Tesshō is your typical high school delinquent with a special skill. He has a perfect pitch. This skill enables him to hear things most people wouldn't. After helping a local vet, Kashiyuu, save a small dog, whom he later names Inu (Japanese for "dog"), Tesshō realizes his calling in life is to become a veterinarian. After passing veterinary school Tesshō finds himself out of a job and out of luck. But due to some connections with an old high school friend, Tesshō is allowed to take the test to enter the famous R.E.D. Vet hospital.

The tale begins with Tommy Brock, a badger, being entertained by old Mr. Bouncer, the father of Benjamin Bunny. Mr. Bouncer has been left to tend his grandchildren while his son and daughter-in-law Flopsy are away, but, after smoking a pipe of rabbit-tobacco, he falls asleep in Tommy's company. Tommy puts the bunnies in his sack and slips out. When the parents return, Benjamin sets off in pursuit of the thief.

Benjamin finds and brings his cousin Peter Rabbit into the rescue venture, and the two discover Tommy has invaded one of Mr. Tod's homes. Mr. Tod, a fox, has multiple homes but keeps moving. Often Tommy lodges in his homes. Peeping through the bedroom window, the rabbits see Tommy asleep in Mr. Tod's bed, and, peeping through the kitchen window, they see the table set for a meal. They realise the bunnies are alive, but shut in the oven. They try to dig a tunnel into the house but hide when Mr. Tod suddenly arrives in a very bad temper, which has caused him to move house.

The fox discovers the badger asleep in his bed, and originally plans to hit him, but decides against this due to the Badger's teeth. He decides to play a trick upon him involving a pail of water balanced on the overhead tester of the bed. Brock however is awake, escapes the trick, and makes tea for himself in the kitchen. Mr. Tod thinks the bucket has killed Tommy and decides to bury him in the tunnel the rabbits have dug, thinking Tommy dug it. When Mr. Tod discovers Tommy in the Kitchen and has tea thrown over him, a violent fight erupts that continues outdoors. The two roll away down the hill still fighting. Benjamin and Peter quickly gather the bunnies, and return home in triumph.

Lord Emsworth's world is far from ideal – not only has his neighbour Sir Gregory Parsloe-Parsloe stolen his pigman Wellbeloved, but his niece Gertrude is imprisoned in the house, mooning miserably about the place and, worse still, trying to be "helpful" by tidying his study.

Meanwhile, Freddie Threepwood, back in England to promote his father-in-law Mr Donaldson's "Dog-Joy" biscuits, has just been turned down by his dog-loving Aunt Georgiana, Gertrude's mother, when he runs into his old Oxford pal Beefy Bingham. Bingham, Freddie learns, is in love with cousin Gertrude, but as he is not well-off, the family have closed ranks and sent Gertrude away to Blandings.

Inspired by a Super-film he has seen, Freddie sends Bingham down to the castle, under the guise of a Mr "Popjoy" (based on Lord Emsworth's mishearing of the dog biscuits Freddie is selling), tasked with ingratiating himself with the Earl. Emsworth is at first pleased to see Gertrude less dour, and charmed by his guest's diffidence and helpful ways, but soon finds himself smothered – Bingham is overdoing the ingratiating. Emsworth even begins to question the man's sanity, when he wakes in the night to find the fellow blowing kisses up at his window.

When Bingham tries to help Emsworth off a ladder and knocks him to the ground, he hopes to remedy the others ills (and anger) with a bottle of balm; sadly however, he buys a product designed for horses, which causes his Lordship considerable pain. When he sees Emsworth singing during his morning swim, he mistakes the awful noise for cries for help, and dashes in to save the aging peer, only to be thanked with a stiff punch in the face.

Freddie reveals to Emsworth that Popjoy is in fact Bingham, hopeful of one of the many livings in Emsworth's gift. When Emsworth realises that he can inflict the man on his enemy Parsloe-Parsloe, he doesn't hesitate from granting him the job.

The story is about the Platonic love relationship between Bernadette and “the lady” of her vision. Bernadette’s love for the lady attains “ecstasy” when in her presence at a grotto near Lourdes. The love she feels sustains her throughout the trials and tribulations which she is made to endure by doubters and by public officials who see her as a threat to the established order, which is based on a secular milieu.

The lady guides Bernadette to the discovery of a stream which springs from beneath the ground of the grotto. The curative powers of the water are discovered by various town folk, and the word is spread by them. Bernadette does no proselytizing.

The lady informs Bernadette of her wishes to have a chapel build on the site of the grotto, and to have processions to the site. Bernadette informs church and secular officials about this, but takes no action to have it done. Eventually, it gets done. Bernadette does not actively cultivate a following, but people are attracted to her by the love she radiates and by witnessing the ecstatic trance she experiences when she has visions of the lady at the grotto.

Bernadette does no preaching or evangelizing, but her behavior of itself converts doubters, and the very church officials who once doubted her become her protectors and advocates. Although she is dying of tuberculosis, she refuses to seek a cure from the lady, or to drink the curative water. She is canonized several years after her death.

The story of Bernadette Soubirous and Our Lady of Lourdes is told by Werfel with many embellishments, such as the chapter in which Bernadette is invited to board at the home of a rich woman who thinks Bernadette's visionary "lady" might be her deceased daughter. In side-stories and back story, the history of the town of Lourdes, the contemporary political situation in France, and the responses of believers and detractors are delineated. Werfel describes Bernadette as a religious peasant girl who would have preferred to continue on with an ordinary life, but takes the veil as a nun after she is told that because "Heaven chose her", she must choose Heaven. Bernadette's service as a sacristan, artist-embroiderer, and nurse in the convent are depicted, along with her spiritual growth. After her death, her body as well as her life are scrutinized for indications that she is a saint, and at last she is canonized.

The novel is laid out in five sections of ten chapters each, in a deliberate nod to the Catholic Rosary.

Unusual for a novel, the entire first part, which describes the events on the day that Bernadette first saw the Virgin Mary, is told in the present tense, as if it were happening at the moment. The rest of the novel is in the past tense.

Freddie Threepwood, still trying to persuade his Aunt Georgiana of the benefits of Donaldson's Dog-Joy (even going so far as to act out the phrase "eating one's own dog food") hears that his cousin Gertrude has become infatuated with Orlo Watkins, a weedy tenor invited to the castle by Lady Constance. While visiting his friend Beefy Bingham to borrow his dog Bottles, Freddie learns that she has indeed all but "handed him the bird".

Freddie tells this to Lady Georgiana, while giving a rather poor demonstration of Dog-Joy's powers, during which Bottles is scared off by Susan, one of Lady Georgiana's Pekes. He later tries to reason with his cousin, but to no avail; the glamour of the singer has taken her over.

That evening, while the household take after-dinner coffee in the drawing room, Freddie enters with Bottles and a sack of rats, intending to demonstrate the Dog-Joy reared mongrel's ratcatching prowess; Orlo Watkins, observed by Gertrude, cringes somewhat at the sight. The family protest, and Beach is called to take the bag of rats away. Bottles remains, however, and when one of Lady Georgiana's Airedales comes in, a mighty battle commences.

Watkins, to Gertrude's disgust, leaps atop a display cabinet, while the others dither about. Just in time, Bingham enters, sees the fight in progress, and breaks it up by the simple expedient of taking one dog in each massive hand and pulling. His manly display shakes the scales from Gertrude's eyes, and she falls into his arms, while Watkins slinks off, defeated.

Lady Georgiana, meanwhile, is so impressed by Bottles' performance that she orders two tons of Dog-Joy off Freddie.

It is ten years after the birth of Dane, and Meghann "Meggie" O'Neill (Amanda Donohoe) is forced to run Drogheda basically on her own, since all her brothers went off to fight in World War II. To make matters worse, a two-year drought has struck the area. One day, Meggie's estranged husband, Luke, arrives on Drogheda and begs forgiveness. Meggie, lonely, in need of a man to run the ranch and to be a father for her children, reluctantly takes Luke back, and she becomes pregnant once again.

Father Ralph de Bricassart (Richard Chamberlain) decides to become a full-time priest to fulfill his deep love for God. He has been using his church in Rome as a haven for Jewish war refugees. After Ralph uses some of Mary Carson's estate money to send a young orphan to America, the church "punishes" him by forcing him to return to Drogheda to guard the church's bequeathed property and to convince the Australian government to accept more refugees.

Father Ralph arrives in Australia unannounced and Luke is not pleased to see him. Luke demands Meggie move with him immediately to a ramshackle cabin on the farm he purchased, just to get Meggie away from Ralph. When Meggie resists, Luke strikes her, causing her to miscarry.

Meggie decides she can never return to Luke, but Luke declares he only returned for Dane, whom he thinks is his son. Meggie takes Luke to court for custody of Dane. The judge, a Protestant biased against Dane's desire to be a priest, awards custody to Luke, with Meggie refusing to ruin Ralph by announcing Dane is his and not Luke's son. She decides to avoid scandal, confronting Ralph with the fact that he loves God more than her, that he will always be devoted to a greater good. She has raised her son without the knowledge of who his father is.

The rains finally come, and Ralph and Meggie do their best to round up the animals before the flood comes. Unable to make it back to Drogheda in the downpour, the two find refuge in a small cabin, where a night of romance ensues.

Meggie's mother, Fee, in a last-ditch attempt to reclaim Dane, confronts Luke with the truth—Dane is not his son but the son of Father Ralph. Luke swears never to reveal this fact for fear of losing Meggie and his children to Ralph forever.

Luke confronts Ralph and starts a fight, declaring if Ralph can beat him he can have Dane. Ralph defeats Luke, and torn and bleeding, Luke returns Dane to Meggie.

Servais Mont, a photographer, meets Nadine Chevalier who earns her money starring in cheap soft-core movies. Trying to help her, he borrows the money from loan sharks to finance the theatrical production of ''Richard III'' and gives Nadine a part. Nadine is torn between Servais, with whom she is falling in love, and her husband Jacques, to whom she has moral obligations.

The Acoma System is a Souther-held warzone. It is centered around a gas giant (also called Acoma) with ore-rich moons, and thus is a valuable mining site for the Souther war effort. Protecting the supply routes is the 86th Air Support Reconnaissance Squadron - the 86ers. It is a dumping ground for failures and freaks and now G.I. Rafaella Blue has joined them. The 86ers are based out of the Citadel, a fortress built on an asteroid inhabited by the alien Termies ("''Pretty harmless, as long as you don't go wandering about the lower levels on your own''"). It is known a Nort spy is on the base, with the crew betting on who it might be. The alien Varr live nearby; little is known about them and they leave the 86ers alone for the most part.

Rafe was sent to investigate an SOS at a Nort base that had been hit by a bioweapon and was infected by Nort zombies, discovering in the process that the base was a science station researching an alien sarcophagus. The base was destroyed by the Varr but Friedkin's conspiracy knows about the sarcophagus and has one of their own; Harrigan is unaware of this. Recovering from her infection, Rafe experienced visions related to an implanted memory program - with the face of Rogue Trooper - who's attempting to activate her memories and black-ops programming to help an unknown employer working within the base. An assassin tried to kill her with a Nort serum, only to be shot by Harrigan; this assassin is unrelated to the Conspiracy, meaning another network is active at Acoma.

Since this story, the Nort turncoats have been targeted by a Grendel - a genetically modified assassin - and Nort forces have begun massing for a major assault on Acoma.

The first page of the strip showed Rafe's ship damaging and crashing on Acoma. The rest of the plot occurred "seven months earlier" and it is not yet known what will cause Rafe to be in that situation.

Conspiracy

This secret group of Souther scientists and personnel (led by '''Doctor Friedkin''' and '''Montuez''') are responsible for extravating a (presumably crashed) '''Varr'''. They appear to be responsible for the murder of a Souther spy, '''Cochran'''. They have also been made aware of the Norts' interest in '''Rafaella Blue'''. In Prog 2007, it is discovered that their true goal is to open a tomb consisting of Old Ones on '''Acoma''' and gain the secret of immortality, and they are constantly sending teams to investigate it (which are slaughtered by unknown beings). They secretly have one of the Old Ones in stasis, gained from the sarcophagus.

''The River'' follows the tranquil life of lovable, Cockney, ex-convict Davey Jackson (Essex) who is lock keeper on the canal near the village of Chumley-on-the-Water. His peaceful life is turned upside down by the arrival of the neurotic, sharp-tongued Sarah MacDonald (Murphy). Over the six episodes of the series the love-hate relationship between Davey and Sarah blossoms into a shaky romance, their potential happiness often spoiled by the machinations of Davey's cunning Aunty Betty (Vilma Hollingbery) and the hapless intervention of Davey's deputy Tom Pike (Shaun Scott).

''The River'' also shows brief glimpses of the village of Chumley and its extremely weird inhabitants, including the eccentric squire, Colonel Danvers (David Ryall), the constantly silent and drunken Silent Jim, landlord of the village pub "The Ferret", Aunty Betty's futile attempts to lead a socialist revolution from the village and Tom's conversations with his pets Deidre the goat and Cyril the pig. The only two (nearly) sane people in Chumley are Davey and Sarah, the former taking the chaotic and confusing village life in his stride, the latter realising that she is not the greatest crackpot in the country.

''The River'' ends abruptly with Sarah's decision to leave, partly due to her nervousness about her relationship with Davey and the ploys of Aunty Betty to get rid of her. At the very end of Episode Six, Sarah's narrowboat explodes after Tom forgets to replace a faulty gas pipe on it. Sarah, much to Davey's relief, survives (and is found floating on a piece of wreckage in the river). The episode ends with Davey and Sarah floating down the river on the remains of the narrowboat.

Infected puts players in the role of a police officer in New York City, 3 weeks before Christmas while the entire city is rapidly being infected with a virus that turns people into ravaging, bloodthirsty zombies. The player's blood contains the cure, which less than 1% of the population possesses. The objective is to destroy the infected while trying to reach someone who can make a cure from the blood.

As a relative newcomer to an Oregon town that bears his name, Dr. Mumford (Loren Dean) seems charming and skillful to his neighbors and patients. His unique, frank approach to psychotherapy soon attracts patients away from the two therapists (David Paymer and Jane Adams) already working in the area.

Soon he is treating a variety of conditions, ranging from the obsession of one man (Pruitt Taylor Vince) with erotic novels to an unhappily married woman (Mary McDonnell) and her compulsive shopping. Mumford befriends a billionaire computer mogul (Jason Lee) and a cafe waitress (Alfre Woodard) and attempts to play matchmaker. He also begins to fall for a patient (Hope Davis) who suffers from chronic fatigue syndrome.

Together with an attorney (Martin Short) whom Mumford had rejected as a patient because of his narcissism, the rival therapists conspire to find skeletons in Mumford's closet, hoping to destroy his reputation. Meanwhile, Mumford's inherent likability causes his life to become intertwined with much of the rest of the town.

The events in the novel take place in the course of a month in 1898 in Trieste. Ernesto, a 16-year-old apprentice clerk to a flour merchant named Wilder, lives with his mother and aunt. He and his mother rely on the charity of relatives, whose control Ernesto resents. When he was thirteen, he spent a perfect summer reading the ''Arabian Nights''. He adopts leftist political views, partly out of conviction and partly to needle Wilder. He has his first sexual experiences on several occasions with a 28-year-old laborer identified as "the man". Their roles reflect classical models, with the older man insisting that since he has a beard he must be the active partner in intercourse. Ernesto also has one experience with a female prostitute. He imagines a different life for himself, perhaps as an adored concert violinist, though he lacks talent. His tentative approach to manhood is reflected in a visit to the barber where he has his first shave, though he hardly seems to need it. He becomes resentful about being overworked, though he refuses to share tasks with a younger assistant. He resents his employer and resigns his post with an insulting letter. Ending his employment will also end his casual encounters with "the man" at work. His mother succeeds in arranging for his employer to rehire Ernesto, who then reveals his sexual history to his mother to avoid taking up his clerk's post again.

That night Ernesto attends a violin recital and at intermission sees a beautiful boy a bit younger than himself but fails to locate him at the end of the concert. They meet by chance the next day, discovering they have the same violin teacher. "They could have been two puppies, who instead of wagging their tails were smiling at each other." Ernesto says he has just turned 17 and the other boy, Emilio called "Ilio", is 15 and a half and a more talented violin student than Ernesto. They decide to be friends.

In April 1945, as Berlin is slowly encircled by rival American and Soviet armies, Karl Fairburne, an agent of the American OSS, is deployed into the ruins of the city wearing the uniform of a German soldier. His superiors have tasked him with thwarting efforts by the Soviet Union to obtain information, personnel, and technology from the German nuclear weapons program. Very little information is revealed about Fairburne's background, other than he was raised in Berlin before the war broke out, that he studied at West Point shortly after America's entrance into the war, and the fact that he was primarily chosen for the mission because he's familiar with the city's geography and can easily blend in with Berlin's defenders.

There are several factions active in the city, including the German resistance, who assist Karl, the Soviet NKVD, who are working against him for access to the spoils of German nuclear research, and the remnants of the Nazi forces in Berlin. The historical Nazi official Martin Bormann, an extremely powerful figure within the Third Reich, is one of Karl's first targets for assassination as he plans to meet up with an NKVD contact at the Brandenburg Gate to defect to the Soviet Union (in real life, Bormann committed suicide rather than be captured by the Soviets). The rest of the characters (such as Dr. Max Lohmann, a key German scientist who Fairburne is assigned to help capture and escort out of Berlin to America in order to prevent him from falling into the hands of the NKVD) are fictional with the exception of George S. Patton, commander of the American forces assaulting Berlin, who is responsible for authorizing Fairburne's mission.

A news report shows a victim being pulled away on a stretcher. It is revealed that a serial killer, having murdered over thirty people, is on the loose in a Los Angeles suburb. A television repairman with a pronounced limp, named Horace Pinker, becomes the prime suspect. When the investigating detective, Lt. Don Parker, gets too close, Pinker murders Parker's wife, foster daughter, and foster son.

However, his other foster son, a college football star named Jonathan, develops a strange connection to Pinker through his dreams and leads Parker to Pinker's run-down shop. In a shootout in which several officers are killed, Pinker escapes and targets Jonathan's girlfriend Alison in retribution, killing her as a "birthday present" while he is at practice.

Another dream leads Lt. Parker and the police to Pinker, whom they catch in the act of a kidnapping. This time, just as Pinker is about to kill Jonathan, he is arrested. Pinker is quickly convicted and sentenced to die in the electric chair.

Prior to his execution, Pinker reveals that Jonathan is, in fact, his son, and that as a boy, Jonathan had shot him in the knee while trying to stop the murder of his mother. But what they do not realize is that Pinker has made a deal with the Devil. When executed, he does not die but instead becomes pure electricity. He is able to possess others to continue his murderous ways. Some of the people who are killed are prison staff and Jonathan's friends.

He soon possesses Lt. Parker, who uses his strength to fight off Pinker, and Pinker escapes into a TV dish. Jonathan and his friends try to find a way to fight him. Jonathan's friends, including Rhino, head to the power station to disable the power.

Jonathan, with the aid of Alison's "spirit", devises a scheme to bring Pinker back into the real world and accidentally discovers that Pinker, as with all energy sources, is bound by the laws of the real world; Jonathan uses this limitation to defeat Pinker, and traps him inside a television. Pinker threatens Jonathan that he will find a way out of his "prison". Alison's voice tells Jonathan to take care of himself, while Jonathan's neighborhood suffers a blackout, caused by his friends blowing out the power main, trapping Pinker in the television. Jonathan goes outside amid all his neighbors and looks up at the sky, agreeing with Alison that they are beautiful.

Taking place immediately after ''The Wind Waker'', in which Link defeats Ganondorf who turns to stone and remains at the bottom of a now sealed away Hyrule, Link and Tetra travel over the flooded Hyrule called the Great Sea on board Tetra's pirate ship. Along the way, the pair discover the Ghost Ship and Tetra enters it; however, immediately after entering the Ghost Ship, she screams for help. While Link attempts to follow her, he slips and falls into the ocean. Washed ashore on an island, Link is awakened by Ciela, a fairy. Exploring the island, Link finds the Phantom Hourglass, filled with the Sands of Hours, and meets an old man named Oshus, who wants to help Link find the Ghost Ship and reunite with Tetra. To aid him in his quest, Link enlists the help of Captain Linebeck and his ship, the S.S. ''Linebeck'', which Link, Ciela, and Linebeck use to visit islands across the Great Sea. While Linebeck was initially reluctant to team up with the two, Ciela makes mention of a huge treasure, prompting him to agree to help them.

After scouring the Great Sea, Link learns that he must use maps and clues hidden in the Temple of the Ocean King to find the Spirits of Courage, Wisdom, and Power, which in turn will help him locate the Ghost Ship. With the help of the Phantom Hourglass, Link finds the Spirits of Wisdom and Power. When Link finds that the Spirit of Courage looks exactly like Ciela, Oshus explains that she is in fact the spirit, after which she and her other half transform into her true form. Now in possession of the three Spirits, Link, along with Ciela and Oshus, locate the Ghost Ship and find Tetra on board, who has been turned to stone. While Link determines how to save Tetra, Oshus reveals that he is the Ocean King and that he and Ciela had to change their appearances to hide from Bellum, a life-eating monster that Link must destroy to save Tetra. Oshus also mentions that Bellum was the one who created the Ghost Ship and turned Tetra into a statue, and that he has taken residence deep in the Temple of the Ocean King. Linebeck quickly readies to abandon their quest; outraged at the lack of treasure to be found. However, his loyalties instantly return when Oshus promises the captain one wish in return for his continued aid.

To defeat Bellum, Link learns that he must forge the Phantom Sword from three unique, "pure" metals located on nearby islands; Crimsonine (Goron Island), Azurine (Isle of Frost) and Aquanine (Isle of Ruins). After collecting and using the metals to forge the Phantom Sword, Link descends to the bottom level of the Temple of the Ocean King to face Bellum. After intense fighting, Link appears to defeat Bellum, and Tetra is freed from stone. After Link and Tetra hurry back to the S.S. ''Linebeck'' to find Oshus, Bellum emerges and sinks the ship, capturing Tetra and knocking Link unconscious in the process. Linebeck finally shows some devotion when he fights off Bellum while Link wakes up. Then, Linebeck gets possessed by Bellum, forcing Link to fight him, eventually defeating Bellum for good, saving Tetra and Linebeck, and releasing the sand from the Phantom Hourglass back into the sea. Oshus, now in his true form as a white whale, readies to depart with the three spirits, while Linebeck, surprising everyone, wishes not for treasure but for his ship back, and Tetra and Link teleport back onto Tetra's pirate ship, where its crew tells them that only ten minutes had passed since the pair left the ship, insisting that their journey was a dream. However, Link still possesses the now-empty Phantom Hourglass, and sees Linebeck's ship on the horizon, knowing that his adventure was real.

The Kelly family lives in the fictional town of Oakmoor Crossing, just before and during Halloween. The family, consisting of father David, mother Linda, and son Sean, live a normal suburban life, but are eventually visited by a stranger who identifies herself as Vivian Machen. Both the Machens and the Kellys have a long ancestral history in Oakmoor Crossing, and Vivian reveals that one of the Kelly's ancestors hanged a supposed warlock named Walter Machen, who raised up a pumpkinhead scarecrow, named Jack-O, from hell to take revenge on the Kellys. The Kelly ancestor ended up burying the monster in a shallow grave. But, through the antics of several teenagers, Jack-O is raised again and seeks revenge on the Kellys.

The series opens with the villainous Dr. Blasphemy calling in to a radio show where the local residents of Slumburg, Pennsylvania (the setting of the story) are venting about their dislike for a teenage superhero sidekick. Chippy (the pink leather-clad sidekick of the gay superhero Midnight Mink) is widely reviled, which leads to Dr. Blasphemy challenging the host of the radio program to hold a call-in radio poll: if a majority votes for Chippy and his fellow superhero sidekicks to die, then Dr. Blasphemy will carry out the will of the people and murder them. Most of the general public call in to vote for the murder of the sidekicks, unaware of the result of their action.

While Blasphemy is holding court on the radio waves, Chippy is meeting with a local priest with whom he talks about the cruelty of the adult heroes that he and his friends work for. Leaving the confessional chamber, a young altar boy named Cody notices the teen hero leave and realizes that his priest knows the heroes.

That evening, Chippy meets up with his fellow sidekicks (Kid Vicious, Luna, and Wild Boy), all of whom take turns bullying the young hero. Their torment of Chippy is interrupted by the arrival of Dr. Blasphemy; as he taunts the heroes, there is a sudden explosion, killing three of the heroes and horribly disfiguring Chippy (who is protected by an accelerated healing power given to him by Midnight Mink). Horribly maimed, Chippy opts to go into hiding.

Midnight Mink; the racist Judge Jury; the misandrist Moon Mistress; and the drug addict King Rad meet to discuss the deaths of their sidekicks. The four heroes (known collectively as Black October) have licensed their images to various corporations for profit; however, their contracts state that they must have teen sidekicks. They confront Father Dunn, ordering him to procure four youths from the local community for the four to take on as the new Chippy, Luna, Kid Vicious, and Wild Boy. After they leave, Cody (having heard everything) appears and offers himself as the new Chippy.

The series then focuses on the new Luna, Wild Boy, and Kid Vicious, as well as Cody's transition into becoming a superhero.

Luna II is a spoiled, yet sweet teenage girl named Shannon who refuses to have sex with her fellow male classmates, is heavily involved in her local church group, and dotes on her single father. Moon Maiden murders her father and arranges to adopt her.

Kid Vicious II is a lonely rich kid named Beau raised by a mostly absent widow. Beau spends his time alone and has a secret obsession with Nazism. Judge Jury murders Beau's mother and frames her boyfriend for the crime, then tortures Kid Vicious (to break him mentally) while pumping him full of steroids and other drugs that cause him to become violent and aggressive.

Wild Boy II is a Hispanic skateboarder named Karlo, whose parents run a successful local grocery store. King Rad doesn't murder Karlo's parents directly, but he allows a fire caused by arsonists to go unchecked, killing Wild Boy II's parents and siblings. Karlo is then made to indulge in harsh drugs against his will, but ultimately starts using them willingly after a search and rescue mission goes wrong with Karlo unable to save a young boy from being torn in two.

Cody is raised by a single father, who spends most of his days drunk and forcing Cody to fend for himself for food and basic needs. Midnight Mink murders Cody's father in a staged robbery and then adopts Cody.

As the series progress, the four heroes systematically break their young charges mentally and physically through extensive physical abuse (Judge Jury); drug addiction (King Rad); and psychological manipulation (Midnight Mink and Moon Mistress). While they do so, they discuss the missing fifth member of the group: True-Man.

A being of pure energy, True-Man personally trained Moon Maiden as a hero; was best friends and lovers with Midnight Mink; and who brought the wildcards Judge Jury and King Rad into his orbit to stop a war between the two and True-Man and his friends, allowing them to become the sole protectors of Slumburg.

True-Man eventually became jaded with humans and ultimately left the Earth. However, before he left, True-Man discovered that Midnight Mink had contracted AIDS, and he transfused his blood into Midnight Mink. The transfusion cured Midnight Mink of AIDS, but also granted him (and anyone who is exposed to his blood in transfusion form) superhuman endurance to pain and injury, along with the ability to heal any wounds. Cody, after several battles, proves himself a worthy replacement as Chippy, and Midnight Mink performs a blood transfusion granting Cody the same power.

By the end, all four teen heroes are irrevocably broken mentally, just like their predecessors: Beau is now a steroid addicted bully, Karlo a drug addict, and Shannon has become completely jaded and promiscuous. Meanwhile, Cody finds himself repeatedly visiting Father Dunn. He reveals that all three of his fellow sidekicks hate and despise him, due to the fact that Midnight Mink doesn't overtly abuse and mock Cody like the other heroes do. He further states that he has become disaffected with the life of a hero, along with the sociopathic tendencies of Midnight Mink and the other members of Black October. Midnight Mink interrupts the confession, as he reveals the full control he has over Cody by having him leave the priest to return home with him. Midnight Mink then tells Father Dunn that the only reason he doesn't kill him (and allows his various sidekicks to vent their anguish and suffering to him) is that Midnight Mink gets off on knowing that the priest can do nothing to save his sidekicks, or any of the sidekicks, from the hell that is their lives as superheroes.

Original Ending

The original five issue mini-series had the following ending that is only available in Brat Pack #5.

After leaving Father Dunn's confessional, the opening scene from the first issue plays out again with the other sidekicks attacking Cody. However, there is a loud scream from the church as the heroes storm in and find Dr. Blasphemy waiting for them with a large coffin: he orders the heroes to open it (after flinging the dying remains of the original Chippy at Cody) and reveals it full of contracts and legal documents for merchandise, comics, TV shows, and movies.

Dr. Blasphemy reveals that the kids are pawns of corporate America: they require the psychopathic heroes have teen sidekicks to make them appear wholesome and fatherly/motherly to the masses and then reveals that their partners murdered their parents so they could ensure that they did not have to split the money from the merchandise deals. Chippy inspects one document and discovers a clause in it: when the sidekicks becomes of legal age (18), the heroes must then start splitting the proceeds from their lucrative merchandise/media deals with their sidekicks. Chippy then realizes that Midnight Mink, Judge Jury, King Rad, and Moon Mistress were responsible for the bomb blast that killed their sidekicks, all of whom were on the verge of turning 18 years old. However, before they can do anything a bomb is dropped on the church by a plane flown by Black October.

Storming the bombed out remains the church, Father Dunn (about to hang himself in the bell tower), finds a bag and a note telling him to open it. Inside, he finds Dr. Blasphemy's hood which he puts on as he hangs himself. The Black October go to the bell tower and find him hanging, but quickly realize that he's doesn't have the full costume of their enemy. Suddenly the electrical storm reaches its peak as True-Man returns at long last. The hero murders his former friends and teammates by trapping them under the church bell which he melts on top of them, as King Rad tries desperately to reach out to his faithful butler (who also served as a servant for Black October) for help. The final shot shows the church in ruins as the radio declares a state of emergency and tells everyone to stay indoors until the lightning storm is over.

Trade Paperback Ending

When the series was released as a trade paperback, Veitch rewrote the ending.

After Midnight Mink's confrontation with Father Dunn, Cody encounters the original Chippy outside the church. Chippy's injuries are too severe for his healing factor to fix; he finally dies, but gives Chippy his mask before he passes. Meanwhile, after Midnight Mink's gloating over him, Father Dunn pulls out a gun and shoots Mink. Chippy responds by rescuing the hero and overseeing his recovery, going so far as to perform a blood transfusion so his own healing factor can help speed up Mink's healing process.

Afterwards, the sidekicks are forced to attend a convention where they sign autographs and meet their fans. An angry fan of the original Chippy wounds Cody, revealing Cody's healing factor power to the other teen sidekicks. Once Cody has healed, they lure him to the alley behind the church where, like their predecessors, they take turns tormenting and brutalizing Chippy to force him to give up the secret of his healing powers. The torture is interrupted when Dr. Blasphemy appears and lures the teens inside. A coffin is then presented to them, claiming to hold death and a secret. While Beau, Shannon, and Karlo all proclaim that they hope it is their mentors, Cody realizes the truth. He declares that the coffin is a bomb and quickly disarms it before opening it up to show the explosives inside. Shannon, Karlo, and Beau realize they know their heroes have access to bomb-making equipment and realize that their mentors want to kill them, just like they killed the previous sidekicks they replaced. Bleeding from the beating, Cody grabs a nearby sacrament cup and fills it with his blood, so they can share in his healing factor. Pointing out how utterly corrupt and evil Black October is, Cody warns that they need to either flee town or prepare for a final showdown with their mentors. At this point, from his plane, Midnight Mink drops a bomb on the church.

The rest of the ending plays out as it did in the original book: Black October go into the church, where they find Father Dunn having hung himself while wearing a Dr. Blasphemy mask. True-Man then appears to kill his former teammates. Due to the blood they consumed, the teen sidekicks have survived the explosion, so they watch with glee as they reveal that True-Man is upset with the utter corruption and evil of his former friends as he executes them for their crimes. However, before the comic ends with the shot of the ruined church and the radio calling for citizens to stay indoors, it's revealed that Dr. Blasphemy was Fredo, the butler for King Rad.

Part 1

Since Scofield's transfer was cancelled, the woman in Montana tells Kellerman to take care of Burrows quickly. He has an informant call an inmate in Fox River to kill Lincoln. The only form of identification of the inmate is an elastic bracelet. Veronica (Robin Tunney) avoids Nick Savrinn, until she realises that he is trying to help her all along, when he hears that the anonymous phone call to arrest Lincoln came from Washington D.C. Meanwhile, Michael (Wentworth Miller) realizes that to complete a digging job inside the walls to some pipes, he needs to spend a good block of time there, which has been proving difficult as he has to keep coming back to his cell to make count. After explaining this to Sucre (Amaury Nolasco), he is told that the only time count doesn't take place is during a lockdown. Michael manages to disable the prison's air conditioning. T-Bag (Robert Knepper) returns from the infirmary, where he is given a new cell mate, Seth. Since the A/C is off, the inmates suffer in the heat, leading T-Bag to start a fight with Geary, who then initiates a lockdown while some of the prisoners are out of their cells. The prisoners riot and break into the prison cell control room, in which T-Bag opens all the cells and then finds a set of keys, giving him and the rioters access to the entire prison.

When news of the riot reaches the sick bay, the prisoners there also riot. After taking out the guard, they trap Dr. Tancredi (Sarah Wayne Callies) in the adjacent room. Michael uses a tracing of a devil from his tattoo to provide the coordinates (calculated using Hooke's law, also referred in this episode as hooker's law) needed to collapse part of the wall. This is vital to his escape plan as the wall prevents the team from entering a pipe that will take them to the infirmary. Meanwhile, after Lincoln is ambushed by T-Bag and his men, he holds new CO Bob Hudson hostage, who tries to escape, but T-Bag takes him to Michael's cell, where he learns of the escape plan, and blackmails Abruzzi (Peter Stormare) into getting in on the plan. Outside, the COs plan on stopping the riot, where Pope receives a call from Governor Tancredi, who is coming to Fox River.

Michael soon notices Dr. Tancredi's plight on CCTV and goes to rescue her through an air duct. Meanwhile, Charles Westmoreland stumbles upon a battered Lincoln and alerts him of the situation. A distraught Lincoln demands to know where Michael is. When Westmoreland is unable to answer, another prisoner named Turk steps forth to lead Lincoln to Michael, but it is revealed he is the inmate ordered to kill him.

Part 2

Turk misleads Lincoln, by sending him into a secluded area, where he attempts to kill him. However, after the two men struggle, Lincoln pushes Turk over the edge, where he soon dies. Back in Michael's and Sucre's cell, T-Bag is keeping an eye on CO Hudson, who knows of the escape plan. Abruzzi enters the hole and helps Sucre with breaking down the wall. Sucre, a devout Roman Catholic, struggles with drilling through a depiction of the devil. Also adding to the dilemma is the fact that gas pipes lie behind the wall, and that drilling in the wrong place may cause a fatal explosion. However, together they are eventually both able to drill strategically placed holes and manages to break it down to see the pipe on the other side.

Sara is still trapped in the room, where the rioters almost break through, and try to set fire to it, where Michael manages to arrive through the vents and rescues her from them. However, the rioters follow her and Michael, who try to evade them. Sara asks how Michael knows about the pipes and he replies by saying that he has had PI duties to clean up toxic mold in the pipes. Soon, Michael is able to knock out one of the leading inmates and rush to an exit. However, when they arrive, a sniper, sent by Govorner Tancredi, who is adamant to do what it takes to rescue his daughter, aims at him. Michael quickly ducks as the pursuing inmates are fired at and Sara reunites with her father.

Veronica and Nick arrive in Washington D. C. and receive the address from the placed phone call, a payphone. The payphone is next to the building of the company the Vice President uses. The phone rings and Veronica answers it. The caller tells them that they are dead. In a panic, Veronica and Nick run away from the payphone. Michael returns to gen-pop and reunites with Lincoln before heavily armed SORT teams invade the prison and force the inmates back to their cells. In Michael's cell, the team discuss what to do with Hudson. Michael, Lincoln and Sucre want to keep him alive. However, as he leaves, T-Bag kills him anyway, stabbing him in the stomach and throwing him down from the second level. Later, Sara asks a colleague why PI was ordered to clean up the toxic mold. The colleague replies that PI has never done such a job, which tells Sara that Michael's story was a lie. In the end, the prison is returned to normal and Michael can continue with his escape plan.

Billy Forrester has a weak stomach and vomits easily. He and his parents, Mitch, Helen, and his little brother, Woody, have just moved to a new town. Billy tells his mother he doesn't want to go to school because he will be "the new kid". She assures him he will make friends and everything will be okay.

Billy becomes the target of the school bully, Joe Guire, his two "toaders" Plug and Bradley, and the rest of his gang: Benjy, Techno-Mouth, Twitch, and Donny. Plug and Bradley steal Billy's lunch box. Billy sits behind Erika Tansy, an unusually tall girl whom people make fun of.

At lunch, Billy opens his thermos and pours out a pile of live earthworms. Sickened, he almost vomits. Joe asks Billy if he eats worms. Billy says "I eat them all the time", then throws a worm at Joe's face. A nerd named Adam Simms was sure that Joe was going to punch Billy with "The Death Ring"; it is rumored that whoever Joe punches it with dies in 8th grade.

Joe, Plug, and Benjy catch up with Billy as he heads home. Joe proposes a bet: Billy will eat ten worms on the coming Saturday without throwing up, or he will have to walk around the school with worms in his pants. Billy knows that he cannot back out of the bet, so he accepts.

The next day, Billy is teamed up with Adam. While they cook the first worm "Le Big Porker" in the park they are chased by a park ranger for using a grill without adult supervision. Adam takes them to his uncle Ed's restaurant The Brown Toad, and cooks up the second worm in an omelette. However his uncle takes the omelette and gives it to their principal who then eats it. Adam then has to cook the second and third worms again, dubbing the creation "The Greasy Brown Toad Bloater Special," (where he dunks the worms in the fryer and smears liver juice on them). Ed then kicks them out for having worms in his restaurant. After Billy eats the fourth worm, "The Burning Fireball," and burns his mouth, Twitch and Techno-Mouth quit Joe's team and become his new best friends. Billy, Techno-Mouth, Twitch, and Adam then go to a convenience store. They find Adam playing ''Dance Dance Revolution'', and one of the boys spills his drink, causing the machine to blow up and they get kicked out. At the playground, Billy eats the next three worms, "Magni-Fried," "Barfmallo," and "Peanut Butter and Worm Jam Sandwich."

After dinner, the boys go to a bait shop, where Billy eats the next two worms, "The Green Slusher" and "Radioactive Slime Delight," (where Donny puts the worm in the microwave) while the owner is out, but her unexpected return leads to her briefly chasing them for breaking into her bait shop. After Joe cheats in an attempt to keep Billy from eating the last worm, "Worm A La Mud," all of his gang leaves and joins Billy's team. Erika is able to use her archery skills to get the final worm needed to Billy and he eats it before the deadline. Nigel Guire, Joe's brother, tries to bully and humiliate Joe; but Billy and the rest of the gang stand up for him, telling Nigel to leave him alone, and he leaves.

After thinking it over that night, Billy returns to school. He explains to Joe that the second worm was eaten by their principal, Burdock, when Adam accidentally put it in his omelet at the Brown Toad. They come to the conclusion neither of them technically won so they both put a bunch of worms down their pants and walk through the hallway. They are then interrupted by Burdock, who nearly catches them when a worm falls out of Billy's pants, which Joe covers up with his shoe. After Burdock returns to his office, the kids all run outside and celebrate as Billy and Joe both take the worms out of their pants and throw them into the air.

Sally Floyd is a young reporter with a New York City newspaper, The Alternative. Although a good reporter, she suffers from alcoholism since the death of her young daughter, Minnie, much to the chagrin of her editor. After the majority of mutants lose their powers on M-Day, just like inhumans in marvel. ally decides to continue writing a column on them. She visits a hospital where Chamber has been taken. His face and chest are now just a gaping hole, a machine being the only thing keeping him alive. Her column is a resounding success and receives national acclaim. However, she soon receives photographs of mutants who have been killed, now that they can’t defend themselves.

The police speak with Sally Floyd about the murders of several former mutants. Sally feels guilty, and wonders if they were killed because of her, but the police thinks the killer is probably using her to get attention. As part of her Mutant Diaries series, Sally visits Stacy X, a former mutant who now is just a prostitute with a skin condition.
Sally next goes to visit her friend, Jubilation Lee, who is not much of a help. The police then confront her with a new theory, that the killer is actually a mutant himself.

Sally is contacted by a man calling himself the Ghoul, who claims he is the one responsible for murdering former mutants and wants his story told. After a visit to a former mutant support group, Sally meets Fred J. Dukes, a former mutant known as the Blob. He suggests that she should visit an asylum in southern New York. Sally attends an AA meeting, but does not feel like she should be there. She returns to her apartment and has a run-in with her ex-husband about Minnie’s death and her drinking problem. The next day, she visits the asylum and witnesses how formerly powerful inmates are bullied by the still powered mutants. Sally departs, only to have the body of a dead mutant girl thrown at her car by the Ghoul.

The Ghoul continues to harass Sally by sending her pictures of his victims. She then receives a visit from Barnell Bohusk, having lost his mutant appearance, with an invite to meet one of the X-Men. Before that, Sally interviews Marrow in the sewers for her Mutant Diaries. A criminal psychologist suggests that Sally try to cultivate some kind of positive relationship with the Ghoul in order to create a rounder profile on him, to which she reluctantly agrees. Later, she finally meets her contact from the Xavier Institute. It’s Warren Worthington, who reveals that he has lost his wings.

After talking to Warren Worthington, Sally meets with Dani Moonstar, but her mind is on other things. She decides to do one final article that concentrates on her daughter. It explains how Minnie was a mutant who was growing smaller and younger until she died a few months before M-Day. Sally meets with Warren Worthington again and, as they chat, the Ghoul strikes. The X-Men appear to fight him, but the Ghoul teleports Sally away, angrily berating her for betraying him. Sally does her best to wind the Ghoul up, mouthing off about how crazy all of this is, and even punching him on the nose. The Ghoul is about to respond when Sally falls out of the tower they were in on purpose, only to be caught by Angel, who is revealed to having retained his wings after all.

Cyclops then destroys the tower, bringing the Ghoul’s reign of terror to an end. After a couple of days in hospital, Sally returns to the office and finds her colleagues wholly approve of her decision to run the story and for catching the Ghoul. The last thing for Sally to do is to give Minnie the only gift she has to offer. She attends an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, only this time she stands before them and introduces herself in participation.

The parents are the time and motion study and efficiency expert Frank Bunker Gilbreth Sr. and psychologist Lillian Moller Gilbreth. The film shows typical days in the lives of a family in the 1920s, but here with 12 children and an efficiency engineer as the parent. Frank employs his unorthodox teaching methods on his children, and there are clashes between parents and children.

Frank takes every opportunity to study motion and increase efficiency, including filming his children's tonsillectomies to see if there are ways to streamline the operation. He escorts his daughter to her prom as a chaperone but ends up chatting and dancing with her female friends.

At the end, Frank is sent on a lecture tour to Europe, expecting to visit Prague and London. He phones Lillian from the station but the line goes dead as he has had a heart attack. After Frank's sudden death, the family agree that Lillian will continue with her husband's work, beginning with giving his lectures in Europe; this enables the family to remain in their house, rather than move to their grandmother's in California, although, with a widowed working mother and one income, the children will have to assume much greater responsibilities.

In 1943, two Belarusian boys dig in a sand-filled trench looking for abandoned rifles in order to join the Soviet partisan forces. Their village elder warns them not to dig up the weapons as it would arouse the suspicions of the occupying Germans. One of the boys, Flyora, finds an SVT-40 rifle, though both of them are seen by an Fw 189 flying overhead.

The next day two partisans arrive at Flyora's house, to conscript him. One confusingly wears a German military police uniform complete with helmet. Flyora becomes a low-rank militiaman and is ordered to perform menial tasks. When the partisans are ready to move on, the partisan commander, Kosach, says that Flyora is to remain behind at the camp. Bitterly disappointed, Flyora walks into the forest weeping and meets Glasha, a young girl working as a nurse in the camp, and the two bond before the camp is suddenly attacked by German paratroopers and dive bombers.

Flyora is partially deafened from the explosions before the two hide in the forest to avoid the German soldiers. Flyora and Glasha travel to his village, only to find his home deserted and covered in flies. Denying that his family is dead, Flyora believes that they are hiding on a nearby island across a bog. As they run from the village in the direction of the bogland, Glasha glances across her shoulder, seeing a pile of executed villagers' bodies stacked behind a house, but does not alert Flyora.

The two become hysterical after wading through the bog, where Glasha then screams at Flyora that his family is actually dead in the village; resulting in the latter attempting to drown her. They are soon met by Rubezh, a partisan fighter, who takes them to a large group of villagers who have fled the Germans. Flyora sees the village elder, badly burnt by the Germans, who tells him that he witnessed his family's execution and that he should not have dug up the rifles. Flyora, hearing this, then attempts suicide out of guilt, but Glasha and the villagers save and comfort him.

Rubezh takes Flyora and two other men to find food at a nearby warehouse, only to find it being guarded by German troops. During their retreat, the group unknowingly wanders through a minefield resulting in the deaths of the two companions. That evening Rubezh and Flyora sneak up to an occupied village and manage to steal a cow from a collaborating farmer. As they escape across an open field, Rubezh and the cow are shot and killed by a German machine gun. The next morning, Flyora attempts to steal a horse and cart but the owner catches him and instead of doing him harm, he helps hide Flyora's identity when SS troops approach.

Flyora is taken to the village of Perekhody, where they hurriedly discuss a fake identity for him, while the SS unit, accompanied by collaborators from the Russian Liberation Army and Schutzmannschaft Batallion 118, surround and occupy the village. Flyora tries to warn the townsfolk as they are being herded to their deaths, but is forced to join them inside a wooden church. Flyora and a young girl are allowed to escape the church, but the latter is dragged by her hair across the ground and into a truck to be gang raped. Flyora is forced to watch as several Molotov cocktails and grenades are thrown onto and within the church before it is further set ablaze with a flamethrower as other soldiers shoot into the building. A German officer points a gun to Flyora's head to pose for a picture before leaving him to slump to the ground as the soldiers leave.

Flyora later wanders out of the scorched village in the direction of the Germans, where he discovers they had been ambushed by the partisans. After recovering his jacket and rifle, Flyora comes across the young girl in a fugue state, her legs and face covered in blood after having been gang-raped and brutalized by the soldiers. Flyora returns to the village and finds that his fellow partisans have captured eleven of the Germans and their collaborators, including the commander, an ''SS-Sturmbannführer''. While some of the captured men including the commander and main collaborator plead for their lives and deflect blame, a young fanatical officer, an ''Obersturmführer'', is unapologetic and vows they will carry out their genocidal mission.

Kosach makes the collaborator douse the Germans with a can of petrol brought there by Flyora, but the disgusted crowd shoots them all before they can be set on fire. As the partisans leave, Flyora notices a framed portrait of Adolf Hitler in a puddle and proceeds to shoot it numerous times. As he does so, a montage of clips from Hitler's life play in reverse, but when Hitler is shown as a baby on his mother's lap, Flyora stops shooting and cries. A title card informs: "628 Belorussian villages were destroyed, along with all their inhabitants." Flyora rushes to rejoin his comrades, and they march through the birch woods as snow blankets the ground.

This fictionalized version of Chuck Norris is a United States government operative with a team of racially diverse warriors known as the Karate Kommandos. Together, they fight against the organization VULTURE led by the Claw and his right-hand man Super Ninja.

Pippi Longstocking, who travels on the ship ''Hoptoad'' with her sailor father, Efraim, encounters a sudden storm caused by a volcanic eruption. After Efraim disappears into the sea, Pippi travels to the small coastal town of Rocksby, accompanied by her horse, Alfonso, and monkey, Mr. Nilsson. She takes up residence in her father's home, Villa Villekulla, which the neighborhood children believe is haunted.

Soon Tommy and Annika Settigren venture into it after seeing lights in the windows. Looking for ghosts, they meet Pippi, Mr. Nilsson, and Alfonso instead. They become friends and get into various adventures together such as making pancakes, cleaning the floor with scrubbing shoes, serving ice cream to residents of the local children's home, riding a motorcycle, and dodging "splunks". Pippi must also fight off Mr. Blackhart and his henchmen, Rype and Rancid, who want to demolish her house and sell the property, as well as avoid being legally taken to the children's home by the owner, Miss Bannister. She agrees to escape and flee with Tommy and Annika in a homemade autogyro to avoid this fate. However, they are rescued after nearly going over a waterfall while riding in barrels down a river.

Thinking that Pippi will hurt Tommy and Annika, Mr. and Mrs. Settigren refuse to let them play with her anymore. She believes that they would be better off without her and goes to the children's home. As a result, she is forced to leave Mr. Nilsson and Alfonso behind. She is unable to fit in with the other orphans due to her lack of discipline and education. However, after she rescues the children's home from a fire inadvertently started by the janitor and is lauded by the townsfolk as a heroine, she is allowed to return home and play with Tommy and Annika again.

She is reunited with Efraim on Christmas Day, and he offers her the chance to become a cannibal princess of the uncharted island he had washed ashore on and was crowned king. She agrees and everyone comes out to bid her a tearful farewell. Just as they prepare to sail off, she decides to stay after seeing that everyone is sad to see her go. She explains to Efraim that she can't leave Tommy and Annika. He understands and tells her that he loves her. They say goodbye and she goes home with Tommy, Annika, Mr. Nilsson, and Alfonso.

The story's protagonist is Romano Grey, a gypsy antique expert who is pulled into a murder investigation when one of his friends dies in an automobile accident and is posthumously accused of the murder of a girl whose body, neatly sliced into six pieces, is found at the scene of the accident. Grey reappears in ''Canto for a Gypsy'', published in 1972.

Michael Scott (Steve Carell) is excited to be celebrating his birthday, and tries to get the employees excited with him. Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) is the only one to join in; the rest of the employees are more concerned about Kevin Malone (Brian Baumgartner), who is awaiting results from his skin cancer screening. Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer) and Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) sneak out to buy gifts for Kevin to cheer him up. After goofing around at the store, Jim and Pam return to the office.

When Michael finds out about Kevin's predicament, he gives Kevin his condolences, but is bitter that his birthday fun is ruined. Dwight and Angela Martin (Angela Kinsey) are less subtle than they think they are being when discussing their secret relationship within earshot of Ryan Howard (B. J. Novak).

In an attempt to make Kevin feel better and celebrate his birthday, Michael takes the employees out ice skating. At the rink, he runs into his real estate agent Carol Stills (Nancy Carell) and her children. He entertains them, which makes Carol smile. Kevin gets the word that his screening results are negative, to the relief of everyone except Michael, who believes that negative means he has cancer, and reacts for the first time with genuine concern and compassion for Kevin. Gifts are passed out to Kevin and Michael. Pam says in an interview that Michael's birthday "was a good day", and appears to struggle to come up with an explanation for why it was good. The documentary crew suggestively intercuts this with footage of her shopping with Jim.

The film is set in 1488, six years after the events of the original film and the death of Judge Claude Frollo. Captain Phoebus serves as Paris' Captain of the Guard under the new Minister of Justice. Phoebus and Esmeralda are now married and have become the parents of a five-year-old son named Zephyr. Quasimodo is now an accepted member of Parisian society; though he still lives in Notre-Dame de Paris with his gargoyle friends Victor, Hugo, and Laverne as the cathedral's bell-ringer.

A circus troupe led by Sarousch enters town as part of "Le Jour d'Amour"-(meaning "The Day of Love"), a day dedicated to the celebration of strong and pure romantic love. Sarousch is secretly a master criminal who plans to steal Notre Dame's most beloved bell, La Fidèle, the inside of which is decorated with beige-gold and enormous jewels. He sends Madellaine, an aspiring trapeze girl in his troupe, to discover the whereabouts of La Fidèle.

Madellaine encounters Quasimodo without seeing his face, and the two of them initially get along quite well. Once Madellaine actually sees his face, she is shocked at his deformed appearance and runs away from him. The gargoyles convince Quasimodo to go to the circus to see her again. At the circus, Sarousch captures the audience's attention by making an elephant disappear, while his associates steal from the audience. He pressures Madellaine to follow Quasimodo and obtain the information he needs for his plans. When Madellaine disagrees with this mission, Sarousch reminds her of her past and of the loyalty she owes him: when she was six years old, Madellaine was an orphaned thief who was caught trying to steal coins from Sarousch. He could have turned her over to the authorities or even Frollo; instead, Sarousch took her under his wing and decided to employ her in his circus.

Madellaine reluctantly takes the mission to win Quasimodo's trust. After observing Quasimodo fondly playing with Zephyr around town and letting the boy sleep in his arms, Madellaine realizes the hunchback's true nature and ceases to be frightened by his appearance. Quasimodo takes her sight-seeing around Paris. A thunderstorm and the rain force them to end their date and return to Notre Dame. Quasimodo takes the opportunity to offer Madellaine a gift, a figurine in her own image which he created himself earlier in the film. A sincerely touched Madellaine kisses him on the forehead and leaves. Quasimodo soon realizes that he has fallen in love with her.

Meanwhile, Phoebus is investigating reports about robberies in his city. He suspects that the circus is responsible for the crime spree and confides to his family and friends, but Esmeralda expresses her belief that Phoebus is motivated by his own prejudice. Elsewhere, Sarousch instructs Madellaine to keep Quasimodo preoccupied while the circus steals La Fidèle. However, Madellaine has come to genuinely care for Quasimodo and protests, so Sarousch threatens to have Quasimodo killed if she refuses. Phoebus eventually questions Sarousch about the robberies, and finds a stolen jewel in his possession. To avoid being arrested, Sarousch claims that Madellaine is a lifelong thief and that he is covering for her crimes. Phoebus seems to believe him.

Later, while Quasimodo is out with Madellaine, Sarousch and two of his subordinates sneak into the cathedral, stealing La Fidèle. The gargoyles try to stop the thieves, but end up trapped under another bell; Laverne still sounds the bell and alerts everyone that something is amiss at the cathedral. Hearing the sound, Quasimodo and Madellaine rush back. When the Archdeacon informs everyone that La Fidèle has been stolen, Clopin claims that if they do not find the bell, the festival will be ruined. Phoebus realizes that Sarousch has played him for a fool. He sends the soldiers all over Paris to find Sarousch. Due to some confusion, Quasimodo realizes that his beloved Madellaine has deceived him (despite her pleas that she did not intend to) and angrily breaks off their relationship. He retreats deeper into the cathedral, feeling heartbroken and betrayed.

Phoebus has his guards arrest Madellaine for her involvement in the theft. The gargoyles soon inform Quasimodo that Zephyr has left to pursue Sarousch. He passes the information on to Esmeralda and Phoebus, who now have personal reasons to locate the master criminal. Madellaine, now a prisoner of Phoebus, informs them that Sarousch has taken the missing bell to the Catacombs of Paris and tries to explain the secrets behind her former master's tricks and illusions. Phoebus decides to search around the catacombs, and brings Madellaine with him. In the Catacombs, the search party encounter Esmeralda's pet goat Djali, who leads them to Sarousch and Zephyr. Sarousch has taken the boy hostage and blackmails Phoebus into opening a gate for him. Madellaine uses her high-wire skills to rescue Zephyr and reunite him with his parents. With no leverage against his pursuers, Sarousch and his group of criminals are arrested, and the missing bell is recovered.

The festival can finally take place. Hugo finally wins the heart of Djali, his longtime crush. A number of romantic couples, including Phoebus and Esmeralda, proclaim their love for each other while Quasimodo rings the restored La Fidèle. The bell falls silent when a released Madellaine joins Quasimodo in the bell tower. The two of them admit their own love for each other and share their first romantic kiss. As the film ends, Zephyr takes over the ringing of La Fidèle.

The action of the play goes back and forth between Washington, D.C. and Grenada. In Grenada, Alex is a medical student who has a girlfriend named Linda, also a medical student, who works in a gift shop. The gift shop is owned by Ruby, a native of the island. From the beginning, Alex is shown to be a dishonest person, as he tells Linda that he is paying professors for answers to exams. A CIA agent repeatedly visits the shop and has many witty arguments with Ruby. In Washington, Andy manipulates Tommy and Patricia into helping him use political spin to make public opinion supportive of the Grenada invasion. It is revealed that Alex is Eddie's son, whom Eddie thought was going to Stanford University. Alex is paid by the CIA agent to pretend that he is in danger, and Eddie is therefore forced to drop his opposition to the invasion and participate in a press conference with Alex when he returns to the United States. Meanwhile, during the invasion of Grenada, Ruby is killed when the hotel she is working in is bombed accidentally. Linda and Eddie are both upset with Alex and feel that he has become a different person. Eddie always expresses his misgivings about the invasion when talking to the other Washington characters, but when he meets Linda at the end of the play, when he sees her protesting the invasion, he admits that he has done nothing to stop the war.

A newly released prisoner, Peter Glahn, returns home to the land of Mandragora, where the sun never sets. Aboard the ship, Glahn has a romantic encounter with Juliana Kossel, then proceeds to the family ostrich farm, which is run by his sister Amelia. Amelia is in love with Dr. Isaac Solti, a manipulative gentleman scientist/mesmerist. Cain Ball, Amelia's hired hand, quarrels with her about her promise to sell him the ostrich farm. Peter heads into the forest to go hunting and meets the pregnant Zephyr, who despite her fisherman husband falls for Peter. Zephyr prays to a stone statue of the goddess Venus that stands in the forest that Peter will be hers, and gives the statue her wedding ring as a gift. Zephyr meets Peter again and Venus appears to have worked her magic, since the two embrace, although Peter notes that he is in love with Juliana and Zephyr notes her marriage.

Dr. Solti has likewise been talking to the statue of Venus, which fell over and crushed his leg, causing its amputation. During a picnic, Amelia and Peter meet Solti and Juliana (revealed to be Solti's companion) causing both Glahns to become quite jealous. Solti has mesmerized Juliana and reveals that he orchestrated her affection for Peter as part of his everyday manipulative sadism. Peter assaults Solti and ineffectively attacks his artificial leg. Amelia, meanwhile, has concluded that Cain Ball is trying to kill her and so hammers a giant nail into his skull, sets him on fire, and stuffs his face with live flies, before entering into a semi-catatonic madness herself. Zephyr reveals that she has murdered her husband by leading him into a pit of snakes.

Peter and Juliana reignite their romance briefly, before it sours due to Peter's jealousy. He calls upon the spirits of the forest trees to descend on his tormentors, but they only droop a little. Zephyr attempts to take her ring back from the statue of Venus but it falls over to crush her. Cain, nail in head, hallucinates that the cast has piled into a boat, then dies. Solti leaves Mandragora and Juliana follows. She asks Peter for his dog Aesop as a memento, and he agrees but first kills the dog. Peter retreats with Amelia to a wintry cave.

Jody, a gay man, owns a small map store on the oldest street in an American city, and is seemingly worldly and knowledgeable. Carl, another gay man is a frequent visitor to the store, is a friend of Jody, and seems to lie a lot about his life and occupation. Despite this, the two seemingly know very little about each other. The play begins with Jody explaining how he found a chair placed in his store one day, without notice, by Carl. Pretty soon, the store is littered with chairs, and after some argument between the two, it is revealed that every chair was owned by someone they knew in their community, who had died from the epidemic.

It becomes apparent that Jody hasn't left his store for months on end, rarely going outside and rather having things brought to him. Carl has placed the chairs in his store in hopes that Jody will realize that there are things going on in their community, and as a member Jody must bear witness and help the problem, rather than shun the world.

It is also revealed that Carl helps empty the residences of those taken by the epidemic, and can't stand to see the chairs abandoned and alone. Rather, he takes them to Jody's shop which is the biggest room he knows of. Carl succeeds in getting Jody to leave when he goes and gets tested for the first time. This leads to him taking a week off from the shop to see the world he abandoned and by the end finding out that he tested negative. However, a few months later, Carl's own chair appears in the shop and it becomes apparent that he will soon succumb to the disease. Now Carl has become the one who needs security, and Jody must pick up where Carl left off.

Mateo Melgarejo "Mateito" (Cantinflas) is a notary public and scribe for the illiterate people of Santo Domingo, a neighborhood north of Mexico City's Zócalo. A squatter friend asks for his help in negotiating with the land census bureau to regularize a land title. After a great deal of frustration with the government bureaucracy, he writes a letter to the cabinet minister, Don Antonio (Miguel Manzano), earning an audience with him. The minister is so pleased with Mateo's honesty that he hires him to reform the bureau. Mateo also ends up making friends with the minister's sister Vicky (Chela Castro) and the minister's daughter Bárbara (Lucía Méndez).

Mateo is initially appointed to work in the basement where the oldest archives of the offices are located, nicknamed "''la ratonera''" ("The Mousetrap"), alongside a kind elderly man, Avelino Romero, "Romeritos" (Ángel Garasa), but after the government official in charge of supervising the bureau (Raúl Padilla) realizes Mateo's connection with the minister, he places Mateo in charge of the bureau. However, after the minister is appointed as an ambassador overseas, Mateo is demoted again to the Mousetrap, this time alongside a younger, petulant employee (since Romeritos by then had retired). Mateo, tired of the multiple problems with his co-workers, resigns, but not before lecturing the officials on their duties in a democratic society. At the end, he returns to Santo Domingo to help its poor residents.

Jeff and Marty are friends and in a middle age crisis. Jeff is married with Franny and has two daughters, Marty is married with Beth. In their marriages, something is missing. When they travel to the Philippines, they meet Andy and both fall in love with her. They have a threesome and decide to leave their families and live together. Andy introduced them to Kozen, a Zen Buddhist monk, and they decide to build a refuge in one isolated beach. After a period together, Jeff misses his family and the relationship of the group deteriorates when Andy falls in love with Jeff.

The story begins with Sinbad (Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.) regaling a group of travelers around a night-time campfire. When his listeners become bored with his often repeated tales, Sinbad tells them about his "eighth" voyage.

With his friend, Abbu (George Tobias), Sinbad salvages a ship whose crew has been poisoned. On board, he finds a map to the lost treasure of Alexander the Great on the fabled island of Deryabar. However, when he sails to Basra, the ship is confiscated by the local Khan, to be sold at auction. Sinbad obtains an agreement that he may keep the ship if there are no bids. He scares away all the bidders with not-so-subtle comments about the ship being cursed. At the last moment, one bidder appears, a veiled woman borne by four servants. She is Shireen (O'Hara), part of the harem of the powerful Emir of Daibul (Anthony Quinn). Sinbad bids against her and ends up owing a huge sum he cannot pay. He steals the auctioneer's own money to pay for the ship.

Visiting Shireen that night in her garden, Sinbad learns of a mysterious and deadly person known as Jamal, who will stop at nothing to acquire the treasure. Jamal, only vaguely seen behind a curtain, makes an attempt on Sinbad's life. Sinbad escapes and steals the ship, acquiring a rough crew to man it. Strange stories of the evil Jamal circulate among the crew, but no one alive has ever seen him.

After several days, Sinbad sails to another port and goes, risking death, to visit Shireen in the harem. He is captured, but because the Emir believes him to be the Prince of Deryabar, he becomes his "guest". With his smooth words and some trickery, Sinbad once again escapes, taking Shireen with him. They set sail for Daryabar, but are overtaken and captured by the Emir. It is then revealed that Sinbad's ship's barber, Abdul Melik (Walter Slezak) is none other than Jamal, who has memorized (and then destroyed) the map to Deryabar. Forming an uneasy alliance of convenience, they all sail to the treasure island.

There they convince the lone resident of the ruins of Alexander's palace, the aged Aga (Alan Napier), that Sinbad is his lost son, owing to a medallion Sinbad had since childhood. When the Emir threatens to kill Sinbad, Sinbad confesses his true identity as just a sailor. Nevertheless, Aga capitulates and shows them the fabulous treasure's hiding place. He later informs Sinbad that he had given his son to sailors to shield him from treasure hunters; Sinbad is indeed his son and the true Prince of Daryabar.

When it is discovered that Jamal had intended to poison the Emir and his crew to have the treasure to himself, the Emir forces him to drink the deadly liquid himself. Sinbad escapes again, boards the Emir's ship and frees his crew. The Emir is killed by Greek fire catapulted at him from his own ship.

The disbelieving listeners around the campfire accuse Sinbad of telling yet another tall tale, but soon change their minds when he distributes precious jewels and gold. The beautiful Shireen appears and they board the ship for their return to Deryabar as Sinbad relates the moral of the tale, that true happiness is found in things other than material wealth.

The plots revolves around two tailors in business together. Manny Cohen, played by John Bluthal, is Jewish, and Patrick Kelly, played by Joe Lynch, is Irish Catholic. Above their shop works Lewtas (Bernard Spear) who is also Jewish and imports cloth. Two further prominent characters are Rabbi Levy (Christopher Benjamin in the pilot – he reappeared in a later episode as Dr Shapiro – Cyril Shaps in series 1 to 4, David Nettheim and Jonathan Burn as Rabbi Stone in series 5) from the local synagogue, and Father Ryan (Denis Carey in the pilot, Eamon Kelly in series 1 to 4) from the local Catholic church. The Romanian-born Meier Tzelniker also makes several appearances as Israel Bloom.

One episode features Manny and Patrick trading the rights to display their pictures around the shop. Patrick has two pictures of the Pope on the wall, while Manny has one of Moshe Dayan. Manny's comment is "It's the going rate. Two Popes to one Moshe."

Another episode, "The Not So Kosher Cantor", has Patrick, a talented singer, filling in at the synagogue for a sick cantor, on the occasion of a visit by the Chief Rabbi. Coached to sing phonetically in Hebrew, Patrick performs, every moment milked for comedic value. Finally, the Chief Rabbi congratulates Patrick but reveals he knows something is up. When asked how he knows, he replies that at the end of the service, "you genuflected and made the sign of the cross!"

Notable guest artistes include film actors Dennis Price as a Savile Row tailor and Rupert Davies as a Roman Catholic bishop, Fred Emney, Harold Bennett, David Kossoff (playing himself), Jack Smethurst, ''Dad's Army'' stars Frank Williams (playing another clergyman) and Bill Pertwee, comedian Dick Bentley, Roy Marsden, Victor Maddern, future ''Coronation Street'' stars Barbara Knox (credited as Barbara Mullaney) and Roy Barraclough, George A. Cooper, Rita Webb, Michael Robbins, and Ellen Pollock as Manny's mother Ruby.

Bobby Sinclaire (Robert Carradine), a failing Californian musician, meets telepathic Iris Longacre (Cherie Currie) in a bar and they begin a relationship. At Sinclaire's apartment, Longacre begins to hear things others cannot. The young couple discover the voices are from a childlike race of aliens being held by the U.S. government after their UFO crashed. The government plans to use the trio of aliens for experimentation and dissection in a supposedly abandoned underground bunker located near Sinclaire's apartment. The couple decides to liberate the aliens and help them return them to their mothership.

Following in the same vein as such classics as ''Rosemary's Baby'' and ''The Omen'', ''The Calling'' is the story of Kristie St. Clair, the involuntary mother of the Antichrist, and possibly the only person who can stop the coming of a modern-day apocalypse.

At first Kristie (Harris) believes that she has the perfect life: Marc (Lintern), her charming TV personality husband; Dylan (Alex Roe), her beautiful young son; an enchanting house in the British countryside; a successful new career... But as time goes by she begins to suspect something's not right with her family.

First, there's Dylan's increasingly violent behavior, which includes the impaling of his pet guinea pig on a stake and his apathy towards the death of a friend. Kristie cannot understand how her son, who she had focused so much energy and love on since he was born, could have turned out so heartless. Then there's the fact that Elizabeth (Krige), an old family friend, seems to be trying her hardest to replace Kristie and keep her away from Marc and Dylan as often as possible. Marc himself begins acting strangely, overreacting after a dog bite and hanging the dog in the backyard as punishment.

It becomes apparent to Kristie that something is very, very wrong, and that she is out of the loop. As her family withdraws further and further from her and she loses her best friend, Kristie turns to a mysterious taxi driver who seems to know a whole lot about everything. All Kristie wants is to save her son, even if it turns out that it is the Devil himself who is standing in her way.

With the help of the taxi driver, Kristie makes some shocking discoveries about her loved ones and comes to the conclusion that unless she stops him, Dylan will lead mankind into a horrifically malevolent future.

At the end, Kristie, who has now stopped caring for Dylan, escapes the hospital with Father Mullin and tells him it was a new time. Father Mullin rips off his white collar tab and throws it out the window as they drive away.

Trapped in the stifling, small Irish town Baile na gCroíth, Elizabeth Egan had always been known as a serious woman, never laughing at jokes or taking joys from the simplest pleasure of life. This is due to having been abandoned by her free-spirited mother when she was young and was forced to grow up quickly to take care of her sister, Saoirse.

Taking advantage of Elizabeth's sense of responsibility, Saoirse has led life with abandonment, and when she gives birth to a son, Luke, she leaves Elizabeth to take care of him.

At the age of six, Luke claims to have a friend named Ivan whom Elizabeth cannot see. Though at first she is exasperated with this imaginary friend, she starts playing along with Luke when she learns that imaginary friends will only last about 3 months.

Though invisible to most, Ivan is real. Only Luke can see him, though he comes to realise that Elizabeth can feel his presence. Knowing that only people who are in real need of a friend are able to see him, he follows Elizabeth around. When, suddenly, she is able to see him, Ivan is delighted, but disappointed just as quickly when she thinks him to be the father of one of Luke's friends. A friendship which soon turns into romance blossoms between them.

Elizabeth meets Benjamin at work, and he asks her to dinner, but Ivan prevents her from going by inviting her out instead. Ivan's boss, Opal, sees his love for Elizabeth and tells him her own sad tale. She tells him that however much he wishes to be with Elizabeth a time will come when she will no longer be able to see him and will eventually age while he would remain young. However, Ivan is too much in love with Elizabeth and refuses to listen. To convince him, Opal takes him to see her own love, who has become an 80-year-old man while Opal has remained young.

One day, when Elizabeth is hosting a party, she is no longer able to see Ivan for a while and he realises it is time to move on to a new friend. Ivan visits Elizabeth one last time while she sleeps, explaining why he has to go. Elisabeth thinks it was a dream. A few days later, Elizabeth realizes that it wasn't and that Ivan was Luke's 'imaginary' friend.

They go their separate ways, and not only Elizabeth but Ivan as well are changed by the experience. Elizabeth is more relaxed and Ivan admits that Elizabeth has been by far his favorite friend...

The single-player game takes place on Carver V, a planet previously held by House Liao, but recently mostly captured by the Federated Commonwealth, who killed the local Liao ruler Mandarin Cho in combat. At the beginning of the story, the Federated Commonwealth, an alliance of House Steiner and House Davion, is breaking apart due to Archon Katrina Steiner's controversial seizure of power. All the Houses on Carver V are avoiding any military action that could endanger the peace, so when a suspiciously well-equipped bandit force threatens Steiner territory, House Steiner employs a mercenary team led by the player, who takes the role of their commander.

In Campaign 1, the player is under the command of Colonel David Renard of House Steiner, and starts with relatively simple missions to destroy minor bandit forces. However, a chase of a bandit convoy results in a firefight with Liao units. It is then revealed that the bandit leader is an ex-Liao officer. Renard authorizes full-scale attacks on Liao forces despite protests from Steiner Ambassador Yee. The final mission of the campaign ends with the destruction of the bandit HQ and the death of their leader. Over the course of the campaign, Colonel Renard becomes increasingly unstable, ending the campaign with the words: "Do this and get out. I've got plans for Carver V and you don't want to be part of them".

In Campaign 2, the player's mercenary team enters into a new contract with House Liao. The player is under the command of Mandrissa Anita Cho (widow of Mandarin Cho), who wants the planet for her son, Captain Jason Cho. The player is tasked with various covert operations, including the destruction of the interstellar communications relay on Carver V's moon and strikes against House Davion and House Steiner designed to implicate each other. Between Mandrissa Cho's machinations, Renard's instability, and the lack of off-world communications, Steiner and Davion forces on Carver V go to war. House Liao then makes a grab for power, but due to Jason Cho's incompetence as a commander, Liao forces are badly beaten and are forced to negotiate a truce with House Steiner. Colonel Renard agrees to share Carver V with House Liao in return for their help eliminating the Davions and the player's mercenaries. The player is forced to flee before the advancing Steiner and Liao forces, and are saved by resistance forces led by Baxter, a local partisan leader who wants his planet to become independent.

In Campaign 3, it is revealed that Baxter and Davion commander Major Kelly (Patricia Kara) have allied, as Davion supports an independent Carver V. In exchange for the opportunity for revenge and Clan technology, the player fights for the rebels, destroying the Liao palace, killing the crazed Colonel Renard, and destroying Steiner High Command on Carver V.

The Campaign ends with Archon Katrina Steiner mourning Colonel Renard's death, Baxter becoming President of Carver V, which is renamed Liberty, and the mercenary team returning to the Periphery - raising their price on MercNet: ''"Peace has been restored on Carver V by an unlikely source - a mercenary commander"''.

Sarah and Edward are on a vacation in Mexico, and are visiting uninteresting tourist locations. They are married, but do not get along well. Sarah describes Edward's passions (such as birdwatching) as "compulsions" which are "awkward and boyish". They merely make her tired. She is "bland and pale and plump and smug".

Things were once different between them, but Sarah's child is stillborn, and they have become increasingly uninterested in each other since. Sarah's disdain for Edward seems to stem from the implicit blame she ascribes to him for her baby's death. Their discrepancies multiply. While visiting a restaurant, Sarah steals a toy figure of baby Jesus, and later throws it into a sacrificial well that they visit on a tour. Edward sees this, thinking Sarah is about to jump in the well but is hesitant to approach her. Both Sarah and Edward had previously dreamed of life without each other, making the decision to stop Sarah from "jumping in the well" even more difficult. Edward sees that it was just the toy being thrown in, and attempts to comfort Sarah as she breaks down in tears. The two cannot truly connect or comfort each other, as they no longer understand each other; or maybe never did. Their marriage is still broken, and neither Sarah nor Edward are happy yet.

The film centers on Rommel, a mechanic at a motorbike repair shop who works alongside his partner Luke, and competes in sidehack-style races. He and his fiancée Rita plan to get married soon. One day at work, he meets J.C., a hot-tempered entertainer and his crew, when he brings in his bike for repair. He sees a sidehack bike in the shop and takes a liking to it. Rommel offers J.C. and his group to join him in a sidehack event the upcoming weekend. At the event, J.C. enjoys watching Rommel race on the sidehack. Rommel offers J.C. to give a ride on a sidehack with him at his and Rita's cabin, and he accepts.

After a fun day of racing on Rommel's sidehack, everyone has a get together dinner party in the cabin. The party soon escalates when J.C. desperately offers Rommel to join his gang, who politely declines, and quickly loses his temper when Dirty John (one of his henchmen) tries asking him a question and Nero (another henchman of J.C.’s) tries to calm his anger. After trying to seduce Rommel into joining again, his girlfriend, Paisley, reminds him that he's not interested. Further infuriated, everyone walks out of the cabin and J.C. takes out his anger on Paisley. The next day, while Rommel and Luke are working on a bike, Paisley comes over and tries to seduce Rommel into getting with her, wanting to get away from J.C., but he rejects her and sends her away crying. Later, when J.C. and his men return to their hotel, they find Paisley drunk and her clothes tattered, claiming that Rommel raped her. Angered, J.C. and his gang find Rommel and Rita in their cabin making love, and they beat Rommel unconscious. With Rommel out cold, they proceed to rape Rita, eventually killing her as a result. Luke finds out what happened to Rommel and his now-deceased fiancée and informs the police. J.C., now on the verge of being a wanted man, has to hide himself in isolation.

Despite Luke's warnings to let the police handle the situation, Rommel refuses to let go of what happened to his former fiancée and wants revenge. Planning to kill J.C., he gathers a group of men to back him up, consisting of one of J.C.'s (now former) henchmen Nero (who joined Rommel after finally having enough of J.C.'s abuse), muscle-bound Big Jake, bailed out criminal Crapout, and another one of J.C.'s henchmen, Cooch (who's secretly working undercover for J.C.).

With some help from Cooch, Rommel and his gang head out into the canyons where J.C. is hiding. Despite his wife's concerns about his safety, Luke goes after Rommel to stop him from getting his revenge. Meanwhile, Rommel discusses the plan on what they're going to do to kill J.C., which involves being stealthy, using their hands and no guns in spite of the risk that J.C.'s men may have some on them. They're reluctant on the plan, knowing the possibility of J.C.’s men having guns, but they stick to it regardless.

The next morning, Cooch sneaks over to J.C.'s hideout while everyone is still asleep and fills him in on what Rommel plans to do, and after he takes off, J.C. celebrates his victory with Paisley, thinking he has Rommel all figured out. However, Paisley breaks up with J.C. after putting up with all of his abuse and tries to escalate his fury with Rommel. Angry, he strangles Paisley to death, and then apologizes to her dead body and chides her for making him so angry. Luke, now caught up with Rommel, attempts to talk him out of getting his revenge on J.C., but he refuses and sticks with the plan. Suddenly, everyone sees Cooch sneaking back into the spot where they were sleeping, and Rommel, Big Jake, Nero and Crapout gang up on him trying to find out what's going on. Cooch feigns ignorance, and they beat him up to get him to talk. Finally giving in, he tells Rommel J.C. is hiding in a rock quarry in the canyons, and Rommel orders Crapout to tie him up. Rommel goes over to Luke and asks him to call the police to let them know where J.C. is hiding, finally acknowledging that going after J.C. isn't worth it. However, he still keeps a tied-up Cooch to his side while keeping an eye out on J.C. to make sure he doesn't escape from his hideout, as Rommel's men stick with their intended plan, resulting in Big Jake being killed after taking down two of J.C.'s men through stealth, and Cooch escaping, pleading J.C. not to kill Rommel, only for J.C. to kill his former weasel for being caught. With two of Rommel's men already killed, Nero and Crapout decide to play by their own rules and escape on a bike as the latter kills all of J.C.'s men with a gun instead of a battering ram as he originally planned to use, while J.C. attempts to shoot Rommel after Cooch exposed him.

With Rommel and J.C. left in the quarry, no guns on them, the two men brawl. When Rommel manages to gain the upper hand, he elects to walk away when the police are about to arrive, but J.C. picks up a gun and shoots Rommel from behind. The last images of the film are a flashback of Rommel and his fiancée rolling about in a grassy field, superimposed over a shot of Rommel's dead body.

Setting

The sword and sorcery story is set in Albion, Sub-Roman Britain, circa 420. The player assumes the role of Gawain, a young apprentice knight about to be ordained by King Arthur and struggling to uphold virtues of his peaceful and prosperous kingdom. Gawain is ordered by Merlin to seek out and vanquish Queen Morgana, Arthur's half-sister and evil sorceress, before she can destroy Arthur and seize the throne of Albion.

Story

The game begins with Morgana cruelly murdering the court priest of King Arthur's castle of Camelot, located just as Gawain was about to be given his knighthood. She plots to reveal Sir Lancelot Du Lac and Lady Guinevere's affair to the world, which would help her overthrow Arthur and take over. The court wizard Merlin has discovered her nefarious plans, and the unknowing Gawain is used by Merlin to force Morgana into appearing before the king. Morgana is tried for treason and sentenced to be banished from the kingdom, but she then openly declares war on him and uses her supernatural powers to kill the guards and vanish. After Morgana's later attempts to assassinate Arthur is thwarted by Merlin, the king finally decides she needs to be stopped once and for all, and orders her to be found and put to death. Merlin then handpicks Gawain to be instrument of Morgana's destruction.

The young knight ventures to ferret out various objects for the creation of a special ring that would grant him an immunity from Morgana's black magic, who knows of his mission and will try to eliminate him. With the ring on, Gawain finally goes off on the journey to rid the world of Morgana, who has hidden in a forbidding fortress on the island of Lyonesse. On the way there, Morgana shows up to kill Gawain's companion, her former servant named Helie. Once in Morgana's castle, Gawain gets captured and is sentenced to death, but manages to escape after defeating a giant snake. He then works to overcome Morgana and slay her vampire bodyguard Ragnar. Ultimately, Gawain is unable to end Morgana's life, but the witch's own Faerie minions help him imprison her inside Lyonesse. She swears vengeance while he returns to Camelot as a hero to join the Order of the Round Table.Bamse, [https://archive.org/stream/secretservicemagazine-1996-09/SecretService_09_1996#page/n47/mode/2up Chronicles of the Sword, część 2]. ''Secret Service'' issue 38 (September 1996), pages 48-49.

Characters

Gawain - The player character, eldest son of King Lot and Arthur's sister Morgause. Gawain arrived at Camelot just the previous night before the start of the game, after having been nominated by Sir Lancelot to become a knight of King Arthur's Round Table.''Chronicles of the Sword'' PC game manual. Later, Merlin order him to carry out the execution of Morgana using all means at his disposal. Gawain is chosen for this task precisely due to his youth and lack of experience, for Merlin hopes it will confuse and flatter the vain Morgana. Queen Morgana - The game's main antagonist, Morgana is King Arthur's immoral half-sister who constantly conspires against him and desires to be the ruler of all Albion. She is a witch of great dark power who once learnt much of her sorcery from Merlin himself, but now she and Merlin are bitter rivals and their past intimacy means nothing to them. Morgana has made many attempts on Arthur's life and is rumoured to be behind many mysterious deaths and disappearances, but never has left any trace of her involvement. A lascivious femme fatale of great beauty, Morgana is a master of intrigue and deception, and even without her magical powers she would make a dangerous adversary. Like Merlin, Morgana is semi-immortal, which requires Gawain to magically trap her soul in order to defeat her. Merlin (Merrdyn) - Merlin is a powerful warlock who is several hundred years old and may have been born in Atlantis. Merlin has been an influential figure for a very long time, working towards a greater goal known to no-one but himself. He was advisor to Vortigern, the last great king of Britain. When Ambrosius Aurelianus and Uther Pendragon killed Vortigen and stole his throne, Merlin appeared to change his allegiance and support Ambrosius until his death, and then Uther when he succeeded him. It is rumoured that he and Morgana had a short, explosive affair, but now they are sworn enemies. Merlin is hard drinking and often is callous when dealing with other people. King Arthur (Arthus) - Arthur is noble king of Britain, cultivating the ideal of the chivalrous knight operating under an honourable code of conduct. He started the fellowship of the Round Table after drawing the sword from the stone, thereby fulfilling a prophecy and proving his right to rule. Years ago, Merlin informed Arthur that once he was tricked into going to bed with Morgana, disguised by a spell, and the issue of their union was to be the instrument of Arthur's death. Arthur loves his wife, Guinevere dearly, but projects onto her an ideal which she cannot possibly live up to. Queen Guinevere - Guinevere, the King's wife, is a beautiful young queen who dresses and walks in a way which would tempt most men at court. She enjoys flirting with young knights, a habit the King finds irritating. Lady Guinevere is intelligent but too young and inexperienced to offer Arthur help and be a confidant. Morgana wants to use her romance with Lancelot in her plot against Arhur. Ragnar - Ragnar is a sadistic Saxon vampire based at Lyonesse. He is entirely devoted to Morgana, despises mortals, and is very difficult to destroy.

The wizard Mordamir calls for help from deep below the labyrinth, attempting to communicate with a man named Dunric. The player, an elderly wizard, instead takes on the quest to rescue Mordamir, his mentor and master. While descending the levels of the labyrinth, a race of Goblins and trolls at war are encountered, and the player allies with the goblins after sparing their king. The player also encounters many other hostile creatures within the labyrinth, including invisible Shades, Will-o'-the-wisp, flesh-eating slime, flying lizards,
man-eating worms, a giant spider and a water Norlac. The player is assisted along the way by the warrior Ulindor, Mordamir's servant and body guard. As well as a mysterious merchant selling helpful potions and magical items.

Throughout the journey, the player sleeps on straw beds placed throughout the labyrinth, where dreams reveal an ancient civilization of peaceful dragons that once lived in the dungeon labyrinth below. Visions are also seen of the walled-off ancient city of Erinoch, with its abundant fountains of youth and eternally young inhabitants. The dragons governed the city's source of fountain water from below, but the rulers of Erinoch planned a siege against the dragons for control of the enchanted water. Mordamir presented to the city's counsel a weapon he created to kill all the dragons but was unable to use it, for a reason unknown.

As the player nears the bottom of the labyrinth, he finds the trapped and dying Dunric, who explains Mordamir was never a prisoner, but instead kidnapped his daughter to lure him into the labyrinth as a trap. In a dream vision it is revealed the entire race of dragons were wiped out by the city's army in a fierce battle, except for one that escaped the dungeon labyrinth and returned to the destroy the city and all its inhabitants. Mordamir, 1,000 years later, is the only survivor of his civilization, as is the one last dragon. In the end the players is confronted by both the dragon and Mordamir in a final conflict.

The novel is narrated from the point of view of Magda, the white daughter of a widowed farmer in the Karoo semi-desert of the Western Cape. Much of the novel is narrated from within the claustrophobic confines of Magda's bedroom and throughout the narrative the unreliability of Magda's narration means the reader cannot be certain what is actually taking place and what is occurring within Magda's imagination. At the beginning of the novel Magda fantasizes about her father unexpectedly bringing home a young bride and the violent way that she would kill them both. A short while later the black farm worker Hendrik really does bring a young bride named Anna to the farm. Magda's father seduces Anna and when Magda hears her father and Anna fornicating in the farmhouse bedroom, she takes her father's rifle and shoots him in the stomach. He slowly dies of his injuries and Magda buries him in a makeshift crypt on the farmland. Gradually, without her father to manage the land, the food begins to run out and Hendrik, who is owed wages, demands to be paid. Magda pays him in kind by offering him certain items from her father's former possessions. Hendrik and Anna move into the farmhouse and the power balance begins to tip in their favour. After a series of altercations, Hendrik rapes Magda and begins to visit her room every night for sexual intercourse. When white men from nearby farms turn up looking for Magda's father, Hendrik and Anna flee fearing that they will blamed for his death. The novel ends with Magda isolated on the farm, slowly starving and seemingly going mad, as she tries to communicate with the planes that are beginning to fly over the desert every day.

In an abandoned prison, a doctor revived executed convicts as the living dead. Jonathan (Scott Schwartz), a teenager, creates a weapon from a LaserDisc player's laser and pursues the walking dead, aided by his girlfriend and grandfather. A reporter on the trail of the story is helped by the town librarian. On the prison island, the zombies attack a security guard and tear him apart as the reporter and teenager venture into the prison caverns for a final showdown.

Despite glorious weather, Lord Emsworth is miserable; it is August Bank Holiday, which at Blandings means the annual Blandings Parva School Treat. The precious grounds are to be overrun with fairground rides, tea-tents and other amusements for the throngs (their numbers padded this year by a number of children visiting from London for the fresh air), and Emsworth is forced by his sister Connie to wear a stiff collar and a top hat, despite the warm weather and his strong protests.

On top of that, Glaswegian Head Gardener Angus McAllister is making noises on his pet hobby, the project to gravel the famous Yew Alley. Emsworth, fond of its mossy carpet, loathes the idea, but his sister is in favour, and stronger personalities overpower the elderly Earl all too easily.

Visiting Blandings Parva, to judge the flower displays in the gardens, Emsworth is frightened by a large dog, but he is rescued by a small girl named Gladys, one of the Fresh Air London children. They chat and become friends, especially when she reveals that, having been spotted picking flowers in the Castle grounds, she hit McAllister in the shin with a stone to stop him chasing her.

At the fête, Emsworth is uncomfortable as ever in his dress clothes, and dreading the speech he will have to make. In the tea-tent, his top hat is knocked off by a cleverly aimed rock cake, and Emsworth flees, taking refuge in an old shed. In there he finds Gladys, miserable; she has been put there by Connie, for stealing from the tea tent, but it emerges she was only stealing her own tea, going without to provide for her brother Ern, barred from the fête for biting Connie on the leg.

Delighted by this family, Emsworth takes Gladys into the house, and has Beach provide a hearty tea. Beach provides a feast to take back to Ern, and Gladys requests some flowers too. Emsworth hesitates, but cannot refuse her; as she is picking her flowers, McAllister rushes up in a fury, but his master, encouraged by Gladys' hand in his, stands up to the man, putting him in his place.

Connie approaches, demanding Emsworth return to make his speech; he refuses, saying he's going to put on some comfortable clothes and go and visit Ern.

Three astronauts return to Earth after a nuclear holocaust (that also saw biological weapons used), although one dies in a crash landing. The two survivors, Newman (Steve Barkett) and Matthews, encounter some mutants before discovering that Los Angeles has been completely destroyed. Seeking shelter, the men take refuge in an abandoned mansion. Newman later encounters a young boy, Chris, hiding in a museum with the curator (Forrest J Ackerman).

Before the curator passes away from radiation poisoning, Newman takes Chris under his care. While out seeking supplies one day, Newman and Chris encounter Sarah, who is running from a gang of bandits led by Cutter (Sid Haig).

After Sarah's murder, Newman decides to confront the gang at their desert wasteland hideout. After killing Cutter's gang, Newman is fatally wounded by the gang leader, who in turn is shot dead by Chris with a revolver. The boy then walks off alone before the credits roll.

An unsolicited television is delivered to a writer's house. The writer discovers that the only program the television is capable of picking up is a seemingly endless, plotless, black and white zombie film titled ''Zombie Blood Nightmare''. Despite unplugging the television, it reactivates and spawns the film's zombies, (Jack, The Bride, Ironhead, Jimmy D. and Half-Creeper), who attack and kill the writer. The next day, the delivery men arrive to claim the set, realizing it was meant to go to the Institute for Paranormal Research; they find only the body of the writer, bound in his front hallway and dressed in party clothes.

Three months later, teenagers Zoe and Jeff arrive at the house ahead of their parents, who are moving back to the United States after years abroad. Jeff befriends dog walker April and she accompanies him home, where the dog she is watching escapes into the woods. The dog comes upon the zombies that escaped the television set and have since been living in the woods. The zombies kill the dog, meanwhile Jeff and April are searching for it and later find the remains. The zombies follow the pair back to the neighborhood.

That afternoon, a man named Joshua Daniels comes looking for the television set, claiming he bought it at a yard sale and mailed it to the Paranormal Institute after it killed his wife. Jeff turns him away but later that night discovers the television set, which has mysteriously migrated to the attic. A bizarre woman briefly appears on the set, beckoning to Jeff, before a man appears and kills her, revealing her to be a zombie. The man, who calls himself "The Garbage Man", says the only way to prevent more zombies from appearing is to tape a mirror to it.

The next day, the zombies break into April's house. Ironhead angrily strangles their maid to death before they go upstairs and kill April's father. Their next-door neighbors also die at the hands of the zombies. Jeff, Zoe, and April barricade themselves inside of their own home, along with Joshua, who has returned to reclaim the television set. Joshua explains the psychology of the zombies: realizing that they are in a liminal state between life and death, the zombies kill humans out of envy. They are repulsed by mirrors because it reminds them of their own hideousness, and attack when they sense fear. The zombies can be tricked into believing they are dead by wounding and then dismembering them, but they must be left unburied. They can also be destroyed by trapping them in an enclosed space, which causes them to enter a psychotic state and cannibalize one another.

Despite the fortifications, Jimmy D. breaks in and incapacitates April. Zoe and Jeff lock the zombie out of the house after it leaves with April's body. The next morning, Joshua and Jeff head into the woods to hunt down the zombies. Joshua sets traps and takes up a sniper position while using Jeff as bait. Using a bow and arrows, they shoot and incapacitate all the zombies but The Bride, whom they pursue. Joshua is killed, and Jeff gets trapped in a shed, where he discovers April's dead body. The Bride, having armed herself with a chainsaw, kills Jeff inside the shed (not before she is decapitated by Jeff using a hatchet). The other zombie wake up, shaking off their illusions on death, and make their way back to the neighborhood.

They return to the house, where Zoe is alone. Remembering the zombies only attack when they sense fear, Zoe invites the zombies in, and they become docile. Zoe discovers a mirror on the basement door, tricks the zombies into entering the basement, and they go berserk. After they consume each other, their remains are sucked back into the television, and ''Zombie Blood Nightmare'' finally ends.

Sometime later, Zoe's parents come to visit her in the hospital, where she is being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder. They unwittingly bring her the possessed television set from the house, hoping a familiar item will aid her recovery. After everyone leaves, the television plays ''Zombie Blood Nightmare'' again. Zoe looks at the screen in horror as Jack, within the TV, looks directly at her and starts growling. The screen then goes black before we hear Zoe scream.

A boy named Taichi is involved in a V-Pet tournament where he is told he cannot play because the Digimon in his V-Pet isn't recognized as being a real Digimon. After the tournament is over, Taichi plays the winner of the tournament, a boy named Neo Saiba, and their battle ends in a tie - something that is supposed to be impossible. Later, Taichi is summoned to the Digital World by a Digimon called Lord MagnaAngemon, and there he meets the mysterious Digimon in his V-Pet, Zeromaru the Veedramon. Taichi and Zeromaru travel to Lord MagnaAngemon's castle with the aid of Gabo the Gabumon, and there Lord MagnaAngemon begs Taichi to find the five Tamer Tags and defeat the evil Daemon, who has disrupted the peace of the Digital World.

Along the way, more humans are brought to the Digital World by Daemon, including Neo Saiba, Rei Saiba, Sigma, Mari Goutokuji, and Hideto Fujimoto. Neo is chosen to raise the Digimon that will hatch from the Ultra egg Daemon is raising. Rei Saiba, Neo's sister, has a Digimental that will allow the Daemon's experimental Digimon to digivolve to a level beyond Mega. The others, called the Alias III, are to help Neo and Daemon with their Digimon. Hideto's Partner is an Omnimon named Omega, formed by the DNA Digivolution of Warg and Melga, a WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon respectively. Mari's Partner is a Rosemon named Rose and Sigma's is a Piedmon named Pie respectively. They are all villains that eventually reform except Rei, who has no Digimon Partner or evil intentions.

Tsurugi Tatsuno is a boy who competes in Virtual Digimon Battle tournaments. When a Kuwagamon appeared in the Real World, his Greymon came to life and protected him. Tsurugi is summoned to the Digital World by Piximon to save the Digital World from the evil Barbamon. Since his Digimon has a hexagon shape on him, it's an ''Illegal Digimon'', meaning that Digimon bearing such symbols can help save the Digital World. Tsurugi's Greymon later De-Digivolves to Agumon and they meet other characters destined to save the Digital World from the forces of Barbamon. Now they must stop Barbamon and his minions before they get all the DigiMemories and take over both worlds.

After crudely trying to sew his monstrous former conjoined twin Belial back onto his side at the end of the previous film, Duane Bradley is reseparated from Belial and put in a straitjacket and padded cell in Granny Ruth's haven for "unique" (deformed) individuals. After several months of captivity, Duane is released by Granny Ruth, who is preparing to take everyone on a road trip to the home of her ex-husband, Doctor Hal Rockwell, who will help in giving birth to Belial's equally misshapen girlfriend Eve's babies; before leaving for the trip, Granny Ruth sternly tells Duane to stay away from Belial, who has stopped speaking to Duane telepathically after Duane's attempt to put them back together.

While traveling via bus to Hal's house in Peachtree County, the group stops at a drug store, where Granny Ruth meets local sheriff Andrew Griffin while Duane, attempting to wriggle out a bus window, meets the sheriff's daughter Opal, whom he tries to convince to help Belial and him escape. Before Duane can talk to Opal any further, Granny Ruth returns, boards the bus, and heads back on track to Hal's house, having sweet-talked Sheriff Griffin into letting her leave despite the bus being illegally parked.

Eventually reaching Hal's home, Duane escapes out a window after Granny Ruth decides to give him a chance and removes his straitjacket; as Duane is imprisoned by Opal and several officers in the local jail, Eve prepares to give birth, which is complicated when Belial mauls Hal, the sight of him in surgical attire causing him to remember his original separation from Duane. With Hal incapacitated, Belial is drugged to calm him down, and the birth of Eve and his 12 children is overseen by Little Hal, the multiarmed and blob-like prodigy son of Hal and Granny Ruth. Shortly after Eve and Belial's children are born, Deputies Bailey and Baxter break into the Rockwell house, having realized a million-dollar reward has been offered for the capture of both Duane and Belial. While the freaks party, Bailey and Baxter find the sleeping babies, and mistaking the groggy Eve for Belial, shoot and kill her before fleeing with the babies when the freaks come after them.

At the police station, Sheriff Griffin finds his daughter in the midst of trying to seduce Duane in dominatrix attire and sends her away, shortly before Bailey and Baxter arrive with the babies. Griffin sends Bailey and Baxter back to their homes and goes off to see what is going on at the Rockwell residence, leaving Officers Brennan, Banner, and Brody in charge of the station. Breaking into the Rockwell house, Sheriff Griffin finds Granny Ruth and the freaks in the midst of mourning the dead Eve, and the sheriff, disturbed by the sight of the freaks and Little Hal, hurries back to the station, which Belial had broken into. As Belial attacks Brennan, Banner, and Brody, Opal releases Duane from his cell, hoping he can stop Belial. Belial kills Brennan by crushing his throat (causing his eyes and teeth to pop out) and rips Banner's head off before trying to maul Brody, who accidentally blasts Opal (who crushes one of the babies in her death throes) with his shotgun prior to having his neck snapped by Belial. Putting Belial in his basket, Duane runs from the station just as Sheriff Griffin appears and opens fire, injuring Belial. Wanting to help Belial reclaim his babies and take revenge on the remaining police, Duane makes up with Belial and has Little Hal construct a robotic exoskeleton for him, which Belial uses to butcher Bailey and Baxter.

At Eve's funeral, Granny Ruth rallies the grieving freaks, and they all travel to the police station, where Sheriff Griffin, grieving over his dead daughter, offers them a deal: Belial for the babies. Granny Ruth agrees to the sheriff's offer and tells him to show up at an abandoned factory on the outskirts of town for the trade; after the meeting at the station, Granny Ruth and the freaks ransack a fast-food restaurant, scaring away all the customers, much to the chagrin of the staff.

Arriving at the factory with the babies and a shotgun for protection, Sheriff Griffin is ambushed by Belial and the two fight; Belial has the upper hand due to his exoskeleton. After seemingly killing Sheriff Griffin with a blow to the head from his mechanical claw, Belial goes to retrieve his children, but the recovered sheriff ambushes and trips him. Flailing about in his armor, Belial scores a hit against Sheriff Griffin, who is swarmed and killed by the babies when he falls into their cradle.

With the babies reclaimed, Granny Ruth, Duane, Belial, and the freaks attack a talk show entitled Renaldo; Belial mauls the titular host. Speaking into the camera, Granny Ruth tells the world that the freaks will no longer hide in the shadows and will fight back if oppressed. She finishes her speech by telling everyone to have a nice day.

George is taking a trip from his antique shop in Manchester to the Lake District to work on a new house with some of his friends. On the way, his Norton motorcycle is accidentally damaged by Edna while reversing her Mini Cooper at a petrol station. He demands she give him a lift to his destination, while Edna, on her way to visit her troubled sister, asks to go to the town of Southgate first, and to let George take her car to Windermere where she will later retrieve it.

George agrees, but the two come to a dead end road alongside a river while searching for Edna's sister's house. George crosses the river on foot to a farm where several men from the Ministry of Agriculture are using an experimental machine in a field. While asking for directions, he inquires about their machinery, which they explain is designed to kill insects through ultra-sonic radiation. Meanwhile, while Edna waits at the car, she is attacked by a man who emerges from the river, but he disappears after she reaches George.

Night falls, and Edna's drug addict sister, Katie, is getting into an argument with her photographer husband, Martin, about her sister's impending arrival. Martin goes down to a waterfall near their remote cottage to take photographs, and Katie is attacked by the same man who Edna had encountered earlier. The man kills Martin, and Katie flees just as George and Edna arrive. When the three report the death, the aggressive police sergeant thinks that Katie did it. George, forced to stay in Southgate, secretly takes the roll of film from Martin's camera to a local chemist to have it developed. Katie has a breakdown and is hospitalised. At the hospital, it turns out that babies are affected too, biting people with homicidal intensity.

Back at the chemist's, they collect the photos, but the dead man does not appear in any of the pictures; the man, it turns out, is a local vagrant who drowned in the river. The sergeant arrives and takes photos and, when the couple leaves, sends one of his officers, PC Craig, to trail them. They go to the graveyard and in a room in the chapel find a half-eaten meal. Following noises to a crypt, they come across a murdered man and are locked in by the vagrant zombie, who brings the other bodies to life by touching their eyes with his blood-stained fingers. The pair manages to make a hole they can escape from and Edna does, only to find herself in a pit while the zombies have hold of George's feet. Meanwhile, PC Craig turns up and helps Edna out of the pit. George manages to get free and follows them, with the zombies chasing all three of them. They lock themselves in a room but are trapped there, and Craig soon finds that his gun is of no use. He makes a dash for the police radio he has dropped outside but is caught by the zombies who eviscerate him and begin eating his organs.

The dead break into their room and in desperation George throws a lit oil lamp at them. It smashes and the zombies burst into flame. The two escape to their car and Edna is sent off to tell the police. George plans to use the unmarked police car to go and smash the machine but it has no key so he runs off. At the machine, the farmer and two machine men do not believe George and reveal that the machine is now working up to a five miles radius. They try to stop him, but he smashes the machine and they drive off to get away from "the mad man".

The sergeant has found Craig and the caretaker's bodies, and thinking they may be devil worshippers, issues orders "to shoot to kill" George and Edna. He is then told that George has deliberately wrecked the machine. Edna has arrived at her brother-in-law's farm only to be met by Martin, who is now a zombie, but she manages to run over him as she escapes. George finds her, drops her off at a petrol station and drives off with a large can of petrol. George is caught in a police trap and Martin's body is taken back to the hospital.

In a field, the machine is repaired and switched on again, which brings to life a number of bodies in the nearby morgue. George escapes in a police car and finds Edna has been taken to the hospital, where the local morgue is. She is being sedated while George is now being chased by the police as he drives to the hospital where the zombies are now killing people, including Katie who as a zombie tries to kill her sister.

George arrives and starts setting fire to zombies but it turns out that he was too late to save Edna and as she suddenly attacks him, he pushes her into a room, which is now burning. George is then shot four times by the over-zealous police sergeant. Everything is over as far as he is concerned now and the sergeant heads to a room at the hotel in South Gate for the night. After shooting him down in cold blood, the sergeant wishes he would come alive again so he could shoot him again. He gets his wish as zombie George is waiting for him in his room, but now bullets won't stop him. In a field nearby, the machine continues working.

Wealthy Rollo Treadway (Buster Keaton) suddenly decides to propose to his neighbor across the street, Betsy O'Brien (Kathryn McGuire), and sends his servant to book passage for a honeymoon sea cruise to Honolulu. When Betsy rejects his sudden offer, however, he decides to go on the trip anyway, boarding without delay that night. Because the pier number is partially covered, he ends up on the wrong ship, the ''Navigator'', which Betsy's rich father (Frederick Vroom) has just sold to a small country at war.

Agents for the other small nation in the conflict decide to set the ship adrift that same night. When Betsy's father checks up on the ship, he is captured and tied up ashore by the saboteurs. Betsy hears his cry for help and boards the ship to look for him, just before it is cut loose.

The ''Navigator'' drifts out into the Pacific Ocean. The two unwitting passengers eventually find each other. At first, they have great difficulty looking after themselves (both used to being served), but adapt after a few weeks. At one point, they sight a navy ship and hoist a brightly colored flag, not realizing it signals that the ship is under quarantine. As a result, the other vessel turns away.

Finally, the ship grounds itself near an inhabited tropical island and springs a leak. While Rollo dons a deep sea diving suit and submerges to patch the hole, the natives canoe out and take Betsy captive. When Rollo emerges from the ocean, the natives are scared off, enabling him to rescue Betsy and take her back to the ship. The natives return and try to board the ship. After a fierce struggle, Rollo and Betsy try to escape in a small dinghy. It starts to sink, and the natives swiftly overtake them in their canoes. Just when all seems lost, a navy submarine surfaces right underneath them and they are saved.

Anna (Lillian Gish) is a poor country girl whom handsome man-about-town Lennox (Lowell Sherman) tricks into a fake wedding. When she becomes pregnant, he leaves her. She has the baby, named Trust Lennox, on her own.

When the baby dies she wanders until she gets a job with Squire Bartlett (Burr McIntosh). David (Richard Barthelmess), Squire Bartlett's son, falls for her, but she rejects him due to her past. Lennox then shows up lusting for another local girl, Kate. Seeing Anna, he tries to get her to leave, but she refuses to go, although she promises to say nothing about his past.

Finally, Squire Bartlett learns of Anna's past from Martha, the town gossip. In his anger, he tosses Anna out into a snow storm. Before she goes, she names the respected Lennox as her despoiler and the father of her dead baby. She becomes lost in the raging storm while David leads a search party. In the climax, the unconscious Anna floats on an ice floe down a river towards a waterfall, until rescued at the last moment by David, who marries her in the final scene.

Subplots relate the romances and eventual marriages of some of the picaresque characters inhabiting the village.

Hunter S. Thompson receives a letter from the editor of ''Running'' magazine, asking him to cover the 1980 Honolulu Marathon, which the editor says should be "a good chance for a vacation". Thompson asks the illustrator Ralph Steadman to accompany him. On the flight over, he meets a man named Ackerman, who seems to have connections to the drug trade in Hawaii. Thompson covers the marathon with his characteristic gonzo style, weaving his own experiences into the coverage of the story. After the marathon, Thompson along with Steadman and his family move to a rented beach side compound on Hawaii's Kona coast. The weather is miserable and they are trapped indoors, besieged by huge waves. Steadman and his family, upset about the terrible conditions of their vacation, return to England. Later, Thompson reunites with Ackerman to go fishing. Thompson eventually catches a huge Marlin, which he beats to death with a Samoan war club. The fishing boat returns to the dock, with Thompson screaming triumphantly, "I am Lono!", referring to the ancient Hawaiian god which upsets the locals, and he goes into hiding in the City of Refuge. The story frequently breaks away to excerpts from ''The Last Voyage of Captain James Cook'' by Richard Hough, which tells the story of the man the native Hawaiians thought was the reincarnation of Lono and was eventually killed by them when he overstayed his welcome on the island of Hawaii.

A gang of pirates, the Tinkerbats, led by Risky Boots, attacks Scuttle Town and steals a prototype steam engine from Mimic, the town's resident treasure hunter. Mimic tells Shantae, the guardian of Scuttle Town, that if Risky retrieves four magical "elemental stones", she could power up the steam engine and create an unstoppable weapon out of it. Shantae travels across Sequin Land, determined to retrieve the steam engine and the elemental stones and stop Risky.

With help from her friends Bolo and Sky and her acquaintance Rottytops, she gains access to three dungeons where she retrieves three of the stones. At the fourth dungeon, Shantae finds the fourth stone, but is ambushed at the exit by Risky, who leaves with the stones. Shantae subsequently discovers the location of Risky's hideout with a magical flying telescope called the Spy Scope, and teleports there. Shantae reaches and destroys Risky's weapon, the Tinker Tank. Risky tries to kill Shantae but is defeated; and as Risky's hideout collapses, Shantae escapes. After, she is magically abducted to a place called the Genie Realm where the genies offer her a chance to remain with them as a reward for her courage, but at the price of never seeing her friends again. She refuses and is sent back to Scuttle Town where she announces to Mimic that she had to destroy the steam engine, but is relieved to hear from him that it was probably for the better.

This novel is set in a then-future 2004. There is still a (theoretical) Cold War between the United States and its allies and the Soviet Union and its allies. At the elite governmental level, however, both "sides" have secretly come to an agreement. They have decided that, instead of continuing the ecologically and economically crippling nuclear and conventional arms race, they will pretend to be constantly developing new weapons, which are then "plowshared". This means that these items are transformed into novel but baroque consumer products. Most of these weapon designers are mediums, who create their new designs in trance states. Design of weapons are extracted telepathically from a motion comic book, ''The Blue Cephalopod Man from Titan'', created by mad Italian artist Oral Giacomini.

One Wes-Bloc weapons designer, Lars Powderdry (Mr. Lars of Mr. Lars Incorporated) is the central character. He is depressed that his industry is little more than a fraud, as none of his "weapons" are functional, having become fashion items instead. The plowshared guidance system of Item 202, a telepathic featureless brazen head named Ol' Orville, explains that this depression is merely a projection of his own fears of professional and physical impotence. His female Peep-East counterpart is Lilo Topchev, whom he knows nothing about, but whom Ol' Orville advises him to seduce. He also has a mistress, Maren Faine, head of his company's Parisian branch.

Apart from the comic overtones of this deception, there is a subplot related to alien invasion. Sirian aliens invade Earth, and are determined to enslave its populace. The aliens' first target is New Orleans, which is enshrouded in a "gray curtain of death". Earth has a problem, given the deceptive nature of its arms race and the absence of functional weapons technology. Lilo immediately tries to kill Lars, despite the intentions of their blocs otherwise, but eventually they collaborate. Neither can design functional weapons, however.

There is a further subplot about a conspiracy theorist, who is elected as an "average man" to the governing body of Wes-Bloc. The conclusion involves an eclectic mixture of time travel, androids, drugs, toys, and comic books.

The story of the rise of politician Willie Stark from a rural county seat to the governor's mansion is depicted in the film. He goes into politics, railing against the corruptly run county government, but loses his race for county treasurer, in the face of unfair obstacles placed by the local machine. Stark teaches himself law, and as a lawyer, continues to fight the local establishment, championing the local people and gaining popularity. He eventually rises to become a candidate for governor, narrowly losing his first race, then winning on his second attempt. Along the way he loses his innocence and becomes as corrupt as the politicians he once fought against. As he rises, Stark philanders and gets involved with many women, taking his PR man/journalist Jack Burden's own girlfriend, Anne Stanton, as his mistress.

Stark's son Tommy drinks to deal with his feelings about his father, eventually crashes his car, injuring himself and killing his female passenger. When Stark bullies Tommy into playing a football game, Tommy becomes paralyzed after a brutal hit.

Stark, who had always dealt with those who got in his way by any means, begins to see his world start to unravel and he discovers that not everyone can be bought off.

The story has a complex series of relationships. All is seen through the eyes of the journalist, Jack Burden, who admires Stark and even when disillusioned still sticks by him. Stark's campaign assistant, Sadie is clearly in love with Stark and wants him to leave his wife, Lucy. When Stark's reputation is brought into disrepute by Judge Stanton (Anne's uncle), he seeks to blacken the judge's name. When Jack finds evidence of the judge's possible wrongdoing, a quarter century earlier, he hides it from Stark. Anne gives the evidence to Stark, who uses it against her uncle, who immediately commits suicide. Anne seems to forgive Stark, but her brother, Adam, the surgeon who helped save Tommy's life after the car crash, cannot. After Stark wins an impeachment investigation, Adam assassinates Stark. The doctor in turn is shot down by Sugar Boy, Stark's fawning assistant. Having lost his respect for him, Jack tries to get Anne's agreement to find a way to destroy Stark's reputation just as he dies.

The protagonist, space archaeologist Simon Watterman, discovers a fossilized "Munchie" in a cave in Peru and accidentally reanimates it. Bringing the specimen back to the United States, Watterman's son and girlfriend name it Arnold. Cecil Watterman, Simon's evil twin brother and snack food entrepreneur, kidnaps Arnold while Cindy and Paul are making out.

When Arnold is hurt by his kidnappers, it becomes aggressive and attacks Cecil's adopted son. Attempting to kill Arnold, they chop him into quarters, but instead of dying, Arnold multiplies into four new Munchies. The quartet of creatures develop a love of women, attacking people, beer, and junk food in the process.

The story revolves around Jan Zaru and her quest to restore peace in the world. Jan Zaru with Captain Fatz and the Seahorse's crew travel around the world to collect the peace stones and restore the balance of the elements.

Flashback

Hurley (Jorge Garcia) is in a mental institution, where he is friends with Dave (Evan Handler), who tells Hurley to ignore the doctors, avoid his medication, and try to escape. One day, Hurley's doctor, Dr. Brooks (Bruce Davison), proves to Hurley that Dave is not real, by taking a photo of the two, and then showing Hurley that Dave is not in the picture. Later that night, Dave wakes Hurley up to escape with him from the institute, suggesting that the photo was doctored. Dave hops out of a window, but Hurley confronts him and declares that Dave is not real, and shuts the window on him before going back to bed.

A later flashback reveals that during the moment Dr. Brooks took the picture of Hurley and Dave, another patient was staring at Hurley from across the room, Libby (Cynthia Watros), which explains why Hurley has had this faint recognition of Libby while on the island.

On the island

Hurley confesses to Libby that he has an eating disorder, and shows her a stash of Dharma food. Hurley expresses interest in getting rid of it, and she encourages him to do so. Just after Hurley destroys his supplies, other survivors go into the jungle. Following them, Hurley and Libby see that an enormous package of food parachuted from the sky. After Hurley panics at the suggestion of again being in charge of the supplies, he sees Dave, and tries to follow him as he goes into the jungle.

After Hurley loses Dave's trail twice, he asks Sawyer (Josh Holloway) for medicine to fight the hallucinations he believes he's been having. After mocking Hurley, Sawyer is brutally attacked by him and his tent ruined. Hurley decides to leave the beach and go to the caves. On the way, Dave reappears, and tells Hurley that everything that has happened since the night of the escape attempt has been a fantasy — that after Dave escaped, Hurley went into a catatonic state and has imagined everything since then. As proof, Dave points out the appearances of the numbers said by another intern, Leonard (Ron Bottitta) in both Hurley's winning lottery ticket and the hatch computer number-sequence. Dave takes Hurley to a cliff, and tells him to jump and get out of his dream, before jumping off himself. Before Hurley can decide whether or not to follow Dave, Libby finds him. Hurley states to her he believes everything happening is not real, and is only a comatose dream, including her, but Libby convinces him otherwise, in part by kissing him.

In the hatch, Sayid (Naveen Andrews) and Ana-Lucía (Michelle Rodriguez) interrogate "Henry Gale" (Michael Emerson). After Henry's new cover-up story is proved false, Henry finally admits that he is indeed an Other, but says he would be killed if he talks. Later, Locke (Terry O'Quinn) confronts the prisoner, demanding to know if he let himself be caught, thinking it might have been to find the Swan. "Henry", however, calls the hatch a "joke", saying that during the lockdown, he never entered the numbers into the computer or pushed the button; he simply stood there, and watched the timer's numbers turn to red hieroglyphs before they reset back on their own. Locke, however, replies that Henry is lying, but he replies that he's "done lying".

Flashbacks

Bernard and Rose are seen meeting for the first time when he helps get her car unstuck from the snow. Rose, initially reluctant to accept his help, ultimately manages to free the car with his support. In return for his assistance, and perhaps a result of an initial attraction, she offers to buy him a cup of coffee.

Bernard and Rose are lunching with a view of Niagara Falls, five months after their first meeting. At this point, Bernard proposes to Rose, citing that they "fell into this rhythm". Rose, without giving an answer, reveals she is terminally ill with cancer, and has a year left to live, perhaps slightly longer. Bernard nevertheless reaffirms his proposal, to which Rose responds with an affirmative.

On their honeymoon, Bernard takes her to Australia to see a faith healer, Isaac of Uluru. Rose becomes angry and says, "I have made my peace with what's happening to me." However, Bernard succeeds in persuading Rose to talk to Isaac, who states that his office is on top of a place of great energy, perhaps magnetic or geological. He says he will attempt to harness that energy to give it to others. However, he says he is unable to help Rose because the energy in Australia is not the right kind for her. He even offers to return Bernard's money, but Rose tells him to keep it, saying that she will tell Bernard that Isaac "fixed" her so that Bernard would stop trying to save her life.

In the airport, Rose drops her pills while waiting for a boarding call. Locke, still in his wheelchair, returns them to her.

On the beach

Rose Henderson and Bernard Nadler are bickering over the recent arrival of DHARMA Initiative food drops. Bernard posits that the other survivors had already "given up" on being rescued.

Jack approaches James "Sawyer" Ford (Josh Holloway) and Kate Austen (Evangeline Lilly) to explain his plan for a prisoner exchange. Jack invites Kate to accompany him into the jungle, and she agrees to come.

Bernard enlists Hugo "Hurley" Reyes (Jorge Garcia) to gather the survivors for an impromptu meeting. Bernard admonishes the others for losing their will to be rescued. He, citing the supply plane that must have dropped the DHARMA rations, suggests to create a SOS sign. Rose shoots down the plan, dismissing it as giving the others "false hope". Bernard asks Charlie Pace (Dominic Monaghan) and Mr. Eko (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) to help build his S.O.S. sign, but the two men respond they are too busy building a church. Bernard, incredulous at the seemingly cavalier attitude the survivors have towards their rescue, storms off.

Later, Bernard tells a diminished group a newfangled plan to bring rocks from a field for the S.O.S. Hurley and Jin express skepticism for Bernard's planning skills. Bernard encounters more apathy when he tries to enlist Sawyer's help, and reveals to Rose his group had diminished to four. Bernard and Rose argue, as Rose suggests his managing skills aren't up to par. Later, Bernard and Jin engage in an argument over the placement of the rocks. Jin is visibly fatigued from the labor, and walks away. Bernard calls out, telling him he wants to get Rose home, but Jin simply apologizes and walks away.

Rose derides Bernard's plan to Locke, but Locke is more sympathetic. Locke tells her that he's "done with the hatch", but Rose is skeptical. Locke tells her that Jack diagnosed a four-week period of healing, but Rose says "you and I both know it's not going to take that long". This is in reference to the airport flashback, revealing that Rose knows Locke was in a wheelchair before the plane crash.

Bernard continues to work on the S.O.S. alone. Rose brings him some supper and offers him an apology for lying about being healed by Isaac. Rose says that she was nevertheless healed because after the crash, she "couldn't feel" the illness inside of her anymore. She tells him that the island healed her, and tells him with absolute certainty that she knows who or what healed her. Bernard realizes that Rose doesn't want to be rescued from fear of regaining the illness away from the island. Upon his revelation, he tells Rose that he won't leave the island or try to continue the sign.

In the hatch

Meanwhile, John Locke (Terry O'Quinn) attempts to remember and to draw the writing he saw on the blast doors in "Lockdown", but to no avail. Jack Shephard (Matthew Fox) enters the armory to change Henry Gale's (Michael Emerson) bandages and to interrogate him. Jack tells Henry that he plans to cross the line of the Others and tell them that Henry is a captive. Jack suggests Henry could be used in a trade for Walt Lloyd (Malcolm David Kelley), but Henry replies "They'll never give you Walt".

Ana Lucia Cortez (Michelle Rodriguez) offers to accompany Jack in his attempt to negotiate with the Others. Ana gives Jack a gun and advises him to take someone with him. Locke tries to speak to Henry through the armory door, asking him whether or not he entered the numbers into the computer. However, Henry doesn't respond, only smirking to himself.

Jack and Kate trek through the jungle. Kate notices a doll on the ground, and reaches to pick it up, despite Jack's frantic cries to stop. Kate picks up the doll and both she and Jack become ensnared in a net. They determine the trap is Danielle Rousseau's (Mira Furlan) due to its lower level of sophistication, and attempt to free themselves. Kate reaches around Jack to get the gun, and they try to shoot the rope suspending them in the air. Jack succeeds. Now free, Jack and Kate continue to march through the jungle, through a heavy rain. Jack asks Kate to explain her earlier comment about the lack of sophistication in the net. Kate tells him about her expedition with Claire to the other hatch.

Jack and Kate arrive at the place where his standoff with the Others occurred. He calls out into the jungle, challenging them to show themselves. He becomes increasingly animated as he calls for the Others, but receives no response.

In the jungle, Kate apologizes for kissing Jack, but Jack reveals that he is not sorry about the moment. A man comes stumbling out of the jungle carrying a torch. He falls to the ground in front of the two, and is turned over, revealing him to be an unconscious Michael Dawson (Harold Perrineau).

At least 15 years after Andrew Scott's death, former UniSol Luc Deveraux (Jean-Claude Van Damme) has been reverted to normal via genetic procedures. He currently works as a technical expert for the U.S. government with his new partner Maggie (Kiana Tom), who has been through countless hours of combat training with him. They worked to refine and perfect the UniSol Program in an effort to make a new, stronger breed of soldiers that are more sophisticated and intelligent to reduce the use of normal, human soldiers in the battlefield. All of the new UniSols, known as ''UniSols 2500'', which are faster and stronger than the original UniSols, are connected via neural implants through a sentient artificially intelligent computer system called S.E.T.H. (Self-Evolving Thought Helix).

When S.E.T.H. discovers that the UniSol Program is scheduled to be shut down because of budget cuts, he finds this to be a disgrace and decides to take action by formulating a plot to overthrow mankind and take over the world with his own massive army of UniSols. The next day, S.E.T.H. unleashes a platoon of UniSols, led by the musclebound Romeo (Bill Goldberg), in a hostile takeover of the UniSol building, resulting in the deaths of many occupants, including Dr. Dylan Cotner (Xander Berkeley), who was responsible for reverting Luc back to normal. As such, Luc, Maggie, and the others are forced to evacuate. With the help of a rogue cyberpunk named Squid (Brent Hinkley), S.E.T.H. is able to put himself into a UniSol body (Michael Jai White) superior to the others. In the meantime, Maggie noticed that Luc's daughter Hillary Deveraux (Karis Paige Bryant) has suffered brain swelling after almost being attacked by Romeo, and Maggie takes her to the local hospital.

Luc attempts to find a way to shut down S.E.T.H. with help from ambitious reporter Erin Young (Heidi Schanz), whose cameraman died in the massacre. General Radford (Daniel von Bargen) wants to take extreme measures to stop S.E.T.H. by sending in troops, but most of the troops (alongside a TV reporter and her crew) were massacred by four UniSols; even when Luc briefly tried to lead a team of United States Army Rangers commanded by Captain Blackburn (Justin Lazard) and Sergeant Morrow (James R. Black), most of the Rangers (including Blackburn and Morrow) are killed when a UniSol sentry sees them sneaking into the building.

Luc and Erin then track down Squid after learning that he was a former member of the UniSol Program, but S.E.T.H. arrives and kills Squid, revealing an ultimatum to Luc: he must give up the secret code that is needed to deactivate a built-in program that will shut S.E.T.H. down in a matter of hours so that no one will stop him. To ensure that Luc will cooperate, a departing S.E.T.H. got Romeo to track down Hillary at the hospital, and S.E.T.H. kidnaps Hillary while Romeo kills Maggie and several hospital guards. Upon returning to the UniSol building, S.E.T.H. deactivated a time bomb implanted by Radford to prevent the UniSol building from being destroyed, much to Radford's outrage.

Having no other choice, Luc returns to the UniSol building again and takes down many UniSols, right before learning that Maggie has been revived as a UniSol. He also learns that S.E.T.H. is healing Hillary with UniSol technology, and upon deciphering code, S.E.T.H. decides to kill Luc and turn Hillary into a UniSol so that he can raise her as his own daughter. Eventually, Luc destroys S.E.T.H. by shattering his body to pieces with liquid nitrogen, but the remaining UniSols are still active; even Romeo catches and defeats Luc in combat, intending to kill him and Hillary and lead the remaining UniSols into battle. However, Maggie (who has been freed due to S.E.T.H.'s demise) shoots Romeo and allows Luc and Hillary to leave, asking Luc to blow up the building with herself, Romeo and the remaining UniSols inside as she refuses to live the rest of her life as a UniSol. Luc reluctantly obliged Maggie's wishes by setting off the time bomb to destroy the building, killing the remaining UniSols for good. Luc then reunites with Erin and Hillary, satisfied that they have put an end to S.E.T.H.'s plot and avenged their loved ones.

In the future date of 2016, worldwide martial law is initiated when a widespread terrorist organization overthrew and took control of the world's military authorities. A group of ace helicopter pilots are secretly amassed in a special forces squadron called ZERO to travel around the world and destroy the occupied terrorist forces.

Yoo Hye-chan (Park Sun-young) is a 29-year-old housewife who's unhappily married to a top acting star, Kang Sang-young (Ryu Soo-young). While on her way to court to file for divorce, a car accident drastically changes her life. Though she physically recovers, retrograde amnesia causes Hye-chan to mentally revert to that of an 18-year-old girl, and she finds everything around her unfamiliar.

In high school in the 1990s, Hye-chan considered Kang Bong-man, the most popular boy at school and nicknamed "Ice Prince," as her nemesis. Though seemingly shallow and callous, Bong-man hides his vulnerability due to his infamous family background. But little did Hye-chan know that her despised and hated classmate would become an actor one day, change his name to Kang Sang-young and become her future husband. For Sang-young, seeing his wife reliving their high school days rekindles their lost love, and he strives to mend their shattered marriage and help her recover her memory. Meanwhile, Hye-chan begins to fall for him all over again. The only obstacle is Shin Ji-young (Park Eun-hye), an actress who wants Sang-young for herself.

Earth has been placed under martial law due to a seemingly imminent Dominion invasion, but Sisko believes that there is more going on than meets the eye. With the aid of Deep Space Nine's security officer Odo, and Cadet Nog's connections with an elite and selective group of cadets at Starfleet Academy, Sisko gathers evidence that Admiral Leyton is planning a coup d'état. He takes the information to the Federation's president, Jaresh-Inyo; however, Jaresh-Inyo is hesitant to act in the absence of concrete evidence.

Sisko is confronted by a Changeling in the guise of Miles O'Brien, a DS9 crew member. He tells Sisko there are actually only a total of four Changelings on Earth, and mockingly points out to Sisko how much panic they have caused, drastically out of proportion to their actual numbers.

Sisko contacts Major Kira, second in command on DS9, to uncover the evidence Jaresh-Inyo needs: a Starfleet officer on DS9, Lieutenant Arriaga, has been manipulating the wormhole at Leyton's behest to create the impression that a cloaked Dominion fleet is en route to Earth. Before he can present the evidence to Jaresh-Inyo, Leyton has Sisko framed as being a Changeling and imprisoned. Odo breaks Sisko out of prison.

The crew of DS9 is en route to Earth on the USS ''Defiant'', bringing Arriaga to confess to the conspiracy. In order to prevent Arriaga's evidence from reaching Earth, Leyton orders the USS ''Lakota'' to intercept, telling the crew that the ''Defiant'' is crewed by Changelings. When the ''Lakota'' fires on the ''Defiant'', Lt. Cmdr. Worf, in command of the ''Defiant'', has no choice but to return fire. Outmatched by the ''Defiant's'' superior armor and firepower, the ''Lakota'' is on the brink of destruction when Leyton orders them to destroy the ''Defiant''. As Sisko confronts Leyton with a phaser, the captain of the ''Lakota'', Captain Benteen, refuses orders to destroy the ''Defiant'' and stands down, allowing the ''Defiant'' on its way. With his conspiracy falling apart, Leyton resigns, and the state of emergency is lifted.

During a space flight to Saturn, three astronauts are exposed to a blast of radiation which kills two of them and seriously injures the third, Colonel Steve West. Back in a hospital on Earth, West awakens and is horrified to find the flesh on his face and hands melting away. Hysterical, he attacks and kills a nurse (Bonnie Inch), then escapes the hospital in a panic. Dr. Loring and Dr. Theodore "Ted" Nelson, a scientist and friend of West, discover that the nurse's corpse is emitting feeble radiation, and realize West's body has become radioactive. Nelson believes West has gone insane, and concludes he must consume human flesh in order to slow the melting. Nelson calls General Michael Perry, a United States Air Force officer familiar with West's accident, and the general agrees to help Nelson find him.

West attacks and kills a fisherman in a wood, then encounters there and frightens a little girl, Carol, but she escapes unharmed. Nelson and Perry arrive at the crime scene where the fisherman's body was found. Sheriff Neil Blake suspects that Nelson knows something, but Nelson tells the sheriff nothing because Perry had earlier informed him that any information about West was classified. Later that night, Nelson returns home to his pregnant wife Judy, who tells him that her elderly mother Helen and Helen's boyfriend Harold are coming over for dinner. On their way, however, Helen and Harold are killed by West.

When Blake finds the bodies, he calls Nelson, who comes out to identify them. After Blake angrily demands an explanation, Nelson reluctantly reveals West's condition. Nelson believes West is somehow getting stronger the more his body decomposes. Back at Nelson's house, West attacks and kills Perry, although Judy is not harmed. Nelson and Blake arrive just as West escapes. West then stumbles upon the home of a married couple. West kills the man and attacks his wife, but she drives him away after chopping his arm off with a cleaver. Blake receives a call about the attack and takes Nelson with him to investigate.

They track West to a giant power plant. Blake tries to shoot West with a shotgun, but West throws the sheriff into power lines, killing him. West knocks Nelson over a railing, leaving the doctor hanging on the side. Nelson appeals to West, reminding him that they were friends, and West decides to pull Nelson to safety. Two armed security guards then arrive and, in a panic, fatally shoot Nelson in the face as he tries to protect West. An infuriated West kills the security guards and stumbles away. After collapsing against the side of a building, he slowly, and completely, melts away. The next morning, a janitor finds his gory remains and casually mops them into a garbage can. Enthusiastic radio reports announce the next crewed mission to Saturn.

The film is a romance about a young woman named Suwanna who is the object of affection for many men. In her search for true love, she has many adventures and mishaps, including overcoming her father's disapproval, before finally finding her soulmate.

Lawrence opens the play by delivering a lesson on astronomy, focusing on the Pleiades. While describing the effects of universal expansion, he becomes excited and jumps around the room, imitating the stars being flung in every direction. He eventually gets tired and starts muttering to himself about Joanna's return from the grocery store and what she has in the "Surprise Box", a brightly colored box that they use to give surprise gifts to each other.

Joanna enters in a panic, having been seen by some frightening entity called either Pruneface or Wienerface, or both. She is pregnant. They engage in a number of strange, playful, seemingly random conversations. Joanna tells Lawrence about an encounter she had on the subway with a college-aged boy, and Lawrence accuses her of having sex with him. They play games, including one where Joanna is a queen and Lawrence commands Edna and Claypone to fetch her various things. All of a sudden, however, he halts the game with the line: "You're not a queen, you're a whore."

Eventually Joanna collapses, seemingly unable to walk. She screams at Lawrence to get a doctor, but he is afraid of the outside world and refuses to go outside, preferring to send Edna instead. Joanna's pains, possibly the result of pre-eclampsia, persist. She eventually falls, unmoving, onto the bed. Lawrence leans over her and begs her to return, falling into a stutter as the play ends.

This book is about a puppy named Ginger. Jerry Pye, a resident in Cranbury, Connecticut in 1919, bought a puppy he wanted from Ms. Speedy for a hard-earned dollar he made while dusting the pews in the church for Sam Doody. Jerry was pleased with the puppy and headed home. On the way home, Jerry and his sister Rachel heard footsteps behind them. When they turned back, they did not see anything. Jerry decided that if anyone was following them, then that follower was after his dog. After a few days, Jerry remembered that he hadn't given his puppy a name! He asked his mother and his mother said Ginger because he is the color of ginger and has a gingery temperament. So they called him Ginger or Ginger Pye. Ginger was a smart dog. He even located the school that Jerry goes to. Almost all his neighbors and friends knew Ginger.

Ginger Pye went missing on Thanksgiving Day. Jerry and his sister Rachel searched for the puppy all around Cranbury but could not find him. They discover Ginger tied up in a shed, and uncover the identity of the thief: Wally Bullwinkle. The book closes with Ginger home safe to a happy family.

The story follows a teen, Philip, who attempts to survive in the aftermath of a nuclear missile accidentally launched at Los Angeles by the Soviet Union, with his mother (the father is presumed dead as he worked in downtown Los Angeles, ground zero for the bomb), older brother, and friends. During the story Philip develops an attitude of "Me and mine first", with him being portrayed as switching the tag of an evacuee with his mother's so that his mother would be evacuated to another state for treatment.

The story begins with the end of winter, and the southern ocean showing the aurora australis. A raft of Adélie penguins, coming from the north, returns home. The females separate from their mates to go hunt as males build their nests from piles of pebbles. The females return to lay their eggs, only to eventually separate from the males again, whilst the males take care of the eggs. A flock of aggressive skuas constantly threatens to steal the penguin eggs and raids the nesting grounds while the females are away. A penguin named Toto saves the egg of another family, meanwhile one of their two eggs is stolen from their nest. When his mate, Lala, returns Toto finally comes clean that one of the eggs he takes from a neighbor nest is not theirs. They return it to the rightful owner and have one egg for themselves.

When the eggs finally hatch, Toto and Lala receive a newborn penguin baby whom they name Lolo. He, like any other young penguin, is over-inquisitive and very curious, which can annoy some of the other penguins. Together with his best friend Pépé, Lolo goes on many journeys through the wild, learning about the creatures that live in region. He eventually also makes friends with a tame husky puppy called Don, who is on an Antarctic trek with his scientist master.

Eventually, however, Lolo and Pepe get separated from their home, and face many dangers such as attacks by leopard seals and killer whales. Eventually, they get captured by a large group of poachers, from whom they later escape with the help of a Macaroni Penguin named Mak and an old guard dog on board named Jack.

The young penguins return home, only to find that the poachers have also come to catch all the baby penguins to sell to a zoo; Despite some of the penguins getting killed in the operation, Lolo leads a successful rescue.

The story ends with Don and the scientist flying home in a helicopter as the winter comes, Mak sets out alone to find his own family, and the penguins go northward again, now led by Lolo.

Rookie NYPD officer Megan Turner shoots and kills a robber with her service revolver while he is holding up a neighbourhood supermarket. The robber’s Smith & Wesson Model 29 revolver falls to the ground and lands directly in front of commodities trader Eugene Hunt, one of the customers lying on the floor. Unnoticed, Hunt takes the gun and slips away. Because the robber's weapon was not found at the scene and the other witnesses are unclear about seeing a handgun, Turner is accused of killing an unarmed man.

While she attempts to clear her name with Assistant Chief Stanley Hoyt and her superiors, the suspended Turner begins dating Hunt, who has become obsessed with her. Unbeknown to Turner, Hunt has taken the gun and started committing random killings. At the first killing he leaves behind a spent shell on which he has carved Megan Turner’s name. Shortly thereafter, Hunt begins hearing voices telling him he is unique and to kill again. One night, at his apartment he displays an unusual interest in Megan’s gun and her shooting stance. He reveals that he was in the supermarket at the time of the robbery, and that he left with the perpetrator's gun and that he is the person behind the recent killings. Turner arrests him but he is freed by his attorney, Mel Dawson, due to a lack of concrete evidence.

Turner fights to keep her badge and solve the murders with the help of Detective Nick Mann. Hunt arrives at her apartment, assaults her and shoots her best friend, Tracy, before rendering her unconscious with a blow to the head with the gun and then burying the gun in a park. Turner revives and goes to Hunt's apartment with Mann to arrest him, but Dawson prevents her from doing so and threatens to once more have her fired.

Seeking comfort from her mother, Turner visits her family home, an uncomfortable place because her father physically abused her mother throughout her childhood. When she arrives, she finds that her mother is bruised. Enraged, Turner handcuffs her father and arrests him. During the drive they stop and talk in an attempt to finally put an end to his abuse. When they return to the house, Hunt is posing as a guest sitting with her mother. A tense exchange takes place between the two, where they both imply that they are armed. When he leaves, she goes to his apartment, where she spends the night staking him out.

The next morning, Turner follows Hunt to the park, where he has buried his gun. Mann interrupts another standoff between Hunt and Turner, where Megan is attempting to get Hunt to try for her gun and Hunt runs off. Believing that he will return for the murder weapon, they stake out the park. Turner sees the beam of a flashlight and assumes it is Hunt searching for the gun. She leaves the car to apprehend him, but not before handcuffing Mann to the steering wheel to prevent him from following her. The flashlight turns out to be a ruse: Hunt paid a homeless woman to decoy the police. Back at the car, Hunt is outside the car holding Mann at gunpoint and is about to kill him. Turner appears and fires her gun, shooting Hunt in the left arm before he escapes in traffic.

Mann and Turner return to her apartment, where unbeknownst to them, Hunt is patching up his wound in her bathroom. The pair have sex and Mann is ambushed by Hunt and shot when he goes to the bathroom. Turner does not hear the shot because it was muffled by a towel. Hunt attacks and rapes Megan and she eventually kicks him away and gets her hands on her gun and shoots at him, but he flees. Mann is unconscious and taken to the hospital, where Turner is told that he will make it.

Determined to find Hunt and finish him off, Turner knocks out her police guard, then takes his uniform and gun. She wanders the streets and Hunt follows her into the subway. Turner and Hunt are both shot and the gun fight carries on out to the street. She finally shoots and kills him after a long and violent confrontation in the middle of Wall Street after running him down with an abandoned car and him running out of bullets. Other police arrive and she is taken away in an ambulance.

32-year-old Brian Davis is living alone in Venice Beach, California. However, he is the only bachelor left in his group of friends. His best friend, lawyer Adam Hillman, recently got engaged to his long-time girlfriend Marjorie, a girl Brian is secretly in love with and whom Adam was planning to break up with prior to their engagement. Another friend, Dave Greco, who is co-founder with Brian of ''Zap Monkey'', a company that designs and produces video games, cannot wait to welcome Brian into the marriage club, as Dave has been married to Deena for thirteen years and has three daughters. His older sister, record executive Nicole, has recently married Italian model Angelo Varzi and is pregnant with a girl she names Bella. Brian's journey to find romance leads him down a road where the picture-perfect relationships of his friends are tested and revealed for what they truly are.

''Auton''

At a top secret UNIT facility known only as "the Warehouse", Dr Sally Arnold has been studying a Nestene energy unit with no results. As a last resort, she subjects the artifact to cosmic signals from UNIT's most powerful deep space scanning satellite. This causes a violent energy release that kills her assistant, Janice. The energy unit has disappeared.

A containment team, led by a psychic UNIT operative named Lockwood, has been dispatched. Among Lockwood's abilities is the ability to access all information from any computer mainframe in the world with his mind.

They soon learn that the Nestene energy unity has taken on a mobile form, and that there is an Auton copy of senior archivist Graham Winslet. The real Winslet is still alive, his mind being used by the Autons as a resource of information. The energy unit then merges with the Auton Winslet.

Several dormant Autons in the Warehouse come back to life and the building becomes a battlefield. They are eventually defeated with the weapon created by the Doctor and Liz Shaw in ''Spearhead from Space''. The Auton Winslet then liquefies and escapes through a ventilation shaft.

Reception

Karen Davies wrote in the fanzine ''Celestial Toyroom'' that the story was, "An enjoyable, but undemanding 57 minutes." In particular, Karen felt that the direction paused too often and the dialogue was not realistic enough. In ''Doctor Who Magazine'', Dave Owen would heavily praise Michael Wade's performance, stating that he was, "so superciliously smug and patronizing that he demands your attention."

Modern criticism has remained mostly positive. In the book ''Downtime - The Lost Years of Doctor Who'', Dylan Rees stated that the film was, "the most ''Doctor Who'' like of all BBV films. It is also the most B-movie in its direction." He would go on to praise the story and performances, but criticized the direction.

Novelisation

A novelisation of this drama written by David Black will be published in early 2022.

''Auton 2: Sentinel''

Two years after the Warehouse incident, a lorry transporting Autons from the Warehouse to another UNIT facility is hijacked by its own cargo. Meanwhile, Lockwood is troubled by extremely active dreams. UNIT learns that the transfer of the Autons was authorized by Lockwood. When he later remembers signing the transportation docket, it becomes evident that the Nestene Consciousness is using Lockwood's psychic abilities to their own ends.

UNIT's Internal Security Division launches an investigation on Lockwood, pairing him with another psychic operative named Natasha Alexander. While Lockwood's abilities are owed to an alien implant, Natasha claims to have been psychic since birth.

The escaped Autons are traced to Sentinel Island. There the Auton Winslet has installed himself as the local vicar. He has brainwashed most of the island's inhabitants and the Autons have killed those who resisted. They are using the combined mental energy of the church's congregation to awaken a Nestene creature buried beneath.

There are dormant Nestenes lying underground around the world. They were put in place before the development of the human race. Their locations have become known to humanity as holy sites and are connected by ley lines.

When Lockwood and Natasha arrive at the church, they succeed in reviving the Nestene. The Nestene attempts to awaken the others. Lockwood tries to defeat it, but instead absorbs the creature into his own mind.

Reception

Dylan Rees gave a positive review of the film in ''Downtime - The Lost Years of Doctor Who'', calling it, "Drama that perfectly straddles the divide between its ''Doctor Who'' origins and contemporary science fiction.

Dave Owen also praised the story, as well as the CGI and music.

''Auton 3''

Lockwood and Natasha have returned from Sentinel Island, coming on shore in the town of Millhampton. Computers around the world are failing. They are being invaded by the Nestene Consciousness through Lockwood's implant.

Meanwhile, the entire population of Millhampton has disappeared. They have been absorbed into the mind of another revived Nestene below the city. The only survivor is the real Winslet, who is still being used by the Nestenes at the local psychiatric hospital.

Lockwood and Natasha are both being used by another psychic UNIT operative named Palmer to lead them to the heart of the Nestene activity. Palmer monitors their movements through a constant link with Natasha's mind.

Meanwhile, Natasha is used by the Nestenes to lure Lockwood to the hospital, which the Autons are using as the centre of their operation. There the Auton Winslet is trying to free the Nestene energy from Lockwood's mind so it can infect every computer in the world and revive all the dormant Nestene creatures. Lockwood resists by convincing himself that everything he sees is a dream.

When Dr Arnold arrives, his resolve is broken. He is then forced to sacrifice his own life to destroy the Nestene plan.

Reception

Unlike the previous two films, ''Auton 3'' received much more negative reviews from critics. ''Doctor Who Magazine'' heavily criticized the production, focusing on the writing and stated that it, "shamelessly cribbed from ''The X-Files''." Modern criticism has also continued the negative trend, with Dylan Rees stating in the book ''Downtime - The Lost Years of Doctor Who'' that the film was "a mess from start to finish" and that the direction was "stilted and poor."

However, ''Dreamwatch'' would give the film a positive review, with Richard McGinlay stating that it was "powerfully realized and performed."

''The Ragged Astronauts''

Land is a strictly feudal society that undergoes a peak energy crisis (the trees that provide energy and hard materials are scarce), and is undergoing a process of cultural decay. Much of the human population of Land travels to Overland via hot-air balloon to escape airborne creatures called the Ptertha.

Translations

• Russian: ("Astonauts in Rags"), 2003
• German: , 1991 ( )
• Czech: , 1993
• Polish: ("Space removal"), 1994 ( )
• Italian: ("The Ptertha invasion, or Challenge to the sky"), 1999 ( )
• Romanian:

''The Wooden Spaceships''

Conflict breaks out between the new inhabitants of Overland and those who stayed behind on Land and, having developed an immunity to the Ptertha, intend to invade Overland. The inhabitants of Overland manage to defeat them by erecting a network of fortresses between the two planets. The spaceships of the title are made of a super-hard wood, brakka.

Translations

• Russian: ("The Wooden Spaceships"), 2003
• German: , 1991 ( )
• Czech: , 1996
• Italian: ("The attack to the world"), 2000 ( )
• Romanian: N/A

''The Fugitive Worlds''

A strange object begins to approach the planets from outer space.

Translations

• Russian: ("The Fugitive Planets"), 2003
• German: , 1991 ( )
• Italian: ("Towards the Unknown"), 2000 ( )

In 2017, during the Second American Civil War, Barb Wire owns the Hammerhead, a nightclub in Steel Harbor, "the last free city" in a United States ravaged by the war. She earns cash as a mercenary and bounty hunter. Chief of Police Willis raids her club. Willis's target is fugitive Dr. Corrina 'Cora D' Devonshire, a former government scientist with information about a new bioweapon called Red Ribbon being developed by her former superiors in the Congressional Directorate. The Congressional Council has tasked Colonel Victor Pryzer with finding Dr. Devonshire so they can end the Second Civil War by releasing the virus on the United Front territories. Dr. Devonshire hopes to escape to Canada to make this information public.

Devonshire turns up at the Hammerhead. She is accompanied by Axel Hood, a "freedom fighter" Barb had loved at the outbreak of the war. The two were separated during the conflict. Axel tries to help Cora get to Canada. They try to find a contraband pair of contact lenses that would allow Cora to evade the retinal scan identification at the Steel Harbor airport. The lenses pass through the hands of several lowlifes before also ending up at Barb's nightclub.

Rather than give the lenses to Cora and Axel, Barb makes a deal with 'Big Fatso', the leader of a junkyard gang: Fatso wants the lenses, which are worth a fortune on the black market, and Barb wants a million dollars and an armed escort to the airport, where ''she'' plans to get on the plane to Canada. But Fatso double-crosses Barb; when Barb, Axel and Cora show up at the junkyard to make the swap, Colonel Pryzer and his storm troopers are also there, along with Chief of Police Willis. Willis makes a show of arresting Barb and Cora, but instead of putting handcuffs on Barb, he slips her a hand grenade. Barb uses the grenade to kill Fatso and cause enough confusion to allow Barb, Axel, Cora and Willis to pile into Barb's armored van and lead the Congressionals on a car chase, culminating in a hand-to-hand fight between Barb and Colonel Pryzer on a forklift suspended by crane above the harbor. Pryzer falls to his death while Barb escapes.

The party makes it to the airport, where Barb reveals she still has the contact lenses. She gives them to Cora, and Cora and Axel get on the plane to Canada while Willis and Barb remain on the rainswept tarmac.

''1633'' continues where ''1632'' left off. Most of the novel details various political machinations of the new "United States" and the attempts of Cardinal Richelieu to nullify the threat posed by the technological advantage the up-timers have given to Gustavus Adolphus and his "Confederated Principalities of Europe". Richelieu completely changes France's foreign policy and forms an alliance aimed squarely at the NUS and Gustavus called the League of Ostend. Mike Stearns sends emissaries looking for allies, some of whom end up behind enemy lines as they already belong to the secret League of Ostend, which announces its presence in the Battle of Four Fleets. The Dutch Republic nearly falls and Stearns' emissary voluntarily stays behind, becoming trapped in the Siege of Amsterdam.

At this point, the newly created timeline start to diverge greatly from the actual history of the 17th Century, in no small part because the news of a town from the future brought spies and emissaries, and a fair number of encyclopedias and history textbooks found their way into European courts. One theme of the series is of down-timer leaders trying to change, hasten or head off their histories while the acts of ordinary citizens going about their day-to-day affairs and of the leaders of Grantville effect more fundamental societal and political changes.

The greatest discovery of the nineteenth century is found by accident. A team of archaeologists uncover one of the most ancient burial tombs of all time. Inside the tomb they find something far greater than gold or gems, they find a diary of a person who lived more than four thousand years ago. The team pool all their knowledge together in order to translate the scroll diary before it disintegrates in the foreign air.

The diary of Seola is about a girl's struggle to resist a wicked world. Her resolve to remain loyal to God is so strong she influences a fallen angel to repentance. The diary is unique because it gives a detailed account on how the Great Deluge started. One of the planets in the solar system becomes unstable and its destruction causes the waters above the expanse to fall.

The beginning entry of the journal gave no doubt as to the era the individual claims to come from. The entry reads, “West Bank of the Euphrates, first moon-evening, after Adam, four cycles”. The author of the journal identifies herself as Seola, daughter of Aleemon and Lebuda. Her father was the son of Lamech and his father was Methuselah. Aleemon had a passion for study and the preservation of historical records. This desire kept him near a grand city which contained a wealth of knowledge on the history of the world written down on scrolls. The city’s name was Sippara and it was also known as the city of the Sun. This desire also endangered the lives of his family. It so happened that the city was the royal seat of the one who ruled the planet. This ruler was known as Lucifer the Light Bearer, King of the Sun. He and his kind were ruling the earth for over 1100 years, since the days of Jared. These beings were known as the Devas. The Devas were angelic spirit beings that materialized into human form. Their superior powers enabled them to dominate and instill fear into the human race. They sought after the most beautiful women of mankind and took them as wives. Through the union of the mortal female and the angelic being came male children of large stature. These offspring were known as the Darvands. The Darvands were ruthless bullies with strength that none could match.

Seola begins her journal at the request of her father. Her first entries are common and uneventful because the family has been relocated to an isolated section of the forest away from Sippara and their life is peaceful with the isolation. The tranquility eventually comes to an end because the Devas discover their private sanctuary. The threat to the family is neither by wealth or possession but by way of beauty.

Introduction

Fourth graders George Beard and Harold Hutchins skate over ketchup packets in the school gym until their rude-spirited principal, Mr. Krupp, forces them to clean up the mess and meet him at his office. Since writing a sentence over and over wouldn't teach the boys anything, Mr. Krupp assigns them to write a 100-page essay on good citizenship, which they can't turn it into a Captain Underpants story. The boys promptly make a story with a new superhero called "Super Diaper Baby", which angers Krupp to the point of making them write sentences.

Main plot

Expectant couple Bill and Mary Hoskins rush to the hospital while Deputy Dangerous and his talking pet dog Danger Dog drain Captain Underpants of his superpowers with Deputy's fitted ray, which then converts it to a liquid the two would consume, but Danger only drinks half of it when the police arrives, whom they both evade. Back at the hospital, Mary gives birth to a boy named Billy, whom the attending doctor accidentally throws into the power container. Billy drinks the juice, gaining the super powers and he overpowers both Deputy Dangerous and Danger Dog, both of whom are then apprehended by the police. Billy then flies back to the maternity ward.

Danger Dog and Deputy Dangerous escape prison to their secret lab, where the latter invents a crib device connected by satellite that they deliver to the Hoskins under euphemistic pseudonyms, "Deputy Un-Dangerous" and "Safety Dog". Billy poops before midnight, and Mary gives him a very nice bath just as the "Heat-Seeking Dish" turns on. The device transits the poop, turning Deputy Dangerous into a small piece of turd. The next morning, Deputy Dangerous invents the "Robo-Ant 2000" so he can take over the world, but Danger Dog coins the name "Deputy Doo-Doo", then changes signs around. Billy fights the robot, but is taken by Deputy Doo-Doo to a nuclear power plant. Danger Dog saves Billy, while the Ant falls into the power plant instead. Bill and Mary want to keep "Safety Dog", but the Landlord worries that Danger Dog might stain the carpet, but changes his mind when they put a diaper on him and rename him Diaper Dog.

Meanwhile, back at the power plant, radioactivity causes Deputy Doo-Doo to grow into a giant and he resumes rampaging through the city. Diaper Baby and Diaper Dog fly out to stop him, but since Deputy Doo-Doo's now radioactive, they can't touch him. They instead trick him into attacking himself and wrap him up in a giant toilet roll, sending him to Uranus. On the way back to Earth, at a "Starbutts" on Mars, they decide to take some Super Power Juice back to Earth and go to the laundromat where Captain Underpants is held captive. They restore his powers, and the world is a better place.

Introduction

After Mr. Krupp reads the "Super Diaper Baby" comic, he is furious and yells at the boys for creating such a rude and offensive comic, suggesting that they try and write about something more appropriate. He gives them the book ''How the Grinch Stole Christmas!'' as an example and states that it was his favorite book during his childhood (with the last seven pages torn out). The book inspires the boys and they decide to make a sequel, about pee, which only angers Mr. Krupp even more.

Main plot

The Hoskins and Diaper Dog set up a picnic in the park where Billy ends up over a tree, but then he and Diaper Dog force a doll back from a bully, get a ball out of a portable toilet and get a toe-broken kid to the hospital in a few seconds. That night, Mr. Hoskins feels depressed, but after a reminder by his wife, he decides to read "Mechafrog and Robotoad are Enemies" to Billy, but he can now read it to him, instead, due to the powers he gained. Meanwhile, two criminals called Dr. Dilbert Dinkle and Petey the Cat sneak into Jim's Bank, but before Dr. Dinkle can measure for his invention, careless Petey accidentally pushes the lever and Dr. Dinkle turns into water, then Petey accidentally destroys the invention, meaning that Dr. Dinkle is made out of water permanently, but Dr. Dinkle thinks that he actually likes being made out of water when he is able to turn into a puddle and sneak into the vault to get the money. Back at his home, Dr. Dinkle finds out he will never pay the water bill, but his supply is cut off after two weeks. Petey complains he needs water for drinking, but Dr. Dinkle goes to sleep and Petey drinks him in revenge. The next morning, Dr. Dinkle yells in surprise to be let out, right when Petey needs to urinate and the cat leaps into his litter box. Dr. Dinkle discovers that he is now made out of urine as Petey coins the name "Rip Van Tinkle", much to his dismay, and makes jokes at his expense, making him go to multiple places, all of which kick him out for smelling horrible.

The following night, Rip Van Tinkle puts Petey in the Robo Kitty 3000, before he evaporates and rains pee on people. Soon the pee drops break into houses to steal toilets for the Robo Kitty 3000 to destroy. One drop gets caught by Billy, so it tricks him into thinking that it will repair the toilet, gives him a juice box in bed, then the Kitty destroys the toilet. The next day, Mr. and Mrs. Hoskins are in pain, but put on diapers, while the mayor decides to drain the pool. The pee drops unite to create Rip Van Tinkle, while Petey steals diapers to sell to the people who were robbed of toilets, but Rip Van Tinkle takes Petey's money and the cat soaks him up with toilet paper. Super Diaper Baby and Diaper Dog arrive, only for Petey to evolve the Robo Kitty 3000 into the Supa-Mecha Kitty 3000. Super Diaper Baby flies to buy catnip and pour it inside the control seat. Petey goes crazy after having the slightest sniff of the catnip, bounces around, and detaches the Supa - Mecha Kitty 3000's head. Super Diaper Baby and Diaper Dog grab Petey and carry him off to jail.

A drop of pee gets flicked up and lands in the Mayor's pool, where it grows into an enlarged Rip Van Tinkle, whom the duo finds wreaking havoc at the train tracks. Rip Van Tinkle uses the train as nunchucks and hits both of them. Rip Van Tinkle overpowers the two, and smashes a building right on top of them. However, Super Diaper Baby remembers that a week before, he put his juice box in the freezer and it froze solid, giving Diaper Dog the idea to push down on the Earth. It works, making the Earth go farther and farther from the Sun. Rip Van Tinkle freezes and Diaper Dog and Super Diaper Baby carry Rip Van Tinkle while Super Diaper Baby gets an idea of how to cheer up his father.

Back at the Hoskins' house, Billy tells Mr. Hoskins that there was an ice monster outside (Rip Van Tinkle) and tells his dad he's brave enough to stand up to him. Diaper Dog, hiding behind and making a voice for Rip Van Tinkle, talks to Mr. Hoskins. The "ice monster" is "scared" of Mr. Hoskins' talking and leaves Earth. While someone asks for Mr. Hoskins' autograph, Super Diaper Baby and Diaper Dog take Rip Van Tinkle to Uranus, only for Deputy Doo Doo to say ''The Baby again.''. They come back, and take a picture with Mr. and Mrs. Hoskins with a news reporter and put on a newspaper saying "Diaper Clad Dad Saves The Earth!".

Inspector Gadget and his Gadgetmobile are having problems in their line of work, mostly because of Gadget's overzealous nature and his paranoia about minor crimes committed by citizens. Gadget is put on probation by an angry Chief Quimby after charging Quimby's mother for going slightly above the speed limit on a mostly-deserted highway. At this time, Dr. Claw escapes from prison, seeking revenge on Gadget for putting him in prison and to restart his multi-million-dollar empire. Mayor Wilson takes this opportunity to create G2, a female Gadget-type robot that can function normally compared to the original Gadget, who not only was born a human but has recently been malfunctioning. Gadget begins to fall in love with G2, though G2 does not reciprocate as she prefers to work alone, viewing him as a nuisance but at the same time appreciating his determination to fight crime.

Dr. Claw begins a new plan to steal gold from the Federal Reserve. Gadget makes repeated attempts to stop Claw, but is continually foiled by his own bumbling and gadgetry glitches; his antics also prevent G2 from stopping Claw. Gadget's bumbling allows Dr. Claw's men to steal components for Claw's latest scheme and get away with it. Chief Quimby becomes increasingly frustrated and eventually relieves Gadget of duty after an incident at a science convention involving Claw's men putting an override chip on Gadget, allowing Claw to control Gadget like a puppet and cause significant damage. Penny offers to help, but Gadget tells her that she is still too young and to not get involved. Meanwhile, Dr. Claw's henchmen are now free to steal the rest of the components for Claw's scheme.

Penny decides to examine the evidence on her own and eventually finds Claw's hideout at an abandoned bowling factory in the outskirts of the city. She infiltrates the hideout, but Claw and his men capture her. After a series of unsuccessful jobs, Gadget gets a job as a parking valet. At Mayor Wilson's fundraiser, Claw infiltrates the event and activates a bowling pin containing laughing gas to keep the people busy as he steals a 50,000-karat ruby, though G2 is immune to the gas. In order to stop the robot, Claw uses a magnet to trap G2. Afterwards, Claw and his minions escape, but Gadget fails to recognize them. After G2's failure, Quimby is ordered by Mayor Wilson to deactivate the robot and terminate the Gadget program.

Feeling that G2 was scapegoated, and still in love with her, Gadget goes to Baxter's laboratory to reactivate G2, which makes G2 realize that Gadget cares for her. Brain (voiced by Jeff Glenn Bennett), having escaped Claw's men, tells them through Baxter's bark translating device that Claw has kidnapped Penny and has used the three stolen supplies (ionic fuel cells, a protoid laser, and a ruby) to build a super-weapon. Upon realizing that Claw is based in the bowling factory, Gadget finally connects the evidence Penny previously presented to him. Gadget asks G2 to help him save Penny and foil Claw's scheme, and G2 agrees.

The next day, Claw activates his machine. The weapon is a laser that freezes time in Riverton, allowing Claw and his minions to easily rob the Federal Reserve. Claw has plans to not only use the laser against Riverton, but also the entire world, so he can rob Fort Knox and a variety of other places. Both Gadgets manage to avoid the weapon's blast, and confront Claw and his minions at the Federal Reserve. Claw orders his minions to attack Gadget and G2 so he can get away. Gadget and G2 decide to switch chips in order to make Gadget work perfectly, leaving G2 to deal with the glitches but to still successfully capture Claw's hired goons. Gadget chases after Claw but Claw drops Penny off the truck with explosives attached to her. After saving Penny, Gadget and Penny reunite with G2 and the Gadgetmobile. At a bridge, Gadget stops Claw's truck with a puddle of bubble gum. Claw's minions try to escape, but get stuck in the bubble gum and are arrested. When Gadget orders Claw to put his hand (and claw) up, Claw gets away in a rocket-like escape pod. After Claw escapes, Gadget, Penny and G2 go to Claw's laser to unfreeze Riverton.

Both Gadget and G2 are congratulated by Mayor Wilson and Chief Quimby (who happily reinstates Gadget) for their heroic efforts, with Gadget also giving credit to Penny, admitting he is proud to have her as a partner and awarding her a Junior Inspector Medal for her meritorious conduct. After the meeting, Gadget and G2 share a kiss outside the city hall. In the process, fireworks emerge from Gadget's hat. A firecracker lands right near Quimby and Wilson and the fuse burns out. After a few seconds, it explodes, causing both Wilson and Quimby to angrily yell out to Gadget.

Setting

On October 23, 2077, a global nuclear war devastates the world and destroys modern civilizations. The events of ''Fallout'' take place nearly a century later in 2161, and follow the Vault Dweller, a human born and raised within Vault 13, one of a number of underground fallout shelters built to protect survivors. Survivors on the surface live off the salvage of the old world.

Vault 13 is located beneath the ruins of Southern California. The Vault Dweller can explore major settlements including Junktown, which is mired in conflict between the local sheriff, Killian Darkwater, and a criminal, Gizmo; the Hub, a bustling merchant city with job opportunities; and Necropolis, a city founded by ghouls, humans who lived in Vault 12 and became nuclear-radiated creatures. The Vault Dweller's journey also brings them into contact with various factions, including the Brotherhood of Steel, a quasi-religious technology-based group with militaristic warriors, the Children of the Cathedral, an optimistic religious cult; and the Super Mutants, an army of virtually immortal monsters immune to radiation.

Characters

The player controls the Vault Dweller, who is sent into the Wasteland to save their vault. The Vault Dweller can be customized or based on one of three pre-generated characters: Albert Cole, a negotiator and charismatic leader with a legal background; Natalia Dubrovhsky, a talented acrobat and intelligent and resourceful granddaughter of a Russian diplomat in the pre-War Soviet consulate in Los Angeles; and Max Stone, the largest person in the Vault who is known for his strength, stamina, and lack of intelligence. The three characters present a diplomatic, deceptive, or combative approach to the game, respectively. Although the character can be male or female, the Vault Dweller is canonically male.

The four companions the player can recruit include: Ian, a guard from Shady Sands; Tycho, a desert ranger; Dogmeat, a tireless loyal dog; and Katja, a member of an organization called the Followers of the Apocalypse. Other major characters include Vault Boy, the mascot of Vault-Tec, who are the creators of the Vaults and the PIPBoy 2000; Killian Darkwater, the mayor and shopkeeper of Junktown; and the Master, leader of the Super Mutants and the main antagonist.

Story

In Vault 13, the Water Chip, a computer component responsible for the Vault's water recycling and pumping machinery, stops working. With only 150 days before water reserves will run dry, the Vault Overseer tasks the Vault Dweller with finding a replacement. Armed with the PIPBoy 2000 and meager equipment, the Vault Dweller leaves Vault 13 for the nearest source of possible help, Vault 15, but finds it abandoned and in ruins. The Vault Dweller explores the wasteland, accomplishing quests for others along the way before locating a replacement in Vault 12 underneath Necropolis.

The Vault Dweller returns to Vault 13 with the chip, and the water system is repaired. The Overseer becomes concerned about the mutants reported by the Vault Dweller. Believing the mutations are too widespread and extreme to be a natural occurrence, the Overseer charges the Vault Dweller with finding and stopping the source of the mutations. Information discovered throughout the wasteland reveals that humans are being captured and turned into Super Mutants by exposure to the Forced Evolutionary Virus (F.E.V.). The Super Mutants are led by the Master, who intends to transform every human into a Super Mutant and thus establish "unity" on Earth. The Children of the Cathedral are a front created by the Master, who is using the Children to trick humans into peaceful submission.

To stop the mutations, the Vault Dweller must destroy the vats containing the F.E.V. and kill the Master; the order of the tasks is chosen by the player. The Vault Dweller travels to the Mariposa Military Base to destroy it and the vats within, preventing the creation of more Super Mutants. To kill the Master, the Vault Dweller travels to the Children's Cathedral and locates a prototype Vault beneath it, from which the Master commands his army. The Vault Dweller infiltrates the Vault and can choose to convince the Master that his plan will fail because the Super Mutants are infertile, kill him immediately, or set off an explosion that destroys the Cathedral. The Vault Dweller returns to Vault 13 but is denied entry by the Overseer, who fears that they have been changed by their experiences in the wasteland, and the tales of their exploits and accomplishments will encourage the other inhabitants to leave as well, risking the end of the Vault. The Overseer exiles the Vault Dweller into the wasteland. ''Fallout'' concludes with the legacy of the Vault Dweller's decisions on the societies and people they had encountered.

Erik Ponti is a fourteen-year-old boy living in the 1950s Stockholm lower middle class. His sadistic father beats him often, his mother rarely intervenes in the abuse and his six-year-old brother takes advantage of the situation. He excels in school subjects that interest him; "He ran the fastest and scored the most goals, could take a gargantuan beating, hit with full strength at the first punch and on top of all that he was the superior student in several subjects", which lends him a position as gang leader and favored student of half his teachers. (He compulsively leads the class to rebel against the other half, who beat the students.)

He lives with violence both at home and at school and begins feeling sympathy and pity towards those he beats, when his life comes tumbling down because of the school gang's criminal activities. Betrayed by those he thought of as his friends, the gang, he is expelled from school and "pre-emptively" expelled from every school in Stockholm by his zealous and influential principal.

He comes home prepared to face his father "for the last time" but is surprisingly sent to a boarding school outside of the city, the expensive and exclusive Stjärnsberg school. Away from his father and everyone who knew him, Erik is determined to make a new life without violence for himself, but the traditions of the school stop him. Unable to abide the abuse of the senior students, who make it their habit to boss around and beat those below them, "especially new and mouthy kids", he begins a spiral of escalating violence and psychological abuse under the nose of unwitting teachers and adults. Noses are broken, threats are uttered, buckets of feces thrown around and Erik spends a cold winter night soaking wet and tied to the ground.

Erik and his friend and roommate Pierre hold in-depth discussions about the nature of evil, the importance of resistance and methods of fighting, while spending summer and winter breaks abroad. Erik develops a forbidden relationship with Marja, a school cook from Savonia, Finland, and wins a swimming trophy in a school championship.

He is thrown out of the swimming team in an attempt to make him follow orders, and begins working out obsessively by weightlifting to vent his frustrations, panicked over the prospect of being expelled if he lays a hand on a senior student. When Pierre surrenders to the abuse directed at him to punish Erik and leaves the school, Erik takes to stalking the woods in disguise at night and systematically breaking the nose and teeth of those responsible, when he finds them alone.

Marja, fired because of the suspicions of her relationship with Erik, sends him a love letter which the principal uses as grounds to have him expelled, but with the aid of Mr. Ekengren, the family lawyer, Erik threatens legal action over the confiscation of his mail and is allowed to finish his last semester in relative peace. Although not before tracking down his chief tormentor, the chairman of the students' council Otto Silverhjelm, alone in the woods and scaring him into hysteric crying and vomiting.

Finishing his basic education with the highest possible grades—barring the lowest possible grade in conduct and behavior—Erik returns home and deals with his father.

In San Francisco, 1959, four despondent strangers embark on the same night trolleybus: Penny, a single mother, regrets working the night shift and leaving her three children at home; Harrison, a would-be singer, has backed out of an important audition due to stage fright; Julia leaves her waitressing job to seek out her boyfriend John, whose marriage proposal she rejected; and small-time thief Milo has just failed to retrieve a book of valuable stamps that he had conned out of a young boy. Their driver is Hal, who becomes distracted by an attractive passenger in another car and accidentally swerves the trolleybus off of an overpass, killing everyone aboard.

At the same time, Frank Reilly is driving his pregnant wife Eva to the hospital. Frank avoids the trolleybus just before it crashes. The Reillys are safe, but Eva delivers their baby in the car. Hal ascends into the next life, but the souls of the four passengers are "attached" to the newborn baby, Thomas, for reasons they do not understand. Only Thomas can see and hear them, and they are forced to follow him wherever he goes. As the years pass, the four grow to love Thomas, and he loves them. As Thomas grows older, however, his parents worry about his obsession with these "invisible people" and consider having him committed and getting divorced. Realizing their presence is hurting Thomas, the quartet decides to become invisible to him as well. The perceived abandonment causes young Thomas to avoid close relationships for the rest of his life, fearful that they, too, will leave him.

Thirty-four years later, Hal returns with his trolleybus. Because his irresponsibility ended four innocent lives, Hal has been condemned to convey spirits to the next life, and he has now come for his former passengers. The quartet learns that they've been with Thomas all these years because each of them died with unfinished business: Penny never found out what happened to her children, Harrison never conquered his fears and fulfilled his dream of public singing, Julia never told John her true feelings, and Milo never returned the stamp album, which would have freed him of the guilt from his life of crime. Thomas was meant to serve as their corporeal form, helping them to resolve their final business; if he refused to help, they were to inhabit his body and use it to solve their problems. After convincing Hal to buy some more time for them to rectify their unfinished lives, they reappear to Thomas, now a ruthless foreclosure banker who refuses to open up to his devoted girlfriend Anne.

Thomas, who has since undergone psychotherapy to convince himself that his "imaginary friends" were only a childhood delusion, initially believes their reappearance means he has had a psychotic break. Ignoring their pleas, he attempts to check himself into a psychiatric hospital, where a schizophrenic patient is able to describe the spirits that accompany him. This convinces Thomas that the spirits are real, but he is still angry with them for their abandonment and refuses to help them. The quartet convince him by leaping in and out of his body during an important meeting and threatening further public humiliation until Thomas reluctantly agrees to help in order to finally be rid of them.

Thomas is able to locate Penny's two daughters, but not her youngest child Billy, who was adopted after Penny's death. Milo uses Thomas's body to break into a house, steal back the stamp album, and return it to its now-adult owner. However, after the burglary, a nervous Thomas encounters a police sergeant (who is ticketing his illegally parked car) and accidentally gets himself arrested, forcing Anne to bail him out. Harrison uses Thomas's body to sing the national anthem at a B.B. King concert, after which Thomas is arrested again by the same police sergeant, who Penny suddenly recognizes as her son. Thomas tells Billy the location of his long-lost sisters, and Billy is so overcome that he lets Thomas go with a warning. Meanwhile, Anne, concerned with Thomas's recent bizarre behavior, demands to know what's going on. When he is unable to tell her, she breaks up with him.

Finally, Thomas and Julia write a letter to Julia's boyfriend John in which she confesses her love for him, only to learn from a man now living in what was John's house that John died several years before. At the same moment, the trolleybus returns to take Julia. Thomas protests that Julia's business is still unresolved, but Julia realizes that her true business is Thomas, who is making the same mistake with Anne that she made with John. Thomas promises her that he will tell Anne his true feelings before it is too late. Before she departs, Julia temporarily becomes solid again, allowing her to give Thomas a farewell hug.

Thomas invites Anne back to the arboretum, where he admits his fear of abandonment and his love for her. As a symbol of his trust, he gives her a heart-shaped keyring containing all his personal keys. Anne forgives him. The two dance under the night sky where four new stars twinkle to show that Penny, Julia, Harrison and Milo are finally at peace.

Other interpretations of the movie identify the four souls as the different aspects of Thomas’ personality that he must make peace with to mature and ‘walk like a man’.

Paintball's first superstar, Bobby Dukes, led his team, the River Rats, to an unprecedented three consecutive victories at The Hudson Valley National Paintball Classic. On May 28, 1993, the River Rats were competing for their fourth "Classic" victory when disaster struck. Bobby, attempting one of his signature moves, was shot. Desperate to stay in the game, Dukes intentionally wiped the paint from his jersey, thus committing paintball's most heinous crime. A zealous referee spotted the wipe and ejected Bobby from the game. The three-time champ was embarrassed, went to Venezuela, and left the game for 10 years while being the laughingstock of the paintball community. Deemed a cheater, disgraced and humiliated, Bobby disappeared. Ten years later an older and wiser Dukes returns to reclaim his title and erase the memory of his tainted past. He enters the 2003 Classic but finds no self-respecting paintball player will be caught dead on his team. On the verge of giving up hope, Bobby joins forces with the most unlikely of allies... the referee that caught him cheating. Now, the two improbable partners must recruit a team of paintball misfits and take back the Hudson Valley Paintball Classic taking place at Liberty Paintball in Patterson, New York.

Dennis, living in a Red Hook housing project in Brooklyn, New York has had enough of poverty, and witnessing his alcoholic father beat his mother. His father is depressed and troubled from working hard for "the white man" for so many years, yet having nothing to show for it.

Dennis and two friends come up with a plan to rob a local drug dealer and split the money. One of the friends asks his uncle to borrow his car, and then a connection he has gives him a shotgun for the operation.

Dennis keeps telling his girlfriend that they will soon have money and be able to move out of Brooklyn, but he does not actually tell her of the plan. When he does eventually explain what he is about to do, she leaves him and tells him the relationship is over. Meanwhile, his mother loses her job due to the bruises on her face from the ongoing domestic violence.

On the day of the robbery, Dennis and his friends wait in the car for the dealer to come out with a briefcase full of cash. As they drive up to him, Dennis points the gun in his face and tells him to hand over the bag, yet he doesn't actually shoot him as his friends were discussing in the car. The dealer complies, and they speed off. The dealer has now seen their faces, and after being ordered by the gangster he works for to get the money back, he goes out looking for the three.

When Dennis and his friends take the briefcase back home and realise that it contains much more than they expected, the other two get scared and realize they will be targeted for stealing the bag in the first place. After an argument with Dennis, they leave all the money with him and say they want nothing to do with it.

The same night, Dennis brings the money home to show his family and tells them they can move out of the projects, but his father is less than happy about what his son has done. This causes an argument in the house which leads to more violence and Dennis' mother having to go to the hospital.

The next day at the hospital, Dennis' father goes out for some air when the drug dealer who was robbed sees him and recognizes who he is. The dealer and his accomplices chase him and he is blocked on both sides and shot dead. At the same time, in the hospital, Dennis' mother dies with her son and daughter by her side. The movie ends with the bloodied father lying still in death, against a fence.

Tiger Moth, a space cruiser recently converted to a solar yacht, is on its way to space station Beta for its first race. The yacht is owned and crewed by a syndicate of four business people – Kurt, who is rumored to have a shady criminal background; Nikos, the son of Earth colony planet Valeria's leading industrialist; Mari, the daughter of Valeria's president and Nikos's fiancée; and Zorelle, an attention-seeking fashion mogul. Engineer Robar informs captain Lisa Deranne, an experienced solar yacht racer hired by the syndicate, of irregular fluctuations in the ship's power system. Lisa uses this as an excuse to put her amateur crew through their first solar sail drill, whilst Robar shuts down the power drive to investigate the fault.

The crew assembles on the sail deck, where they don virtual reality gloves and glasses to operate the solar sails in the same context as a traditional sea-going yacht. After the drill is successfully carried out, Tiger Moth is attacked by a huge War Wheel mothership, which dispatches a boarding party of Sontaran troopers led by Commander Steg. Lisa and her crewmates are stunned by the Sontarans as they enter the solar yacht, and once the group recover in their crew quarters, Steg explains that he is on a mission to find a shape-shifting Rutan spy. The Sontarans tracked the Rutan to space station Alpha, Tiger Moth's last port of call, so they are now searching every vessel that left there recently. Although Steg claims that he will leave the humans in peace, Kurt warns Lisa that the ruthless Sontarans will destroy the Tiger Moth.

Robar, unaware of the Sontarans on board the Tiger Moth, has been working on the ship's power units to resolve the fluctuations. He discovers the cause to be the energy-dependent Rutan spy, who kills Robar and adopts his human form. It then kills a Sontaran trooper sent to find Robar, and attempts to escape in the Sontarans' assault craft, but Lieutenant Vorn discovers the disguised Rutan and fires at it, injuring the Rutan and forcing it to retreat. Vorn reports this to Steg, who orders a thorough search of the power room, where the Sontarans find the dead trooper and Robar's partially dissected body. Steg shows this to Lisa, encouraging her to help him destroy the Rutan, and she agrees if Steg leaves her crew and ship unharmed. Steg promises to do so, but he secretly intends to destroy the Tiger Moth as per his duty.

When Lisa briefs the rest of the crew on the situation, Kurt is still suspicious, so Zorelle – fearing that Kurt's resistance could endanger her own life – tells Steg about Lisa and Kurt plotting to kill him. Steg gives his blaster to Kurt and tests him to use it. Kurt suspects a trick and does not fire, but Nikos takes the blaster and tries – only to learn that the blaster was not primed, and Steg kills him. Mari goes berserk and has to be sedated, leaving just Lisa, Kurt and Zorelle to help the Sontarans hunt the Rutan. After they leave Mari in the crew quarters, the Rutan kills her, and inhabits her body to kill Zorelle too when she returns. Lisa and Kurt kill Vorn and the remaining troopers, then confront Steg at the airlock. Kurt is wounded by Steg, but Lisa guns down the commander, who salutes her as a worthy enemy. The Rutan arrives in Zorelle's ghostly form, and vows to leave Lisa and Kurt unharmed, before entering the assault ship to escape with the secrets it learned. Steg warns Lisa of a bomb he planted in the airlock tunnel to destroy the Tiger Moth. Lisa places the bomb in the assault ship, and Steg helps her escape the closing airlock before he dies. Lisa and Kurt watch on the scanners as the assault ship departs and explodes.

Lisa tends to Kurt's injuries, thinking that this disastrous shakedown cruise will be the end of her solar racing career. However, Kurt reveals that, as the sole surviving syndicate member, he inherits the others' shares in the Tiger Moth's finances, so he can afford the repairs and hire a professional crew. With Lisa and Kurt now racing partners and in a relationship together, the captain contacts station Beta to start preparations in time for the upcoming race.

In Oregon, Benji has gone missing while filming a movie. Benji's trainer, Frank Inn, tells a reporter that he and Benji had been on a fishing boat in the Pacific when a storm caused the vessel to capsize. Inn fears that Benji is dead but the movie producers plan to use a helicopter to search for him.

The next day, Benji lies near the shoreline when a helicopter flies overhead but he goes unnoticed. Benji wanders the woods and sees a female cougar just as a hunter shoots it. Benji tries to comfort the dying animal but the hunter drives him off and carries away the dead cougar. When the helicopter flies overhead again, Benji runs after it while barking to no avail. Benji encounters four cougar cubs that belong to the killed cougar and decides to look after them. While hunting, Benji comes face to face with a rabbit but spares it. Benji finds a cabin where a quail is being cooked over a fire and two other dead quails are hanging on a line nearby. He takes one of the quails from the line back for the cubs.

The next day, Benji returns to the cabin to get the other dead quail but the hunter catches and ties him up. Reading Benji's collar, the hunter remembers there is a reward for the dog's rescue. When the hunter goes inside, Benji tries to break free. Just then, a black wolf growls at Benji. When the hunter comes outside, the wolf runs away. The wolf returns and Benji makes a commotion. The hunter comes outside, scaring away the wolf. The hunter briefly unties Benji to unravel his rope. Benji grabs the other dead quail and runs back to the cubs.

Benji sees an adult female cougar with a cub and barks but she attacks him. Benji then moves the cubs to a new location, carrying them individually. While doing this, the helicopter flies overhead and Benji sees his trainer in the window. By the time Benji has finished moving the cubs, another animal has eaten the quail. Benji searches for more food. Meanwhile, the wolf begins to move in on the cubs but the helicopter scares him away.

The next day, Benji sees the cougar and the wolf nearby. The wolf chases Benji but Benji manages to escape. Later, the four cubs follow Benji. A large grizzly bear comes into the clearing. Benji and the cubs hide but one of the cubs tries to confront the bear. The bear scares the cub back to the hiding place. When the bear moves toward them, Benji barks and runs in the opposite direction. The bear chases but soon loses interest. However, the wolf appears again and chases Benji for a long distance until Benji leads the wolf to the bear who scares away the wolf.

Later, the female cougar and her cub cross a river just as the helicopter flies overhead, scaring away the cougar. When Benji spots the cougar again, he barks at the cubs to follow him across the stream. The helicopter lands nearby and Inn gets out, calling for Benji who sees him but decides to help the cubs before he can reunite with his owner. Unaware Benji is nearby, Inn leaves in his helicopter. Soon after, an eagle grabs one of the cubs and flies off. When the eagle later approaches the remaining cubs, Benji scares it away.

Benji spots the cougar and barks at her until she gives chase but Benji loses her along the way but almost runs off a cliff concealed by bushes. Benji finds the cougar near the waterfall. Benji runs to get the cubs but finds the wolf watching the cubs. Benji barks at the wolf and attacks him to draw his attention. As the wolf gives chase, Benji tricks the wolf by hiding in the bushes concealing the cliff and sends the wolf off the cliff to its death. Benji lures the cubs to come out from under the rock and carries them up the steep mountain. With all three cubs on the mountaintop, the cougar comes and appears to adopts them. Benji goes to rest in plain sight just as the helicopter approaches.

In Athens, Greece, a secret agent named Stelios goes to an outdoor café where the waiter gives him newspapers and a package. The newspapers reveal that a German scientist is missing in Greece and the package contains a photo of the dog Benji with his family. Meanwhile, in the U.S., Benji’s family arrives at an airport, on their way to the island of Crete in Greece. The children, Paul and Cindy, worry about their dogs, Benji and Tiffany, as they are placed in travel carriers. Cindy tells the airline representative that Tiffany has a “condition.” While waiting to check-in, Mary learns that the man behind her in line, Chandler Dietrich, is also headed to Crete. Dietrich then sneaks into the employee-only luggage area, snatches Benji’s carrier off a conveyor belt, drugs the dog, and imprints a code on his paw. Upon arrival in Crete, Dietrich befriends Mary, while the family learns that Benji and Tiffany missed the connecting flight from Athens. Stelios lurks in the background, watching.

At the Athens airport, Benji and Tiffany are in their carriers, stored in a luggage room. When a worker inadvertently lets Benji escape, he and a British couple, Ronald and Elizabeth, chase the dog through the airport and across a runway, but Benji flees into the city. As he wanders the streets of Athens, Benji mistakes another family for his own. After several near collisions with cars, Benji retreats into ancient ruins. There, he sees a stray dog gnawing a bone. The other dog will not share his food, so Benji returns to the city streets. In a marketplace, Benji steals a string of sausages, and returns to the ruins to share them with the stray dog, thus making a new friend.

The next day, Benji returns to the marketplace, but the police capture him. Ronald and Elizabeth, claim the dog and take him to their home. Hearing a knock at the door and Ronald takes Benji upstairs as Elizabeth stalls their visitor, Stelios, who poses as a representative of Olympic Airways, and sends Stelios away. Soon, Mary comes to the house in search of Benji and the dog hears her voice from upstairs. As she leaves, Benji barks at Mary from the window, but a passing truck drowns out the sound. So Benji climbs outside, slides down an awning and chases her taxi. Meanwhile, Dietrich pursues Benji in a sports car, but loses him. Alone again, Benji wanders to a hotel, where he spots Mary, Paul, and Cindy, but runs away when he sees Dietrich. Procuring a Doberman, Dietrich tracks Benji to the ruins. Sometime later, in the city, a butcher feeds Benji in his shop. Benji takes a nap, but is awakened by the Doberman barking. When Dietrich enters the shop, Benji springs from a cupboard and escapes.

After spending the night in the ruins, Benji stakes out his family’s hotel, but he is chased away by the doorman. Returning to the butcher’s shop, Benji sees his friend talking to Stelios, but before Benji can get their attention, Dietrich grabs the dog at gunpoint. However, Stelios and the butcher release the Doberman, whom Dietrich tied up outside the shop, and Stelios follows the Doberman to find Dietrich and Benji. As the Doberman leaps at Dietrich, Benji escapes once more. The Doberman chases Benji to the ruins, but the stray dog chases him away. Benji then returns to the hotel, sneaks inside on a luggage cart, and reunites with his family. However, Stelios arrives to announce that he has to take Benji away for a few days. Before Stelios can explain, Dietrich hits the man over the head with a gun, knocking him out. Dietrich then tells the family that he is a U.S. agent who must take Benji because the dog holds the key to important information. Instructing Mary to call the police and hold Stelios at gunpoint, Dietrich leaves with Benji. Stelios awakens and tells Mary that Dietrich is an impostor. The real Dietrich was found murdered in New Jersey and that this man is impersonating him for his own gain. Stelios explains he is a real secret agent, not Dietrich, and he has orders to save the life of a top scientist and to preserve a project of worldwide significance. Mary is reluctant to believe him, though.

Meanwhile, the man pretending to be Dietrich takes Benji to a yacht, where Ronald and Elizabeth are waiting. When the couple accuses the impostor of trying to double-cross them, he knocks them unconscious. As Benji escapes, the impostor Dietrich pursues the dog back to the hotel, which is now surrounded by police. Seeing that the impostor is holding Cindy at gunpoint in the car, Benji rushes at the man, knocks the gun to the ground, and rescues Cindy, as the police arrest the impostor.

Sometime later, Paul and Cindy play with Benji on a beach. Stelios explains to Mary that the impostor Dietrich used Benji to smuggle the coordinates for a meeting with a German scientist, who had created a formula for turning one barrel of oil into ten or twelve. The charlatan aimed to steal the formula and sell it to highest bidder. Benji proudly looks upon a basket of puppies, the result of Tiffany’s “condition.”

The global war on terror rages on. The United States will not give an inch against terrorists, especially Mohamed Jamar (Geoffrey Burton), who is considered to be the worst of them all. Jamar has been missing for months, but his network continues its functions.

The President (Jerry Springer) stands firm before the world, but behind the scenes, his teams are working to find the final solution. Jamar represents a paradox: he can never be killed, because if he was found dead, he would become an instant martyr.

If caught he must be tried. If he is found guilty he would become a martyr and further inspiration to acts of terror. If acquitted, the policies of the entire western world would be destroyed. So he must remain invisible.

Roberta Jones (Caroline Lee Johnson), the head of the National Security Agency, is working to ensure he remains invisible, forever. Under the guise of attending an Eastern European conference on Terror in Romania, she attends a secret meeting with Jamar at a secluded hotel outside Bucharest.

No one knows about this meeting, and her goal is to buy his invisibility. Her only companions are her security team of six, headed by her personal bodyguard, Lance Rockford (Dolph Lundgren). They are the best of the best, former military special forces personnel capable of anything.

When they arrive at the hotel for the secret meeting, they are ambushed. No one is supposed to know about the meeting, but someone wants it stopped. They have to fight for their lives against an unknown attacker.

Lance, a man of highest integrity with an impressive record of service for his country, is forced into a situation which challenges his very beliefs. Throughout the crisis, it is revealed that Jamar and his loyal bodyguard were actually undercover agents from the Central Intelligence Agency and MI5 who have uncovered evidence against high-ranking military officials involved in a conspiracy to topple the President to continue war profiteering, and Rockford's trusted agent, Kaye (Shakara Ledard) was the mole involved in the conspiracy. With all of the members of the team, as well as the undercover agents dead, a wounded Lance kills Kaye with a thrown combat knife. The conspiracy is toppled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as well as military police, while Lance voluntarily leaves his bodyguard duties.

Camp ornithologist Professor Inigo Tinkle (Frankie Howerd) tells a less-than-enraptured audience about his most recent ornithological expedition to the darkest, most barren regions of the African wilds in search for the legendary Oozlum bird, which is said to fly in ever decreasing circles until it disappears up its own rear end. Financing the expedition is Lady Evelyn Bagley (Joan Sims) and the team are led by the fearless (and lecherous) Bill Boosey (Sid James) and his slow-witted African guide Upsidasi (Bernard Bresslaw in blackface). Also on the expedition is Tinkle's idiotic assistant, Claude Chumley (Kenneth Connor) and June (Jacki Piper), Lady Bagley's beautiful but unappreciated maidservant. The journey does not get off to a good start, with a mad gorilla terrorising the campsite and the travellers' realising they have ventured into the territory of the bloodthirsty "Noshas", a tribe of feared cannibals.

On the first night of the expedition, at dinner Lady Bagley reveals that she has embarked on the journey to find her long-lost husband and baby son who vanished twenty years ago on their delayed honeymoon, whilst out on a walk. Her husband is believed to have been eaten by a crocodile, but she hopes to find her baby son, Cecil's, nappy pin as something to remember him by. What the group do not know is that watching them from the bushes is Ug (Terry Scott), a bungling yet compassionate Tarzan-like jungle dweller that wears a loincloth and sandals. Ug has never before seen any other white people, especially a woman. The next day, June stumbles across a beautiful oasis where she saves Ug from drowning and the two begin to fall in love.

That night, Ug wanders into camp and encounters Lady Bagley in her tent (mistaking it for June's tent) and she is astonished to see that Ug is wearing Cecil's nappy pin, and that Ug is in fact her lost son Cecil. But before they can be reunited, Ug flees in fear and Lady Bagley faints with shock. The next day, the travellers are kidnapped by the Noshas, but manage to bribe their way out of being cannibalised by giving the tribal witch doctor Tinkle's pocket watch. Tinkle however delays and promises the witch doctor that their gods will bestow a sign of thanks upon them. Intending rescue, Ug accidentally catapults himself into the Nosha camp and starts a fire. In the chaos, Ug, June and Upsidasi manage to escape but the enraged Noshas apprehend the other travellers and prepare to kill them.

As they wait to be put to death, they are suddenly rescued by the all-female Lubby-Dubby tribe led by the stunning Leda (Valerie Leon) from the Lost World of Aphrodisia. They are taken to Aphrodisia and meet the king of the tribe Tonka who turns out to be Lady Bagley's missing husband Walter Bagley (Charles Hawtrey) who was taken by the Noshas years ago, but saved and brought to Aphrodisia by the tribal women. Evelyn Bagley is infuriated that he never bothered to search for their missing son and laments she has seen him but has once again lost him. June and Ug are revealed to be living happily together and June is teaching Ug to speak English.

Bill Boosey, Prof. Tinkle and Chumley enjoy the attention given to them by the tribal women, and Tinkle and Chumley are stunned to find that their elusive Oozlum Bird is in fact a sacred animal to the Lubby-Dubby females. It transpires that the Lubby-Dubbies need the menfolk to save themselves from extinction, as no males have been born in Aphrodisia for over a century. The men think their dreams have come true....until Leda makes it clear that the Lubby-Dubby women have no intention of letting them go. Tonka implies that the last man who tried to escape Aphrodisia was murdered by the tribe.

Lady Bagley is resentful of this work the men have been given and taking over control from her husband (Tonka) ensure the mates assigned to the men are masculine looking and unattractive! Three months pass and the men now are fed up and Leda is outraged that none of their "mates" have gotten pregnant so she overthrows Tonka and assumes his place, threatening harm to the men. However Upsidasi arrives disguised as a woman and says he has brought soldiers to save them. Ug and June also search for their friends and Ug summons a stampede of animals to create chaos and enable the men to get away. During the confusion, Tinkle snatches the Oozlum Bird and the team escape along with Tonka. After the chaos, Leda and her army chase after the men, but are more interested in the trampled soldiers. She says to let the others go not needing them now that they have "some real men." Lady Bagley is reunited with her beloved son and the group return to England. Tinkle unveils his Oozlum Bird to his audience....only to find it vanished up inside itself. June and Ug are happily married with a baby, and live in a treehouse in the suburbs whilst Ug goes to work in a bowler hat, suit, and no shoes.

The protagonist, Alex Rider, secretly becomes a teenage spy for M16, working undercover in Port Tallen, Cornwall. There he discovers the Stormbreaker computer factory where millions of computers were being filled with biological weapons which would give smallpox to the user. The aim of the attack was to kill hundreds of thousands of British schoolchildren and their teachers.

Alex Rider is a 14-year-old schoolboy who lives with his uncle Ian and their housekeeper Jack Starbright. Ian is supposedly a bank manager and is, much to Alex's regret, often away from home. One day, Alex is told that his uncle has died in a car crash, but quickly discovers that his uncle was actually a spy working for MI6 and was murdered.

He is then recruited by his uncle's former employers, Alan Blunt and Mrs. Jones of the Special Operations Division of MI6, who explains to Alex that his uncle has been training him as a spy. Alex initially refuses to cooperate but agrees when they threaten to block renewal of Jack's visa and have her deported. Alex is then sent to a military training camp in the Brecon Beacons, the home of the British Special Air Service. At first, his fellow trainees look down on him because of his age, but he soon gains their respect with skills learned from his unwitting training.

He sets off on his first mission, aided by gadgets from Smithers. Billionaire Darrius Sayle is donating free high-powered computer systems code named ''Stormbreaker'' to every school in the United Kingdom. MI6 is suspicious of his seemingly generous plans and sends Alex undercover as a competition winner to investigate. There, he meets Sayle himself and his two accomplices, Mr. Grin and Nadia Vole, and is shown the ''Stormbreaker'' computer in action. Later, while Alex is having dinner with Sayle, the suspicious Vole steals Alex's phone and tracks the SIM card to his house in Chelsea. She goes there and finds Alex's true identity; while there, she is disturbed by and consequently fights Jack. Despite being outclassed, Jack wins with the help of a blowfish, leaving Nadia to flee the scene. That night, Alex sneaks out of his bedroom window to observe a midnight delivery of mysterious containers to Sayle's lair.

The next day, Alex finds himself in trouble when his cover is blown. After attempting to escape from the facility, he is captured, and Sayle explains his true reasons behind ''Stormbreaker'' – each system contains a modified strain of the smallpox virus which, upon activation in the ''Stormbreaker'' release, will kill all of the country's schoolchildren. Sayle leaves Alex tied up and departs for the London Science Museum. Nadia drops Alex into a water tank to be killed by a giant Portuguese man o' war, but he escapes using the metal-disintegrating spot cream supplied by Smithers, Nadia is subdued when she is hit by the jellyfish, rupturing the tank in the process. Alex then hitches a ride on a Mil Mi-8 helicopter piloted by Mr. Grin, using a sodium pentothal arrow to gain Mr. Grin's obedience. Alex parachutes out of the helicopter and lands just as the Prime Minister is about to press the button which will activate the computers. Alex uses a rifle to shoot the podium, which destroys the button, and ruins Sayle's plan.

Furious, Sayle leaves to carry out his backup plan, and Alex, with the help of school friend Sabina Pleasure, pursues Sayle through the streets of London on horseback. Fifty floors up on one of Sayle's skyscrapers, Alex reaches him and unplugs his backup transmitter. Sayle chases him out onto the roof and pushes both Alex & Sabina off the roof, leaving them hanging by a dislodged cable. Unexpectedly, Yassen arrives in a helicopter and shoots Sayle (in the same manner he did Ian) before rescuing Alex. Yassen then tells Alex that Sayle had become an embarrassment to his employers, and that Alex should forget about him, but Alex refuses saying that the killing of his uncle Ian means they are still enemies.

Alex returns to school; he and Sabina are talking about what happened and he says that it will never happen again. The film ends with someone observing Alex from a distance. He notices it and realizes that it's not the end.

Phantom Lake, a serene lake in Mukwonago, Wisconsin, has long been a dumping ground of various and sundry companies, looking to eliminate their waste products, including atomic waste. It is patrolled by the Canoe Cops, a duo of police officers, who have not yet noticed anything strange in the water. The lake also sports a lush forest surrounding it, a forest which is home to a World War II vet, Michael Kaiser. Driven to insanity by the events of the war, he murdered his wife and fled to the woods, always on the watch for his enemies, the Germans.

Kaiser, while trailing two of the dumpers, falls into the lake, directly in the area they've been dumping atomic waste. His body is transformed into that of a monster .. The Monster of Phantom Lake. He soon begins hunting two groups of campers. One of those groups include five teenagers who have just graduated from high school. The other includes a scientist, Professor Jackson, and his graduate student, Stephanie Yates. One person after another falls victim to his deathly hugs, until only three survive.

With the help of his great scientific mind - and his trusty pipe - Professor Jackson concludes they can destroy the monster in only one way. It must be prevented from reaching the water from which it was created. And only one person can do it, a girl who just happens to be the spitting image of Kaiser's late wife.

Baseball player William Washington is fatally stabbed defending a young girl from two teenagers. Years later, William's son Tony also becomes a baseball player. After Tony disrupts a robbery at a grocery store, he is struck and killed by a car full of teenagers: Bob, Amy, Jim, Peter, and Susie. The teens flee the scene and Tony's body is carried to his home, where his mother Louise mourns over him. She contacts Molly Mekembe, the girl William saved, to repay the favour of her rescue. Now a Haitian voodoo priestess, Molly resurrects Tony as a zombie and uses her powers to guide him to the teenagers, aiding him in his revenge.

The next night, Tony tracks Peter and Susie to an academy gymnasium and fatally breaks Peter's neck, then kills Susie by crushing her skull with a baseball bat. Police detective Frank Sorrell investigates the case. Police Captain Tom Churchman tells the press that the killings were a drug-induced murder-suicide. The next night, Tony finds Jim sexually assaulting a waitress and impales Jim with his bat, killing him. Churchman tells Sorrell that they found a suspect responsible for the murders and closes the case. Believing that the case has not truly been solved, Sorrell investigates photos that place Molly at both incidents. He suggests bringing her in for but Churchman dismissed it. After sending Sorrell home to rest, Churchman calls Jim's father Fred and informs him of Molly's involvement in Jim's death. Fred goes to the police station to meet Churchman, but is killed by Tony en route.

Believing that they will be targeted next, Bob and Amy decide to leave town. They steal money from Jim's uncle's garage but Tony finds them there and kills them. Sorrell is attacked by Tony but survives. While monitoring Tony's actions, Churchman abducts Molly and forces her at gunpoint to show him where Tony is going. Sorrell follows Tony to a cemetery. Molly and Churchman soon arrive, with both telling Sorrell that the priestess resurrected Tony to not only avenge himself, but also to avenge Molly, as Churchman and Fred were the teenagers who attacked her years ago and Churchman killed Tony's father. Churchman shoots Tony, having learned that a revived zombie's power fades once it has achieved its goal. Molly tries to cast a spell, but is shot and killed by Churchman, who then turns to kill Sorrell as the only surviving witness. However, a second zombie rises out of a nearby grave and drags Churchman into the ground while Churchman pleads for Sorrell to kill him.

A teletype message flashes across the screen:

: ''Master Sergeant Larry McRose (Clancy Brown), U.S. Army, Frankfurt, West Germany'' : ''Report to Zombie Unit, El Paso, Texas''

At the airport in El Paso, Texas, five U.S. Army sergeants meet up with Major Paul Hackett (Michael Ironside), the leader of the clandestine Zombie Unit, composed of soldiers reported to be killed-in-action and on temporary assignment under Hackett for the duration of a secret mission.

Jack Benteen (Nick Nolte) is a tough Texas Ranger. His best friend from high school is Cash Bailey (Powers Boothe), a former police informer who has crossed into Mexico and became a major drug trafficker. Bailey tries to bribe Benteen to look the other way while sending major drug shipments to the U.S. When Benteen refuses, he is left with a warning by Bailey: Look the other way, or die trying.

Benteen and his friend, Sheriff Hank Pearson (Rip Torn), are ambushed by Bailey's men at a gas station outside of town, and Pearson is killed in the shootout; Hackett and McRose watch the firefight from a distance. Two of Bailey's men who escaped the shootout try to steal their vehicle and are killed.

The Zombie Unit arrives in town tracking Bailey. When they attempt to rob a local bank, the getaway is inadvertently foiled; one soldier is killed and two others are caught and detained by Benteen. Benteen discovers the men are listed as dead in all official records and is later confronted at his home by Major Hackett, who tells them him they were robbing the bank in order to get Bailey's money and a safety deposit box containing accounts on all the drug money deposited in his name. Now knowing the full story, Benteen teams up with the soldiers and crosses the border into Mexico to track down Bailey and end his drug running. At Bailey's hacienda, they are joined by Benteen's girlfriend Sarita (María Conchita Alonso), who was once Bailey's woman and has followed Benteen into Mexico.

At an Independence Day festival, Benteen confronts Bailey while the soldiers prepare to attack Bailey's private army. Hackett, who has given elimination orders for everyone, including Benteen, is caught murdering Bailey's accountant by McRose. It is revealed that there never was a mission, that Hackett is actually Bailey's partner, and that all the other soldiers were assigned to die. The town erupts into a massive gunfight, with the remaining soldiers going after Hackett as Benteen & Sarita escape in a Jeep. Eventually, Hackett is gunned down by the soldiers, who are then in turn all killed by Bailey's men.

Afterwards, Benteen and Bailey confront each other again in a duel. Benteen pleads with Bailey to surrender, but Bailey refuses and is ultimately shot to death. Benteen strikes a deal with Bailey's right-hand man, Lupo, allowing him to take over the local drug business in exchange for being allowed to leave Mexico unharmed with Salita; Lupo advises Benteen to return the favor for him someday, as the two walk off to an uncertain future.

The story focuses on Kenichi Shirahama, a 15-year-old high school student and a long-time victim of bullying. At the beginning of the story, he befriends transfer student Miu Fūrinji; and desires to become stronger, he follows her to Ryōzanpaku, a dojo housing several masters of diverse martial arts, led by her grandfather Hayato Fūrinji.

After learning basics from Miu, Kenichi overcomes a high-ranking member of the school's karate club and becomes a target for all the delinquents in the school. While initially training to protect himself, Kenichi eventually becomes a full disciple of Ryōzanpaku and becomes enamored of Miu. Subsequently, Kenichi's daily routine is divided between training under the six masters of Ryōzanpaku, and his fights against the members of 'Ragnarok', a gang of bullies trying alternately to recruit or to vanquish him.

After Ragnarok is disbanded, Kenichi and Miu are targeted by Yomi, a group of disciples personally trained by a master of an organization rivaling Ryōzanpaku, Yami. While the masters of Ryōzanpaku and their allies follow the principle of always sparing their opponents' lives (Katsujin-ken), the members of Yami believe that any means of defeating an opponent is valid, including murder (Satsujin-ken). In the struggle between the two factions, Kenichi, Miu, and their allies fight the members of Yomi, while his masters confront the members of Yami. The conflict between the two factions culminates with the final battle to stop Yami's main objective, which is to usher in a new era of chaos and warfare in the world, also known as "The Eternal Sunset". Once the Eternal Sunset is prevented and their main leader is defeated, Yami and Yomi are disbanded as well. Kenichi then continues to train at Ryōzanpaku, and years later he becomes a famous novelist, but it's hinted that he also becomes Miu's husband and a martial arts master more powerful than her grandfather, the Elder, who had always sworn he would only allow Miu to marry someone capable of defeating him first.

Maria Teresa "Maité" is a beautiful young woman who is engaged to Luis Antonio. Maité was raised by her aunt, Griselda. Maité's mother died giving birth to her and she has never met her father.

According to people in her town, her father was a foreigner named Jose, who lied to Maité's mother, Eloisa, and had left her pregnant.

Jose promised Eloisa to come back but never did, but he left Eloisa a pendant that belonged to Jose's mother. That pendant is all Maria Teresa has from her father. Maité works at her Aunt Griselda's restaurant as a waitress.

Maité goes to the fair where she is accompanied by Adolfo Valladolid, Adolfo pours sleep powder in Maité's drink leaving her dizzy and uncomfortable.

Adolfo takes advantage of her condition and tries to take her to a motel and rape her when he was stopped by Magdalena (who later in the series becomes one of Maité's best friend and also is one of Adolfo's former lovers)

Eventually, Adolfo rapes Maria Teresa later in the series and Maité becomes pregnant. After Luis Antonio is told by Griselda that Adolfo had sexually harassed Maité, Luis Antonio goes off and looks for Adolfo.

Luis Antonio beats up Adolfo, but Doña Jacinta Valladolid, Adolfo’s mother, sues Luis Antonio. Jacinta pays a few of her workers to attack Luis Antonio in prison.

Adolfo was supposed to marry Manola Linares, but Maité interrupts the wedding and says that Adolfo and Manola cannot be married because Adolfo is the father of her baby.

Maité is forced to marry Adolfo after they threaten to kill Luis Antonio in prison. Because Maité loves and cares for Luis Antonio's children, Daniel and Andres, she agrees to marry the rapist.

Her life is a living hell when she has to live with Adolfo and Jacinta. Then, after a few months later, Maité gives birth to a beautiful child, Valeria. Jacinta finds a way to make Maité lose custody of her daughter and Jacinta ends up keeping Valeria.

After Maité was forced by Jacinta to leave, Maité goes to Mexico City, and schemes to recover her daughter and get revenge on Jacinta.

There in Mexico City she runs into Magdalena who is pregnant. Maité and Magdalena grow very fond of each other and become best friends.

Maité works in a restaurant in Mexico City and becomes a friend of Victor, the restaurant owner. Magdalena gives birth to a baby girl, Verónica. Years later; Maité returns to recover her daughter but her plan is a failure.

Magdalena is killed but Verónica watches the murder of her mother. Veronica after that day has more than one personality in her.

Veronica always had loved to play dolls with Vera and Violeta (Vera, the greedy and self-centered one and Violeta caring, weak, and respectful, so Veronica said about her dolls).

After that Vera and Violeta became Verónica's personality. Veronica is also Valeria's half sister. Maité decides to take care of Verónica since Magdalena was a very good friend to her. Maité and Victor adopt Verónica.

After 17 years Maité finally returns to her home town and gets revenge on Jacinta. Valeria and Andrés fall in love without knowing their parents had a relationship.

Later, Valeria and Andrés secretly marry. Valeria finds out that she is pregnant and tries to tell Andres and they get in a fight. She doesn't tell Andrés that she is pregnant.

In 2034, two years after the events of ''2nd GIG'', Public Security Section 9 is investigating a string of mysterious suicides by refugees from the Siak Republic. Chief Aramaki conducts a raid to arrest the refugee dictator only to find him already dead. In retaliation, a Siak operative plans a terrorist attack with a micromachine virus. Batou is sent to intercept the Siak operative and encounters Kusanagi, who is conducting her own investigation. Before they can apprehend the operative, he dies while attacking them. Kusanagi takes a case of virus ampules and warns Batou to stay away from the Solid State Society before leaving.

Section 9 operatives develop a theory that a hacker known as the Puppeteer or 傀儡廻 (''Kugutsumawashi'', literally 'Puppet Spinner', contrasted with the original film Puppet Master who was 人形使い ''Ningyō-zukai'', literally 'Doll Handler') is responsible for Siak agents' forced suicides and Togusa discovers sixteen kidnapped children who were intended carriers of the virus. All the children are listed as the children of Noble Rot Senior Citizens and Section 9 begins to suspect a larger conspiracy when they are part of a larger body of 20,000 children.

Soon afterwards, the Puppeteer causes the disappearance of the sixteen children and Batou reveals to Togusa that he believes Kusanagi to be the Puppeteer. Section 9 next intercepts a Siak sniper that is targeting the supposed mastermind of Ka Rum's assassination. After his capture it is revealed the informant and the target are one and the same. The sniper says that the Puppeteer is a mechanism in the Solid State and cannot be killed.

Togusa tracks down one of the missing children, now assigned to an elderly man in the Noble Rot program. As Togusa tries to take the child, the man awakens and demands the child be left with him as he had named the child as his sole heir. He would rather give his assets to a child off the street and to protect them from abuse than have his assets turned over to the government upon his death. The man immediately dies after warning Togusa not to interfere with the will of the Solid State.

Later, Togusa receives a call from the Puppeteer who hacks his brain and forces him to drive to a cyberbrain implant hospital with his daughter. The Puppeteer and Togusa converse, and Togusa is given the option to lose his daughter to the Solid State or commit suicide. He chooses suicide but is saved by Kusanagi who then identifies the Puppeteer as a rhizome formed by the collective consciousness of the Noble Rot Senior Citizens located in a welfare center.

Kusanagi temporarily rejoins Section 9 and confirms that Ito Munei, an influential politician, was behind the assassination of General Ka Rum. She also confirms that Munei and other politicians use it as a front for a brainwashing facility to create an elite group of pure-blooded Japanese to take control of the country in the next generation and lead it into Munei's vision of a new Golden Age. The Solid State decided to eliminate Munei for interfering in its plans, but Munei was ignorant of the origin of the abduction infrastructure.

A designer named Tateaki Koshiki steps forward, claiming he developed the Solid State system before committing suicide. Kusanagi dives into his cyberbrain and into Koshiki's trap, allowing him to hack her cyberbrain. The Puppeteer reveals that he was spread across several egos until a collective consciousness emerged and developed into a Solid State, allowing him to move into the society beyond as the vanishing mediator. Later, Batou tells a recovering Kusanagi that the real Tateaki Koshiki used a prosthetic body and built the Solid State after he was hired by Munei.

Kusanagi does not reveal that the Puppeteer was a fragment of herself, but Batou already knew from being linked to her during the dive. Batou concludes that the ultimate identity of the Puppeteer will remain unknown and that incident will be written off as a scandal. Kusanagi implies that she will permanently rejoin Section 9 after years of wandering the net on her own.

Dusk, a young Chiropter, is being taught by his father to glide. Dusk is different from the other Chiropters, however; whereas his brethren have simple sails, Dusk has wings, and an urge to fly that he has difficulty suppressing. He is regarded as a freak by the other Chiropters, though he finds acceptance with his parents and his sister, Sylph. Dusk learns to fly, but keeps his secret to himself out of fear of being shunned.

Carnassial, the Felid (a type of proto-cat), also has a hidden desire. Born with shearing teeth and an insatiable appetite for flesh, he seemingly fulfills the pact when he destroys the last known batch of Saurian eggs. He leads a pack consisting of other flesh-craving Felids to form a new world order. The rogue pack of Felids find their way to Dusk's island and devour many of his colony, among them Dusk's mother.

With their island invaded by the deadly new predators, it is up to Dusk and his unique powers of flight and echolocation to find the Chiropters a new home. Carnassial strikes an alliance with the powerful (but unintelligent) Hyaenodons, who claim that the Saurians do still exist, and enlist the Felids to find and destroy their eggs. Carnassial comes to realize that, in order for the Felids to rule, it will have to be through cunning, rather than through power.

Along the way, Dusk and his colony seek refuge with a seemingly peaceful colony of "Tree Runners", only to find out that they plan on sacrificing them to a giant, meat-eating bird, the Diatryma. After escaping, Dusk finds a new home for his fellow Chiropters, but it is on the other side of a savannah, which is home to many predators. While Dusk is scouting for a good place, he meets another creature that looks similar to himself; it calls itself a bat and tells Dusk that there are many others like them.

The Soricids overwhelm and devour a Hyaenodon, and nearly kill Dusk, but he is rescued by Sylph. He and Sylph are attacked by Carnassial and his Hyaenodons once again, and take refuge in the skeleton of a large dinosaur. Through it, they find their way into an eerie cave, where Dusk and Sylph discover a nest of an unidentified meat-eating Saurian, along with a clutch of mostly unhatched eggs and the rotting carcasses of the parents. The Felids return and Carnassial's mate is attacked by a young dinosaur, the sibling of the eggs who'd hatched early. Carnassial fights to save his mate, but both are killed in the confrontation. The saurian chases Dusk out of the cave and attacks the Hyaenodon as the heroes flee.

Eventually, Dusk leads the Chiropters to their new home, and the book ends with him leaving the colony and promising his sister to return if he dislikes life with bats.

The story occurs on a Martian Union Aerospace Corporation installation similar to ''Doom 3''. The player is addressed to by NPCs in the game as ''Marine''.

The game is divided into section based on Sectors in the base. The sectors are ''Entrance'', ''Junction'', ''Sector 1'' through ''Sector 7'', and ''Reactor''. The Junction is the staging area or main town for the game.

Guerard was not on good terms with Jensen. Three weeks prior to the start of the game, Guerard asked Graff to perform a security audit on Jensen. Jensen failed the security audit and was dismissed for this security breach. Jensen suspected that Guerard was involved in his dismissal. During the same time, demons started to invade the installation, appearing out of nowhere. It is around this time that the game begins.

Early on in the game, the Marine meets Dr. Jensen when he was accessing a computer terminal investigating his dismissal. During the exploration of first few sectors of the installation, the Marine receives help from Dr. Guerard in gaining access to various locked down areas. In Biological Research Facility, the Marine meets Dr. Nadira who quarantines his weapons claiming security measures. Dr. Nadira then commands his mind-controlled hellhounds to attack the Marine and disappears in the process. Eventually, Marine meets Jensen again. This time he is incarcerated in a prison cell. After freeing Jensen, he informs the Marine that Guerard and Nadira are into an evil scheme and directs the Marine to the next section of the installation.

The next time the Marine meets Guerard and Nadira, it is known that Guerard was behind the invasion and has been attempting to open a portal to Hell in the Reactor Sector. Guerard promptly orders demons to attack the Marine and Nadira. Nadira dies and Guerard escapes. The Marine proceeds through the remaining two sectors, acquiring the BFG 9000 and the key to the Reactor sector. By then, a major invasion devastates the Junction. With the help of Kelvin and Jensen, the Marine gains access to the Reactor sector. Kelvin and Jensen both die in the process.

In the Reactor sector, Guerard reveals himself as Kronos and transforms into demonic form. By this time, he has succeeded in opening the portal to Hell. After defeating Kronos, the Marine closes the portal by destroying the reactors powering it. The Cyberdemon slips through before the portal closes. The game ends with the defeat of the Cyberdemon. The Cyberdemon is likely to be Kronos' creation referred to by other NPCs.

Part 1

In the final round of the Battle Arena Toshinden tournament, Eiji Shinjo faces the tournament's sponsor, Gaia, in a final duel. Gaia mentions that Eiji's skills are comparable to those of his long-lost brother, Sho, but before he can explain, the fight is interrupted by a man called Chaos, who works for the same Organization as Gaia and has been sent to eliminate him upon discovering that Gaia is rallying fighters to overthrow the Organization. Gaia slays Chaos and flees, leaving the tournament without a winner.

A year later, both Sho and Chaos, the latter having apparently survived his fight with Gaia, working for the Organization's leader, Lady Uranus, begin hunting down the fighters from the tournament, such as Fo Fai, Rungo Iron and Mondo. Eiji, along with his best friend Kayin Amoh, split up to warn the other competitors. Eiji meets up with Sofia, an amnesiac agent and personal friend of his, and explains the situation to her. That night, however, Uranus takes control of Sofia's mind and has her try to kill Eiji, but Eiji fights back and breaks Uranus's hold on her. Sho himself then appears and does battle with Eiji, quickly gaining the upper hand, but Eiji discovers that Sho is actually a machine and overpowers him. Uranus appears and destroys Sho, goading Eiji before taking her leave. Enraged, Eiji vows to take Uranus and the Organization down.

Part 2

Eiji and Kayin meet up with another competitor, Ellis, and warn her of the danger. Believing she may be slain, Eiji and Kayin set a trap for Chaos and surprise him when he arrives. Gaia appears and fights Chaos again, and in the process, Ellis deduces from Gaia's pendant that Gaia is her long-lost father. Chaos blinds Gaia with gas and aims poison-tipped darts at him, but Ellis jumps in the way and is poisoned. Chaos smugly informs them that only the Organization has the antidote and flees back to the base, knowing that Gaia will likely seek him and Uranus out in revenge. After Ellis is hospitalised, Eiji, Kayin, Gaia and Sofia, with help from a policewoman, Tracy, launch an all-out assault on Uranus's base, aided by Rungo, Fo, Mondo and Duke, the other fighters from the tournament. Gaia locates and fights Chaos again while Eiji finds and destroys the facility where the copies of Sho are being created. Eiji and Kayin aid Gaia and eventually destroy Chaos once and for all. They confront Uranus in the throne room, where Uranus tells them that the facility was only a decoy, and the true one is beneath the base. The real Sho appears and defies Uranus, informing her that he has destroyed the real facility, which has caused the base to start collapsing. After swearing revenge, Uranus flees. Eiji, Kayin and Gaia make it out of the base before it explodes, but Sho is nowhere to be found.

The participants part ways on good terms. In a secluded area, Sho, who also survived, silently compliments his brother's improved skills. Meanwhile, Eiji and Kayin deliver the antidote to Ellis and she makes a full recovery. As Eiji walks home, he is confronted by a mysterious, gun-wielding warrior, Vermillion, and the film ends as they prepare to fight.

''Fujimi Orchestra'' is primarily about Tounoin and Morimura's romance, but also follows their musical careers. After being berated by Tounoin time and again, Morimura says he wants to quit the orchestra. To prevent this, Tounoin steals his violin and leads him to his house, where he forces himself on the violinist. Upon realizing that the encounter is Morimura's first time with a male lover, he is remorseful and confesses his love, telling him that Kawashima does not love him. With emotions overwhelming him, Morimura flees, but slips down a flight of wet stairs. Tounoin nurses the injured violist back to health, proving his devotion is genuine. In the end, Morimura stays with Fujimi Orchestra despite Tounoin's continued pressure to improve his playing while surreptitiously pursuing the man behind closed doors.

Ayagane City has a phantom cat (also called "bake neko" and "were-cat") problem. A young and overzealous group of entrepreneurs called Kagura Total Security can be hired to combat this problem for the right price when Hound, the official government arm, isn't enough. However, there are plots and subplots floating beneath the surface, both involving Kagura, and the were-cats, led by Kuro-Neko, themselves. Both the manga and the OVAs are heavily action-driven, with gunfights appearing every few chapters.

Larry is a big city health inspector with questionable practices and his own way of doing things. Larry's boss, Bart Tatlock (Tom Wilson), in an attempt to acquire information on his activities in order to get him fired, assigns Larry a new partner, Amy Butlin (Iris Bahr), a by-the-book professional who takes the job seriously. She tries to learn the ropes of health inspection while putting up with Larry and his personality as well as getting the information Tatlock needs to get Larry fired.

As Larry and Amy do their job as city health inspection team, a serial criminal is poisoning four-star restaurants. Trying to avert a panic, and keep the matter of the poisonings under control, Tatlock puts his best people on the job, and not Larry. Larry and Amy are called in on one of the poisonings, but Tatlock forbids them from working on such an important case. Larry and Amy continue to inspect lower-profile restaurants, but the Mayor Maurice T. Gunn (Joe Pantoliano) is tricked into assigning Larry and Amy to the more important poison case, much to Larry and Amy's enthusiasm. Larry and Amy go undercover at one of the restaurants, and obtain a tape recording of a conversation between the Mayor Gunn and Chef Leon, in which the chef clarifies Gunn's request that the food being prepared by Chef Leon be poisoned.

Larry and Amy interrupt the mayor during an interview with their evidence, but the mayor explains that Chef Leon was reacting to the mayor's instruction to put French's mustard on the Gunn's chicken piccata, an act that the insulted Chef Leon viewed as a metaphorical act of "poisoning" to his life's work. When Larry speaks to Chef Leon over the phone, Chef Leon corroborates this interpretation. As a result, Tatlock fires Larry.

Despondent, Larry visits his old friend Big Shug, but ends up alienating him as well. Heading over to his romantic interest, Jane's (Megyn Price) house, Larry sees she and her mother (Lisa Lampanelli) are enjoying a friendly social visit by the mayor. Feeling as if his life has hit rock bottom, Larry resolves to solve the poisoning crimes. He confronts Mayor Gunn, who reveals that Lily Micelli (Joanna Cassidy), the owner of Micelli's restaurant, had him make sure that Larry was assigned to the poisonings case. Larry and Amy realize that Micelli did this so to ensure that case was investigated incompetently, as she is the one behind the poisonings. At a taping of the television cook-off show, ''Top Chef'', Larry and Amy expose Micelli's culpability and arrest her, and are vindicated.

The game generally follows the protagonist, a woolly mammoth named Manny, and his friends and family.

A hijacked Aeroflot flight from Moscow to New York is flying on a kamikaze mission to Washington. Once it crosses the D.C air exclusion zone and is within several miles of the White House, US President MacPherson regretfully orders the plane to be shot down. The resulting shootdown of the plane by F-16's kills all of the hundreds of passengers on board. Jon Bennett, the senior advisor to the president, proposes to his girlfriend Erin McCoy while in Moscow to finalize the Israeli-Palestinian peace treaty that he helped create. When Erin says yes, the story of the jetliner shootdown breaks out and causes a political crisis between the Russian Federation and the United States.

When they attempt to explain to Russian president Vadim what happened, Dr. Mordechai, the former head of Mossad, calls Jon to tell him he believes that the hijacking was orchestrated by elements of the Russian government, Iran, and the terrorist group Al-Nakbah to foment a crisis as a pretext for a potential coup in Moscow. Before Jon and Erin can relay this to President Vadim, Moscow, the Red Square, and the Kremlin are attacked by rebellious units of the Russian military. Jon and Erin are both injured in the ensuing gun battle in the Kremlin, where they both witness the Russian and Iranian cofounders of Al-Nakbah, Yuri Gogolov and Mohammed Jibril, execute President Vadim and his staff. After the "Second Russian Revolution" ends, Gogolov appoints himself as the new Russian czar and suspends all diplomatic relations with the United States.

Jon is released by the Russians and is allowed to return to the US, but not before he is brought to Gogolov where he is led to believe that Erin was killed. In reality, Erin was captured and is being held captive in a Moscow military hospital for the purpose of obtaining CIA codes from her. Gogolov wins over most of the world when he says that he has convinced Iran to give up its nuclear program when in reality, he is planning to transfer nuclear warheads to Iran for arming its missiles. After this, he travels to New York City to address the UN, where he reveals his plan for UNSC resolution 2441, to force Israel to give up its WMD's and adhere to Security Council resolutions within thirty days or Russia and other nations will be forced to take military action against them.

As this is happening, Dr. Mordechai and Jon deduce that the recent events have been prophesized in the Bible, in the War of Ezekiel 38-39. They believe it predicts that a coalition of nations, specifically referring to Russia, Iran, Germany, the former USSR republics, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Sudan, and the Arabian peninsula, will attack Israel, but that God will unleash the forces of heaven against them to prevent Israel's destruction. Because of these revelations, Dr. Mordechai recommends to Jon that he brief Macpherson and the Israeli prime minister Doron on his idea for the 'Ezekiel Option' as a response to the crisis. It outlines that they should put their faith in God to protect them, as an alternative to Israel's Samson Option, which recommends the firing of all of Israel's nuclear missiles against their enemies in case of invasion.

Resolution 2241 passes through the UN Security Council, with all members voting to pass and the US abstaining. Afterward, a coalition of nations, lining up perfectly with those predicted in the Bible, start to amass millions of soldiers in a large invasion force that begins to surround Israel. Enraged at the president's refusal to do anything, Jon resigns and goes to Iran to sneak into Russia to save Erin. Meanwhile, Erin manages to escape the hospital in Moscow and go on the run, but Gogolov frames her for being a serial killer and puts a bounty on her head. Jon manages to sneak into Russia and heads to Moscow to link up with Erin and the civilians aiding her.

Exactly one day before the resolution deadline passes, Russia fires a nuclear missile at Israel, revealing that Gogolov had always intended to destroy Israel, (due to him being inspired by Hitler and his fascist ideals). Jon and Erin finally reunite in Moscow and attempt to flee while fighting off the Russian security forces, just as the world braces for inevitable nuclear war. As Gogolov and Jibril evacuate Moscow to get to a bunker, a massive storm mysteriously manifests outside of Moscow, destroying the helicopter they are riding in and killing both Gogolov and Jibril. As this happens, the coalition forces move to invade, but the incoming nuclear missile vanishes, and a massive and sudden earthquake takes place with the epicenter in Jerusalem, big enough for the whole world to feel. Additionally, massive fiery projectiles coming from space proceed to destroy the military, government, and religious sites of all the coalition governments, as well as all the forces around Israel, killing millions of people. These events prove that the prophecy had come true and that God had come to Israel's rescue, which persuades Israel to call off its nuclear counterattack. As this happens, Jon and Erin embrace in the fiery ruins of Moscow and proceed to return to the United States in a world forever changed.

Latigo Smith, a gambler and confidence man, is traveling by train in frontier-era Colorado with the rich and powerful Goldie. Goldie wants desperately to marry him, a fate he wants to avoid. He hands the train's headwaiter a generous tip to assist him off the train without letting Goldie not realize that he fleeing. He sneaks off the train at Purgatory, a small mining town.

He discovers that two mining companies, run by bitter rivals Taylor Barton and Colonel Ames, are vying to find a "mother lode" of gold buried somewhere nearby. Dynamite blasts periodically rock the town to its foundations.

Latigo consults the town doctor about an embarrassing problem that is not immediately revealed, but turns out to be a Goldie-related tattoo. Latigo's great weakness is a periodic uncontrollable urge to bet on roulette; he soon loses all of his money playing his "lucky" number, 23. Penniless, he starts romancing local saloon keeper Miss Jenny. Being mistaken for infamous gunslinger "Swifty" Morgan gives Latigo an idea. He talks amiable ne'er-do-well Jug May into impersonating Swifty. Latigo attracts the attention of Patience Barton, the hot-tempered daughter of Taylor (the townsfolk call her "The Sidewinder"), who desperately wants to escape her frontier existence, attend "Miss Hunter's College on the Hudson River, New York, for Young Ladies of Good Families", and live a life of refinement in New York City. When Latigo and Jug side with the Bartons in a dispute, Ames sends a telegram to the real Swifty Morgan, informing him of their deception.

Swifty arrives in town and immediately challenges the hapless Jug to a gunfight, but at the appointed time and place, Latigo is there in his place, sitting atop a donkey loaded with crates of dynamite. Swifty calls Latigo's bluff, but he is startled by the next mine explosion and accidentally shoots himself. The blast also panics the donkey, which charges into the Bartons' saloon. The dynamite explodes, blowing up the building, uncovering the mother lode, and removing Latigo's troublesome tattoo but leaving him otherwise uninjured.

Latigo finally wins big at roulette after betting $10,000 of the Bartons' money on number 23. From the back of a train taking Latigo and Patience to Denver to get married, Jug narrates the outcomes: Patience never does go to Miss Hunter's College, but her seven daughters do; and Jug goes on to become a big star in Italian Westerns.

The film tells the story of two young men, Biggs (Errol) (Ky-Mani Marley) and Wayne (Spragga Benz), who grow up together in the tough and dangerous streets of (Waterhouse) Kingston. They rob a soda truck and shoot the truck driver while they are still children.

The robbery money is used to purchase visas to go the United States, where they continue their criminal activities, hustling on the streets of Miami. Twenty years later, Biggs is then deported to Jamaica where Wayne and Mad Max (Paul Campbell), also deported, have continued their surge in crime, they begin to extort money from business people. After facing problems with the police and politicians, the two head back to Miami alongside Mad Max. Upon returning, they are informed that Miami has a new king, Teddy Bruck Shut (Louie Rankin).

The three pay Teddy a visit to extort him. They extort, beat, and murder their way to the top of the Miami underworld. Their dream ends in a brazen shoot out, during which Teddy's thugs kill Wayne and shoot Max, no telling if he passes or not. Biggs almost gets shot as he comforts Wayne at his deathbed, but Max shoots the assailant before it happens.

After taking Max to the hospital, Biggs goes to Teddy's house and murders him, his bodyguard and his girlfriend. Biggs then takes all the money and gets on a boat where only the audience can presume he leaves to Los Angeles as he mentioned purchasing a house there earlier before the massive firefight broke out.

To qualify for ''Homewrecker'', a participant had to submit to the show a story of how he or she was victimized by one of their friends. Each segment opened with the "victim" explaining to Ryan Dunn what happened to them. Dunn then observed the offender to get additional ideas on what to do. Finally, Dunn and a team of helpers helped the participant redo their friend's room to fit what the evildoer had done.

The show had two segments, where two separate people get revenge on friends who had recently offended them by trashing their bedrooms. There were short clips in between scenes where the late host Dunn taught the viewer how to perform similar pranks at home. The clips were shot in the style of 1950s training videos.

As High King and Queen, Arthur and Guenevere reign supreme across the many kingdoms of Great Britain. Still, Guenevere secretly mourns the loss of her beloved Lancelot, who has returned to the Sacred Lake of his boyhood, hoping to restore his faith in chivalry in the place where he learned to be a knight. In a glittering Pentecost ceremony, new knights are sworn to the Round Table, including Arthur's nephews, Agravain and Gawain. After many years of strife, peace is restored to Guenevere's realm.

But betrayal, jealousy, and ancient blood feuds fester unseen. Morgan le Fay, now the mother of Arthur's only son, Mordred, has become the focus of Merlin's age-old quest to ensure the survival of the house of Pendragon. From the east comes the shattering news that Guenevere may have a rival for Lancelot's love. A bleak shadow falls again across Camelot—and across the sacred isle of Avalon, where Roman priests threaten the life of the Lady herself. At the center of the storm is Guenevere, torn between her love for her husband, her people, and Sir Lancelot of the Lake.

A magical book written with the exotic flavor of Arabian Nights, ''The Princess of Dhagabad'' is the first in a trilogy of fantasy novels. This sensuous and vividly imagined novel is about the coming-of-age of an Arabian princess, who is destined to be heiress to the throne of Dhagabad, and her relationship with Hasan, an all-powerful djinn who becomes her slave, teacher and steadfast companion. The Princess of Dhagabad follows the princess as she grows from a child of twelve into a young woman of seventeen, at which age she proves, against all tradition, that she is more than capable of taking her destiny-and the destiny of Dhagabad-in hand.

Hasan, her devoted djinn, whose power and omniscience crush him under an unbearable burden, gradually releases himself from his centuries-old pain and apathy. He grows to enjoy spending time with his mistress, until one day-against all odds-he discovers a power greater than wisdom or immortality, greater than suffering—love.

Nearly all the principals in the book have something to hide, and therefore something for Archie and Wolfe to inquire about, but not every secret is criminal, and the balance between private lives (including a passionate but commercially meaningless liaison between two hostile principals) and responsible disclosure is handled adroitly, and far better than in most Rex Stout novels. Just as in ''Before Midnight'' the agency partners have strong personality clashes, but this is seen in this book as a price that is paid for complementary talents in a boutique firm.

Genesis

Wolfe's right-hand man and amanuensis Archie Goodwin is attending a Super Bowl party thrown by his good friend Lily Rowan at her East Side penthouse in Manhattan. During the game, there is a spectacular commercial involving parachutists, acrobats, and more promoting a cherry-flavored soft drink call Cherr-o-kee. One of the partners of the ad agency that put on that stunt, Rod Mills, is also at the party, and takes Goodwin aside to say that he'd like help with a problem.

Later, all three partners of Mills/Lake/Ryman meet at Wolfe's office discuss an acute problem of industrial espionage they've been having lately: their best ideas being discovered and used by a larger agency representing another cherry-flavored soft drink.

Development

The problem as presented by M/L/R is simple: to find the spy within the agency: the source of the industrial esponiage. Therefore, Goodwin has to look into possible links between members of the firm and its rival. While this remains elusive, it becomes clear that the executive of the rival drink's campaign is the recipient of the information, but it isn't long before he is found dead in his apartment (by Archie, who else?).

This prompts the owner of Cherr-o-kee, a reclusive part-Cherokee billionaire named Acker Foreman to pay Wolfe a visit, along with his two adult sons, Arnold and Stephen. Despite the tense situation, Wolfe gains Acker Foreman's respect with his knowledge of his career and of Cherokee history, especially the Trail of Tears (documented poignantly by de Tocqueville in Democracy in America). Arnold, however, displays the same hostility as he has to M/L/R personnel.

Dénouement

After further investigation, Wolfe gathers the interested parties at his brownstone to lay out his proposed solution, this time without enough evidence to please law enforcement. However, since his mandate is simply to stop industrial espionage, he can (arguably) collect his fee. The rest is left for the reader to discover.

While hosting a party in his Manhattan penthouse, financial publisher Chris Thorne (Chevy Chase) meets lawyer Diane Lightson (Demi Moore) and agrees to escort her to consult a client in Atlantic City the following day. Thorne's clients, obnoxious but wealthy Brazilian siblings Fausto and Renalda Squiriniszu (Taylor Negron and Bertila Damas), meet up with them and invite themselves along. Chris takes a detour off of the New Jersey Turnpike, ultimately ending up in the run-down village of Valkenvania. After running a stop sign and subsequently attempting to escape pursuing officer Dennis Valkenheiser (John Candy), the group is captured and taken before his 106-year-old grandfather Judge Alvin Valkenheiser (Dan Aykroyd). After Chris offends the judge, the yuppies are locked in a hidden room under the courthouse to be judged the next day, and they overhear the judge violently executing a group of convicted drug dealers in a deadly roller coaster nicknamed "Mr. Bonestripper". Chris, Diane and the Brazilians attend the judge's dinner, learning that the Judge is holding them there as retribution for a coal deal which the Valkenheiser family blames for their poverty. The group attempts an escape, but Alvin's mute granddaughter Eldona (Candy, in a dual role) captures Chris and Diane. Meanwhile, after being chased by Dennis' trigger-happy cousin, Miss Purdah, the Brazilians escape by cutting a deal with Dennis, who decides to escape with them.

The Judge holds Chris and Diane hostage, but they eventually escape, get lost through hidden hallways and slides and become separated. Escaping into the property's salvage yard, Diane meets and befriends the judge's severely deformed grandchildren, Bobo (played by Aykroyd) and Lil' Debbull (played by John Daveikis), who are barred from living in the house. However, she also notices Eldona destroying Chris's BMW 733i. The Judge catches Chris sneaking into his personal quarters and punishes him per house policy, which decrees that Chris must marry Eldona. Meanwhile, in the court room, Digital Underground is being held on charges of speeding, but the Judge releases them after being charmed by an impromptu rap performance. He also asks them to stay as witnesses for the wedding, which Chris reluctantly goes through with in exchange for his life, but is later caught pleading with the band to help him escape. The band leaves without understanding him, and the Judge furiously sentences Chris to die in "Mr. Bonestripper". The machine breaks down just before Chris is fed into it, and he escapes. The Judge nearly kills Diane with another claw contraption known as the Gradertine, but Chris retrieves her at the last second and the two jump on a freight train back to New York. After the two report their plight to the authorities, local and state police raid the Judge's courthouse. Chris and Diane are asked to accompany the officers to the site, only to find out that the officers involved are fully aware of and allied with the Judge. The couple escapes when the area's underground coal fires cause a colossal earthquake, fatally destroying the town. Back in New York, Chris sees the judge on television, brandishing Chris's driver's license, announcing that he and his family plan to move in with his new grandson-in-law, causing Chris to comically flee for his life.

Fletcher Moon (often called "Half-Moon" due to his short stature) is a natural born investigator. Knowing this, April, a girl from his school comes to him for help in finding a lock of hair that she believes to have been stolen. Fletcher agrees to help her and starts off by investigating all suspects which eventually gets him threatened by a thirteen-year-old named Red Sharkey. Fletcher is a graduate from the Bernsteins Academy, so he is a "certified" detective.

While Fletcher is investigating the stolen lock of hair he has a hurling stick thrown at him and is seriously injured. Fletcher holds Red as a prime suspect as the hurling stick had 'Red' embossed on it and comes to the conclusion that it was Red who attacked him. Fletcher then goes to visit April’s cousin May to photograph this newfound evidence but ends up at the wrong house where he catches sight of somebody setting fire to May’s lucky dancing costume.

He passes out in the yard due to the anesthetic from the hospital and later awakens to find a torch in his hand and all evidence for the arson pointing to him. Following an interrogation by the police, Fletcher is rescued by Red Sharkey. Red claims he was framed for the hurl assault.

Half-Moon and Red team up to solve the chain of mysteries within 24 hours. Following a suspicious story to April's house, the boy detectives discover the truth behind Les Jeunes Etudiantes, the girls club, their true goal being to get rid of all the boys ruining their education. Three recent expulsions can be attributed to these girls, and the boys feel they need to be stopped. Unfortunately, they are found out, and the girls manage to imprison the boys in the cellar. They are, however, saved by May, April's cousin. Fletcher and Red previously heard the girls practicing the lines that they planned to use to accuse Red's brother, Herod of assault. Red is able to send a text message to the present police officer informing him of the lines they would use.

The police officer puts two and two together and exposes the girls as liars, and Herod Sharkey is found innocent, saving him from expulsion. April, being caught, attempts to escape in her father's car but promptly crashes into the police cruiser. However, Fletcher is informed (by text from the officer) that this still does not solve the mysteries that included his assault so he meets a secret informant, and in exchange for the password of the police account he hacked earlier in the story, receives the information that he desires.

He finds that the link between the crimes ended up being the upcoming talent show at his school and it turns out that the victims each had a part in the show in some way. After trying to protect May from becoming involved with the criminal Fletcher at last finds the answer he had been looking for all along. All the victims of these crimes had been ranked higher than May in the talent show. So, Red suggests that May was behind all this. However, on stage, Fletcher proves that it was May's father, Gregor Devereux who was the culprit.

In the epilogue, Red and Fletcher decide to form a detective group. Red suggests "Moon Investigations" while Fletcher replies by saying "You're half right", referencing his nickname and the title of the book.

Volume 1

A plate from the 1742 deluxe edition of Richardson's ''Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded'' showing Mr. B intercepting Pamela's first letter home to her mother

Pamela Andrews is a pious, virtuous fifteen-year-old, the daughter of impoverished labourers, who works for Lady B as a maid in her Bedfordshire estate. Following Lady B's death, her son, Mr. B, inherits the estate, and begins to pay Pamela romantic attention: first gifting her his mother's fine clothes, and then attempting to seduce her. Pamela rejects Mr. B's advances multiple times, by fleeing and locking herself in her bedroom. In one instance, she faints, and finds the laces of her stays have been cut.

When Mr. B attempts to pay her to keep his failed seduction secret, she confides in her best friend and housekeeper of the estate, Mrs. Jervis. Later, Mr. B hides in Pamela's closet and tries to kiss her when she undresses for bed, causing Pamela to consider leaving her position and returning to her parents to preserve her innocence. She is insistent on remaining at the estate to finish embroidering a waistcoat for Mr. B, hoping that by doing so he will let her leave on good terms.

Angry at Pamela for telling Mrs. Jervis of his attempted seductions, Mr. B informs Pamela that he intends to marry her off to Mr. Williams, his chaplain in Lincolnshire, and gives money to her parents to persuade them to give consent. Pamela refuses the engagement and decides to leave the estate, but Mr. B intercepts her letters to her parents and tells them she is having an affair with a poor clergyman, and that he will send her to a safe place to preserve her chastity. Pamela is forcibly taken to Mr. B's Lincolnshire Estate by Mr. B's servant Monsieur Colbrand, where she begins a journal with the intention of sending it to her parents. The Lincolnshire housekeeper, Mrs. Jewkes, is "odious" and "unwomanly", devoted to Mr. B, and keeps Pamela as her bedfellow. Mr. B promises he won't approach Pamela without her leave, and stays away from the estate for some time.

As Pamela is mistreated by Mrs. Jewkes, she begins communicating with Mr. Williams by letters, which they leave for one another in the gardens. After Mrs. Jewkes beats Pamela after she calls her a "Jezebel", Mr. Williams entreats the village gentry for help; though they pity Pamela, they too are loyal to Mr. B, and are convinced a seduction would either not occur or be inconsequential due to Pamela's low social standing. Mr. Williams proposes marriage to her to help her escape the estate and Mr. B's advances, but shortly after is attacked and beaten by robbers. Pamela attempts to flee home to her parents, but is terrified by two cows she mistakes for bulls. Mr. Williams accidentally reveals his correspondence with Pamela to Mrs. Jewkes, and so Mr. B has him arrested, announcing that he will marry Pamela to one of his servants. Desperate, Pamela attempts unsuccessfully to escape by climbing a wall, and, injured, gives up.

Mr. B returns and offers Pamela a list of conditions he would meet, should she accept his hand in marriage, but she refuses, citing her reluctance to think above her social station to become his mistress. In league with Mrs. Jewkes, Mr. B molests Pamela while she is in bed, dressed as the housemaid Nan. Pamela is sent into hysteria and seems likely to die: Mr. B repents and is kinder in his seductions, but Pamela implores him to stop altogether. Mr. B implies he loves Pamela, but will not marry her due to her social status.

Volume 2

Pamela hides a parcel of letters to her parents in the garden, but they are seized by Mrs. Jewkes, who gives them to Mr. B. He sympathises with Pamela on reading her account of their relationship, and once again proposes. Pamela, still doubtful of his intentions, begs him to let her return; though vexed, he does so. On leaving, Pamela is strangely sad, and on her way home he sends her an apologetic letter that prompts her to realise she is, in fact, in love. When she hears that he is ill, she returns to him. The two reunite and become engaged, and Pamela explains that she rejected Mr. B's advances because she feared he would attempt to take advantage of her without marrying her.

Mr. Williams is released from prison, and the neighbouring gentry come to the estate and admire Pamela. Pamela's father arrives at the estate, fearing that she accepted Mr. B's proposal by force, but is reassured when he sees her happy. Pamela and Mr. B wed. When Mr. B leaves to attend to a sick man, his sister, Lady Davers, arrives at the estate and threatens Pamela, calling her marriage a sham. Pamela escapes by the window and is taken by Colbrand to Mr. B. The following day, Lady Davers enters their bedroom without permission, revealing that Mr. B previously seduced a girl called Sally Godfrey and had a child with her.

Pamela reconciles the furious siblings; they return to Bedfordshire. Pamela rewards her friends and servants with money and forgives her father for attempting to end her engagement. They visit a farmhouse where they meet Mr. B's daughter, and learn that her mother now lives, married, in Jamaica; Pamela proposes taking the girl home with them. The neighbourhood gentry who once despised Pamela now praise her.

Valentino plays Count Rodrigo Torriani, an Italian noble. A charming libertine, his weakness is women, who mesmerise and fascinate him – hence the "cobras" referred to in the title of the film, based on the myth that cobras mesmerise their prey.

Roridgo accepts an invitation from friend Jack Dorning (Ferguson) to come to New York City to work as an antiques expert. While the job is rewarding, Rodrigo finds the temptation from the women surrounding him, including Dorning's secretary Mary Drake (Olmstead) and wife Elise (Naldi), challenging.

When Jack is away, Elise says to Rodrigo that she is in love with him. The two embrace and arrange to meet at a hotel. However, after meeting in a room, Rodrigo decides that he cannot betray his friend and leaves the hotel. It turns out to be a fortunate decision; the hotel burns to the ground in the middle of the night, killing Elise.

Rodrigo desperately wants a relationship with Mary. However, after Elise's death, he turns Mary's attentions toward Jack and decides to leave New York. The film ends with Rodrigo gazing out at the sea and the Statue of Liberty as he sets sail back to Europe.

A man is standing in a subway car, his face dirty with soot. In his right hand he carries a plastic bag with documents, or rather, the charred leftovers of them. In a corridor a man is clinging desperately to the legs of the boss who just fired him. He is screaming: "I've been here for thirty years!" In a coffee shop someone is waiting for his father, who just burned his furniture company for insurance money. Traffic jams and self-flagellating stock brokers are filling up the streets while an economist, desperate for a solution to the problem of work becoming too expensive, gazes into the crystal ball of a scryer. The main men all have goals but their destinations change during the story.

The episodes were written and filmed to reflect the reality of life in the Royal Navy and the Royal Marines in the 1970s. The primary focus for most stories was on the Captain and his fellow officers, but the series also featured life on the lower decks to portray episodes heavily featuring ratings. Episodes featured a variety of events at sea (the Cold War, smuggling, the evacuation of civilians from crisis-hit places, etc.), as well as the personal lives of officers and ratings and the impact their personal lives had on their professional lives and duties.

The story is about a New York gangster who is forced to go on the run and hides out in the small town where he grew up.

In 1958, the town of Centerville, Illinois, (filmed on location in Centreville, Illinois) was invaded by a race of aliens. The invaders could fire lasers from their eyes and hands and reduce humans to "crystallized" glowing blue orbs. They took over the form of the humans who were either captured or killed.

Twenty-five years later, Columbia University lecturer Charles Bigelow (Paul Le Mat) learns that his ex-wife, Margaret Newman (Diana Scarwid), has disappeared while attending her mother's funeral in Centerville, and travels there to find her. The disguised aliens all appear human and the town of Centerville appears to have not progressed beyond 1958. The aliens try to capture Bigelow as he escapes, but only capture his dog, Louie.

Seeing a photo of an alien in a tabloid magazine, Bigelow soon finds Margaret, who is now revealed to be one of the aliens. She warns Bigelow to escape with Elizabeth (Lulu Sylbert), their human/alien hybrid daughter, to protect her from the aliens, who want to take her to their home-world. Bigelow and Elizabeth escape from the departing alien ship and the townsfolk's blue orbs are transformed back to their original human forms.

The series dealt with the life of Reg Toomer (Tim Healy), a British man living in Australia and running Melbourne Confidential, a failing private detective agency with his shifty business partner Dennis Tontine (Chris Haywood). His estranged young cousin Leslie (Mark Haddigan) arrives in Melbourne from the United Kingdom after a painful divorce looking for fun and excitement in the new world, instead he finds himself used as a drone for Melbourne Confidential.

Each episode focused on a particular job undertaken by Melbourne Confidential, each one more elaborate and of more dubious legality than the last. The course of the main plot would often converge with subplots involving Reg's lovelorn wife Doris (Pat Thomson), assertive daughter Arlene (Nadine Garner), Dennis' ex-wife Corrie (Kirsty Child) and kindly madam Delilah (Kris McQuade).

George and Kate Starling were a newly married couple, and the comedy came from many ordinary domestic situations. George was a junior clerk in an office and wanted the public house camaraderie of the single man in his office, while Kate got increasingly frustrated by her domestic duties. In the third series, Kate gave birth to a daughter Helen. The last episode of the fourth series, ''Goodbye George – Goodbye Kate'', showed the couple going to live in Lagos, Nigeria because of George's job. This was meant to be the last episode, however a fifth series was commissioned. The Starlings returned to England as Kate was pregnant again, and gave birth in the final episode.

Earth is a uniform, weakly structured, utopian society based on the mutual trust and conformity of its citizens. It is sleepy and stagnant, developing neither socially nor technologically. Its striking social stability is maintained by robots brainwashing children in "closed classes." The ideologies of both Earth and Omega resemble one another, differing only in words. On Omega, the citizens worship Evil (always capitalized) in a cult dedicated to an entity called The Black One. On Earth, the world religion is an amalgam of all the "good" aspects of previous Earth religions. Its institution is the Church of the Spirit of Mankind Incarnate.

As Barrent comes closer to the truth about the reasons for his incarceration, his Omegan consciousness conflicts with his subconsciousness which was programmed in the closed classes by the robots when he was a child. The subsequent psychological struggle is played out by repeating all of the previous fights and battles which Barrent experienced throughout the book, eventually making clear the vision (or "skrenning") which the mutant girl on Omega foresaw of Barrent's death.

In the prologue, Don José, warned of his wife's infidelity, seals his wife's lover alive in his hiding place and drives her from the castle; abandoned to his lust, he is stabbed by his last mistress, and with his dying words he implores his son, Don Juan, to take all from women but yield nothing. Ten years later, young Don Juan, a graduate of the University of Pisa, is famous as a lover and pursued by many women, including the powerful Lucrezia Borgia, who invites him to her ball. His contempt for her incites her hatred of Adriana, the daughter of the Duke Della Varnese, with whom he is enraptured; and Lucrezia plots to marry her to Count Giano Donati, one of the Borgia henchmen, and poison the duke. Don Juan intervenes and thwarts the scheme, winning the love of Adriana, but the Borgia declare war on the duke's kinsmen, offering them safety if Adriana marries Donati; Don Juan is summoned to the wedding, but he prefers death to marriage with Lucrezia. He escapes and kills Donati in a duel. The lovers are led to the death-tower, but while Adriana pretends suicide, he escapes; and following a series of battles, he defeats his pursuers and is united with Adriana.

Widower Doug Simpson is a radio manager from California who lives with his two daughters, Katie and Bonnie. When Katie turns 15, she feels it is time to start looking more grown up. She has been dating Richard, the boy next door, whom her father adores, since middle school. In addition, her unflattering wardrobe has been complemented by her thick glasses and full set of braces. When Doug leaves on a business trip, Katie transforms herself into a beauty with help from her father's girlfriend Janet Pearson.

When Doug returns, he is shocked to find boys from every walk of life interested in dating Katie. When his obsession with Katie and her boyfriends reaches extreme limits, Janet suggests that Doug needs psychiatric help and he seeks out an expert who gives him advice that goes wrong whenever it is applied. Through the latter half of the film, Katie has three boyfriends, two of whom she eventually stops dating. At the film's ending, Katie takes a class trip to Europe and reunites with Richard again – at which point Bonnie, her younger tomboy sister, begins her own dating spree. Doug also finds out the "expert" was anything but, as he never had a daughter himself.

Kika, a naïve make-up artist, recalls how she met her lover Ramón. She had given her phone number to his stepfather, American writer Nicholas Pierce, and he had called her not for sex as she had hoped, but to make up the younger man's corpse. He was, however, merely catatonic and suddenly awoke. Ramón is a fashion photographer with voyeuristic tendencies who was traumatised by his mother's suicide after several attempts. He lets Nicholas, who has returned to Madrid, live above their flat and the two discuss whether to sell the family home outside of town, Casa Youkali, which they jointly own. Ramón proposes to Kika, who accepts but feels conflicted as she has been cheating on him with Nicholas.

Nicholas is working on a novel about a lesbian serial killer, but he makes ends meet by freelancing discreetly for an outrageously exploitative television show which focuses on bizarre and macabre events. The show is devised and presented by Andrea Caracortada ("Andrea Scarface"), who wears over-the-top outfits and a persona to match. Andrea used to be a psychologist, and Ramón was once her patient, then her lover. He tells Nicholas that she scarred her own face when he left her and she is now stalking him.

On her show, Andrea reports that Paul Bazzo, a dim-witted sex maniac and former pornographic actor jailed for rapes, has escaped while attending a religious procession. He turns up at Ramón and Kika's flat because their maid Juana is his long-suffering sister. Juana instructs him to tie her up, knock her unconscious and steal valuables, then hide at a cousin's place. Paul, however, finds Kika napping and rapes her at knife point. An unseen voyeur peeping at Kika's room notifies the police and two incompetent inspectors eventually arrive, shoot up the door and with great difficulty interrupt the rape. Paul escapes and bumps into Andrea, kitted out in a futuristic reporter's outfit complete with helmet-mounted video camera. She asks for an interview, but he pushes her off and steals her motorcycle. She then enters the flat and harasses Kika. The police are puzzled at her presence, because although they often tip her off, they did not in this case. Andrea credits an unknown peeping tom for alerting her and broadcasts video footage of the rape on her show, causing Kika to break down.

In the aftermath, Kika finds Ramón to be no help and she overhears him confess to Nicholas that it was he who called the police: he liked to peep on her from his photographic studio's window. She leaves him in silence, as does a guilt-ridden Juana who confesses her part in the rape. Ramón also tells Nicholas that he has held on to his mother's diaries but never found the strength to read them. He does so, however, after Nicholas has moved back to Casa Youkali, and discovers that the farewell letter to him that Nicholas had passed on was actually ripped from an old entry. Ramón confronts Nicholas and accuses him of murdering his mother.

Meanwhile, it turns out that Andrea and Ramón both spied on the flat from separate addresses. While reviewing footage of the upper floor, Andrea realises that Nicholas appears to have murdered one of his several girlfriends, Susana, when she visited him. Connecting this to his latest book, she also goes to Casa Youkali armed with a pistol and finds a freshly dug grave in the garden. Nicholas barricades himself, but she breaks in aggressively and offers to interview him and let him run away before the broadcast. They fight and shoot each other. Kika also appears and Nicholas confesses with his dying breath that his novel about a lesbian serial killer is actually a disguised autobiography, as Andrea had figured out. Kika also finds the bodies of Andrea, Susana and Ramón, but she manages to resurrect the latter a second time with electric shocks. Ramón had gone into shock after finding Susana's body in the bathroom.

While Ramón is taken to hospital, Kika picks up a stranded driver and takes an instant interest in him, stating that she might need a new direction.

John Lafcadio, who modestly described himself as "probably the greatest painter since Rembrandt", has left a bizarre legacy – a collection of twelve sealed paintings, to be unveiled one at a time at an annual event commencing ten years after his death. While the first seven ceremonies went smoothly, the eighth starts with family ructions, when John's granddaughter Linda finds her boyfriend Tommy has returned from a painting trip to Rome with a model, whom he has married to get into the country. Albert Campion, a friend of Belle and the family, persuades her to attend the show, just in time to be there when Tommy is stabbed to death during a power cut.

Campion calls in his old friend Stanislaus Oates to help avoid scandal, but Oates is convinced Linda must be guilty, as she has the only obvious motive. Max Fustian, a hanger-on to Lafcadio's coat-tails and now a flourishing art dealer, confesses to the crime, but his confession is laughable and a clear attempt to clear Linda. No further proof can be found however, and thanks to pressure from some important dignitaries attending the show, the matter is hushed up.

The mystery continues, however, as Tommy's art and possessions slowly vanish, until no trace of him remains. Campion meets up with Max Fustian, and finds himself entertaining strange suspicions of the odd little man. Some weeks later, Belle visits Claire Potter in her studio in the garden and finds her dead, face down on the couch. Nicotine poisoning is diagnosed, and suspicion falls at first on her husband, who had skipped work that day and had returned home for a minute an hour before the body was discovered, only to leave again in a hurry.

Potter reveals his wife suffered from alcoholism, and frequently drank herself unconscious; he had assumed she had done this once more, washed her glass and left her there. Seeking the source of the poisoned booze, Campion and Oates discover that Claire took in wood-blocks for cleaning from Max Fustian, and had returned a parcel that very day. Questioning the delivery boy, they find that he once dropped a similar package, and was surprised to find the wrapping wet.

Convinced of Fustian's guilt but lacking proof, Campion seeks a motive. He learns from the model Rosa-Rosa that Tommy had a cottage in the country, and from the cook Lisa that Lafcadio, despite his determination to defeat his rival and keep his fame alive, had only managed to complete eight of the twelve paintings of his legacy, filling the remaining packages with junk as a joke. Campion visits Tommy's cottage and finds Max there, all traces of Tommy burnt. He returns to Little Venice later, and finds Max in a blazing row with Belle – he has insisted he must take the remaining Lafcadio works abroad and sell them, and she has refused to let him.

Sure now that Max had Tommy fake the last four paintings for him, Campion gets further proof in the form of a drawing uncovered in Paris by Linda. He meets Max and they go out to dinner, where Max has him sample a strange and rare wine from Romania. Too late, Campion recalls the wine has a terribly intoxicating effect if taken after spirits – and Max had made sure Campion drank much gin before dinner. After a drunken tour of town, Max leads Campion to the edge of a Tube platform, and pushes hard – only to be stopped by the plain-clothes men Oates has had on their tail, after a meeting with Campion that morning.

Visiting Fustian in prison, Campion finds him a gibbering lunatic, his mind pushed over the edge by the defeat of his schemes.

Auguste Rodin, litho for ''Le Jardin des supplices'', Ambroise Vollard, 1902 Published at the height of the Dreyfus affair, Mirbeau's novel is a loosely assembled reworking of texts composed at different eras, featuring different styles, and showcasing different characters. Beginning with material stemming from articles on the 'Law of Murder' discussed in the "Frontispiece" ("The Manuscript"), the novel continues with a farcical critique of French politics with "En Mission" ("The Mission"): a French politician's aide is sent on a pseudo-scientific expedition to China when his presence at home would be compromising. It then moves on to an account of a visit to a Cantonese prison by a narrator accompanied by the sadist and hysteric Clara, who delights in witnessing flayings, crucifixions and numerous tortures, all done in beautifully laid out and groomed gardens, and explaining the beauty of torture to her companion. Finally she attains hysterical orgasm and passes out in exhaustion, only to begin again a few days later.

Young Crown Prince Karl Heinrich, heir to the kingdom of Karlsburg (a fictional sovereign state of the German Confederation), is brought to live with his stern uncle, King Karl VII. The king immediately dismisses the boy's nanny without telling the youngster to avoid an emotional farewell. Dr. Friedrich Jüttner, his new tutor, proves to be sympathetic, and they become lifelong friends. Nonetheless, despite the commoners' belief that it must be wonderful to be him, the boy grows up lonely, without playmates his own age.

Upon passing his high school examination in 1901 with the help of Dr.Jüttner, the young prince is delighted to learn that both he and Jüttner are being sent to Heidelberg, where he will continue his education. When they arrive, Karl's servant is appalled at the rooms provided for the prince and Jüttner at the inn of Ruder (Otis Harlan). When Ruder's niece Kathi stoutly defends the centuries-old family business, Karl is entranced by her, and decides to stay. He is quickly made a member of Corps Saxonia, a student society.

Later that day, Karl tries to kiss Kathi, only to learn that she is engaged. Her family approves of her fiance, but she is not so sure about him. She eventually confesses to Karl that, despite the vast social gulf between them, she has fallen in love with him. Karl feels the same about her and swears that he will let nothing separate them. When he takes her boating, their rower, Johann Kellermann, turns his back to them to give them some privacy. Karl jokingly tells him that, when he is king, he will make Kellermann his majordomo.

Then Jüttner receives a letter from the king ordering him to inform Karl that he has selected a princess for him to marry. Jüttner cannot bring himself to destroy his friend's happiness. That same day, however, Prime Minister von Haugk arrives with the news that the king is seriously ill, and that Karl must go home and take up the reins of government. When Karl sees his uncle, he is told of the matrimonial plans. While Karl is still reeling from the shock, the old king dies, followed by Jüttner.

Later, von Haugk presses the new monarch about the marriage. The anguished Karl signs the document for the wedding. Then Kellermann shows up to take the job Karl had offered him. When Karl asks him about Kathi, he learns that she is still waiting for him. He goes to see her one last time.

In the last scene, Karl is shown riding through the streets in a carriage with his bride. One onlooker remarks that it must be wonderful to be king, unaware of Karl's misery.

Roger Two Hawks, an Iroquois serving as a combat pilot in World War II, is shot down during a raid on Ploieşti, Romania. While parachuting he feels a strange dizziness. Being hidden by locals, he realises that they neither look nor speak like Romanians, but rather resemble Native Americans and speak a language distantly resembling that of his own tribe.

The mystery is resolved when he sees a globe and finds that he is in a world where the continent of America does not exist, having been drowned for the whole of humanity's tenure on Earth. As a result, the ancestors of the various Native American tribes did not cross the non-existent Bering Strait but wandered westward into Europe, taking the general place of the Slavs in our history. "Hatti" (Greece) was colonised by the Hittites of our timeline, while Akhaivia (Italy) was colonised by the Greeks instead of the Sabines, Latins, Voluscans and Samnites. The Iroquois live in Romania and Ukraine, which is known as Hotinohsonih in this timeline, while the Algonquin occupy Kinukkinuk, roughly co-terminous with our Czech Republic and the Aztecs dominate an equivalent of Russia. "Blodland" is analogous to England, while "Norland" is roughly parallel to Scotland. "Rasna" is cognate with France and Belgium (apart from Normandy, which is "Grettirsland"). "New Crete" is comparable to the Iberian peninsula, "Doria" matches the Balkan region on our world, and "Saariset" (Japan) is dominated by Finnish speakers. "Dravidia" is India's equivalent in this universe and is a major military power.

While a charismatic Irish religious figure, Hemilka, arose in the fourteenth century in this world, which therefore has a surprising analogue to Christianity as a result, Hemilkism is not an imperialist faith and does not similarly dominate its world.

Though very different from our world, in this reality, too, a war is going on resembling the one which Two Hawks left behind, with Perkunisha, an alternate aggressive Germany-analogue trying to conquer Europe, the Middle East and Northern Africa (though its dominant people are not Germanic but rather Lithuanian). It has already occupied geographical areas analogous to our timeline's Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and Poland as a consequence, although not Tyrsland (Sweden). Without North America, the Gulf Stream flows differently and Europe is perceptibly colder in winter. In addition, horses, tobacco, turkeys, camels, rubber and chocolate originated in the Americas, and thus none exist in this timeline.

Two Hawks very quickly gets involved. His knowledge and abilities are very much in demand, since this world does not yet have heavier-than-air flight, and its possession could decide the war. However, without military assistance from any United States equivalent, the war is going badly for the anti-Perkunishan allies. He goes through a very fast-paced series of adventures, involving such elements as Hittites who survived into the 20th century, a Luftwaffe pilot who also ended up in this world, an England which had never known a Roman Empire nor a Norman Conquest but has many Cretan and Semitic elements in its makeup, an unknown chapter in the life of Elizabethan adventurer Humphrey Gilbert, an Arab-colonised South Africa (known as Ikhwan) and Hivika, a mysterious island on the site of our world's Colorado, where an underground Polynesian temple is to be found, suggesting that Polynesians colonised the North American archipelago in the thirteenth century. Two Hawks also experiences a most tempestuous love affair. At the book's end, it is disclosed that Two Hawks is actually not from our alternate world, but from one where Kaiser Wilhelm IV (rather than Adolf Hitler) controls an expansionist, imperialist Germany in its Second World War.

This story is notable for its inaccurate depiction of right/left mirror image twins, and more generally for its use of popular science to explore the subject of inversion.

A man who states that his body is a mirror image of the normal body plan confesses to Lord Peter Wimsey that he is worried he is going mad, due to blackouts in which he (or somebody identical to him) has committed crimes.

Wimsey states that as soon as he heard that the man was a mirror image he knew there must be an identical twin who was the other, 'right' half, briefly mentioning experiments with salamander eggs to back up this claim. This reference is to genuine experiments, pioneering knowledge about the chemical gradient that exists in all mammalian embryos, defining the development of front versus back, top versus bottom and left versus right. Though it is possible to have mirror image twins, in fact this is a very rare occurrence, and not a near certainty as described in the story.

Having deduced the existence of the evil twin it was an easy matter to find and arrest him, freeing the good twin from the shadow of his evil twin's misdeeds.

The story's solution involves a revelation about an unmarried woman who secretly gave birth and let her child be raised by a relative – which Sayers herself did in real life, though this was unknown to the public at the time when the story was published.

Dr. Bernard Abrams, an Ohio optometrist, and his wife Shirley Abrams have a six-year-old daughter that suffers from a rare form of epilepsy. The child's paraplegic doctor cares for her. As for the little girl's parents, they need to have a drug approved from the Food and Drug Administration. However, the process is slow and they are forced to fly to England to obtain the medication. They take their cause to the media in order to highlight their case and force the FDA to expedite its decision on use in America.

''According to Bex'' concerns the life of Bex Atwell, a twenty-something single woman who works as a secretary and who lives in London. She is looking for the perfect man and the perfect job, but in both she ends with second best.

The early portions of the film deal with the history of the Corps, from Colonial times to the 1942. The film's midsection details the arduous training procedure of the Few and the Proud at Parris Island and elsewhere. Finally, wartime newsreel footage is adroitly blended with dramatized re-enactments to illustrate the contributions, and the necessity, of the Marines in World War II.

In the book a sentient and powerful asteroid arrives in the solar system's asteroid belt after countless aeons of wandering interstellar space. Passing by another asteroid, the living asteroid makes its first ever encounter with other living beings - a likeable criminal involved in a life-and-death struggle with a corrupt and power-mad judge.

The judge is eventually killed, but so too is his beautiful wife who had allied herself with the criminal, the couple falling in love. Whilst the god-like living asteroid builds a new world around itself, and blocks all mankind's efforts to investigate it, eventually the criminal returns to the planet with a small group. The sentient asteroid allows them to make planetfall, but only the criminal can accept living in the new Eden created for him, and they eventually depart. The alien then resurrects the late judge's wife.

Ah Kai is a wanted convict from Hong Kong who escapes to South Africa after killing his former boss and his boss's wife. In South Africa, he works at a Chinese restaurant and one day travels with his boss to a South African tribe that is infected with the Ebola virus. Kai sees a dying infected tribe member and rapes and kills her, contracting the virus. Kai, however, is immune to the infection. He becomes a living carrier, spreading the disease to others through body fluids. He ends up killing his new boss and his boss's wife, but not before spreading the virus to them. He then cuts up their corpses and serves them as hamburgers in the restaurant, effectively spreading the virus all over South Africa. He then further spreads the virus when he flees back to Hong Kong, to all the people he has contact with.

The development of the Hyperspace-Drive triggers a gold rush-like colonization attempt by Earth governments, only to find that habitable (the game takes these as Earth-like) planets are either homeworlds for other sapient species, or colonies of early-evolved species.

Years of build-up and exploration bears fruit: A habitable, rich and lush world with no sentient race is found. However, almost every race intends to colonize it, and soon a full-scale Galactic war will erupt. To solve the bloodshed, the sapient races agree to a competition:

Every race would dispatch a Rocket Ship with a pre-determined size, mass and equipment, stocked with materials, personnel and equipment to create a city analogous of modern Earth technology and infrastructure. Then without interruption from outer space, the base-cities would engage in conflict, with the victor being granted the ownership of the planet. Of course, it is your duty to ensure a new world for your species to claim.

Di Gi Charat, or Dejiko for short, is the princess of planet Di Gi Charat. Her lazy behaviour is troublesome for her servants and tutors as she "eye-beams" them as they lecture her. In order to get Dejiko to become a good princess, her mother sends her on a trip to earth for princess training. To prevent Dejiko from coming back too early, her mother only fills their spaceship with enough fuel for a one way trip. On earth, Dejiko stays with Kiyoshi and Yasushi Omocha in their toy shop, while Puchiko stays at the Ankorodo Cake Shop.

Kyle's father Gerald buys a new hybrid car. He soon attempts to convert the other townspeople to environmentally friendly vehicles. After alienating all of his friends with his preachy attitude, he decides he cannot live in South Park any longer and moves his family to San Francisco.

After failing to convince Gerald to change his mind, Stan writes a song which convinces the entire town to purchase hybrids. Stan is later approached by Ranger McFriendly, who explains that everybody owning hybrids causes more harm than good: although emission levels are down, people who drive hybrids emit "smug", and South Park now has the second-highest levels in the country, after San Francisco.

The cloud of smug forms over South Park and begins to combine with that of San Francisco. McFriendly informs the town that a cloud of smug from George Clooney's 78th Academy Awards acceptance speech will soon drift between the two potential storms, merging them together to create a system which will heavily damage South Park and completely destroy San Francisco. Meanwhile, Cartman realizes that Butters is not a satisfying target for abuse and wishes for Kyle to return. Cartman and Butters secretly travel to San Francisco, and just as the smug storm hits, Cartman finds the Broflovskis in their house.

The storm destroys thousands of homes in South Park, and completely decimates San Francisco, convincing everyone that Kyle and his family have been killed. The Broflovskis reappear, however, unaware that their safety is due to the actions of Cartman. With all their cars destroyed, the townspeople vow never again to buy hybrids, but Kyle tells everyone that it isn't the hybrid cars that cause smug but rather the people who drive them. Implying that people need to drive cars and not act like they are above all other people. The town then agrees that perhaps someday they will learn to drive hybrid cars the same way they drive normal cars but for now the technology is too much.

Cantinflas and three friends return a stolen necklace to an actress who invites them to be extras at the CLASA film studios. While on the set, he falls asleep and dreams that he is d'Artagnan, fighting on behalf of Queen Anne.

Background

Arthur Penhaligon is a young boy who has gotten involved with the 'House', a magical world. This world comprises seven parts, each containing a 'Key' (powerful magical objects) and a part of the 'Will' (a being that holds the wish of the absent 'Architect'), under control of a villainous 'Trustee'. Arthur is on a quest to defeat the 'Trustees' and fulfill the 'Will'.

In the preceding five books, Arthur has captured five parts of the House. Superior Saturday, the Trustee that Arthur fights in this book, has appeared earlier in the series, trying to hinder Arthur.

This book

At the start of the book, Saturday is talking to a servant about her plan to invade Sunday's (the last Trustee) part of the House, which is above hers. Meanwhile on Earth, Arthur discovers that the national army plans to fire a nuclear bomb on his hometown, so he uses the fifth Key to stop time. Then, however, he finds out that he is more than 3/5 immortal, meaning his presence brings harm on Earth, so he goes back to the House, only to find that part of the House collapsing and to narrowly escape death.

He reaches the prison of the divine being called the 'Old One', who is locked up for interfering with the affairs of mortals. The Old One, who has grown in power and killed his jailers, gives no clear answers to his questions. Arthur goes to another part of the House to plan a preemptive strike on Saturday. He learns that Saturday has deliberately destroyed the lower parts of the House so that the growth of the enormous trees that support Sunday's realm will slow, allowing her to invade from below. Arthur convinces his steward Dame Primus to split herself in two, to take care of the House while he seizes the last Keys from Saturday and Sunday. Arthur finds Dame Primus to be acting suspiciously.

Arthur, together with his ally Suzy with her small fighting unit, infiltrate Saturday's part of the House, where Saturday is preparing to invade from a tower that now is high enough. Arthur discovers that the sixth part of the 'Will' is hidden in the rain, and manages to reconstitute it, but then he is separated from Suzy by Saturday's troops. He disguises himself as one of Saturday's sorcerers in hopes of rescuing Suzy, but is caught up in Saturday's assault force. In Sunday's realm, he tries to call the sixth Key to him while Saturday is distracted, but as he is doing this, Saturday casts a spell that throws him off the edge. The outcome is unrevealed.

The book ends back on Earth with Arthur's friend Leaf getting as many people as possible into a bomb shelter together with a hospital staff member.

Background

Arthur Penhaligon is a young boy who has gotten involved with the 'House', a magical world. This world comprises seven parts, each containing a 'Key' (powerful magical objects) and a part of the 'Will' (a being that holds the wish of the absent 'Architect'), under control of a villainous 'Trustee'. Arthur is on a quest to defeat the 'Trustees' and fulfill the 'Will'.

At the end of the preceding book, Trustee Saturday was invading the 'Incomparable Gardens', the domain of the seventh and last Trustee Sunday. Arthur was thrown off the edge of the Gardens, and meanwhile back on Earth a nuclear strike was occurring on his hometown.

This book

In his fall, Arthur uses the 'Improbable Stair', a magical way of transport, but because he was falling, he ends up in a random place in the universe where he gets attacked by insect-like creatures. Meanwhile, his imprisoned ally Suzy convinces her forgetful guard Giac to let her free and accompany her to the Incomparable Gardens.

On Earth, while Arthur's friend Leaf is dealing with the aftermath of a nuclear strike, a powerful servant of Sunday's forces her to come with him to the House. Sunday intends to use her and Arthur's mother as hostages. When they arrive, the 'Front Door', a room that acts as the entrance of the House, is being overwhelmed by creatures called 'Nithlings', who kill the 'Lieutenant Keeper of the Door', causing the role of Lieutenant Keeper to fall on Leaf, who then cannot be forced to leave the 'Front Door', so the servant goes back to Sunday to report his failure.

With extreme effort, Arthur manages to get out of his precarious position using the 'Improbable Stair'. He thinks he's arrived in his bedroom on Earth and he finds his mother in the house, but she cannot see him and he has no way to interact with her. Then a boy comes in, whom Arthur forces to take him out of this copy of his house. The boy then reveals himself to be Sunday in disguise and Arthur is imprisoned. However, he manages to make a toy elephant come to life, which he sends to retrieve his confiscated Keys. When they finally arrive, he is able to free himself. He battles with Sunday, who is also facing the combined forces of Saturday and the 'Piper', an independent powerful House creature. They battle moves to the location of the last part of the Will, which is in the form of an apple tree locked in a golden cage. Arthur's ally the Mariner opens the cage at the cost of his life, and the freed Will fragment traps Sunday while Arthur claims the seventh Key.

When the last part of the Will joins the rest, the House is destroyed and the incarcerated divine being the 'Old One' breaks free and becomes one with the Will. It is explained that the divine being, the 'Architect', was bored of living forever, but could not die without destroying all of creation, because she had chained the fate of the 'Old One' to that of the House, and the Old One was in fact a part of the Architect. Therefore, she had turned herself into the Will so that an heir, to be made the new Architect, would be found. The Architect destroys the remnants of creation, and Arthur becomes the new Architect as the old Architect fades away. Arthur decides to recreate the universe as it was, but cannot recreate his mother. He splits himself into the human Arthur and the new Architect, who sends the human Arthur and Leaf back to Earth. The new Architect remakes Suzy and gives her the title of the new lady Sunday; they decide to also remake a number of her friends and design the new House with them.

The player takes the role of a Magelord, named Eldon the Spellbinder. His task is to find the evil Magelord outcast Zorn, in the castle of Lorraine, and defeat him by use of the so-called Ultimate Spell.

Nero Wolfe is approached by corporate attorney Rudolf Hansen and his clients Oliver Buff, Vernon Assa and Patrick O'Garro, the chief executives of Manhattan advertising agency Lippert Buff Assa (LBA). The group want Wolfe to save them from embarrassment and ruin following the murder of Louis Dahlmann, an up-and-coming advertising executive with the firm. Dahlmann's wallet was also stolen, and inside were the final answers for a series of cryptic poetic riddles run as part of a promotional competition for Pour Amour, a brand of perfume designed by one of LBA's clients. The first prize of the competition is $500,000, and in a meeting with the final five contestants the night before his death Dahlmann had revealed that he kept the answers in his wallet, both of which lead the police to suspect one of the contestants. The executives, however, do not want Wolfe to investigate the murder but to find out who stole the wallet before the contest deadline—midnight of the nineteenth of April, exactly one week later—in order to ensure the integrity of proceedings and restore their reputation. Despite tension between the advertising agency and Talbott Heery, owner of the company that produces Pour Amour, Wolfe agrees to their terms.

Wolfe dispatches Archie Goodwin to secure a copy of the final riddles and their answers for Wolfe's reference, and proceeds to interview each of the contestants: Gertrude Frazee, the leader of an anti-cosmetics women's group who has been using her members to find the answers for the riddles to try and embarrass the cosmetics industry; Carol Wheelock, a housewife who wants the prize money to secure a better life for her family; Harold Rollins, a condescending academic who entered the competition as part of an intellectual exercise; Susan Tescher, a magazine editor who wants to do a profile on Wolfe himself; and Philip Younger, a retiree seeking to recover a fortune he lost during the Great Depression. Although skeptical that Wolfe is only investigating the theft and not the murder, Inspector Cramer shares what the police have learned about the case so far. Other than the financial motive, none of the contestants appears to have had any serious reason or opportunity to either murder Dahlmann or steal the answers, and much to Archie's concern Wolfe's investigation appears to lose energy and focus.

As the deadline nears, the LBA executives begin to panic and lash out, resulting in a contradictory sequence where Wolfe is fired and then rehired within a span of minutes. When all seems lost, however, an anonymous source sends copies of the answers to each of the contestants, thus voiding the contest and saving LBA. Although Archie, the LBA executives and the police suspect Wolfe of doing so, he insists that he was not responsible, and begins to suspect one of the advertising executives of at least stealing the wallet, if not murdering Dahlmann. After the letters are sent, Vernon Assa approaches Wolfe and attempts to unilaterally dismiss him from the case, but Wolfe refuses. His suspicions aroused, Wolfe summons the major players to his office and claims he will reveal the identity of the thief, and in doing so provide the police with vital information to help them identify the murderer. Before he can do so, however, Vernon Assa is poisoned with cyanide surreptitiously slipped into his drink and dies on the floor of Wolfe's office. Dahlmann's wallet is found in his pocket, suggesting that he was the thief and murderer.

Infuriated at the murder of someone who was enjoying his hospitality and skeptical of Assa's guilt, Wolfe determines to identify the true culprit. He, along with Archie and Saul Panzer, travels to the offices of LBA and inspects a display of products from their clients, discovering a bottle of cyanide that he suspects was used to murder Assa; this confirms in Wolfe's mind the guilt of one of the executives. Confronting Buff, O'Garro and Hansen, Wolfe lays out the facts of the case and accuses Buff of murdering both Dahlmann and Assa. Buff is the only man who had clear means and opportunity, and Wolfe speculates that he was driven to murder Dahlmann out of jealousy and fear over Dahlmann's skills eclipsing and threatening his position. Assa discovered the wallet that Buff stole from Dahlmann to cover his tracks, and Buff murdered him to silence him. When Buff tries to throw suspicion on O'Garro, O'Garro reveals that Wolfe is correct. Buff is convicted of murder, but the remaining LBA executives challenge Wolfe's fee, arguing that as the thief and murderer Buff presumably exposed himself when he sent out the letters containing the final answers. In response, Wolfe reveals in confidence that he will be adding onto his bill the price of a used typewriter that has been disposed of in the East River, implying that he was in fact responsible for sending out the letters and saving them from humiliation after all.

While working in the church, a woman named Grace finds a hidden crypt. While exploring she discovers a voodoo book, however she is soon sent away by Father Cornelius. Grace's son, Nathan, attends the local high school with his friends Henry and Diggs. Nathan likes his long-time friend Jessica, however he is too scared to ask her out, for fear of rejection. Also in the school are popular girls Charlotte, Glenda and Cheryl. Cheryl pursues Nathan, despite already having a boyfriend, Samson, who confronts Nathan along with his womanising friend Kenneth after seeing Cheryl talking to Nathan. Meanwhile, Henry and Diggs, fed up with Nathan not asking out Jessica, force the pair to meet after school.

While Nathan waits for Jessica, he writes a note about what he will say to her to ask her out. Meanwhile, Jessica's over-protective father forbids her to leave, but she sneaks out. Nathan becomes impatient due to Jessica's lateness and leaves before Jessica arrives; she reads the note, however, through a misunderstanding, Nathan believes Jessica is with Kenneth. Nathan goes home and contemplates hanging himself in his room. Just as he dismisses the idea, Grace enters and knocks over the chair Nathan is standing on, causing him to be hanged. Grace returns to the church and performs a ritual from the book, which brings Nathan back to life. The ritual seems to have gone well, despite Nathan not remembering what happened, however Father Cornelius soon warns Grace that the book was damaged and those who are resurrected by it have the urge to eat human flesh.

At school, Nathan hears Kenneth lying about what happened with Jessica the previous night to Samson and another friend, Shane. As Jessica attempts to ask Nathan out, he turns her down, thinking what Kenneth said was true. As the day progresses, Nathan slowly succumbs to the symptoms of the book. At night, everyone heads to a school disco, where Nathan soon becomes more zombie-like and bites Samson before returning home. As Samson becomes a zombie, he attacks Shane and infects him. Jessica goes to Nathan's house to sort things out, but Nathan warns Jessica away from him, realising something is wrong with him.

The next morning, Grace tells Nathan what happened. Nathan realises that Samson is infected and tries to get the police to help capture him, but he is ignored. Returning home, Grace locks Nathan in the garage and starts to search for something to help him recover. Meanwhile, Charlotte has also become a zombie and infects Kenneth. Cheryl and Glenda go to a local bar, where they witness a zombie attack. Henry and Diggs also witness a zombie attack in the video shop. Henry and Diggs hide, and see that most of the town have been infected. They phone Jessica and tell her to lock herself inside her house. Henry and Diggs travel to Nathan's house and free him, before setting off to Jessica's. However, on their way they crash their car and have to continue on foot. Jessica is attacked by zombies in her house, including Samson, but she overpowers them and manages to escape.

Grace goes to the church, but is attacked by an infected Father Cornelius. He is soon bitten by a snake in the crypt, revealing the snake's venom is the cure to the infection. She takes the snake and leaves. Outside, Cheryl and Glenda are hiding in the graveyard. They encounter the infected Charlotte, who bites Glenda, allowing Cheryl to get away. Nathan finds Jessica in a barn beside her house, where Jessica tells Nathan that she never did anything with Kenneth. Meanwhile, Henry and Diggs arrive at Jessica's house, followed by Cheryl, who is being chased by a group of zombies. They hide in a cupboard in the house until night time, when they try to escape. As they go outside they are saved by Nathan, however a group of zombies close in on them. Jessica manages to kill them with the aid of a tractor.

The survivors hide in the barn, but Samson and Shane get in and infect Cheryl. The others manage to escape to a platform, but are now trapped. They pour gasoline onto the barn floor, before Grace arrives with the snake. However, the snake escapes and the zombies begin to attack Grace. Nathan saves Grace, allowing her to escape, and also kills Samson. Nathan soon completely succumbs to the ritual, and becomes a zombie. As he is about to attack his friends, the snake bites him. The zombies quickly attack Nathan and he is caught in the fire that Jessica has ignited. Jessica, Diggs and Henry leave, and soon discover Nathan survived the fire. He finally asks Jessica to go out with him, to which she answers yes.

Part 1: The Order of Baptism

1. Lord and Lady Canteloupe celebrate the christening of their first son, Sarum, at Lancaster College.

Wealthy scholar Ptolemaeos Tunne intends to research the link between the physical brain, and the immaterial mind and soul. He attends the christening party to scout a list of youths to be test subjects in his experiments, obtaining permission from the children's parents via coercion and blackmail. At the same party, twelve-year-old Marius Stern insults his ten-year-old sister Rosie’s school friend Tessa Malcolm, and Rosie retaliates by wishing bad luck on Marius at cricket in the coming year.

Old friends Fielding Gray and Maisie Malcolm own and operate Buttock's Hotel, where they live with Maisie’s daughter Tessa. The hotel has recently done poor business. Maisie believes that Tessa is producing a strange “aura”, associated with adolescence, which is driving away regulars.

Publisher Gregory Stern has misgivings about allowing his children (Rosie and Marius) to participate in Tunne's experiments, but Tunne secures his consent by threatening to reveal sensitive information about Stern's ancestry. Stern's wife Isobel as well as Lord Canteloupe, both assure him that Tunne's work is reputable, and that he is to be trusted.

Undergraduates Carmilla Salinger and Jeremy Morrison discuss their invitations to participate in Tunne's experiments. The couple engage in foreplay, but not sex. Carmilla's twin sister Thea is also revealed to be in love with Jeremy. Donald Salinger, adoptive father to the twins, mulls over the recent accidental death of his wife.

Part 2: Gifts for the Guests

Rosie stays at Buttock's Hotel with Tessa while the Sterns are on vacation. Marius writes to Rosie to reveal that his cricket game has been terrible, just as Rosie had wished. Rosie writes back to assure him that her comment was made in anger, and was not to be taken seriously.

Marius begins stealing and bullying at school, and is later suspended for the term after severely attacking another boy. Gray and Canteloupe decide that, while Marius' parents are on vacation, the boy can stay with Tunne to participate in his experiments. Before leaving, Marius discloses that Tessa had coached him on how to hit someone, and had attempted to practice kissing on him, which he refused. He believes that the insulted Tessa psychically willed Rosie to put her curse on him. He asserts that a disturbing power of some kind is in possession of Tessa.

Soon Marius, Jeremy, Carmilla, and Thea are all staying with Tunne as subjects for his experiments. These involve sedating a subject, laying them in a comforting bath of water, and probing them with questions. Thea accidentally runs into Jeremy and Carmilla together and, upset at realizing that the two are involved, she decides to travel home to care for her father. Marius reveals to Tunne under sedation that he fears the power occupying Tessa intends to soon occupy him instead. Tunne attributes the story to hallucinations of the soul.

Part 3: The Pastime of Leviathan

The Sterns are abducted and held captive, while on vacation in Cyprus. Their captors blackmail Gregory into writing and publishing a damning memoir against the Israeli occupation, in exchange for their freedom.

Marius, afraid that the force occupying Tessa will shortly be coming for him, asks Jeremy, whom he trusts, to sleep in his bed as protection. That night, Marius discloses to Jeremy that he recently saw a terrifying apparition of Tessa wearing a distorted, evil expression, outside his window. Gray tells Jeremy that he believes in Tessa’s innocence, and that Marius’s claims must be fantasy. He returns to Buttock’s Hotel, to find that the hotel’s curse appears suddenly to have lifted, and business is booming. While there, Gray questions Rosie and Tessa about Marius’ supernatural claims, which the girls assure him are nonsense.

Carmilla and Thea reconcile over Jeremy, when they compare notes and agree that he has been manipulative. They determine to take their father on a vacation, as they’ve noticed his paranoia worsening. While they wheel him from a museum however, he is killed when a worker accidentally drops a roof tile on his head.

Tunne's efforts have led him to conclude that the human soul is left adrift after death, which disturbs him. Rosie reveals to him that the reason for Tessa’s recent actions has been that Tessa (an only child), yearned for Rosie and Marius to be like siblings to her, and that when Marius refused to kiss her, she felt slighted. Rosie maliciously played along with Tessa's charade, out of jealousy of her mother's preferential treatment of Marius. She is adamant that the two girls were only toying with Marius and that nothing supernatural has happened.

Tunne summons many of the novel’s characters to his home to reveal the final piece of the puzzle: Marius invented the supernatural claims about Tessa out of shame and fear of his own obsessive masturbation, itself attributed to the boy's physical discomfort due to being uncircumcised. Marius’ parents agree to a circumcision, and Lady Canteloupe laments the countless other young boys suffering the same fate in silence. Gray muses to himself that this explanation still does not address the dramatic shift in prosperity experienced by Buttock's Hotel.

Category:1984 British novels Category:Novels by Simon Raven Category:Fiction set in 1977 Category:Frederick Muller Ltd books

As Archie is about to leave the brownstone for a basketball game, Sergeant Purley Stebbins calls with news that Wolfe's old friend Marko Vukcic has been shot and killed. After Archie identifies the body, Wolfe joins him at the morgue and insists on being taken first to the crime scene and then Rusterman's Restaurant, owned by Marko.

Wolfe and Inspector Cramer question the employees there, and Wolfe and Archie return to the brownstone to find a surprise visitor: Wolfe's adopted daughter Carla. She and Marko have been involved in a movement to secure Montenegro's independence from Yugoslavia, and she is furious at Wolfe's refusal to support the effort. Wolfe tries to question her, but she is reluctant to give any information, since she believes that he may be in league with the government of Yugoslavia or the Soviet Union.

During the three weeks following the murder, Wolfe pursues various lines of investigation and gets a second visit from Carla, enraged that the police are now looking into the movement's background. Following this meeting, he gets three updates from Paolo Telesio, an informant in Bari, Italy. The first states that Carla has returned to Bari and crossed the Adriatic Sea into Montenegro; the second is a cryptic message on the killer's location — "the man you seek is within sight of the mountain"; the last states that Carla has been killed. Realizing that "the mountain" must be Lovćen in Montenegro, Wolfe makes immediate plans to go there and find Marko's killer, accompanied by Archie.

The two fly to Europe, making their way to Bari and taking temporary shelter in a house owned by one of Telesio's friends. Telesio arranges for a guide to ferry them across the Adriatic; from there, the two hike through the foothills of Lovćen and eventually secure a ride to Rijeka Crnojevića and then Podgorica. Jubé Bilic, a college student, drives them to Podgorica and drops them off at the office of Gospo Stritar, the local police chief. Wolfe, giving a fake name, passes himself off as a Montenegro native who has lived abroad for many years and is now returning to decide which side to support in the struggle over Yugoslavia's future, and Archie as his American-born son (to explain his inability to speak Serbo-Croat).

Although Stritar is skeptical of Wolfe's explanation, he allows the two to go about their business, but dispatches Jubé to follow them. Wolfe and Archie travel to the home of Marko's nephew Danilo, who had passed the messages on to Telesio and who has been helping Marko and Carla smuggle weapons and supplies in from the United States. Danilo learns of Jubé's surveillance and has him killed, then reluctantly agrees to take Wolfe and Archie into the mountains for a meeting with Josip Pasic, one member of a guerrilla team in the independence movement. From Pasic, Wolfe learns that Carla had begun to suspect that a spy had infiltrated the group; she slipped into Albania to infiltrate a Russian-controlled fort and gather information, only to be killed instead.

Wolfe and Archie sneak into the fort, where they hear screams coming from one room. Inside, they discover Peter Zov, a man they had previously seen in Stritar's office, being tortured by three Russians. Their leader berates Zov for going to New York and killing Marko on Stritar's orders, hampering Russia's goal of taking over Yugoslavia if the Tito regime is overthrown. Carla had gained the favor of the other two Russians; when they realized who she was, they killed her.

Wolfe and Archie storm the room, and Archie kills the Russians and frees Zov. The gun he used to kill Marko is found elsewhere in the fort, and Wolfe makes up his mind to take him back to New York to face justice rather than exact revenge immediately. Once the three have returned to Podgorica, Wolfe pretends to have decided to commit himself to the Tito regime and offers Stritar a large bribe in support of it. Stritar produces a letter (a fake sent by Telesio as a red herring) which states that "Nero Wolfe" will be remaining in New York and sending funds to support the independence movement. Zov is dispatched to assassinate him as an associate of Marko.

The three return to Italy, where Wolfe and Archie arrange a trans-Atlantic ship voyage under their assumed names and Zov comes aboard as a steward. Wolfe insists on having Zov brought to the brownstone so that he can reveal himself on the spot. When the ship pulls into the New York harbor, though, a news photographer spots Wolfe on the deck and calls his name. Zov draws his gun and shoots Wolfe, wounding him in the leg before being tackled by the rest of the staff. Satisfied that both murders can now be closed, Wolfe tells Archie to call Cramer.

Amelia (Catherine Keener) and Laura (Anne Heche) are childhood best friends. Amelia is left feeling vulnerable when Laura and her boyfriend Frank (Todd Field) get engaged. She begins to date Bill (Kevin Corrigan), the local clerk at the video rental store she frequents. Though she initially is off put by his looks and his obsession with scifi and horror films she begins to grow attracted to him when she learns he is working on a screenplay about the life of Colette. The two have sex, however while Amelia is in the bathroom she receives a call from Laura asking how her date was with "the ugly guy". Hurt after hearing this Bill abruptly leaves.

Meanwhile, since becoming engaged Laura, a therapist, has begun to fantasize about one of her patients. She also allows the waiter at her local coffee shop to flirt with her and begins to pick fights with her fiancé.

Amelia becomes obsessed with Bill after sleeping with him but quickly becomes hurt and angry as he never calls her. She asks her friend and former boyfriend Andrew (Liev Schreiber) why they broke up and he confesses that she places too much importance on her boyfriends. After two weeks Amelia finally goes to the video rental store and snaps when Bill is polite but distant towards her. He chases her down and tells her he heard from Laura's message that she called him ugly.

Amelia, Laura and Frank go to Amelia's parents' country cottage where Laura and Frank plan to get married. While there Laura and Frank fight causing Frank to leave in the middle of the night. Amelia receives obscene phone calls and calls Andrew, making him take the train to come and protect her. After Andrew answers the phone causing the caller to stop calling. Amelia and Andrew get drunk, talk about their past relationship and then go swimming together.

Laura and Frank go to a dinner where they hope to reconcile. Frank gives Laura his biopsied mole in a box as a present as their last fight involved her anger at him for not getting it checked by a doctor. Laura finds the present disgusting and leaves without making up with him.

Meanwhile, Amelia goes to see Bill at the video store where she learns that he is dating his ex. She goes home where she and Andrew have dinner together and he explains how he broke up with the girl he was having phone sex with. He then kisses Amelia and the two sleep together and she gives him the black leather pants that she bought him as a Christmas present that she never gave him since they broke up before Christmas.

Despite the fact that she has not reconciled with Frank, Laura continues to plan her wedding. After going to see Amelia after a disastrous meeting with a wedding makeup artist the two end up fighting as Amelia accuses Laura of abandoning their friendship. The two finally sit down to reconnect and Amelia tells Laura about reconnecting with Andrew before urging her to go make up with Frank. Laura takes her advice to heart.

Laura reconnects with Frank. On her wedding day she allows Amelia to do her makeup and hair as they had originally planned. Laura tells Amelia that she believes that she and Andrew are going to make it. The two leave to go to the ceremony hand in hand.

Cameron "Buck" Williams and Rayford Steele have become international fugitives. New believers like Condor 216 first officer Mac McCullum and computer programmer David Hassid take their places as moles in the Global Community (GC) and use his infrastructures to evangelize and thwart Carpathia's attempts to find members of the Tribulation Force. Ray and Ken Ritz go to the States to check in on Hattie Durham and the safe house. Hattie confesses to Rayford that Amanda White was entirely innocent of supposed collaboration with Carpathia - the e-mail texts were simply an elaborate smear campaign ordered by Carpathia himself.

At the prophesied conference of witnesses, held at Teddy Kollek Stadium and hosted by Tsion Ben-Judah, the Potentate makes an unwelcome visit. At this time, Israel's water turns to blood, which Carpathia blames on the Two Witnesses. Jacov, Chaim Rosenzweig's driver, becomes a believer; later that night he is found in a bar, telling people that Jesus is Messiah. The next day at the conference, Tsion tells the audience they are waiting for the next Trumpet Judgment, in which the sun, moon, and stars will darken by 1/3. He also explains that 3/4 of the population since the Rapture will die prior to the end of the Tribulation. The last night of the conference, the Two Witnesses appear at the stadium. Then a GC attack breaks out while the Trib. Force retreats to Chaim's estate which, being an old embassy, has a helipad. Ken flies to the house in GC1, Nicolae's helicopter, and gets the force into the chopper. While transferring the force at the airport, Ken Ritz is shot trying to give Rayford as much time as he needs.

Hattie, now desperate to live only for the life of her child, is raced to a hospital, where they meet another believer named Leah Rose. She and Tribulation Force physician Floyd Charles try to deliver the baby, but after some work, the baby is stillborn. According to Floyd, Hattie had been poisoned by Carpathia, resulting in the death of her child.

Buck is still in Israel after a failed attempt to get him on the plane, returning to Chaim's estate. A few days later, the fourth Trumpet Judgement strikes, and the world gets considerably colder, delaying Buck's return to the States. During the GC news report, Chaim, though still a skeptic, tells about the truth of the judgments, endorses Tsion's lesson and tells the world about his website.

Rayford goes to Palwaukee Airport after the judgment lifts to sort out Ken Ritz's affairs. He must deal with the not-very-smart Bo Hanson and his friend Ernie, who it turns out has faked the mark of the believer to gain access to Ken's stash of money, which is very large. As they argue, the fifth Trumpet Judgment falls and a horde of demonic locusts swarm the earth, attacking everyone who does not bear the mark of the believer, in which it is so horrible that men try to kill themselves but are not allowed to die. Rayford meets T.M. Delanty, who is almost the full owner of Palwaukee and a believer. As the months pass and the locusts continue to attack, Chloe's pregnancy comes to an end. Buck is still in Jerusalem trying to get Chaim to accept Jesus, but returns home in time for the birth of his child. Chloe Steele Williams goes into labour, and after a scare delivers a healthy baby boy in the most chaotic period in human history. She names him Kenneth Bruce Williams in memory of Ken Ritz and the late Bruce Barnes.

Thomas Smithers (Postlethwaite), who has made his fortune as an ironmonger and cannon-maker, hires the famous Meneer Chrome (McGregor) to create the most extravagant garden imaginable on his overgrown property. Smithers doesn't know that his wife's cousin Fitzmaurice (Grant) has already hired Chrome, with the goal of bankrupting Smithers and essentially acquiring Juliana, whom he loves. Juliana, however, is attracted to Chrome and he in turn to the Smithers' daughter, Anna, who filters all experiences through a volume of Andrew Marvell's poems that she is never without. Her parents, thinking her mentally unstable, subject her to numerous "treatments" that prompt Chrome's compassion.

As the garden grows increasingly complex and Smithers approaches bankruptcy, Fitzmaurice realizes that Chrome's affection for Anna makes him a liability; he threatens to reveal some damaging information about Chrome and then decides to kill him, but his plan backfires and Fitzmaurice dies. Juliana decides to remain loyal to her husband, now bankrupt from his obsession with the garden project. Chrome, revealed as an imposter (the assistant to the actual Chrome), goes to the sea with Anna, where she throws away her book of poetry.

The TARDIS arrives aboard a sanctuary base used for deep-space expeditions. The Tenth Doctor and Rose explore the area, discovering strange alien writing that the TARDIS is unable to translate, meaning that it is "impossibly old". They are confronted by the Ood, a docile race of empathic slaves who work on the station. After a misunderstanding with the Ood, the Doctor and Rose meet the crew of the base: commanding officer Zach, scientist Ida, security officer Jefferson, "ethics committee" Danny, engineer Scooti and archaeologist Toby. The crew are on an expedition on the mysterious planet Krop Tor, impossibly in orbit around a black hole. Captain Zach explains that a gravity funnel exists around the planet, allowing them to safely enter or leave the vicinity of the black hole. The source of the funnel is an immense energy force ten miles within the planet, which they are drilling towards to understand its power. As the Doctor and Rose are acquainting themselves with the crew, the base is struck by a quake that causes the section of the base containing the TARDIS to fall into the planet. Rose and the Doctor resign themselves to being trapped and begin helping out the crew.

As the drill nears its target, a malevolent presence begins to make itself known. The Ood's translation spheres reveal messages about the Beast awakening, while Toby is unknowingly possessed by the Beast after examining pottery. The possessed Toby kills Scooti when she discovers him surviving outside the base without any protective gear. When the drilling is complete, the Doctor offers to go with Ida into the bowels of the planet. After travelling down the drill shaft, the Doctor and Ida find a large circular pit inscribed with more undecipherable markings on the rims. The Doctor believes it to be a door, and they watch as it opens. Suddenly, the Beast repossesses Toby before transferring into all the Ood as they refer to themselves as the Legion of the Beast. With Rose and the remaining crew alerted that the planet is now falling towards the black hole, the Ood begin to close in on them whilst the voice of the Beast declares that it is free.

Thirteen-year-old Tal has lived his entire life in the enormous, labyrinthine Castle of the Chosen, which is in a state of perpetual darkness due to the Veil that hangs above its seven towers. Inside the Castle, society is organized into stratified society organized by the colors of the rainbow and light.

Tal is preparing for his Day of Ascension, in which he will enter the spirit world of Aenir to bind a Spiritshadow and cement his place in the castle, when he receives news that his father, who had left the castle on a secret mission, has been declared missing and is presumed dead, which threatens Tal's plans for the Day of Ascension.

Tal's father possessed the family's Primary Sunstone, which is needed to enter Aenir, and the Primary Sunstone belonging to Tal's mother has faded in power due to her grave illness. Tal knows he must secure his family's standing lest they be demoted to Underfolk and any hope for curing his mother's illness will be gone.

Tal reluctantly visits his cruel aunts, who dislike Tal's family, to ask to borrow one of their Sunstones for his visit to Aenir but they refuse. At his aunts' quarters, he meets Shadowmaster Sushin, who appears to greatly dislike Tal, much to Tal's confusion. Tal attempts to win a Sunstone by entering the Achievements of Luminosity competition. He enters the Achievement of Body category, but discovers he was mysteriously re-registered to the Achievement of Music roster. With help from his great-uncle Ebbitt, Tal finds a piece of music to play for the competition at the last minute. Upon entering the contest, he finds, much to his horror, that Sushin is one of the three judges. Tal performs the piece well, but is given the Yellow Ray of Failed Ambition by Sushin, and the other judges agree that Tal did not perform well enough to win a Sunstone.

Tal then goes to visit the Empress of the Chosen to ask for a Sunstone. He makes a deal with the palace guards that if he can beat them in a game of Beastmaker, he may receive an appointment with the Empress. Despite a rocky start, Tal comes closing to winning but Sharrakor, the Empress' Spiritshadow, viciously stops the game. The frightened guards force Tal to leave.

Great-Uncle Ebbitt advises a desperate Tal to steal a Sunstone from the Red Tower, which is the least guarded tower in the castle. With his shadowguard, Tal climbs the tower towards the Veil where the Sunstones are kept. Just as Tal is about to grab a Sunstone, he notices his little brother secretly followed him and is struggling to fend off a mysterious Spiritshadow. Tal climbs down to help him and briefly fights with the Spiritshadow, which has no master and calls itself the "Keeper." Although Tal's brother escapes safely, Tal is thrown off the tower and falls into the icy world outside of the castle.

He is rescued by a clan of Icecarls and meets Milla, an aspiring Shield Maiden warrior who is hostile to Tal. The leaders of Milla's clan decide that they will send Milla to help Tal re-enter the castle and secure a Sunstone. In exchange, Tal will also steal a Sunstone for Milla's clan.

Reluctantly, Tal and Milla agree to join forces and prepare to journey across the ice together.

The novel opens as Dr. Kay Scarpetta, Chief Medical Examiner for the Commonwealth of Virginia, receives an early-morning call from Sergeant Pete Marino, a homicide detective at the Richmond Police Department with whom Scarpetta has a tense working relationship. She meets him at the scene of a woman's gruesome strangling, the latest in a string of unsolved murders in Richmond.

The killer leaves behind a few clues; among them are a mysterious substance which fluoresces under laser light, which was later on proved to be from a liquid soap which the killer used to wash his hands, traces of semen, and in the vicinity of the last murder, an unusual smell. Scarpetta and Marino work with FBI profiler Benton Wesley to attempt to piece together a profile of the killer. Initial evidence appears to point to the fourth victim's husband, but Scarpetta suspects otherwise despite Marino's insistence. The book references DNA profiling as a relatively new technique, and characters briefly bemoan the lack of a criminal DNA database which could provide better leads to suspects, given available evidence.

Meanwhile, in her personal life, Scarpetta must deal with the presence of her extremely precocious ten-year-old niece, Lucy, as well as an uncertain romantic relationship with the local Commonwealth's attorney.

During the investigation, a series of news leaks about the murders appear to be coming from a source within the medical examiner's office. The leaks threaten Scarpetta's position, especially after she is forced to admit that her office database has been compromised.

Believing that the killer thrives on media attention and hoping to flush him out by provoking his ego, Scarpetta, Wesley, and local investigative reporter Abby Turnbull (whose sister was the fifth victim), conspire to release a news story which suggests that the killer has a distinctive body odour due to a rare metabolic disease and implies that the killer may be mentally disordered.

While attempting to find another link between the five murders, Scarpetta discovers that all five intended victims had recently called 911; she suspects that the killer is a 911 operator and chose his victims based on their voices.

Scarpetta is awakened in the middle of the night by the killer, who has broken into her home. As she attempts to reach for a gun she has nearby for protection, Marino bursts into her bedroom and shoots the intruder, having realized that the news article would make Scarpetta a likely target. Scarpetta's suspicion proves to be correct; the killer was a 911 dispatcher.

Setting

''Fallout 3'' takes place in the year 2277, and within the region that covers most of the ruined city of Washington, D.C., Northern Virginia, and parts of Maryland (mostly Montgomery County). The game's scaled landscape includes war-ravaged variants of numerous real-life landmarks, such as the White House, the Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials, Arlington National Cemetery, and the Washington Monument, with a small number of settlements dotted around the Capital Wasteland that consist of descendants of survivors from the Great War, including one that surrounds an unexploded bomb, another consisting primarily of ghoul inhabitants, and another formed within the hulking remains of an aircraft carrier. While the city can be explored, much of the interior zones are cut off by giant rubble over many of the roads leading in, meaning that access can only be achieved by using the ruins of the city's underground metro tunnels (loosely based on the real-life Washington Metro).

The region has two major factions within it: the Enclave and the Brotherhood of Steel. While the Enclave is similar in goal to their western brethren, the eastern branch of the Brotherhood of Steel seeks to assist the people of the Wasteland, although a small group rejected this and became outcasts who seek to resume their original goal of salvaging high-level technology. Other factions include former slaves who seek to inspire others for freedom by restoring the Lincoln Memorial, a group that feast on blood, and a group who tend and care for a region of the wastes where plants have become abundant.

Story

For the first 19 years of their life from 2258 to 2277, the player character grows up within the isolated confines of Vault 101 (designed to never be opened as a social experiment by the pre-war corporation known as Vault-Tec) alongside their father James, a doctor and scientist who assists in the Vault's clinic. While growing up, their father comments about their deceased mother Catherine and her favorite passage from the Bible (Revelation 21:6), which speaks of "the waters of life." Upon reaching their 19th birthday, chaos erupts when James suddenly leaves the Vault, causing the Overseer to lock down the Vault and send security guards after James' child. Escaping from the Vault with the aid of the Overseer's daughter Amata, the search for James across the Wasteland begins at the nearby town of Megaton, named for the undetonated atomic bomb at the center of town, and eventually into the ruins of Washington, D.C., and the Galaxy News Radio station, whereupon James' child, after helping the station's enthusiastic DJ Three Dog, is given the moniker of The Lone Wanderer. Directed by Three Dog towards Rivet City, a derelict aircraft carrier serving as a fortified human settlement, the Lone Wanderer meets with Doctor Madison Li, a scientist who worked alongside James. Li informs the Lone Wanderer that their parents were not born in Vault 101, but lived outside of it, where they worked together upon a plan they conceived to purify all the water in the Tidal Basin and eventually the entire Potomac River, with a giant water purifier built in the Jefferson Memorial, called Project Purity. However, constant delays and Catherine's death during childbirth forced James to abandon the project and seek refuge in Vault 101, where he took the Lone Wanderer to raise within a safe environment far away from the dangers of the wasteland.

Learning that James seeks to revive the project and continue his work by acquiring a Garden of Eden Creation Kit (G.E.C.K.), a powerful piece of technology issued by Vault-Tec intended to assist in rebuilding civilization after the war, the Lone Wanderer tracks him down to Vault 112, and frees him from a virtual reality program being run by the Vault's sadistic Overseer, Dr. Stanislaus Braun, whom James had sought out for information on a G.E.C.K.. Reunited with their father, the pair return to Rivet City and recruit Li and the other project members to resume work at the Jefferson Memorial. As they begin testing the project, the Memorial is invaded by the Enclave, a powerful military organization formed from the remnants of the United States government, which continues to remain active despite the demise of their brethren on the West Coast thirty years previously. Seeking to stop them from gaining control of his work, James urges the Lone Wanderer to finish his work and find a G.E.C.K. before flooding the project's control room with massive amounts of radiation, preventing the Enclave's military leader, Colonel Augustus Autumn, from taking control of it and killing himself in the process. Autumn survives, however, and the rest of the team flees from the remaining Enclave soldiers. The Lone Wanderer, accompanied by the remaining Project Purity members, make contact with the Brotherhood of Steel within the ruins of the Pentagon, now known as the Citadel. With their help, the Lone Wanderer travels to Vault 87 to find a G.E.C.K., which had been used as a testing site for the Forced Evolutionary Virus (FEV) and now as a breeding ground for the Super Mutants. The Lone Wanderer recovers the G.E.C.K. from within the Vault with the optional help of a friendly Super Mutant named Fawkes. As they make their way out, the Wanderer is ambushed by Colonel Autumn and the Enclave and is captured with the G.E.C.K confiscated.

At the Enclave base at Raven Rock, the Lone Wanderer is freed from their cell by the Enclave leader, President John Henry Eden, who requests a private audience with them, but Colonel Autumn defies Eden's orders, takes command of the Enclave's military, and orders the Lone Wanderer to be shot on sight. Despite the setback, the Wanderer meets with Eden who is revealed to be a sentient ZAX series supercomputer that took control of the Enclave after President Dick Richardson was killed on the West Coast. Seeking to repeat Richardson's plans, Eden reveals his intentions of using Project Purity to infect the water with a modified strain of FEV that will make it toxic to any mutated life, thus killing off most life in the Wasteland including humans. The Enclave, who would be immune to the effects because of their genetic purity as a result of their isolation, would be free to take control of the area. Forced to take a sample of the new FEV, the Wanderer leaves the base, regardless of doing so peacefully or convincing Eden to self-destruct. Returning to the Citadel, where news of the Enclave's possession of the G.E.C.K. is known to the Brotherhood, the Lone Wanderer joins them in a desperate final assault on the Jefferson Memorial, which is spearheaded through the use of a giant prewar military robot named Liberty Prime. After reaching the control room, the player has the choice to either convince Autumn to leave or kill him. Li informs the Wanderer that the purifier is ready for activation, but that the code must be inputted manually within the control room, meaning whoever goes in will be subjected to lethal amounts of radiation. To make matters worse, the purifier has been damaged and will self-destruct if not activated.

At this point, the Lone Wanderer can either: * Do nothing and let the purifier explode, destroying the Jefferson Memorial and killing everyone inside in the process. * Sacrifice themselves and input the right code that is hinted throughout the game. * Send Sarah Lyons into the chamber and give her the right code.

Except for the first choice, the Lone Wanderer has the choice of introducing the modified FEV into the purifier or not, which further affects the ending. Whatever the choice, a bright light enshrouds all, and an ending slideshow begins, including any actions they took that had an influence on the wasteland.

''Broken Steel'' ending

Although the main story ends here, the introduction of the ''Broken Steel'' DLC creates a new choice with the ending, in that the Lone Wanderer can send one of their radiation-immune companions, most notably Fawkes, into the chamber to input the code. Furthermore, the game remains open-ended from this point onwards, with the Wanderer surviving the radiation they were subjected to. The Wanderer wakes up two weeks later to the news that the purifier is working well and supplying clean water to the people of the Wasteland. However, if the player decides to infect the water purifier with the modified FEV, then adverse effects can be seen across the Capital Wasteland. The player's choice will also influence Sarah Lyons' fate. Sarah Lyons does not survive if sent into the chamber in the ''Broken Steel'' ending.

The comic follows the story of Pablo, a young boy whose life is ended in an unfortunate hit-and-run accident, ends up in hell and has to traverse the underworld in search of answers. Along the way he meets several colorful characters such as Quetzal, an ancient Aztec god, and El Calambre, the ghost of a once-famous masked wrestler.

The story is set in Vancouver, 2036.

San Francisco was struck by an earthquake and a company called Self, which is somehow related to Microsoft, set up an AI system to replace the city, with a virtual environment called ''Frisco''.

The story follows several people, both in Vancouver as well as in Frisco.

Mooch, a young canine starlet, sets off for Hollywood. After befriending Zsa Zsa Gabor, her new friend provides the pooch with the "skinny" on the ins and outs of achieving Hollywood fame. Wandering through the famous haunts of tinseltown, Mooch comes across Vincent Price at the Brown Derby and ends up in his Jeep. Price wants to give the dog to a young admirer and takes Mooch to a veterinarian for a check-up. When his new owner leaves, Mooch is frightened by Dr. Hackett and bolts for the door, but is not able to catch up with Price driving away.

After checking out the psychedelic scene where she meets Phyllis Diller, her wandering takes Mooch to Dino's Lounge on Sunset Strip in West Hollywood and then to the Playboy Club in downtown Los Angeles. Rejected as a Playboy bunny, but still on the lookout for famous haunts, Mooch discovers Michaelangelo's Wigs where she has visions of a glamorous new look. Continuing on past the Classic Cat Club, Mooch encounters James Darren at an outdoor garage, and feigns an injury to get his attention. On a trip to the seashore, new adventures await with new friends. Hoping to land a contract, Mooch tags along with two girls being discovered by a producer Jerry Hausner. Ending up back at the veterinarian, Mooch joins a wild menagerie of animals waiting for Dr. Hackett.

Placed in the veterinarian's kennel, Mooch makes his escape and heads for Paragon Studios. On his tour of the back lots, famous catch phrases waft through the air. After interrupting a wild west shooting scene, Mooch sneaks into the dressing room of Jill St. John. Taking her turn in the hairdresser's chair, the young starlet finds her way to a recording session with Jim Backus, playing Mr. Magoo, who needs a dog for an upcoming production. He becomes her next master, taking Mooch home to meet his wife Henny, and the many friends arriving for a garden party, including all of Mooch's former owners.

Finally making one last attempt at achieving stardom, Mooch checks out a Hollywood estate and jumps aboard the owner's car. It turns out to be Dr. Hackett who ultimately adopts the stray.

The Bantons (father, Abel (John Carradine) and four sons, Coy (Jock Mahoney), Ethan (Ron McDonnell), Johnny (Gary Cockrell) and Martin (Al Mulock)) rob a pay office in a settlement, killing some people. Coy Banton is tracked down to their camp and taken away by a policeman, Wyntors (John Sullivan). Taking him back to town, Wyntors is killed as two of the brothers seek to rescue Coy. Tarzan appears and kills Ethan Banton. The other brother escapes. Tarzan decides to take Coy to Kairobi for the $5000 reward so he can give it to Wyntors' widow. However, no one in the town of Mantu (same town as the one at the beginning of ''Tarzan's Greatest Adventure'') wants to help him. The boat he is waiting for to take him and his prisoner to Kairobi is ambushed by the Bantons, who send the passengers off and destroy the boat.

Later that night Tarzan meets with the people from the boat and decides on an overland trek to take Coy Banton to Kairobi and agrees to take along, at first, the boat's mate, Tate (Earl Cameron), then reluctantly agrees to take the passengers of the boat: A business man named Ames (Lionel Jeffries) and his wife, Fay (Betta St. John); another man named Conway (Charles Tingwell) and a young woman named Lori (Alexandra Stewart), who all share with Tarzan their own reasons for wanting to go to Kairobi. But Tarzan warns them the trek through the jungles would be hard and dangerous. The presence of so many people to watch out for hinders Tarzan. The Bantons threaten to kill anyone who helps Tarzan. Pausing only to shoot the doctor who has told them what they want to know, the Bantons set out after the party and Coy.

Ames is a boastful and racist windbag whose wife begins to detest him. Seeing this, Coy plays up to her, hoping he might be able to use her later. The party are captured by natives and the leader wants to kill Coy, who killed his brother when the Bantons raided their village. However, the chief's wife is having a difficult childbirth labour, and since Conway (who was a doctor) is able to help her have her baby (a breach birth), the chief agrees to let the party go.

Coy sees his chance and escapes. Thanks to Ames, Tate is shot and later dies. Tarzan again captures Coy and he hides them both in a quicksand pit as the other Bantons search for them. Later, Lori wanders off and is caught by Johnny Banton who attempts to have his way with her. As she screams, Tarzan comes to rescue her and, after a fight, Johnny dies from a shot in the face with his rifle while struggling with Tarzan and falls into a stream. Later, seeing his grave (along with Tate's), Martin Banton has had enough of a father who taught them to steal and murder by age sixteen, and leaves him.

Coy's wiles have paid off and Fay Ames releases him while the others sleep, and they leave camp together. Tarzan goes after them and finds Fay's scarf. Coy left her behind when she was out of breath and a lioness found her. Tarzan eventually comes on Coy and Abel Banton, and in a roving battle, a ricochet from Coy's rifle kills Abel. A prolonged battle on rocks, on sand and underwater follows before Tarzan finally knocks Coy out. The film ends with Tarzan and the remaining three people (Ames, Lori, and Conway) handing Coy over to the Kairobi police on the border and instructs Conway to make sure Wyntor's widow gets the reward money.

Potter declared the tale her next favourite to ''The Tailor of Gloucester''. The pictures are some of the most beautiful Potter ever created, especially the profusions of flowers in the doorways and garden plots. The colours in the illustrations are not the muted browns and greens the reader expects in a Potter illustration, nor are they the contrasting colours such as the muted reds and blues Potter uses occasionally to give her illustrations a splash of colour. Instead, the colours are bright oranges, violets, and yellows seldom seen in her other books. Even Ribby's lilac dress and Duchess's black mane illustrate Potter's concern for colour in this book.MacDonald 1986, pp. 95–6

Potter's own three-door oven, her hearthrug, her indoor plants, her coronation teapot, and her water pump are minutely detailed with more color than in other productions. The large format of the original edition, the captions accompanying the full page color illustrations, and the occasional lack of coordination between picture and text all display Potter's delight in the pictures, sometimes at the expense of the text.

"Once upon a time", Ribby, a "Pussy-cat" invites a little dog called Duchess to tea with plans to serve her "something so very very nice" baked in a pie dish with a pink rim. Ribby promises Duchess she shall have the entrée entirely to herself. Duchess accepts the invitation but hopes she will not be served mouse. "I really couldn't, ''couldn't'' eat mouse pie. And I shall have to eat it, because it is a party."

Duchess has prepared a ham and veal pie in a pink-rimmed dish (just like Ribby's dish), and would much rather eat her own pie. "It is all ready to put into the oven," she says, "Such a lovely pie-crust; and I put in a little tin patty-pan to hold up the crust." She reads the invitation again and realizes she will have the opportunity to switch the pies when Ribby leaves on an errand.

Ribby has two ovens, one above the other, and she puts her mouse pie in the ''lower'' oven. She tidies the house, sets the table, and leaves to buy tea, marmalade, and sugar. Duchess meantime has left home with her ham and veal pie in a basket, passes Ribby on the street, and hurries on to Ribby's house. She puts her pie into the ''upper'' oven, and searches quickly for the mouse pie (which she does not find because she neglects to look in the ''lower'' oven). She slips out the back door as Ribby returns.

At the appointed hour, Duchess appears at Ribby's door and the party begins. Distracted for a moment, Duchess does not see which oven Ribby opens to remove the pie. Duchess eats greedily, believing she is eating her ham and veal pie. She wonders what has happened to the patty-pan she put in her pie, and, not finding it under the crust, is convinced she has swallowed it. She sets up a howl; Ribby is perplexed and annoyed but leaves to find Dr. Maggoty, a magpie.

Duchess is left alone before Ribby's fire, and discovers her ham and veal pie in the oven. "Then I must have been eating MOUSE! ... No wonder I feel ill," she muses. Knowing she cannot adequately explain her ham and veal pie to Ribby, she puts it outside the back door intending to sneak back and carry it home after she leaves for home. Ribby and Dr. Maggoty arrive and, after much fuss, Duchess takes her leave, only to find that the magpie (who has left by the back door) and a couple of jackdaws have eaten her ham and veal pie. Ribby later finds the remains of the pie dish and the patty-pan outside the back door and declares, "Well I never did! ... Next time I want to give a party – I will invite Cousin Tabitha Twitchit!"

A mysterious foundling with unique red hair and strange god-given powers, Firethorn is condemned to life as a powerless servant—or so she believes, until one of King Thyrse's noblemen becomes her lover. But, as she accompanies Sire Galan to war, Firethorn discovers she may have traded one form of bondage for another. A soldier's mistress—even a high-born soldier's mistress—is despised as a "sheath," or camp follower. Also, Firethorn's nasty ex-overlord, Sire Pava, has joined the king's army, and she has made a new enemy in her lover's cousin and closest friend, the sadistic Sire Rodela. However, she and Galan share a fiery love that will surely overcome the opposition of both their personal enemies and their kingdom's enemies. Then Sire Galan makes a strange, heart-shattering wager that may not only ruin his honor, but get them both killed.^{[https://www.amazon.com/dp/0743247949]}

''The Ghost Sonata'' relates the adventures of a young student, who idealizes the lives of the inhabitants of a stylish apartment building in Stockholm. He makes the acquaintance of the mysterious Jacob Hummel, who helps him to find his way into the apartment, only to find that it is a nest of betrayal and sickness. The world, the student learns, is hell and human beings must suffer to achieve salvation. The play centers on a family of strangers who meet for the sake of meeting. They exchange no dialogue, nor gestures; they simply sit and bask in their own misfortune.

Set in 1961, the novel follows an eccentric community of houseboat owners whose permanently moored craft cluster together along the unsalubrious bank of the River Thames at Battersea Reach, London. Nenna, living aboard ''Grace'' with her two children Martha and Tilda, is obsessed with thoughts of her estranged husband Edward returning to her, while her children run wild on the muddy foreshore. Maurice, who lives next to her on a barge he has named ''Maurice'', provides a sympathetic ear for her worries. He ekes out a precarious living as a male prostitute, bringing back men most evenings from the nearby pub, and allowing his boat to be used for the storage of stolen goods by his shadowy acquaintance, Harry. Willis, an elderly marine painter, lives aboard ''Dreadnought'' which he hopes to sell in spite of its serious leak. Woodie is a retired businessman living aboard ''Rochester'' during the summer and with his wife Janet in Purley during the winter. Richard, aboard his converted minesweeper ''Lord Jim'', is looked up to as the unofficial leader of the community, both by temperament and by virtue of his past role with the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. His wife Laura hankers to move to a permanent house ashore.

When ''Dreadnought'' unexpectedly sinks, Willis is taken in by Woodie on ''Rochester''. Nenna resists the entreaties of her prosperous and energetic sister, who tries to persuade her to move to Canada for the sake of her daughters, and she resolves to confront Edward in his rented room in Stoke Newington, north London. Failing to persuade him to return, she gets back to ''Grace'' late at night feeling desolate, and bumps into Richard who tells her that his wife has just left him. They spend the night together.

Richard discovers Harry acting suspiciously on ''Maurice''. Harry attacks him, and Richard ends up in hospital. Laura takes her husband's incapacity as the excuse she needs to sell ''Lord Jim'' and to move herself and Richard into a proper house.

Maurice sits out an overnight storm in his cabin, drinking whisky in the dark. He hears blundering footsteps overhead and discovers that Edward (whom he does not know) has returned, incapably drunk, trying to find Nenna. The storm has blown away the gangplank between ''Maurice'' and ''Grace'' and, almost delirious with drink, the two men climb down ''Maurice'' s fixed ladder, intending somehow to cross the wild water between the two boats. As they cling to the ladder, ''Maurice'' s anchor is wrenched from the mud, its mooring ropes part, and the boat puts out on the tide.

The story follows the lives of twelve people who lived in the same area of England over a period of 6000 years, and how their lives link to one another’s. Each chapter carries the reader forward in time, but circles around the centre of Northampton, drawing in historical events and touchstones, before finally segueing into metafictional narrative in the closing chapter, as the author himself comments directly upon the previous chapter’s ambiguous closing line, before relating a personal (possibly fictional) anecdote about Northampton which relates a personal experience of local myth, and features an appearance by his daughter and son-in-law, the writers Leah Moore and John Reppion. Throughout, the image of the fire sparks resonates between the tales, while Moore finds a different voice for each character – though most are inherently duplicitous in some manner, leading to a further commentary on the disparity between myth and reality, and which is more likely to endure over time.

In Los Angeles, a friendship develops between Bill Denny and Charlie Waters over their mutual love of gambling after they are beaten up and robbed by a card player whose money they have won. Charlie, a wisecracking joker who lives with two prostitutes, is an experienced gambler who is constantly looking for the next score. He bets on poker, horse racing, boxing, and anything else that offers odds. Initially, Bill is not as committed a gambler (during the day he does a little work at a magazine while avoiding his boss), but he is well on his way to a full-blown gaming addiction.

As the two men hang out at Charlie's house, Bill's office, seedy bars, card rooms, and various sports venues, Bill becomes hooked on the gambling lifestyle. He goes into debt to Sparkie, his bookie, and hocks possessions, including his car, to fund a bus trip to Reno. At the track, Charlie spots the man who mugged him and Bill at the beginning of the film, beats him up, and robs him.

On their way to Reno, Bill and Charlie pool their money to stake Bill in a poker game. (One of the players is former world champion Amarillo Slim, portraying himself.) Bill wins $18,000 and becomes convinced he is on a hot streak. He plays blackjack, then roulette, and finally craps, winning more and more money. When Bill loses after a long streak at the craps table, he is drained and apathetic. Charlie is eager to continue gambling at other casinos, but after they split their winnings ($82,000), Bill tells Charlie he is quitting and going home. Charlie does not understand this but sees that his friend is sincere, so they go their separate ways.

On the morning of November 22, 1963, an elderly man who wears spacesuit-type clothing materializes in the hotel suite occupied by Jackie Kennedy. The Time Traveler shows Jackie future television footage of the assassination and funeral of John F. Kennedy. Shortly thereafter, the Time Traveler speaks to the president and to Attorney General Bobby Kennedy, giving them details of their respective assassinations and of the public revelations of JFK's sex scandals, convincing the president to remain faithful to Jackie. The Time Traveler won't state his name or his birthplace, but does mention that he was born on this day. The Time Traveler, who is clearly very fond of Jackie, is pleased when she agrees to dance with him.

The Time Traveler and the three Kennedys drink a toast in the hotel suite just before 12:30, which is the time that afternoon that JFK was historically assassinated in his motorcade. At 12:30 the Time Traveler turns into nothingness, and a lead-crystal glass that he was holding drops to the floor and shatters. Bobby finds a piece of glass with the Time Traveler's fingerprint on it.

Clint Hill and Bobby then travel ahead to Dallas, where Hill takes out two gunmen behind a fence on grassy knoll, confirming one of the later conspiracy theories about the assassination. Third gunman Lee Harvey Oswald is captured, and Jack Ruby is killed before he can shoot Oswald, who is taken to Washington, D.C. and interrogated by the Warren Commission, culminating in the CIA's disbandment. When J. Edgar Hoover threatens to blackmail the President by revealing audio tapes of Kennedy having sex with Marilyn Monroe, Bobby counters by threatening to release photos of Hoover's homosexuality. Hoover agrees to hand over the tapes, and also agrees to hand in his letter of resignation.

John and Jackie appear on television. John reveals his infidelities and asks for forgiveness from both his wife and the nation. Jackie stands with her husband and asks the country to do the same.

Having been forewarned by the Time Traveler that the Vietnam War will end with 57,000 American soldiers having died for nothing, Kennedy announces, ahead of the 1964 presidential election, the withdrawal of US military forces from Vietnam. Vice President Lyndon Johnson is enraged by this and tries to dissuade him from this or least wait until after the 1964 election (which realistically Kennedy would've done the latter) but Kennedy refuses. Kennedy, in a speech televised from a rally at Rice Stadium, recommits to the importance of the Apollo Program, but also expands it to be a project for all humanity, and openly calls for the Soviet Union to participate in it, appealing to Nikita Khrushchev to negotiate an end to the Cold War. His efforts are ultimately successful, resulting in humanity's first Moon landing being a joint US-Soviet project, with astronaut John Glenn and (fictional) cosmonaut Nikilia Bresnev planting their two nations' flags together on the Moon.

In 1964, Bobby is still determined to uncover the Time Traveler's identity, wanting to prevent him from eventually inventing time travel, but a pregnant Jackie exacts an iron promise from Bobby that the Time Traveler would never be harmed. As it turns out, the Time Traveler is currently a toddler named Raymond Mead. Mead, like his older Time Traveler self, is obsessed with Jackie Kennedy. In 1979, a then sixteen-year-old Mead commits a burglary, is arrested and put on a prison bus; his fingerprinting enables now-President Bobby Kennedy to know the Time Traveler's name. President Bobby has the teenager pulled off the bus, he talks to the kid, and he gives Mead a full pardon.

As time passes, Mead becomes an artist and gets married. Jackie has bought many of his paintings, up until her 1994 death the same year as in the original timeline. JFK dies in 2000, at age 83, of natural causes. With both his parents gone, the Kennedy's youngest son, James Robert, explains to Mead why the Kennedy family has been so generous to him and reveals a portrait of his older self. The film ends with Mead's younger self (rather than the older Time Traveler) dancing with Jackie in 1963 as a dream sequence, then shows the real Mead as a toddler in 1964 staring at televised footage of Jackie with her new baby, James, being discharged from Dallas' Parkland Memorial Hospital, where JFK had died in the original timeline.

Master Liu and Master Law are rival masters of Shaolin style kung fu and Wu-Tang style sword fighting, running schools in the same city. Their top students, Chao Fung-wu (Adam Cheng) and Hung Jun-kit (Gordon Liu), are actually close friends, with Jun-kit's sister, Yan-ling (Idy Chan), having a crush on Fung-wu. After observing the two students fighting at a brothel, two of the local Qing Lord's (Johnny Wang) soldiers report the power of the styles to him. The Lord determines that the two styles are dangerous and that he must learn both.

After being poisoned by the Lord, Master Law lets Fung-wu stab him. For this, Fung-wu is sent to prison. Attempting to rescue Fung-wu, Jun-kit teaches a prisoner (Li Ching) the Shaolin Chin kang fist, not knowing the prisoner is the Lord's spy. After their escape from prison, the four of them (the spy, Yan-ling, Fung-wu and Jun-kit) are ambushed. To overcome the Lord's men, Fung-wu teaches the spy some Wu-Tang sword techniques. As they are still being overpowered, Fung-wu and Yan-ling have to flee the scene, only to be captured by the Wu-Tang who came to prosecute Fung-wu for killing Master Law. As they leave for Wu-Tang temple, Yan-ling gets shot and dies in Fung-wu arms. The Wu-Tang leave the dead body behind. Jun-kit finds it, believing the Wu-Tang killed his sister. Hoping to avenge Yan-ling's death, Jun-kit returns to the Shaolin temple for training as a monk. Meanwhile, Fung-wu is being held at the Wu-tang temple.

The Qing Lord has since learned both the styles from the spy, but because he did not learn either from a master, his grasp on both styles is imperfect. To overcome this deficiency, he decides to have the Wu-Tang and the Shaolin destroy each other so that he may be the only master of both styles. To do this, he stages a martial arts contest between the two temples, hoping to appeal to the traditional rivalry between the Shaolin and the Wu-Tang. Jun-kit (now called Tat-chi), and Fung-wu (now called Ming-kai), are selected by their respective temples as the representatives.

During the contest, the Qing Lord, in his impatience to see both Wu-Tang and Shaolin destroyed, admits his true motives and his role in Yan-ling and Master Law's deaths. Tat-chi and Ming-kai must then combine Shaolin Chin kang fist and Wu-Tang Sword style to defeat him.

The game takes place eight years after the events of ''Army of Darkness''. After regaining his job at S-Mart and beginning a new relationship with fellow employee Jenny, Ashley "Ash" Williams begins suffering from recurring nightmares about the Necronomicon and the Deadites, which haunt him for years. Wanting to help him, Jenny decides to take Ash back to Professor Knowby's old cabin to help him face his demons.

However, shortly after arriving, Ash's possessed severed hand appears and plays Knowby's old cassette containing the Necronomicon's incantation once again. Despite Ash's attempts to stop it, the evil once again awakens in the woods, smashing through the window and kidnapping Jenny. When Ash goes to grab an axe above the mirror, his evil twin, Bad Ash exits the mirror and knocks him unconscious. After awakening, Ash quickly goes out to the workshed and reassembles his chainsaw-hand before going out to stop the Necronomicon and save Jenny.

After reading some of Professor Knowby's notes, Ash learns of a priest named Father Allard, whom Knowby was working with to decipher the Necronomicon and send the evil back to where it came. Upon consulting Father Allard at his church, Ash departs to gather the five missing pages from the Necronomicon and the Kandarian Dagger, the latter of which he obtains from a possessed Annie Knowby in the cabin's fruit cellar. After the two come across a possessed Jenny, Father Allard uses the pages and the dagger to create a portal and exorcise the demons from Jenny's body. However, Allard then reveals himself to be Bad Ash in disguise, who promptly kidnaps Jenny and jumps into the portal with Ash in hot pursuit, the two arriving in an Arabian village in the 9th century.

Ash finally catches up with Bad Ash, who intends to let Jenny be consumed by the Dark Ones and cross over into this world while Bad Ash will kill Ash and use him as a 'calling card'. The two fight, with Bad Ash transforming into a giant scorpion-like deadite. Nonetheless, Ash still defeats him and manages to use the pages of the Necronomicon to pull Bad Ash into the portal. With Jenny now free from possession, Ash uses another of the spells to open a portal and send them back home.

Upon arriving, Ash and Jenny discover to their horror that they've arrived in a version of Dearborn, Michigan that is ruled by the Dark Ones. Seeing several various necronomicon books in a shop window, Ash screams as the game ends.

The story begins with the narrator describing the night sky as observed over long sleepless nights from his window, in particular that of the Pole Star, Polaris, which he describes as "winking hideously like an insane watching eye which strives to convey some strange message, yet recalls nothing save that it once had a message to convey".

He then describes the night of the aurora over his house in the swamp, and how on this night he first dreamed of a city of marble lying on a plateau between two peaks, with Polaris above in the night sky. The narrator describes after a while observing motion within the houses and seeing men beginning to populate the streets, conversing to each other in language that he had never heard before but still, strangely, understood. However, before he could learn any more of this city, he awoke.

Many times, he would again dream of the city and the men who dwelt within. After a while, the narrator becomes tired of merely existing as an incorporeal observer and desires to establish his place within the city, simultaneously beginning to question his conceptualization of what constituted reality and thus whether this was just a dream or whether it was real.

Then, one night, while listening to discourses of those who populate the city, the narrator obtains a physical form: not as a stranger, but as an inhabitant of the city, which he now knew as Olathoë, lying on the plateau of Sarkis in the land of Lomar, which was besieged by an enemy known as the Inutos.

While the other men within the city engage in combat with Inutos, the narrator is sent to a watchtower to signal if the Inutos gain access to the city itself. Within the tower, he notices Polaris in the sky and senses it as a malign presence, hearing a rhyme which appears to be spoken by the star:

Uncertain as to its meaning, he drifts off to sleep, thus failing in his duty to guard Olathoë. Upon awakening, the narrator finds himself back in his house by the swamp, but the narrator is now convinced that this life isn't real but a dream from which he can never awaken.

14-year-old Hayley Stark and 32-year-old photographer Jeff Kohlver engage in a sexually charged, flirtatious online chat. Jeff and Hayley agree to meet at a coffeehouse, and he takes her back to his house after making her think that he has things at his place that would really interest her. He pretends to act like it would be an "insane" thing to have her come back to his place, which entices Hayley even more to want to do it, which was his plan. She agrees to go with him and leave in his car. When they arrive, Jeff makes them drinks, but Hayley refuses by saying she was taught to never take a drink she has not mixed herself. Hayley then goes to the kitchen and makes them both screwdrivers. Jeff shows her around and shows her his photographs hung on his walls, all of which seem to be of underage half clothed girls. As they drink a little more, Hayley asks Jeff to photograph her. He gets out his camera and Hayley begins to pose but before he can take any photos, Jeff loses consciousness.

When Jeff wakes, he is bound to a chair. Hayley explains she has been tracking and baiting him through online chats and drugged him because she knows he is a sexual predator and murderer. Jeff denies these allegations, claiming he had innocent intentions. Hayley searches Jeff's house and finds his gun and safe. In the safe, Hayley finds pictures, including a photo of Donna Mauer, a local girl who has been kidnapped and remains missing. Jeff continues to deny any accusations and kicks Haley to the ground which temporarily knocks her out. He rolls the chair into his room and manages to get his gun that Hayley left out on his bed. He rolls back to the living room to see that Hayley must have gotten up; she comes up from behind him and wraps his face in plastic wrap, choking him unconscious.

When Jeff wakes, he finds himself bound to a steel table with a bag of ice on his genitals. Hayley explains she will castrate Jeff. Hayley sets up his camera to take pictures of his genitals before the surgery. Jeff starts to realize she might really do this and so threatens, bribes and sweet-talks Hayley to dissuade her; when that doesn't work, he tries to get her sympathy by telling her he was abused as a child. She proceeds to pull out the medical book to guide her through the procedure while talking Jeff through it as she does it. Following the supposed operation, which Jeff does not feel due to the ice numbing his genitals, Hayley walks away saying she will take a shower.

Jeff frees himself and realizes he is unharmed. He storms off in a rage to get Hayley in the bathroom, where the shower is running. Scalpel in hand, he attacks, but finds the shower empty. Hayley attacks him from behind, and as they struggle, Hayley incapacitates him with a stun gun.

Hayley poses as a police officer and asks Jeff's ex-girlfriend, Janelle, to come immediately to Jeff's house. Jeff regains consciousness to find that Hayley has bound his wrists and hoisted him to stand on a chair in his kitchen with a noose around his neck. Hayley makes Jeff an offer: if he commits suicide, she promises to erase the evidence of his crimes, but if he refuses, she promises to expose his secrets. The conversation is interrupted when a neighbor knocks on the front door, selling girl scout cookies. When Hayley returns, Jeff breaks from his bindings and pursues her to the roof of his house, where she has lured him. Hayley has brought her rope from the kitchen and fashioned it into a noose secured to the chimney. Hayley keeps Jeff at bay with his gun.

Jeff confesses that he watched while another man raped and murdered Mauer. Jeff promises Hayley that, if she spares his life, he will tell her the other man's name so she can exact her revenge. Hayley reveals that she already knows his name, Aaron, and that Aaron said Jeff did it before he killed himself. Janelle arrives, and Hayley once again urges Jeff to hang himself, promising that she will destroy the evidence. Defeated, Jeff lets Hayley slide the noose around his neck, and takes the last fatal step off the roof; after he falls Hayley says, "Or not". Hayley gathers her belongings and escapes through the woods.

Six years have passed since the events at Hull House on Halloween, and many of the bodies left at Hull House were recovered except for Angela's; rumor persists she descended bodily into Hell. As it turns out, her parents committed suicide five years later after receiving a Halloween card with Angela's signature. A year later her sister Melissa, nicknamed 'Mouse' (Merle Kennedy), is now staying at St. Rita's Academy, a Catholic boarding school for troubled teenagers. She frequently has nightmares about her sister. Rumors spread around the school regarding Mouse, started by the school bully, Shirley (Zoe Trilling). However, the head nun at the school, Sister Gloria (Jennifer Rhodes), tries to put an end to it.

However, Shirley, after getting banned from the school Halloween dance for wrestling on the tennis courts with Kurt (Ladd York) decides to have her own Halloween party at Hull House complete with Mouse and (as a prank) fake carrying out ritual sacrifice she learns from stealing a demonic ritual book from the school brain, Perry (Robert Jayne). Along with her boyfriend Rick (Rick Peters) and Z-Boy (Darin Heames), she tricks Johnny (Johnny Moran), Johnny's girlfriend, Bibi (Cristi Harris), Bibi's friend Terri (Christine Taylor) and Kurt (Ladd York) to get Mouse to go with them to Hull House, awakening a now demonized Angela. After some bizarre incidents, the group flees the house, minus Z-Boy, who is possessed and raped by Angela in the attic.

Bibi brings a tube of lipstick out of the house which takes on a hellish life of its own. It quickly possesses Shirley and, one by one, Rick, Z-Boy, Terri and Kurt are possessed and/or murdered by demonic Angela (although Terri is saved when Sister Gloria exorcises the demon inside her with Holy Water). Angela's plan is to sacrifice Mouse to the Devil to prove her devotion to him. Sister Gloria, Johnny, Bibi, Father Bob (Rod McCary) and Perry return to Hull House in an attempt to rescue Melissa. Once arriving at the house, the five become separated and Father Bob is quickly killed by the demonic Rick. Johnny is saved by Perry from the demonic Kurt. Unfortunately, Perry is killed by Z-Boy. With the holy water the group brought, Bibi, Johnny and Sister Gloria kill the remaining demons, except for Angela.

After finishing off the demons, the three survivors find Melissa sleeping on an altar. Angela and Sister Gloria debate on what true faith is with Angela stating "Real faith can move mountains, your faith can't even move a mouse." Angela then decapitates Sister Gloria but the sister actually pulls her head down into her habit and survives. With one last ruse to save Melissa and the others, Sister Gloria agrees to take her place on the altar. Angela then hands the sword to Melissa, promising her a great source of power if she kills Sister Gloria. However, Melissa turns the tables and stabs Angela instead. Sister Gloria finishes Angela off with a super soaker filled with holy water. As the four try to leave, they are confronted again by Angela, who has taken the form of a Lamia. Angela attacks them but Johnny manages to kick a hole in the wall in the shape of a cross. The cross-shaped-sunlight falls upon Angela and she explodes. With Angela and her minions dead, Sister Gloria, Melissa, Bibi and Johnny leave the house and return to the school where they are greeted by everyone there. But before the film ends, one student is then seen finding the demonic lipstick which turns into a snake and attacks her.

Bowie, a young man convicted of murder when a teenager and Chicamaw, an old lag, escape from a Mississippi prison in 1936 and join up with another old lag, T-Dub, who has hired a cab to meet them. They hide out with an acquaintance, who owns a garage and set to work robbing banks. Here Bowie gets to talk to Keechie, the garageman's daughter. They next hole up with T-Dub's sister-in-law Mattie and her children, including her older daughter Lula, the object of T-Dub's lascivious attention.

Bowie is injured in a car crash, after which Chicamaw guns down an inquisitive officer. He leaves Bowie at the garage, where Keechie takes care of him. They become lovers but Bowie has no intention of turning his back on crime. Bowie leaves to meet up with the others and they rob a bank but the trigger-happy Chicamaw shoots and kills a bank clerk. The robbers split up and Bowie returns to a distraught Keechie. We learn that T-Dub has been killed and Chicamaw recaptured and returned to prison. After persuading an unwilling Mattie to let the pregnant Keechie stay in a cabin at her motel, Bowie, posing as a sheriff, springs Chickamaw from prison but the latter, while claiming to have merely tied the warden to a tree, has instead shot him dead.

Bowie forces Chicamaw out of the car and leaves him at the side of the road to fend for himself. Returning to the motel cabin he is ambushed by Rangers, who blast the cabin with gunfire, watched by an anguished Keechie, forcibly restrained by Mattie, who has betrayed Bowie. Bowie's bloody corpse is carried out and laid on the mud. In the final scene we see Keechie at the station, ready to take the first train out to find a place where she can have her baby. (In Anderson's novel, she too is killed by the Rangers.)

The story stars Tsubaki Sadamitsu, a young delinquent and leader of the Corpse Gang, who has a chance encounter with an alien robot working to capture banished intergalactic criminals who are arriving on Earth named . When he ends up causing the robot's body to be destroyed as a result, Sadamitsu discovers not only can its head operate independently without the body, he can also wear the head as a helmet to gain some of the robot's powers. Ever-chivalrous, Sadamitsu becomes determined to make up for the mess his actions have caused, and accepts using these powers and working with the robot's computer to take up its mission. Though he receives other outside assistance, his job is made harder with the appearance of the Vulture, a last-ditch effort to keep the Ryūkei-dai under control.

Two families live next to one another in a French village on the eve of World War I. The Boy in one of the families falls for the only daughter in the other family. As they make preparations for marriage, World War I breaks out, and, although the Boy is American, he feels he should fight for the country in which he lives.

When the French retreat, the village is shelled. The Boy's father and the Girl's mother and grandfather are killed. The Girl, deranged, wanders aimlessly through the battlefield and comes upon the Boy badly wounded and unconscious. She finds her way back to the village where she is nursed back to health by The Little Disturber who had previously been a rival for the Boy's affections. The Boy is carried off by the Red Cross. Von Strohm, a German officer, lusts after the Girl and attempts to rape her, but she narrowly escapes when he is called away by his commanding officer.

Upon his recovery, the Boy, disguised as a German officer, infiltrates the enemy-occupied village, finds the Girl. The two of them are forced to kill a German sergeant who discovers them. Von Strohm finds the dead sergeant and locates the Boy and Girl who are locked in an upper room at the inn. It is a race against time with the Germans trying to break the door down as the French return to retake the village.

The novel follows Thomas Landman, an Afrikaner who becomes increasingly radicalised by an unnamed anti-apartheid resistance movement, loosely based on the African National Congress. Landman becomes involved in a conspiracy to assassinate the state president of South Africa, but he and his co-conspirators bungle the attempt and are forced underground. The novel follows Landman's increasingly harrowing experiences as a fugitive, and his subsequent escape to Botswana.

The film opens with a scientist, Eibon, recording a message stating that he had successfully brought the dead back to life and that he plans to become one of them. He is then attacked by a zombie that had managed to break into his lab. About a month later a group of young filmmakers, actors Shelly and Eric, director David, and FX artists Paul and Marcus, break into an abandoned hospital, unaware that it was the same one that Eibon used for his experiments.

Their attempts to make a horror film are interrupted when David and Shelly's sister Nina arrives on set, upset that Shelly had taken her role in the film. She continues to act antagonistically to other crew members, which includes a gofer named Topaz, insisting that the filming and special effects be retooled for her. This causes a pause in filming, during which time the crew investigates the hospital, finding both Eibon's laboratory and his corpse, which is inside a strange coffin. David decides to use the corpse as a prop, which disgusts Shelly and makes her quit the film. Later during filming Eric accidentally brings Eibon back to life via the coffin, which emits a strange purple light and opens a vortex through which two zombies emerge. Eric is promptly killed by the zombies and brought back to life by Eibon. It's also revealed that Eibon became interested in bringing the dead back to life after his beloved wife Ellie died from cancer.

The zombies pick off the crew one by one, including Shelly, until only Topaz, David, and Paul are left. Topaz is captured and brought to Eibon's laboratory, as she had killed a zombie Ellie. Paul and David disguise themselves as zombies to infiltrate the lair and eliminate enemies, however Paul dies in the process. David manages to successfully free Topaz and destroy Eibon, however when they try to leave the hospital they find themselves in a different dimension inhabited by the dead.

In the near future, the world falls victim to a plague of violent carnivorous undead humans, and a black-ops elite team of soldiers, nicknamed the "Zombie Squad", has been enlisted by the government as exterminators to control the growing epidemic. While on a series of routine containment missions, the soldiers stumble upon a mysterious religious cult which wishes to protect and enable the zombies, believing them to be a punishment ordained by God. Within their compound may be a cure to the virus causing the plague.

Six friends, Christian, David, Kate, Johnny, Sara, and Melody, are traveling in an RV to get to the wedding of their friend, Kelly, in Galveston, Texas. However they become lost in a small town called Lovelock, and decide to spend the night at the local bed and breakfast, owned by the creepy Mr. Wise. While staying, the group insult the chef, Henri, causing an argument to break out. After everyone goes to bed, David goes to the kitchen to get a snack, only to discover Henri brutally murdered, before Mr. Wise has a heart attack.

With the phone line broken, it takes until morning for the sheriff, and his deputy, Enus, to be summoned for help. The sheriff is quick to suspect the group, and takes the keys to the RV away, so they can not leave the town until the investigation is over. The group goes into town, while the sheriff arrests a mysterious drifter, who quickly becomes the prime suspect. The drifter warns Christian and Sara of ancient exotic wooden box, that Sara realizes belongs to Mr. Wise. However it is too late, as Johnny arrives back at the bed and breakfast and opens the box, unleashing the "Kuman Thong" which possesses him, causing him to savagely murder various people. Meanwhile, Christian and Sara meet town local Lisa Belmont who swears she saw Mr. Wise dig up the body of his dead son and perform a form of black magic on the body. Sara and Christian return to the bed and breakfast and discover Johnny has opened the box.

Sara and Christian alert the sheriff, who drives them to a local party, that David, Kate and Melody are attending with the rest of the town folk. The possessed Johnny arrives and a bloody massacre ensues, with the town folk, including Enus, becoming zombies as Johnny puts various body parts of his victims in the box. In the chaos, Christian is decapitated as David, Kate, Sara and Melody escape with the sheriff in a truck. They accidentally run over the drifter, knocking him unconscious after he escapes from his prison cell. Taking him with them, the radiator soon blows in the truck, forcing the group to take shelter in the bed and breakfast. They gather weapons, before the drifter tells them they must retrieve the body of Mr. Wise to kill Johnny. The zombies arrive at the bed and breakfast and the group fend them off, before the sheriff, Melody and the drifter sneak out the back door to retrieve the bones of Mr. Wise.

At the bed and breakfast, the zombies retrieve some of David's blood that was on the step of the house, placing it in the box causing him to become possessed. David beats Kate to death with a metal pole, before attacking Sara. However Sara manages to kill David with a chainsaw. At the cemetery, the sheriff, Melody and the drifter retrieve the body of Mr. Wise and perform a black magic spell, taking the bones from the body. As they travel to the bed and breakfast they encounter a group of zombies. The sheriff has his neck snapped, killing him, before Lisa arrives and rescues the drifter and Melody, who continue on to the bed and breakfast. Meanwhile, at the bed and breakfast, the zombies break in. Sara fights them, but is soon cornered. The drifter, and Melody arrive outside, where Melody shoots Johnny through the heart with a bone from the body of Mr. Wise, killing him and the other zombies. Sara reunites with Melody and the drifter, and together they leave Lovelock in their RV

Tal and Milla make it from the shadowy 'Dark World' to the titular castle, a seeming place of peace. Both are unwanted by the castle's inhabitants, Milla the most. The two must avoid conspiracies and other dangers inside the castle, just to survive.

While Shadowmaster Sushin maintains control over higher ranked chosen, Tal and Milla travel through the Castle's depths where they encounter the Freefolk, a group of the servant class Underfolk who possess a great hatred for all the Chosen. They also meet Lector Jarnil, a famous teacher. Tal and Milla learn more about the intricacies of Castle politics, including that Sushin, a Shadowmaster of the Orange, is the Dark Vizier of the Empress. He deals in unsavory matters and commands others under the authority of the Empress. They also learn that the Veil is maintained by the seven Keystones which lie at the top of each of the seven towers.

Most of the Chosen leave the Castle due to the Day of Ascension. To prevent the Veil from failing, Tal, accompanied by the Freefolk leader Crow, climb the Red Tower and defeat the deadly Keeper. They also solve a puzzle of tiles to prevent any alarms from ringing out. Eventually they reach the Red Keystone and discover Lector Jarnil's cousin Lokar trapped inside. As Tal and Crow prepare to depart, they are assaulted by numerous unbound Spiritshadows. Tal is able to construct a miniature Veil in time to hide them, but accidentally binds Adras, his Spiritshadow, into it. As they near the Freefolk base, Crow injures Tal and flees with the Keystone. Tal recovers the keystone and Lokar convinces Tal to go to Aenir and consult the Empress to free Lokar.

While Tal and Crow climb the tower, Milla returns to Odris by the labyrinth of tunnels below the Castle. On her way, she discovers the skeleton where her Primary Sunstone partially originated. Scrutinizing it closer, she notices a long Violet fingernail, which she puts on. Knowing that she will give herself to the Ice, she breathes the Tenth Pattern to assure the completion of her task of getting a Primary Sunstone. On her way, she is attacked by Arla and a band of Shield Maidens for bringing Odris. Milla accidentally kills Arla with her talon. She is then judged by the Crones, who will decide her fate. After reviewing Milla's thoughts and dreams, the Crones debate and decide to attack the Castle to stop the Spiritshadow trade and save the Veil. The Crones choose Milla to lead the attack.

After arriving in Aenir they offer up blood on the hill they are standing on. This summons up two storm shepherds, Aenirian creatures with a heart of thunder and cloud, who then demand a life in exchange for a great gift. Soon the two characters discover that the two shepherds do not like taking lives, but only do it because they were bound thousands of years ago to do that exact task ever more. When they do not take a life and hesitate when Tal offers to make them his and Milla's spiritshadows to release their bind on the hill, the spirit in the hill awakes to sort out the problem. Afraid, the two creatures accept Tal's offer and quickly grab their new chosen and escape the hill, exhilarated to finally be free. Tal's spirit shadow is Adras, a big but dim witted male. While Milla ends up with Odris, a more sharp witted slender female. Neither is very good at reading human emotions and find themselves confused quite often.

When Milla realizes that Tal's offer has removed her true shadow, she flies into a rage. Tal gets angry at her because he does not fully understand that when he gave away her true shadow, he destroyed her hopes of being a shield maiden, as they are sworn to destroy all Spiritshadows, and cannot possibly have one themselves. Going berserk, Milla first threatens him with her Merwin horn sword before putting it away and knocking him out. She then storms off by herself. Adras and Odris then have a small talk about the over reactions of humans before deciding that Odris should probably go with Milla to make sure she doesn't get hurt. Adras then turns into a thunder cloud and surrounds Tal, protecting him while he is asleep.

Milla ends up at the edge of a burnt field, she calms down and starts to head back to Tal when she realizes there is something underneath her, a quick glance shows that she is on the only patch of green grass in the area. She then jumps just in time as the creature, called a Hugthing, snaps shut, clasping her legs together. With her hands free she hacks at the Hugthing with her sword, but it just bounces off. Just as her ribs are about to break Odris appears in the sky and hurls lightning bolts at the creature. it lets go and runs away making scared noises. She and Milla walk together through the trees when they run into a pack of giant hunting birds, the pack of birds then chase the pair until they reach a giant tower carved from a gigantic tree, where Odris lands on top. Milla takes the stairs to the bottom floor and can't explain why the door is wide open but the birds, called Nanuchs remain content to remain outside and wait for them to come out.

Meanwhile, Tal is waking up and soon finds a pack of bugs making a sign in the ground with their bodies, an arrow pointing east and the letter c. This is because the Codex, trapped under a mountain years before, is trying to direct Tal towards its prison by taking over animal-level intelligence creatures.

Category:2001 novels Category:Children's fantasy novels Category:Novels by Garth Nix Category:2001 fantasy novels Category:2001 children's books Category:Australian children's novels Category:Scholastic Corporation books

Two people live unlucky in love in Boston: Erin, whose activist boyfriend Sean has just walked out on their relationship to help a Native American tribe fight off a land development deal, and Alan, a plumber struggling to pay off family obligations while pursuing a career as a marine biologist. Both deal with personal and professional problems and stumble through relationships, continually crossing one another's paths without ever truly meeting and realizing how perfect they are for one another. Time and time again one almost catches the other's eye, but circumstances intervene. After a series of ups and downs both of their budding relationships with others crash and burn, just in time for a chance meeting on the MBTA train (the Blue Line) heading to Wonderland station in Revere, Massachusetts, on the outskirts of Boston.

Joe Hardy's girlfriend, Iola Morton, is caught in a car bomb and dies. Joe is unable to believe it. The brothers begin their investigation. They meet a person who calls himself the "Gray Man," from a government agency called "The Network." Frank and Joe take his help to get to the person who planted the bomb. Soon they learn that it is not a person, but a group of terrorists who call themselves "Assassins."

Joe vows to kill them. As the story progresses, some Assassins are killed in encounters while others escape. They come to know that the person who killed Iola is a member of The Assassins named Al-Rousasa.

When the book is about to end, Frank, Joe, Chet (who is Iola's brother) and their other friends begin searching a shopping mall when they learn that the Assassins plan to kill a presidential candidate giving a speech in Bayport. Soon, Joe and Frank have a fight with Al-Rousasa at the top floor. The fight ends with Al-Rousasa falling to his death, and Joe remembers what he had been told - "Nobody takes an Assassin alive."

The Hardy Boys come to New York for a vacation. When the brothers spot The Gray Man in Manhattan, they learn about an investigation he is working on regarding a terrorist organization in France. While the Gray Man does not want the brothers involved because they are too young and the case is too dangerous, the Hardys secretly work to get themselves in the center of the investigation and soon they find themselves undercover in France as a couple of gun dealers who are into the punk rock scene, complete with dyed hair and grungy clothes. They get caught up in a company called Renyard and Company, which secretly sells guns and other illegal things to people. They are almost killed in a machine when a lady known as Denise helps them escape. The book has an interesting storyline in which almost everybody is betraying each other - Renyard and Company, Denise and many other people. The Hardy Boys are also captured by the French special police known as the Sûreté. They eventually escape by beating everybody up.

Soon when the book is about to end, they are chased by the Chairman of Renyard & Company and his other partners. The people try to kill them but Denise saves them at the right moment. The case is then solved by the Hardy Boys and they return to the United States.

''Ryū Knight'' tells the story of Adeu, a boy who lives his life by the "Ethos of Chivalry" (a code of conduct similar to the Knightly Virtues). He is on a quest to seek the Earth's Blade, a gigantic sword which is capable of reaching the sky from the ground. Along the way, he meets Paffy, who is a princess, and her two escorts: Sarutobi, a ninja, and Izumi, a priest. Together, they partake on an adventurous journey in which he comes across many villains, at first composed of thieves and bandits who are after the Ryu mechs, which are far stronger than the normal mechs (henceforth referred to as Solids). The plot expands as the series progresses.

Maze wakes up in her house; everything is a wreck and she has amnesia. Before she can gather what has happened a girl named Mill storms into her house, thanking her for having saved her life. She tells Maze that her house suddenly fell down from the sky and crushed Mill’s pursuers under it. However, before long they are both on the run from further pursuers who want to get their hands on Princess Mill.

When re-enforcements arrive, they are only saved when Maze discovers that she has phantom light magical powers and can summon Mills family heirloom mecha, Dulgar. However her performance with the mecha is weak; that is until the sun goes down and she is turned in to a lecherous man who can even handle one of the most powerful spells ever known. Soon other travellers join them as Maze tries to protect Mill and figure out what she is doing in this fantasy world; Demi-Armor hunters Aster and Solude, both of whom are interested in Female-Maze; Randy, handy guide and Exposition Fairy (quite literally as she's a tiny Winged Humanoid who usually hides in Maze's shirt when the going gets tough); and Rapier, Knight and Demi-Armour pilot of the neighbouring kingdom ruled by Mill's uncle, who joins up with the party when her kingdom falls to Jaina as well.

Maze and Mill meet more companions on their journey and become embroiled in a war to defeat Jaina and raise Mill back to the throne of Bartonia.

The story revolves around the trials and tribulations of a young Polish priest, Father Stephan Kovalski (a French priest named Paul Lambert in the original French version), the hardships endured by a rickshaw puller, Hasari Pal in Calcutta (Kolkata), India, and in the second half of the book, also the experiences of a young American doctor, Max Loeb.

Father Stephan joins a religious order whose vows put them in the most hellish places on earth. He chooses not only to serve the poorest of the poor in Calcutta but also to live with them, starve with them, and if God wills it, die with them. In the journey of Kovalski's acceptance as the Big Brother for the slum dwellers, he encounters moments of everyday miracles in the midst of appalling poverty and ignorance. The slum dwellers are ignored and exploited by wider society and the authorities of power but are not without their own prejudices. This becomes evident by their attitude towards the lepers and the continuation of the caste system.

The story also explores how the peasant farmer Hasari Pal arrives in Calcutta with his family after a drought wipes out the farming village where his family has lived for generations.

The third main character is a rich American doctor who has just finished medical school and wants to do something with purpose before opening up his practice catering to the wealthy.

The book chronicles not only the separation of the wealthy from the poor but the separation of the different levels of poverty, caste divisions, and the differences of the many religions living side by side in the slums. It touches on Mother Teresa and her Missionaries of Charity as well. While the book has its ups and downs, both beautiful and horrific, an overall feeling of peace and well being is achieved by the story's end. Despite facing hunger, deplorable living conditions, illness, bone-breaking work (or no work at all) and death, the people still hold on to the belief that life is precious and worth living, so much so that they named their slum ''Anand Nagar'', which means "City of Joy".

The author has stated that the stories of the characters in the book are true and he uses many real names in his book. However, the book is considered fictional since many conversations and actions are assumed or created.

The author and his wife traveled to India many times, sometimes staying with friends in the "City of Joy". Half of the royalties from the sale of the book go towards the City of Joy Foundation that looks after slum children in Calcutta.

The plot focuses on a young girl by the name of Mirai Ozora, living in Tokyo in the year 2045. Being obsessed with her hobbies of shopping and modeling, one would never expect her big brother Hiroshi to be a brilliant inventor for ZIC, a major technological corporation.

It all begins with Hiroshi's invention of the "Mol-Unit", a device capable of allowing an object to operate outside of the normal laws of physics. Flight, super-speed and strength, invulnerability, all capable through the Mol-Unit's power. The only catch, however, is that it can only stay active for a limited time, only 666 seconds (just over 11 minutes).

Such a device would have changed the world on a whole, but Hiroshi's motives for its invention are not so much for the world as it is for his own ego. Using the Mol-Unit and its power, Hiroshi develops a new superheroic personality for himself, Captain Tokyo.

After his initial debut, "Captain Tokyo" becomes a media sensation, and Hiroshi eats it up. However, things backfire when, out of curiosity, Mirai finds the Mol-Unit and tampers with the costume it generates, giving it a more feminine appearance. In doing so, the Mol-Unit malfunctions, causing the costume to randomly alter between Hiroshi's design and Mirai's. Upon realizing this, Hiroshi is forced to lend the Mol-Unit to Mirai, whose own personal use for the device seems to be more lighthearted than her brother's.

However, things are not right in Tokyo. A mysterious man by the name of "Dr. Machinegal" (actually an old friend and teacher of Hiroshi's, Professor Amagi) and his personal robot army, among them the destructive android group known as the "Machinegal Dolls" (all named after famous models and actresses) is bent on causing havoc upon the world. To make matters worse, Nozumu, the youngest of the Ozora siblings, has developed his own Mol-Unit and created a supervillain persona to oppose his brother and sister out of spite. Completely unaware of such events at first, but obligated to do something, Mirai finds herself thrown into the world of superheroism, which she takes in stride.

Tomomi and Mikage Matsunaga are identical twins with special powers. Together, they are able to teleport and communicate telepathically. The athletically challenged Mikage begs Tomomi to switch identities with her for her school's sports day track meet, where she and Tomomi are teamed with Mikage's arch-enemy Yuya Noda, in the relay race. Tomomi, however, finds herself drawn to Yuya. Tomomi's success in the relay causes the captain of the track team, Hideaki Kurashige, to try to recruit Mikage. So, once again the sisters switch identities. However, the science teacher, Shinichiro Kageura, finds out about their psychic powers, and begins to stalk Tomomi. Sensing that Mikage (who was really Tomomi) has been behaving strangely, Yuya visits them at home.

Somewhere in the darkest corner of the Milky Way is a small, insignificant planet named Blot. This was a really beautiful place but the inhabitants good-tempered creatures, who called themselves Blotians, had to flee from a terrible fate. The time had come to build a generational spaceship and search for another suitable planet. Their name was changed to leave the past behind, and now they were called "Fuzzy Wuzzies".

Coincidentally a suitable planet was also found. This happened quite involuntarily as they had to make an emergency landing after a collision with an asteroid. The only planet within reach was good old Earth. It was,however, a blessing in disguise as they landed in the Pacific near an unknown island. After the Fuzzy Wuzzies came ashore they built a city and the island was called "The Hippest Place in The Known Universe".

What the Fuzzies did not know was that demons resided on the other side of the island who, of course, always had a bad temper. It was the friendly nature of the Fuzzies that got on their nerves and they hated the new name of the island. The demons came up with a cunning plan to end their existence and, therefore, the good mood of the Fuzzies. They invited the Fuzzies to one of the biggest parties that had ever been celebrated on the island. The Fuzzies could, of course, not resist this invitation. They cleaned their fur, and they all went to the party. But when the party was at its best these nasty demons threw a net over the Fuzzies, captured them and locked them all up in their torture chambers.

The only one who escaped these events was Clyde Radcliffe, who left the party slightly tipsy and found a sleeping place in one of the bushes. The next morning he woke up with a throbbing headache and a breath so bad that he could even ignite trees with it. Nevertheless, our brave hero was ready to teach the demons a lesson and save his fellow Fuzzies from the horrible torture chambers.

In the future, the "Metal Fight" games are the most popular televised sport in the world and many robot contestants compete for the title of Best Metal Fighter in the World.

Kurenai Ken, along with teammate Saeba Shôko (who was, at first, adamantly opposed), pilots the Super Robot Fighter, Red Baron and enters the contest with dreams of becoming its champion. He must, however, face an army of other rivals from around the world including "Kaizer" and the Tetsumen Tô doctors, and later allies like Tiger and ShinRon.

J. C. Wiatt is a driven Manhattan management consultant (nicknamed the "Tiger Lady") committed to her demanding and high-profile job. She lives with her boyfriend Steven Buchner, an investment banker. They both are happily focused on their careers and have no interest in having children. Notified that a distant cousin has died and left her a bequest, J.C. is shocked to discover that her "inheritance" is the cousin's orphaned toddler, Elizabeth.

Unwilling to disrupt her hectic life and also clueless about childcare, J.C. arranges to give the child up for adoption, but she grows attached to Elizabeth, forcing J.C. to re-evaluate her priorities. She decides to become a working parent and to raise Elizabeth herself, something Steven has no desire to partake in. They amicably break up, and he moves out. J.C.'s boss, Fritz Curtis, offers her a chance to become a partner at the firm. CEO Hughes Larrabee is interested in having J.C. manage the account of his major company, The Food Chain. Adjusting to life with Elizabeth, J.C. lands the account, and her protégé Ken Arrenberg is assigned to her team.

Struggling to balance her work and home life, J.C. hires a series of nannies and enrolls Elizabeth in early development classes, as parenthood soon occupies much of her time. When she discovers Ken making decisions without her input, J.C. tells Fritz she wants him off her team. To her surprise, Fritz informs her for the good of the company, Ken will be in charge of the account and J.C. will be reassigned to a lower-profile client, allowing her to spend more time with Elizabeth. Postponing her promotion, Fritz explains that he too was forced to choose between his career and his family.

Humiliated, J.C. quits, and moves with Elizabeth to a farmhouse in Vermont. Purchasing the house without first having seen it in person or having it inspected, she finds it is riddled with problems (failing plumbing and heating, lack of water, bad roof). By winter, she is strapped with escalating repairs needed to her new home, running out of money and patience, and overwhelmed with loneliness. On the brink of financial collapse, and suffering a nervous breakdown, she meets local veterinarian Dr. Jeff Cooper. At first annoyed by him, she is opposed to Jeff's overtures and is focused now on returning to New York as fast as possible. Finding a buyer for the house proves almost impossible. She sees an opportunity to sell "gourmet" baby food applesauce she had concocted for Elizabeth from fresh ingredients. After a rough start, it grows into a full-fledged business called "Country Baby". As her business expands and orders start pouring in from all over the country, J.C. and Jeff strike up a romance.

Later, Fritz reaches out to J.C. with an offer from The Food Chain to acquire Country Baby, and she returns to her former firm to meet with Larrabee and her former colleagues. They lay out the multi-million-dollar deal to buy her company and distribute its products nationwide, and offering her a lucrative salary with a Manhattan apartment and other benefits. Ready to accept and that she would be back into her original powerful and prestigious former life in corporate career of New York, J.C. has a change of heart and declines Fritz's offer. J.C. is confident she can grow her company herself without having to sacrifice her relationship with Elizabeth and Jeff. She returns home to Jeff and Elizabeth in Vermont, content with her new life as an active mother, girlfriend, and the CEO of her own burgeoning business.

The book spot-covers local events and a few related diplomatic discussions from a few days after the Ring of Fire (May–June 1631) to October in the fall of 1634—giving it the largest time footprint of the four—though narrowly focused. The short novel that concludes the work begins in late August 1633 and overlaps many of the shorter works earlier in the book. Two of the three other books set in 1634 refer to the events in the work (usually as the "troubles in Franconia") setting its canonical place in the "greater" neo-historical international politics covered in the other two works.

"Recipes for Revolution"

The two Larkin "Birdie" Newhouse tales along with two flashback vignettes by Flint begin the Ram Rebellion book, all four set in the weeks immediately after the ''Ring of Fire''. In the Flint stories which are sandwiched around the Birdie tales, Mike Stearns goes back to school under the tutelage of Melissa Mailey. Stearns has a problem, he has to get a handle on likely complications from the local population, as the stories are set just a few days after he is elected as Chairman of the Emergency Committee. As a result, Mailey gives Stearns several very thick history books on European history in the era.

Birdie Newhouse has an immediate problem, he's a farmer with most of his farm's arable land 300 years off and a continent away. The stories by Gorg Huff and Paula Goodlett explore the alien land practices and ownership of down-time Germany as Birdie seeks to gain additional lands. Land sales are rare; worse, the lawyers are in control and there are three general levels of vested interest: The owners-in-fact, a variable number of other claimants, and the tenants. The tenants have certain rights and obligations over and above monetary rent while leases are generally for the lesser of three generations or 99 years. In between the owner in fact and the tenants is usually a monetary transaction which gives the rents to any number of claimants—depending upon the finances of the landholding family. The claimants all have a say in the farm operation to some extent, as do the occupants of the farm villages, which also have the right to disapprove or accept new co-farmers, for the land is farmed cooperatively with another set of obligations and entitlements. Birdie can't just go and buy a piece of land, he has to buy it from three different and diverse groups of people... and get them all to agree to terms. As the story notes, seventeenth century Germany was a lawyer's paradise.

"Enter the Ram"

Flo Richards is a farmer's wife with four grown children who had bought a small flock of type C Delaine Merino sheep and some angora rabbits before the Ring of Fire in the hope that she'd see more of her youngest daughter, Jen, once she'd finished her studies out of town. The Ring of Fire had consequently left Jan behind in the present in which Flo dealt with this loss by concentrating on her livestock. She and her husband JD have local Germans living with them as partners now that farming has become more labour-intensive. Flo's laments about the poor quality wool from the locally obtained ram (who comes to be known as Brillo for that reason) strike a chord with someone and subsequently a number of 'Brillo fables' start to appear in the local broadsheet; the fables concern the titular ram escaping from his pen and interfering with her merino breeding program. The ram's fame spreads through Grantville out into the rest of Germany. The Women's League of Voters uses a Ram's Head as its emblem, schoolchildren sing songs about Brillo, and even adapt it into a ballet.

"The Trouble in Franconia"

With the example of future Grantville, a peasant revolt becomes a revolutionary movement in the fractured Holy Roman Empire south and east of Thuringia while the Machiavellian maneuvers in the neo-historical governments and various field armies now dance to counter-act those aimed at the Americans' new heartland. ''Up-timers'', from the original USA space-time want the serfs to succeed and liberate themselves—but also know what a bloodbath the French Revolution became and various individuals act to help one and prevent the others. Avoiding that path will take all sorts of resources and efforts, and Americans from both uptime and ''down-time'' act resolutely to mitigate the problems, diplomacy to head off wars headed by authoritarians threatened by the new American ideals, and a deft appreciation of when not to fight and dangle an irresistible carrot instead.

"The Ram Rebellion"

In Franconia, schoolteacher Constantin Ableidinger has been reading ''Common Sense'' by Thomas Paine. He also finds the Brillo stories interesting. The farmers in Franconia (and Thuringia for that matter) have a history of dissent concerning serfdom and Mike Stearns has hopes of getting some fundamental changes made in the way that Franconia is run as a result of a farmer's rebellion of sorts. He neglects to include this in the briefing given to the civil servants sent down to administer Franconia although these people, Johnny F. and Noelle Murphy, among others have an effect on the schoolteacher's "Ram rebellion".

The anime follows one day in the life of Bean Bandit and Rally Vincent, as they find that they have been framed for the kidnapping of Chelsea Grimwood, the daughter of Mr. Grimwood, President of the Grimwood Company/Grimwood Conglomerate. However, it is Semmerling, by way of various disguises, tricks, and manipulations, who is the real kidnapper — and the real target is Mr. Grimwood himself.

While the police are in hot pursuit of Bean and Rally, along with Chelsea in tow, Semmerling and her helper Carrie plan to make a secret getaway with Mr. Grimwood as hostage.

Hiroki Imanishi and Kanata Tokino are two young guys who have been close friends in all their lives. One dark and stormy night, Hiroki Imanishi leapt in front of a car, saving one young girl's life—and ending his own. The moment he leaves his body, Hiroki is joined by an evil spirit named Fhalei Rue, an evil spirit who takes an interest in Hiroki. Hiroki then realizes that his mortal body is possessed by Fhalei. One night, Kanata sees the spirit of Hiroki and communicates with him, and the next day he asks who the real Hiroki is, to Fhalei (who is inside of Hiroki's body). In a fit of rage, Fhalei attacks Kanata, using Hiroki's body, but she goes back to see who tries to drown, because she did not want to kill anyone. Then, Hiroki (his fleshly body) falls off a cliff and Kanata also because of trying to save the first one. Almost drowning, the two parts of Hiroki (the body and the soul) are transported to a fantasy world where they meet Fhalei. There, they discover that Kanata has a special power (a very strong love for Hiroki, which gives light, thanks to its strong friendship). Fhalei understands that is useless to struggle against Kanata, realizing that Hiroki's light belongs to him. Then she pushes back the time, and Hiroki returns to life after the accident. The spirit goes out of the boys' lives. Their classmates look for them everywhere, until finally they appear safe on the beach. The OVA ends with an embrace between the two main characters, as they used to do when they were little.

Aloysius T. McKeever (Victor Moore), a hobo, makes his home in a seasonally boarded-up Fifth Avenue mansion, each time its owner—Michael J. O'Connor (Charles Ruggles), the second richest man in the world—winters at his Virginia estate. McKeever winds up taking in ex-G.I. Jim Bullock (Don DeFore), who has been evicted from an apartment building O'Connor is tearing down for a new skyscraper, and later 18-year-old Trudy "Smith" (Gale Storm), who is actually O'Connor's runaway daughter. Jim soon invites war buddies Whitey (Alan Hale, Jr.), Hank (Edward Ryan) and their families to share the vast mansion when they are unable to find homes of their own.

When Trudy encounters her father, she tells him she is in love with Jim. She has not told Jim who she really is because she wants to win his love without her wealth. She then persuades her father to pretend to be a homeless man named "Mike". McKeever reluctantly takes Mike in, but treats him like a servant. When Mike becomes fed up, he gives Trudy 24 hours to get the squatters out. Trudy calls Palm Beach and seeks help from her mother Mary (Ann Harding), who is recently divorced from Michael. Mary comes to New York and pretends to be another homeless person to join the other squatters. McKeever, sensing Mary and Mike have feelings for each other, nudges them together. Eventually, Mike tells Mary he is a changed man and proposes. Mary accepts.

Jim comes up with an idea to convert unused post-war Army barracks into much-needed housing. McKeever persuades him to bid for an Army camp on the outskirts of New York City. Jim and his friends raise money from hundreds of other ex-G.I.'s in the same predicament. O'Connor also wants the property, and a bidding war ensues before O'Connor finds out who his competitor is. To try to get rid of his daughter's suitor, he sees to it that the construction company Jim approaches about his conversion plan rejects it and instead offers him a well-paying job in Bolivia, on the condition that he be single.

Celebrating Christmas Eve together, the residents are caught by two patrolmen, but McKeever convinces them to let the families stay until after the New Year. Jim then reveals that the camp has been sold to O'Connor, and he is considering the job offer in Bolivia, resulting in Trudy breaking up with him. When Mary and Trudy find out how Mike has manipulated the situation, Mary thinks he has not changed after all, and that she and Trudy will leave for Florida. Ashamed, Mike arranges a meeting with "O'Connor" for Jim and his partners, who are dubious but accept. At the meeting, Mike reveals his true identity and transfers ownership of the camp to them, provided that they not reveal his identity to McKeever.

That night, everyone shares a New Year's dinner before restoring the house just as they found it. Mike, Mary, Trudy and Jim bid farewell to McKeever as he heads off to O'Connor's estate in Virginia, still unaware of the truth. Mike tells Mary to remind him to nail up the board in the back fence through which McKeever gets onto his property, intending to have McKeever come through the front door next winter.

An older man, played by Paul Dooley, tries romancing a younger woman, played by Marta Heflin. She is part of a travelling band of bohemian musicians who perform gigs in outdoor arenas around the country. He joins them on the road and tries to fit into their communal lifestyle. The film features multiple musical numbers.

Bearing similarities to Altman's 1975 film ''Nashville'', along with a plotless structure, ''HealtH'' chronicles the progress of a health-food convention held at a luxury hotel in St Pete Beach, Florida. As the convention takes place, the members of an organization called HealtH hold a campaign to find out who will become its President. (Their name stands for "Happiness, Energy and Longevity through Health"; it also serves as their slogan. ) The candidates are Esther Brill, an 83-year-old afflicted with narcolepsy who calls herself "the first lady of health"; Isabella Garnell, who is serious against commercialism and materialism; and Dr. Harold (Gil) Gainey, a salesperson-turned-independent.

On the first day of the conference, The Steinettes (a female quartet dressed in green and yellow) introduce Dick Cavett, who is hosting his show on location and covering the details of the event. He interviews Gloria Burbank and Esther Brill, two of the candidates competing for the new Presidency of the HealtH organization. Burbank, a White House representative, has been sent to this venue on the President of the United States' behalf. Later that day at the hotel lounge, Burbank's ex-husband Harry Wolff plans to re-schedule the Cavett interview, due to difficulties with Brill during her profile. The moment Burbank heads to her room, Gil Gainey (a minor candidate) stops her and debates on the worth of her strategy.

On the morning of the second day, several conventioneers notice a seemingly dead body sunk to the bottom of the pool from their balconies. Harry Wolff and the President's advisor on health, Gloria Burbank, are chatting by the deep end of the pool. Gloria then dives into the pool, not realizing there is a body floating on the bottom. As she approaches it, she finally sees it and screams in fear, heading back to the surface. Some other men dive in to rescue the drowned body, but it turns out that Gainey had been using an oxygen tank in order to play a publicity stunt.

That night, Garnell announces a serious message from the top of the hotel through her loudspeaker; many guests take notice, and some complain. Around that time, a businessperson named Colonel Cody arrives at the conference, and heads to Garnell's room to interrogate and find out her plans.

Next morning, Harry finds out that Burbank is beginning to support Garnell, and thinks that this is not right. Later on, while discussing breastfeeding and abortion with Brill, Burbank is astonished that Garnell and Brill were actually born male. After serving in the Army, both had sex change operations in 1960. Bobby Hammer, a dirty tricks specialist, actually concocted this revelation to trick Burbank.

After another discussion with Brill, Burbank enters the empty convention hall, where Cody interrupts her. He finds her title, and the ideals of the HealtH organization, worthless. Ashamed and in tears, Burbank is shocked that he controls not only HealtH, but also the ongoing election; he even plans to rig the votes and the outcome. She runs back to tell Wolff on Cody's scheme. As the couple start making love, Burbank is worried that it will be all over for her if Garnell wins. Harry, however, assures her that Garnell is still a woman anyway.

On the fourth and final day, the results of the HealtH election are announced live on Cavett's show, and Esther Brill comes out as the victor. Burbank and her ex-husband watch on from their balcony outside, and also take a glimpse at Cody proposing an offer to Brill. Some time later, Cody, who turns out to be her harmless nut brother, gets into a fit of anger, knocking down everything in his path, and demands to get away immediately.

With the HealtH convention over, another one involving hypnotists is taking root at the hotel. Before he and the candidates leave, Cavett briefly greets Dinah Shore, the host on hand for this event. As the HealtH sign is taken down in front of the hotel, the Steinettes perform a Broadway-style show tune that closes the film.

May is hiding out at an old motel in the Southwestern United States. She is staying at the motel when an old flame and childhood friend, Eddie, shows up. Eddie confronts May and seems to try to convince her in argumentative terms that their fates are somehow linked and that they should stay together. May vehemently refuses him. She says that she has absolutely no interest in living with Eddie under any circumstances, that she has a job and started a new life and knows that if she goes back to Eddie their relationship will repeat the same destructive cycle it has followed before. As May's current love interest, Martin, shows up for a date, Eddie begins to thicken the narrative somewhat about his relationship with May as having a dark secret hidden within.

Throughout the film the character of the Old Man—apparently the father of both lovers—sits to the side and talks to May and Eddie and offers commentary on each character and about himself. It is revealed that the Old Man had led a double life, abandoning each family in the same town for different periods during each child's life. Without knowledge of their father's philandering, May and Eddie became lovers in their high school years and when their parents finally figured out what had occurred, Eddie's mother shot herself.

May is afraid that Eddie has begun to emulate his father's feckless womanizing; taking to drinking and secretly seeing a woman May refers to as the Countess. The Countess returns twice to the old motel where May is staying in a black Mercedes and opens fire with a revolver apparently trying to shoot Eddie for his misconduct and mistreatment of her in their affair. In the meanwhile, the Old Man has begun to drift off in denial that Eddie's mother had been driven to suicide, and May's erstwhile date, Martin, is left standing bewildered to observe it all. When the Countess next returns for her revenge against Eddie, a stray shot from her revolver sets off an explosion which ignites the entire old motel into a blaze of fire. The "fools" in the play are the battling lovers, May and Eddie, at the run-down Mojave Desert motel which is left ablaze. It burns to ashes in a panorama before their eyes as the film ends.

Sherry (Jillian McWhirter), a professional woman, happily discovers she is pregnant. While this is happy news for her and her doctor husband (Arnold Vosloo), both begin having strange memories from the night of conception. Uneasiness then becomes terror when both are convinced that she is carrying something alien inside her body. Sherry's therapist Dr. Susan Lamarche (Lindsay Crouse) believes that Sherry has a psychological problem, for which Craig is to blame.

The couple contact a UFO/Paranormal college professor (Brad Dourif), who takes Sherry back to the night she conceived through hypnosis. They discover that she was abducted by aliens and artificially impregnated. The viewer is shown this sequence several times, with each time showing that Sherry blocked or distorted certain parts of the event in an attempt to accept and understand what was being done to her.