana and Alice'' When Alice develops a crush on a stranger at the train station, she offers her best friend, Hana, the stranger's "half brother," Masashi. Hana declines, but after watching Masashi from a distance, she develops feelings for him. She stalks him by travelling on his regular train throughout the winter.

During the spring, Hana and Alice enrol at Masashi's high school. Hana learns that Masashi is a member of the story-telling club, which prompts her to join as a member. As she continues to track him secretly, she witnesses him crash into a garage door, which leaves him unconscious. As he awakes, he finds Hana leaning over him. She reveals that a blow to Masashi's head has given him a case of amnesia and that she is his girlfriend. Hana and Masashi soon hang out as a couple while she continues deceiving him about their relationship. Alice becomes involved with Hana's lies by pretending she is Masashi's ex-girlfriend. Alice in the meanwhile gets scouted for a modelling job and succeeds in getting in. She also tries to reconnect with her father.

Through a series of events, a love triangle unexpectedly develops between Hana, Alice and Masashi, when Masashi falls in love with Alice who he still believes, is his ex. Masashi eventually learns Hana's lie about his amnesia and reacts accordingly, which tests Hana and Alice's friendship. Alice proceeds to audition for a modelling job for the front page of a magazine cover. To prove her worth she performs a ballet routine that impresses the casting director. The final shot involves Hana and Alice giggling at Alice's front cover photo.

The story takes place just after the fictional disappearance of Richard Dutcher, famous for beginning the current Mormon cinema phase with his work ''God's Army''. After Dutcher's disappearance the film follows the journeys of three amateur filmmakers who are eager to take his place as the first "Mormon Steven Spielberg". One of these filmmakers doesn't want to see Dutcher found.

Professor Frankenstein (Whit Bissell), a guest lecturer from England, talks Dr. Karlton (Robert Burton) into becoming an unwilling accomplice in his secret plan to actually assemble a human being from the parts of different cadavers. After recovering a body from a catastrophic automobile wreck, Professor Frankenstein takes the body to his laboratory/morgue, where he keeps spare parts of human beings in various drawers. The professor also enlists the aid of Margaret (Phyllis Coates), as his secretary, to keep all callers away from the laboratory.

Margaret, becoming suspicious of what is going on, decides to investigate and goes down to the morgue. She is panic-stricken by the monster (Gary Conway), who has been activated following the grafting of a new leg and arm. She dares not tell the professor about her discovery and keeps silent for the present.

One night, the monster leaves the laboratory. He peers into a girl's apartment. The girl becomes hysterical and starts screaming; in his attempt to silence her, he kills her in panic and flees. The next morning, the hunt for the murderer is on. Margaret, angry at the professor, tells him that she knows that the monster is responsible for the murder. The professor, taking no chances, has the monster kill her and feeds her remains to his pet alligator. Dr. Karlton, sent out of town, knows nothing about this.

The professor accompanies the monster to a lover's lane, where he kills a teenage boy in order to obtain his face. The boy's face is successfully grafted onto the monster. Professor Frankenstein tells Dr. Karlton of his plans to dismember his creation and ship him in various boxes to England and then return there to put him together again. When they strap the monster down again, he becomes suspicious and tears loose. He throws Professor Frankenstein into the alligator pit while Dr. Karlton runs for help.

When Dr. Karlton arrives with the police, the monster, maddened with fright, backs into the electrical dial board. Contact with his iron wrist bands electrocutes him and he falls to the ground, dead. Karlton tells the police that he will never forget the way the monster's face looked after the accident.

Leiningen, the owner of a plantation in the Brazilian rainforest, is warned by the district commissioner that a swarm of ferocious and organised soldier ants is approaching and that he must flee. Unlike his neighbours, Leiningen is not about to give up years of hard work and planning to "an act of God", as he believes in the superiority of the human brain and has already made preparations. He convinces his workers to stay and fight with him.

When the ants reach his estate, Leiningen seals it by filling a moat that surrounds it on four sides, the fourth being a river. The ants attempt to cross over by covering the waters with tree leaves, but he thwarts them repeatedly by emptying then flooding the moat. Eventually, the ants breach that line of defence and the men retreat behind a second moat, this time filled with petrol. Leiningen is able to incinerate several waves of attack, but runs out of petrol when the pumps malfunction.

After days of hard fighting, the ants breach the last defenses, and all seems lost. However, Leiningen realizes that his original principle of canals and damming can be put to use: if he dams the main river itself, the whole plantation will flood, drowning all the ants. He and his men can take refuge in the heights of the manor house on a hill. However, this plan requires reaching the dam, long overrun by the ants.

Leiningen puts on a makeshift protective suit, douses himself with petrol, picks up two spray cans of petrol and runs for the dam — through the ants. He reaches the dam controls and floods the plantation; this means the destruction of his year's crop, but it will save his men, preserve the contents of his granaries and destroy the menace of the ants. The climax of the story occurs on the return journey when he is knocked down by the ants and almost devoured. Thinking about a stag he had seen the ants devour to the bones, he forces himself to get up. Despite suffering horrible injuries, including ant bites to the inside of his nose and directly below his eyes, Leiningen continues running, reaches the concrete ditch with the blazing petrol and survives. At the story's end, Leiningen awakes while recovering from his injuries; his final words before going to sleep are: "I told you I would come back, even if I am a bit streamlined."

Karla Zachanassian, a fabulously wealthy woman, returns to a decaying village that she had been forced to desert years earlier in disgrace. She bore a child by Serge Miller, who denied paternity. The purpose of Karla's visit is to arrange a deal with the town's inhabitants: in exchange for a vast sum of money, she wants Miller killed.

At first reluctant, the townspeople eventually accept the arrangement and Miller is condemned to death. At the last moment, Karla stops the execution and tells the citizens that they will have to live with the guilt of their murderous choice for the rest of their lives, while Miller will have to live with the knowledge that his friends and neighbors were willing to kill him for money.

Retired Spetsnaz soldier Nikolai "Nick" Cherenko (Dolph Lundgren) is a mechanic in the small Russian village of Gorelovo. His wife, Alina (Hilda van der Meulen), and son, Vanya (Naum Shopov) are killed by Russian mob boss Aleksandr "Sasha" Popov (Ivan Petrushinov) when he and his gang start a shootout after a bad drug deal. Nick arms himself and takes his revenge one night, killing five of Popov's men. Finally he shoots Popov in the face, leaving him for dead.

7 years later, Nick works as a mechanic in Los Angeles. Wealthy widow Mary Abramoff (Levana Finkelstein) tracks him down and pleads with him to go to Russia and retrieve her daughter Julia (Olivia Lee), who has been kidnapped and forced into the sex trade. Nick refuses, claiming he is just a mechanic. John Ridley (Atanas Srebrev), Mary's attorney reveals that they know his past, but he continues to refuse. Finally he is convinced when Mary reveals that the man who killed her husband and took her daughter is Sasha, still alive, and Nick sets off to St. Petersburg, Russia.

British mercenary William Burton (Ben Cross) offers to take a prostitute, Natalia, away with him after "a job," but she refuses. He stumbles, drunk, into his apartment, where he is confronted by Nick. After sobering him up, Nick takes him to the club where Sasha hides out. Nick immediately attacks the guards and demands to see Sasha despite Burton's insistence they play it cool. Burton pulls him away and says they will return the next night; Burton fears Nick has compromised their mission.

The following night, Natalia lets Nick, Burton and a group of Russian mercenaries (Yuri, Sergei, Alexi, and Pavel) into the club. They find Julia, strung out, and escape the club in a shootout where only 2 of the Russian mercenaries, Yuri (Asen Blatechki), and Sergei (Antony Argirov) survive; Sergei has been badly wounded in the leg. They begin driving to the Finnish border and Sasha's thugs give chase. Nick buys them time by luring the thugs into a tunnel, changing cars and setting off a bomb.

The group stop at a farm house to tend to Sergei then proceed to the border which has closed for the night; they stay with their contact, Misha, one of Nick's former Spetsnaz soldiers. Sasha stops at the farm house and determines Nick is headed for the border and he continues to chase them. The next morning, Sergei dies of his injuries, and Sasha arrives and Nick's group (Burton, Yuri, and Misha) prepares for a fight. Sasha tries to lure Burton out by bringing Natalia, whom he kills, angering Burton. Nick and his group split up and begin picking off Sasha's men. Finally, Nick confronts Sasha, who grabs Julia. She scratches his face to distract him and Nick shoots his leg; he crawls away but Nick executes him with a shot to the head.

Burton and Yuri accompany Julia across the border to Finland where she is reunited with her mother. Nick walks away from the village to Saint Petersburg, his path unknown.

The series is set in a world populated only by anthropomorphic bears and primarily centers around the Berenstain Bears. The Berenstain Bears are a family residing in the rural community of Bear Country consisting of Mama Bear, Papa Q. Bear, Brother Bear, and Sister Bear. The series teaches lessons, continues from the TV specials, and expands Bear Country as well as character development. Each episode follows the struggles of the family, mainly the cubs. Other episodes involve "The Bear Detectives and their sniffer hound Snuff", Papa Q. Bear's attempts of honey gathering, interaction with forest creatures, and attempts by villains to take over Bear Country. It states that Brother Bear is in 2nd Grade then in 3rd Grade while Sister Bear is in kindergarten then in 1st Grade. The characters and setting are from various books written by Stan & Jan Berenstain as well as from several television specials by Joe Cates. Other characters are Actual Factual, Big Paw, Mayor Horace J. Honeypot, Farmer Ben, and Grizzly Gramps & Gran. Characters also introduced are Officer Marguerete, Queen Nectar, and Jake. Queen Nectar and Jake are not bears but they do talk and interact with the humanoid bears. Sister Bear plays with many of the forest animals such as Frog & Butterfly. There are many other background characters that live in the nearby forest land; The bears live among the forest and nature just as they did in the television specials. The main antagonists of the series are the swindler Raffish Ralph and occasionally Weasel McGreed, seen in six episodes. To a lesser extent, Too Tall Grizzly is another antagonist, again serving as the school bully.

Kyle LeBlanc is an American working overseas in Magnitogorsk, Russia. When he hears his wife being attacked over the phone, Kyle rushes home, but is too late to save her. Sergio Kovic, the man who raped and murdered his wife, buys the judge and is found not guilty due to lack of evidence. Enraged by the injustice, Kyle steals a gun from a Bailiff and shoots Sergio multiple times in front of the entire court house, killing him. For this, he is sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He is taken to Kravavi Prison, which is run by the corrupt warden, General Hruschov. Once he arrives, he is beaten by a guard for hesitating to give up his wedding ring. The same night, he witnesses a fellow 21-year-old American inmate named Billy Cooper being taken to another cell by the guards to be raped by prison fighter and member of the Russian Mafia, Andrei.

The next morning, a beaten and traumatized Billy is taken to infirmary by the guards as Andrei leaves the cell. Kyle gets into a brawl with Andrei, who provoked him in a way similar to his wife's murderer, and is put in solitary confinement. In solitary, he goes on a hunger strike and then tries to hang himself to commit suicide, but both fail. When he experiences flashbacks of his wife, he realizes he must survive. Eventually, he is transferred to a cell with Inmate 451, an African-American prisoner with a reputation for killing his cellmates, something the sadistic Chief of the guards Lieutenant Tolik believes he will do to Kyle. However, over time, they begin to trust one another. He soon meets Billy in the prison yard, who explains he is serving a year-and-a-half sentence for driving whilst intoxicated and crashing into a restaurant with a girl he met. He also meets Malakai, another American prisoner bound to a wheelchair who explains the politics of the prison and the gangs within it, including the Russian Mafia's alliance with the guards.

The corrupt General Hruschov, who runs the prison, gambles by betting on fights between rival gangs. Kyle, who is constantly bullied by Andrei and his goons, begins training himself for these fights, but his motivation concerns 451. In his first match, Kyle faces Andrei and (despite the Russian fighter's experience) manages to win by savagely biting a large chunk out of Andrei's neck, killing him in agony. He immediately suffers a mental breakdown while covered in Andrei's blood as the prisoners and guards watch in horror. Throughout his time, he continuously fights other prisoners and begins to accept his sentence, becoming hardened by his environment and losing himself while also gaining respect. He denies any help from his brother-in-law or the American embassy, feeling that nothing will change, and loses hope of ever being released. At one point, 451 asks him: "Do you even know who you are?" to which 451 answers himself: "Probably not." Meanwhile, Billy, fed up with the physical and sexual abuse he is subjected to, attempts multiple times to escape the prison, first by running during outside work detail, and again by sneaking off during the Russian Independence Day celebrations; the latter fails as he is betrayed by Malakai, who informs the guards because his need of special medicine and treatment. 451 discovers his betrayal and, in retaliation, sets him alight after pouring flammable fluid on him. As he watches Malakai burn to death, he recalls memories of being abused and molested as a child by a teacher and then setting the said teacher on fire.

After being locked in a cell with prison fighter Valya overnight to be raped, Billy is beaten to within an inch of his life after he spits in Valya's face. Billy eventually succumbs to his injuries, but before he dies, he advises Kyle not to let the prison, guards, or inmates make him into something he's not. With this advice, Kyle now knows he must fight another battle for his inner peace, as it is the only way he can become the man he once was. He refuses to fight Valya in his next match, and as a result, is hung by his arms outside for all to see. However, seeing Kyle's courage and his ability to stay strong during his long punishment, the prison gangs decide to put aside their rivalries and unite, following suit by refusing to fight when Hruschov commands it. Kyle is released soon from his restraints and sent to the infirmary. During his recovery, he dreams of his wife who tells him that nobody's ever gone as long as there is someone to remember them.

Sometime after Kyle has recovered, he is taken to his cellblock, where he is confronted by Hruschov, who is frustrated by his authority being challenged. He informs Kyle he only wants one last fight and forces him to face Miloc, a gargantuan prisoner kept separate from the general population whom Kyle kept hearing through the walls from his time in solitary confinement. During the fight, Kyle knocks on a door repeatedly, making Miloc recognize him, as this was his only form of communication, and he embraces him as a friend. A guard orders them to continue at gunpoint. Kyle demands the guards kill him instead, stating he will not fight anymore. Witnessing this, the prisoners begin to protest, resulting in Kyle and Miloc turning the tables on the guards and freeing the prisoners from their cells, igniting a full-scale riot. Miloc is fatally shot protecting Kyle, who comforts him as he succumbs to his wounds.

Soon, 451 agrees to assist Kyle in escaping from the prison. He also gives Kyle documents that contain evidence of all the murders and corruption that has happened in the prison for over 20 years, which he has planned to expose to the US government. While the guards get the prisoners under control following the riot, 451 shows Kyle a secret passage to the prison garage for their next move. It will, though, require Kyle to fight one more time to gain access, facing Valya. During the fight, Kyle gains the upper hand and dislocates Valya's shoulder. An enraged Valya pulls a knife and attempts to stab him only to accidentally stab the leader of the Russian Mafia, killing him. Kyle then use this opportunity to finish the fight smash Valya's head into a pole, stating it as retribution for Billy's death. Kyle is then escorted away by the guards to be killed, knowing he's now a major liability. As Kyle is taken to the garage, 451 launches an attack and kills one of them, while Kyle holds the other at gunpoint and pins him underneath a car. After taking the key to free himself, as well as retrieving his wedding ring, Kyle takes one of the guards' uniforms to disguise himself and drives off in one of their cars, while 451 stays behind to assassinate General Hruschov for his misdeeds. As Kyle successfully manages to escape, 451 successfully kills the General by ripping his tongue out with pliers; he is last seen being escorted away by the guards, with his final fate left unknown. Kyle manages to return to the United States and expose Kravavi's corruption and, three months later, the prison is shut down.

The main character Gus experiences vivid dreams during his narcoleptic episodes, which inspire him to create comic book style art of extremely high quality. When Samuel Pupkin, the psychiatrist who runs a group attended by Gus, learns of this, he recalls his own desire to be a comic book artist, instead of following the family tradition of psychiatry, a dream prevented by his lack of artistic talent. Motivated by greed, jealousy, and desire for fame he hatches a plot, involving figure skating assassins, to steal Gus's work and pass it off as his own. The attempt on Gus's life fails but he ends up in a coma. Pupkin pays Gus's wife and best friend (who have begun an affair) for the art and sells it to a failed-comedian turned successful publisher, who in turn plans to erase the text and replace it with his own, and in this way have his genius for comedy finally recognized.

When Gus awakens from his coma, he reports to the police that someone is trying to kill him, but as he can think of no reason why, the police dismiss his claims. He then discovers that he is no longer narcoleptic, but finds it convenient to pretend he still is. In this way he discovers the affair of his wife and best friend, and through further investigation the theft of his work. The publisher angry that because of the Pupkin's deception, Gus could cause problems for them, demands that Pupkin solve it. Pupkin once more sends the assassins after Gus, but Gus's best friend, after wrestling with his conscience, talks them out of killing him. The police now believe his story and investigate the publisher who goes to jail, where he finally finds success as a comedian, performing for the other inmates. Pupkin goes insane and is confined to a hospital. Gus reconciles with his wife and finally gets a job.

In a minor role, Jean-Claude Van Damme appears as an imagined version of himself, when one character who idolises him as the ultimate 'Karate man', imagines a conversation where he acts as that character's conscience.

Milo Powell is an ordinary young Japanese-Canadian boy, living in Halverston-in-Area (a fictional neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario), until a kid is in trouble. Any time a kid yells "Uh-oh! Flamingo!", Milo transforms into Captain Flamingo, whose mission is to help little kids who need assistance. Captain Flamingo is aided in his missions by his best friend Lizbeth Amanda Zaragoza, who apparently has a not-so-secret crush on him. CF also has a little brother named Thor.

Quite often, when called upon to carry out a mission, Captain Flamingo is busily engaged with something else, a personal goal or problem (such as waiting in line to buy an ice cream before the truck leaves or runs out of ice cream, but someone calls to him, needing his help); like a true hero, he must, and usually does, put aside his own needs to help others (although, quite often, his actions in successfully aiding the person in distress lead to a successful outcome for his personal goals). Captain Flamingo seldom successfully solves a problem on his first try; in fact, it is not uncommon for his initial attempts to make things worse. In trying to solve the simple problems of other little kids he encounters (such as, say, a lost pencil or a missing sock), Captain Flamingo often gets into tight spots. He has, in various episodes, gotten trapped in a bubble with a full bladder, gone underwater to battle an eel, and has gotten trapped in a deadly matrix of bouncing superballs. Despite this, he never gives up and meets every failure or setback with a new attempt. He eventually gets out of these situations by using his "Bird Brain"; this can be his own instincts, but it usually is Lizbeth. A random thought he speaks aloud might be picked up on by Lizbeth and elaborated into an actual, detailed plan (which Lizbeth will assume was what Captain Flamingo planned to do all along), or he can assume that a suggestion spoken aloud by Lizbeth is his "Bird Brain" speaking to him (although he usually misinterprets her suggestion; however, his misinterpretation usually works). In the end, Captain Flamingo always seems to stumble upon a solution either through Lizbeth's cleverness, persistent refusal to give up, and constantly trying new novelty items and plans until he succeeds, or sheer luck (or, quite often, some combination of the three).

Zebulon Macahan is a well-known mountain man and scout working for the U.S. Army in the Indian Territories. The pilot movie shows Zeb not having seen his family for ten years and with the Civil War approaching, deciding to visit them in Manassas, Virginia. As war comes too close to home, Zeb's sister-in-law, Kate, convinces her husband, Zeb's brother Tim, to move their two sons, Seth and Jed (renamed Luke and Josh in the remaining episodes) and two daughters (Jessie and Laura) out west.

There the family learns that the first battle of the war is likely to occur at Bull Run, near Zeb and Tim's parents' home. Tim returns to Virginia while the family winters in the Indian Territories. Zeb learns that a friend has been murdered by Dutton, who escaped from an Army Guardhouse he was in for murdering innocent Indians. Knowing that Dutton swore vengeance on him and fearing for his family, Zeb attempts to intercept Dutton before he can reach the Macahan homestead. Luke heads east to look for his father and grandparents but gets home, only to find his grandparents were killed by artillery fire that struck their home during the First Battle of Bull Run. He learns that his father was conscripted into a unit of the Union Army heading for Tennessee to the Battle of Shiloh. Luke is also conscripted at Shiloh but is wounded and taken to a field aid station, where he finds his mortally-wounded father dying. Luke tells his superiors that he will no longer serve and is about to be shot as a deserter when shelling nearly kills his entire platoon. Escaping on foot, he reaches Missouri, finding the abandoned horse of a dead soldier and rides the horse until a local sheriff, Martin Stillman, and his men find Luke, accusing him of horse thievery. Luke tries to explain that he is a former Union soldier who found the horse but Stillman and his men, being Confederate sympathizers, try to lynch him. Luke escapes, severely wounding Stillman's arm in the process.

Meanwhile, Zeb tracks down and kills Dutton. Luke arrives at the family homestead near the Platte River in western Nebraska and tells his mother Kate not only about Tim's death, but also that he is now an Army deserter as well as an outlaw in Missouri and must leave and be on the run. The pilot episode ends with Luke riding off. The series continues when after a period of relative quiet, a bounty hunter named Captain Grey, an Army Provost Marshal pursuing Union soldiers accused of desertion, arrives at the homestead to arrest Luke. Zeb slashes Grey's arm with a knife and Grey swears he will return. Grey continues to pursue Luke but the war ends and the government grants amnesty to all alleged deserters. Grey resigns his Army commission but keeps tracking Luke due to the reward on him in Missouri over the incident with the sheriff. Grey breaks into the Macahan house and mother Kate fatally shoots him. The first season ends with the family leaving the homestead to travel west to Oregon, which was their original intention.

The second season starts with Kate having died in a barn fire. Her sister, a wealthy widow named Molly Culhane, arrives from Chicago to reunite with her only remaining family. Stillman, the former Missouri sheriff, is now a wealthy businessman with a crippled arm and is obsessed with revenge against Luke, but is killed by Zeb in a gunfight. By this time, Luke has gained a reputation as a skilled gunfighter and is continually fleeing pursuit, having not been cleared of the Missouri charges, even at the series finale. The remainder of the series involves Zeb and the family building their ranch in the Grand Tetons area of Wyoming.

The two girl twins, Lily and Marley O'Sullivan, having just finished school at the elite school Redroofs, are expected to move on to senior school. While most of their friends at their old school (including Mary and Frances Waters) are moving to the equally elite Ringmere, the twins' parents are reluctant to send them to an expensive school as they are afraid the twins might become spoilt and snobbish. Furious at their parents' refusal to send them to the school of their choice, the twins are determined to be as difficult as possible at St. clave nettles. St Claire’s is for short.

The twins miss their favourite sports of field hockey and tennis because only lacrosse is played at St Clare's. However, Pat turns out to be quite good at lacrosse. She is selected by sports captain Belinda Towers despite having defied her earlier.

The twins soon make good friends with the other girls and play pranks on others in the school. Most pranks are directed at Miss Kennedy, their new history teacher, who is a very timid and insecure though highly qualified. One of the pranks for Miss Kennedy is discovered by Miss Roberts, and she punishes the whole form as a result. The class stops playing tricks on Miss Kennedy when the twins overhear her talking to a friend about giving up her job, despite needing the money to help her sick mother, because she cannot control the class.

A work of historical fiction, ''Chiaroscuro'' narrates the life of Leonardo da Vinci from the point of view of Gian Giacomo Caprotti da Oreno (almost exclusively called ''Salai'' in the story), a beautiful young man Leonardo adopted as a boy. It shows the influence of their relationship on Leonardo's life and work. In characterizing Salai as scheming, ambitious and selfish, the novel posits that several events in Leonardos's life occurred at least partly because of his manipulations.

The work also speculates a possible homosexual relationship between Leonardo and Salai. Salai is clearly depicted to have had homosexual relations with Leonardo's main rival, Michelangelo and Ludovico Sforza's captain, Sanseverino, while anything occurring between him and Leonardo is simply implied. It is clear, however, that Leonardo used him as a model for his artwork. The relationship between Salai and Leonardo is often tumultuous, culminating with Salai betraying Leonardo by serving as the model for Michelangelo's David.

Chiaroscuro is an art term meaning the play of light and dark in a work.

Two bookies are separately ambushed and murdered by unseen killers. In a bus terminal, a young man is approached by Goodkat, who tells the story of Max and the Kansas City Shuffle: two decades earlier, Max borrowed money from the mob to bet on a fixed horse race, only for the horse to die mid-race. To set an example to make sure nobody else would try to bet on a fixed race, the mob killed Max, his wife and his young son Henry. Goodkat describes the "Kansas City Shuffle", a misleading double bluff, then tricks and kills the young man, taking the body in a truck.

In New York City, Slevin Kelevra is staying in his friend Nick Fisher's apartment and, upon being visited by Nick's neighbor Lindsey, discusses Nick's disappearance and why his apartment was unlocked. Lindsey suggests that Nick might be missing and, after she leaves, Slevin is kidnapped by two henchmen, who take him to "The Boss". Mistaking Slevin for Nick, The Boss orders him to repay a large gambling debt or kill the son of his rival, "The Rabbi"; The Boss believes The Rabbi is responsible for assassinating his son (seen in the intro), and wants The Rabbi's homosexual son, Yitzchok "The Fairy", to be killed in revenge. Slevin returns to the apartment, but is kidnapped again, this time by two of The Rabbi's Jewish henchmen. Like The Boss, The Rabbi also mistakes Slevin for Nick, and also demands he repay a large gambling debt. Slevin tells The Boss he will kill Yitzchok. Concurrently with Slevin visiting the mob bosses, it becomes apparent Goodkat is somehow involved in both sides and is responsible for Nick's debts being called in, and that he plans to kill Slevin after Yitzchok dies and make it look like they both committed suicide.

Slevin is approached by Detective Brikowski, who is investigating The Boss and The Rabbi. Brikowski has also been informed that Goodkat is back in town for the first time in twenty years and thinks there is a connection between The Boss, The Rabbi, Goodkat, and Slevin. After pretending to be gay, Slevin gets invited to Yitzchok's apartment, where he and Goodkat kill Yitzchok and his bodyguards. The two then kidnap The Boss and The Rabbi, with both waking up restrained in The Boss's penthouse. Slevin appears and explains the overarching twist: Slevin is Henry, the son of the ill-fated Max, and the mobsters who killed Max were The Boss and The Rabbi. Goodkat is revealed as the assassin hired to kill young Henry, who after an attack of conscience took him in and raised him instead. After revealing his identity, Slevin suffocates The Rabbi and The Boss by taping plastic bags over their heads, killing them the same way they killed his father. Since Lindsey earlier photographed Goodkat while investigating Nick's disappearance, Goodkat shoots her to protect his identity.

While Brikowski is hunting for Slevin he gets a phone call from his boss and learns the meaning of the pseudonym Slevin Kelevra: "Lucky Number Slevin" was the horse his father had bet on, and "Kelevra" is Hebrew for bad dog, mirroring Goodkat's name. It is revealed that Brikowski murdered Slevin's mother to pay his own gambling debts twenty years ago. As he hears this story Brikowski resigns himself to his fate as Slevin, showing rage for the first time, appears in Brikowski's backseat and shoots him.

Some time later at the bus terminal Slevin is met by Lindsey, and it is revealed that Goodkat informed Slevin that he had to murder Lindsey because she had a picture of him. However, Slevin explained his true identity to Lindsey and helped fake her death. When Goodkat appears, aware of the deception, Slevin explains he had to save Lindsey and did not think Goodkat would understand. Since Goodkat had saved Slevin as a boy he states that he understands and agrees to leave Lindsey alone. Goodkat gives Slevin back his father's old watch and then disappears into the crowd. The movie flashes back twenty years to when Goodkat first spared young Henry, they drive away and Goodkat turns on the radio to a song titled "Kansas City Shuffle".

The film opens with a brief summary of 1961's then-current conditions in East Germany and nature of the border zone, featuring stock footage such as Conrad Schumann's jump over barbed wire in Berlin as the Berlin Wall is being built.

In April 1978, in the small town of Pößneck, Thuringia, a teenager, Lukas Keller, attempts to escape East Germany by riding a bulldozer through the Inner German Border Zone. However, he is shot by automatic machine guns and left for dead by the guards; his family is informed while having a picnic with their friends, the Strelzyks and the Wetzels, and the entire Keller family are taken away by the police. Finally fed up with his life under the GDR regime, Peter Strelzyk proposes a daring plan to his friend Günter Wetzel: they will build a balloon to carry themselves and their families (eight people total) over the border to West Germany. They purchase 1,255 square yards of taffeta (claiming it is for a camping club); Günter sews the fabric together with a sewing machine in his attic and Peter experiments for months to construct a hot air balloon burner. Of course, they face setbacks: fires while trying to inflate the balloon, struggles to build a burner with sufficient power, extremely suspicious neighbors, and doubts about the plan's workability from Günter's wife, Petra.

Eventually, Peter and Günter then stop seeing each other, to avoid suspicion for when the Strelzyks escape. Peter and his eldest son, Frank, complete the burner and, after extensive testing, manage to inflate the balloon. On July 3, 1979, the four members of the Strelzyk family attempt to fly out. They successfully take off, though they are spotted by the border guard (who do not know what to make of it); however, a cloud dampens the balloon and the burner, and they crash within the border zone, only a few hundred feet from the fences, and the balloon floats away. Miraculously, they escape the zone, return to their car and drive home. Meanwhile, the border guard finds the balloon and the Stasi, led by Major Koerner (played by Günter Meisner), begins an investigation to find whoever built it, so they can prevent them from trying again. Initially distraught over his failure, Peter is convinced by his sons to try again, as they did fly and no one was hurt, and now the Stasi will stop at nothing to find them. Peter convinces Günter to help him and both families begin work on a larger balloon to carry them all out. Petra agrees to go with the plan, especially since her mother in West Berlin is very sick.

Having identified the initial launch area, the Stasi begins closing in on Pößneck. The Strelzyks and Wetzels purchase smaller quantities of taffeta from various stores to avoid suspicion, but they are running out of time. In one scene, Peter tries to buy taffeta, claiming it is for his group of Young Pioneers; the manager leaves him to notify the Stasi, prompting Peter to leave the store. They eventually finish the balloon, but have no time to test it. On September 15, 1979, the families prepare to move out while the Stasi finds blood pressure medicine belonging to Peter's wife, Doris, at the place where the first balloon initially landed. They contact the pharmacy and run through all the people whom the medicine is prescribed to, eventually coming to Doris. Their neighbor (a member of the Stasi) identifies them as acting suspiciously; the families leave only minutes before the Stasi arrives at their homes. They reach their launch point while the border is placed on emergency alert.

The balloon is inflated and the burner is lit. Both families climb into the balloon's basket and cut their ropes. A fire is started in the cloth, but it is quickly put out by Günter and they later see a hole in the balloon and hope it will hold. As they fly over, the balloon is spotted and Koerner pursues them in a helicopter. Eventually, the burner runs out of propane and they descend; the border guard is mobilized to find them. The balloon lands in a clearing, with all eight people unharmed. Peter and Günter scout to find out where they are. They are found by a police car. Peter asks if they are in the West; puzzled, the police officer says "Of course you are". Overjoyed, Peter and Günter light their signal flare. The families all then happily embrace each other over the amazing success of their journey.

Set in Vienna in the 1920s, ''Married Life'' is an urban novel, in which that city had witnessed defeat in the First World War and the collapse of the Habsburg Empire, and plays a central role as the setting it is based in.

The social decay and presentiments of an ominous future mirror the pathological relationship between Rudolf Gurdweill, a poor Jewish intellectual and Dorothea "Thea" von Takow, an Austrian baroness who takes pleasure in humiliating him at every turn. The relationship is portrayed in telling detail as the couple descends till nightmarish depths of cruelty and masochism, eventually ending in Thea's sexual betrayal of Gurdweill and her murder at his own hands.

Set in Japan during the Taishō period (in the anime, the manga is set during the late Meiji period), ''Tactics'' is the story of Kantarou Ichinomiya, a young man with the ability to see youkai and other mythical beasts. When he was a child, this ability resulted in him being ostracized by humans. His youkai friends told him that in order to be stronger, he must find the oni-eating tengu. The young Kantarou then vows to find it and name it. By naming one, a human becomes master and the name contract is only broken if the master chooses. As Kantarou grows up, he finds a career as a folklorist and a part-time exorcist, alongside his youkai friend Youko. An assignment leads Kantarou to a mountain where a shrine marks the place where the tengu had been sealed away. Calling upon the tengu by the name Haruka, Kantarou breaks the seal and becomes Haruka's master. As time goes on, Kantarou, Youko, and Haruka develop a close friendship. However, this relationship is threatened by Haruka's returning memories and his yearning to know more about his past.

The newly sensible Pat and Isabel O'Sullivan depart for their second term at St Clare's, with their Cousin Alison joining them. Alison's character is airheaded and ditzy, but also a decent and kind-hearted person.

Other new characters include Lucy Oriell and Margery Fenworthy. Lucy is the archetypal school story girl — bright, kind and popular — although she is portrayed well, without the one-dimensional flatness this type of character can often have. Her father is a painter and Lucy herself is a talented artist. Margery is sulky, sullen, rude, antisocial and the other girls suspect she is older than them, nearer to sixteen years old.

Events include a midnight tea party for second former Tessie, which is discovered by Mamzelle through the machinations of another second former, Erica. Erica causes trouble for the first and second formers throughout the year, and is finally trapped in a fire which results in a thrilling rescue by Margery, who becomes a heroine. Lucy's father is involved in an accident rendering him unable to paint, and therefore unable to pay St Clare's school fees, but she is helped by the twins and her new friend, Margery. There is also excitement when Janet puts beetles into Mamzelle's spectacle case and then the girls pretend they can't see them, leaving Mamzelle to believe she is going mad.

Characters in this book;

• Pat O'Sullivan
• Isabel O'Sullivan
• Alison O'Sullivan
• Margery
• Lucy Oriell
• Tessie
• Nora
• Erica (antagonist)
• Winifred James
• Belinda Towers
• Hilary Wentworth
• Mam'zelle
• Doris Elward
• Miss Roberts
• Matron
• Janet Robins
• Miss. Theobald
• Kathleen Gregory
• Shelia Naylor
• Rita George
• Miss Lewis
• Winnie
• Miss Jenks
• Katie White

When teenage friends Libby Mannering (Andi Garrett) and Kit Austin (Sara Lane) are home alone with Libby's younger sister Tess (Sharyl Locke), they amuse themselves by randomly dialing telephone numbers asking prank questions, telling whomever answers: "I saw what you did, and I know who you are." Libby places a call to Steve Marak (John Ireland), a man who had just murdered his wife Judith (Joyce Meadows) and disposed of her body in the woods. Believing he has been found out, Marak wants to track down the caller in order to silence her.

Marak's neighbor Amy (Joan Crawford), who is in love with him and had been trying to woo him away from his wife, listens in on the line while Marak is speaking with Libby. Intrigued by Marak's voice, Libby takes Tess and a frightened Kit along on a drive to Marak's address. Amy discovers Libby and chases her off, thinking that Libby is Marak's lover, inadvertently saving Libby from being murdered by Marak, who has seen her and grabbed a knife. Amy snatches the registration card from the car before Libby drives away and gives it to Marak, telling him to keep it as a souvenir of his last fling. Amy tries to blackmail him into marrying her, telling him she knows about the murder, but he stabs her to death after they have a drink. With Libby's address and phone number from the car registration, Marak calls to ask if her parents are home and then sets out to the Mannering home.

Libby's mother, 90 miles away in Santa Barbara with her husband, is frantic with worry when no one answers the home phone and has her husband call the police to check the house. A patrolman visits and finds that the three girls are safe.

Libby, afraid of losing her driving privileges, swears Kit to secrecy over their misadventure. While Kit's father is driving her home, a news report over the car's radio announces that a woman's body has been found in the woods and provides a description of a man who was seen leaving the burial site.

Marak arrives at the Mannering home and questions Libby and Tess about the call. Libby convinces him that it was just a prank. He returns her mother's identification and leaves, but waits outside. When Kit calls, she tells Libby that Marak matches the description of the killer about whom she had heard on the radio. Marak overhears and enters to silence Libby and Tess, but they evade him. Libby tries to escape but cannot start her parents' car. Marak emerges from the back seat and starts to strangle Libby, but he is shot by a police officer who had come back to the Mannering house after Kit revealed the secret to her father, who phoned the police.

Monica Rivers (Joan Crawford) and Dorando (Michael Gough) co-own a travelling English circus. Monica acts as ringmistress and Dorando her business manager. When tightrope walker Gaspar the Great is strangled when his tightrope breaks, it appears that his rope might have been purposely weakened and police initiate an investigation, discovering no perpetrator. Monica's unemotional reaction to the tragedy alarms Dorando. When she suggests Gaspar's death will be good publicity, he asks her to buy him out, which she is unable to do. Monica hires a new tightrope walker, Frank Hawkins (Ty Hardin). Not only is he handsome, but he is also daring, performing his act over a carpet of sharp bayonets. Monica is impressed, especially by his physique. Meanwhile, Monica's business partner, Dorando, is found gruesomely murdered. Suspicion of Monica's guilt grows among members of the circus troupe. Hawkins in particular suspects her, having seen her leaving Dorando's trailer shortly before the body was discovered. He confronts Monica, demanding a share in the circus for his silence.

After a series of successful performances by the circus throughout the UK, Monica's daughter, Angela (Judy Geeson), having been expelled from school, shows up at the circus. Not knowing what to do with her unruly daughter, Monica pairs her with Gustavo the knife thrower (Peter Burton). Another member of the circus company, Matilda (Diana Dors), unsuccessfully attempts to seduce Hawkins, which Monica discovers. During Matilda's act, a magician's trick involving the illusion of being sawn in half, there is a malfunction in the equipment and she is killed. A few evenings later, during his high-wire performance, Frank is hit in the back with a knife, falls from his tightrope onto the bayonets and is killed. Angela is spotted throwing a knife into him before his fatal fall. She confesses, and she also reveals her motive. She has inwardly resented her mother's ignoring her, being absent from her life. Thus, the murders were acts of "removing" those who took up her mother's time and attention. She then tries to kill her mother but is stopped. Then, while trying to escape capture, she is electrocuted by an exposed wire outside the circus tent during a rainstorm. The film ends as Monica sobs inconsolably over her daughter's body.

The episode begins with two epigraphs:

Huey Freeman narrates an alternate version of history in which Martin Luther King Jr. survived his assassination attempt on April 4, 1968, but fell into a 32-year coma. Awakening in October 2000, he experiences a resurgence of popularity and signs a deal to write his autobiography. He shows up to vote for the 2000 U.S. presidential election, but is "turned away due to voting irregularity".

A biopic based on King's life is released shortly after the September 11 attacks, and becomes a box office flop as a result. During an appearance on ''Politically Incorrect'', King states that the teachings of his Christian faith require him to "turn the other cheek," even with respect to enemies such as Al-Qaeda. His commentary draws severe scorn from major news outlets and the White House, and his popularity plummets.

During a book signing in Woodcrest attended by no one, Huey and Robert Freeman meet King. Robert had participated in the Montgomery bus boycott, but has harbored a long-standing grudge against Rosa Parks because she received all the attention for refusing to give up her seat when Robert was sitting next to her, too, neither arrested nor acknowledged the same way Parks was. Huey and Robert offer to let King stay with them while he is in town. Following an uneasy family dinner with King, Tom DuBois, and Uncle Ruckus as guests, Huey and King watch television together and King bemoans the state of black popular culture. Huey tells him that the deterioration occurred because the culture was waiting for King or another strong leader to emerge.

The next day, Huey persuades King to try and reach out to the public again, this time by starting a political party. King tries to explain its principles on a talk show, only to be repeatedly cut off by the host until Huey throws a chair at him. Huey and King next decide to spread the word by going door to door, but King hires an event promotions firm to publicize a planning meeting for the party without telling Huey. The meeting becomes a raucous event, filled with dozens of young black attendees and performers behaving as though they are at a nightclub. Shocked and disgusted by the crowd's poor behavior, King launches into a furious tirade that stuns them into silence. He sharply castigates them for falling victim to the worst stereotypes about their race after the Civil Rights Movement did so much to give them the opportunity to better themselves, and ends by announcing his plans to relocate to Canada.

King thanks Huey for trying to help, tells him to do all he can, and leaves. It is the last time that Huey sees him alive. Word of King's speech begins to spread, sparking a national uprising among black citizens that profoundly affects their culture. The front page of a November 2020 newspaper shows that King has died in Vancouver, British Columbia at the age of 91, and that Oprah Winfrey has just been elected President of the United States.

Huey's final comment is "It's fun to dream," indicating that the entire episode has been his imagining of how history might have unfolded if King had not died in 1968.

Dr. Kevin Saunders (played by David Schwimmer) and Dr. William Larson (played by Chris Cooper) pioneer the usage of silicone breast implants. Saunders and Larson gain immense financial success as cosmetic breast augmentation surgeries rise in acceptance and frequency in American culture, but follow different life paths thereafter: Dr. Saunders becoming a narcissist interested in developing and implanting the exaggeratedly larger-sized types of implants popular with a mostly erotic dancer and female porn star clientele. Doctor Larson, Saunders' former mentor and business partner, is portrayed as continuing to pursue a more serious, clinical approach (e.g., reconstructive breast surgeries for female breast cancer survivors, etc.). Complications arise with the implants and the doctors are sued, leading to their fall from grace. Larson dies in his home of a heart attack and Saunders' Corvette crashes into a mack truck, killing him.

Keita Itō, an average high school boy, is surprised to find out that he's been accepted into the elite and prestigious boarding school, Bell Liberty Academy Unnerved by the mystery, he's further distracted by the school's social dynamics. In a sea of amazing young men, Keita struggles to find out what makes him unique, and how he can possibly deserve to be treated as an equal by the students of Bell Liberty.

''King Hedley II'' is the ninth play in August Wilson’s ten-play cycle that, decade by decade, examines African American life in the United States during the twentieth century. Set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1985, it tells the story of an ex-con in Pittsburgh trying to rebuild his life. The play has been described as one of Wilson's darkest, telling the tale of a man trying to save $10,000 by selling stolen refrigerators so that he can buy a video store, as well as revisiting stories of other characters initially presented in ''Seven Guitars''.

Hedley’s wish, now that he has returned to Pittsburgh from prison, is to support himself by selling refrigerators and to start a family. Set during the Reagan Administration, the play comments critically on the supply-side economics theories of the day, examining whether their stated aim of providing trickle-down benefits to all Americans truly improved the lot of urban African Americans.

;Characters * King Hedley II * Tonya, King Hedley II's wife * Ruby, King Hedley II's mother * Elmore, a southern hustler (and former boyfriend of Ruby) * Mister, friend * Stool Pigeon, a wise man and a prophet

Notes on characters

''King Hedley II'' draws "on characters established in ''Seven Guitars'', ''King Hedley II'' shows the shadows of the past reaching into the present." Some of the characters presented earlier include King Hedley II, "the spiritual son of King Hedley from ''Seven Guitars'' and Stool Pigeon, a "sixty-five year old harmonica player...now a newspaper-collecting history carrier". The character of Ruby was a "vivacious young newcomer to Pittsburgh" in ''Seven Guitars'' but in ''King Hedley II'' is "...overcome with worry and regret...". Mister is Red Carter's son.

The setting is a mid-19th-century American repertory theater. The play begins subtly as the audience arrives with the cast milling around an empty stage. The cast members generally fool around and complain about their boss and their forthcoming production of ''King Lear''. Then, making a big dramatic entrance and smoking a cigar, the actor manager of the time comes on stage and tells them they are going to rehearse a version of Herman Melville's 1851 novel ''Moby Dick'' that he has been adapting for the stage.

The cast grudgingly performs the play, improvising scenery from items lying around, and gradually get more into character as the play develops.

Dexter Green is a middle-class young man born in rural Minnesota who aspires to be part of the "old money" elite of the American Midwest. His father owns the second most profitable grocery store in the town. To earn money, Dexter works part-time as a teenage caddie at a golf club in Black Bear Lake, Minnesota, where he meets the eleven-year-old Judy Jones. He quits his job rather than be Judy's caddie as he cannot abide acting as one of her obsequious servants.

After college, Dexter becomes involved in a partnership in a laundry business. He returns to the Sherry Island Golf Club and is invited to play golf with the affluent men for whom he once caddied. He encounters Judy Jones again on the golf course, only now she is older and more beautiful. Later in the evening on Black Bear Lake, Dexter swims to a raft where he encounters Judy who is piloting a motor boat. She asks him to drive the boat while she rides behind, aquaplaning. After this encounter, Judy invites Dexter to dinner, and a romance blossoms. However, he soon discovers that he is merely one of a dozen beaus whom she is clandestinely romancing.

After eighteen months, while Judy is vacationing in Florida, Dexter becomes engaged to Irene Scheerer, a kind-hearted but ordinary-looking girl. When Judy returns, however, she again ensnares Dexter's affections and asks him to marry her. Dexter breaks off his engagement with Irene, only to be unceremoniously dropped again by Judy a month later. Unable to cope with this recurrent heartbreak, Dexter joins the American Expeditionary Forces to fight in the Great War.

Seven years later, Dexter has become a successful businessman in New York. He has become wealthy but hasn't visited his home in years. One particular day, a Detroit man named Devlin visits Dexter on a business pretext. During the meeting, Devlin reveals that Judy Simms—formerly Judy Jones—is the wife of one his friends. Devlin recounts how Judy's beauty has faded, and her husband treats her callously. This news demoralizes Dexter as he still loves Judy. Later Dexter realizes that his dream is gone and that he can never return home.

Simone ("Monie"), works at a public relations agency in Chicago. She lives in an apartment building with her best friend Yvette. The show chronicles her life living as a single career woman in the big city.

Setting

The vampire, Kain, refused to sacrifice himself to restore the Pillars of Nosgoth at the end of ''Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain'', thus damning the Pillars and the world of Nosgoth to an eternity of depravity and decay. Following his refusal, Kain built a vampire army with Vorador's help and attempted to conquer the world.

Four hundred years after the events of ''Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain'', Kain awakes in Meridian, Nosgoth's industrial capital city. He remembers very little, and is lacking much of his former power. He is greeted by a vampire called Umah, who informs Kain that he has been asleep for two hundred years.

Two hundred years before, Kain's conquest of Nosgoth had been opposed by an army of vampire hunters called the Sarafan Order. The Sarafan Order destroyed Kain's army, and Kain himself was defeated in combat by their leader, the Sarafan Lord who then claimed the Soul Reaver from Kain. In the years since, the Sarafan have imposed harsh martial law on Nosgoth's human population, and started an industrial revolution. Employing 'Glyph magic' - a new kind of magic, deadly to vampires - they have hunted the remaining vampires to near extinction: as a result, several vampires have agreed to serve the Sarafan out of self-preservation. Umah is a member of the Cabal, an underground resistance movement formed of vampires and working to undermine the Sarafan at every turn. The Cabal hopes that Kain will destroy the Sarafan Lord, and the traitorous vampires that protect him.

Kain sets out to get his revenge, reclaim the Soul Reaver sword from the Sarafan Lord, and continue his ascent to power.

Story

The story is a paradox in Nosgoth's history. Because Raziel's soul was not absorbed into the physical Soul Reaver, an alternate history was introduced into ''Blood Omen 2''. This history places Kain at the threshold of gaining his empire, but because of the weakened state of the Pillars, the Hylden race was able to re-enter Nosgoth. The Hylden masquerade as the defunct Sarafan army to exploit Nosgoth. With their arrival they created an Industrial Age, hunted the Vampire race to near extinction, and domesticated humanity through harsh martial laws and overbearing taxation. Their Glyph magic is used to power Nosgoth's industrial revolution. The surviving vampires serve the Hylden through espionage.

The Cabal, an underground resistance working to topple the Sarafan's plans, are led by Vorador - resurrected in this alternate timeline. They plan to use Kain as the unseen hand that will destroy the Sarafan's operation from the inside. However Kain plans to use this position to reclaim his place as Nosgoth's ruler. Kain was defeated by the Sarafan Lord through the betrayal of his lieutenants. He finds and kills them, absorbing their dark arts.

During reconnaissance of the Sarafan's position one of Vorador's lieutenants, Umah, discovers the location of an amulet called the Nexus Stone. Umah informs Kain that the Nexus Stone is what the Sarafan Lord used to defeat him in their battle. Afterward Vorador tells Kain of a secret weapon, The Device, that will wipe away all life in Nosgoth that is not Hylden. Kain is then told to seek out the Seer, a witch that lives on the outskirts of Meridian.

The Seer explains to Kain that the glyph magic that is supplying Meridian with power is also being used to power The Device. He also drinks her blood to receive telekinesis. As they talk the Sarafan Lord, secretly tracking Kain, sets fire to her house. Sacrificing her safety, the Seer then teleports Kain to the Eternal Prison.

Kain is able to find the Builder, who confesses he built The Device out of arrogance, and wishes to make amends by helping Kain destroy his creation. He tells Kain the Device is powered by a massive life-form called the Mass. The Mass has powerful psychic abilities but is harmless if there is no way to channel the creature's power. Kain is told the Mass is weak against the blood of an Ancient, and the Builder asks Kain to drain him of his blood, and to feed it to the Mass, ensuring its destruction. Kain does so, and faces his last lieutenant (Magnus) before leaving the Eternal Prison.

Kain finds out that Magnus never betrayed him, and only wanted to be his champion. He tried to confront the Sarafan Lord himself, but lost and was then cast into the Eternal Prison, where he lost his mind. Kain destroys the Mass and, leaving the Hylden's lair, meets Janos Audron who has regained his true form. Kain does not know Janos yet, but learns he is the last true ancient vampire.

After Janos explains to Kain part of the history concerning the Hylden, their lord/general and Kain's own involvement in them (unwittingly allowing the Hylden Lord to slip into Nosgoth from the Demon Realm as the pillars were ruined and dimensional barriers weakened), Janos transports Kain and Himself to sanctuary where Vorador and Umah are waiting. Janos explains to the gathered vampires the nature of the Hylden and their plan to invade Nosgoth via a Hylden Gate, located in the ancient Hylden city across the Great Southern Sea from Meridian. However, Janos cannot transport the vampires there immediately as the city is protected by a magical barrier. It is agreed that Kain and Umah are to infiltrate a ship heading to the city from the Wharves and neutralize the barrier when on site.

Umah starts to question Kain's plans for Nosgoth, wondering how his stern rule would be better than that of the Sarafan. She steals the Nexus Stone from Kain and sets off to defeat the Hylden Lord herself. Not long after that, Kain finds Umah mortally wounded, though he has a chance to save her, he refuses, unable to trust her due to the earlier treachery. Kain kills Umah but regrets it, noting that "now you have left me alone". Kain then proceeds to board a vessel heading out to sea.

Kain encounters the Hylden Lord waiting at the docks of the Hylden City. The two exchange words and the Hylden Lord attempts to strike Kain down with the Soul Reaver, but is stopped by the Nexus Stone that protected him from Kain's similar attack 200 years ago. The Hylden Lord teleports away and Kain proceeds to explore the Hylden city. After destroying the generator powering the magical barrier, Vorador and Janos warp in. Vorador asks Kain about Umah, being unable to sense her, and Kain tells him that she is dead and openly declares that he killed her for treason, even though he could have saved her. Vorador is horrified at Kain's ruthlessness and the two seem to be on the verge of fighting, but Janos urges them to put aside their conflict. Just as Kain agrees to settle affairs with Vorador later, the Sarafan Lord ambushes the trio and wounds Vorador and Janos, depriving Kain of their help. Janos teleports Kain nearer to the gate and stays behind to tend to Vorador.

Having finally reached the Hylden Gate Kain finds the Hylden Lord. Kain and the Hylden Lord speak, Kain offers the Hylden Lord a choice of exile or annihilation as he destroys the Hylden Gate, while the Hylden Lord berates Kain for his petty lust for power and dominion over Nosgoth, akin to a petty noble who gained too much power and can never be sated. Kain denounces the Hylden Lord, boasting how all of his spies and traitors have fallen before him, even Umah. Surprised, the Hylden Lord claims that he has no spy named Umah, at which Kain angrily attacks him.

After a brief struggle Kain knocks the Hylden Lord off the platform, but he reappears, gloating how Kain cannot slay him while the Hylden Gate is active. Kain then casts the Nexus Stone into the gate, which begins to implode. Janos arrives at that moment and exchanges hateful words with the Hylden Lord. The Hylden Lord grabs Janos and throws him into the imploding vortex and turns to Kain, who is now in possession of the Soul Reaver.

The Hylden Lord and Kain battle one final time, but armed with the Soul Reaver and with the Nexus Stone gone, Kain easily defeats the Hylden Lord. The Hylden Lord, in his dying breath, assures Kain that the war between Vampires and Hylden will never be over, as the Demon Realm ensures the immortality of the Hylden race. Kain states that should the Hylden ever return, he will be waiting and kills the Hylden Lord.

As the Hylden City is slowly destroyed by the collapsing gate, Kain is seen slowly walking away, pondering his plans for Nosgoth.

Kelly Ernswiler, a young war reenactment enthusiast, works at his local store with love interest Sarah and Bart Bowland. Kelly's father, Abe, works with drug addicts, being clean himself for over five years. His mother, Eve, is a commercial artist.

Kelly attempts to woo Bart's older sister, Tabby, even though she's set to marry Miner Weber, a handsome businessman. Kelly becomes a regular at Bart's house, being over for dinner often, and he impresses Bart's father, Harrison, with their common fondness for war memorabilia, and Bart's mother by complimenting her on her flowers, and he often talks to Tabby in her workshop. During this time, Sarah asks him to go to an Aerosmith concert, which she has a spare ticket for, telling him it would be good for him to get out more. When he bluntly makes it clear that he knows it would be a date, he tells her he is seeing someone else, obviously meaning Tabby. Before Kelly and Bart perform their plan for Lance's humiliation, Bart makes it clear to Kelly that he knows he has "his own agenda", at which Kelly is insulted and angry, and Bart displaces it as "pre-mission nervous energy". They recreate an invasion on the street where Lance lives and drag him out of the house pointing guns at him and shouting at him with German accents. They videotape the whole thing and he urinates out of fear.

Afterwards, the boys are drinking whiskey at Bart's house and Bart passes out in a chair by the fire. Kelly makes to go home and goes to the workshop to say goodbye to Tabby. He walks in on her crying, as she now thinks the marriage will be off and goes to comfort her, and they kiss. As Kelly is leaving, Bart sees him and is furious as he knew he was in the workshop. The next day, as Kelly is on a set for a war program that Bart got them in, Bart hasn't turned up. Kelly is cast in a role to be a jeep driver and when his cue is called, Bart turns up out of the bushes and confronts him about Tabby. Kelly denies it at first and then becomes speechless. As he is about to drive for his cue, Bart attacks him in the jeep and they make a mess of the set.

The next day, Abe is taken into care again for relapsing and Kelly is emotionless. He goes to the wedding the same day, only to have an annoyed Bart tell him that he can't let him in. He sneaks into Tabby's limo before it pulls in and he talks to her, and it is a moment in which he finally realizes he must grow up. He gets out of the car and everyone at the wedding sees him and are all confused. He goes round the back of the church to get his bike and leave and meets Minor again, who has no idea of what happened with Kelly and Tabby, and is civil towards him. Kelly cycles to the clinic where his father is staying and is surprised. They begin to watch television and his mother walks in and is surprised and happy to see Kelly.

In the end, it shows the voicemail message where Kelly apologizes to the Bowlands for his behavior and asks Bart if he will meet him where he will be selling all his old memorabilia, and gives a hat Bart acquired for him back. He is shown walking down the street with Sarah and they hold hands. Kelly sees Lance again on his lawn where they faked the invasion, and goes over to him and confesses, only to be punched in the jaw. The film ends with Kelly lying on the lawn, holding his bruised jaw saying, "I deserved it".

Setting

It's Spring 1999... Fighters from across the world gather at the Tokyo Dome to compete in the World Grapple Tournament. Each contender has their own fighting discipline, ranging from the popular styles of Boxing, Karate and Professional wrestling, to the lesser known arts of Aikido, T'ai chi and Muay Thai. Finally, they have the chance to prove which martial art conquers all!

Characters

'''Gai Tendo''' - The lead character, a 17-year-old fighter who uses a self-styled martial art (dubbed Total Fighting in the game). He has been training by himself at Okinawa ever since graduating middle school. CV:Nobuyuki Hiyama '''Rob Python''' - A 35-year-old super heavyweight boxer currently residing in LA. CV:Kōji Ishii '''Jacques Ducalis''' - A 32-year-old open-weight Gold medalist and current Director of the French Judo Society. CV:Eiji Tsuda '''Seo Yong Song''' - An 18-year-old taekwondo master who was the Middleweight champion in the World Taekwondo Championship during the previous year. Currently attending college with a major in quantum physics. CV:Jun Hashimoto '''Takato Saionji''' - A 17-year-old private high school student from Kyoto who has thoroughly mastered Aikido from his grandfather Takayuki. CV:Eiji Yano '''Payak Sitpitak''' (พยัคฆ์ สิทธิพิทักษ์) - A 40-year-old Muay Thai ranker who is the currently the Top Welterweight athlete in the Muay Thai circuit. CV:Atsushi Yamanishi '''Song Xuandao''' - A 70-year-old taiji master who is well known within the Chinese fighting world. CV:Keiichiro Sakagi '''Patrick Van Heyting''' - A 37-year-old popular pro wrestler from the Netherlands. CV:Franky Nakamura '''Ivan Sokolov''' - A 27-year-old freestyle wrestler and an 87 kg class Gold Medalist. Despite his rough-like posture, he has won against his opponents due to his technical skills. CV:Hiroyuki Arita '''Akatsuki-Maru''' - A 28-year-old sumo wrestler who currently holds the title of Sekiwake. CV:Eiji Yano '''Ryo Sakazaki''' - The 32-year-old instructor of the Kyokugen School of karate. Originally the main character from the ''Art of Fighting'' series. CV:Masaki Usui '''Silber''' - The final boss in the game. A one-eyed martial artist from Germany who uses his own style of karate. His name means silver in German. Although Silber has never officially competed in a fighting tournament, he has been sight at numerous parts of the world over the past 30 years, fighting against numerous well known martial artists. Silber is a computer-only character initially and only becomes a controllable character after the computer-controlled Silber is defeated by the player with each of the other characters. CV:Hiroyuki Arita

Buriki Girl

In Japan, people were asked to vote for their top 5 "Fight Round girls". The winner of the vote would appear after a 2-Player battle. * Hinako Tono (the winner) * Nanami Sakai * Shizue Sakurada * Midori Marukame * Hikaru Koda

The SNES game has a storyline in which Spanky is trapped in a tower by an evil witch named Morticia. Spanky has to defeat Morticia and find his way out of the tower.

''Epic'' takes place on a world named New Earth and follows the life of a boy named Erik Haraldson and his involvement in a game called Epic. Epic is a virtual game which echoes ''World of Warcraft'' and ''EverQuest'', although interaction with this game directly affects income, social standing, and the careers of the people who play. Because of this relationship a growing separation of power occurs that mimics the real world, where those with money and power tend to keep it, and those without tend to stay impoverished (both in-game and in real life). In order to build up acclaim in the game, and thus in real life, poor players must work in-game for their entire lives in hopes of becoming powerful enough to take part in challenges set forth by the elite for prizes. With these prizes the citizens may live more comfortably in real life.

If a community wishes to redress a perceived injustice, they may challenge ''Central Allocations'' or C. A., which is a powerful, select group of nine individuals that controls all of the world's resources and funds the most powerful characters in the game world. All of the members of C. A. are wealthy and possess nearly unbeatable characters in the game. These are the individuals who set challenges which are held in special arenas where various players may attack each other - the last player alive is proclaimed the winner. If you win against the Central Allocations team, then you get what you want, be it a new law, a medical procedure, or a material object. However, if you lose then everything your character owns (including items and money) is forfeited and that person must create a new in-game character. Since death in the game results in death of the character, challenges are a risky method of gaining prosperity, as the characters involved are usually trained for months to years of real life time.

The story opens with Erik determined to obtain revenge for the unjust treatment of his parents. Unknown to Erik, his father, Harald, was exiled because he hit another person (Ragnok, a future member of Central Allocations). Ragnok was trying to assault Harald's wife. Having escaped from exile, Harald had hidden in a small out-of-the-way community with his wife, where they had Erik. In order to help his local friends, Harald challenges Central Allocations hoping to remain unknown to them, but his character is identified and he is exiled once more. Before these events, Erik had become fed up with the game, squandering many lives of his avatars in fighting Inry'aat, the Red Dragon, who guards a massive treasure hoard. Most of these attempts are spent trying to figure out a quick way to defeat the dragon. As an expression of his discontent with the world, Erik had gone against convention in making a human female avatar, which he named Cindella and had deliberately chosen an almost unknown character class, swashbuckler. He put all of his ability points into beauty, which most players consider a waste, as beauty has no benefit in battle. This, incidentally, is the cause for the bland, gray characters that predominate in Epic. But curiously, the tale takes a twist and Erik inherits much wealth from his investment in beauty as the game itself begins to respond to his unique avatar. As a result and freed by the plight of his parents from having to play the game in the usual, risk-avoiding grind, Erik dares to dream he can kill the red dragon and with its wealth, challenge the power of C. A.

With his friends' help and the use of a strategy he figured out from studying Inry'aat, the red dragon is indeed slain, and as a result Erik and his friends become some of the richest and most famous characters in all of Epic. Each of the group gains about four million bezants, which amounts to more wealth than they could earn in over one hundred thousand years of normal play. This victory propels the teenagers into a series of unexpected encounters including with an evil vampyre (who can kill people in real life from inside the game); the Executioner of C. A.(can kill people in-game); a sinister Dark Elf, and the Avatar of the game itself. The Avatar and the vampyre play a central role in the plot, as they are the opposing sides of the persona that the game itself inexplicably developed. The Avatar represents the game's desire to end its existence and save the people of New Earth, while the vampyre reflects its desire to simply continue existing. They balance each other out in the final conflict of the book, leaving Erik to revolutionise his world by ending the game of Epic.

The film opens with a man being shot by Yatsu - known as "The Metal Fetishist" or "The Guy" in this movie - who fires the shot from his index finger, holding his hand like a gun.

Taniguchi Tomoo is discussing his past with his wife, since he does not have any memories before his adoption at eight years old. He is almost killed when two cyborg skinheads try to kidnap his son, Minori. He is forced to take an injection by one of the skinheads. Frightened by the encounter, he starts working out. Unsuccessful lifting even the lightest of weights at first, he suddenly is capable of enormous feats of strength. Later, he gets an anonymous call asking how his training went. The caller informs Taniguchi that he has kidnapped Minori by entering through the building's back door. Taniguchi chases the kidnappers to a roof where he again finds himself hanging on the edge, close to death. However, this time he manages to pull himself up, only to be told the skinhead already threw his son off the roof.

Enraged by this, Taniguchi transforms and grows a gun from his arm. He shoots the skinhead who, having lied about dropping Minori, holds the son in front of him, causing Taniguchi to kill his own son. The skinhead escapes, leaving behind a distraught Taniguchi who discovers his wife saw everything.

The skinheads arrive at their hideout where their accomplices work out lifting enormous weights. They meet a Mad Scientist who asks them what kind of specimen they picked for the injection, revealing that Taniguchi's injection is part of an experiment. Later, Taniguchi is kidnapped by the skinheads and experimented on by the Mad Scientist who manipulates Taniguchi's memories, furthering his change from man to machine. It is revealed that the Mad Scientist works with Yatsu who - after ordering Taniguchi's death - informs the Mad Scientist that his goal is only destruction and that every skinhead get an injection.

After Taniguchi's escape, a skinhead injects himself and rapidly transforms, since his will to kill is much greater. During the escape, Taniguchi and the skinhead find they both have the ability to transform back into their human forms. The two face off in an abandoned factory and the skinhead tells Taniguchi that they all want to be made into gods by Yatsu.

Back at home, Taniguchi's wife, Kana, discovers that Taniguchi's injection was actually blocked by his pocket organizer. So Taniguchi has the ability to transform into a machine under his own will. His wife is visibly scared of her husband. She leaves in a hurry, only to also be kidnapped on the street. Taniguchi pursues the car on a bicycle, transforming and eventually catching up. Still, the skinheads manage to escape. Kana meets Yatsu who tells her about her husband, who apparently has possessed incredible power all along, but chose to not use it unless he's pushed. The last time he used the power - before his eighth birthday - not only did he kill all the children who bullied him, but also destroyed those he loved.

Taniguchi finds where Kana is held and ignores threats of the skinheads killing her. Yatsu talks to Taniguchi, then seemingly kills Kana. Taniguchi has had no mercy and a hostage meant nothing to him. Still, Kana's death pushes Taniguchi completely over the edge and he fully transforms. In the fight between Yatsu and Taniguchi, Yatsu tries to rust Taniguchi to death, like in the first movie. After Taniguchi has seemingly won, Yatsu shoots a cable into Taniguchi, causing further transformations.

During this, Taniguchi learns that his father was creating the perfect human weapon, first training his sons - Tomoo and Yatsu - with guns, then making the guns part of them. Tomoo leaves before killing a dog, while his brother kills the animal. The boys also witness their father killing their mother in a bizarre sex ritual involving the woman sucking on a gun. Tomoo loses his memory after witnessing the death of both his mother and killing his father. This makes him realize the beauty of destruction and both Tomoo and Yatsu merge into a giant half-human, half-metal creature. Tomoo begs Kana to inject him with the gun that will make him rust to death, but she refuses to harm him. The Tomoo/Yatsu creature merges with the remaining skinheads and they turn into a giant, tank-like vehicle that moves through the city. Kana holds on to the side of the machine as it travels down a highway.

The final shots of the movie show Kana, Tomoo - having seemingly reverted back to normal - and Minori walking through the ruins of what was once a city, with her remarking how peaceful the place has become.

Each story was presented by the Men in Black, as being a true file from their cases touching on a whole range of Forteana from Mothman to the Chupacabras and broader conspiracy theories such as those surrounding Project MKULTRA.

In the middle of the series run (and as the interest in such subjects peaked) the MiB even broke out of their own strip and fictionally took over the running of the magazine from #1014 (appearing as part of the logo from #1015), as traditional mascot character Tharg was allegedly away dealing with a crisis. This first issue coinciding with a promotion of the X-Files series 2 trading cards.

Cases were not always consistent - ''"Series 1, Case Nine: Spear of Destiny"'' and ''"Series 3, Case Three: The Dream Factory"'' directly contradicted each other; ''Case Nine'' revealed that the Spear Of Destiny was used as the flagpole for the 1969 Moon landing, whereas ''Case Three'' stated that the moon landing had been faked in order to cover up a much more advanced space programme prevalent throughout the solar system.

The Mekon reveals his typically dastardly plan: Earth must submit to his terms or he will propel a hollowed-out asteroid the size of a small planet into Earth. Dan and his sidekick Digby fly to the asteroid in Dan's spaceship, the ''Anastasia''. Arriving at the asteroid they find small buildings and structures and realise it must be inhabited. Digby remains on the ship whilst Dan is lowered down to the asteroid's surface. Once again, Earth is relying on him to defeat the Mekon.

Set 35,000 years ago in Scandinavia, during a thaw in the great Ice Age, the novel follows a Cro-Magnon named Tiger as he tries to defeat Shelk, a tyrant and a hybrid (Neanderthal/Cro-Magnon), the man who killed his father. With his family and much of his tribe dead, Tiger meets, interacts, and allies himself with groups of Neanderthals. He eventually marries a Neanderthal woman.

The film is about the youth perpetrator Victor, who spends his time lifting weights, dancing and torturing people. When he hits his friend Scum Baby, he calls the police. Victor gets the choice to go to jail or undergo a behavioral change. Victor decides on the treatment and is bound to a chair by a doctor. He has to watch violent videos and describe what is happening on the screen while warm wax from a candle runs over his hand. After a while Victor swears off the violence and is unbound. He rejects the doctor's request to beat him and take drugs. Victor is cured.

Committed but seen-it-all police inspector Martineau rightly guesses that after a violent jailbreak a local criminal will head home to Manchester to pick up the spoils from his last job. Martineau is soon investigating a murder during a street robbery which seems to lead back to the same villain. Concentrating on the case and using his local contacts to try to track the gang down, he is aware he is not keeping his own personal life together as well as he might.

During the Mexican Revolution, a Durango-bound government munitions train is forced to stop due to the presence of a crucified federal army officer on the tracks. El Chuncho Muños, a gun runner loyal to the revolutionary leader General Elías, leads his gang in an assault on the train. Lieutenant Alvaro Ferreira commanding the rurales of the escort attempts to save the officer, but upon being fatally wounded by Chuncho, he is forced to order the train to run the captain over and escape the bandits. Bill Tate, an American passenger on the train, kills the engineer and stops the train again, allowing Chuncho and his gang to kill the remaining rurales and take their weapons. Posing as a former prisoner of the army, Tate joins the gang, and is quickly befriended by Chuncho, who nicknames him "Niño".

After several heists, the gang travels to the town of San Miguel, where Chuncho meets with his old friend Raimundo to overthrow the weakhearted town boss, Don Felipe. Rosaria, Felipe's spirited wife, attempts to defend him; when Chuncho's men assault her, Tate angrily berates them for their behaviour. Chuncho shoots Guapo, a gang member, for attempting to kill Tate. Don Felipe is made to drive Chuncho and his gang back to San Miguel, and he is eventually executed.

Chuncho prepares to stay in San Miguel, drilling the villagers in the hopes of becoming a General himself; Tate convinces much of the gang to leave San Miguel so they can sell their weapons to Elías. Eventually missing his bandit lifestyle, Chuncho leaves San Miguel under the care of El Santo, his priestly half-brother, on the pretext of recovering a gold-plated Hotchkiss M1914 machine gun from his former gang. After killing one of them, Picaro, Chuncho resumes leadership of the others, hoping to sell the weapons to Elías before returning to San Miguel.

Elías' emissary arrives, but is pursued by army troops. Tate and Chuncho use the machine gun to decimate the troops, but nearly all of Chuncho's remaining gang is killed in the firefight. Unseen by the others, Tate also kills the emissary. Adelita, Chuncho's last surviving loyal gang member, abandons the pair after her lover, Pepito, is killed in the battle. During the ride to Elías' camp, Tate falls victim to a malaria attack. While getting quinine pills for Tate, Chuncho finds a golden bullet among his possessions; Tate later claims that the bullet is a good luck charm.

Chuncho and Tate arrive at Elías' camp the next morning, where they encounter several starving revolutionaries. Chuncho sells the guns and is paid five thousand pesos, before learning from Elías that the people of San Miguel were massacred by the army. Realising his irresponsibility, Chuncho allows himself to be taken away to be executed by Santo, one of the sole survivors of the attack. Meanwhile, Tate, from a high vantage point, shoots Elías and kills Santo before Chuncho's sentence can be carried out. Tate escapes as Elías' doctors pronounce his death: shot in the head with a golden bullet.

Weeks later, Chuncho, now an impoverished beggar, tracks Tate to a hotel in Ciudad Juarez and tries to shoot him. Tate, insisting that he has been waiting for him, gives him a half-share of the reward he received from the Mexican Government for assassinating Elías: 100,000 pesos in gold. Chuncho, astonished by Tate's apparent loyalty and friendship, visits a barber, a tailor and a brothel.

The next morning the pair prepare to leave for a new life in the United States. However, when Chuncho watches as Tate cuts through a line to buy their train tickets, he begins to reconsider their relationship and his responsibilities. Learning that he had been further manipulated by Tate through his pretending to be an army prisoner, Chuncho suddenly declares that, although they are friends, he must kill him. Tate asks why, to which Chuncho replies "¿Quién sabe?" before shooting him.''"¿Quién sabe?"'' means "Who knows?" in Spanish. In the American version, this line is translated as "I don't know." Tate's body begins its return to the United States, while Chuncho, laughing manically, tosses his bag of money to a group of peasants and flees from the authorities down an external corridor of carriages, exhorting the poor to buy dynamite instead of bread.

O Continente

The first book, entitled '''O Continente''' (''The Continent''), progresses in non-linear chapters. There are seven chapters entitled "O Sobrado" that frame the rest of the action and tell the story of a siege to the Terra-Cambará mansion during the Federalist Revolution. Between these chapters, the history of the family is told chronologically, since its beginnings up to the time of the siege.

Chapters

O Retrato

'''O Retrato''' (''The Portrait'') is a portrait in flashback of Rodrigo Terra Cambará, a fictional member of the real government of Getúlio Vargas, as a young man. Dr. Rodrigo arrives to his home town of Santa Fé after studying Medicine in Porto Alegre. Initially, he contrasts with his family: his brother Toribio and his father Licurgo are countryside men while Rodrigo listens to operas, reads magazines from Paris, and drinks champagne. Ultimately, however, as he takes his first steps in politics, he exhibits many of the personality traits and vices that will follow him for life.

The title of this book refers to a portrait of Rodrigo Cambará painted by a friend of the doctor, Don Pepe Garcia. The Spanish painter wants to portrait his friend as vigorous and powerful as he is, and when he finishes he states this painting was his masterpiece. In a clever reference to The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Wilde, Rodrigo himself starts a fast decay into savagery and brutality, ending up sick in bed (since the first chapter of the book is set in 1945, we already know that by the start), while his Picture remains just as it was painted to remind him of the man he once was.

Chapters

The first (Rosa-dos-Ventos) and the last (Uma Vela para o Negrinho) chapters are set in 1945, the present days, showing Dr. Rodrigo back to Santa Fé after the fall of Brazilian's dictator Getúlio Vargas (whom he supported) suffering from a terminal disease. The other two work as flashbacks, telling stories of the man's early adulthood. * Rosa-dos-Ventos (Wind Rose) * O Chantecler (The Chanticleer) * A Sombra do Anjo (The Shadow of the Angel) * Uma Vela para o Negrinho (A Candle to the ''Negrinho'' - the name of a folklore character)

O Arquipélago

In '''O Arquipélago''' (''The Archipelago''), after the fall of the Vargas dictatorship, terminally ill, Dr. Rodrigo Terra Cambará returns to Santa Fé with his fractured family. In flashbacks and conversations, his days as a revolutionary and as a politician in Rio de Janeiro are remembered, just as the remaining members of the decadent family - particularly his son Floriano, a key part of this metafictional novel - try to rebuild their lives free from the influence of the dying patriarch.

The book tells the story of the young mouse who becomes Tucker, and the kitten who becomes Harry, the two friends of Chester Cricket in ''The Cricket in Times Square''.

Tucker, we learn, was born in a box of Kleenexes and other odds and ends on Tenth Avenue, and fled his nest at a young age to avoid sanitation workers. He takes his name from "Merry Tucker's Home-Baked Goods", a bakery on Tenth Avenue. He meets Harry Kitten, who took his name from two children he heard talking. One said "Harry-you're a ''character''!" and the kitten decided he too wanted to be a character.

The two become friends and search New York City for a home of their own. Their wanderings take them to the basement of the Empire State Building and to Gramercy Park, among other places. Eventually, they settle down in a disused drain pipe in the Times Square subway station.

While the rest of the Moomin family are in the deep slumber of their winter hibernation, Moomintroll finds himself awake and unable to get back to sleep.

He discovers a world hitherto unknown to him, where the sun does not rise and the ground is covered with cold, white, wet powder.

Moomintroll is lonely at first but soon meets Too-ticky, a wise spirit who sings mysterious songs, and his old friend Little My (who takes delight in sledging down the snowy hills on Moominmamma's silver tea tray).

The friends build a snow horse for the Lady Of The Cold and mourn the passing of an absent-minded squirrel who gazed into the Lady's eyes and froze to death. However, a squirrel is spotted alive by Moomintroll at the end of the book, and it seems that it may have come back to life.

As the haunting winter progresses, many characters (notably the Groke, Sorry-oo the small dog, and a boisterous skiing Hemulen) come to Moominvalley in search of warmth, shelter and Moominmamma's stores of jam.

Harvey and Zoey, two tourists travelling through Israel, discover an ancient scroll describing the life of Herschel, the man who was almost Moses. Herschel receives the command from God to free his people from Egyptian slavery, but Moses keeps blundering by and taking all the credit. Several other biblical stories, such as Lot and his wife, David and Goliath, and the miracles of Jesus, are also parodied in this story of the life of a man trying to follow the path to God, but somehow always seeming to lose his way.

A man and a woman sit opposite each other in the detached intimacy of a train compartment on a journey from Paris to Frankfurt. He is a world-famous author, she carries his latest novel in her bag and ponders the dilemma of reading it in front of him. As both the woman and man ponder their situation in the compartment, they bring past events and philosophies up in separate monologues. Finally in the ending of the play, they speak conversationally, and in the last line of the show the woman calls the author by his name, revealing to him that she did indeed know who he was.

The story revolves around Tazusa Sakurano, a Japanese Olympic figure skating candidate, and Pete Pumps, a Canadian stunt pilot. During a qualifying round in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Tazusa falls in the middle of a Triple Lutz and loses consciousness. At the same time, Pete dies mid-performance when his stunt plane crashes due to mechanical trouble. Unfortunately for Tazusa, Pete ends up involuntarily inhabiting her body for 100 days. During this time, Tazusa begins to develop romantic feelings for Pete, and falls in love with him.

; : :A Japanese figure skater known for her sharp tongue. She is on bad terms with the media and the public because of her cold attitude and string of bad luck in competitions. Her goal is to compete in the Winter Olympics in Torino (Turin, Italy). At the beginning of the series, she is possessed by the ghost of '''Pete Pumps''' and while she initially hated him, she gradually grew to accept his constant presence in her life and grew even more to love him.

:While possessed, she picked up the habit of eating tomatoes, because her possessor Pete hates tomatoes, and using masochism, since Pete can share Tazusa's pain, to keep him in line. She has an unlucky tendency to fall asleep when she gets bored, but can never sleep the night before a competition. In the anime, she describes herself as "The 10 Billion Dollar Beauty."

:Initially Tazusa is portrayed as a bratty, cold girl. She doesn't have many friends and lives with her coach and sister. However after spending time with Pete, she slowly changes and opens her heart. Especially in school where Pete helps her through her exams. She also starts to express herself more during the skating routines which enable her to represent Japan in the Olympics. At the same time, Tazusa also falls in love with Pete and she finally realizes what is truly important to her.

; : :A Canadian stunt pilot who died when his stunt plane developed mechanical trouble and crashed in a fireball. As a ghost he needs to wait 100 days before he can go to Heaven (his date of ascension is February 23) and inadvertently ends up possessing Tazusa.

:Pete likes Tazusa and tries to help her improve her public image and succeed in being selected for the Olympics. He even gets jealous of the reporter Kazuya Nitta, as Tazusa seems to have a crush on him. Though Tazusa at first doesn't agree with him and ignores him, he eventually wins her over and she starts to get to know him better, and he designs her "waitress on ice" performance.

:Sometimes, as a way to punish him for annoying her or for any other reason, she will eat tomatoes which he has a strong hatred for. It is the only way she can torture him without having any physical or mental pain inflicted upon her as well (aside from the digestive problems that come when she eats too many, and the embarrassment resulting from this).

:At the first stage of performing at the Olympics Pete kisses Tazusa then during their last performance, Pete kisses her in his ghost form and seems to love her in return. He bids her an emotional farewell as he finally departs.

; : :She is one of Tazusa's skating rivals. She is the preferred choice for the Japanese Olympic representative for Women's Figure Skating because she is closer to the Skating Federation's "ideal" and as such, she and Tazusa are quite competitive. She has a calm personality, and never likes to take risks.

; : :He is Tazusa's coach. He is an all-around nice guy, always seeing the good aspects in everyone. Tazusa and her younger sister live with him because of their parents' divorce. In the beginning of the series, he had believed that the reason why Tazusa was hitting and torturing herself (although it was to hit and torture Pete) was due to stress of having Japan's representative figure skater in the Olympics being chosen soon. He also believes that whenever she is insulting Pete, it is he who is the target of her nasty remarks and also considers this as part of her stress. He reveals Hitomi as his fiancée on Episode 9.

; : :He is a freelance reporter who has a secret crush on Kyōko and tries to help Tazusa in her battles with the mass media. He is a calm and collected figure who believes in and supports Tazusa.

; : :She is Tazusa's level-headed younger sister. She is often seen waking Tazusa up for breakfast and in her competition to cheer her as well. In the novel series, she also figure skates.

; : :She is Tazusa's quiet best friend and the designer of all of her skating outfits. A running gag in the anime consists of Tazusa yelling at Pete who is invisible to other people only to have Mika mistake the target of Tazusa's tirade as herself. Mika's voice actor also sings the ending theme of the anime series.

; : :She is an official from the Japan Skating Federation who claims that Tazusa has a "stone face." In return Tazusa calls her Queen Nasty or Sarcastic the Third. However, she does believe that Tazusa has special potential, which is why she pushes her so hard. In the final episode she recognizes the changes in Tazusa's personality as she breaks her "stone face" in her final routine. She hints that there's more to come from Tazusa, she has only begun.

; : :She is an American figure skater and one of Tazusa's rivals. She is very antagonistic towards Tazusa. She is notable in the anime mainly because all of her lines were in (badly accented) English.

; : :She is a world-class Russian figure skater and the favorite to win gold in at the Winter Olympics. As such, she is Tazusa's strongest rival. She also used the same song as Tazusa in episode 6, prompting her to revise her short program and shift to free jazz. She is a very quiet but dedicated figure skater worthy of her title.

Dave Klein is a lieutenant in the LAPD's vice unit. He has a sister named Meg, with whom he shares an incestuous attraction, and performs contract killings for the mob to cover the costs for law school. Klein has committed several murders, including the unsolved killings of Tony Brancato and Tony Trombino, who were killed in revenge for hurting Meg. He seeks to get out of mob work and begs the dying Jack Dragna to let him go. When he refuses, Klein suffocates him.

After setting up a raid on a bookmaking operation, Klein and his partner, George "Junior" Stemmons, are ordered to protect a witness in a probe into organized crime in boxing. Having been told by gangster Mickey Cohen that another crime figure, Sam Giancana, wants the witness dead, Klein throws the witness out of a high window and makes it look like an accident. Later that night, Captain Wilhite, of the corrupt Narcotics Squad, summons Klein to investigate a burglary at the home of J. C. Kafesjian, a drug dealer sanctioned by the LAPD.

Klein gets a side job from Howard Hughes to obtain information on an actress named Glenda Bledsoe, that would violate the morality clause of her full-service contract. Klein learns through Cohen that Glenda has a "publicity date" with actor Rock Rockwell which violates the clause. During surveillance of Glenda, Klein finds out she, Rockwell, Touch Vecchio, and George Ainge are planning a fake kidnapping. Klein falls for Glenda and decides not to aid Hughes in getting her blacklisted by the film industry. He begins to aid Glenda as he continues investigating the Kafesjian burglary.

Klein discovers that Edmund Exley is still trying to prosecute Dudley Smith and begins working with him. When he meets an undercover officer, Johnny Duhamel, Klein is shot up with drugs and kills him in an act caught on film. Klein is arrested by federal agents and becomes a witness, but is given forty-eight hours before he is taken into custody. Klein and Exley discover that Smith is selling heroin exclusively to the black population in the Southside to keep crime in that area "contained". The two track down the Kafesjians' burglar, Wylie Bullock.

Finding himself grappling with all of his crimes and everything that is happening, Klein decides to meet Smith, who had earlier offered him a deal. Klein brings Bullock but is forced to shoot him when he attacks and maims Smith. Klein tries to flee but is soon caught. While in federal custody, Klein writes a full confession and has copies sent to various press outlets. Only the tabloid magazine ''Hush-Hush'' is willing to print it, but is prevented from doing so by an injunction. Klein manages to escape from custody and hide out with Pete Bondurant; Hughes has Bondurant beat him up, causing Klein to be hospitalized.

Exley sends Klein a package in the hospital, which includes a blank passport and a silencer-fitted .38 revolver. In a note, Exley says he will allow Klein to kill Smith if he feels justice has not been absolute. Instead, Klein murders J. C. and Tommy Kafesjian. He spends one last night with Glenda, takes pictures to remember her by and flies to Rio de Janeiro. In the epilogue, set many years later, Klein plans to return to Los Angeles intending to destroy Exley's gubernatorial campaign, take revenge on Carlisle and Smith and find Glenda.

Ira has one last summer of freedom before having to work in the beet fields with her sisters. Her father hires some migrant workers, and Ira makes friend with Oscar, a Mexican. Despite prejudice of locals, the two build a lasting friendship.

Haakon Haakonsen (Stian Smestad), a young Norwegian boy in the 1850s, becomes the sole support of his family as a cabin boy on a ship after his father is injured. Jens (Trond Peter Stamsø Munch), who was a shipmate of Haakon's father and a friend of the Haakonsens, agrees to be a "sea daddy" to Haakon, teaching him seamanship and acting as an older brother during their voyage.

At first, Haakon has a difficult time adjusting to life at sea, but eventually earns the respect of his shipmates. After shore-leave in London, a British naval officer, Lt. Howell, joins the crew ostensibly to provide protection from pirates. Unbeknownst to the crew, he is actually a notorious pirate named John Merrick, who has murdered the real Howell and taken his identity. Haakon learns that "Howell" has secretly brought guns onto the ship, and Howell attempts to persuade Haakon not to say anything about the guns to the captain.

After the mysterious death of the admired captain (who had been poisoned by Howell's first mate), Howell assumes command. Upon arriving in Sydney, shore-leave is abruptly cancelled and a suspicious new batch of sailors come on board. After departing Australia, Haakon discovers a stowaway (Louisa Milwood-Haigh) named Mary who turns into a love interest. Work on board ship soon becomes terrible for Haakon, Jens, and the original sailors, which intensifies when the new captain finds Mary and demands whomever has been fraternizing with her to show his face. Haakon admits responsibility, and the captain sentences him to be lashed with the cat o'nine tails. Jens protests, saying that whipping Haakon would be an effective death penalty, to which Howell orders that Jens will administer the punishment to Haakon instead of Howell. However, the court martial is interrupted by a terrible storm that damages the mainmast, then sinks the ship. Haakon manages to rescue Mary from the brig but in the confusion is separated from the crew and wakes alone up on a deserted tropical island.

After searching the island, Haakon discovers treasure as well as wanted posters for an English pirate named Merrick (Gabriel Byrne), who looks identical to Howell. (In the first scene of the film, the real Howell was murdered by Merrick, who then stole the identity as a doppelganger). Haakon discovers that the suspicious shipmates (i.e. the new batch of abusive shipmates who were brought on after Merrick's captaincy) are really pirates, who stored the treasure during a hot pursuit from naval forces, and will soon return to the island to extract their loot.

Following a self-training with a sword and gun, Haakon manages to use a horn when a gorilla attacks. This makes the gorilla docile, who then starts to befriend Haakon, behaving like a pet. Haakon devises a set of booby traps anticipating that the pirates will soon return for their treasure. Although Haakon adjusts to the island, he misses Jens, and more so his family back in Norway. One day, Haakon sees smoke from a distant island and tries various attempts to get there on a raft of his own.

Upon successfully arriving there, he finds a village of natives doing a night dance. Haakon encounters Mary in the middle of an altercation with several of the natives. Misinterpreting the situation, Haakon reveals himself and frightens the natives with a gunshot until he backs into Jens, who explains that the natives are peaceful and saved his and Mary's lives. The reunited trio happily depart for Haakon's island the next day.

Shortly thereafter, the three friends witness the arrival of the pirates along with Berg and Steine (Knut Walle and Harald Brenna), two of Jens' friends who survived the sinking ship and are being held prisoner. After Haakon's traps fail to work, he quickly devises a plan to save their friends. At night, Mary sneaks aboard the ship and frees the remaining crew who manage to overpower their pirate guards and retake the ship. Meanwhile, on land, Haakon and Jens manage to distract the pirates long enough to free Berg and Steine and narrowly make it back to the ship, stranding the pirates on the island. Haakon, Jens, Mary and the liberated crew return to their native Norway. Each man keeps a small share of the treasure, with Haakon deciding to use his share to get his impoverished family out of debt.

Back home in Norway, Haakon reunites with his family and introduces them to Mary. His parents agree to take her in until she can reestablish contact with her own relatives.

'''June–December 1916'''. Sixteen-year-old Charley Bourne from London's East End enlists in the British army. Arrives on the Western Front in France shortly before the beginning of the Battle of the Somme. His platoon is commanded by Lt Thomas and Sgt 'Ole Bill' Tozer and private Ginger Jones becomes Charley's best mate. Participates in the opening day of the Somme on 1 July. The platoon suffers heavy losses. Charley witnesses the last British Cavalry charge and takes part in the combat debut of the new Tanks. Guilt-strickened veteran Lonely sacrifices himself to expose the location of a German ambush. Lt Thomas saves the platoon by withdrawing without orders and he is arrested and executed for cowardice. Charley and Weeper Watkins endure harsh field punishment for refusing to join Thomas' firing squad. Ginger is killed by a random shell. Oiley Oliver arrives but does not last long, escaping via a self-inflicted injury. The German 'Judgement Troopers' led by the ruthless Colonel Zeiss stage a counter-attack, penetrating deep into the British lines and nearly wiping out Charley's platoon but their success is halted by the German high command's refusal to give Zeiss reinforcements. Charley is wounded by a stray shell. '''January–March 1917'''. Charley recuperates in hospital and has a spell of leave in London. Discovers Oiley's criminal activities. Charley rescues his mother from a munitions factory during a Zeppelin raid. Encounters deserter Blue and aids his escape after the latter tells him of his experiences with the French Foreign Legion at the Battle of Verdun. '''April–May 1917'''. Charley returns to the Western Front where Cpt Snell (who he encountered as a lieutenant during the Somme) is now his commander. Snell is a ruthless leader who does not care about the welfare of his men. Charley becomes Snell's batman for a short period. A burly veteran Grogan bullies a bookwormish newcomer Scholar and other conscripts. Charley intervenes and he and Grogan eventually fight but the latter is accidentally killed when a discarded shell he picked up to throw at Charley turns out to be live and explodes in his hand. Weeper is wounded and later deserts. During a march to the rear in fierce heat, Sgt Tozer passes out with exhaustion and Snell demotes him to private. '''June–July 1917'''. Snell volunteers the platoon to become miners to plant underground explosives under the German trenches. One of the men, Budgie, is a conscientious objector and Charley defends him from abuse by others. Charley and several of his comrades narrowly survive a cave-in and they break into and destroy a German tunnel. An increasingly pompous Scholar wrangles a transfer away to officer training and Charley begins to regret having helped him. The huge mine that the platoon has set beneath the German lines fails to detonate and an enraged Snell accuses Budgie of sabotage and shoots him dead. Charley follows Snell into the tunnels, intending to kill the latter but another soldier with the same plan gets there before him. In the shootout that follows, Snell is struck in the head by a ricochet and sent away in a coma. * '''August–September 1917'''. Charley's unit takes part in the Battle of Third Ypres. Charley finds and rescues his wounded brother Wilf who has joined up under-age by assuming the identity of a deserter (in a scheme arranged by Oiley). The unit is sent to the training camp at Etaples to prepare for the next great offensive. The harsh and cruelly strict conditions enrage the veteran, war-weary soldiers, eventually igniting the Etaples Mutiny. Charley encounters Blue who is posing as a British officer whilst smuggling food to his gang of deserters hiding in nearby woods. Tozer is remade a Sergeant. Weeper who had been arrested for desertion is freed during the mutiny but is killed whilst saving Charley from a knife attack by another deserter. The mutiny is a success, improving conditions at the camp but Charley is then returned to the trenches. '''October–December 1917'''. The muddy hell of Passchendaele. Sickened by the slaughter, Charley volunteers to be a stretcher-bearer, a duty he performs bravely but he is falsely accused of looting the dead and sacked. A massive British tank attack breaks the German line at Cambrai but the offensive is halted due to in-decision by the British commanders. Scholar returns from officer training. Charley is detailed to become a sniper and the platoon occupies a sector opposite the unit of Corporal Adolf Hitler. Charley and Hitler fight hand-to-hand during a trench raid, nearly killing each other. The two sides enjoy a Christmas truce but Hitler stays in his dugout, refusing to take part. * '''January–February 1918'''. Wilf has transferred to the RFC and is now an observer/gunner in a Bristol F2B squadron. He shoots down several German planes but narrowly avoids death when he is shot down and his pilot Captain Morgan is killed. Back in the trenches, Charley accidentally shoots himself in the foot and is accused of cowardice by the Scholar. Whilst in hospital he meets a nurse Kate and after a frosty start, the former realises Charley is no coward and the two begin a romantic relationship. A written statement from a dying officer saves Charley from a conviction and he and Kate go on leave in London. Snell, rendered psychotic by his head wound, attempts to murder Charley and Kate. '''March–June 1918'''. Charley marries Kate. Whilst on their honeymoon, they receive the news that Wilf is dead, having been shot down after bringing down a German Zeppelin heavy bomber over London. Charley's cousin Jack, a sailor in the Royal Navy, tells of his experiences at the Battle of the Falklands in 1914. Charley, now a Lance-Corporal, returns to the Front, just in time for the massive and sudden German spring offensive. The German Stormtroopers attack Charley's sector and Scholar is set ablaze by a flame-thrower. Charley cannot bring himself to put the dying Scholar out of his agony but the deed is performed by newcomer Skin. Charley rallies a rag-tag group of stragglers and looters to mount a last-ditch defence of the town of Albert. Skin is seen talking to a German soldier who is revealed to be his brother but not before the latter is fatally shot by another Briton. During a battle against the new German tanks, Charley meets Snell, who has managed to secure a transfer back to the fighting, despite being virtually insane. Charley is promoted to full Corporal. Snell murders an African-American Doughboy named 'Pig-Iron' that Charley has befriended and then later kills a British officer who witnessed the earlier crime. '''July–November 1918'''. After a battle against German commandoes, Charley is captured and sent to a POW camp where he meets his cousin Jack. After three attempts, the pair escape and Charley rejoins his unit. The platoon advances towards Germany during the final weeks of the war, taking part in the crossing of the St. Quentin Canal. Skin is shot dead by Snell after the former protests at the latter's execution of German prisoners. On 11 November, the final day of the war, Snell is determined to have the symbolic honour of reaching Mons, pointlessly expending his men's lives. After the platoon is wiped out only minutes before the 11am ceasefire, Snell and Charley have a final showdown. Snell is about to kill Charley but the former is drenched by an acid-sprayer wielded by a surviving German. Ignoring Snell's pleas to be put of his misery, Charley walks away leaving his nemesis to die slowly. Snell's final action had been to 'volunteer' Charley to join the British Expeditionary Force to the Russian Civil War. '''January–October 1919'''. Charley and Bill Tozer head to Russia where they fight alongside the 'Whites' - pro-Monarchist Russians - against the Bolshevik Reds who are defending their Revolution, with Tozer serving as company sergeant major. Charley soon becomes disillusioned at the incompetence and cowardice amongst the Whites, some of whom change sides and join the Reds. Charley prevents rogue Bolshevik Colonel Spirodonov from capturing a White armoured train loaded with refugees and royal gold. '''1933'''. The Great Depression and Charley is on the dole. News arrives that Hitler has seized power in Germany. At this point, writer Pat Mills ceased work on the comic and was replaced by Scott Goodall. '''September 1939 – June 1940'''. Charley reluctantly enlists in the British Army again after learning his son Len has joined up. Joins the BEF in France and participates in the heavy fighting against the German Blitzkrieg and in the long and confused retreat to Dunkirk. Back in England, Ole Bill has joined the Home Guard. Charley's wife Kate is falsely arrested for black-marketeering as, unbeknown to her, Oiley has been stashing stolen goods in her home. Oiley tries to have Bill murdered but the attempt fails and Bill beats Oiley into confessing, freeing Kate from prison. Back in France, Charley finds his shell-shocked son Len at Dunkirk and they escape back to Britain together. Charley decides he has had enough of war.

Zeinal, an Iranian soldier who has been a prisoner of war for more than 20 years, returns only to see that he has been deemed a traitor. The story revolves around Zeinal and Eskanadar who both are looking for a chest containing several important documents.

General Kurama assembles four young agents who had been dispatched around the world for training. They are joined by FBI investigator Diane Martin, whose father was murdered by Egos. The five don powered suits to become the Battle Fever team. The Battle Fever team's trump card is the Battle Fever Robo. Egos tries to stop the construction of the Robot, but the monsters they send to perform this task are defeated one by one by the Fever team. Egos then unleashes the "younger brother" of the Buffalo Monster, a giant robot replica of its "older brother". The Robot, fortunately, is finished in time. Aboard it, the Fever team defeats the Buffalo Monster and its successors. The Fever team never stops, even when it lost two of its members (the original Miss America and Battle Cossack). With new members, the team defeats Hedder, now the Hedder Monster, and breaks into Egos' headquarters, where they are fed into the Egos Monster Making Machine so that they may be used as material for a Battle Fever Monster. The team destroys the machine and slays the mysterious deity Satan Egos himself with the Lightning Sword Rocketter sword-throwing move.

One year after his heroic journey, Balto has mated with Jenna, and they now have a new family of six puppies in Alaska. Five of their puppies resemble their husky mother, while one pup named Aleu takes her looks from her wolfdog father. When they all reach eight weeks old, all of the other pups are adopted to new homes, but no one wants Aleu due to her wild animal looks, forcing her to live with her father. A year later when she is grown, Aleu is almost killed by a hunter who mistakes her for a wild wolf. Balto tells Aleu the truth about her wolf heritage, causing her to run away, hoping to find her place in the world. Balto then goes out into the Alaskan wilderness to find her. At the same time, Balto has been struggling with strange dreams of a raven and a pack of wolves, and he cannot understand their meaning. Balto resolves to find the meaning of these dreams as he searches for Aleu. His friends Boris, Muk, and Luk attempt to join him, but after they are halted by some unknown force, they realize that this journey is meant only for the father and daughter themselves.

Taking refuge in a cave, Aleu meets the field mouse Muru, who explains that Aleu should not be ashamed of her lineage, which tells her what she is but not who she is. Muru reveals himself to be Aleu's spirit guide and tells her to go on a journey of self-discovery. Balto and Aleu reunite and reconcile, and find their way to the ocean, where they are attacked by a group of starving Northwestern wolves led by Niju, an arrogant and vicious wolf. The confrontation is defused by the elderly Nava, the true leader of the pack, who welcomes Balto and Aleu. Nava announces to his pack that the wolf spirit Aniu has contacted him in "dream visions". Aniu has told him that the caribou herd they depend on during the winter has moved across the ocean and will not return and that they will soon be led by a new leader, "the one who is a wolf but does not know". Nava believes that Balto, who is half wolf himself, is the chosen one that Aniu was speaking of. However, Niju refuses to abandon his homeland and takes control of the pack, and plots to steal from other animal clans in the area to survive the winter.

Aleu has a "dream vision" of the caribou herd crossing a bridge made of ice floes. The next morning, Niju prepares to lead an attack on a clan of bears, but is stopped by Balto just as a large group of ice floes in the ocean come together to form a land bridge. Balto then leads the pack across the bridge until Nava falls behind. When Aleu attempts to help Nava, Niju attacks, and Balto doubles back to save them, leaving the pack leaderless. Nava cannot make the journey across the ice in his old age, and Balto tells Niju to go lead the clan. Niju refuses, too afraid to leave his home, and soon returns to the shore. Balto prepares to go to the pack, but Aleu realizes that her true place is to take leadership of the pack as Nava foretold. Balto and Aleu say goodbye to each other before Aleu rejoins the pack and takes over as the leader. Back on shore, Nava bids farewell to Balto before going to look for Niju so they can survive together. The raven appears to Balto again, and transforms into Aniu, revealing herself to be his mother before he begins to make his way home.

The player controls a young hero who has arrived to be trained and eventually become the leader of the game's main setting, Outer Terra. The TaskMaker, leader of the game's world, serves as the player's mentor. The TaskMaker assigns the player ten tasks, the first nine of which are quests to obtain an item from a different dungeon or town. In doing so, the player encounters game elements such as illusionary walls, teleports, traps, and switches, as well as monsters and other non-playable characters with whom the player can interact. After retrieving an item, the player returns it to the TaskMaker, who then assigns the next task.

In the game's next-to-last task, the TaskMaker asks the player to kill a prisoner on his island. Returning to the TaskMaker after killing the prisoner reveals the TaskMaker to be evil, and the game ends; not killing the prisoner results in a battle with the TaskMaker as the final task, and leads to the game's true ending. Once the TaskMaker is killed, the player is declared "master" of the land, and a special menu is unlocked in the game, allowing for the player to edit all the dungeons and villages.

The children's story starts with the twins Pat and Isabel O'Sullivan looking forward to enjoying their first summer term at St. Clare's. Their mother is happy to see them looking forward to school. One day, they go to play tennis with a friend, and meet a girl who has mumps. The twins, to their dismay, are put in quarantine, and are not allowed to go back to school at the beginning of the term.

When they arrive back the following week, they are heartily welcomed by their friends. Five new girls have joined their form. There is an American girl called Sadie, who is obviously quite rich and elegant. The twins discover that their cousin Alison has already made friends with her. There is a wild-looking girl called Carlotta, who is half Spanish. There is a naughty but very likeable girl Bobby (Roberta), who quickly becomes friends with Janet. There is another girl called Prudence, who is quite pretty but has no sense of humour. The last new girl is Pam, who is very hard working but also very shy.

The girls soon discover that Miss Roberts is on the war path. She is the first form head and is determined that her girls should do well and be promoted in next form. The twins also get to know the new girls. Prudence turns out to be nasty, spiteful, and dishonest. She takes a strong dislike to Carlotta, and discovers that Carlotta once belonged to a circus. She reveals Carlotta's secret to the other girls, hoping it will make them despise her, but it only serves to make Carlotta even more popular. Prudence also manipulates the shy Pam under the false disguise of a friendship. As a result, Pam is initially disliked by all of the girls except Carlotta and Isabel, who take pity on her when they realise that she is afraid to tackle Prudence as she does not want to be on her own. Encouraged by the two older girls, Pam eventually stands up to Prudence and ends their forced friendship, becoming friends with Carlotta instead. Bobby initially doesn't seem to care for anything or anyone until Miss Theobald tells her that she is cheating her parents badly. After learning this, Bobby starts working hard, too, though she occasionally plays tricks.

The American girl, Sadie, is like Alison, always caring about her looks. She also hates sports and all outdoor activities (although, unlike Alison, she actually enjoys swimming). However, she is good tempered and laughs at being teased. The girls soon find out that Sadie is an heiress. Sadie's father died and left a will giving away all his money to his sisters, but Sadie's mother won it back through lawsuits. During the term, while Prudence is spying on Carlotta, Sadie is kidnapped, and Carlotta - who finds her tied up, gagged and blindfolded in the back seat of a motor car - goes after her, and stages a fake road accident, during which she manages to rescue her with the help of her circus' friends. The term ends happily for most, with Prudence leaving because everyone hates her for her part in Sadie's kidnap (she could have alerted Sadie to the fact that she was in danger when she and Pam met a strange man lurking around the school entrance but was too busy trying to get Carlotta into trouble to realise this, and ignored Pam's warning to report the man to Miss Theobald), Sadie herself bouncing back strongly from her kidnapping ordeal and preparing to go back to America, and the other girls looking forward to going into second year except Prudence, who is leaving and Pam, who is too young to move into the second form.

Sir David is invited to visit Green Row after a recent journey. He has not been there for a long time and was eager to return. However, the king informs David that townspeople have been disappearing. The king asks him to search for the missing people. After finding a hidden stairway in the graveyard, he discovers a large dungeon of many floors underneath the town.

In the dungeon, as he begins to find the missing people, he gradually learns the story of an evil wizard named Ragno Roke, who was angered by the queen's rejection of his marriage proposal. As revenge, Lord Roke has planned to use the kidnapped townspeople as a sacrifice to reawaken the evil demon Ramiah, sealed long ago in the dungeon. As David descends, he passes through a town of goblins, and a guild of wizards who have been operating in the dungeon.

At the end of the game, David confronts both Roke and Ramiah. At this point the townspeople have been rescued, but Roke tells David that his own life would be sufficient revive Ramiah and sacrifices himself, bringing Ramiah to life for a final battle with David. After a victory, David leaves on horseback.

Dixiana Caldwell and her friends, Peewee and Ginger, are circus performers in the antebellum Southern United States. When Dixiana falls in love with a young Southern aristocrat, Carl Van Horn, she leaves the circus where she is employed and, with Peewee and Ginger, accompanies Carl to his family's plantation in order to meet Van Horn's family. At first thrilled with the news of their impending nuptials, Carl's father and stepmother, Cornelius and Birdie Van Horn, throw a lavish party for the couple. However, Peewee and Ginger inadvertently disclose Dixiana's background as a circus performer, creating a scandal for the elder Van Horns.

Asked by the stepmother to leave in disgrace, Dixiana and her friends return to New Orleans, seeking to gain re-employment from her former employer at the Cayetano Circus Theatre, but they are regretfully refused by him because of the way she had departed. Desperate, she takes employment at a local gambling hall, run by Royal Montague, who also has personal designs on Dixiana. As part of his plan, he intends to financially ruin Carl and his family and use Dixiana to accomplish that purpose.

Things come to a head when Dixiana is crowned queen of the Mardi Gras. When Montague absconds with her, Carl challenges him to a duel, but, when a disguised Dixiana shows up in his stead, she tricks Montague into revealing his nefarious plans. Carl and Dixiana are reunited.

Joe Palooka (Stuart Erwin) is a naive young man whose father Pete (Robert Armstrong) was a champion boxer, but his lifestyle caused Joe's mother Mayme (Marjorie Rambeau) to leave him and to take young Joe to the country to raise him. But when a shady boxing manager (Jimmy Durante) discovers Joe's natural boxing talent, Joe decides to follow him to the big city, where he becomes a champion and begins to follow his father's path of debauchery, much of it including the glamorous cabaret singer and fortune hunter Nina Madero (Lupe Vélez). The film also stars William Cagney, the younger brother of actor James Cagney in the role of the adversary prize fighter to Knobby. Finally his mother comes to the city to look after things...

On New Year's Eve morning, 1999, in Dupont Circle, Washington, D.C., a killer referred to as 'the Digger' guns down tens of innocent people at the metro station. A man, Gilbert Havel, sends a letter to the Mayor Gerald Kennedy demanding twenty million dollars cash to be dropped off at a park near Interstate 66 in bags. The letter goes on to explain that if his demands are not met the Digger will continue to strike at secret locations – at 4 p.m., 8 p.m. and at Midnight. Kennedy decides to deliver the money to the extortionist to ensure no more innocents are harmed and to make sure the town doesn't lose faith in the Mayor as election time is nearing.

Agent Margret Lukas, the agent responsible for the case, wants to either put tracking on the bags, or take the extortionist down when he comes for the money. However, Havel is killed in a hit-and-run incident before he can make it to the drop-off point.

All that Agent Margret has now is a letter, a dead body, and the knowledge that since the Digger had not been called off he will continue to carry on the remaining attacks. Assisting her in the investigation are officer Len Hardy and Detective Cage.

At his home, retired FBI Document Examiner Parker Kincaid is spending time with his daughter and son and studying a letter that was supposedly written by late President Thomas Jefferson. It is when he is debating the authenticity of the letter that his ex-wife, Joan, comes and tells him that she wants the custody of their children. To Parker's dismay Joan's social worker will be at his house the next day.

Parker receives an unwanted call from Cage, an old friend, and Cage tells Parker that he needs Parker's help with a letter based on the subway shootings. Sensing this as a bad idea because of his children, Parker declines. After some time pondering about the shooting and all the innocent children like his own that had died and ensuring his son Robby that 'the Boatman' (a suspect from Parker's past case that tried to break in Robby's window) won't show up, Parker shows up under Lukas' investigation site.

Parker studies the letter and concludes that although the writer seems dumb or foreign by the mistakes he makes, that it is on purpose and the extortionist is actually intellectual. He also makes note of a strange stroke done over the letter 'i' which he dubs the 'Devil's Teardrop'.

In scans conducted by Hardy and Parker there is an imprint on letter caused by being under another piece of paper. The imprint has '-tel' which the team concludes that the second attack site must be a hotel.

The plot involves a young woman (Mary Eaton) who wants to be in the Follies, but in the meantime is making ends meet by working at a department store's sheet music department, where she sings the latest hits. She is accompanied on piano by her childhood boyfriend (Edward Crandall), who is in love with her, despite her single-minded interest in her career. When a vaudeville performer (Dan Healy) asks her to join him as his new partner, she sees it as an opportunity to make her dream come true. Upon arriving in New York City, our heroine finds out that her new partner is only interested in sleeping with her and makes this a condition of making her a star. Soon, however, she is discovered by a representative of Ziegfeld.

Lucille approaches Michael, asking him to be her partner to “Motherboy”, an annual mother-son dinner dance. In every year prior, she went with Buster, but is embarrassed that he now has only one hand. Michael refuses to go with her. Meanwhile, George Michael is getting ready to go on a Christian camping trip with his girlfriend. Upon hearing this, Michael tells him not to go, and to instead visit Buster. Gob speaks with Michael about planning his divorce to his wife, who he married on a dare and barely remembers. He learns that the seal who bit off Buster’s hand (owned by Gob’s wife) had a tracking device on it. He and Michael decide to go after it, to try and recover Buster’s hand for a transplant.

Tobias meets with Carl Weathers at a Burger King, speaking about a project Carl is working on, which is about George Sr.’s escape from jail. He tells Tobias that in order to be in the episode, he needs to sign a release for the family. Later, George Michael meets Buster, per his father’s request. While there, Lucille offers to take him out of town to the camping trip, which he complies with. He soon learns that she is instead taking him to the Motherboy event. Having signed away his family’s life rights for the role of George Sr., Tobias begins research for the part. He sees George Sr. in the Bluth’s attic, who threatens him not to tell anyone of his whereabouts. When he hears of the show, he asks Tobias to act manly in the role.

Gob, Michael, and Buster arrive at the port where the seal’s tracking device had gone, only to find that the seal had been eaten by a shark, which carried the tracking device to the port. Buster mentions to Michael that George Michael had gone to Motherboy, and they both agree that they have to ‘save’ him from the event. Gob meets with his lawyer Barry, who tells him to say in court that he never consummated his marriage. Barry then says: "I missed breakfast, so I'm on my way to Burger King," and then jumps over the shark on the pier.

Gob later meets with his wife and tells her that he plans to tell the court this, but they end up having sex. Michael and Buster stake out the Motherboy dance, looking for a chance to create a diversion and take George Michael home. They confront Lucille, and she takes on Buster as a dance partner when Michael leaves with his son. When Motherboy ends, Michael takes George Michael to the camping trip to see his girlfriend.

On the next ''Arrested Development''...

Gob argues his case in court that his marriage was never consummated, but his wife shows a recently taken picture of him next to her with his shirt pulled over his head. The judge says there’s no way to tell who it is, but Gob admits that it’s him, causing his lawyer to leave the room.

The narrator's housekeeping agency dispatches her to the house of the Professor, a former mathematician who can remember new memories for only 80 minutes. She is more than a little frustrated to find that he loves only mathematics and shows no interest whatsoever in anything or anyone else. One day, upon learning that she has a 10-year-old son waiting home alone until late at night every day, the Professor flies into a rage and tells the narrator to have her son come to his home directly from school from that day on. The next day, her son comes and the Professor nicknames him "Root". From then on, their days begin to be filled with warmth.

The novel is narrated by Nathanial Delaney, a teenage boy with a self-confessed Hamlet complex and social ineptitude, which can be credited to his lack of a stable environment; he and his mother have been moving frequently since the divorce of his parents. Their most recent home is the seaside town of Cheshunt, an apparently quiet community that Nathanial immediately dislikes, citing the town's bitter wind and abattoir stench as the primary reasons. His resentment causes tension between him and his mother, and their relationship becomes more strained as the story goes on.

Many themes are portrayed in this novel including good vs evil, inner struggle, human nature, conformity vs individuality, friendship and cooperation.

Nathanial soon discovers that there is more to dislike about the town than the smell. The school, Three North High, is victimised by its brutish student patrol, which is under the orders of the vice principal. Mr Karle "invites" Nathanial to join the school's youth group, The Gathering. He believes strongly in cooperation, and hence does not encourage individualism. Nathanial declines to join The Gathering, which becomes an issue with the school patrol.

While walking his dog one night, Nathanial accidentally stumbles on a meeting of a group of three students from Three North: Danny Odin, Indian Mahoney and Nissa Jerome. A fourth member is not present, a school prefect, Seth Paul. The group are known as The Chain, and they tell Nathanial they have been brought together by the "forces of light" to fight a deep evil in Cheshunt, an evil headed by Mr Karle (whom they refer to as "The Kraken"). When Nathanial is caught and questioned by The Chain, they are all informed by the group's prophetic guide, Lallie, that Nathanial is the final of the chosen members of their clan and his arrival heralds the beginning of their battle.

Throughout the novel Nathanial overcomes his cynicism and begins seeing signs of The Dark everywhere, most centrally in the past; in studying the history of Cheshunt he uncovers many parallels between his situation and past events. Throughout the story he also gradually learns that each of his fellow members have deep personal demons, and his role in The Chain and the Binding of the Dark becomes clear in the final chapters, where the grand showdown between The Dark and The Light takes place.

Along the four seasons the Mexican audience knew about Tito Sánchez and his family, a very traditional Mexican family that suddenly becomes rich, when Mercedes Lozada, one of the richest women of Mexico, meets Tito Sánchez when she's trying to commit suicide and he saves her life, she is sick (cancer) and she's gonna die soon, so she thanks him and names him as the President of her company Lozada Corporation.

Sánchez lives with his sister in law, Yoli (Martha Mariana Castro) who is deeply in love with him but she's kept that as secret for so many years. Yoli's sister, so Tito's wife, died 6 years ago so Yoli helps Tito with his children: Leo, Hilda, María and Maxi and treats them as if they were her own kids. Tito also lives with his brother Raúl (better known as Laisa Libertad) who is homosexual and is always dressed as a woman, he also acts that way.

First season

When Tito and his family get rich, they move to a very nice house, they meet then their neighbours, the Uriarte family, they are Emilio (Alejandro Bracho), Charito (Leticia Huijara) and Facundo (Leo Rey). They always try to make Los Sánchez life impossible, but Emilio falls in love with Laisa, he's the only one who doesn't notice that Laisa is not a woman. Charito falls in love with Omar (María's boyfriend, he's considered as part of the Sánchez family and he's younger than Charito) and Facundo is in love with Hilda, one of Tito's daughter.

Tito meets Cecilia (Martha Christiana), a beautiful, elegant and smart woman and falls in love with her, Yoli gets very sad because Tito starts to prefer Cecilia and doesn't realize what Yoli feels, so Yoli decides to confess her feelings and tells Tito that she's in love with him, with no answer from his part...

Trying to forget, Yoli lives a romance with Paul Manzini (Luis Miguel Lombana) who is Emilio's best friend, he loves Yoli but after a month she ends that relationship for she can't forget Tito, finally Tito ends his relationship with Cecilia and gives a chance to Yoli, even when he's still in love with Cecilia.

The first season ends with the cancellation of Yoli and Tito's wedding, after Cecilia leaves pregnant, Cecilia never comes back again but Yoli doesn't want to marry Tito because she doesn't want him to suffer.

Second season

The story goes its way on the second season but at the end some characters don't appear anymore: Paul Manzini, Charito, Emilio and Facundo are some of them, this season ends with Tito and Yoli's wedding, when he finally accepts that he loves her and she tells him that she's pregnant.

Third season

The third season comes with a lot of fantasy on it, an angel that takes care of the family, new characters that don't catch the audience's attention anymore, so after a great success ''Los Sánchez'' ends with the traditional happy ending.

Littlefoot has an ominous "sleep story" (dream) where he sees the "Great Circle" (the sun) falling out of the sky, and when he mentions it to his grandparents, they reveal they are sharing the same experience, with his grandpa lamenting that they need to go somewhere. Littlefoot explains his situation to his friends and they become interested. Led only by their instinct, they leave the next day. Out of curiosity, Cera, Spike, Ducky, and Petrie follow them. During their trek, Littlefoot is nearly eaten by a ''Sarcosuchus'' while playing in a swamp, but a ''Supersaurus'' named Sue saves his life by stepping on the predator and joins him and his grandparents, as she is driven on by the same sense as them. They are soon joined by dozens of other Longnecks feeling the same instincts. Meanwhile, Littlefoot's friends are attacked by the ''Sarcosuchus'' in the same swamp that Littlefoot and his grandparents passed through, but they manage to escape. That night, they sleep next to what appears to be a large boulder. The next morning, they discover that the "boulder" was a sleeping grey ''Daspletosaurus'', which wakes up and chases them. They escape into a small cave and meet Pat, an elderly ''Apatosaurus''.

Littlefoot, his grandparents, and Sue reach a large crater where hundreds of Longnecks have gathered. There, he meets his long-lost father, Bron, for the first time. Bron tells Littelfoot how he was separated from Littlefoot's mother during the great "earthshake" (earthquake) in the first film. During his wanderings in search of Littlefoot, Bron became the leader of a herd of longnecks and the guardian to a young, mischievous ''Brachiosaurus'', Shorty, who becomes jealous of Littlefoot taking all of his father's attention. Meanwhile, Pat tells Littlefoot's friends that the Longnecks are being driven by a tradition involving a solar eclipse, which was taken as a sign that the sun will be sent crashing down into the Earth by the "Night Circle" (the moon). Every solar eclipse, Longnecks from all around the world gather in one location to stretch their necks up and "catch" the sun, so they can propel it back up into the sky. Soon after, Pat steps into a pool of lava, which burns his leg badly, but he is still able to move as they escape the lava field.

On the day of the eclipse, Littlefoot wakes up to see Shorty traveling over the crater walls and running away, out of spite for being ignored by Bron. He catches up to Shorty and convinces him to stay; the two reconcile and agree to see themselves as brothers. Moments later, Littlefoot's friends appear, with a brown ''Daspletosaurus'' pursuing them. Pat defends the children but is slowed down by his burned leg. Bron rushes to their aid and is able to temporarily knock out the Sharptooth, then a third green ''Daspletosaurus'' and the grey ''Daspletosaurus'' arrive. Littlefoot's grandparents join in the fight and defeat the green Sharptooth. Bron fights the brown Sharptooth again while Pat fights the grey one. As soon as all three Sharpteeth are defeated, the eclipse begins, and the sudden darkness scares away the Sharpteeth towards the end.

Littlefoot, his grandparents, Bron, Shorty, Sue, and Pat take their place among the other Longnecks, who have all gathered on top of the crater walls. They succeed in "catching" the sun, and everyone rejoices as the eclipse ends. With their mission completed, the different Longneck herds depart on their separate ways. Sue departs with an ''Ultrasaurus''. Littlefoot's friends ask Pat to come live with them in the Great Valley, which he accepts. Littlefoot is initially hesitant in leaving Bron, as he is the leader of a migratory herd, but he eventually realizes that he belongs in the Great Valley. Accepting this, Bron leaves with Shorty and his herd, promising to keep in touch with Littlefoot and visit him. Littlefoot returns to the Valley with his friends, grandparents, and Pat.

Verne sets the plot by stating, "The Argentine Republic had displayed a happy initiative in constructing this lighthouse at the end of the world," within Elgor Bay and the harbor of Saint-Jean "forms a kind of pendant to Elgor Bay." The despatch boat ''Santa-Fé'' arrived on Oct. 1858 to construct the lighthouse, which was inaugurated on 9 Dec. 1859, standing 103 feet in height on top of a mound 120 feet high, and illuminated by oil. The lighthouse guided ships into the Le Maire Strait or south of the island, and was to be staffed by 3 keepers over the next 3 months, until the return of the ''Santa-Fé''.

Unbeknownst to Vasquez, Moriz, and Felipe, the chief lighthouse keeper and his helpers, the island was the domain of a dozen marooned pirates, who bide their time in wrecking.

Two of them are murdered by a band of newly arrived pirates led by one Kongre. Vasquez, the only survivor, spends several months until the dispatch boat ''Santa-Fé'' is due to return, surviving off the pirates' hidden stores of food in a cave. After the ''Century'', an American ship from Mobile, Alabama, crashes on the island due to the light's having been put out by the pirates, Vasquez bands with the sole survivor of the wreck – First Officer John Davis – to stop the pirates from escaping into the South Pacific.

They manage to scavenge a cannon from the wreckage and shoot the pirates' ship, the ''Maule'', as it is about to leave the bay they are situated in. The shell only causes minor damage, however, and the pirates' carpenter is able to fix it in only a few days. The night before the ship is about to attempt to leave again, Vasquez swims to the ''Maule'' at its mooring and plants a bomb in the rudder. This causes, yet again, only minor damage, and is fixed in only one day. The next day however, Carcante, the second-in-command of the pirate ship, spots the ''Santa-Fé'' on the horizon. Fortunately for the pirates, it will not arrive until nighttime, and the ''Santa Fe'' can't possibly get into the bay without light from the lighthouse. This will give the pirates the perfect chance to slip out and sail around the southern side of the island, which they know quite well by now.

Vasquez and Davis, however, return to the lighthouse and turn the light back on. The troop of pirates tries to regain the lighthouse and kill the two, but they find the bolted iron door to the staircase too reinforced to break down. Kongre, the band's leader, orders Carcante and the carpenter to climb the side of the lighthouse and murder Vasquez and Davis at the top, but they are shot as soon as their heads peek over the banister. Kongre and the remaining pirates realize it is all over for them and flee to the island's interior. Most surrender afterward, a few starve, and Vasquez watches as Kongre commits suicide. Vasquez returns home with the ''Santa-Fé'' after making sure the island is safe for the new lighthousemen.

The first three series centred on the bungling exploits of Selwyn Froggitt as Working Men's Club secretary and a council labourer in the fictional Yorkshire town of Scarsdale. Bill Maynard described Froggitt, a burly, balding and good-natured man often clad in a donkey jacket, as "this naïve boy who never grew up".<ref name="Northern Life"</> Maynard took inspiration from Bottom, a comic character from Shakespeare's ''A Midsummer Night's Dream''. Froggitt has an urge to improve his life and that of everyone around him; he carries ''The Times'' and often tells people "there was an article about it in ''The Times''" regarding subjects he has brought up. Maynard considered this an important part of the character, explaining "I wanted him to be intelligent, always anxious to improve himself. The easy route would've been to use old cliches, like Malapropisms and Spoonerisms, but that would have made the character too one-dimensional. By getting him to read ''The Times'' and be an ardent student of dynamic word power, we gave him the breadth to spread the comedy over a wide range of subjects. We wanted people to laugh ''with'' him, not ''at'' him".<ref name="Stand Up"</>

Froggitt lives with his mother (Megs Jenkins) and his brother Maurice (Robert Keegan). Maurice's girlfriend, Vera Parkinson, was played by Rosemary Martin in the first series. In the second and third series (during which Maurice and Vera marry), Vera was played by Lynda Baron. A running gag is Froggitt's mother saying, "Don't open that cupboard our Selwyn, things fall out!" whenever he opens the cupboard in the Froggitt front room, before objects fall from it. Froggitt is on the committee of his local working men's club, serving as concert secretary in charge of booking "turns". Froggitt's colleagues on the committee are the dour Scouser Jack (Bill Dean), Harry (Harold Goodwin) and excitable, stereotypical Welshman Clive (Richard Davies), often referred to as Taff by Selwyn. All decisions taken by the club committee are taken on a "show of hands..." and "carried unanimously". In keeping with the ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' characterisations, Maynard saw the committee as the mechanicals.<ref name="Hannam"</> Froggitt is incompetent at everything he turns his hand to, being equally inept at his day job (digging holes and filling them in), do-it-yourself at home, and booking acts for the club. Nevertheless, he is honest and hard-working, unlike the other committee members, who usually sit back in comfort while Froggitt does the manual labour. They generally tolerate him because he is prepared to volunteer for unwanted tasks. Barman at the club is Raymond (Ray Mort), often seen answering the telephone with a number of highly fictitious and fanciful addresses.

The show's humour included a fair measure of slapstick alongside Plater's typical northern humour. It was mainly shot at Yorkshire Television Studios on Kirkstall Road, Leeds, whilst outdoor location filming for the series took place in Skelmanthorpe, West Yorkshire and Elvington, North Yorkshire. The series was a ratings success, reaching peak viewing figures of 29 million.<ref name="Leicestershire Live"</>

Between the second and third series, Bill Maynard suffered a slipped disc and used a wheelchair. He recovered sufficiently in time for the commencement of filming of the third series on 5 September 1977. Alan Plater would later say that Maynard had "a constitutional resistance to learning the script".<ref name="Plater interview"</>

In the fourth (and final) series, the format of the show changed radically. This version of the series was entitled ''Selwyn''; all of the regular cast from the first three series (bar Maynard) left the show, to focus on and pursue other TV work. The Froggitt character became entertainments manager at a seedy holiday camp on the east coast. Plater was no longer involved with the series, but with disappointing audience reactions a planned fifth series was cancelled.

Following the end of the situation comedy (''Oh No It's Selwyn Froggitt''), Maynard's next character couldn't have been more different from the bumbling Selwyn Froggitt. Fred Moffatt is a survivor – just. Bearded, wearing a battered hat and a crumpled suit, his Rover P6 a rusting wreck, he runs a struggling engineering firm and is constantly trying to avoid his creditors, the tax man, the bank manager, and indeed anyone who might want him to pay for something.

The series' background accurately reflected the precarious condition of many small businesses of the era and added a dark undercurrent to the situation comedy. Unlike the physical comedy of ''Selwyn Froggitt'', the scripts for ''The Gaffer'' were wordy and sardonic and the plots relatively complex, with Fred Moffatt usually managing to outwit at least some of the people who were chasing him for money.

The cast included Russell Hunter as the radical union shop steward whose interest was in parting Moffatt from as much money as possible to better pay his members, and Pat Ashton as his ineffectual secretary Betty.

Abrupt End

The third and final series (broadcast 1983) saw Moffatt elected to the local council, extending his struggles to local politics. But, disgruntled with the losing battle he was fighting, in the final episode ("Goodbye"), Moffatt upped sticks, sold off the business to his employees and emigrated to Australia to make a new start, only to return and take back the business after having attended his son Spencer's wedding. However the series thus ended abruptly, despite its success, after a two-year run.

In later years, it was suggested that during the production of series 3, White (the creator of the show) protested that Maynard kept changing his scripts too much, thus embittering the relationship between the two and so a planned fourth series was cancelled. White revealed details of the dispute which ended the series in a 2014 newspaper interview [http://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/Hit-TV-sitcom-writer-Graham-White-91-produces/story-22054486-detail/story.html]. Graham White published a sequel novel entitled "The Gaffer's Guerillas" which takes the story into the present day [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gaffers-Guerillas-Graham-White/dp/1780037155].

''School Days'' focuses on the life of Makoto Itou, a first-year high school student living with his divorced and unseen mother in the fictional city of Haramihama. During his second term, he becomes infatuated with Kotonoha Katsura, a soft-spoken schoolmate who shares train rides with him to and from campus. When the classroom seating plan of his class is rearranged, he becomes acquaintances with Sekai Saionji, an upbeat girl who takes a special interest in his newfound crush, befriending the two and providing them the grounds to meet. Despite her triumphant efforts, however, Sekai becomes jealous of the new couple, having developed feelings for Makoto herself.

Rook Barkwater lives in the network of sewer-chambers beneath Undertown, in which a society of librarians has established itself, secretly opposing the cruel Guardians of Night. Rook, a lowly under-librarian, dreams of becoming a librarian knight—one of the select few to travel into the Deepwoods and gather information which may lead to the discovery of the cure to stone-sickness (an affliction which has destroyed the buoyant rocks, making skysailing impossible). Rook does not expect his dreams ever to come true—his best friend, Felix Lodd, seems a much more likely candidate—but, to everyone's surprise, Rook is chosen to be a knight, along with Stob Lummus and Magda Burlix.

Rook, Magda and Stob make their way along the Great Mire Road, a shryke-controlled bridge that has been built to traverse the marshy Mire in place of sky ships. While on the way, Rook helps an imprisoned sky pirate, Deadbolt Vulpoon, to escape. Finally, the librarian knights arrive in the Eastern Roost, a large shryke-city. Employing the help of a male shryke, Hekkle, who is friendly to the librarians, the three make their way across the Deepwoods, eventually arriving at the Free Glades.

After arriving there, Rook, Stob and Magda are joined by Xanth Filatine, a disguised Guardian of Night who is secretly channelling information to the Guardians so that they may ambush the librarian knights as they travel. During Rook's studies, he learns to create a skycraft, which is a small, flying one-person vehicle. Xanth breaks his leg in a skycraft accident, and cannot embark upon his treatise-voyage, the journey for which the knights have been studying. Rook also makes a raid on the Foundry Glade, along with Felix Lodd's sister Varis Lodd (who saved Rook from slavers when he was very young) and the slaughterer Knuckle. The purpose of this raid is to free the banderbear slaves that are kept there. During this raid, Rook takes a poisoned arrow to the chest to save a banderbear's life.

Rook embarks on his treatise-voyage. His goal is to find the Great Convocation of Banderbears. Rook befriends a young banderbear named Wumeru, and he follows her, against her will, to the Convocation. The banderbears discover his presence and are about to kill him when the banderbear who Rook saved in the Foundry Glade stands up for him. Rook is then introduced to Twig, the main character and sky pirate from the second Edge Chronicles trilogy, now an old man. Twig reveals that his sky ship, the ''Skyraider'', has not yet succumbed to stone-sickness. Along with a crew of banderbears, the two set out to attack the fortress of the Guardians of Night: the Tower of the same name. Their purpose is to free Cowlquape Pentephraxis, an old friend of Twig's.

While Twig and the ''Skyraider'' keep the Guardians busy, Rook sneaks into the tower on his skycraft and frees Cowlquape. As he is about to fly free, a rope becomes snagged and the skycraft is stuck. Xanth, the traitor, confronts Rook. The two had become good friends during their time together in the Free Glades, a fact that Xanth apparently had not forgotten. Xanth cuts the rope quickly, allowing Rook to fly away safely with Cowlquape.

The ''Skyraider'', meanwhile, had succumbed to stone-sickness, and was slowly dropping over the Edge. Rook and Cowlquape mourn the end of Twig, who had been struck by the crossbow-bolt of the chief guardian of night, Orbix Xaxis and had decided to go down with his ship. However, at the last minute, Twig's caterbird, who had sworn to watch over him for always, catches him and flies towards the rejuvenating waters of Riverrise. Whether they make it in time is left as a cliffhanger.

Number Six is persuaded to run for election to the post of Number Two when it is suggested to him by the new incumbent that, should he win, he will finally meet Number One. Number Fifty-Eight, a newly arrived young woman who speaks only an unidentified Slavic-sounding foreign language (really "a meaningless linguistic pastiche specially invented by the scriptwriters") is assigned to Number Six as his assistant, which she enthusiastically embraces, although he does not. Both men campaign for the office, with Number Six subversively offering freedom to the Village masses if he is elected. Number Six participates ambivalently, but abruptly makes a break for freedom himself in the midst of the campaign by escaping in a motorboat. He is retrieved on the water by Rover while he robotically mouths campaign platitudes.

Number Six and Number Two drink and commiserate in a cave where illegal liquor is distilled and Number Two states that he detests The Village. Number Six is again repeatedly drugged and coerced into accepting the campaign, and wins the election when virtually all the robotic "citizens" vote for him. As he and Number Fifty-Eight go to the Green Dome to take command of the Village, she agitates him by playing with the buttons on the control panel before brutally slapping him around at least four times with surprising strength, then stunning him with bright lighting. As Number Six becomes somewhat more lucid and attempts to broadcast to the Villagers that they are free to go, he is beaten by a group of mechanics in coveralls, and Number Fifty-Eight, now speaking perfect English, reveals herself as the real incoming Number Two, while the previous Number Two prepares to head out. She asks her departing predecessor to give her "regards to the homeland".

The film takes place in a 1950s-esque alternate universe where radiation from space has turned the dead into zombies. This resulted in the "Zombie Wars", where humanity battled zombies to prevent a zombie apocalypse, with humanity the ultimate victor. The radiation still plagues humanity, as all those who die turn into the undead, unless the dead body is disposed of by decapitation or cremation. In order to continue living normal lives, communities are fenced with the help of a governing corporation named ZomCon. ZomCon provides collars with accompanying remote controls to control the zombies' hunger for flesh so as to use them as menial task servants.

In the town of Willard, housewife Helen Robinson (Carrie-Anne Moss) buys a zombie (Billy Connolly) in spite of her husband Bill's (Dylan Baker) zombie phobia, as Bill had to kill his own father who had become a zombie and tried to eat him. Their son, Timmy (K'Sun Ray), befriends the zombie, naming him "Fido" (little is revealed of his "pre-zombie" life, except that he likely died of myocardial infarction as evidenced by the chest incision). One day, Fido's collar malfunctions and he accidentally kills their next door neighbor, who turns into a zombie. Timmy "kills" the zombified neighbor later, but not before she kills and infects another person, causing a small zombie outbreak. ZomCon security forces quell the situation and then investigate what caused the outbreak.

When a pair of local bullies get caught shooting a ZomCon officer, they are suspected of shooting the missing neighbor, but they point the blame on Fido who hurt them when they tried bullying Timmy. The bullies later capture Fido and Timmy, who are out on a walk in the country. Fido escapes and, in a parody of Lassie, is sent by Timmy to go home and find Helen. Helen comes and rescues Timmy from the bullies (who, through their own misadventure and Fido's hunger for human flesh, are now zombies), and they try to forget about the whole thing. Several days later, the neighbor's body is 'uncovered' and the murder is traced back to Fido, who is taken away to ZomCon where the family is told he will be destroyed. Timmy learns through Cindy Bottoms (Alexia Fast), daughter of Jonathan Bottoms (Henry Czerny), ZomCon's zealous security chief, that Fido has been put to work in a factory at ZomCon. Timmy sets out to rescue him with the help of Mr. Theopolis (Tim Blake Nelson), a previous ZomCon employee who was forced to leave when it was discovered he was suspected of fraternizing with his attractive female zombie.

Meanwhile, Timmy locates Fido, but is captured by Mr. Bottoms, who attempts to throw Timmy into the zombie-infested "wild zone" that exists outside of the fenced communities as punishment for his becoming attached to a zombie. Bill comes to the rescue and is killed in a struggle with Mr. Bottoms, who in turn is killed by Fido. Timmy is set free and the news media states that the ZomCon security breach was the fault of rednecks who ventured out into the wild zone to hunt zombies for fun. Helen gives Bill the headless funeral he always wanted in order to prevent his zombification. The film ends with Fido as a surrogate father to Timmy, Helen, and Helen's newborn baby. They, along with a few neighbors, happily enjoy their new domestic lives together, including the zombified Jonathan Bottoms who is now under the control of his daughter.

Shaggy discovers that his uncle Colonel Beauregard has died and left him his country estate, which is on a Southern plantation. After being chased away by a ghost witch, Shaggy, Scooby and Scrappy head for the estate in order to claim Shaggy's inheritance. Before they can get there, they meet Sheriff Rufus Buzby, who warns them about the whole estate being haunted and that they should leave. Before he can fully convince them, he receives a call from dispatch, notifying him that a circus train has derailed and a circus ape has escaped. Leaving Shaggy, Scooby and Scrappy, they continue driving, but upon their arrival they are pursued by a headless horseman, a ghost wolf, and by the alleged ghost of the Colonel who taunts them, telling them to leave or else they will face the consequences.

They also meet the creepy manservant Farquard who tells them that a vast fortune in jewels is hidden somewhere on the estate, which he believes is rightfully his and that Shaggy has no business there. Initially, Shaggy wants to leave, but before they can do that, his truck sinks into quicksand, forcing him, Scooby and Scrappy to spend the night there. With ghosts haunting the place, Scrappy has the idea to call a group of ghost exterminators called The Boo Brothers. Surprisingly, the exterminators—Meako, Freako, and Shreako—are themselves ghosts styled after The Three Stooges, who proceed to hunt down the ghosts that are haunting the estate, with little success. On top of all, Shaggy meets Sadie Mae Scroggins and her shotgun totting older brother Billy Bob Scroggins whose family has an old feud with the colonel. After knowing that Shaggy is related to the colonel, Sadie falls in love with him and Billy Bob wants to shoot him.

After things calm down a little, Shaggy, Scooby and Scrappy decide to go to the kitchen to eat something, only to find proof that the famous fortune in jewels is real, when they find a diamond with a clue to a treasure hunt. Intrigued by that very first clue, the gang decides to hunt down the rest of the jewels much to Farquard's chagrin and Sheriff Buzby, who is on the trail of an escaped circus Gorilla, and is skeptical about the jewels' existence.

They follow the trail through a number of clues that the Colonel has hidden for them, which takes them to several different points in the mansion and also in the rest of the plantation. As they progress in their treasure hunt, things become harder, with numerous ghosts appearing, including the Ghost of Colonel Beauregard, the Headless Horseman, and the Skull Ghost. To make matters worse, they also have to deal with Billy Bob Scroggins and his sister Sadie Mae, the escaped Ape, and a very angry Bear, who keep showing up. On top of that, the Boo Brothers reveal themselves incapable of getting rid of any ghost, only causing more mayhem whenever they try to help.

After much treasure hunting, they finally find the last clue, revealing that the treasure is hidden in the mansion's fireplace, much to the happiness of the Skull Ghost, who holds the gang at gun point, and tries to claim it for himself. After catching him, they find out that the person behind the Skull Ghost is the Sheriff. As they unmask the ghost, the real Sheriff comes in, revealing that the Skull Ghost is actually his greedy twin brother, T.J. Buzby impersonating him, as well as the remaining ghosts that were haunting the place.

With the treasure found, Shaggy is taken by the Boo Brothers' story that they need a home to haunt, so he turns the mansion over to them and the treasure is put into the Beauregard Trust Fund for Orphans. Saying their goodbyes, Shaggy and the dogs drive back home. Along the way, they encounter once more the ghost of Colonel Beauregard, which Shaggy thinks is another prank of Scooby's, until he realizes it's real, and speeds away as fast as possible.

15-year-old Neil Miller's world explodes when he and his family are involved in a car accident that kills his parents. Sent to live with his grandparents in a small village named Winchelsea, England, Neil suffers from post traumatic stress. Soon, a devastating illness, called the Calcutta Plague, makes headlines, killing thousands of people in India in a matter of months. The virus begins spreading across the world, making its way to the small village where Neil lives. It is a strange illness as it only affects the adults and none of the children, and once again Neil finds himself an orphan after his grandparents succumb to the disease.

Neil attempts to care for two younger children also orphaned by the plague, but they also contract the virus and die as he tries to care for them. During this time Neil notes that he has contracted the plague, but after a brief fever it leaves him unaffected. Now the sole survivor in Winchelsea and deciding that the village is becoming dangerous -- packs of feral dogs roaming everywhere -- he leaves for London, taking first a manual Mini which he has difficulty driving, followed by an automatic Jaguar.

Arriving in London he meets his first fellow survivor - the mentally unbalanced Clive, who although friendly towards Neil, during the night vandalizes his car to the point of destroying it, steals his mother's ring that Neil had kept, which was the only memory of his mother he had, and then abandons him in central London.

Soon after he finds two girls, Lucy and Billie, creating an unstable threesome. Attracted to Neil, Lucy begins pulling away from Billie, and in her fear of loneliness and out of desperation attempts to kill Neil when they are on a foraging expedition. She stabs him in the back. Neil discovers she has emptied his gun but he manages to overpower Billie and escapes back to Lucy.

Billie arrives back at the house and pleads with both Lucy and Neil to let her back in, but they decide that they could never trust her again, and leave her outside. In the last paragraph of the book Neil abruptly changes his mind, feeling that he would never get over the guilt of leaving Billie to die, and with Lucy goes downstairs to open the door and let her back inside.

;Part One The reader is introduced to friends and colleagues Bunzō and Noboru, who both work as low-ranking government officials in Tokyo. Bunzō has just lost his job for no apparent reason, startled because he considers himself to be more educated than the majority of the staff, while another colleague was fired for talking back to the supervisor. He returns to his home at his uncle Magobei's house, where he has been raised since the death of his father. The only other persons in the house are his aunt Omasa, Magobei's and Omasa's daughter Osei, and maid Onabe (Magobei is seldom at home due to his job, while their son is attending a boarding school). Osei, who is described as a volatile and superficial character, has just reached the age to get married. Bunzō has been in love with Osei for a long time, but although she treats him kindly and her parents have hinted at their endorsement of a possible marriage, Bunzō has not found the courage to tell Osei of his feelings. He receives a letter from his mother who lives in the countryside, in which she expresses her hope that, once he has married and settled down, he will take her in with him. When Bunzō finally finds the right moment to tell Omasa of his dismissal, she blames his pride and nonconformity as the reasons for this and points to the career-orientated Noboru as a positive example. She reminds him of his responsibility for his old mother, while the subject of a possible marriage with Osei is not touched upon anymore by her. A bit later, Noboru pays a visit to give the news of his promotion. Omasa suggests to visit the chrysanthemum displays at Dangozaka together the day after tomorrow and, after Noboru has left, tries to awaken Osei's interest in the successful young man.

;Part Two Omasa, Osei and Noboru make an excursion to Dangozaka together. At Dangozaka, Noboru runs into his supervisor, who is accompanied by his wife and his young sister-in-law, and smooth-talks him. Meanwhile, Bunzō, who stayed at home at his own will, is disappointed by the fact that Osei seemed not to care about his not joining them. A few days later, Noboru visits again. With Omasa and Osei present, Noboru tells Bunzō that rumours of rehirings at the office have been spreading, and offers to put in a good word for him. Bunzō feels insulted to the extent that he has to keep himself from hitting Noboru. He eventually breaks ties with his former friend, for which he is scolded by Omasa who considers Noboru a regular guest of the house, urging him to reconsider Noboru's offer. Bunzō approaches Osei, convinced that she still feels for him and will take his side. Instead, he has to learn that not only Osei refuses–at her mother's instructions–to share his viewpoint, but has also grown fond of Noboru. Furiously, he vows never to speak to her again. When Omasa hears of this, she declares that all plans of a possible marriage between Bunzō and Osei are now extinct.

;Part Three Bunzō, treated disdainfully by both Omasa and Osei, considers moving out of his uncle's house and has even found a small apartment to rent, but can't bring himself to take final steps. His attempt to explain himself to Osei is angrily fended off by her. Noboru has started giving English lessons to his supervisor's wife and sister-in-law, and when he shows up for his now less frequent visits, he is more involved in discussing business affairs with Omasa than in speaking to Osei. Osei tries to attract his attention with an increasingly childlike behaviour, but eventually loses interest in him and convinces her mother to pay her knitting lessons. Meanwhile, Bunzō has come to the conviction that Osei is in danger of taking a downhill route under Omasa's influence and that someone has to save her. During one of their next encounters, Osei, while getting ready to go to the public bath with the maid, gives him a sympathetic glance instead of a contemptuous one like in the past weeks. Bunzō decides that he will try to talk to her once more upon her return and, in case that he fails again to make her listen, will leave the house once and for all.

In the opening cinematic of ''Iridion 3D'' Earth is attacked without warning by the Iridion, who take over much of the surface and lay mines in orbit and bombs in the Pacific Ocean. The player is the pilot of an experimental SHN fighter, the last hope for defending Earth from the Iridion. The player pilots his ship alone against hordes of Iridion fighters and natural obstacles. The early stages begin on Earth, with the player fighting through an Iridion garbage tunnel. The player proceeds to the Pacific Ocean and destroys much of the Iridion invasion fleet on Earth before heading into the stratosphere to destroy the orbital blockade around Earth and subsequently annihilating the Iridion boss at the Moon.

With the invasion fleet in ruins, the player heads into the far reaches of space. After destroying an Iridion mining colony within an asteroid belt, the player proceeds into the Iridion home system. Eventually the player fights the Iridion on their home world, destroying the Iridion "mainframe" and ending the alien threat forever.

The story revolves around a ballet dancer who is planning to make a film version of the ballet ''Giselle'', and how his romance with a young woman parallels the plotline of the ballet.

Perdita Durango (Rosie Perez) has gone to Mexico to scatter the ashes of her dead sister. There, she is picked up by bank-robbing drug dealer Romeo Dolorosa (Javier Bardem). Dolorosa had robbed the bank to pay off his debt to loan shark "Catalina" (Demián Bichir). He also engages in scams in which he pretends to be a Santeria priest and hacks up corpses while snorting cocaine.

Romeo's latest scam is working for gangster Mr. Santos (Don Stroud) transporting refrigerated human fetuses to Las Vegas where they will be used to make cosmetic moisturizer.

Perdita devises a plan that they should capture a gringo and eat him as part of Romeo's ceremonies. They kidnap randomly chosen geeky college student Dwayne (Harley Cross) and his girlfriend Estelle (Aimee Graham). First, Perdita rapes Dwayne while Romeo rapes Estelle. They hold a ceremony to sacrifice Estelle while they force Dwayne to watch. Before the girl can be killed the sacrifice is interrupted by a gang of men led by Shorty Dee (Santiago Segura), a betrayed former partner of Romeo.

Romeo and Perdita escape with Dwayne and Estelle still their captives. The four go to the meeting with Santos' people to pick up the truckload of fetuses. Unfortunately, the hand-off is interrupted by drug enforcement agent Woody Dumas (James Gandolfini). Santos' men are all killed. Romeo escapes and drives to Vegas with Dwayne, while Perdita follows with Estelle.

On the trip, Romeo finds out his grandmother's house was raided by some of Catalina's men as punishment for Romeo's unpaid debt. Romeo visits Catalina in a club, pretending to offer Estelle as payment. When he gets Catalina alone, Romeo kills him.

Romeo, Perdita, Dwayne and Estelle finally get to Vegas. However, Dumas has been following them all the way. Moreover, the drop has become a trap for Romeo; Santos is upset about all the deaths at the pick-up so he has hired Romeo's cousin Reggie (Carlos Bardem) to kill Romeo.

Romeo and his one-armed ex-marine buddy Doug go to the drop, tipped off about the double-cross. Romeo leaves Perdita to watch the hostages, but Perdita's nervousness overcomes her. She lets Estelle and Dwayne go so she can check on her lover.

Reggie kills Doug and Perdita arrives just in time to see Reggie shoot Romeo in the back, killing him. Perdita shoots and kills Reggie and then flees as the cops bust in, led by Dumas, intending to arrest the men but instead finding them all dead.

Alone now, Perdita walks the Las Vegas strip mourning Romeo.

Various versions

The original Spanish version runs 10 minutes longer and features more sex and violence and ends with some characters digitally morphing into the scene finale from ''Vera Cruz''.

The film is available in the United States on VHS/DVD in two versions: the edited 115 min. R-rated version and a 121 min. unrated version. Both of these are shorter than the Spanish version which has gotten a Blu-ray release in the United States.

Jeffrey/Ganesh (Ryan Reynolds) has been raised with the ideals of social activism as part of his everyday life. His father spends the better part of their lives fighting for social justice in India. After his father dies fifteen-year-old Jeffrey is sent to live with his aunt Charlotte (Glenne Headly) in the small town of Paris, Ontario. Through several comedic situations and with considerable effort, he manages to make friends and fit into his new, much smaller world of his. However, when his aunt receives an unfair eviction notice from her sleazy landlord (Paul Anka), every bit of his background and training comes into play, as he works with her to put on a well-publicized hunger strike, or Satyagraha, which wins the admiration of the local citizens.

A cricket match ends in a player (Colonel Hawke-Englishe) being assassinated with a bomb disguised as a cricket ball. Number Six is on an operational assignment, but it is unclear whether this is "real time", pre-The Village, or possibly another induced hallucination.

Secret messages are passed to him at a shoeshine box. In a record shop, he receives an assignment to find a Professor Schnipps who has been working on a rocket that will destroy all of London. It turns out that Colonel Hawke-Englishe was investigating the matter, which is why he was assassinated. He picks up where Colonel Hawke-Englishe left off in another match, but manages to avoid the same fate. He finds a note to meet a mysterious person at the local pub; while there, he drinks from a glass that says ''You have just been poisoned''. He then starts to drink numerous spirits to try and vomit out the poison.

When he goes to the restroom, he gets another message to meet at the Turkish bath. While he is relaxing, a mysterious figure places a plastic dome over his head and locks his stall. Avoiding death, he now gets another message to go to the carnival, to the local fight. Number Six dresses up in a Sherlock Holmes costume with deerstalker hat and cape, with moustache and mutton chop sideburns. At the fight, he is picked for the next match and told by his opponent to go to the tunnel of love. He then hears the voice of a woman, which is a recording in his boat that is rigged with explosives. He tracks down, and is tracked by, a seductive woman called Sonia, alias "Death". She leaves the amusement park with Number Six in pursuit.

They come to an abandoned village, where Sonia has set traps. He successfully evades all of them, goes into a shed to avoid being shot, and rides a bulldozer. Sonia destroys it with a rocket launcher and departs.

Eventually, after faking his death, Number Six tracks Sonia to a lighthouse where Schnipps (dressed as Napoleon) and his associates are based. His lieutenants are dressed in Grande Armée uniforms and represent an apparently anti-London alliance composed of Scottish, Welsh, Irish, and Northern (particularly Yorkshire) marshals.

Number Six sabotages their firearms and hand grenades, rigging them to backfire or malfunction. Captured, Number Six is tied up and left inside the lighthouse, which is revealed to be the rocket. As it is about to launch, he escapes and the rocket blows up without launching, killing his adversaries.

In the end, it turns out that the adventure was nothing but a bedtime story, which Number Six was telling to some children in the Village nursery. Number Two (who looks like Schnipps) and his assistant (who looks like Sonia) were hoping that he would drop his guard and allow some clue as to why he resigned.

But Number Six, after putting the children to bed, turns to the hidden camera and cheekily wishes: "Good night, children... everywhere."

On an otherwise ordinary day in Los Angeles, air traffic controllers in contact with American Airlines Flight 117 have the flight appear on a radar screen. The air traffic controllers instruct the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 airliner to make an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport.

The flight crew responds by saying that it is unable to maintain altitude, and begin an emergency descent. Meanwhile, during a traffic report, a man is driving a Jeep Grand Cherokee down a mysteriously empty stretch of I-405 as a two-mile stretch was shut down to be used as the airliner's emergency landing strip. Soon, AA Flight 117 appears on its final landing approach while the driver of the Jeep attempts to outrun the incoming DC-10.

During touchdown, the airliner's nose gear collides with the back of the Jeep with the nose gear collapsing, and the fuselage slamming onto the Jeep's roof. The two vehicles are locked together, pushing the Jeep to a much higher speed. The driver tries to slow the careening aircraft but in the process of slowing down, the DC-10 and the man's car narrowly miss an elderly woman driving slowly in her Lincoln Continental. While sliding to a stop, the massive airliner's wheels miss the Lincoln Continental, with the wing of the aircraft passing overhead.

The incident ends with police cars arriving; at that point, the elderly woman drives slowly past, extending her middle finger at the Jeep's driver.

Ayaka Kisaragi is a beautiful woman descended from a long line of Japanese exorcists. However, bored with their traditions, she started her own business, Phantom Quest Corp. The headquarters of the company is Ayaka's quaint little family home, nestled between the skyscrapers of Shinjuku, Tokyo. Along with the traditional knowledge she possesses, Ayaka also uses very unconventional weapons while attacking ghosts and demons, including a lipstick case that turns into a laser sword and earrings that explode into spiritual energy. Although she is very competent with her skills, Ayaka's own bad habits (overindulgence in sake, karaoke, and shopping binges) often cut into the company's meager earnings and interfere with paying the various experts whose help she usually depends upon. Also, because of her drinking, she often sleeps in bed late, which her partner and business associate Mamoru Shimesu has to find creative ways of waking her up. Along the way, and with a little help from various spiritual specialists, Ayaka can usually be found battling vampires, poltergeists, and cutthroat competitors bent on driving her out of business.

Two best friends, Johanna and Jeanne, live in the small town of Decazeville, a mining town in France. One year at the Miners' Ball, the music group The Sirens perform, of which Johanna and Jeanne are members.

In a spontaneous moment, a new friend of Johanna's (named Luc) discovers Johanna and Jeanne's incredible musical talent and singing ability when they sing a duet together without musical accompaniment.

The two girls begin practicing and recording in a studio together with the help of Luc and an arranger, Jasper, and finally manage to record a tape with a few songs.

A co-worker of Jeanne's joins their team as Jasper's assistant. Just after Luc leaves for Paris to take the tape around to various record companies, the others spot posters for a music contest, but only single artists may enter, and Johanna is chosen by the group to enter.

She appears on live TV and is an instant hit, but with only one problem: as she begins to perform before the cameras, Jasper cuts out her mike and inserts a recording of Jeanne's voice instead.

Everyone except for this small group of insiders believes it's really Johanna singing, and their lives snowball from there.

In the game, a global culinary conglomerate, Omnifood, controls over 60% of the world's restaurants and is rapidly growing. The player must compete against Omnifood.

The player takes the role of Armand LeBeouf, a recent graduate from a French culinary school given the opportunity by his uncle to run his own restaurant. Later, the player is given the opportunity to attract investment capital and open more restaurants.

''Waters'' focuses on seven young, attractive men in need of money, who audition for host positions at a bar called Dog Days. However, "hosts" at the bar have the job of entertaining female customers by flirting with them in hopes that they spend more money on alcohol. Each host came from a different background, including a street performer and a banker.

The drama in the film begins when they discover the bar's manager has stolen several of their deposits. Not wanting to see the men fail, the bar's owner gives up the bar to the men, so they are able to open their own "host club." The bar owner's granddaughter, played by Riko Narumi, help the men get started and teaches them how to properly run a business.

The novel begins by showing the state of play in Undertown. The usurper Vox Verlix is now trapped in the Palace of Statues having lost control over all his grand projects. The Guardians of Night took over the Tower of Night when they drove him out, the Shrykes seized the Great Mire Road, and the goblins Vox hired to enslave Undertowners and build the Sanctaphrax Forest cut the Most High Academe out of the loop. Vox was left as nothing more than a puppet used by General Tytugg of Undertown to keep the Shrykes at bay. The situation also appears to be coming to a head. The Shrykes are massing for war. The goblins in Undertown seem much more aggressive, with numerous assassins sent to kill Vox, who is now too obese to leave his Palace of Statues. To cap all this, strange sightings are being reported by Librarian Knights on patrol; demonic creatures are seen emerging from a former Undertown district named Screetown, a rubble wasteland. This is revealed to be down to the work of the Most High Guardian of Night, Orbix Xaxis, who is having his executioner Mollus Leddix feed captured librarians to rock demons.

Rook Barkwater is on patrol duty, noting the sweltering weather, when he is struck by a fireball and sent hurtling to earth. He awakens, battered and bruised, to find his skycraft the ''Stormhornet'' broken beyond repair. Rook hopelessly traverses Screetown, pursued by predators, one of which, a Rubble-ghoul, almost kills him, until he is rescued by his old friend Felix Lodd, Varis' brother, whom Rook and all the other librarians believed to be dead in Screetown, as rumour had it nobody could survive there. Felix takes Rook back to his hideout for the night, having formed a gang called "the Ghosts of Screetown", who trap and hunt whilst attempting to free as many as Sanctaphrax Forest slaves as they can.

Rook journeys through Undertown after bidding farewell to Felix, seeking a way back to the sewers, only to be caught by goblins. Rook is put up for auction in the slavesale, but escapes being sold into the Sanctaphrax Forest and is taken to the Palace of Statues instead. There, he meets Hesteria Spikesap, an old potioneer, along with Speegspeel, an ancient goblin butler, paranoid that the statues in the palace are trying to kill him. Rook is almost brainwashed by Vox's advisor, an amoral ghost-waif named Amberfuce, but he resists and keeps his identity. Rook the bizarre task of "feeding the baby," a gigantic cog-wheel system filled with volatile phraxdust.

After Rook foils a goblin assassination on Vox, Cowlquape, former Most High Academe of New Sanctaphrax before Vox's coup, arrives at the Palace as an envoy for the Librarians. After trading blows over how Cowlquape's vision for unity amongst all never came to pass, Vox explains his reason for summoning the librarians: a dark maelstrom is mere days away, and its strike will wipe out Undertown and any who remain. Vox advises that all evacuate the sewers and flee down the Great Mire Road for the Free Glades, and asks for help in escaping the Palace. Vox also offers a plan to dispose of their enemies: by luring the Shrykes and goblins into the sewers with the promise of helpless librarians, the Great Mire Road will be left unguarded. Rook and a brainwashed goblin assassins are sent to the Shryke and goblin armies, offering the means to infiltrate the sewers, so both armies are set to meet there in two days time at the eleventh hour.

The Librarians work fervently to build ships and rafts and evacuate just in time. Alquix Venvax, an ancient professor, unwilling to leave the library that has been his home for most of his life, remains behind. The librarians also send Rook's four banderbear friends to the Palace of Statues, to help Vox escape the Palace.

Meanwhile, Magda Burlix, looking for Rook in Screetown since he crashed, is captured by Guardians of Night. Xanth Filatine, who acted as a spy in the Free Glades at the time Magda learnt her craft, finds himself as her interrogator. He soon repents all his evil and saves her from his masters, also stealing an essential component for Midnight's Spike – an electrical conductor atop the Tower of Night for the curing of stone sickness (It is the Guardians of Nights belief unfounded by science that lightning will end stone sickness). Their first escape ends with their capture. As they are lowered to their supposed execution, Xaxis reveals his plan: he has had a tunnel dug into the sewers, where Magda and Xanth will be pursued by the Rock Demons, who will devour the Librarians. Xanth and Magda manage to stay ahead of the beasts and meet Venvax in the library, bidding him farewell when they realise he will not leave. As the goblin and shryke armies enter the sewers to kill the librarians, Venvax sacrifices his life to let Xanth and Magda escape the goblins. The Shrykes soon engage Tytugg's forces in battle, causing huge carnage. However, the Rock Demons then arrive and proceed to slaughter both sides – any who survive are wiped out in the flood.

On board the barges, Rook and Cowlquape realise the purpose of Vox's baby; Vox did not predict the maelstrom, for the sphere of phraxdust will be volatile enough to trigger such an event if it is fired into the sky (a previous attempt caused Rook to crash the ''Stormhornet''). They also realise that, with his escape now assured, there is nothing to stop Vox triggering the storm at any hour he pleases. Rook desperately swims back to shore and climbs up the Palace of Statues to stop the maelstrom. He arrives in time to see the butler Speegspeel move to set off the storm an hour before Vox's 'prediction'. Rook fights and kills Speegspeel, but then releases the storm himself by unintentionally mixing his sweat with the phraxdust. The storm destroys Undertown and the Ghosts of Screetown evacuate all the inhabitants. As the storm reaches its peak, the Guardians of Night attempt to harness the lightning to cure the Sanctaphrax rock of Stone Sickness. However, Mollus Leddix discovers Xanth's theft of the deadbolt too late, and is unable to keep Midnight's Spike aloft. Orbix Xaxis throws Leddix to his death, and insanely attempts to act as a human conductor in the place of the spike. The lightning does indeed strike, but only obliterates the Tower of Night. Rook rejoins with the Librarians, and admits he set off the Storm, which could have been prevented. However, the Librarians forgive him, eager as they are to leave the sewers, and knowing that if Rook had not intervened, the storm would certainly have been triggered anyway.

Finally Vox's bower appears. Sensing his thoughts being probed, Rook attacks it to find that the waif Amberfuce has betrayed Vox as well, leaving him to die in the Palace of Statues. The book ends with Vox trapped in the Palace of Statues with Hesteria Spikesap, realising the extent of Amberfuce's betrayal just as Spikesap kills him by force-feeding him Oblivion. Hesteria reveals she has an unhealthy love for her master, and cradles his dead body as the Palace begins to collapse.

At the start of the film, the US Government has ordered a branch of the US Military to discontinue tests concerning "the C.H.U.D. project," which is built around the idea that enzymes taken from the sewer dwelling creatures from C.H.U.D. can make hyper-effective killing machines in the army. Bud Oliver, the last specimen of the experiment, who has come to be known as "Bud the C.H.U.D.," is hidden away in a Centers for Disease Control office in a small American town, from which a trio of bungling teenagers steal him, and accidentally reawaken him in doing so. Bud escapes and begins to forge an army of C.H.U.D.s.

The game tells the story of the Blackwood estate on the outskirts of Rothbury, a small rural town in Northumberland, England in 1976.

Originally owned by James T. Blackwood in 1963, the house is passed to Christopher Milton after Mr. Blackwood is accused of murdering his wife. A couple of days later, Mr. Blackwood dies of a sudden heart attack though some in the town start rumors that he might have committed suicide. The police decide to close the case seeing there is no further evidence left. Shortly after acquiring the house, Milton inexplicably disappears in 1970 leaving no visible trace.

The player assumes the role of the house's next inhabitant, Michael Arthate, an author seeking seclusion to work on his next book. He moves in only to find that the house still echoes its horrible past quite literally as ''scratches'' are heard all around, particularly in the basement and fireplaces, and soon becomes more interested in researching the house's history than his writing.

In the end, it is revealed the scratches were being caused by Robin, the deformed son of James and Catherine, who was locked in the basement. Michael flees the house after this discovery, finishes his novel, and becomes a prolific novelist as a result from his encounter.

Original Ending

Originally, the player was supposed to use an amulet to kill Robin, turning him back into a human. They would themselves die if they were not able to figure the puzzle out. Lead developer Agustin Cordes said the ending was "completely unfair in terms of design," and it was subsequently abandoned.

Last Visit

In the Director's Cut edition of the game, a sidequest called "The Last Visit" continues the narration from where Michael had fled. A reporter is sent to uncover the mysteries of Blackwood Manor before it will be destroyed. The place has become a scene of ruin; full of looting, vandalism, and graffiti. The reporter ultimately discovers Robin, who chases him until Milton appears at the manor to speak with Robin. Robin leaps onto Milton and presumably kills him as the reporter escapes. Blackwood Manor is then demolished and the reporter notes that the mystery of a mask found inside the home remains unsolved.

The novel begins with the main characters, Jonathan and Barbara as they are introduced to each other. Some years later, seem happily married in a Washington, D.C., suburb. They have a dream house, filled with a lifetime's worth of antiques that they have collected, two children (Eve and Josh), a dog and a cat. Both of them are successful with their work, and they have recently hired an ''au pair'' to aid in the upkeep of the house and the children. Jonathan is a successful lawyer, and Barbara has embarked on a gourmet business endeavour with a promising start.

However, when Jonathan has what is believed to be a heart attack Barbara realizes she no longer loves him and would not be distraught if he died. Upon returning home, she tells her husband that their marriage is over and it has been for some time and he never realized it.

Barbara hires the best divorce attorney in town. Jonathan would like the divorce to go smoothly. He offers Barbara a monthly allowance, as well as half of everything they have. Barbara rejects the offer, demanding the house and all of its contents, reasoning that as the homemaker, she was the one putting the house together, raising their children, and making it a home they both wanted. Jonathan refuses this rationale, puts an attorney of his own on a retainer, and opts not to move out, citing an old legal precedent which permits a couple to live under the same roof while going through a divorce.

Despite the warnings of their attorneys, both take it upon themselves to make the other miserable with sabotage, vandalism and violence.

Robert Leaf (James Stewart) is an American college professor, who won a Pulitzer for poetry and prizes the arts. Both Robert and Vina (Glynis Johns) are dedicated to the arts and prompt their children, Pandora and Erasmus, to develop artistic skills. The Leaf family lives on a houseboat in San Francisco. The Captain (Ed Wynn) sold the Leafs the boat and lives with them; he provides narration.

Professor Leaf, in particular, is dismayed to discover that eight-year-old Erasmus (Billy Mumy) is tone-deaf and colorblind, as he can't share the family's artistic pursuits. Moreover, Erasmus is a mathematical prodigy. The Professor is wary, wanting him to understand that this is only one part of his life. Erasmus agrees, but unwittingly calls media attention to himself by correcting figures at a bank. After, his parents become very determined that he have a normal child's life. They decide to have him talk to a psychiatrist, too. Erasmus tells the psychiatrist that math is okay, but he really loves French movie star Brigitte Bardot and writes her love letters.

18-year-old Pandora (Cindy Carol) and her friends pay Erasmus to do their math homework (he uses the money for airmail stamps to send his letters to Brigitte). The Leafs take Erasmus for testing at the university; he agrees to be tested if they'll pay him. He answers questions correctly before the computer can calculate, and the officials push for more tests. The Leafs refuse, wanting him to have a normal childhood; besides, Erasmus wants to leave.

Called to the Dean's office, a sheriff informs the Professor that Erasmus has been using his skills to calculate bets for an undercover campus betting ring run by Ken Taylor (Fabian), Panny's boyfriend, who was paying him to pick winners. Accused of complicity, the Professor quits his job and storms home. He and Vina question Ken and Panny. When paid, Erasmus shows his parents that he calculates winners by reading daily racetrack newspaper entries; Penny reveals that he spends his earnings on stamps. Troubled, his parents discuss if Erasmus deciding odds for people is immoral/ethical or not, concluding it's wrong.

The Professor applies for unemployment and is told that he must wait two weeks for a check. Erasmus gives him the money that he's saved up from doing math problems, so that Penny can have a new prom dress. While buying it for her, they meet Dr. Peregrine Upjohn (John Williams), who admires the Professor. That evening, the Professor's delighted to learn from Erasmus' psychiatrist that his son loves Brigitte Bardot, as Erasmus has been unhappy with the attention paid to his math skills and this is such a regular interest.

Upjohn proposes they found the Leaf Foundation to fund liberal arts scholarships. The Professor and Vina love this idea. During their talk, students march to the houseboat, demanding that the Professor return to work; he accepts and announces the Foundation. Conferring, the Leafs decide that it isn't unethical to ask Erasmus if they can use his talent to fundraise for such a good cause.

Brigitte invites Erasmus to visit her in France. Upjohn suggests that Erasmus go, as it'll promote the Foundation. The Professor accompanies him, Upjohn assisting the Leafs with their flight costs. At Brigitte's house, Erasmus stares at her adoringly, barely speaking, and asks for her autograph. The Professor takes a picture of them together, despite Erasmus looking at Brigitte, not at the camera. She gives him a puppy from her pet poodle and thinks he's adorable.

Upon returning, Erasmus calculates different bets to fundraise. While falling asleep one night, he says, "Fromage," leading the adults to think he's picking longest of long-shots, "French Cheese" in the sixth race. At the track the next day, he denies picking her, to everyone's horror. French Cheese wins her race, and the family's ecstatic. The Professor then realizes that Upjohn, who held the tickets, has left the stands. Upjohn, who's actually a con artist and plans to abscond with the funds, is collecting the winnings. The Professor finds him and grabs the bag of money, declaring that it's for the Foundation. The Dean affirms this statement. The press overhears and asks for a photo-op of the Professor, the Dean, and the Foundation's new endowment.

The story concerns a young man living at home, André (Selton Mello), whose ideas are radically different from those of his farmer father (Raul Cortez). The father advocates order and restraint, which enhance his own power under the guise of family love. The son seeks freedom and pleasure, exemplified in his passion for his sister Ana (Simone Spoladore). When André moves to a seedy boarding house, his older brother Pedro (Leonardo Medeiros), is asked by their mother (Juliana Carneiro da Cunha) to bring him back. His return, however, will shatter the family's insular life.

After 1982, the world experienced a devastating nuclear war. Fallout and radiation has caused widespread mutations to human and animal populations alike. There is a new messianic religion, akin to gnosticism. The members of this religion, known as the Servants of Wrath or SOWs, worship the creator and detonator of the war's ultimate weapon, Carleton Lufteufel (from the German words "Luft," meaning "air," and "Teufel," meaning "Devil"), ex-chairman of the Energy Research and Development Agency of the United States of America - ERDA/USA.

In Charlottesville, Utah, there are ample debates between the Servants of Wrath and the diminishing congregations of Christians left in existence.

The Servants of Wrath's faith is based on an "anger-driven" traditional perception of godhood, compared to that of the Christian survivors, and it is from this that the book derives its name- ''deus irae'', Latin for "God of Wrath". Tibor McMasters is an armless, legless cyborg phocomelus artist who has been commissioned to paint a mural of Lufteufel, though nobody knows where Lufteufel lives, or what he looks like.

The Servants of Wrath leadership ask McMasters to find Lufteufel and paint his mural. En route, we learn about the absence of national communications systems after the widespread destruction caused by nuclear warfare. McMasters and other seekers encounter mutant lizards, birds and insects who have evolved sentience, as well as the "Big C", a decaying artificial intelligence that also survived the war; it survives by consuming humans for their trace elements.

While trying to remove shrapnel from his forehead, Lufteufel loses consciousness from loss of blood, at which point his intellectually challenged "daughter", Alice, tries to remove some of the blood using a shirt. This leaves a bloody imprint on the fabric. Alice keeps the shirt because it is the only remaining likeness of his face, leaving her with the only true relic of the God of Wrath, evoking the Christian legend of the veil of Veronica and the artifact known as the Shroud of Turin.

Going under the name “Jack Schuld” (German for "guilt"), Lufteufel kills a dog belonging to McMasters, and McMasters murders Lufteufel without realising his identity. After his death, Alice is visited by Lufteufel's "spirit" . He does not speak, but he helps Alice by "lifting the fog in her brain", removing her disability. She sees that his spirit is finally at peace. Alice is not the only human to experience a theophany related to Lufteufel's passing. Another survivor has a vision of a "Palm Tree Garden" equivalent to the Garden of Eden. This implies that Lufteufel may have been a gnostic demiurge, an evil earthbound deity who believes itself omnipotent, but whose abilities are constricted compared to "higher levels" of divinity.

However, McMasters has no knowledge of Lufteufel's death or of the alleged visions related to his death. He is tricked by his (Christian) companion Pete into using an elderly dying alcoholic vagrant for the likeness of Lufteufel for the commissioned church mural, which is prominently featured in leading Servants of Wrath institutions. The mural's survival is a tacit argument that religious belief is often based on mythological accretions, which may not be valid interpretations of decisive events in the history of that faith.

The Maloney family live in a Victorian town, Yankalillee, in the Wangaratta-Wodonga area. The family is in many ways dysfunctional, but they are also fiercely loyal to each other and their friends and supporters. They start the novel far down the social ladder, but strive to rise up it, in spite of those who seek to keep them down.

The Green Lantern of Earth, Kyle Rayner, crashes at Highway Hill on Earth in a spacecraft, mumbling to the two hikers who find him, "It has a name". His power ring begins speaking, "Parallax is coming…"

A series of strange and disturbing incidents then begins to occur. Jordan, pronouncing judgment on the villain Black Hand, becomes unable to focus clearly, and senses that something is wrong, telling his friend Oliver Queen (a.k.a. Green Arrow), "None of this should have happened. This isn't me. This isn't who I am." The shape-shifting Vuldarian physiology of former Green Lantern Guy Gardner begins going haywire. Coast City, long destroyed, suddenly reappears to two pilots flying over it, though the only building that is restored is Hal Jordan's old home.

When confronted, Jordan tells the Justice League that he is not responsible for the restored Coast City. Suddenly, Stewart goes berserk, attacking the other heroes, his ring now intoning, "Parallax is coming". Meanwhile, at the Justice League Watchtower on the Moon, the emergency power ring that Jordan once gave Green Arrow duplicates itself, and flies to Gardner's finger, restoring him as a Green Lantern.

Back at Highway Hill, the extraterrestrial Green Lantern Kilowog appears, and inexplicably attacks Kyle Rayner. However, Ganthet, one of the Guardians of the Universe, appears to stop Kilowog, attempting to protect the coffin, which it is revealed holds the corpse of Hal Jordan. He and Kilowog engage in a fierce battle, and Rayner himself feels something within his ring attempting to take over his will, much as with Stewart and Kilowog. Ganthet teleports Rayner and Jordan's corpse to the Watchtower. Meanwhile, Jordan investigates the appearance of his old apartment building, where he is confronted by the Parallax version of himself, who engages in a battle of wills with the Spirit of Vengeance bonded to Jordan's soul.

It is then that the Spectre explains to Jordan the truth about Parallax, while simultaneously on the Moon, Rayner does so to Queen. Rayner explains that he journeyed to the edge of the universe within Sector 3599, and on the 10th planet from the star Pagallus, the inhabitants told him that Parallax was actually a yellow demonic parasitic entity that was born at the beginning of sentience, feeding on fear, creating terror in anything it came into contact with, and causing entire civilizations to destroy themselves out of paranoia. It was this creature that the Guardians of the Universe imprisoned within the Central Power Battery on Oa, using fear's opposite energy, willpower. Rayner explains that there is an emotional electromagnetic spectrum into which the collective willpower of the universe is collected by the Central Power Battery, and that green willpower is the most pure. Parallax had lain dormant for billions of years, his true nature covered up by the Guardians to prevent anyone from trying to free it, and thus, it had eventually come to be referred to as simply "the yellow impurity". This was the reason why the rings were useless against the color yellow: Parallax weakened its power over the corresponding spectrum, and hence only someone capable of overcoming great fear could master the power ring. The Guardians, therefore, selected only such persons to become Green Lanterns.

But at some point in recent history, Parallax was awakened, weak and hungry. It reached out to Jordan through his own ring when Jordan was at his weakest, spending years influencing him, causing him increasing self-doubt and fear. Parallax's control over Jordan exploded with his grief over the destruction of Coast City. It was Parallax's influence that was responsible for Jordan's subsequent murderous activity. When Jordan destroyed the Central Power Battery, he unknowingly freed Parallax, which grafted itself onto his soul, and suppressed Ganthet's memories of the parasite. It was because Parallax was now free that Kyle Rayner's own ring did not have any weakness against yellow. Following Jordan's sacrifice of his own life during the ''Final Night'' storyline (a momentary glimpse of his true heroic soul shining through Parallax's influence), the Spirit of Vengeance drew in Hal's soul in order to eradicate the parasitic Parallax from it.

Green Arrow and Rayner are then attacked by Sinestro, apparently very much alive, who explains that it was he who used his Qwardian yellow power ring to tap into Parallax's power and awakened it, and that the Sinestro whom Jordan killed was an illusory construct of Parallax's, created so that his murder would serve as the final stage of Jordan's susceptibility to the impurity in order to break his will.

The Justice League of America, Justice Society, and the Teen Titans arrive in Coast City to attack Parallax, but the entity inhibits their efforts by causing them to feel fear. The Spirit of Vengeance, however, manages to overpower Parallax, and finally removes the parasite from Jordan's soul. Needing a soul to inhabit, Parallax attacks Ganthet, while Jordan's soul is pulled toward the light of the afterlife. Ganthet manages to guide Jordan's soul back to his corporeal body on the Moon. His soul and thoughts clear for the first time in a long time, Jordan emerges from the coffin resurrected as a mortal human again, once again taking his place as a Green Lantern, the white portions of his hair even restored to their original brown. He and Sinestro engage in a fierce battle on the Moon, and across entire star systems. Eventually, Jordan forces the renegade back into the antimatter universe to which he was first banished. Jordan and Rayner then journey to Coast City, where they, along with John Stewart, Guy Gardner and Kilowog, free Ganthet from Parallax's possession, and imprison the parasite back in the Central Power Battery on Oa. The Guardians then announce that "it is time," referring to rebuild the Green Lantern Corps.

After the battle, Batman remains unconvinced that Jordan was not responsible for his actions as Parallax, but nevertheless decides that the universe "needs a little more light anyway", thus acknowledging that Jordan is back. Hal reestablishes his relationships with his former paramour Carol Ferris, who decides to reopen the Ferris Airfield, and Oliver Queen, who offers to let him stay in his home while Jordan rebuilds his life. Elsewhere, at Belle Reve Prison, Hector Hammond senses Jordan's resurrection, and is delighted and awaiting the opportunity to engage with his foe once more.

High school senior Dorian Lagatos realizes he is gay and meets another gay youth locally, but remains confused, and finally comes out to his brother, Nicky. Nicky is a scholarship-winning quarterback and favorite son to their hetero-normative and argumentative father. Dorian starts therapy, then resorts to confession in the Church. When his therapist and the church politely avoid offering any real help, Dorian has his first intimate encounter with a local gay youth. Dorian goes back to Nick, who was at first reluctant to accept his brother's sexuality. Nick attempts to teach Dorian how to fight and arranges to have him spend a night with a prostitute in order to make him become straight; from these efforts Dorian gains only a concussion and lesson in dancing, respectively.

After much soul-searching, Dorian comes out to his father (while wearing a fuchsia shirt) for which he is kicked out of the house after a very surreal argument over whether or not Dorian is gay. His father is very preoccupied with who else may know of Dorian's defective nature although Nick confesses that he knows and an anti-climactic scene resolves with Dorian packing his bags. Dorian moves to New York City, a city he adores. Dorian expresses all kinds of angst over his life style, defending his true nature to his father over the Christmas holidays. Returning to New York, Dorian experiences a series of encounters with the darker side of life. Dorian finds a boyfriend, but he gets dumped after two months with no given reason. Dorian develops a deep depression and finally, in despair gives in to it, coincidental to Nicky visiting Dorian in the city.

Nicky reluctantly joins Dorian with friends at Dorian's favorite local gay bar. Just as Dorian pleads with a friend to flaunt his newly found popularity, Nicky reunites with obsequious football friends—stealing Dorian's thunder. Dorian then learns his ex-boyfriend dumped him for another. The after-discussion of the evening revolves around Nick defending his sexuality to Dorian in the face of Nick's football friends being gay and Dorian defending his own sexuality to his brother. Later that night, Dorian awakes to Nicky crying and learn that Nick was cut from the football team and was stripped of his scholarship. In the middle of the discussion, they both learn their father has died of a heart attack. At the funeral, Dorian's mother, finally freed of the overbearing influence of Dorian's father, tells Dorian she regrets not stopping his father from being angry with him.

Set in the 29th century, an evil god known as Bios has destroyed most of the Earth, turning it into a desolate wasteland known as the Dust World. Two nameless supersoldiers are created by the people to defeat Bios and the eight evil gods who serve him.

Lieutenant John "Junior" Witkowski (Bob Dornan) and his buddy, Lieutenant York (Steve Early), arrive at George Air Force Base, Tactical Air Command, in Southern California to train to fly the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter, with special emphasis on the complicated mid-air refueling maneuver.

Witkowski's congressman father (Carl Rogers), a famed World War II bomber pilot, frequently calls him, concerned about the safety of fighter aircraft. The congressman wants his son to be transferred to a Convair B-58 Hustler or Boeing B-52 Stratofortress bomber squadron in the Strategic Air Command. Witkowski also finds romance with Mary Davidson (Shirley Olmstead), an Iowa girl.

During training, Major Stevens (Richard Jordahl) sends Witkowski, York and Lieutenant Lyons (Robert Winston) on a cross-country mission. The three trainees are forced to separate as they encounter a storm. Lyons' aircraft goes down in the mountains, while Witkowski is feared lost. Later, they learn that Lyons parachuted safely, and Witkowski has landed safely at an alternate base. Witkowski, who has impressed senior officers and won his father's admiration, is among those selected to be transferred to a unit in Europe and bids a temporary good-bye to Mary.

The film starts with NCAR climatologist Ilana Green examining a poppy field and remarking that it "shouldn't be here." It is revealed that the poppy field is in the northern end of Greenland.

Zane Zaminsky, a radio astronomer working for SETI, discovers an extraterrestrial radio signal from Wolf 336, a star 14 light-years from Earth. Zane reports this to his supervisor, Phil Gordian, at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), but Phil dismisses the findings. Zane soon finds that he has been fired because of supposed budget cuts and blacklisted, preventing him from working at other telescopes. Taking a job as a television satellite dish installer, he creates his own telescope array using his customers' dishes in the neighborhood, operating it secretly from his attic with the help of his young next-door neighbor, Kiki.

Zane again locates the radio signal, but it is drowned out by a terrestrial signal from a Mexican radio station. Zane attempts to consult his former coworker, Calvin but finds that he has just died suspiciously, purportedly from carbon monoxide poisoning. Zane travels to the fictional town of San Marsol in Mexico and finds that the local radio station, from which the interfering signal apparently originated, was just burnt to the ground. Searching the area around the town, he comes across a recently constructed power plant. There, he meets Ilana Green and tries to help protect her atmospheric analysis equipment from the plant's overzealous security forces. While in custody at the plant, Ilana explains that the Earth's temperature has recently and abruptly risen a few degrees, melting the polar ice and shifting the ecosystem. She is investigating the power plant, one of several recently built across the developing world, that appears to be the cause of this intensified increase. The two are released but without Ilana's equipment. Surprisingly, Zane notices that one of the guards seems to be an identical twin of his former boss, Phil. As Zane and Ilana regroup, Phil instructs some agents posing as gardeners to release an alien device in Zane's attic that creates an apparent miniature black hole, consuming all of Zane's equipment. Zane leaves Ilana to investigate the power plant again, and scorpions planted in her room kill her.

Zane discovers that the plant doubles as a front for an underground alien base. The aliens are able to disguise themselves with an external skin to infiltrate human society. Zane finds that all of the bases expel large amounts of greenhouse gas into the atmosphere. Zane is discovered but escapes back into the nearby town and attempts to convince the local inspector of the situation. However, alien agents bring Ilana's body to the police station, making Zane a suspect in her death; Zane escapes and sneaks back into the United States. He accosts Phil on the JPL grounds, forcing him to admit that the aliens are trying to raise the Earth's temperature to kill off humans by greatly exacerbating climate change and making the planet hospitable for themselves. Zane surreptitiously records the conversation, and once Phil discovers the recording, he sends agents to stop Zane.

Zane returns home to find his attic devoid of equipment. He figures out that the most feasible way to widely broadcast the tape is to go to a nearby large satellite uplink and beam a signal directly to a hacked news satellite, overriding it and broadcasting his tape worldwide. With the help of his girlfriend Char and Kiki, he travels to a large radio astronomy array, hoping to use one of the dishes as a satellite ground station, but Phil and his agents soon disable the telescope/satellite controls from the main building. Wondering how they were found so quickly, Zane briefly suspects Char of being an alien until they are both attacked by one of Phil's agents. Zane leaves the tape with Kiki and instructs him to transmit it when he gives the order. He and Char then sneak over to the telescope's base and barricade themselves in the control room. Zane makes the necessary adjustments and tells Kiki to activate the tape, but Kiki reveals himself to be an alien agent, and he opens the door to admit Phil, who confiscates the tape.

Phil and his agents break down the door to the satellite control room with a van, but Zane freezes them with liquid nitrogen vapors. As he works to free the tape stuck in Phil's frozen jacket, one of the agents drops a sphere which starts to form another, larger singularity in the room. Phil begins to defrost and tries to grab Zane's arm, but Zane smashes off Phil's arm with a fire axe. Zane and Char escape through the radio telescope station's access shaft, exiting safely onto the collapsed dish before the device implodes most of the telescope dish's base. Below them, they see Kiki; before he flees, Zane tells him to tell the aliens that he will soon broadcast this tape. In the film's epilogue, Zane's conversation with Phil is broadcast across the globe.

''Arrival II'' takes place two years after the first film. Zane Zaminski (the protagonist from ''The Arrival'') is found dead in a remote Inuit community. It is purported that he died of a heart attack. His broadcast to the world about the aliens is widely believed to have been a UFO hoax due to his dismissal from NASA (this despite Earth continuing to have record temperatures). As his death is announced on TV, five people receive envelopes with details of an alien invasion. This group of five consists of three scientists, Zane's step brother Jack Addison (a computer expert whom he has not seen in seven years), and a reporter named Bridget Riordan. They receive papers talking of global warming and of aliens terraforming Earth into a planet that is hot, like their own dying world.

The group gets together in a large freezer (as the aliens can't stand cold) to see what Zane has left them. They find some alien artifacts in an envelope left to the group. One of the five, Trevor Anguilar, suffers from the cold and is revealed as an alien. He sets off a metal sphere (a "black hole bomb" or BHB as it rises into the air, revolves then sucks everything in a large area into it, causing it to vanish permanently). The alien and one of the men, Tom Billings, are sucked into the BHB's area of influence as well as the contents of the room but Addison, Riordan, and Zarcoff manage to escape.

Zarcoff in his hotel room is killed by an alien metal spider machine which injects him, making it look like his death was from a heart attack. Addison goes back to his rooms to find a BHB has cleared them of everything. Sandra Wolfe, a girl he picked up and slept with last night turns out to be an alien. She and another alien, Wotan, inject Addison and he later wakes up to find himself being "taken for a ride".

Addison rolls out of the car and despite terrible disorientation manages to elude them and team up with Riordan again. The aliens have set the FBI on the two as well as cancelling their credit cards and emptying Addison's bank account of $15,000. The pair have only one artifact left and that produces a perfect 3D hologram when a laser beam is shone through it. They use it to find out that an atomic power plant due to be opened near where they are in Quebec is in the hands of the aliens. Later it is revealed that it is to go critical and will spread deadly radiation over many hundreds of miles (the aliens are immune to radiation).

Addison and Riordan attempt to show the hologram at a climate seminar, and Addison's boss, Burke, agrees to help them. But before they can activate the device, they are caught by Dave Cyrus, another of Addison's co-workers who has sold them out to the FBI. Burke kills Cyrus and frames Addison for it, revealing himself to be an alien, as well. Barely escaping, Addison and Riordan break into a university and use an industrial laser to properly activate the artifact.

Addison uses his computer skills to walk around and interact with an alien ship in space and to program a giant BHB deep below the power plant to go off in one hour. The aliens arrive and both are captured from the hologram. In the atomic power station, their time seems to be up until the giant BHB goes off in the alien area below it and starts ripping apart and swallowing the atomic power station. Wotan and Wolfe are dragged through the gaping hole in the floor. Nearly dragged into its sphere of influence himself, Addison uses a small BHB to stop the giant one long enough for him and Riordan to escape. They just make it as all that is left of the power station is a huge hole in the ground. Burke also survives, but injured, his alien features partly visible. He warns Addison that the aliens haven't been stopped, just delayed.

Some time later, Riordan's book ''Alien Agenda'' (which details their recent adventures as well as the alien's plans for the world) is still top of ''The New York Times'' best seller lists after 2 months. The world still seems to consider it all fiction. The film ends with the married couple driving to Alaska and it is just beginning to snow as they cross the border, which suits them fine.

In ''Guilty Pleasures'', Anita Blake is blackmailed by Nikolaos, the vampire master of the city, into investigating a series of vampire murders. During the course of this investigation, Anita begins her relationship with Jean-Claude, another master vampire, and receives two of the four marks necessary to make her Jean-Claude's "human servant." Ultimately, Anita identifies the murderer, but by that point has sufficiently antagonized Nikolaos and her underlings that she is forced to confront them. Ultimately, with help from Jean-Claude and Edward, a human associate who specializes in assassinating supernatural targets, Anita kills Nikolaos and many of her followers, making Jean-Claude master of the city.

Jazmin Biltmore is a smart-mouthed, frustrated, plus-sized, aspiring fashion designer and department store employee who is obsessed with her weight. Jazmin has always been overweight (unlike her skinny cousin Mia), constantly battling with diets, weight loss aids, and even her own clothes. Because of her battle with finding trendy clothes that fit her full figure, despite working in a clothing department store, Jazmin creates and designs her own outfits. Even going as far as attempting to get a business loan to get her clothing line up and running.

During a bout of depression, Jazmin is contacted from one of her diet plan agencies and told she won a trip for 3 to Palm Springs for the weekend at a five-star resort. She and best friend Stacey find the first day at the spa embarrassing, as hotel robes don't fit, the massage tables too small for their thick figures, and uninviting attitudes from other hotel guests. They leave in frustration to join Mia, who has been ogling a Nigerian man swimming in the pool. Despite Mia's obvious flirting, he expresses interest in Jazmin. He introduces himself as Dr. Tunde, but Jazmin is tongue tied, too distracted by his good looks to remember her own name. He and his friends find Jazmin and Stacey beautiful. However, they think Mia is too skinny and wonder if she is sick. They invite the women to a Nigerian party, Tunde, speaking Nigerian with his friends Dr. Akibo and Dr. Godwin, tells them he has never seen such beautiful full figured women in America.

Upon their night out, Tunde expresses even more interest with her outspoken behaviour and strong opinions. Akibo shows his desire for Stacey and she reciprocates, fighting her shy nature. Meanwhile Godwin attempts to flirt with other full figured guests, ignoring Mia. Even going as far as to tell a woman she was a patient, explaining why she is so thin. Akibo and Stacey go on to have days packed with vigorous sex and Mia leaves the party early to go back to the hotel and wallow in self pity over not finding an attractive doctor like Stacey and Jazmin. Jazmin and Tunde begin dating with Jazmin constantly questioning his attraction to her, to herself and to Tunde. Going as far as to ask him if he is truly interested in her, she wonders why he hasn't tried to sleep with her. Tunde tells Jazmin he was trying to be respectful but will gladly sleep with her the next day, due to work obligations but before they consummate their relationship she grows jealous and makes a scene when she sees him having dinner with a beautiful, thin, white woman instead of having dinner with a colleague like he told her. Tunde reveals the woman was his colleague, but Jazmin, realizing she is too insecure to be comfortable in a relationship with Tunde, breaks up with him and leaves Palm Springs, along with Stacey and Mia.

At home, she is depressed, ignoring phone calls, comforting herself with food and television before having a breakthrough and realizing she is beautiful and worthy of being loved. Bursting with new confidence, Jazmin approaches the head buyer of the Bloomfields where she works and shows him her designs. Impressed he helps develop Jazmin's fashion line "Thick Madame" becomes popular and is launched worldwide.

One year later, she travels to Nigeria to apologize to the man she realizes she loves. A woman opens the door holding a baby. Jazmin asks if she is Tunde's wife, and the woman agrees. Jazmin has the girls go to the taxi because she did not wish to be rejected with an audience. She tells Tunde that he has changed her life, and she is sorry she could not accept his love when she had the chance. Explaining she could not accept love from someone when she did not love herself and though she still cares for him she is not a "homewrecker" and will not pursue him. Tunde clarifies that the woman is a maid, he delivered the baby, and the maid doesn't understand English, and that he is still single. He says his prayers have been answered, as he has loved Jazmin all along and they share a passionate kiss. Stacey also reunites with their partner, and they join Tunde's family for dinner. Mia piles food on her plate, stating that she wants to bulk up so she can find a rich Nigerian doctor as well. The film ends with Jazmin and Tunde in bed, while Jazmin insists on having the lights on to see every sexy thing on Tunde's body, with the credits ending.

Michael Aloysius Rafferty, who is a stipendiary magistrate, drives to work in an old blue VW Kombi van. He owns a cat named Rhubarb.

Rafferty is separated from his wife, with whom he had two children (a son and a daughter).

Rafferty also has an older daughter, Rebecca Browning, who is in her early twenties — and of whose existence he was unaware until she contacted him after she had grown up. (Rebecca's mother is a woman who Michael Rafferty had known before he met his wife, and who he had not seen since his marriage.)

Rafferty also has a brother, Patrick Rafferty, who is a state Member of Parliament.

Hanna Mills (Miranda Cosgrove), an 11-year-old girl from Cleveland, Ohio, wants to photograph wild horses for a project and to try to help save them. After visiting a ranch during summer vacation and befriending CJ (Danielle Chuchran), another 11-year-old girl, she learns about illegal activities that might jeopardize the mustangs. Along the way she learns about the horses including the legend of the black stallion.

''Kung Fu Chaos'' often breaks the fourth wall. The entire game is about the player controlling a selection of characters making a kung fu film. The actions of these characters are then processed as films and the player can watch them. Although the game is centered on a classic kung fu film, it has certain characters and levels that do not belong in a martial arts film (such as a city under attack by aliens).

Sonea, formerly a slum girl—or "dwell"—begins her studies as a novice at the Magicians' Guild as part of the summer intake. Sonea does not have life easy, particularly with her rival and fellow pupil, Regin, who does his best to make Sonea's life at the Guild a living hell.

She tries to ignore him at first but it only gets worse as Regin begins to circulate rumours about Rothen (her mentor) and her having a relationship. Though they truthfully deny this, Lorlen is forced to move Sonea to the Novice's Quarters to quell the rumours. Sonea, unable to take the bullying, studies hard and is promoted to the winter intake. The studies are harder and the students more mature, so the bullying does not continue in her new class. However, nor do the children befriend her, except for a slow-learner named Porril. Later, Regin is also promoted to Sonea's class, and with his old classmates from the summer intake continues to bully her. He frames her by putting one of her classmate's gold pens in her box, and she is accused of stealing. However, she can not prove her innocence since if she were 'truth-read' (her mind read by another magician), then the truth would come out about Akkarin's (the High Lord's)use of black magic, putting herself and those she cares about in danger.

Meanwhile, Administrator Lorlen hopes to discover some way to counter Akkarin's powers in black magic (considered evil and forbidden in the guild), by studying the High Lord's past travels across the Allied Lands. Lorlen sends Lord Dannyl (now Second Ambassador to Elyne) to seek out information about the ancient magic which he may have studied. Dannyl is assisted by Tayend, a librarian from Elyne, who was also Akkarin's past helper. Tayend at first is terrified of magic, but it later turns out this is because he is afraid his homosexuality will be revealed. This is frowned upon in Elyne. Dannyl finds out Tayend's secret late in the story when healing him, and though surprised at first, eventually admits he too is homosexual, and the two begin a relationship.

Lord Rothen's son, Dorrien, is a healer working in the countryside near Sachaka. He visits his father and befriends Sonea. He learns of the bullying and later sets a trap to catch Regin trying to frame Sonea by putting something from the library into her box. Dorrien teaches Sonea levitation, and the two gradually begin to become attracted to each other. On the day he leaves, Dorrien kisses Sonea for the first time.

The High Lord, becoming suspicious about what he knows, eventually force-reads Administrator Lorlen's mind and discovers that Sonea, Rothen, and Lorlen are all aware of his use of black magic. He gives Lorlen a ring that enables the High Lord to hear and see everything Lorlen does as well as privately mind-speak to him. Akkarin decides to claim guardianship over Sonea to ensure that as long as she remains "hostage", Rothen and Lorlen cannot reveal anything that will jeopardize Sonea's safety whilst she will also stay quiet in order to protect them.

In the city, a number of murders have plagued the slums: deaths that have the hallmarks of black magic. Administrator Lorlen is kept abreast of the murders by a family friend in the city's guard and suspects the High Lord's involvement, as does Sonea.

Akkarin learns that Sonea's weakest subject is Warrior Skill and Lord Yikmo is made to be her teacher. Later, Yikmo discovers that Sonea is cautious with her powers since she is both against violence and aware that her powers are stronger, by how much she does not know, than the other students, and does not want to hurt them, even if they continue to harass her. Despite Sonea's position as the High Lord's favourite, Regin's harassment of her only intensifies. He and other novices begin ambushing her in the halls and torturing her with magic. Sonea shields herself from these attacks but always ends up unable to hold them off indefinitely. However, her power continues to grow as she fends off stronger and stronger attacks from larger numbers of pupils. Eventually, Yikmo and Lorlen find her being attacked, and, though she begs them not to tell Akkarin, they feel they must. However, it becomes clear that The High Lord is already aware of this and has done nothing to stop Regin's bullying, since he has noticed how much it is increasing her power.

Dorrien comes back for another visit and Lorlen tells Rothen to discourage him from having a relationship with Sonea. Sonea, fearing for Dorrien's safety, decides to put an end to any relationship there may have been. At Lord Dorrien's suggestion, Sonea challenges Regin to a formal duel in the Arena. She works hard to train for the battle, which through skill (rather than brute strength) she wins 3 to 2, and her healing of the unconscious Regin after the battle only reinforces her newly-won respect from her peers and teachers. The Higher Magicians are shocked however at the extent of power Sonea has displayed.

At the end of the story, Sonea witnesses the High Lord kill a man from Sachaka. The High Lord Akkarin explains the man was an assassin sent to kill him, but Sonea is not sure what to believe.

Each winter in Imardin, the capital city of Kyralia, the streets are purged of the "dwells", the city's poor under-class, by magicians who drive away the inhabitants of the city's slums. Although young gang members gather to throw rocks at them, the magicians are protected by a magical shield—until Sonea, a young dwell, hurls a rock through their barrier and injures the magician Lord Fergun.

Fearing a rogue magician, the Guild begins searching for Sonea. Lords Dannyl and Rothen lead the search into the slums, worried that Sonea's increasingly uncontrolled magic will harm her and those around her. But Sonea both distrusts the Guild for their apparent lack of compassion for the poor dwells and fears their reprisal for her accidental injury of Lord Fergun. She flees with her friend Cery, eventually seeking the aid of the shady Thieves, who see the value of having their own magician and take her under their care. With Cery, she sneaks into the Magician's Guild in an attempt to gain knowledge of how to control her magic, and observes a black-robed magician covered in blood performing a strange rite on a servant. However, her attempt to learn more is unsuccessful, and Sonea continues to lose control of her powers, setting fire to her surroundings repeatedly, before Lord Rothen at last locates her.

At the magician's Guild, Lord Rothen and the sinister Fergun fight for Sonea's mentorship, though she is uninterested in training and only wants to return home to her friends and family. Lord Fergun attempts to sway Sonea to betray the Guild and thus prove that dwells are not fit to enter the Guild and goes so far as to kidnap and threaten Cery, but Fergun's plans are discovered and he is made to stand trial. In order to prove Fergun's guilt, Sonea submits to a mental examination, or 'truthreading', by Administrator Lorlen, who, finding the memory of the black-robed magician, reveals the man to be Lord Akkarin, head of the guild, explaining that she saw him practising black magic which is forbidden in Kyralia. Sonea decides then to join the Guild and train her magical potential.

A year has passed since Sonea had challenged Regin to a public duel and had beaten Regin by one bout. Since that victory, she has finally won the respect she deserves, not only as a novice with exceptional power, but also as the High Lord's favorite. But even with this new respect, she still has one challenge left to face: Akkarin. Still unable to shake off the memory she has after the duel, she continues to avoid Akkarin.

Ceryni, Sonea's old friend, now has a powerful position with the Thieves. He has a task which he must perform which could cost him his life. But that task is not a secret. A strange woman, named Savara, with great skill knows of this task and wishes to help Cery, however he will not accept her aid as he does not trust her.

Akkarin surprises Sonea by showing her a book, which is an autobiography of Coren, a famous architect. This book reveals that Coren himself had discovered and no doubt used black magic. Sonea is amazed at this knowledge but is suspicious why he has shown this information to her. Akkarin is pleased that Sonea has read the book and gives her another one which is nearly 500 years old. From reading it, Sonea discovers that many centuries ago black magic was referred to as 'higher magic.' The book tells of a novice who desired power and used the higher magic to obtain more power by killing many magicians and absorbing their power. The Guild, in the end, suffered greatly from confronting the novice. They decided to store the knowledge of higher magic and rename it black magic. They sealed the knowledge, hoping that no one would take advantage of that power, but only use it in the greatest need and the knowledge was hidden in a secret passage of the University. The author also tells of a threat from Sachaka, that the Sachakans will have vengeance for losing an ancient war. Only the Head of Warriors knew of this secret weapon, however the knowledge was later lost.

As Sonea starts to absorb this new information, Akkarin takes her into the city in disguise. Sonea realises that the Thieves are in on a secret with Akkarin as they use their 'private road.' Sonea and Akkarin come to a room face to face with a captured Sachakan slave who was sent to see how weak the Guild was. Akkarin starts to search the man, and finds a gold tooth with a red gem inside it; the gem is a blood gem, used by their masters to see and hear what the holder sees, hears and does. Akkarin then tells Sonea that he will teach her to read a mind of an unwilling person. Struggling at first, Sonea discovers the name of the Sachakan. She also discovers that Akkarin was a slave. Amazed and shocked, Sonea starts seeing memories of a group called the Ichani, powerful magicians that have been labeled as outcasts by the Sachakan King. Sonea is then taken outside while Akkarin stays inside and kills the man using black magic.

Back at the Guild, Sonea starts to question everything she knows and has been told. She misses a class, instead finding solitude at a stream in the forest, a secret place that Dorrien had shown her. To her surprise, she is met by Akkarin as it was also where Akkarin and Lorlen used to go when they were young. Akkarin begins telling Sonea about his past, about how he entered Sachaka and was captured by an Ichani named Dakova who easily overpowered Akkarin. Whilst in servitude, Akkarin and his fellow slaves, all latent magicians, constantly had their power absorbed by Dakova. For five years, Akkarin was a magical source of energy for Dakova, but everything changed when Dakova was attacked by a fellow Ichani. Though Dakova won, he was left weak. He borrowed slaves from his brother Kariko. After some time Dakova found a previous enemy of his and decides to kill him. Upon arriving at an abandoned mine, the floor gives way and Akkarin falls down, only to be saved by another Ichani. The Ichani made a deal with Akkarin to spare his life if he killed Dakova, Akkarin agrees and is taught black magic by the Ichani.

Akkarin headed back with wine laced with a sleeping drug. While Dakova drank the wine, Akkarin then killed the slaves, but when he came to Takan he could not take his dormant power because they had helped each other at times of need. When he came to Dakova, he took his power as quickly as possible, killing him in the process. With the deed done and now free, Akkarin then started his long journey home without food thinking he would die on the journey back to the guild but Takan followed him with a supply of food and drink and became Akkarin's servant. Sonea wondered why he had told her and asks him, his only answer is that someone else needs to know. As the gong strikes Akkarin ends the tale and tells Sonea to get back to her classes.

Meanwhile Lord Dannyl has been instructed by Akkarin to infiltrate a group of Elyne nobles, led by a powerful Dem, attempting to illicitly learn magic. Having managed to enter the Dem's circle of trust by having them learn the "false secret" of his relation with Tayend, he begins teaching Farand, a young man whose powers have been unleashed but who has not learnt Control. Slowly, Dannyl gains more trust from the Dem. When Dannyl enters Farand's mind, he realises the Elyne King used Farand for eavesdropping. Farand had overheard the King order a political assassination, because of this Farand was prevented from joining the Guild by the King.

Back at the Guild, Sonea is unable to sleep. She is continuously replaying what Akkarin had told her, and wondering why he told her. She even starts to believe that black magic isn't necessarily evil, only the wielder of the magic can determine that. She starts to wonder what would happen if Akkarin was to die and no one would be able to carry on the secret struggle with the Sachakan spies. She decides to tell Akkarin that she wants to learn black magic. The next day when Sonea tells Akkarin that she wants to learn, he refuses, he starts to change her mind saying that if she is caught, she will be executed. However her mind is made up, Akkarin refuses but says that he has another use for Sonea. He informs her that, if she was willing, she can be a source of power for him. He says he will only teach her black magic if the Ichani invade Kyralia. Even though she isn't helping in the way she thought she would, she is still pleased to assist Akkarin.

Lord Dannyl visits Farand once more to assure everyone that he has learnt Control. When in Farand's mind, Dannyl starts questioning him. Before Dannyl can get any answers, Farand is aware of what Dannyl is doing and breaks the connection. Revealing him as a traitor, Farand tells everyone that more magicians are on their way, but don't know Dannyl's location. However Dannyl informs the group of rebels that that won't be the case. Farand perceives Dannyl's and the other magician's conversation and agrees with him. The other nobles are apprehended, Farand and the Dem surrender.

At night, Sonea is worried about Akkarin, since he is not back for hunting the latest spy. (This is the first indication that, where she shortly before hated Akkarin and wanted him dead, now she starts to be positively concerned for him.) Once he returns, Sonea realises that the fight must have been terrible, and that Akkarin lost. She and Takan follow him to his bedroom and Akkarin starts filling in the details about the new spy. Akkarin believes that this new spy is another slave, but Takan tells Akkarin that she must be an Ichani, as she is cunning and strong. Takan once again tells Akkarin to teach Sonea black magic for help in case he dies, Akkarin finally agrees that he will teach Sonea tomorrow night.

Cery is surprised that Akkarin lost to the latest spy, and vows to find her again. Savara enters Cery's room saying that if Cery had trusted her, she could have dealt with the new spy, unlike Akkarin. Savara then continues, saying that she knows the spy and wishes revenge for a past act. However she realises that now that Akkarin knows about the new spy, she cannot intervene without revealing herself, something she does not wish to do. Cery promises that she can hunt the next spy.

The next day, while Lorlen and Lord Sarrin discuss building plans, Lord Osen informs them that there has been a massacre last night, a magician and his family have been murdered. All the victims had shallow cuts, which weren't fatal wounds. Osen also reports that there was a major battle between some unknown magicians. Lorlen decides that someone should go to the location of the fight and see if it had been magical.

At night, Sonea makes her way to the underground passage to start her training in black magic. Akkarin informs Sonea that all living things have a natural barrier. With black magic, the idea is to break the barrier and draw their magical power from them. Sonea, under Akkarin's instructions, starts to learn how to take power, with Takan as her source. Once she is done, she heals him and is given some more books on black magic to read.

While heading back to Imardin, Dannyl and Farand start talking about the future, and what consequences he and the other rebels would have to face. Realising that he is tired, Dannyl tells Farand to get some sleep, as he starts to leave Dannyl notices that Farand's lips are blue and comes to the conclusion that he has been poisoned. Dannyl then calls on Lady Vinara using telepathy, she informs him of how to purge the poison. Dannyl barricades the door to prevent anyone stopping him from healing Farand.

Akkarin takes Sonea to show her how to defeat the spies, the Thieves inform them of where she is but when they reach her rooms she is not there. They look around, hearing footsteps Sonea hides in an alcove. The spy enters and talks to Akkarin before they start attacking one another. The spy moves closer to the alcove and Sonea tries to stay hidden, the combat is causing damage to be building and Sonea is forced to use her shield. She finds a ring in the alcove, one worn by an elder of a noble house.

A heavy blow is struck and the alcove collapses, however Sonea creates a hollow with her shield, she then realises the spy is not a slave but a powerful Ichani. A hole is formed as the hollow begins to collapse, Sonea then sees that the Ichani is moving backwards and will soon detect her. Sonea drops her shield and the Ichani's passes over her undetected, she then slashes the Ichani's neck with a piece of wood and drains her power, killing the woman. Akkarin and Sonea then return to the Guild.

The Magicians Guild have learned that Akkarin and Sonea are using black magic and believe they may be responsible for the murders. They are tried and convicted of using forbidden magic, but not of the murders. Akkarin is sentenced to exile in Sachaka, Sonea is allowed to remain but refuses saying that, if alone, Akkarin will be killed. Unsure about Akkarin's explanation of an imminent Ichani invasion they are both exiled.

Akkarin and Sonea are forced to hide in the wastes of Sachaka where they are pursued by a pair of Ichani but manage to elude them. Meanwhile the Ichani invade Kyralia, easily overcoming the (reinforced) border defenses and slaughtering over twenty Guild magicians. They then advance on the capital Imardin, but are slowed by an ambush. It seems that only Akkarin and Sonea will be able to hold back the Ichani invasion as the Guild magicians are no match for them.

Whilst in Sachaka, Sonea develops feelings for Akkarin, but tries to hide them. However Sonea awakes Akkarin from a nightmare and accidentally senses his feelings for her - seeing herself through his eyes, she sees a far more beautiful and alluring woman than she ever saw when looking in the mirror. Akkarin is hesitant because he argues he is 13 years older than Sonea, but Sonea doesn't seem to care. They kiss, and later sleep together. As eventually comes out, Akkarin's recurring nightmare was about a woman fellow slave, with whom he had been in love during his captivity in Sachaka, and whose death he witnessed and was unable to prevent. Finding a new love with Sonea lays this ghost, and Akkarin ceases to have such nightmares.

The two then return to the borders of Kyralia where they encounter Dorrien, who isn't too happy to see them there, he escorts them back to the border but they are ambushed by one of the Ichani (called Parika), who is eventually killed by Sonea using Healing Magic, and Akkarin drains his energy. The Ichani have no knowledge of Healing Magic, and are surprised when Sonea heals a cut in front of them. The three return to Dorrien's small home and discuss possible plans, they seem to decide one. Whereby Sonea and Akkarin will secretly return to Imardin, their city.

Akkarin and Sonea return to Imardin and enlist the aid of the Thieves, including Cery, Sonea's old friend and slum dwellers in fighting the Ichani who now roam the city searching for victims to strengthen them. Sonea and Akkarin search the slum dwells for any magical potential and take it to strengthen their power, however, unlike the Ichani, they do not kill their helpers. The night before, Cery gives Akkarin and Sonea some changes of clothes, including full length, black, magician robes.

Sonea and Akkarin are able to pick off many of the Ichani one by one, while another is killed with the help of Regin, Sonea's old Novice enemy. One Ichani is then killed by the Thieves and another by the Guild. Eventually only three Ichani remain. But Lorlen is badly wounded, and tells Akkarin that he understands why he did what he did, he asks if Sonea is ok, and then he dies and Akkarin takes his ring.

Unfortunately, the three Ichani left have been absorbing the magic from various magically constructed buildings, and increasing in strength. Before the remaining Ichani can absorb the magic held in the Guild buildings (including the Arena, which has masses of power around it), Akkarin and Sonea force the three into a final battle at the Guild. A climactic battle ensues and the Ichani begin to tire. However, the lead Ichani, Kariko, lays a trap and a knife springs out of the ground and stabs Akkarin through the chest.

As Akkarin is unable to fight, he persuades Sonea to make use of and channel his energy to supplement her dwindling reserves and with that combination of force, Sonea manages to destroy the last three Ichani. However, in doing so, all of Akkarin's life force is absorbed by Sonea, and he dies. 'He had given her too much power. He had given her everything.'

Sonea deeply grieves for him and becomes extremely depressed, locking herself in her old room at Rothen's lodgings and losing the will to live - totally exhausted, physically and emotionally, and though never having been formally married to him, feels herself very much as Akkarin's widow.

Whilst Dannyl and Tayend, his assistant and lover, return to Elyne, the Higher Magicians debate about whom to appoint to various positions in the Guild and appoint Rothen as the Head of Alchemic Studies. Lord Osen will probably replace the late Lord Lorlen. Lord Balkan is expected to replace Akkarin.

The Higher Magicians are reconciled to the need to have a recognised Black Magician, since otherwise the Guild and the country would be completely helpless before further invasions - and Sonea is the only possible candidate, since it seems the books left behind by Akkarin do not provide enough information on how to do it. At first they intend to impose on her the condition of not being allowed to leave the Guild premises. However, arguing against that restriction, Rothen explains to them that she joined the guild in order to help the poor, and they reconsider. They rule that if she is to venture out beyond the guild premises, she must be accompanied by an escort, and she must not venture beyond the city slums in which she seeks to aid the poor.

In a matter of months the Guild builds a hospital for the slums, a reversal of the long-standing discriminatory policy whereby the Healing magic was only available to the Aristocratic Houses. Though Sonea has done only three years of training out of the five required of a novice, it is obviously out of the question to treat her as anything but a full-fledged magician; instead, Dorrien (who is still in love with her) and Lady Vinara volunteer, and are formally assigned, to complete Sonea's training as a Healer. She is also to wear black robes from then on, and the High Lord is to wear white.

In the final scene, Sonea spots her Aunt in the queue at the slum hospital with a baby in her arms and tells Rothen to call her over in the office. Her Aunt tells her what the problem is and Sonea gives her the prescriptions for the baby's fever.

Sonea then hesitantly tries to explain to her Aunt that she would like her to come live in the guild with Sonea because she is in need of her help. At first, Sonea's aunt is confused, as is Rothen, but when Sonea taps her belly, Sonea's Aunt understands and they make explanations to Rothen. Sonea is fearful; she is carrying Akkarin's baby and didn't plan for it to happen. Sonea's Aunt smiles and soothingly assures her that she will indeed look after her, at least for a while, to help guide and prepare her for what is to come.

As already disclosed by the writer, Sonea would give birth to a son named Lorkin, who is a major character in the sequel "The Ambassador's Mission".

Gus, Harry, and Archie are three nominally happy husbands with families in suburban New York. All are professional men, driven and successful. The three of them have known each other since their school years. They have grown up together and have now had enough time to discover that their youth is disappearing and that there is nothing they can do to preserve it. They are shaken into confronting this reality when their best friend Stuart dies suddenly and unexpectedly of a heart attack.

After the funeral, they spend two days hanging out, playing basketball, riding the subway, and drinking, including an impromptu singing contest at a bar. Harry goes home, has a vicious argument with his wife, and decides to fly to London. The other two decide to go with him.

They check into an expensive hotel, dress in formal clothing, and meet three young women at a gambling casino. They go back to their rooms with the women. Gus pairs off with Mary, Archie with Julie, a young Asian woman who appears not to speak English, and Harry with Pearl. However, their efforts to hook up with these women are awkward and unsuccessful.

Gus and Archie return to New York, but Harry stays behind. Gus and Archie express concern about Harry and what he will do without them.

The show was about brothers and sisters who were forced to live with their uncle in a house full of various animals and creepy crawlies. The children stick together while dealing with their clueless uncle who wants to get rid of them. In a house that's part jungle, part zoo (and all mad), Uncle Roy and the kids battle it out to decide whose rules prevail.

''The Last Days of Louisiana Red'', which has been described as a "HooDoo detective story and a comprehensive satire on the explosive politics of the '60s", set amidst the racial violence of Berkeley, California. The story follows investigator Papa LaBas as he tries to figure out who murdered Ed Yellings, the proprietor of the Solid Gumbo Works. In the story, Labas finds himself fighting the rising tide of violence propagated by Louisiana Red and the militant opportunists, the Moochers. Eventually, Labas learns that the murder has been a conspiracy to dethrone the Gumbo business because Ed was trying to create medicine that would stop heroin addiction.

Jack Cutter (Don "Dragon" Wilson) is the last in long line of vampire hunters. After killing a few vampires in one L.A. restaurant, he is chased both by police and by other vampires.

In the near future, war rages across the Republic of Gilead (formerly the United States of America) and pollution has rendered 99% of the population sterile. Kate is a woman who attempts to emigrate to Canada with her husband Luke and daughter Jill. As they attempt to cross the border by foot on a dirt road, the Gilead Border Guard orders them to turn back or they will open fire. Luke draws their fire, telling Kate to run, and is shot. Kate is captured, while Jill wanders off into the back country, confused and unaccompanied. The authorities take Kate to a training facility with several other women, where the women are trained to become Handmaids, who are concubines for the privileged but barren couples who run the country's religious fundamentalist regime. Although she resists indoctrination into the cult of the Handmaids, which mixes Old Testament orthodoxy with scripted group chanting and ritualized violence, Kate is soon assigned to the home of "the Commander" (Fred) and his cold, inflexible wife, Serena Joy. There she is named "Offred" ("of Fred").

Her role as the Commander's latest concubine is emotionless, as she lies between Serena Joy's legs while the Commander rapes her, both of them hoping that she will bear them a child. Kate continually longs for her earlier life, but nightmares of her husband's death and her daughter's disappearance haunt her. A doctor explains that many of Gilead's male leaders are as sterile as their wives. Desperately wanting a baby, Serena Joy persuades Kate to risk the punishment for fornication (death by hanging) in order to be fertilized by another man who may impregnate her and consequently spare her life. When Kate agrees to this, Serena Joy informs Kate that her daughter Jill is alive, and provides a recent photograph of her living in another Commander's household, but tells Kate she can never see her daughter. The Commander also tries to get closer to Kate, sensing that if she enjoyed herself more she would become a better handmaid. Exploiting Kate's background as a librarian, he gets her hard-to-obtain items and allows her into his private library. However, during a night out, the Commander has sex with Kate in an unauthorized manner. The other man selected by Serena Joy turns out to be Nick, the Commander's sympathetic chauffeur. Kate grows attached to Nick and eventually becomes pregnant with his child.

Kate ultimately kills the Commander, and a police unit then arrives to take her away. Believing the policemen are members of the Eyes, the government's secret police, she realizes that they are soldiers from the resistance movement (Mayday), of which Nick is also a part. Kate then flees with them, parting from Nick in an emotional scene.

Now free once again and wearing non-uniform clothes, but facing an uncertain future, a pregnant Kate is living by herself in a trailer while receiving intelligence reports from the rebels. Wondering if and hoping that she and Nick will be reunited, she resolves with the rebels' help to find her daughter.

In 1962, Tracy Turnblad is a 16 year old heavyset high school student living in Baltimore. Along with her best friend Penny Pingleton, Tracy frequently watches ''The Corny Collins Show'', a local teen dance television show.

The teenagers who dance on the show attend Tracy and Penny's high school, among them Amber von Tussle and her boyfriend Link Larkin, the lead dancers. Amber's mother, Velma, manages the station WYZT, ensuring that Amber is prominently featured. Corny Collins and the dancers on the show are White, and Velma only allows African-American dancers on the show once a month on "Negro Day", hosted by local R&B disc jockey Motormouth Maybelle.

One day, one of the dancers on the show takes a leave of absence, and auditions for a replacement are held the next day. Tracy attends, but Velma rejects for her overweight physique and for supporting integration. Tracy is given detention for missing class in order to attend the audition, and discovers the "Negro Day" kids practicing in the detention room. Tracy befriends Seaweed, Motormouth Maybelle's son, who teaches Tracy several dance moves. As Tracy leaves detention, she inadvertently meets Link, and dreams of a life with him. At a record hop, Tracy's new moves garner Corny's attention, and he chooses her to join the show.

Tracy quickly becomes one of Corny's most popular performers, affecting Amber's chances of winning the show's annual "Miss Teenage Hairspray" pageant and her relationship with Link, as he grows fonder of Tracy. Mr. Pinky suggests that Tracy should be the spokesgirl for his Hefty Hideaway boutique. Tracy persuades her agoraphobic mother, Edna, to accompany her to the boutique as her agent.

Tracy introduces Seaweed to Penny, and the two become smitten. Later, Seaweed and his younger sister Little Inez take Tracy, Penny, and Link to a party at Maybelle's store. Edna finds Tracy there and tries taking her home, but Maybelle convinces her to stay, and tells her to take pride in herself. At the party, Maybelle informs everyone that Velma has cancelled "Negro Day", and Tracy suggests that they march for integration. Link is unwilling to jeopardize his career by marching, straining his relationship with Tracy. Edna returns to her husband Wilbur's shop, but Velma gets there first, and tries to seduce him. After accusing Wilbur of infidelity, Edna forbids Tracy to be on the show, which was Velma’s intention. She changes her mind after she and Wilbur reconcile.

The next morning, Tracy sneaks out of the house to join the protest, which is halted by a police roadblock. The protesters engage in a brawl, while Tracy runs to the Pingletons' home, where Penny allows her to hide in a fallout shelter. However, Penny's mother Prudy reports Tracy to the police and ties her daughter to her bed for "harboring a fugitive". Having been bailed out by Wilbur, Seaweed and his friends help Tracy and Penny escape. Link visits Tracy's house to find her, and realizes that he loves her. Seaweed and Penny also acknowledge their love during the escape.

With the pageant underway, Velma assigns police officers to guard the WYZT studio to prevent Tracy from entering. She also rigs the pageant tallies to guarantee that Amber will win. Penny arrives at the pageant with Edna, while Wilbur, Seaweed, and the Negro Day kids help Tracy infiltrate the studio. Link breaks away from Amber to dance with Tracy; later, he pulls Little Inez to the stage to dance in the pageant.

Amber's attempt to re-claim her championship crown fails. Little Inez wins the pageant after a late surge of support, successfully integrating ''The Corny Collins Show''. Velma tells Amber about her rigging scheme in front of a camera manned by Edna, resulting in her firing. ''The Corny Collins Show'' set turns into a celebration as Tracy and Link kiss.

It is about the horror of the Highland Clearances, and the heir of a despotic landlord, Cailean Og, who is disinherited. The most interesting character is the kirk minister who makes a sermon about social rights. For a novel of its period, it is fairly cosmopolitan, and the action ranges to locations as exotic as gold mines in New Zealand.

As the movie opens, Sherlock is in pursuit of the criminal Professor Moriarty (Vincent D'Onofrio) and apparently shoots him to death. His body cannot be found, however, as it falls in a sewer. After this incident, Holmes gains notoriety with the press and the police for his apparent killing of Moriarty, and meets Dr. Watson (Roger Morlidge), an early practitioner of autopsies, for the first time. Together, they start an investigation into the murder of several crime lords and become convinced that Moriarty is alive and behind a plot to organize drug dealing. Given that Moriarty is supposedly dead, Holmes finds it hard to convince Inspector Lestrade (Nicholas Gecks) of this claim. Holmes' investigation leads him to a prostitute (Gabrielle Anwar), who posed as a rich woman to lure Holmes into the plot. Richard E. Grant also appears as Holmes' brother, Mycroft, who was addicted to opium by Moriarty when Sherlock was young.

Pulitzer Prize nominated photographer Nora Wilde (Téa Leoni) divorces her rich, philandering husband Leland Banks, asking for nothing in the settlement except the use of her maiden name. Broke and without prospects for employment, after Leland blackballs her from respectable mainstream work, Nora seeks work at ''The Comet'', a sleazy celebrity tabloid owned by Sir Rudolph Halley (Tim Curry) and run by ruthless Camilla Dane (Holland Taylor). Initially, Nora is repulsed by the depths to which she has to sink for her new job – she finds herself in demeaning situations such as stealing Anna Nicole Smith's urine to run a pregnancy test, and staking out the sewer for mutant alligators – but before long, she begins to feel at home. Nora's coworkers include egotistical Nicky Columbus (Jonathan Penner), a potential love interest; T.J. (Darryl Sivad), a humorless African-American man always clad in dark sunglasses; and Stupid Dave (Mark Roberts) who is mentally handicapped. At home, Nora deals with deranged building manager Mr. Donner (Jack Blessing) and Chloe Banks (Amy Ryan), her best friend and former step-daughter.

In the second season, the show switched networks and was retooled. Meat-mogul Les Polanski (George Wendt) buys ''The Comet'', intending to make it a respectable publication. Gone were the outlandishly zany antics from the first season, and ''Stupid Dave'' was now merely referred to as ''Dave''. Chloe disappears without explanation, as does Mr. Donner (since Nora has a new apartment). Mary Tyler Moore (replacing Dyan Cannon from season one) and George Segal both make frequent guest appearances as Nora's parents in season two, eventually moving into the apartment across the hall. Most episodes centered on Nora's romantic life and how her job could intrude on that.

Season three saw enormous changes. Camilla quits ''The Comet'' and moves on to rival tabloid ''The National Inquisitor'', leaving most of the staff behind. By this point, she and Nora had become close, so she asks Nora to join her at the ''Inquisitor''. Also moving to ''The Inquisitor'' was Dave, who was no longer mentally handicapped. Their new coworkers include smug reporter Jake Sullivan (Tom Verica), photographer Suji (Amy Hill), studious fact checker Harris (Jim Rash), and Bradley Crosby (Chris Elliott), the self-proclaimed illegitimate son of Bing Crosby.

Set in 1964, Major Asa Barker has been given command of a poorly manned outpost overlooking three villages named Boo Jum, Mung Tau and Hat Song. Barker is ordered to reoccupy a nearby deserted hamlet named Muc Wa in South Vietnam near the rural Da Nang-to-Phnom Penh highway that a decade earlier had been the scene of a massacre of French soldiers during the First Indochina War. Barker is a weary infantry veteran in his third war (having served in the Pacific during World War II as well as in the Korean War) who provides veteran supervision to a cadre of advisors attached to a group of South Vietnamese ordered to garrison Muc Wa.

Major Barker and his executive officer, the career-orientated Captain Olivetti, receive four replacement troops. Second Lieutenant Hamilton has been passed over for promotion and sees volunteering for Vietnam as a way to obtain a promotion to remain in the Army. First Sergeant Oleozewski served in the Korean War under Major Barker and is burnt out from three tours in Vietnam; his last assignment saw his previous unit massacred. Corporal Abraham Lincoln is a combat medic and a drug addict. The mystery to Major Barker is the fourth man, the draftee Cpl. Courcey, a demolitions expert who extended his enlistment by six months to serve in Vietnam. Major Barker sends his four new men plus Cpl. Ackley, a communications expert, to garrison Muc Wa with a half-French, half-Vietnamese interpreter/interrogation specialist named Nguyen "Cowboy", a hardcore squad of Hmong mercenaries and a motley mob of about 20 South Vietnamese Popular Force civilian "troops", armed with shotguns and old rifles with a sprinkling of machine guns, to attempt to create a defensible outpost at Muc Wa.

On their way to Muc Wa, along a dirt road, the column encounters a booby-trapped roadblock. They capture the lone Viet Cong soldier manning the roadblock, who is beheaded by the over-enthusiastic Cowboy when the VC refuses to divulge information. On reaching the hamlet, Hamilton follows Oleozewski's advice to set up his defenses in a triangular formation and the unit receives supplies brought in by helicopter. At the rear of the hamlet is a graveyard of 302 French soldiers, massacred in a Viet Minh attack ten years earlier. Courcey translates the graveyard's French inscription as referring to the Battle of Thermopylae, in which 300 Spartans died. While he is investigating the graveyard, Courcey spots a one-eyed Viet Cong soldier, who is presumably a scout.

During a patrol, Courcey spots a group of nine Vietnamese women and children fishing along a small creek, despite intelligence that no civilians live in the area. Courcey befriends one of the teenage Vietnamese girls despite the language barrier. That evening, the Viet Cong attack Muc Wa and Lincoln is wounded. Courcey leads an ambush patrol that kills the four-person Viet Cong mortar crew, which included one of the women seen earlier.

The next morning, Barker travels to Saigon to meet with Colonel Minh, the military chief of the region, and tries to persuade Minh to send reinforcements of at least 300 ARVN troops to Muc Wa. But the corrupt Minh refuses, claiming that he needs the troops in Saigon to prevent a potential coup. Minh offers the requested troops in exchange for 1,500 artillery shells.

That evening, the outpost is attacked. A patrol from the outpost led by Sgt. Oleonozski returns to safety but leaves a badly wounded man behind. Ignoring Oleonozski's warnings, Lt. Hamilton tries to rescue the man but is killed. The next day, Oleonozski commits suicide rather than face the pressure of command. When Barker is informed of the deaths, he wants to pull his troops out now that they lack an experienced leader, but this request is refused by Gen. Harnitz, forcing Barker to send his own deputy to Muc Wa.

That night, the outpost is attacked again by massive numbers of well-armed Viet Cong, not the few dozen predicted by high command. Several helicopters and flare ships arrive just in time to stop the Viet Cong attack.

The following morning, Barker receives orders from Harnitz to withdraw all American troops from Muc Wa, which is believed to be besieged by the 1,000-strong 507th Viet Cong battalion. The evacuation mission leaves behind the South Vietnamese troops and the walking wounded. Barker stays to help evacuate the remaining troops.

The Vietnamese civilians that Courcey found and brought into the base camp steal several weapons and try to escape, forcing Cowboy to kill all of them. But the Vietnamese teenage girl that Courcey befriended gets away and informs the Viet Cong scouts of the Americans' plans to withdraw, thus revealing that she and all of the other civilians were in fact Viet Cong supporters, as Cowboy had predicted.

That evening, Barker and Courcey are forced to destroy all of the arms and equipment left behind and then lead the group on the road departing the village, as friendly artillery fire begins raining down on the area. But the group is quickly ambushed and surrounded by the Viet Cong, led by the civilian girl. Courcey is wounded but taken to shelter and hidden under some bushes by an elderly militiaman. Barker is killed by enemy fire.

After the final battle, Courcey is the only survivor. He wakes up the next morning to find that everyone else is dead and that the soldiers, including Barker, are stripped of their fatigues and weapons. The VC have withdrawn. As Courcey wanders to the French graveyard, he finds an enemy survivor: the wounded, one-eyed VC scout whom he had seen earlier. The VC points his rifle at Courcey before dropping it out of exhaustion. Courcey wanders off the graveyard and onto the dirt road leading away from the ruins of the village.

The plot centers around an inter-racial romance between a Chinese princess (Talmadge) and an American (Meighan). When palace officials discover she has become pregnant, she is sentenced to death. In the latter part of the film Talmadge plays the now adult daughter of the affair, seeking her father in the Philippines.

Holly Krauss, a successful married woman who runs her own business with best friend Meg, finds her perfect life deteriorating as a result of foolish actions made almost subconsciously, including an alcohol fuelled one night stand and arguments with potentially dangerous men. After a mysterious stranger from one such incident begins imposing himself on her life, first through stalking and then physical intimidation, she wonders if she really is going insane, before inadvertently causing even more trouble by losing £11,000 in a poker game.

While good-natured and thoroughly empathetic, her artist husband Charlie is a procrastinator and therefore incapable of providing her with the support she needs. Only when Holly finally attempts suicide does she realise that all of her problems may not be simply a result of her own foolhardiness, but the work of a devious and determined psychopath intent on tearing her life apart...

The setting of the film takes place in Ladbroke Grove, West London, in 2002. At a local school, student Katie is seen to suffer intense physical and emotional bullying by a group of girls, as well as by Sam Peel (Noel Clarke). When her father picks her up from school that day, Sam quietly threatens to kill her if she ever tells anyone. That evening, Katie's older brother Lenny breaks into her room to discover that she has hanged herself.

The following morning, the students are informed of Katie's death and are given the day off to mourn. Trevor "Trife" Hector (Aml Ameen) and his best friends Jay (Adam Deacon) and Moony (Femi Oyeniran) decide to spend it smoking weed and drinking alcohol. Trife's pregnant ex-girlfriend Alisa (Red Madrell) decides to spend the day with her best friend Becky (Jaime Winstone).

Becky performs oral sex on an older man in return for drugs, and aggressively coaxes Alisa into joining in. The boys make their way to Sam's house on an estate to retrieve a Game Boy Sam had stolen from them the day before. Realising Sam is out, the boys also steal Sam's cannabis and Jay has sex with Sam's girlfriend Claire (Madeleine Fairley). Sam returns unexpectedly, but is beaten unconscious by the boys and they knock down Sam's mother as they flee.

Alisa and Becky unexpectedly run into some of Katie's bullies aboard a train. Alisa, feeling bad that she was not there for Katie, berates the girls for the suffering they caused. Becky accidentally reveals that Alisa is pregnant, information that the bullies threaten to spread around school in an effort to humiliate Alisa. At the next station, Alisa hurries off the train to vomit, whilst Becky scorns her for putting her life at risk. Having successfully sold the drugs they acquired earlier, they head to a shopping centre to buy dresses for a party later that evening, before meeting up with the boys. Jay, convinced by Trife that Alisa's baby is Sam's, falsely informs her that Trife wants nothing to do with her. Heartbroken, Alisa asks Becky if they can leave, but Becky insists on going to the party.

At the same time, Trife visits his uncle Curtis (Cornell John), who presents him with a revolver, the same one Trife had drilled the barrel for earlier at school. Downstairs, Andreas, a customer who earlier missed a drugs payment, is tied and beaten by Curtis and Trife. Curtis then orders Trife to carve a "C" into Andreas' face with a Stanley knife in order to test him. Though visibly terrified, Trife carries out his uncle's order, and flees the house traumatised. Trife desperately tries to call Alisa, but is unsuccessful in doing so. On her way home, Alisa runs into a classmate and persuades her to go to the party with her. At the party, Becky is stood up by Moony and fails to convince Jay to have sex with her.

Trevor interrupts Alisa and the other classmate who are kissing outside, and confesses his love for her. Alisa informs Trevor that the baby is definitely his – she had never slept with Sam. The two rekindle their love, but a vengeful Sam arrives at the party and attacks Trife. Alisa hurriedly tells Jay and Moony, who intervene to help Trife. Outside, Sam beats down both Trevor and Jay, whilst intimidating Moony into not interfering. Sam challenges all the other party goers who come out to watch, however Alisa, the only one unafraid of Sam, slaps him. When Sam grabs her by her hair, Trife gets to his feet and fights him to the ground. Alisa pleads with him to stop, and he ambles over to her. Sam takes this opportunity to grab his baseball bat, and delivers a critical blow to Trife's stomach.

As this occurs, Lenny arrives at the party; brandishing a gun, he forces Sam to the ground at gunpoint, and produces the note Katie wrote before she hanged herself. Lenny prepares to kill Sam but Trife stops him with his dying breath, telling him that Sam is not worth it. Sam is almost killed when he insults Lenny after the latter begins to walk away, however the gun fails to fire. Sirens are heard in the distance, so Lenny, his accomplice, and Sam all flee the party as Trife dies before the ambulance and police arrive.

The Runaways intervene in a fight between the Flag-Smasher and S.H.I.E.L.D. Cape-Killers, whose agents damage Victor. The Young Avengers see the altercation on television, and something about it causes the Vision to suffer a seizure. The Young Avengers steal a Quinjet and use Wiccan's magic to find the Runaways. Molly attacks the Young Avengers, thinking that they are working with S.H.I.E.L.D., but the team subdues her (when she becomes drowsy as a side-effect of her powers) and enters the Runaways' base to talk to them. The Vision and Victor experience seizures when they are near; the Vision explains that this is most likely ultimately due to their both having been created by Ultron.

Noh-Varr, a brainwashed Kree from an alternate reality, is sent by S.H.I.E.L.D to capture the teenagers. He attacks, breaking Xavin's neck and getting the Vision's phase-shifted lower arm stuck in his torso. Noh-Varr's handlers capture Wiccan, Hulkling, Karolina, and Xavin's body and take them to "The Cube", a high-security metahuman prison. The remaining members of both teams follow and attempt a rescue. The Cube's warden attempts to dissect Hulkling, but his organs shift to avoid damage. Xavin - who possesses similar shapeshifting powers to Hulkling - is able to right his broken neck and attacks the warden. Victor realizes that the Vision's arm, embedded in Noh-Varr's chest, has begun to interface with the alien. Victor overloads him by coming near, as he did with the Vision, and the Vision becomes able to remove Noh-varr's psychological conditioning. The two teams part ways and Noh-Varr takes control of the Cube, claiming it to be the capital of the new Kree empire.

Balso, the protagonist, comes across the Trojan Horse in the tall grass around Troy and promptly seeks a way to get in: “the mouth was beyond his reach, the navel provided a cul-de-sac, and so, forgetting his dignity, he approached the last. O Anus Mirabilis!” The literary critic Leslie Fiedler reads much into this and sees the whole novel as “a fractured and dissolving parable of the very process by which the emancipated Jew enters into the world of Western Culture.” Inside the Trojan Horse Balso encounters an array of odd characters who, he realizes, are all “writers in search of an audience”. These characters also represent various religious and artistic ideals. Balso hears their stories systematically, only to discard them one by one, in a strictly nihilist fashion.

''A Cool Million'', as its subtitle suggests, presents “the dismantling of Lemuel Pitkin,” piece by piece. As a satire of the Horatio Alger myth of success, the novel is evocative of Voltaire’s ''Candide'', which satirized the philosophical optimism of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz and Alexander Pope. Pitkin is a typical ‘Schlemiel’, stumbling from one situation to the next; he gets robbed, cheated, unjustly arrested, frequently beaten and exploited. In a parallel plot Betty Prail, Pitkin's love interest, is raped, abused, and sold into prostitution. Over the course of the novel Pitkin manages to lose an eye, his teeth, his thumb, his scalp and his leg, but nevertheless retains his optimism and gullibility to the inevitably bitter end.

Pitkin’s troubles, however, don't end with his death. Even after his death he is exploited as a martyr by the ‘National Revolutionary Party’, a political organization led by Shagpoke Whipple, a manipulative former American president. Pitkin's birthday becomes a national holiday and American youths march down the streets singing songs in his honor. Whipple speaks out against aliens and calls for a rejection of “sophistication, Marxism and International Capitalism.” The novel ends with a series of roaring "hails" from the crowd.

Seven years after World War II, a 12-year-old boy named David (Ben Tibber) escapes a Gulag in Bulgaria where he has spent his entire life where his mother has been taken away from him. He sets out on a risky journey to Denmark, initially believing he is on an important mission to deliver a letter, but eventually discovering that the "mission" was to reunite him with his mother, of whom he has distinct memories. Along his journey, he faces danger, fear, loneliness, hunger, missions and encounters various people.

Johannes (Jim Caviezel), his friend and mentor in the camp, who prepares him for escape, is killed by a guard, leaving David to face escape on his own. David is helped by a guard to escape, who gives him a compass and tells him he must go southwest to Greece, take a boat to Italy and finally go north to Denmark, a peaceful and neutral country. The guard also tells him to trust no one. Since David was locked in a camp all his life, he has repressed feelings and trusts no one anyway, and so feels lost and disoriented in the world.

Along his journey, though he is mistreated by some people, he is well-treated by others. Gradually he learns that some people can be trusted, and to open up and experience his own feelings. Finally, with the help of decent people whom he has learned to trust, David is reunited with his mother in Denmark.

Baxter, a bull terrier, is taken from the pens and given to an old woman. Baxter hates the old woman's bland lifestyle and reacts to her habits with disgust. In contrast, he becomes obsessed with the young couple across the street as he observes their nightly lovemaking sessions. Baxter attempts to communicate his dominance over the old woman by causing her to stumble, but his plan backfires. The old woman's condition deteriorates, and ultimately Baxter kills her in order to be adopted by the young couple.

Baxter enjoys his life with the young couple, splitting his time between the sensual woman and the earthy man. He brings them dead animals in an attempt to show them who he is. His idyll is broken when the couple has a baby and begins to neglect him. Baxter hates the weak and helpless child. He attempts to kill it, but his plans again backfire. Ignorant of Baxter's murderous intentions, the couple gives Baxter to a neighborhood boy.

Baxter thrills under the firm hand of his new master, a budding sociopath and Hitler fanatic. The boy begins to see a girl from his school who reminds him of Eva Braun. Baxter impregnates the girl's spaniel, though his own sexuality disgusts him. Later Baxter kills a stray dog to show the boy who he is, and Baxter believes that they come to a mutual understanding. When the boy commands Baxter to kill a classmate, Baxter refuses and realizes that the boy does not understand him after all.

The girl's spaniel gives birth to puppies, and Baxter reacts to them with mixed emotions. In an attempt to emulate the final days of Hitler, the boy kills the puppies. In reaction, Baxter decides that the boy must die. The boy attacks first, but Baxter manages to gain the upper hand. When the boy commands him to heel, Baxter finds that he cannot disobey, allowing the boy to kill him. Later, the boy breaks into the old lady's abandoned house and observes the young couple across the street. In a monologue echoing Baxter's, the boy plans to kill his parents and be adopted by the couple.

The purpose of the game is to mow the lawn (using the neighbour's mower) whilst avoiding static obstacles—the flowerbeds —and mobile enemies, including the neighbour himself. The player's pet dog will antagonise the neighbour and keep him away, but as the dog itself is vulnerable to the mower, care must be taken not to run it over.

Wonderbug's alter ego "Schlepcar" (so named due to its personalized California license plate "SCHLEP") was an old, beat up, conglomeration of several junked cars that looked like a rusty dune buggy. Like Herbie of The Walt Disney Company film fame, Schlepcar was alive and could drive itself, and could also talk in a mumbling voice. It was found in a junk yard by teenagers Barry Buntrock (David Levy), C.C. McNamara (John Anthony Bailey) and Susan Talbot (Carol Anne Seflinger). Schlepcar transformed into the shiny metal-flake orange Wonderbug (vocal effects provided by Frank Welker) whenever a magic horn (which played the bugle call for "cavalry charge") was sounded. In his Wonderbug identity, Schlepcar had the power of flight and was able to help the three teens capture crooks and prevent wrongdoing.

In Wonderbug mode, the car was a Volkswagen-based Meyers Manx-clone body. Specifically the body was a Dune Runner manufactured by Dune Buggy Enterprises of Westminster, California. Dune Buggy Enterprises offered the Dune Runner with three different hood choices. Wonderbug has the ''T- Bird'' hood choice.

The car had articulated eyeball headlights, and a custom bumper that resembled a mouth; different bumpers were sometimes used to give the car different facial expressions. When the car spoke in its mumbling voice, a rubber puppet stand-in with a moving mouth was sometimes used.

The space that would normally contain the right rear passenger seat instead contained a box, described in dialog as "the costume/wardrobe trunk"; this box actually served to conceal a hidden driver in scenes in which the car drives itself. The car also had a long fender-mounted radio antenna that terminated with a robot-like claw or gripper. Its license plate would change to "1DERBUG".

Barry often thought he was the brains of the outfit. However, it was usually Susan who came up with the ideas that saved them. A running gag was that Barry would suggest an outrageously implausible plan, its absurdity recognized by both C.C. and Susan. Susan would then suggest a far more sensible plan (usually involving disguises), which Barry would then suggest as if it were his own, prompting C.C. to praise Barry's supposed genius. Susan accepted the situation uncomplainingly, even telling a female character who observed one such exchange, "You get used to it."

Four people rob the vault of a bank at gunpoint. The only trouble is that a large armed police presence turns up as they try to drive away. They take shelter in a diner, where two psychos with guns, Max and Karl decide to take over, and have the (about) $500,000 for themselves.

The robbers become victims with the owners of the diner and the people who were eating there. At first Max and Karl let Sam, one of the robbers do all the talking to Det. Devlin, not letting on that they are there also. But then they decide to make demands as telephone negotiations are going nowhere and shoot one of the hostages in front of the police.

Lind, another negotiator has turned up and takes over, with a gung-ho attitude. A TV reporter is allowed in with a camera to film what they allow, but Max sees her hidden camera which is showing the police what is really going on there and for that she is brutally raped and dumped in a store room.

Devlin has been looking at the bank tapes and see that some of the money the robbers took was not supposed to be there. The bank manager confesses it was payment for an (illegal) arms deal. A phone call shows Lind to be fake and he is shot while shooting his accomplice.

A hidden phone reveals to the hostages that one of the robbers was an undercover cop (who has been shot dead) who would have a second gun, which a young woman manages to get and hand to Sam.

There is a shoot out and dozens of bullets from each gun, with few hits. The cops rush in and the siege is over, but there is still a surprise ending.

In 1884 Arizona, Dan Evans is a poor rancher and Civil War veteran who owes money to the wealthy Glen Hollander. One night, Hollander's men burn down his barn and scatter his cattle as a warning to pay his debts. The next morning Evans and his two sons are searching for their lost herd when they stumble upon Ben Wade and his gang robbing an armored stagecoach staffed by Pinkertons. Wade sees Evans and his two sons watching from the hills and decides that they aren't a threat to his gang, so Wade takes their horses, promising to leave them tied up "on the road to Bisbee", so that Evans can recover them, but won't be able to give warning immediately. After Wade's gang departs, Evans rescues the lone surviving coach guard, Byron McElroy, left alive but severely wounded.

Wade and his gang ride to Bisbee to drink at the local saloon and divide up the loot. The gang departs but Wade chooses to stay behind to enjoy the company of the barmaid. Evans brings McElroy to veterinarian/lawman Doc Potter, then tries in vain to negotiate his debt with Hollander. Evans then finds Wade emerging from an upstairs room in the saloon and coaxes a few dollars from Wade over the trouble he caused Evans. As the two talk, lawmen surround the saloon and arrest Wade.

Grayson Butterfield, the railroad's representative, hires a posse consisting of McElroy, Potter, Tucker (one of Hollander's men), and Evans to take Wade to Contention, where Wade is to be put on the 3:10 afternoon train to Yuma Territorial Prison. Evans asks for $200 ( ) to deliver Wade, which Butterfield agrees to. The group meet at Evans' ranch, where McElroy arranges for a decoy wagon to distract Wade's gang.

During the journey, both Tucker and McElroy provoke Wade; he stabs Tucker to death and throws McElroy off a cliff. Wade attempts to escape, but is stopped when Evans' son William appears. The group is ambushed by Apaches, allowing Wade to use the confusion to flee into a Chinese laborer construction camp. The foreman of the camp captures Wade and the posse arrives to collect him but the foreman wants to kill Wade. A gunfight breaks out between the two groups, killing Potter while the rest escape with Wade. They arrive in Contention hours before the train's departure time and check into a hotel, where several local marshals join them.

Wade's gang members ambush the decoy wagon and kill everyone after finding out that Wade is in Contention. The gang, now led by Charlie Prince, offers a $200 cash reward to any citizens who help rescue Wade. Numerous men volunteer, causing the town's marshals to desert immediately; Wade's men kill them when they try to surrender. Butterfield resigns as well, but agrees to keep William safe at Evans's behest. Evans agrees to put Wade on the prison train in exchange for Butterfield paying him $1000, getting his son safely home, getting his farm access to river water, and getting Hollander to leave his family alone.

Evans escorts Wade out of the hotel, and the two make their way across town, evading continuous gunfire from the gang and the townsmen. Wade surprises Evans and nearly strangles him, but relents when Evans reveals that delivering Wade to the train is not only for his family but his honor as well. Wade then admits he has already been to Yuma Prison and escaped twice, and agrees to board the train, allowing Evans's contract to be fulfilled and redeeming Evans to his sons.

Wade helps Evans evade his gang and finally boards the train, congratulating Evans on his efforts. Charlie appears and shoots Evans despite Wade's order to stop. Wade steps off the train, comforting Evans in his final moments. When Charlie returns Wade's gun belt, he abruptly executes Charlie along with the rest of his gang. William appears and draws his gun on Wade but does not kill him, instead turning to his dying father. Wade boards the train and politely surrenders his weapon. Evans dies as William tells him he accomplished his mission and got the money. Butterfield watches the train depart with Wade on it. As the train disappears around a bend, Wade whistles, and his faithful horse pricks up his ears and gallops after the train, indicating that Wade is already planning his next escape.

Gino, a humble shoe-shiner in Chicago, is approached by Mafia Don "Mr. Green", who offers him a large sum of money to take the blame for a murder committed by another gangster. When he refuses, the don starts to order what may be a hit on him. Gino then agrees, planning to buy a fishing boat with the money he will earn after a three-year sentence. He signs a confession and allows his fingerprints to be put on the murder weapon.

While preparing for his court confession, Gino is watched over by Jerry, a bottom-rung gangster who has recently gotten into trouble for failing to follow orders. Facing a boring stay at a local hotel and faced with Gino's inability to suggest recreations he would like for his last few days of freedom, Jerry decides to give Gino a weekend to remember in Lake Tahoe before he goes to prison.

Arriving at the resort and casino, Jerry's tall tales and Gino's quiet dignity immediately get Gino mistaken for a powerful mafioso, resulting in them being treated as VIPs. However, they are then summoned to the Nevada home of Don Joseph "Vincenzo" Vincent, where a frantic Jerry is certain that their lowly status will be found out. However, Vincenzo takes a liking to Gino and the two elderly Sicilians bond.

Narrowly escaping after Mr. Green turns up at Vincenzo's home as part of a mafia meeting, a relieved Jerry manages to get Gino back to Chicago safely. Jerry, who has become sympathetic to Gino, now urges Gino to flee but he refuses to break his word. However, on the day Gino is to confess in court, Jerry discovers that his superiors were merely stalling for time; Gino is to be killed, and Jerry is to be the one who does the killing. Instead, Gino calls Don Vincenzo, taking up Vincent's promise to do anything to help him due to their friendship. Someone else is shown pleading guilty, receiving a life sentence, while Jerry is now working with Gino, shining shoes.

The story centers on a young boy, Nino (Ryan Cooley), and his family dog, Rex, who takes on a significant role in Nino's life after the boy loses his father to cancer. During a stroll in the park with Nino and his mother, Rex manages to save the life of the eccentric inventor and dotcom wiz, Alex (Judd Nelson). Rex is badly injured during his act of heroism and Alex, as a gesture of gratitude, takes the dog back to his bionics lab to rebuild him. Through cutting edge gadgetry, Rex is imbued with super powers and becomes the target of villains determined to possess the new technology at any cost. After the procedure, Rex is capable of feats of great strength, can see in infrared vision and run at 70 mph.

During a session in the Xavier institute's Danger Room, Logan / Wolverine battles his brother, Victor Creed / Sabretooth, and ultimately ends up losing the session, though he had been saved by the timely arrival of Iceman, who was there so that Cyclops could train him, but is too crippled with grief to do so due to Jean Grey's apparent death . After Logan trains Iceman in the Danger Room, Professor X warns Logan against trying the Danger Room on "Danger Level 7" again, before asking the X-Men to return to Alkali Lake to retrieve irreplaceable parts to Cerebro. Nightcrawler infiltrates the remnants of William Stryker's base with his teleportation ability, since the weapons systems were somehow operational. Once inside, the X-Men discover a group of agents called HYDRA looting the base. Nightcrawler and Colossus go to find the Cerebro parts while Logan and Storm investigate HYDRA's presence. Logan and Storm discover that Stryker had been building giant robots called Sentinels as another plan to eradicate mutantkind.

Storm is abducted by Lady Deathstrike and Logan pursues her, eventually rescuing Storm. Nightcrawler is plagued by visions of Jason Stryker, who reminds Kurt he left him to die. Nightcrawler retrieves the Cerebro parts, battling a Sentinel in the process. A massive Sentinel - the Master Mold is activated and rises from Alkali Lake. The X-Men and Lady Deathstrike escape; Logan attaches himself to Deathstrike's helicopter to follow her while the other X-Men return to the institute.

Iceman stops Pyro from triggering a meltdown at a nuclear power plant while Storm and Nightcrawler stop Multiple Man from blowing up a bridge . Meanwhile, Logan follows Deathstrike and her HYDRA agents to Japan. Logan learns that Deathstrike and HYDRA are working for the Silver Samurai. After battling though legions of HYDRA forces and "killing" Deathstrike again, Logan confronts Silver Samurai. Samurai reveals that HYDRA helped Stryker build the Sentinels, not realizing he planned to turn them against mutants. Silver Samurai himself is a mutant, and the Master Mold's activation was a mistake. After defeating Silver Samurai, Logan learns that HYDRA has a device in Hong Kong that can stop the Master Mold, where the Master Mold is currently heading. Logan informs Professor Xavier, who contacts Magneto - fearing the X-Men cannot stop the Sentinels alone. Magneto and Sabretooth travel to Hong Kong to help the X-Men. Xavier also reveals that Jason Stryker is still alive; his psyche now fractured into two halves: a good half who has been appearing to Nightcrawler and an evil half that is controlling the Master Mold. He states that another of his students had a similar problem (referring to Jean Grey/Phoenix).

The X-Jet is shot down by Sentinels upon its arrival in Hong Kong. Iceman battles Sentinels and recovers HYDRA's device. Magneto arrives and uses the device to incapacitate the Master Mold, which crashes to the ground, but his helmet is knocked off of his head and Magneto is subdued by Jason's telepathic powers.

Nightcrawler disables the Master Mold's control center, guided by Jason's good half, who helps point the way through the maze of the Mold's body. Nightcrawler disables the Master Mold's neural net, changed by Jason to look like a demonic realm. Meanwhile, Iceman destroys the core of the Master Mold and Logan - in another of Jason's hallucinations - fights several feral clones of himself, emerging victorious. Nightcrawler attempts to save Jason as the Master Mold begins to collapse, but Sabretooth abducts Jason and attempts to make his escape. Logan tracks Sabretooth's scent and confronts him while Kurt escapes with Jason. The two have a vicious battle, ending with Logan throwing Sabretooth from a great height to be impaled below. Jason dies, thanking Nightcrawler for saving him. Magneto leaves, vowing that his next encounter with the X-Men will be as an enemy.

Back at Xavier's mansion, Nightcrawler tells Xavier he does not want to be an X-Man, for their lives are too violent and he is a peaceful man. Xavier tells him he is always welcome in the Mansion, and Kurt leaves . Meanwhile, Cyclops goes to Jean Grey's house and sees her, apparently still alive, with her power spiraling out of control, resulting in her shutting the door on him. The game ends with Cyclops begging to be let inside .

Friends Thongs and Octopus evade security guards in a hospital, having stolen money and cancer medication from the safe. Meanwhile, a newborn baby to the wealthy Lee family is snatched by Max, the mother's ex-boyfriend, prompting the security guards give chase, ignoring the burglars, and corner Max on an escalator. Following a violent struggle, Max and the baby fall over the side—the baby is caught by Thongs, while Max plummets to his death. While the guards are distracted, Thongs and Octopus leave in the Landlord's minivan.

A few months later, the Landlord finds his flat burgled, his life savings gone. He receives a phone call from his middleman Uncle Seven, offering him a job to kidnap baby Lee on behalf of a triad boss, who claims the baby is his grandson. Enticed by the HK$7 million reward, Thongs and Octopus accept the job without knowing its objectives, finding out only after the Landlord has fled the Lees' mansion with the baby. Disgusted by the idea of kidnapping a baby, Thongs threatens to return him, but relents after the Landlord tells him of his predicament. En route to their rendezvous point in Sai Kung, the trio encounter a police road block which the Landlord attempts to outrun, only to crash his van down a hill. As the police close in on them, the stuck Landlord instructs Thongs and Octopus to leave with the baby. While in custody for reckless driving, the Landlord learns of the baby's value through the news. He phones Thongs, instructing him not to hand the baby over to anyone prior to his release so he can jack up the price. Over the next few days, Thongs and Octopus take care of the baby, developing a strong bond with him. The two begin to regret their vices: Thongs resists the urge to gamble, while Octopus feels sorry for cheating on his wife. Meanwhile, both the triads and the police are after the baby. The triad boss, enraged by the non-delivery of his "grandson", sends his men to retrieve the baby from Thongs' flat. Confronted by both the triads and Police Inspector Mok, Thongs and Octopus go into hiding with the baby.

Shortly after his release, the Landlord is brought to the triad boss, who increases his offer to HK$30 million for the baby. He finds Thongs and Octopus at the hospital, where the baby is being treated for fever. The Landlord informs the two of the triads' latest offer, but Thongs and Octopus are more concerned about the baby's welfare than the cash. However, the two agree to bring the baby to the triad boss' mansion, where the Landlord will meet them with the rest of the money. They reach the triad boss' mansion and hand over the baby reluctantly. As the trio are about to leave, they hear the baby crying for them as a blood sample is taken from his arm. Thongs and Octopus experience a flashback of the days they spent with the baby. Overcome by their feelings, they fight their way into the triad boss' private amusement park to recover the baby while the Landlord leaves with the money. Thongs almost manages to escape with the baby, but is forced to surrender when the triads threaten to hurl Octopus to his death.

Thongs and Octopus are taken to the triad boss, who insists the baby is his grandson, only to be proven wrong by the blood test. Driven mad, the boss places the baby in a deep freeze room next to Max's corpse so the baby can be with his son, prompting Thongs and Octopus to fight for the baby. The two end up trapped in the room with two minions, but are saved when Inspector Mok arrives with the Landlord, who swiftly cracks the lock to the room. Thongs and Octopus run to the garage with the comatose baby, where Thongs attempts to revive him with a makeshift defibrillator powered by a car battery from a Pagani Zonda by holding onto the crocodile clips with his bare hands. Despite his efforts, the baby does not come to and is driven off in an ambulance, where his heart is found to be beating weakly. Imprisoned for kidnapping, Thongs, Octopus and the Landlord volunteer for a mock capital punishment demonstration during an open day, using the opportunity to apologise to their loved ones. After the demonstration, Inspector Mok informs the three that their sentences have been further reduced by the Department of Justice. Thongs, Octopus, and the Landlord then see the baby alive and well with his parents. As a token of appreciation for saving the baby's life, Thongs, Octopus and the Landlord are offered jobs by the Lee family as a bodyguard, chauffeur and head of security respectively.

Sam Tiler (Christopher Allport) has been struggling to recover from the encounter with the Mutated Snowman known as Jack Frost (much to everyone else's disbelief and amusement), ever since he rampaged through his hometown last Christmas. To get away from the stress, Sam's wife Anne (Eileen Seeley) suggests a tropical vacation in a cabana far away in the Pacific for the wedding of his deputy, Joe Foster (Chip Heller) and his secretary Marla (Marsha Clark). Sam reluctantly agrees, after reinforcement from his doctor (Ian Abercrombie).

Meanwhile, the FBI has dug up the antifreeze used to dissolve Jack (voiced by Scott MacDonald) attempting to test it for remains of the genetic material. One of the janitors (Brett A. Boydstun) accidentally spills a cup of coffee into the tank of antifreeze, waking Jack up and causing him to reform and break free. Jack, now sharing a psychic link with Sam because of Sam's blood mixing with Jack in the antifreeze, follows Sam.

Sam, Anne, Marla and Joe arrive to a greeting by the eccentric Colonel Hickering (Ray Cooney) and his assistants Captain Fun (Sean Patrick Murphy) and Bobby (Tai Bennett). Jack washes ashore and kills three women, Ashlea (Shonda Farr), Paisley (Granger Green), and Rose (Jennifer Lyons). The next morning, the Colonel discovers the bodies and tries to cover up the whole mess, as he does not want this to ruin his resort. However, the island's security head, Agent Manners (David Allen Brooks) who had survived Jack's maiming of him, suspects that Jack has returned.

Jack continues his rampage, killing a beach model named Sarah (Melanie Good) and stabbing her cameraman Greg (Paul H. Kim) to death with his carrot nose. Sam begins to suspect that something is amiss when he runs into Manners, who agrees to an alliance in order to stop Jack Frost. Sam, Captain Fun (who is actually Manners' undercover assistant), and Manners stage a trap to capture Jack. This fails as the snowman they capture was really the Colonel in costume.

After slaying another beach model named Cindy (Stephanie Chao) by freezing the pool she is swimming in and drowning her, Jack decides that the tropics are a bit too warm and freezes the place, causing it to snow and freeze the lifeguard (Kerri V. Griffin). The party guests begin to play around in snowball fights when Jack enters the fray, killing at least another dozen. Sam, Anne, Marla, Manners and Joe lock themselves up in their room, using antifreeze to keep Jack at bay.

Sam and Manners decide to find help, and end up finding a room where the Colonel, Captain Fun, and Bobby have barricaded themselves in. Sam asks the three of them where they can find antifreeze, to which Bobby suggests they use the coolant for the generator, which uses the same material. Luring Jack into a trap, Sam once again tricks Jack into a pool of coolant. Unfortunately, this does not work, as Jack has become much more resilient to the antifreeze due to his time in the lab. Jack spits out a snowball and flees, followed by Manners, into the woods.

Sam, Anne, and the others observe the snowball and it "hatches" and becomes a baby snowman, who kills Captain Fun. They trap the snowman in a blender and try many different ways of killing it, all of which fail. Meanwhile, Manners has followed Jack to a shed, where he sees that Jack has spit up dozens of snowball children. He calls the others and tells them what he has seen, but before leaving he is attacked and devoured by the tiny snowmen.

Sam, in panic since the antifreeze does not work, is pushed to the side as Anne takes charge in order get Joe and the Colonel to go around the island to trap as many of the snowmen as they can until the supply boat (which is coming to the island to drop off more supplies) comes, while Bobby, Marla and Sam wait back in the kitchen. During the search, the snowmen kill seven more tourists. Eventually, Anne realizes that they can be killed by bananas, due to Sam being allergic to bananas. As a result, Jack would share the same vulnerabilities, since he absorbed some of Sam's genetics in Snowmonton. Everybody soon makes a big batch of banana smoothies, which they then use to kill the tiny snowmen. However, one of them crawls back to Jack, fatally wounded. Jack picks it up and observes it, and then watches it slowly die in his arms.

Jack sheds a tear, mourning the loss of his new family. He then becomes angry, stabbing the Colonel through the head with an icicle from behind and slitting Bobby's throat with another icicle. Marla and Joe flee and lock themselves in the freezer with Captain Fun's body, while Anne is attacked by Jack. Sam snaps out of his paranoia and shoots Jack with a banana attached to an arrow, causing him to explode. Anne and Sam embrace each other and walk towards the ocean, prepared to leave the island with any of the other surviving guests.

During the credits the two sailors on the supply boat are crushed by a giant carrot, implying that Jack is still alive. After the credits roll, we're shown that Joe and Marla were accidentally left in the freezer.

''Kindred'' scholars have noted that the novel's chapter headings suggest something "elemental, apocalyptic, archetypal about the events in the narrative," thus giving the impression that the main characters are participating in matters greater than their personal experiences.Kubitschek, Missy D. "'What Would a Writer Be Doing Working out of a Slave Market?': Kindred as Paradigm, Kindred in Its Own Write." ''Claiming the Heritage: African-American Women Novelists and History''. Jackson, MS: UP of Mississippi, 1991. 24-51.

'''Prologue'''
Dana wakes up in the hospital with her arm amputated. Police deputies question her about the circumstances surrounding the loss of her arm and ask her whether her husband Kevin, a white man, beats her. Dana tells them that it was an accident and that Kevin is not to blame. When Kevin visits her, they are both afraid of telling the truth because they know nobody would believe them.

'''The River'''
Their predicament began on June 9, 1976, the day of her twenty-sixth birthday. The day before, she and Kevin had moved into a house a few miles away from their old apartment in Los Angeles. While unpacking, Dana suddenly becomes dizzy, and her surroundings begin to fade away. When she comes to her senses, she finds herself at the edge of a wood, near a river where a small, red-haired boy is drowning. Dana wades in after him, drags him to the shore, and tries to resuscitate him. The boy's mother, who had been unable to save him, begins screaming and hitting Dana, accusing her of killing her son, whom she identifies as Rufus. A man arrives and points a gun at Dana, terrifying her. She becomes dizzy again and arrives back at her new house with Kevin beside her. Kevin, shocked at her disappearance and reappearance, tries to understand if the whole episode was real or a hallucination.

'''The Fire'''
Dana managed to wash off the filth from the river before the dizziness sets in once again. This time, she is whisked back to a bedroom where a red-haired boy has set his bedroom drapes aflame. The boy turns out to be Rufus, now a few years older. Dana quickly puts out the fire and speaks to Rufus, who, unafraid, confesses he set fire to the drapes to get back at his father for beating him after he stole a dollar. During their ensuing conversation, Rufus's casual use of the word "nigger" to refer to Dana, who is black, initially upsets Dana, but then leads her to figure out that she has been transported back in time as well as space, specifically to Maryland, circa 1815. Following Rufus's advice, Dana seeks refuge at the home of Alice Greenwood and her mother, free blacks who live on the edge of the plantation. Dana realizes that both Rufus and Alice are her ancestors, and will one day have children. At the Greenwoods', she witnesses a group of young white men smash down the door, drag out Alice's father, who is a slave, and whip him brutally for being there without papers. One of the men punches Alice's mother when she refuses his advances. The men leave, Dana comes out of hiding, and helps Alice's mother, only to be confronted by one of the white men, who hits her and attempts to rape her. Fearing for her life, Dana becomes dizzy and returns to 1976. Though hours have passed for her, Kevin assures her that she has been gone only for a few minutes. The next day, Kevin and Dana prepare for the possibility that she may travel back in time again by packing a survival bag for her and by doing some research on black history from the books in their home library.

'''The Fall'''
In a flashback, Dana recounts how she met Kevin while doing minimum-wage temporary jobs at an auto-parts warehouse. Kevin becomes interested in Dana when he learns she is a writer like him, and she befriends him even though he is white and their coworkers judge their relationship. They find they have much in common; both are orphans, both love to write, and both their families disapproved of their aspiration to become writers. They become lovers.

As Kevin is leaving for the library to find out how to forge "free papers" for Dana, she feels the dizziness coming back. This time, Kevin holds on to her and also travels to the past. They find Rufus writhing in pain from a broken leg. Next to him is a black boy named Nigel, whom they send to the main house for help. Rufus reacts with violent disbelief when he finds out that Kevin and Dana are married: whites and blacks are not allowed to marry in his time. Dana and Kevin explain to Rufus that they are from the future and prove it by showing the dates stamped on the coins Kevin carries in his pockets. Rufus promises to keep their identities a secret, and Dana tells Kevin to pretend that he is her owner. When Tom Weylin arrives with his slave Luke to retrieve Rufus, Kevin introduces himself. Weylin grudgingly invites him to dinner. Once back in the Weylin plantation, Margaret, Rufus's mother, fusses about her son's well-being and, jealous of the attention Rufus shows Dana, sends Dana to the cookhouse. There, Dana meets two house slaves: Sarah, the cook; and Carrie, her mute daughter. Unsure as to what their next act should be, Kevin accepts Weylin's offer to become Rufus's tutor. Kevin and Dana stay on the plantation for several weeks. They observe the relentless cruelty and torture that Weylin, Margaret, and the spoiled Rufus use against the slaves. While none is actually sadistic or evil, they feel entitled to treat the slaves as property. Weylin catches Dana reading and whips her mercilessly. The dizziness overcomes her before Kevin can reach her and she travels back to 1976 alone.

'''The Fight'''
In a flashback, Dana remembers how she and Kevin were married. Both of their families opposed the marriage due to ethnic bias. While Kevin's reactionary sister is prejudiced against African Americans, Dana's uncle abhors the idea of a white man eventually inheriting his property. Only Dana's aunt favors the union, as it would mean that her niece's children would have lighter skin. Kevin and Dana marry without any family present.

After eight days of being home recuperating without Kevin, Dana time travels to find Rufus getting beaten up by Alice Greenwood's husband, the slave Isaac Jackson. Dana learns that Rufus had attempted to rape Alice, once his childhood friend. Dana convinces Isaac not to kill Rufus, and Alice and Isaac run away while Dana gets Rufus home. She learns that it has been five years since her last visit and that Kevin has left Maryland. Dana nurses Rufus back to health in return for his help delivering letters to Kevin. Five days later, Alice and Isaac are caught. Isaac is mutilated and sold to traders heading to Mississippi. Alice is beaten, savaged by dogs, and enslaved as punishment for helping Isaac escape. Rufus, who claims to love Alice, buys her, and orders Dana to nurse her back to health. Dana does so with much care. When Alice finally recovers, she curses Dana for not letting her die, and is wracked with grief for her lost husband.

Rufus orders Dana to convince Alice to sleep with him now that she has recovered. Dana speaks with Alice, outlining her three choices: she can refuse and be whipped and raped; she can acquiesce and be raped without being beaten; or she can try again to run away. Injured and terrified from her previous punishment, Alice gives in to Rufus's desire and becomes his concubine. While in his bedroom, Alice finds out that Rufus did not send Dana's letters to Kevin, and tells Dana. Furious that Rufus lied to her, Dana runs away to find Kevin, but is betrayed by a jealous slave, Liza. Rufus and Weylin capture her and Weylin whips her brutally. When Weylin learns that Rufus failed to keep his promise to Dana to send her letters, he writes to Kevin and tells him that Dana is on the plantation. Kevin comes to retrieve Dana, but Rufus stops them on the road and threatens to shoot them. He tells Dana that she can't leave him again. The dizziness overcomes Dana and she travels back to 1976, this time with Kevin.

'''The Storm'''
Dana's and Kevin's happy reunion is short-lived, as Kevin has a hard time adjusting to the present after living in the past for five years. He shares a few details of his life in the past with Dana: he witnessed terrible atrocities against slaves, traveled farther up north, worked as a teacher, helped slaves escape, and grew a beard to disguise himself from a lynch mob. Disconcerted about his trouble in re-entering his former world, he grows angry and cold. Deciding to let him work his feelings out for himself, Dana packs a bag in case she time travels again.

Soon enough she finds herself outside the Weylin plantation house in a rainstorm, with a very drunk Rufus lying face down in a puddle. She tries to drag him back to the house, then gets Nigel to help her carry him. Back at the house, an aged Weylin appoints Dana to nurse Rufus back to health under threat of her life. Suspecting Rufus has malaria and knowing she cannot help much, Dana feeds Rufus the aspirin she has packed to lower his fever. Rufus survives, but remains weak for weeks. Dana learns that Rufus and Alice have had three mixed-race children of the plantation and that only one, a boy named Joe, has survived. Alice is pregnant again. Rufus had forced Alice to let the doctor bleed the other two when they had fallen ill, a customary treatment of the time, but it killed them. Weylin has a heart attack and, when Dana is unable to save his life, Rufus sends her to work in the corn fields as punishment. By the time he repents his decision, she has collapsed from exhaustion and is being whipped by the overseer. Rufus appoints Dana as the caretaker of his ailing mother, Margaret. Now the master of the plantation, Rufus sells off some slaves, including Tess, Weylin's former concubine. Dana expresses her anger about that sale, and Rufus explains that his father left debts he must pay. He convinces Dana to use her writing talent to stave off his other creditors. Dana abhors secretarial work, and had argued with Kevin about his asking her to type his manuscripts. Time passes and Alice gives birth to a girl, Hagar, a direct ancestor of Dana. Alice confides that she plans to run away with her children as soon as possible, as she fears that she is forgetting to hate Rufus. Dana convinces Rufus to let her teach his son Joe and some of the slave children how to read. However, when a slave named Sam asks Dana if his younger siblings can join in on the lessons, Rufus sells him away as punishment for flirting with her. When Dana tries to interfere, Rufus hits her. Faced with her own powerlessness over Rufus, she retrieves the knife she has brought from home and slits her wrists in an effort to time travel.

'''The Rope'''

Dana awakens back at home with her wrists bandaged and Kevin by her side. She tells him of her eight months in the plantation, of Hagar's birth, and of the need to keep Rufus alive, as the slaves would be separated and sold if he died. When Kevin asks if Rufus has raped Dana, she responds that he has not, that a rape attempt would be the act that would cause her to kill him, despite the possible consequences. Fifteen days later, on the 4th of July, Dana returns to the plantation where she finds that Alice has hanged herself. Alice attempted to run away after Dana disappeared, and as punishment Rufus whipped her and told her that he had sold her children. In reality, he had sent to them to stay with his aunt in Baltimore. Racked with guilt about Alice's death, Rufus nearly commits suicide. After Alice's funeral, Dana uses that guilt to convince Rufus to free his children by Alice. From that moment on, Rufus keeps Dana at his side almost constantly, having her share meals and teach his children. One day, he finally admits that he wants Dana to replace Alice in his life. He says that unlike Alice, who, despite growing used to Rufus, never stopped plotting to escape him, Dana will see that he is a fair master and eventually stop hating him. Dana, horrified at the thought of forgiving Rufus in this way, flees to the attic to find her knife. Rufus follows her there, and when he attempts to rape her, Dana stabs him twice with her knife. Nigel arrives to see Rufus's death throes, at which point Dana becomes terribly sick and time travels home for the last time, only to find herself in excruciating pain, as her arm has been joined to a wall in the spot where Rufus was holding it.

'''Epilogue'''
Dana and Kevin travel to Baltimore to investigate the fate of the Weylin plantation after the death of Rufus, but they find very little: a newspaper notice reporting Rufus's death as a result of his house catching fire, and a Slave Sale announcement listing all the Weylin slaves except Nigel, Carrie, Joe, and Hagar. Dana speculates that Nigel covered up the murder by starting the fire, and feels responsible for the sale of the slaves. To that, Kevin responds that she cannot do anything about the past, and now that Rufus is finally dead, they can return to their peaceful life together.

In 2154, Earth's natural resources have been depleted. The Resources Development Administration (RDA) mines the valuable mineral unobtanium on Pandora, a moon in the Alpha Centauri star system. Pandora, whose atmosphere is poisonous to humans, is inhabited by the Na'vi, , blue-skinned, sapient humanoids that live in harmony with nature.

To explore Pandora, genetically matched human scientists use Na'vi-human hybrids called "avatars". Paraplegic Marine Jake Sully replaces his deceased identical twin as an operator. Avatar Program head Dr. Grace Augustine considers Sully inadequate but accepts him as a bodyguard. While escorting the avatars of Grace and Dr. Norm Spellman, Jake's avatar is attacked by Pandoran wildlife and he flees into the forest, where he is rescued by female Na'vi Neytiri. Witnessing an auspicious sign, she takes him to her clan. Neytiri's mother Mo'at, the clan's spiritual leader, orders her daughter to initiate Jake into their society.

Colonel Miles Quaritch, head of RDA's security force, promises Jake the company will restore his legs if he provides information about the Na'vi and their gathering place, the giant Hometree, under which is a rich deposit of unobtanium. Learning of this, Grace transfers herself, Jake, and Norm to an outpost. Jake and Neytiri fall in love as Jake is initiated into the tribe. He and Neytiri choose each other as mates. When Jake attempts to disable a bulldozer which is threatening a sacred Na'vi site, Administrator Parker Selfridge orders Hometree destroyed.

Despite Grace's argument that destroying Hometree could damage Pandora's biological neural network, Selfridge gives Jake and Grace one hour to convince the Na'vi to evacuate. Jake confesses that he was a spy and the Na'vi take him and Grace captive. Quaritch's men destroy Hometree, killing many including Neytiri's father, the clan chief. Mo'at frees Jake and Grace, but they are detached from their avatars and imprisoned by Quaritch's forces. Pilot Trudy Chacón, disgusted by Quaritch's brutality, airlifts Jake, Grace, and Norm to Grace's outpost. Grace is shot during the escape.

Jake regains the Na'vi's trust by connecting his mind to that of Toruk, a dragon-like creature feared and revered by the Na'vi. At the sacred Tree of Souls Jake pleads with Mo'at to heal Grace. The clan attempts to transfer Grace into her avatar with the aid of the Tree of Souls but she dies. Supported by new chief Tsu'tey, Jake unites the clan, telling them to gather all the clans to battle the RDA. Quaritch organizes a strike against the Tree of Souls to demoralize the Na'vi. Jake prays to Na'vi deity Eywa via a neural connection with the Tree of Souls.

Tsu'tey and Trudy are among the battle's heavy casualties. The Na'vi are rescued when Pandoran wildlife unexpectedly join the attack and overwhelm the humans, which Neytiri interprets as Eywa answering Jake's prayer. Quaritch, wearing an AMP suit, escapes his crashed aircraft and breaks open the avatar link unit containing Jake's human body, exposing it to Pandora's poisonous atmosphere. As Quaritch prepares to slit Jake's avatar's throat, he is killed by Neytiri who saves Jake from suffocation, seeing his human form for the first time.

With the exceptions of Jake, Norm, and a select few others, all humans are expelled from Pandora. Jake is permanently transferred into his avatar with the aid of the Tree of Souls.

Michael is three days behind on his plan to free his brother, particularly with his new insomniac cell mate, Haywire (Silas Weir Mitchell), whom he witnesses take some tablets to stay lucid, but escape when the doctors leave, describing them as "invisible handcuffs". He then notices Michael's tattoo and sees the hidden "maze" in it.

Meanwhile, Veronica Donovan (Robin Tunney) meets with Nick Savrinn (Frank Grillo) from "Project Justice", who wants to assist. They question Lincoln regarding the evidence, which he insists was planted. Sucre (Amaury Nolasco) is visited by his cousin, Hector Avila (Kurt Caceres), who tells him that Maricruz (Camille Guaty) is with him now. He eventually gets hold of Maricruz, and learns that Hector told her lies to get her not to come. With this new development, Sucre urges Michael to get him back into the cell.

Michael manages to get hold of two chemicals and uses them to corrode a pipe underneath the infirmary as part of the escape plan. He returns to his cell and notices Haywire has drawn his entire tattoo and ponders the pathway. Michael purposely injures himself to get the officers to take Haywire away before the plan is exposed. Sucre gets transferred back to Michael's cell and continues the plan. Agent Kellerman (Paul Adelstein) suspects that Scofield may try to break Lincoln out and orders to transfer Scofield out the very next day.

Michael Scofield receives a mysterious body tattoo, and then strips his apartment of articles of various people from Fox River, along with a hard disk which he throws into a river. The next day, he robs a bank, but surrenders without incident when the police arrive. Michael is sent to court, refusing to put up a fight, even after his lawyer, Veronica Donovan (Robin Tunney) attempts to defend him, so he is sentenced to 5 years at Fox River, the prison he requested to be sent to. Upon entering Fox River, Michael meets Capt. Brad Bellick (Wade Williams), whom he quickly discovers to be somewhat arrogant. He then meets his cell mate, Fernando Sucre (Amaury Nolasco), who tells him the only thing he can do is serve time. Sucre shows Michael around the outside, noting the territories throughout. He then shows Michael to the isolated Lincoln Burrows (or "Link the Sink" as they call him) who killed Terrence Steadman, the Vice President's brother.

Michael realizes the only way to get to his brother is to join PI (Prison Industries) of which John Abruzzi (Peter Stormare) is in charge. Michael approaches Abruzzi, but is rejected, where he calmly tells Abruzzi that he has something he needs - and leaves an origami crane, giving him a sign that he knows of Fibonacci, the informant who put Abruzzi in prison. Abruzzi allows him to join PI. In the infirmary, Michael introduces himself to Dr. Sara Tancredi (Sarah Wayne Callies), whom he tries to charm. She gives him his insulin shot, since Michael claims to have Type 1 diabetes. On Michael's second visit, Sara notices his abnormally low glucose level and tells him that he is reacting to the insulin as if he is not diabetic. She then says that on his next visit, she would like to run a test. To keep up his bluff, Michael approaches C-Note (Rockmond Dunbar), the prison "pharmacist" and pays him in advance for PUGNAc, an insulin blocker.

Elsewhere, Sucre proposes to his girlfriend, Maricruz Delgado (Camille Guaty), who visits him in conjugal, and accepts. Burrows' son, L.J. (Marshall Allman) starts dealing cannabis, but is arrested by the police. Veronica sees Michael, who tells her to find out who is setting Lincoln up. Bishop McMorrow (Chelcie Ross) attempts to delay Lincoln's death sentence, where he is visited by Secret Service agents Paul Kellerman (Paul Adelstein) and Daniel Hale (Danny McCarthy). After he ignores their warning, McMorrow is shot and killed, at which point, Veronica starts to suspect Burrows may be framed. Fox River's warden, Henry Pope (Stacy Keach) asks Michael if he can finish making a model of the Taj Mahal for his anniversary with his wife, where he eventually starts working. Later, Michael meets Lincoln, and tells him he is going to get him out. After PI, a skeptical Lincoln asks Michael if he's seen the blueprints to the prison. Michael says, "Better than that -- I've got them on me." He reveals his mysterious body tattoo, which is a series of geometric patterns that disguise the blueprints to Fox River, upon which Michael will base his escape plans throughout the series.

The novella is set in the summer of 1970. It is narrated by a 35-year-old man (like all the characters he is not named) who is lying in hospital waiting to die of liver cancer, although the doctors do not believe that the cancer is real. Early on in the novel, the narrator associates his cancer with the imperial symbols, calling it, "a flourishing bed of yellow hyacinth or possibly chrysanthemums bathed in a faint purple light". He wears a pair of goggles with green cellophane lenses. The story opens with a late-night encounter between the narrator and a "lunatic", resembling both the narrator's father and a Dharma, who appears at the end of his bed. The lunatic asks the narrator what he is, to which he replies "I'm cancer" and throws his nostril clippers at the lunatic.

The remainder of the novel comprises the narrator's recollections of his childhood. The main narrative is periodically interrupted by discussions between the narrator and "the acting executor of the will", who is transcribing the narrator's story. Looking forward to his death, the narrator sings the song, "Happy Days Are Here Again". He fantasises about obtaining revenge on his hated mother by summoning her to attend his death, and in his narrative tries to recreate his earlier "Happy Days" of the latter years of the Second World War.

His first reminiscences, however, are of the immediate postwar years, in which he was ostracised by the other children for his poverty and "animal violence". He was caught and humiliated by his mother while attempting to commit suicide. He also remembers that by the end of the war he had picked up that his mother's real father had been executed for participating in a revolt against the emperor in 1912. She had then been adopted by a nationalist family working in China. There she met her future husband, who brought her to the village.

The narrator's father was 'associated with the military', and was part of an anti-Tojo movement in the Kanto Army to promote General Ishiwara; after the plan failed, he returned to the village on New Year's Day 1943 and shut himself up in the storehouse. There he wore the goggles later used by the narrator and used headphones to listen to a radio. The narrator's parents broke off contact with one another after the father's son by his first marriage deserted from the Japanese army in Manchuria. Both parents sent telegrams to contacts in the army: the mother to help her stepson escape, and the father to preserve the family honour by having him shot. The son was shot. The mother claimed the ashes, and thereafter referred to her husband only as ''ano hito'' (あの人) — "''that man''", or "''a certain party''".

The narrator describes the time spent with his father in the storehouse after this breach as the first "Happy Days" of his life. They culminated in an attempted revolt led by his father on 16 August 1945, the day after the end of the war. The plan was to kill the emperor (to "accomplish what your father tried and failed to do", as the narrator's father said to his wife), and to blame the act on the Americans, thereby preventing the country's surrender.

The father takes his son with him and his co-conspirators as he leaves the valley. The group sing the closing chorale from Bach's cantata ''Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen'', BWV 56, "Komm, o Tod, du Schlafes Bruder, Komm und führe mich nur fort" (Come, O death, brother of sleep, come and lead me forth). Another line from the same cantata is: "Da wischt mir die Tränen mein Heiland selbst ab" (My saviour himself shall wipe my tears away). The father tells his son that the words mean that the emperor will wipe their tears away.

The plot is a failure, and the conspirators are all killed (in the narrator's opinion, "very likely" by American agents in disguise). At the moment of his father's death, he recalls that he saw, "high in the sky... a shining gold chrysanthemum against a vast background of purple light... the light from that flower irradiated his Happy Days". By the time he reaches this part of the story, however, his mother has arrived at the hospital, and it is she who wipes away the tears he sheds. She recalls that her son only survived the massacre of the conspirators because he had already run away. The "acting executor of the will" agrees with the mother, and from her words it appears that she is the narrator's wife.

Confronted with his mother's version of events, the narrator retreates further into his own world. He wears a set of earphones as well as the goggles, and listens to a recording of the cantata while singing "Happy Days". He imagines himself back at the moment of his father's death, crawling towards a father figure so that, "his blood and his tears will be wiped away".

The story begins in 1913 with the narrator's visit to a friend on the island of Capri in Italy. The friend introduces the narrator to Thomas Wilson, who had come to the island for a holiday sixteen years earlier. A year after that holiday, Wilson had given up his job in London as a bank manager to live a life of simplicity and enjoyment in a small cottage on Capri. Enchanted by the island during his visit, he had made the decision during the intervening year to forgo working another twelve or thirteen years for his pension and instead to take his accumulated savings and purchase at once an annuity that would allow him to live simply on Capri for twenty-five years. And what will happen at the end of that twenty-five years, fifteen of which have already passed, asks the narrator; many men die by sixty, but many do not. Wilson does not directly answer the question, but he implies that if nature does not carry him off by the age of sixty, he will be content to dispatch himself, having lived a life of his own choosing in the meantime. The narrator of the story is stunned by such a bold plan, all the more because Wilson has the appearance and manner of an unremarkable, ordinary man – very much that of the bank manager he once was.

The narrator soon leaves Capri, and, what with the intervening world war and other events, nearly forgets his acquaintance with Wilson until thirteen years later, when he revisits his friend on Capri. By then, of course, the ten years that remained of Wilson's bargain with fate have expired. His friend describes for the narrator what has happened in his absence.

Wilson, his annuity exhausted, had first sold all that he owned; then he had relied on his excellent credit to borrow sums of the islanders to sustain himself; but at the end of a year after the expiration of his annuity, he could no longer even borrow. Wilson then had shut himself in his cottage and lit a charcoal fire to fill the room with carbon monoxide in an attempt to kill himself. But he lacked the will, the narrator says, to make a good-enough job of the attempt, and survived, though with brain damage that left him mentally abnormal but not unbalanced enough for the asylum. He lives out the remainder of his years in the woodshed of his peasant former landlord, carrying water and feeding the animals. As the narrator and his friend walk along, nearing the end of the tale, the friend warns him to betray no sign of his knowledge of Wilson's presence; the confused and degraded man is crouching nearby behind a tree, like a hunted animal. After six years of this existence, he is found dead on the ground overlooking the beautiful Faraglioni (coastal stacks) that had enticed him to the island so many years before – slain perhaps, the narrator suggests, by their beauty.

The narrator had told Wilson shortly after meeting him that his own choice would have been the safe one: to work the additional dozen or more years that would have secured his pension and, thus, a guarantee of enough money to live on, however long that might be, before setting out for his idyll on Capri, even though, as Wilson said, the pleasures of a man in his thirties are different from those of a man in his fifties. But it is not to Wilson's original choice that the narrator attributes the tragedy of Wilson's final years; he applauds Wilson for having had the nerve to make of his life what he wanted instead of following society's approved path. The narrator speculates that Wilson might indeed have had the kind of resolve needed to carry out his decision to end his own life, if necessary, at the time he first enacted his bold plan to leave his workaday life in London for the full-time leisure that, Wilson had argued, is all anyone is working for anyway. But the very ease and indolence of his life on Capri had deprived him of the will he needed to carry out his decision when the time came. Without challenge, the narrator argues, human will grows flabby, just as muscles used to support one only on level ground will lose the capacity to climb a mountain.

The story's name is a reference to the Lotus eaters of Greek Mythology, who similarly had a life of indolence.

Set between early autumn of 1953 and late spring of 1954, fashion designer Coco Chanel, after fifteen years of retirement, decides to return to the world of haute couture and reopen her Paris salon. With her new collection derided by the critics, she faces bankruptcy until buyers from four major American department stores - Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale's, Best & Company, and Ohrbach's - place orders with her. She becomes involved with the love life of one of her models, and flashbacks utilizing filmed sequences recall her own past romantic flings. Adding humor to the proceedings is a highly stereotypical rude gay designer who tries to impede Chanel's success. The finale is a fashion show featuring actual Chanel designs from 1918 to 1959.

100 years after Goku defeats Omega Shenron, all of his friends and family are now deceased except for his granddaughter, Pan, who is now elderly. She has a great-great grandson named Goku Jr., who closely resembles his great-great-great-great grandfather Goku, but lacks the latter's courage and fighting spirit. Pan takes Goku Jr. to the cemetery to pay their respects to her grandfather and tries to train him to be a warrior, but he has no confidence. At school, he is bullied by classmate Puck and his gang. Upset that Goku Jr. does not stand up for himself, Pan faints and is hospitalized.

Goku Jr. recalls the story of the magical wish-granting Dragon Ball and hopes to use it to heal Pan. The next morning, he encounters Puck and his gang and reveals to them that he is going to Mount Paozu but is ridiculed. Angry, Goku Jr. unleashes some of his power and knocks out the bullies. After following the road for hours, a truck driver gives Goku Jr. a ride but later steals his belongings when he exits the truck to relieve himself. Goku Jr. encounters Puck yet again at a roadside grocery store, who agrees to accompany him so he can watch him be eaten by a monster at Mount Paozu. To acquire supplies for the long journey, Puck steals a cart full of food from the grocery store. Goku Jr. tells Puck about his quest to heal Pan, and though Puck doesn't believe in the Dragon Balls, he decides to help on the off chance it could work, saying he admired Pan's strength.

After encountering and overcoming obstacles along the way, Goku Jr. and Puck are halted by a long wooden bridge which looks dangerously unstable. Puck crosses the bridge first, followed by Goku Jr. who crosses nervously and stumbles due to strong winds. Puck struggles to save Goku Jr., who dangles from a rope above the deep trench below. The bridge collapses, causing Puck to fall into the trench. Goku Jr. manages to cross the ravine and continues his journey alone.

After traveling another great distance, Goku Jr. encounters a hostile pig-like demon. A brown bear, thankful to Goku Jr. for helping her cub earlier, fights the demon. Goku Jr. becomes enraged and transforms into a Super Saiyan. He easily defeats the demon and passes out. When he comes to, he has no memory of the transformation. He then arrives to the summit of Mount Paozu, where he finds an old house. Inside, he discovers the four-star Dragon Ball and mistakenly believes that only one ball is needed to grant the wish. He tries and fails to make his wish to save Pan. In anger, he shouts at the Dragon Ball and throws the ball away. The Dragon Ball rolls to the feet of Goku Jr.'s ancestor, Goku, who explains that he has to collect all seven to make a wish. Goku informs his descendant that he is strong and brave despite what he thinks of himself. Suddenly, a helicopter descends with Pan and Puck inside. Goku Jr. becomes excited to see everyone alive and well, exclaiming that the Dragon Ball granted his wish. He turns to where Goku stood, and is stunned to see that he has vanished until Goku's voice tells him that it was actually his bravery that restored his grandma and Puck's life.

In a final farewell, Goku wishes Goku Jr. good luck who boards the helicopter with newfound strength and the four-star Dragon Ball.

With his lucky gold coin on his side, 15-year-old Kyle Johnson (Ryan Merriman) gets everything in life, and is also the best basketball player on his team. Heritage Day is approaching and every time Kyle asks where his family came from, his parents, Kate and Bob (Marita Geraghty and Paul Kierman) change the subject. He finds out that his dad changed his last name, but doesn't know why. One day, Kyle and his best friend, Russell Halloway (Glenndon Chatman) go to an Irish festival. There he sees coins just like his and wonders if he's Irish. When Kyle can't stop step dancing during Seamus McTieran (Timothy Omundson) and the Saint of the Step's show, he gets knocked down.

The next morning, Kyle wakes up and notices something is different about him. At breakfast, his mother is acting differently, and she confesses to him that they are Irish. On his way to school, his day of bad luck starts to begin. The next day, Kyle begins to notice the changes more noticeably; he's shorter, and his hair is turning red. In science class, a magnet attaches to his coin, and he realizes that his lucky gold coin was stolen. He rushes home to tell his parents and walks in to see that his mother has shrunk to one foot tall. She reveals to him that she is really a leprechaun and that he is one too. He tells them who he thinks stole it, and his mom says that was his grandfather, Reilly O'Reilly, founder of the Emerald Isle potato chip company. Kate and her father had a falling out over her having a "mixed marriage". They all go to the factory to ask for the coin back. After being kicked out by security, Kyle sneaks in with the Young Achievers group from school. A girl from school, Bonnie Lopez (Alexis Lopez) asks why he is there, and he tells her. They get chased by security and end up getting caught by his grandfather. Turns out Reilly didn't steal it. Reilly tells him that this is their family's lucky coin. The youngest must have possession of it so all the leprechauns in the O'Reilly clan can pass as humans. Bonnie tells Kyle that his ears have changed, and are now pointy. Reilly starts to grow a beard.

They figure out that Seamus must have stolen the coin at the fair, so they go chase him down. Kyle's grandfather tells him that Seamus is an evil leprechaun. On their way, they come across Russell, who joins them. After Seamus and his gang get away, they track down their camper at the end of a rainbow. While they are distracted eating dinner, Kyle and Reilly sneaked into the camper and found the coin. Sensing what's going on, Seamus captures Reilly and will only let him go if Kyle gives him the coin. Kyle wagers a bet to keep both. He bets on sports. The three of them, plus Russell and Seamus' friends, magically end up in Ireland. Kyle and Russell have to compete against them in Gaelic sports. They end up tying, but Seamus refuses to set Reilly free. Kyle risks his freedom and bets on Seamus in basketball without using his lucky coin. They are then transported to the junior high state championship game. Only Kyle, his family, and his friends are aware that they are playing against Seamus and his friends. Russell scores the game winning shot, Reilly is set free, and Seamus has to spend eternity at the land of Kyle's father (within the shores of Lake Erie). Kyle realizes that he doesn't need luck.

The movie ends at the school talent show with Kyle embracing his heritage by Irish dancing and singing "This Land is Your Land" with Bonnie.

A big brother-like leader from another dimension known as the Director controls our every move while letting us believe that we have free will. Starker is a homeless man for whom no records exist so he is able to elude the Director and his Agency. He attempts to counter the oppressive message and is forced to go into hiding with a round disc that he believes is the gateway to a greater humanity.

A gang of masked criminals rob a Mafia-owned bank in Gotham City, each betraying the other until the sole survivor, the Joker, reveals himself as the mastermind and escapes with the money. The vigilante Batman, district attorney Harvey Dent, and police lieutenant Jim Gordon form an alliance to eliminate Gotham's organized crime. Batman's alter-ego, billionaire Bruce Wayne, publicly supports Dent as Gotham's legitimate protector, believing his success will allow Batman to retire so Wayne can romantically pursue his childhood friend Rachel Dawes, despite her relationship with Dent.

The Mafia crime bosses gather to discuss protecting their organizations from Batman, the police, and the Joker. The Joker interrupts the meeting and offers to kill Batman for half of the vast cash fortune their accountant, Lau, concealed before fleeing to Hong Kong to avoid extradition. Batman finds Lau in Hong Kong and returns him to Gotham police custody, and his testimony enables Dent to apprehend the crime families. In response, the bosses accept Joker's offer, and he kills high-profile targets involved in the trial, including the judge and police commissioner, but Gordon sacrifices himself to save the mayor. Joker threatens that his attacks will continue until Batman unmasks. He later targets Dent at a fundraising dinner and throws Rachel out of a window, but Batman rescues her. Wayne struggles to understand the Joker's motives, but his butler, Alfred Pennyworth, surmises that some people simply want to see the world burn.

Dent confesses to being Batman to lure out the Joker, who attacks the police convoy transporting him. Batman and Gordon, who faked his death, apprehend him, earning Gordon a promotion to commissioner. At the police station, Batman interrogates the Joker, who admits he finds the vigilante entertaining and has no intention of killing him. Having deduced Batman's feelings for Rachel, the Joker reveals that she and Dent are being held separately in buildings rigged to explode. Batman races to save Rachel while Gordon goes after Dent, but they discover the Joker switched their positions. Rachel is killed in the explosion, and although Dent is rescued, his face is severely burned on one side. The Joker escapes custody, extracts the fortune's location from Lau, and burns it all.

Wayne Enterprises accountant Coleman Reese deduces Batman's secret identity and attempts to disclose it publicly, but the Joker threatens to blow up a hospital unless Reese is killed. While the police evacuate hospitals and Gordon struggles to keep Reese alive, Joker meets with a disillusioned Dent, convincing him to take justice into his own hands and avenge Rachel. Dent defers his decision-making to his half-scarred, two-headed coin, killing the corrupt officers and Mafia men who contributed to Rachel's death. As panic grips the city, the Joker reveals that two evacuation ferries, one carrying civilians and the other prisoners, are rigged to explode at midnight unless one group sacrifices the other. To the Joker's disbelief, the passengers refuse to kill one another, and Batman subdues but refuses to kill him. Before the police arrest the Joker, he gloats that although Batman proved incorruptible, his plan to corrupt Dent has succeeded.

Dent takes Gordon's family hostage, blaming his negligence for Rachel's death. He flips his coin to decide their fates but falls to his death after Batman tackles him to save Gordon's son. Believing Dent is the hero the city needs, Batman takes the blame for his death and actions, and convinces Gordon to conceal the truth. In the aftermath, Pennyworth burns an undelivered message to Wayne from Rachel, confessing she chose Dent, and Batman destroys the invasive surveillance network that helped him find the Joker. Dent is mourned by the city as a hero, while the police launch a manhunt for Batman.

Genoshan magistrates, backed by the cyborg Cameron Hodge, and including an amnesiac Havok (a member of the X-Men), attack the X-Mansion and kidnap Storm and the New Mutants Warlock, Boom Boom, Rictor, and Wolfsbane. After expending his energy on freeing the others from their cell, Warlock is taken to have his power transferred to Hodge. Wolfsbane returns to rescue him, but instead unintentionally causes the transfer to go awry, killing Warlock. Wolfsbane is brainwashed, turned into one of Genosha's mindless mutate slaves, which form the backbone of the Genoshan economy and lifestyle. The remaining New Mutants and the X-Men recruit X-Factor and head to Genosha to save their teammates, only to be ambushed by Havok and the Genoshan magistrates. As Cyclops unsuccessfully attempts to jog Havok's memory, the Genoshans meet a humiliating defeat.

Wolverine, Psylocke, and Jubilee rescue Rictor and Boom-Boom from Genoshan magistrates. After entrusting Rictor and Boom Boom to the care of Jubilee, Psylocke and Wolverine put on the magistrates' uniforms to enter Hammer Bay. Havok, seeing someone else is wearing his lover's uniform, attacks his former teammates. Psylocke incapacitates Havok, but Hodge takes her and Wolverine prisoner. Meanwhile, Storm attempts to kill Genoshan engineer David Moreau, but is captured by Hodge and turned into a mutate slave. Jean, Cable, Gambit, Sunspot, and Forge place bombs throughout the outer levels of the capitol building, the Citadel, but are captured after the magistrate Wipeout blocks their powers. The remaining heroes set a trap at their hideout and attack the Citadel, but are defeated. Wanting payback for his earlier humiliation, Havok confronts Cyclops personally. This time Cyclops succeeds in making Havok remember who he is. However, deciding his only chance of helping is as an inside man, Havok tranquilizes Cyclops and turns him over to Hodge.

The X-Men, X-Factor, and New Mutants are put on trial, but when Wolverine attempts to kill the judge, he turns them over to Hodge to do with as he will. Pretending to be traumatized by Hodge's brutalities, Psylocke submits herself to the mutate process. She then escapes while being taken to Moreau. Once the others are left alone, Gambit uses a dart Hodge fired into his leg to pick their locks. Thinking the mutants are all safely captured, Hodge initiates his plan to betray Genosha, killing a number of magistrates, including Wipeout. The Chief Magistrate turns to the mutant teams for help against Hodge, using Storm's electrical power to restore their powers. The process inexplicably also undoes Storm's brainwashing and restores her to adulthood.

Jubilee, Rictor, and Boom-Boom stumble upon Moreau, who is taking his own steps to counter Hodge's treachery. He takes them to the Citadel. There, they are reunited with their teammates. Moreau directs Wolfsbane to change into wolf form; only by remaining in this form can she be free of her brainwashing. Moreau shoots Hodge point blank with a prototype weapon, but Hodge kills him before he can finish him off. The mutant teams hunt Hodge throughout the Citadel, with Cyclops and Havok finally destroying his body. Hodge's severed head still lives on due to the immortality bestowed on him by N'Astirh, so Rictor brings down the Citadel, burying him alive. Days later, Havok and Wolfsbane decide to stay in Genosha to help settle tensions between humans and mutants in the country. The mutant heroes return home and hold a funeral for Warlock. Per Wolfsbane's wishes, they spread his ashes over the grave of their teammate Cypher.