On the eve of the Second World War, David Spaulding, a radio voice actor, is recruited by Colonel Ed Pace to run a secret network in Lisbon.

The plot advances to 1943. Both the Allies and the Axis find themselves facing key shortages that impede their ability to win the war. The Allies lack gyroscopes capable of operating at high altitudes; thus they are losing an unacceptably high number of bombers. If they do not procure gyroscopes soon, the D-Day invasion of Normandy will need to be postponed. The Germans find themselves without high quality diamonds, which are necessary for the rocket development program at Peenemünde.

Ironically, each side has what the other needs: the Allies control access to high quality diamonds from the Belgian Congo; the Germans have a design for a gyroscope able to operate at high altitudes. The German intelligence agency, the ''Nachrichtendienst'', discovers that the Allies are in need of gyroscopes, and proposes an exchange, to take place in neutral territory: Buenos Aires, Argentina.

David Spaulding has, in the meantime, become an invaluable spy for the Allies. His Lisbon network ferries agents and defectors back and forth from German-occupied territory. He is selected, however, to oversee the receipt of the gyroscopes – critically, he does not know that diamonds are being exchanged for the gyroscopes.

The Germans select the exiled industrialist Erich Rhinemann to supervise the exchange at their end. He is a clever choice because, although he is Jewish, he is committed to German victory and believes that he will be welcomed back after a German victory. Rhinemann is immensely influential and powerful in Buenos Aires.

Although puzzled at his assignment away from Lisbon, Spaulding accepts his new assignment. However, there are several attempts made on his life: one occurring at an airfield in the Azores, another in New York City. While he is in New York, awaiting details on his assignment, he encounters an old flame, Leslie Jenner Hawkwood who, having drawn him away from his apartment, seemingly vanishes into thin air. Spaulding's mentor, Ed Pace, is meanwhile murdered.

Upon arrival in Buenos Aires, Spaulding meets and falls in love with Jean Cameron, a woman employed by the embassy. Attacks on him continue, and he suspects he is being trailed by the Gestapo. He meets with Rhinemann to acquire the gyroscopes, but tries to draw out his mysterious assailants – Rhinemann and the other Germans are adamant that the Gestapo is not active in Buenos Aires.

To his profound shock, Spaulding discovers that the people trying to stop him work for the Haganah, a Jewish paramilitary organization set on stopping the exchange. When he captures Asher Feld, the Haganah leader, Feld informs him that he is a party to an exchange of diamonds for gyroscopes. From then on, Spaulding decides that the exchange must be stopped. He pretends to carry out his end, all the while facilitating a Haganah attack on Rhinemann's estate. Spaulding succeeds in killing Rhinemann (who had planned to kill him after the exchange) and Rhinemann's Nazi controller. Having acquired incriminating evidence about the exchange, Spaulding blackmails the Americans who had arranged it and arranges to retire with his beloved Jean.

A probe launched by the Federation starship ''Voyager'' is spotted by a Malon freighter. To prevent the Malons capturing the probe, Captain Janeway sends the probe into the atmosphere of a gas giant planet; the Malon freighter chases the probe into the giant and is crushed by its atmospheric pressure. Because of the value of the resources it has collected, the Voyager crew attempts to come up with solutions to recover the probe. Lt. Tom Paris presents the designs for a specialized shuttlecraft, the ''Delta Flyer'', that he has been designing over the past few months that would be able to withstand the gas giant's atmosphere. The rest of the crew help to finalize the schematics. Chief Engineer B'Elanna Torres submits designs for the hull and propulsion systems, but seems uninterested in the project, and distant from Paris despite their ongoing romantic relationship. Even talking with Morale Officer Neelix and enjoying her favorite comfort food, banana pancakes, does not cheer her up.

Efforts to build the ''Delta Flyer'' are boosted as it now becomes a race to recover the probe: the Malons want the probe as recompense for the loss of their freighter. As it nears completion, a structural flaw is discovered. Torres offers to test it via the holodeck, but purposely turns off the safety controls. The simulation shakes the virtual ''Delta Flyer'' and Torres is injured and knocked out from the test. While she is recovering, The Doctor diagnoses Torres with clinical depression. Captain Janeway discovers that Torres has been using the holodeck without safety protocols several times of late, and takes her off duty.

Torres' friend, First Officer Chakotay, attempts to learn more from her, taking her to the holodeck to revisit one of her programs that simulates the deaths of several of their Maquis friends. Torres explains that since she learned (via the recent personal information they got from the Alpha Quadrant) that many of their Maquis allies have been killed by the Cardassians and their new allies, the Dominion, she has been unable to cope with the trauma short of putting herself in near-suicidal danger. Chakotay promises that he and the crew will help her.

The ''Delta Flyer'' is finally completed, and Torres volunteers to join its crew, insisting that she be there to monitor the hull stability. The craft, along with the Malon one, race to the probe, but the ''Delta Flyer'' arrives first and retrieves the probe. However, on their way out of the atmosphere, the craft develops a hull rupture. Torres is able to create a makeshift forcefield to contain the rupture long enough for the craft to return safely to ''Voyager''. She is commended for her actions, and celebrates with a plate of banana pancakes, finding herself experiencing positive emotions for the first time in several days.

En route towards the Alpha Quadrant, the Federation starship ''Voyager'' is forced to travel through a sector of space, "The Void", where starlight is completely shrouded, creating a dense black cloud. The journey through this sector will take two years, but only two months into the travel has set the crew on edge. Left with nothing to do in the empty darkness, Captain Janeway has taken the time to reflect on their situation, feeling intense guilt for her choices that left the crew stranded in the Delta Quadrant.

One day, all power to the ship is knocked out, caused by an external field. They discover several alien intruders aboard ''Voyager'' and are able to capture one, dubbing it a Night Alien. They manage to restore power, discovering themselves surrounded by three smaller ships, but soon these are chased away by a larger ship of different design. Its pilot introduces himself to the ''Voyager'' crew as Emck, a Malon. After learning of ''Voyager'' s plight, he offers to lead the ship to a vortex that can lead them to the other side of The Void, in exchange for the Night Alien. Janeway refuses until she learns more.

The Night Alien in Sickbay is dying of theta radiation but after learning that Voyager has no hostile intentions, apologizes for his species' actions. They are a people that are trying to fight the Malon, as the Malon dump toxic theta radiation into the vortex, harming their species. The Night Alien is transported off Voyager by its fellow people before it dies. Janeway then tells Emck that she knows what's really going on and attempts to arrange a deal with him, to provide him with Federation technology to recycle the theta radiation into useful energy and matter in exchange for passage to the vortex, but Emck refuses, as this technology would ruin his livelihood as a waste hauler.

Janeway learned of the vortex' location from the Night Alien and she attempts to order the crew to send ''Voyager'' through the vortex while she stays behind in a shuttlecraft to destroy it, ending the Malon's use of The Void as a dumping ground. The crew refuses, acknowledging that they do not blame Janeway or harbor resentment for her actions that stranded them in the Delta Quadrant. Together, they come up with a second plan, to launch torpedoes shortly after entering the vortex, riding out the shockwave as the vortex is destroyed. As ''Voyager'' approaches the vortex, they are attacked by the Malon, but soon the smaller Night Alien ships reappear and distract the Malon long enough for ''Voyager'' to enter and destroy the vortex. The journey leaves them but a short distance from the edge of The Void and within minutes, the ''Voyager'' crew is elated to see stars once again.

For the first season, a 17-member production crew followed 11 climbers, three guides, and a team of Sherpas up the mountain in April and May 2006. The first season's six-part series included double-amputee Mark Inglis' ascent and brief footage of British climber David Sharp, who died in the attempt. The series was shot using high altitude equipment and helmet mounted cameras worn by Sherpas.

In the second season, biker Tim Medvetz and Danish asthmatic Mogens Jensen returned to successfully summit despite Jensen's initial unwillingness to use oxygen and Medvetz's accidental fall and hand injury. Jensen nearly died on the descent when a piton attached to a rock pass came loose and he fell fifteen feet off the slope. Rod Baber ascended ahead of Medvetz with a cell phone battery taped to his chest, which upon summiting he used to make a mobile phone call to his family. Millionaire David Tait attempted the first double-traverse of Everest, planning to ascend the north side, descend the south, and make the return trip. Tait reached the south side base but declined to complete his plan as he had lagged behind Phurba Tashi. Fred Ziel completed his first summit of Everest from the north side (he had previously failed twice after climbing the south), while Katsusuke Yanagisawa—at age 71—became the oldest man to summit Everest as of 2007. Yanagi experienced intermittent throat pain but was otherwise completely healthy upon his return to base camp. The following day, Brice presented him with a gift before packing up camp.

The third season of Everest premiered on Discovery on December 27, 2009. The series followed Russell Brice's Himex team as they, this time, climbed the South face, which is well known for such obstacles as the Hillary step and the Khumbu icefall. David Tait also made a surprise return to the show to climb the Everest for a third time, this time without oxygen.

Following the last four episodes of the second season of ''Everest'', the Discovery Channel aired an ''After the Climb'' segment similar to the ''Deadliest Catch'' series' ''After the Catch''. Phil Keoghan hosted discussions on several subjects with the show's participants and several well-known climbers, including Peter Hillary. Common topics included meteorology, dangers such as frostbite and oxygen starvation, equipment (especially the use of oxygen), and the workings of Brice's business.

Sasha walks through his life, leaving a bloody trace behind him. He is chased after. But evil be to the pursuer who will manage to draw up with him. The older he grows, the more he becomes a rectification tool against injustice. The more appalling is a crime, the more dreadful is his punishment. Shocking and unfathomable events slash the tissue of present-day reality.

Gradually Sasha becomes too dangerous to live among people, and one day the entire world revolts against him. He possesses a supernatural power, enabling him to destroy everything on his way. SHE makes her sudden appearance on his way. Ignorant of his supernatural powers, she falls in love with him.

Police interview several people, including high school student Sue Snell and gym teacher Miss Desjarden. Detective John Mulcahey is currently investigating the disappearance of a high school student and suspect of arson, Carrie White. These interviews reveal the preceding events.

One week before the prom at Ewen High School, Carrie is a shy girl who is bullied by the popular girls, most notably Chris Hargensen and Tina Blake. When Carrie has her first period in the shower, the girls taunt her until Ms. Desjarden intervenes and comforts Carrie. Principal Morton decides to send Carrie home but addresses her by the wrong name. An infuriated Carrie yells out, causing Morton's desk to move several inches. Making her way home, Carrie is accosted by a boy on a bicycle, whose joke goes wrong when he inexplicably flies off his bike and crashes into a tree. On arrival at her house, Carrie has a flashback of her childhood. Her fanatically religious mother, Margaret White, who considers menstruation a sign of sexual sin, locks Carrie in her "prayer closet" as punishment.

The next day, Ms. Desjarden gives the girls a week's detention for their bullying of Carrie. If any of them plans on skipping detention, they will be suspended and therefore banned from the prom. Chris is the only one who refuses to do so, so she is banned from prom. After Chris' father, John Hargensen, a lawyer, unsuccessfully attempts to rescind the ban, she enlists her boyfriend, Billy Nolan, to get revenge on Carrie. Meanwhile, Carrie discovers she has telekinesis, the ability to move objects with her mind. After a telekinetic episode in class, Carrie goes home and practices her talent. Sue, who feels sorry for tormenting Carrie, hires her boyfriend, Tommy Ross, to take Carrie to the prom. With some trepidation, Carrie agrees. When she tells her mother about the prom invitation, Margaret forbids her to go. At last, Carrie is provoked into using her powers to confront her mother and Margaret seemingly gives in.

On the day of the prom, Tina switches the prom ballots so that Carrie and Tommy are elected the Prom King and Queen. As Tommy and Carrie take their place onstage, Chris, who has been hiding in the rafters with Billy, pulls a rope, causing a wave of pig blood to fall onto Carrie. Chris releases the rope and the bucket falls on Tommy's head, killing him. Carrie goes into a shock-induced trance and locks everyone inside the gym, killing them all, except for a few students who escape through a vent with Ms. Desjarden. Carrie then leaves the burning school to walk home, unleashing a wave of destruction throughout the town. When Chris and Billy see Carrie walking, Billy tries to run her down but Carrie tosses their truck into a pole, killing them.

When Carrie arrives home, she gets into a bathtub, where she finally snaps back to herself but cannot remember what has just happened. Margaret comes into the bathroom to deem her daughter a witch for destroying the town and then attempts to drown her in the tub. With her last ounce of strength, Carrie stops her mother's heart. Sue finds Carrie and manages to revive her by administering two breaths. At Sue's suggestion, Carrie fakes her own death and Sue sneaks her out of town to Florida. As the two drive off, Carrie has a nightmarish vision of her mother. When she wakes up, she hallucinates Chris lunging at her. Noticing this, Sue asks her if she wants to stop for a moment, but Carrie tells her to keep driving.

In post-World War II Hong Kong, unhappily married Carol (Eleanor Parker) has an affair with a married man, Paul (Jean Pierre Aumont). Her physician husband Walter (Bill Travers) discovers it and presents her with a choice: travel with him to a remote mainland village (where he will fight a cholera epidemic) or face the scandal of a very public divorce. She persuades him to reconsider and he proposes an alternative. If Paul's wife will agree to a divorce and he marries Carol within one week, Walter will obtain a quiet divorce. Carol presents Walter's 'deal' to Paul, who declines, claiming respect for his wife.

Carol sees her only choice is to accompany Walter to the village, where she meets the rakish and booze-soaked consul Tim (George Sanders). He soon introduces her to nuns at the local hospital-convent and Carol begins to re-evaluate her self-absorbed life and character.

Working at the convent, Carol learns she is pregnant. She tells Walter she's unsure who is the father, and he regrets her honesty. Shortly after, Walter contracts cholera and dies. Carol returns to Hong Kong and an uncertain future.

The film's unlikely protagonist is a mild-mannered window peeper named Dead-Eye Dick (Max Gillies). Dick spies on a Mexican couple. The husband is very jealous and is about to discover that his wife has a lover when Dick rescues the lover, whose moniker is Mexico Pete (Serge Lazareff). The worldly Pete counsels the shy Dick on his problems approaching women. Dick claims that he is waiting for an Alaskan Eskimo named Nell. Pete and Dick decide to travel to Alaska to find this fantasy woman, and they have several wacky misadventures along the way.

The main character for this story is a boy named Toan. The book jumps from the past, when Toan is only six years old, to the present, when he is in his teens. The book is mainly written in first person, Toan's and his older cousin's, Linh's point of view.

This book is about the Vietnam war, and the problems and hardships the Vietnamese people faced while trying to escape their war stricken country. During the book, Toan and his family escape Vietnam, on a boat. They become part of the first wave of boat people. During the boat trip, Phuong (Toan's cousin) is almost captured by sea pirates, but her mother saves her from becoming a sex slave, by offering herself, in fair exchange and sacrifice for the safety of Phuong. She is taken away and never seen by her family again. This was not her fault however, this was forced upon her through the Vietnam gangs. When the family makes it to Malaysia, the Malaysian people try to send them back, but they destroy the ship, forcing everyone to go overboard. Toan almost drowns. When they make it to Malaysia, they are on a list waiting to be transferred to another country so they can be safe from the war in Vietnam. After being late for their time to leave, Toan's father takes matters into his own hands. They escape from their "home" and chase after the dream for a better life for their family. They end up in Australia.

This novel is filled with hope. It shows the inside of Vietnam, the way people feel about the war and the experiences that were experienced, that caused the Vietnamese people, to become stronger and more resilient. Only the heart is filled with hope, desolation and a dream. A dream for a better future... of freedom.

Budding film director Dennis Morrison (Michael Armstrong), producer Clive Potter (Terence Edmond), and screenwriter Harris Tweedle (Christopher Timothy) are hired by seedy erotic film producer Benny U. Murdoch (Roy Kinnear) to make a dirty movie based on the poem "The Ballad of Eskimo Nell". However they run into difficulty when each of the production's backers want a completely different style of film made. Then Murdoch makes off with the money and the three have to produce four ''different'' versions of the movie to keep everybody happy - a gay Western, a hardcore porno, a Kung Fu-style musical, and a wholesome family production.

Air Force pilot John Sands (Steven Seagal) has been wrongfully imprisoned in a military detention center where his memory is to be chemically wiped out. His superiors feel threatened by the knowledge he gained from his assignments to operations that were deemed too sensitive for regular intelligence services.

A top secret Air Force Stealth Bomber known as the X-77, capable of going anywhere undetected, is stolen by corrupt Air Force pilot Ratcher (Steve Toussaint). General Tom Barnes (Angus MacInnes), Sands' former commander, hears that Sands was arrested after taking down a group of men who were robbing a rest stop. It is revealed that Sands is Ratcher's trainer, Barnes sends Sands to northern Afghanistan with fellow pilot Rick Jannick (Mark Bazeley) to recover the X-77, by promising Sands that he will be a free man if he succeeds. Barnes has Admiral Frank Pendleton (Tim Woodward), who is on an aircraft carrier in the Gulf of Arabia, keep a team of pilots on standby just in case an air attack needs to be launched on the compound where the X-77 has been hidden.

Before Sands and Jannick arrive in Afghanistan, a Navy SEAL team that was planted there to meet them is killed by a group of men led by Eliana Reed (Katie Jones). Eliana kidnaps Jannick, and she takes him to her boss, Peter Stone (Vincenzo Nicoli), the man who paid Ratcher $100 million to steal the X-77. In a village close to Stone's compound, Sands meets up with his contacts Jessica and Rojar (Alki David).

As it turns out, Stone was born from a Muslim mother and a British father. Stone had spent his childhood in the Middle East, but was educated at Oxford. Stone's mother was killed in an attack by U.S. troops during Desert Storm, and as a result, a vengeful Stone formed the Black Sunday terrorist group. It is revealed that Eliana is Stone's second in command. She trains with a various guerrilla groups in the region, giving Stone the foundation he needs.

Now, Stone plans to use the X-77 and its pinpoint precision to drop two biological warfare bombs undetected one of them on Europe, and one of them on the United States. Stone plans to pay Ratcher another $100 million to fly the X-77 and drop the two bombs. Sands, Jessica, and Rojar, make plans to get into Stone's compound and launch an attack, but Stone has about 60 heavily armed mercenaries guarding the compound. Rojar starts a gun fight between the terrorists while Sands rescues Jannick. After a feud about the money, Ratcher shoots and kills Stone.

Sands takes on a few of the terrorists by hand as Jessica shoots and kills Eliana. Jannick catches Ratcher while Sands and Jessica leave in the X-77 but Ratcher manages to shoot him and get up in the air in a F16. After a brief dogfight, Sands manages to shoot Ratcher down and returns home.

The story involves a trio of teenagers, named Timmy (Omri Katz), Jamie (Tiffanie Poston), and Mick (Shawn Hoffman), who enjoy watching their favorite TV show which features anthropomorphic dinosaurs. Wanting to watch it on a better screen, Timmy, the youngest of the three, suggests that they try watching it on his father's screen in his laboratory. The moment they turn it on, a vortex sucks the three into the TV screen, and into their favorite show.

Upon entering the new world, the trio comes across a flightless Dimorphodon named Forry (Rob Sherwood). Reluctant, his knowledge of Dinosaur City proves useful as he guides the three to Tar Town where they join up with a Tyrannosaurus named Rex (Patrick Labyorteaux) and a Triceratops named Tops (David Jolliffe), two dinosaur freedom fighters willing to ignite a revolution against the villain, Mr. Big (Patrick Labyorteaux) and his caveman henchmen "The Rockies".

''Setting: New York City, New York''

The play begins with the coquettish Charlotte and Letitia talking about the forthcoming marriage and Maria's distress due to her father's marriage plans for her. Billy Dimple's father was Van Rough's business partner. Before the death of Dimple's father, a marriage between Van Rough's Daughter, Maria, and Dimple was settled. While Dimple becomes snobbish in England, Maria betakes herself to books that "improve her taste": "The contrast was so striking betwixt the good sense of her books, and the flimsiness of her love-letters, that she discovered that she had unthinkingly engaged her hand without her heart."

In the second scene, Maria bemoans the "helpless situation of [her] sex": "Reputation is the life of a woman - and the only safe asylum a woman of delicacy can find, is in the arms of a man of honor." Even though Maria reveals to her father a lack of love towards Dimple, old Van Rough still wants her to marry Dimple, stressing that “money makes the mare go”. For him his daughter's feelings are nonsense and money is the most important thing she should look out for. In a time when women usually were detained from enlightening their opinions by means of literature (biographies were acceptable, but no novels, since they were thought to produce a wrong world view), her father concludes that her sadness comes from “these vile books”. Not wanting to disappoint her father, Maria consents.

In Act II, Charlotte discovers that her brother, the good and honorable Colonel Manly, is in town. Manly fought in the Revolutionary War and is dressed in a soldier's coat, which seems totally unfashionable to the city's high society. Without knowing from each other's affair, Letitia and Charlotte, secretly reveal to the audience that they are also courted by Dimple. Snobbish Jessamy meets simple Jonathan, who has never been to such a big town and almost kissed a “harlot” without realizing it. Jessamy convinces “almost married” Jonathan to pursue some maids in the city. Jessamy introduces Jonathan to Jenny, and after the former takes his leave, Manly's manservant tries to kiss the girl. Jenny refuses angrily, since she thinks Jonathan much too unfashionable for her.

In Act III, Dimple says he loves Charlotte for her lively character, but needs Letitia's money. He also wants Maria to decline the match. Then Dimple, the villain, meets Manly and finds out that the Colonel is Charlotte's brother – just in time to prevent himself from telling Manly about his detestable attitude towards women. Dimple has an extensive monologue where he declares his love for European culture, despite living in America.

In Act IV, Maria tells Charlotte that Dimple insults and disgusts her and that she met a lovely man full of honor (Manly) this morning. Charlotte, being interested in Dimple, unsuccessfully “endeavour[s] to excite her to discharge him.” Manly and Dimple enter and the family relations are revealed to all characters. Van Rough meanwhile finds out about Dimple having lost seventeen-thousand pounds due to gambling and decides not to have his daughter been married to such a fool. In that moment he more or less accidentally overhears a conversation between Manly and Maria revealing their love and affections to each other.

In Act V, Jessamy fails to teach high society's rules of laughing to Jonathan, who just laughs too naturally. Dimple meets Letitia, telling her that he loves just her and that Charlotte is nothing else than a “trifling, gay, flighty coquette”. Charlotte enters and Letitia pretends to leave. She observes the following happenings. After Letitia seemed to be gone, Dimple tells Charlotte that he is in love with her and that Letitia is an “ugly creature!” When Dimple forcefully tries to kiss her, Charlotte screams and Manly comes in to help her quarrelling Dimple. Old Van Rough prevents the men from stabbing each other and Letitia enters to reveal the happenings to everyone. After Dimple is gone dishonored, Van Rough agrees to Manly's marriage proposal and Maria ends up with Manly.

''Altered'' is the story of four men who seek revenge on aliens, who abducted them and murdered their friend many years ago. As is explained via dialogue throughout the film, fifteen years before the events shown in the film, a group of five friends living in a remote American town were captured and experimented on by aliens while on a hunting trip. Only four of the friends returned alive.

The main character (Wyatt) has since distanced himself from his childhood friends and is shown to have decided to live with the past, albeit in apparent constant paranoia. Two of the remaining three characters, however, have been obsessed by revenge and have persuaded the remaining character that this is the correct course of action to take. The story opens with the tracking and subsequent capture of a lone alien—the consequences of which Wyatt and the three friends soon become deeply involved in.

Nora Powers is the head of personnel at Ashvale Advertising. However, when Nora's retired husband George joins Ashvale Advertising as chief commissionaire, she soon gets very embarrassed.

The film is about a group of four people who form a gang to put romance back into bank robbery. The film is light-hearted in tone, and makes impressive use of CGI.

''The following synopsis applies to the rewritten production (not the most recent Goodspeed version) and not the show that originally appeared on Broadway. As such, some musical numbers and subplots are not accounted for.'' ;Act One As a ship bearing hopeful immigrants steams toward Ellis Island, a lone passenger reflects on the life he has left behind ("I Remember"). Rebecca Hershkowitz, a Jewish woman, has fled Russia with her young son David, hoping to find her husband, Nathan, who left for America years before and never wrote back to his family. Rebecca has made friends with Bella Cohen, a teenager emigrating to America with her father Avram ("If We Never Meet Again"); her brother Herschel remains behind in Russia. Bella has fallen in love with Ben, another passenger, but Avram does not approve.

On Ellis Island, the unfeeling immigration officials treat the immigrants like animals ("Greenhorns"). With no male relative to claim them, Rebecca and David are in danger of immediate deportation until Bella begs Avram to rescue her friend. Avram pretends that Rebecca is his niece, and persuades his brother, who lives in a tenement on the Lower East Side of Manhattan to let Rebecca and David stay for the night. Bella, Rebecca and David marvel at the strange new sights in the streets below ("Brand New World"). Rebecca still feels lonely, and wishes that she can give her son a real home ("Children of The Wind").

Rebecca searches for her husband and takes a job sewing in a sweatshop, while David helps Rachel, a widow, selling trinkets out of her market stall. Bella works at home as a seamstress; confined to the tenement, she pines for Ben. Ben pretended that he had a wealthy uncle who would provide for him, but in reality, he has no uncle and works in a cigar factory. Avram, though an educated man in "the old country," hawks goods as a street vendor. Even so, the new immigrants remain upbeat ("Penny A Tune"). However, the business owners in the neighborhood are preyed upon by Mr. Rosen, a greedy man who demands they pay him for protection from his thugs.

Saul, a union supporter, confronts Rebecca, urging her to open her eyes to her poor treatment and unfair wages; he suggests that she better herself through education. Saul teaches Rebecca and David how to speak English, and tries to instill American values in them ("Easy For You"). To broaden their horizons, he takes them to see Hamlet as performed by a Jewish theatre troupe ("Hard To Be A Prince"). Rebecca realizes that she is falling in love with Saul ("Blame It On The Summer Night").

Ben comes to visit Bella, and admits he is only a factory worker. He has a new plan, to sell gramophones, and demonstrates one for her ("For My Mary"). As they dance, Avram returns and throws Ben out, forbidding Bella from ever seeing the boy again. Bella flies into a rage and accuses her father of not allowing her to achieve her own American dream ("Rags").

Meanwhile, Nathan, Rebecca's husband, is contemplating his position in the ranks of Tammany Hall, where he is promised great things if he manages to secure the Jewish vote for an anti-union Democratic candidate ("What's Wrong With That?"). He believes his wife is still in Russia until he discovers that she has placed an ad in the paper seeking him.

At the street market, Mr. Rosen comes to collect his bribes from the shopkeepers. Emboldened by the Socialist doctrine Saul has taught him, David stands up for Rachel and is beaten by Rosen's thugs. Rebecca blames Saul for corrupting her son and vows that she won't be fooled by any more idealistic notions of America. Nathan suddenly arrives to collect his wife and son ("Nothing Will Hurt Us Again").

;Act Two

Nathan explains to Rebecca and David how he has managed to climb up from the ghetto of the lower East side to a better life ("Yankee Boy"). Rebecca is unsettled that her husband has given himself the American name "Nat Harris" and distances himself from the Jewish community; however, she also likes the idea of having a better life for her son ("Uptown"). She also longs for Saul, though they both realize their love can never be ("Wanting").

Avram and Rachel have fallen in love, enabling Avram to move out of his brother's house and provide Bella with a more stable family life ("Three Sunny Rooms"). Bella and David help Ben sell his "Magic Music Machine" to excited customers ("The Sound Of Love"). The three are natural salesmen, and Bella is delighted to think that soon they will have enough money to marry. To help out, she goes against her father's wishes and takes a job at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory ("Rags" reprise).

Rebecca accompanies Nathan to a costume party and feels unhappy with her husband, who acts ashamed of her. When David interrupts the party to tell Rebecca of a fire at Bella's shop, Nathan forbids her to leave. Knowing Bella is in danger, she goes anyway, but it is too late. Bella has jumped to her death from the burning building. Avram is destroyed by the death of his daughter, and Rebecca is confused and guilty ("Kaddish").

Rebecca leads the sweatshop workers in a strike protesting the unsafe conditions that led to the deaths of the girls at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory ("Bread and Freedom"). As the demonstration reaches near-riot levels, Nathan shows up to try to persuade his wife to come home with him. Rebecca sees Saul in the crowd and knows she must follow her heart and stand up for what is right ("Dancing With The Fools"). She refuses Nathan.

Avram is still grieving for Bella and is planning to return to Russia and the son, Herschel, he left behind when Ben comes to pay his respects. He tells Avram that leaving America would mean Bella died for nothing and gives him the gramophone, which plays a recording of Bella's voice. While Rebecca sings of her new life with Saul and David, Rachel and Avram welcome Herschel off the boat as a new wave of immigrants arrives ("Children of The Wind reprise/Finale").

''My Husband and I'' was a typical domestic sitcom made for the refined husband and wife team Evelyn Laye and Frank Lawton. As well as typical comedy situations for domestic sitcoms, ''My Husband and I'' also featured humorous songs.

The island of Navarone, off the Turkish coast, has been heavily fortified as the Germans attempt to stifle British naval activity in the Aegean. A force of 1200 British soldiers is now marooned on the nearby island of Kheros (another variation of the island Keros, which is situated to the west of Amorgos) and the Royal Navy is planning to send ships to rescue them. The heavy radar-controlled guns command the only deepwater channel that ships can use and must be silenced at all costs.

Commando attacks have failed and after a bombardment by B-24 Liberator bombers fails to destroy the guns, Captain James Jensen RN, Chief of Operations for SOE in Cairo, decides to launch a desperate last-ditch attempt which he has already planned in case the bombing is unsuccessful. He has drawn together a team of specialist saboteurs to infiltrate the island via the "unclimbable" south cliff and get into the fortress to destroy the guns. They have less than one week.

The team meet for the first time in Alexandria. They comprise:

• Captain Keith Mallory – a New Zealand officer with the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG). Mallory was a pre-war mountain climber, nicknamed "The Human Fly". He has been operating in the mountains of German-held Crete.
• Andrea – a former Lt. Colonel in the Greek army, a ruthless fighter and close friend and confidante of Mallory.
• Corporal Dusty Miller – an American explosives expert who transferred from the R.A.F. to the LRDG. Miller is described as a stringy, cynical man who doubts their chances of success.
• Petty Officer Telegraphist Casey Brown – a Royal Navy engineer and veteran of the Special Boat Service. He is a native of Clydeside and worked as a testing and installation engineer pre-war.
• Lt Andrew Stevens R.N.V.R. – Stevens is a young naval officer chosen as navigator. Like Mallory, he speaks fluent Greek and is an experienced mountaineer but considers himself an abject coward.

The team travel via MTB and plane to Castelrosso, a British-held island. Here, they discover an eavesdropper, Nicolai the base laundry boy, who allegedly speaks no English but is spying on them anyway. They demand that he be arrested and held incommunicado, but the story implies that this does not happen.

In an ancient ''caïque'' they sail towards Navarone. They carry papers identifying themselves as collaborators with, and couriers for, the German commandant of the island. They are intercepted by a German patrol boat, which appears to be expecting them. They sink it and kill all the crew.

They are wrecked in a storm but manage to land on the island, having lost much of their equipment. They climb the 'unclimbable' south cliff, but Stevens slips and is badly injured.

Evading German guards, they travel through heavy snow and rough terrain and are met by Louki, the steward of the exiled owner of the island, and Panayis, his enigmatic friend. They bring much needed food. By radio, Jensen tells the team that they have less time than was planned for. The ships are coming through that very night. But whilst resting in a cave, they are captured by a troop of German specialist mountain soldiers led by Oberleutnant Turzig, who recognises Mallory as a famous climber. They are taken to the town of Margaritha where they are ruthlessly interrogated by Hauptmann Skoda. Thanks to Andrea's diversionary behaviour, they turn the tables on them and Skoda is shot. With Turzig and the others securely tied up, they escape and make their way to the town of Navarone. They are harassed by troops and planes who are also apparently expecting them.

With no medical facilities available, Stevens is clearly dying and beyond help. He asks to be left behind and feels curiously at peace. Miller discovers that much of his equipment has been damaged. Suspicion falls on Panayis, who is also suspected of being a double agent. He admits nothing, but the evidence is damning. Miller shoots him.

Mallory and Miller manage to enter the fortress housing the guns, whilst the others create a diversion. They set the explosives and then get out to meet the others. They steal a boat and rendezvous with the destroyer ''HMS Sirdar'', which is leading two others through the deepwater channel. Just in time, the explosives do their work, the guns are destroyed and the ships continue on their way to rescue the soldiers.

A biopic about the life of Niccolò Paganini, who many consider to be one of the greatest violinists who ever lived.

After the events of the previous game, the Asuka ninja successfully rebuilt their village. The story begins when Goh receives a letter from the Amurita Faith leader Lady Sadame stating that the Fudo province lord Kagetora Akame hired the Taraba ninja leader Kabuto to steal her documents. Utakata lord Nobuteru Ichijo plans to marry the daughter of the neighboring lord, Princess Azami, but her father will only accept, if Goh eliminates the Kenobi ninja. On the wedding day, mysterious bandits attack Ichijo, but are stopped by Goh who is then sent to investigate. Goh finds out that three samurai generals have been betraying Ichijo, captures one of them, and discovers that Miroku, Sadame's priestess, was responsible for the wedding incident. The documents he retrieves from Akame were Sadame's diaries stating that the Amuritha Faith is just her creation. Goh heads to Miroku's convent, defeats her, then suddenly vanishes. In the morning, Zaji and Kinu search for Goh at the convent, but they find nothing but dead bodies of Miroku and her followers. Kinu, in a sad voice, says that 'he left us again'.

While treating a policewoman for smoking, hypnotherapist Michael Strother has a telepathic vision of a young girl floating beneath the surface of a stream. She is found to be the escaped victim of a ritualistic serial killer. The girl has become mute because of her experience, and Strother is called upon by Scotland Yard to unlock the secrets she holds. They are trying to catch a killer who believes that he has discovered the key to immortality through these murders.

Angus Flint (Peter Capaldi) is a Scottish archaeology student excavating the site of a convent at the Derbyshire bed and breakfast run by the Trent sisters, Mary (Sammi Davis) and Eve (Catherine Oxenberg). He unearths an unusual skull which appears to be that of a large snake. Angus believes it may be connected to the local legend of the d'Ampton 'worm', a mythical snake-like creature from ages past said to have been slain in Stonerich Cavern by John d'Ampton, the ancestor of current Lord of the Manor, James d'Ampton (Hugh Grant).

When a pocket watch is discovered in Stonerich Cavern, James comes to believe that the d'Ampton worm may be more than a legend. The watch belonged to the Trent sisters' father, who disappeared a year earlier near Temple House, the stately home of the beautiful and seductive Lady Sylvia Marsh (Amanda Donohoe).

The enigmatic Lady Sylvia is in fact an immortal priestess to the ancient snake god, Dionin. As James correctly predicted, the giant snake roams the caves which connect Temple House with Stonerich Cavern. Lady Sylvia steals the skull and abducts Eve Trent, intending to offer her as the latest in a long line of sacrifices to her snake-god.

Before Lady Sylvia can execute her evil plan, Angus and James rescue Eve and destroy both Lady Sylvia and the giant snake. However, Lady Sylvia bites Angus before she dies, and Angus finds himself cursed to carry on the vampiric, snake-like condition, after he finds, to his shock, that the snake anti-venom he used was actually a new form of arthritis medication he got by mistake. When Lord D'Ampton invites him for a dinner celebration, Angus sinisterly smiles and accepts his offer.

Timofey Berezin (Paddy Considine) works at a former top-secret, badly run and aged nuclear reprocessing facility plant in Skotoprigonyevsk-16, a former closed city and a naukograd. At the film's outset, he is exposed to radioactive contamination while selflessly trying to prevent a critical malfunction. The facility's managers tell him that his exposure was a survivable 100 rems, while accusing him of sabotage and suspending him without pay. Loyal coworkers, however, help Timofey discover the truth that he was exposed to 1,000 rems of radiation. Suffering from acute radiation poisoning, he has only days to live.

Before Timofey's adoring wife, Marina (Radha Mitchell), is fully aware of his fate, he leaves for Moscow, on a mission to secure a better future for her and their young son. He hooks up with a small-time gangster, Shiv (Oscar Isaac), in hopes of finding a buyer for a selfmade canister of a little over 100 grams of weapons-grade plutonium salt he has stolen. It is 1995, only a few years after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and they spend their time frequenting the hotels, nightclubs and private palaces of the new Moscow underworld, ricocheting between two rival crime lords (Nikolaj Lie Kaas and Steven Berkoff). However, what Timofey and Shiv never realize is that they are both caught in the same dilemma: trying to find a way free of a certain fate; hoping to do right by their loved ones before it is too late.

''Rane'''s opening sequence announces it as being "dedicated to the generations born after Tito". The film follows two boys, Pinki and Švaba, through their preadolescence and early adolescence as they're growing up in New Belgrade during the Yugoslav Wars (1991–95).

Pinki was born on 4 May 1980—the day Yugoslav president Josip Broz Tito died—and was given his unusual name by his father Stojan Mučibabić, an idealistic, impulsive, and patriotic Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) officer deeply devoted to the Titoist brand of communism. Father's first choice for his firstborn's name was actually Tito, but the municipal office registry administrators thought it provocative and inappropriate in the time of grieving so he quickly pulled out his backup options—including Ramiz after a communist resistance Partisan guerrilla fighter—eventually settling on Pinki after another Partisan. Meanwhile, Pinki's best friend Švaba is raised and cared for only by his grandmother, a Croatian Serb who had fled to Serbia during World War II amid genocide being perpetrated against the Serbs by the Croatian fascist movement Ustaše.

Living in a block of apartment buildings in New Belgrade's neighbourhood of Paviljoni, both kids are extremely juvenile; Pinki is a bit more thoughtful and articulate while Švaba is moody, impulsive, and prone to anger outbursts. The duo also has another friend in the neighbourhood—Dijabola, an eager, geeky, and bespectacled outsider whose sexy and aloof single mother Lidija is a well-known television personality, hosting her own highly-rated interview program while his Slovenian father is absent from his life. Though they hang out with Dijabola, Pinki and Švaba mostly consider him a third wheel and treat him poorly. He is constantly the butt of their insults and target of their roughhousing that occasionally crosses the line into physical violence.

The story begins during late summer 1991 as the kids watch Serbian troops (regular JNA troops and various volunteer militias) going off to war in neighbouring Croatia where the Battle of Vukovar is raging. Pinki's father Stojan is extremely frustrated about being forced into early retirement by the JNA and thus missing his chance to go to war. He spends his days glued to the television set, watching news reports from Vukovar and cheering on the JNA. By now he has transformed into a Miloševićesque Serbian nationalist; his impulsiveness nowadays mostly manifesting through petty quarrels with neighbours and verbal outbursts with ethnic and political overtones. Instead of Tito, he's become a huge supporter of Slobodan Milošević while immensely disliking Milošević's main political rival Vuk Drašković. Prepubescent Pinki, for his part, is mostly oblivious to the events around him, spending most of his time compulsively masturbating—often with neighbour Lidija in mind.

By 1992 and 1993, Serbia is under a UN trade embargo, and the war has spread from Croatia to Bosnia as well. Entering their early teens, Pinki, Švaba and Dijabola begin their fascination with a neighbour across the street nicknamed Kure who drives a nice car, makes regular robbing excursions to Germany while dating a trashy kafana singer. They're deeply impressed with his swagger and lifestyle and are ecstatic one day when he invites them to unload his car that's full of apparel and appliances he brought over from Germany. In fact, he sends Dijabola away and picks only Švaba, but then upon Švaba's suggestion tells Pinki to come along as well.

Like many of their peers, Pinki and Švaba enter the world of crime at fourteen years of age in an ex-communist community that is in hyper-transition, which, because of war and sanctions, reminds the two friends of a theater of the absurd. The idols of the main characters are famous Belgrade gangsters featured on a TV show called ''Puls Asfalta'' (''Pulse of the Asphalt''), which turns them into media stars. Pinki and Švaba fantasize of being on the show one day and they attempt to be noticed by its producers by committing crimes. After they succeed in establishing themselves as influential criminals and drug dealers, their uprising in the world of crime is cut by mutual conflict as both start having sex with Lidija. Švaba shoots Pinki five times in the same places that Jesus was wounded two thousand years ago. Pinki manages to survive and after some time he escapes from the hospital, and calls his friend to make peace. The truce is more than terrible, as the wounded boy has, after an unwritten rule, to inflict five identical wounds to his friend, so the friendship can be rebuilt. After shooting Švaba three times, he considers wounding him one more time instead of the required two. They are suddenly interrupted by a furious Dijabola who shoots at them, especially Švaba, for killing his mother. A shootout occurs and Švaba and Dijabola are killed. In the end, Pinki, who is wounded and is lying on the ground, laughs at the audience by claiming that he "made out better than you."

After 25 years of marriage, mother-of-five Caroline Fairchild decides to go back to work. Her husband Donald would like her to work part-time in their home town of Amersham in Buckinghamshire. Instead she gets a job in London as an Editorial Director for a company called Oasis Publishing. At the company she is reunited with her former secretary, Anthea Duxbury, who is a sales export director.

Oasis Publishing is owned by the American Frankland Corporation, which is run by Edgar Frankland, Jr., the son of the corporation's boss. On Caroline's first day at work, The Frankland Corporation takes over Ginsberg Publishing, the company that Donald works for. Donald is moved to Oasis, and Caroline and he find themselves working together. However, an unwritten rule at Frankland states that married couples cannot work together, so they have to pretend not to know each other, so Caroline uses her maiden name of Fielding. In Series Two, Edgar finds out they are married, but does not sack them and makes them joint managing directors of Oasis.

In ''The Triple Hoax'', Nancy, her Aunt Eloise, Bess, and George begin by going to New York to help a friend. There they see a performance by the Hoaxters, a group of magicians. These magicians take handbags and wallets from people in the audience – they do return them, but Nancy feels suspicious.

Nancy and her friends follow leads to Mexico City, where Nancy is asked to find a child that has gone missing, and then to Los Angeles, where Nancy and her friends are threatened by the Hoaxters to try to scare them off the case.

Nancy Drew and her friends visit the Shawniegunk Forest in search of a mysterious flying saucer that is disturbing the locals. While they are working on this mystery, a naturalist who lives in the area asks them to help him search for a treasure left to him by his late father. They also must solve the mystery of a Native American man who mysteriously appears and disappears.

The story takes places in 360 BC and tells the tale of Melos, a Greek country man that gets arrested and accused of conspiracy against the king. He gets three days to travel to his sister's wedding while Selinentius (Selinae), a genius sculptor that Melos just met stays as a hostage. As opposed to Osamu Dazai's original story, Melos is here innocent of the conspiracy accusation.

At the play's core is a semi-pro Northern England rugby league team. During the week, its members are peaceable men toiling away at mindless, working class jobs. On Saturday, they prepare for gory combat on the playing field. The changing room is where they perform their pre-game initiation rites, strip down, loosen muscles, and get into their uniforms. After the match they return, often broken, muddy, and bloody, regretting their loss or giddy with victory in the communal shower. There is little in the way of plot, but Storey engages his audience with his ability to dissect his characters' hurts, hopes, desires, and fighting instincts.

Helen Morgan (Nee Carrington and Formerly Walker) is the no-nonsense and independent 41-year-old head of a successful local building firm known as Carrington and Daughter, founded by her late father (John Carrington) and leads a rather affluent lifestyle with her luxury Jaguar and all the trappings. However, her life is turned upside down when she falls in love with Peter Morgan, her young, attractive and recently recruited Architect who is 16 years younger than her. After a torrid beginning, time softens and he also falls in love with her after she has become pregnant with his child, despite already having a 19-year-old son James (Jimmy) Walker. Jimmy is a history student from her previous marriage to Mr. Walker (deceased). After the two marry in a registrars office, they move into a cozy property that Helen has sourced as part of her business dealings (Church Farm) through Hartshorn Jr. who is her dopey agent. He wants nothing more than to be liked by her so after buying that and a 4ac development site known as "Askett Field" which is also part of the story. The story remained largely unresolved as low viewing figures meant a second series was not commissioned and the series was never repeated on any BBC channel.

The novel is set at around 1808 (since [http://pt.wikisource.org/wiki/Mem%C3%B3rias_de_um_Sargento_de_Mil%C3%ADcias/I the first line] line is something like "It was in the Time of the King") and it tells the colourful story of a problem child (Leonardo), from when his parents first meet, until his childhood, in a hypocritical and corrupt society. Leonardo grows up into an amoral, reckless young man until he is arrested by the police and given the chance of becoming a police officer instead of serving his sentence.

Some time after the events of ''Sniper 2'', Thomas Beckett (Tom Berenger) is still adjusting to his return in the U.S. Marine Corps. His commanding officer, Captain Laraby (Troy Winbush) thinks he is too old and bull-headed to still be active duty. Beckett attends the wedding of Neil Finnegan (Ken Streutker), the son of his best friend, Paul Finnegan, who served with him in Vietnam and saved his life before he was killed just before the fall of Saigon. Beckett reads a letter written given to him by Paul decades earlier just in case he did not make it to his son's wedding day. Beckett then dances with Paul's widow, Sydney (Jeannetta Arnette), who later does an X-Ray on Beckett's hand and informs him that when he lost his trigger finger, he suffered nerve damage which is causing his digitorum tendon to trigger involuntary jerks of his other fingers on his injured hand. She encourages Beckett to retire from the Marines for his health and hints that he should ask her on a date.

Beckett is later approached by two officials from the Central Intelligence Agency, Director William Avery (Denis Arndt) and Deputy Director Richard Addis (William Duffy). Avery reveals to Beckett that Finnegan's death was faked in Vietnam and he is actually still alive. The CIA recruited him prior to the fall of Saigon and used him to run drugs out of Cambodia with the Khmer Rouge. However, Finnegan went insane and is now a drug and weapons trafficker known as the "King Cobra". He has amassed a large group of child soldiers and his group lives in the tunnels under the jungles of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Avery claims that Finnegan is the "head of the snake", and if he is killed, his child soldiers will have no leader and "the snake will die". Finnegan has been marked for elimination because he has even aided terrorism after providing support for Jemaah Islamiyah, and is about to be captured by the Vietnamese authorities which would cause an international incident. To spare Neil and Sydney from the painful truth, Beckett agrees to kill Finnegan, but demands that he conduct the mission alone, without a spotter, as he is unwilling to involve anyone else in such a personal mission.

In Ho Chi Minh City, Beckett meets his contact, NSA-recruited Vietnamese police operative Quan (Byron Mann). Beckett is shaken due to the personal nature of his task and calls Sydney, forgetting the time difference. Beckett tells Sydney that he just wants her and Neil to know how much they mean to him, as he never truly had a family of his own. Later that night, Beckett goes to the Club Cong, to kill Finnegan (John Doman), while he is having a drink. However, he fails to complete the mission and is shot at by a counter-sniper. Beckett kills the sniper but is arrested by Vietnamese authorities. In custody, Beckett sees Finnegan in another cell, who claims that he abandoned his wife and child because he felt "alive" in the jungle, but claims that he was "sold out" by the very people he worked for. Finnegan blows up the police station to escape, which gives Beckett an opportunity to escape as well. Beckett contacts Quan who demands that he provide him with a weapon and a way home. Suspicious of the purpose to his mission, Beckett wants to find Finnegan and get to the bottom of things. He locates Finnegan in "the ditch", old Viet Cong tunnels under Tây Ninh after he and Quan defend themselves from an ambush.

During the infiltration of the tunnels, Quan accidently loses his footing and slips in front of Finnegan who holds him at gunpoint, but reveals the truth to Beckett. After he was recruited and began working for the CIA, Finnegan was in the ditch with John Gaylor, Bill Avery and a civilian AP photographer named Stevie York, who filmed their activities. York watched as the three men, high on drugs, killed nine unarmed civilians (six men and three women) over the course of three days. The men made York destroy the film, but, paranoid from the drugs, killed him and made it look like the NVA did it. Now that Gaylor is a Senator from Texas and is running for president, he cannot have Paul get captured and expose his past, so he asked Avery to trick Beckett into eliminating Finnegan, and then have another sniper kill Beckett to keep any information from getting out. Quan is forced to fight and kill one of Finnegan's top henchmen in hand to hand combat. In order to save Quan, Beckett kills Finn by shooting one of Paul's child soldiers in the arm, resulting in Paul being shot in the head instead of Quan. With nothing left to fight for, Finnegan's militia surrenders and leaves. Afterwards, Quan and Beckett say their goodbyes and Quan arranges a retrieval for Beckett just over the border in Cambodia. Beckett is shaken and disillusioned by the experience, and on the way home he learns from a radio broadcast that Gaylor resigned his seat in the senate and ended his political career before he could become president, and Avery was found dead in an apparent suicide.

A scientist in the distant future has set out to avert a catastrophic ecological disaster, and sends a small number of high tech devices that resemble toys back in time to modern day Seattle. Here, they are discovered by two children: Noah Wilder and his younger sister, Emma. The "toys" are initially incomprehensible to them, other than one which appears to be a stuffed rabbit. The children keep their discovery secret from their parents.

Emma becomes telepathically connected to the rabbit, "Mimzy", which imparts knowledge onto her. The children gain genius-level intellects and psionic powers: Noah can teleport objects using a card-sized rectangle of green lines of light, but thanks to her link, Emma develops the more advanced abilities, becoming the only one who can use the "spinners", stones which can float and produce a force field. Emma describes herself as "the chosen one" but names Noah as "the engineer" without which she cannot "build the bridge to the future".

The children's parents, and Larry White, Noah's science schoolteacher discover the devices and the children's powers. By mistake, Noah causes a power black-out over half the state of Washington, alerting the FBI to their activities. The family is held for questioning by Special Agent Nathaniel Broadman. The Mimzy is revealed as artificial life utilizing nanotechnology created by Intel.

Emma relates a dire message from Mimzy: Many Mimzys were sent into the past, but none of the others had returned to their home time, and now Mimzy is beginning to disintegrate, and must convey uncorrupted human DNA to the future to correct the damage done to DNA by ecological catastrophes. The FBI do not believe them, so Noah and Emma use their powers to escape. Mimzy absorbs a tear from Emma, which contains her DNA. Via the time portal which they construct, Mimzy returns to the future.

Larry, who witnessed Mimzy leaving the present, says he saw "numbers", a reference to a previous dream he had which related to him the winning lottery numbers: He had missed out before by never buying a ticket. In the future, Mimzy provides the genetic information required to restore humanity, both physically and mentally.

On first airing, "Dark Frontier" aired as a single-length feature.

Part I

After ''Voyager'' manages to destroy a Borg probe by beaming a photon torpedo aboard, Seven of Nine finds data nodes filled with tactical information among the debris. With it they locate a heavily damaged sphere nearby, and Captain Janeway decides to plan a "heist" – invade the Borg vessel while its defenses are down and take its transwarp coil, which will shave about 20 years off ''Voyager'' s journey. The crew will create a diversion, then send an away team in to steal the technology. Hoping to find information that will give them a tactical edge, Janeway assigns Seven to study her parents' field notes that ''Voyager'' recovered from the ''Raven''.

Once she begins studying her parents' logs, Seven remembers their encounters with the Borg. She was only a small girl at the time, but she vividly recalls their fascination with the mysterious Collective. Meanwhile, ''Voyager'' catches up with the sphere. The sphere's shields and transwarp drive will be off-line for the next 72 hours, allowing the crew only a short time to plan and execute the mission.

During a holographic simulation, Janeway and the others practice their mission down to the second. They have only two minutes to find and extract the transwarp coil after the sensor grid aboard the Borg sphere is disabled. Their simulated mission fails when Janeway and her team take too long and the Borg regenerate their sensor grid and detect the intrusion. After leaving the holodeck, Seven is unsettled by her close proximity to the Borg, even if it was not real. When Naomi Wildman begins asking her questions about the Collective, Seven hallucinates that the Borg have accessed her neural transceiver and know about Janeway's plan.

Further research of her parents' mission lead Seven to conclude her parents underestimated the Borg, which eventually led to their assimilation. It was during this research that Seven discovered the Hansens' description of a bio-damper in their notes, which they used to move around undetected in a Borg vessel while conducting their field research. The Voyager team replicates the technology for use in their raid on the Borg sphere. Asserting that she is willing to risk her own well-being for the sake of the crew, Seven persuades Janeway to assign her to the away team despite the Captain's reservations.

The mission goes as planned until Seven once again hears the voice of the Collective calling her back to the hive. In a sudden change of heart, she refuses to transport back to ''Voyager'' with the others, and Janeway is forced to leave her before she is assimilated herself. The sphere returns to Borg space with Seven on board, and the Borg Queen welcomes her back to the Collective.

Part II

The Borg Queen informs Seven that the Borg "allowed" ''Voyager'' to liberate her from the Collective, but she will not be turned back into a drone because they want to study her memories. With her individuality intact, the Borg can look through her eyes to help them assimilate humanity. Meanwhile, Janeway discovers that Borg signals were being sent to Seven in her cargo bay alcove. Determined to rescue Seven, Janeway leads an away team in the Delta Flyer to find the Borg sphere that took Seven away. They use the stolen coil to take the shuttle into transwarp space, and incorporate multi-adaptive shielding based on the Hansens' field notes from the ''Raven'' to go undetected by the Borg.

As Seven is given her first assignment to assist in the assimilation of a species, she secretly helps four of the individuals escape. The Borg Queen scolds her, saying that her human emotions of compassion and guilt are weaknesses that are causing her pain. However, when Seven pleads with her to let the getaway ship escape, the Queen grants her request.

After the away team follows the sphere into Borg space, Janeway prepares to send a message to Seven through her Borg interplexing beacon. The Queen gives Seven a new assignment—to assist in the programming of nanoprobes that will assimilate humans. The Borg plan is to detonate a biogenic charge in Earth's atmosphere, and Seven will be turned into a drone if she does not comply. Taunting her, the Queen reveals that one of the drones standing next to her is Seven's father. Suddenly, Janeway's signal comes through, and the Queen discovers it.

As the Borg adapt to the ''Delta Flyer'' s shielding, Janeway is forced to beam to the vessel and deactivate the shield matrix around the Queen's chamber. While Paris eludes the other ships, Janeway confronts the Queen and orders Seven to leave with her. A dispersal field is formed around the chamber to block the ''Delta Flyer'' s transporter beam, but Seven tells the Captain to target the power node above the chamber. This disrupts the Queen's command interface, and Janeway and Seven are beamed to the shuttle. They quickly enter a transwarp conduit, but not before a Borg vessel sneaks in behind them. On ''Voyager'', Chakotay orders Torres to fire a full spread of photon torpedoes at the conduit threshold, collapsing it just as the shuttle bursts through. The Borg ship is destroyed, and Seven is home again. ''Voyager'' uses the coil and gets 15 years closer to home before it burns out and is rendered useless.

In 1964, General Étienne Fourre, once a village apothecary, is the leader of the French Maquisard Brotherhood and serves as France's representative in the Supreme Council of United Free Europe. He is on his way to confront his friend Commandant Jacques Reinach, the chairman of the Supreme Council. Fourre has studied psychodynamics, a mathematical technique for predicting future trends, and he believes that Reinach is leading Europe down a dead-end path. Reinach is sending a tiny delegation to Rio de Janeiro to represent Europe at the relaunch of the United Nations, refuses to establish a parliamentary government, and intends to recognize a neo-fascist dictator as ruler of Macedonia.

Fourre confronts Reinach in his office on the campus of the University of Strasbourg - now used as a makeshift government center - and presents him with an ultimatum: a majority of the Supreme Council have ordered Reinach to step down as chairman. When Reinach refuses, Fourre compares him to the Roman general Gaius Marius, who showed a unique talent as a general and rescued Rome from the barbarian Cimbri, but then proved incompetent in civil politics, inadvertently setting off a civil war that ultimately led to the fall of the Roman Republic. Fourre keeps Reinach distracted with small talk while his men infiltrate the university and stage a coup. As Reinach is about to shoot Fourre, Stefan Rostomily bursts in through his office window and unintentionally kills Reinach.

The story concerns a man alone on New Year's Eve, who loves to "sit by the fire, thinking of what I have read in books of voyage and travel" while he himself has never been "around the world, never has been shipwrecked, ice-environed, tomahawked, or eaten."

Some of the books he has read concern Christopher Columbus, James Bruce who searched for the source of the Nile, John Franklin who made an "unhappy overland Journey" and was lost searching for the northwest passage in the Canadian Arctic, "Men-selling despots" and the Atlantic slave trade, and Mungo Park, a Scottish explorer (1771–1806) who wrote ''Travels in the Interior of Africa'' and other adventure stories. He also touches on "one awful creature" by the name of Alexander Pearce who escaped from a penal colony on an island and cannibalized his fellow escapees. He then tells the story of the Mutiny on the Bounty, and of Thursday October Christian, the son of Fletcher Christian who mutinied against Captain Bligh leaving Bligh to fend for himself on the open sea.

He then reads about the sad fate of the ''Halsewell'', lost in a shipwreck on rocks off the Isle of Purbeck in which 160 people died. Captain Pierce stayed to comfort his daughters, even though he could have saved himself. Finally, he recounts the exciting story of the ''Grosvenor'', an English-bound Mercantile ship that ran aground on 4 August 1782 in South Africa. Of the 125 who made it to shore, only 13 survived the trip back to civilization.

After meditating on these stories he comes to a startling realization about ''The Long Voyage'', looking into the fire on that first of January 1853.

''Voyager'' stops to assist a xenophobic species known as the Varro. This species lives on a generational ship which has housed them for 400 years. While the crew works on the Varro ship, ''Voyager'' is infested with synthetic ship-eating parasites that had been released on the Varro ship by a dissident Varro. Meanwhile, Harry Kim becomes intimate with Varro scientist Tal, and develops a physiological bond with her, one that is standard in the Varro. The physiological connection alters his behavior and sways him from his duties aboard ''Voyager''.

It is later revealed that Tal is one of the separatists. There has been a rumor of a minority of Varro that want off the ship. The parasites that Tal helped create were made to separate the individual pods of the Varro ship without destroying the ship itself. Fractures along the hull created by the parasites begin to grow as the Varro ship begins to fall apart. ''Voyager'' s docking port is seized, trapping it with the Varro ship. If the explosions get to ''Voyager'', it would be destroyed as well. However, Harry comes up with a plan to extend ''Voyager'' s integrity field around the unstable ship. This gives the Varro enough time to stabilize the parasites.

Once the parasites have been stabilized, ''Voyager'' breaks free as the Varro ship experiences multiple breaches and the individual pods of the ship begin to break free. The majority of the Varro remain together in separate pods but the minority group that wanted to leave is allowed to do so. Later, Harry must painfully say good-bye to his recent love.

Action of the animated film happens in Dykanka, in Ukraine. Noticed by nobody, in the sky two are turned: the witch on a sweeper which gathers stars in a sleeve, and the devil who hides moon in a pocket, thinking that the come darkness will keep houses of the rich Cossack the Chub invited to the clerk on kutia and hated to the devil the smith Vakula (who painted a picture of the Last Judgement and the devil on a church wall) won't dare to come to the Chub's daughter Oksana.

The forelock with the godfather isn't known whether to go in such darkness to the clerk, however decide and left. The beauty Oksana stays at home. Vakula comes, but Oksana urges on him. The gone astray Forelock, without godfather, decided to come back home because of the blizzard arranged with the devil knocks at the door. However, having heard the smith, the Forelock decides that got to other hut. The forelock goes to Vakula's mother, Solokha who and is that witch who stole stars from the sky.

To Oksana her girlfriends come. On one of them Oksana notices the cherevichks embroidered by gold (that is shoes) and is proud declares that will marry Vakula if that brings it cherevichks, "which the queen carries". In crowd going round carol-singing the smith again meets Oksana who repeats the promise apropos the cherevichks. From Vakul's grief it decides to be drowned, throws all bags, except the smallest, and runs away.

Having slightly calmed down, Vakula wants to try one more means: he comes to the Zaporozhets to Big-bellied Patsyuk who "is similar to the devil" a little, and receives a confused answer that the devil at it behind shoulders. Anticipating nice production, the devil jumps out from a bag and, having mounted upon the smith's neck, promises to it same night Oksana. The cunning smith, having grasped the devil by a tail and having crossed it, becomes a master of the situation and orders to carry to the devil itself to St. Petersburg, directly to the queen.

Having appeared in St. Petersburg, the smith comes to Zaporozhetses with which got acquainted in the fall when they passed through Dykanka. By means of the devil he achieves that it was taken on reception to the queen. Marveling luxury of the palace and strange painting, the smith appears before the queen and asks from it imperial shoes. Touched by such naiveté, Ekaterina pays attention of Denis Fonvizin standing at some distance to this passage, and Vakule gives shoes.

Having returned, the smith takes out a new cap and a belt from a chest and goes to the Forelock with a request to give for it Oksana. The forelock seduced with gifts and angry with perfidy of Solokha's agrees. It is echoed also by Oksana ready to marry the smith "and without chereviks".

One of Africa's most shocking legends comes to life in this terrifying tale of four students whose fascination with tales of a half-human, half-leopard man-beast find them fighting for their lives. The tales have been passed down through the generations, but few have lived to see the horrific monstrosity firsthand and lived to tell the tale. Now, as four students venture into the wilderness under the flawed theory of safety in numbers, the beast will make itself known, and the curious students will find out why some legends are best left to the storytellers.

Chakotay is in sickbay, struggling to communicate with aliens through a vision quest. Through flashbacks, we learn of the events leading up to this scene. Chakotay is in a holodeck boxing simulation where he is knocked out. Shortly after, Voyager is pulled into chaotic space, an area where the laws of physics are in a constant state of flux. Seven of Nine warns that this type of space can easily destroy the ship due to changes in the gravitational coefficient. Chakotay begins to hallucinate, seeing his boxing gloves at various locations on the ship as well as hearing voices. He is taken to sickbay after attempting to fight Tuvok on the bridge.

The Doctor detects a genetic marker for a cognitive disorder in Chakotay, surmising that this is responsible for his hallucinations. Voyager finds another ship in the chaotic space, along with information that some of that crew was also hallucinating, suggesting that Chakotay's hallucinations may be induced by chaotic space.

Chakotay decides to go on a vision quest, hoping to learn more about his hallucinations. There he sees his grandfather, who had the cognitive disorder that has been reactivated in Chakotay. He becomes increasingly confused when the vision quest becomes a boxing match that he cannot leave.

He is awakened by the Doctor, where he realizes that aliens were attempting to communicate with him through his vision quest. He struggles to communicate this clearly to the Captain and the Doctor, as he continues to slip in and out of reality, returning to the boxing match again and again, as his mind had latched onto the boxing holo-program he had recently participated in. Chakotay fears he is endangering his sanity and safety, but decides going back into the vision quest is the only way to make first contact. He finally accepts a confrontation with his "boxing opponent." The alien sends information on how to escape, using the voices and words of the crew. Chakotay, back on his feet, manually adjusts the ship, being unable to actually explain it to Kim or the others.

After the ship is safe, Chakotay is given some time off, which he uses to further continue his boxing holo-program.

''Voyager'' is sought after by the Hazari, unyielding bounty hunters of the Delta Quadrant, within a sector of space. Every escape route devised by the crew leads to dangerous battles with the Hazari. At their wit's end, they are suddenly visited by Kurros (Jason Alexander), the speaker for a small group of highly intelligent aliens that Captain Kathryn Janeway dubs the "Think Tank". Their vessel, safely hidden from the Hazari in sub-space, includes a telepathic module that allows Kurros and his group to quickly communicate and to solve complex problems. As Janeway and Seven of Nine are brought aboard, and Seven given a brief opportunity to experience their telepathic communication, the Think Tank offers their services to ''Voyager'' - a means of escaping the Hazari in exchange for a selection of ''Voyager'' s technology and "unique" items. Janeway seems pleased with the solution, until she is informed by Kurros that they would also like Seven as part of their payment. Both Janeway and Seven refuse this payment, but Kurros keeps the offer on the table and offers a free bit of advice for dealing with the Hazari as a good-faith sign of their cooperation.

''Voyager'' is able to capture a sole Hazari ship, beaming its crew aboard. In their records, they find out who placed the bounty on ''Voyager''; seemingly, it was the Malon. The crew recognizes oddities in the information as stored on the computer, as well as the atypical motivation of the Malon, and investigate further. They discover that it was really Kurros who hired the Hazari. The Think Tank has been playing both sides of the conflict to force Janeway into handing over Seven and to get what they want. Explaining the situation to the Hazari, the combined crews begin to work out a way to outsmart the Think Tank.

Janeway and the Hazari orchestrate a scenario in which Voyager appears to be falling under the Hazari attack, and Seven leaves in a shuttle, supposedly giving in to the Think Tank's demands. The shuttle disappears into sub-space with the Think Tank's ship. Aboard, Kurros welcomes Seven, but is suspicious of their capitulation and links her to the telepathic matrix to probe her mind. The waiting Voyager crew sees this and send a signal through Seven's cybernetic implants, causing the telepathic matrix to shut down, incapacitating the Think Tank. Their ship falls out of sub-space and soon is attacked from all sides by the Hazari, now seeking revenge on them. Voyager rescues Seven and leaves the Think Tank to potentially be destroyed at the hands of the Hazari.

The original production of ''EFX'' featured a loose plot involving the celebration of the human mind. The EFX Master, in charge of EFX, a world where "anything is possible" thanks to imagination, invites the audience to relive their childhood innocence and wonder by taking them on a journey through four different stories: those of Merlin and King Arthur, a futuristic P.T. Barnum and his alien circus, the last days of Harry Houdini, and H.G. Wells' classic novella, ''The Time Machine''. Each story was its own "act", and was introduced by a "helper" of the EFX Master's based upon their "mastership" of that story's overall theme.

After being introduced to the world of EFX, the EFX Master transforms himself into Merlin as the Master of Magic tells the audience that they are about enter the time of a young Arthur, before he became king. Arthur begs Merlin to teach him about magic, and Merlin explains that Arthur first needs to learn how to live in harmony with nature. Their lesson is interrupted by the arrival of the witch Morgana, who seeks to kill Arthur to keep him from fulfilling his destiny of becoming king. Merlin and Morgana duke it out as giant dragons in a fiery on-stage battle before Arthur pulls the sword from the stone and defeats the evil sorceress. The audience is left with the message that "good must triumph always."

The Master of Laughter then sends us deep into outer space where we meet up with the EFX Master, now P.T. Barnum, and his crazy alien circus. Mishaps and hilarity abound as the intergalactic ensemble perform, and, led by the assistant Vladimir, eventually try to upstage the ringmaster Barnum. This act of the show is the one that was the most re-written. It originally featured a long, innuendo-laced solo-stand-up act by Barnum that included a mind-reading trick involving playing cards and audience participation, an evade-the-blade stunt with the ill-fated Martian Mingo-Sniffer named Muffy, and a juggling act using the cannonballs of Bull Run. The card trick was quickly cut from the show, and Bull Run was reworked to become part of a human cannonball stunt, which gets botched up nicely by Vladimir. Barnum was also supposed to dance the entire Irish jig with the cast, but a hip injury sustained during one of the many stunts left Michael Crawford unable to dance for long, and the number was re-staged to feature just the ensemble performing the jig while Barnum tries in vain to catch Vladimir in an effort to stop his assistant from upstaging him.

After leaving the Intergalactic Circus of Wonders, the Master of Spirits appears and asks us if we wish to make contact with the other side. The audience is then brought to a seance led by Bess Houdini in which she asks to speak to the spirit of her dead husband, the famous illusionist Harry Houdini. The EFX Master, as Houdini, appears, and he and Bess reunite briefly to relive various moments of their past, starting with the night that they first met at one of Houdini's escapes. Upon being reminded of Harry's dangerous career, a disillusioned Bess asks Houdini if he ever really loved her, or if his feelings were really an illusion like his many tricks: "Did you just make me believe that you loved me and not even care enough to stay alive?" We then see Houdini's death, drowning in a water tank before freeing himself from his chains, and Houdini tells Bess, "There's nothing here on Earth that is stronger than the love that I have for you. I only wish I learned that sooner." They then say their goodbyes, promising to be reunited again someday.

The final act is introduced by the Master of Time, who asks us if we are brave enough to see what the years ahead have in store for us. He takes us to see the EFX Master, who has now become H.G. Wells. Wells expresses his amazement that his novel ''The Time Machine'' has been so enthusiastically received by the public, and goes on to explain that his own personal interest in the story lies in the scientific possibility of actually traveling through time for research purposes. He has even built a real time machine, but is hesitant to use it, citing the "effects on future generations not yet shaped. It could be dangerous." The Master of Time urges him to "take the journey you've always dreamed of", adding that sometimes the risks are worth it. Wells agrees, and uses the time machine to enter the far-distant future, an effect achieved through a 3D music video projected onto a scrim during the scene change. Wells arrives in a beautiful garden to find that the surviving human population has been enslaved by a race of reptilian-like creatures, the Morlocks, who force the humans to work underground. The Morlocks steal the time machine while Wells befriends one of the female slaves who managed to escape. Together, Wells and the slave girl enter the caves to free the other slaves and take back the time machine. After successfully defeating the Morlocks, the slave girl tries to persuade Wells into taking her back with him. He refuses and she kisses him. Moved by the kiss, and an earthquake, Wells agrees to let the slave girl join him, and together they travel back to his own time.

The EFX Master then appears one final time, this time as himself, and with the entire cast, he praises the human imagination and encourages us to continue to create incredible tales and believe in ourselves and our capacity for creation. We're asked to open ourselves up to infinite possibilities.

The original plot from the 1995 production was rewritten by Chisholm and Shaun Cassidy under David Cassidy's supervision, and the music was profoundly changed by Bill Wray, who thought that the audience would better appreciate a more "coherent" story with a logical plot progression. The resulting book focused on David the bus boy, a character that it was felt the audience would identify with more, rather than an EFX Master who ruled a world of dreams. The darker, more serious themes of the show were also cut and replaced by more humorous elements, particularly those that poked fun at the Master of Time.

The show opens with the EFX Master (now a projection of James Earl Jones' face) instructing the Masters of Magic, Laughter, Spirit, and Time to find a human who has "lost their imagination" and bring them to EFX. The Masters discover David, a disenchanted bus boy who's serving drinks in the audience. David reveals that he's lost something in his life since losing his love Laura (an audience member selected by the cast before every performance). The Masters tell him that they'll help him regain that lost part of himself, and find Laura, if he's willing to go on a journey to do so. David agrees, and the Master of Magic turns him into King Arthur.

Merlin explains that magic is in nature and is accessible by everyone. Arthur is skeptical until Morgana arrives and engages Merlin in a wizard's duel. Just when it seems that Merlin is about to lose the battle, Arthur understands the lesson that the old wizard was trying to teach him, and pulls the sword from the stone to defeat Morgana. With his belief in the impossible and the power of imagination restored, David is sent on the next part of his journey.

David becomes P.T. Barnum, the ringmaster of the Intergalactic Circus of Wonders (whose theme song of the same name is now a rap performed by One Spirit). Barnum performs with the circus, and in the process, rediscovers his sense of humour and ability to have a good time. As the circus comes to an end, Barnum spots Laura in the audience, but she's whisked away before he can get to her. He has no choice but to continue on.

Wondering if Laura might be in the spirit world, David becomes Harry Houdini. He fails to find Laura, but Houdini and his wife Bess are briefly reunited and relive some of his greatest escapes before he has to perform one more daring feat: escaping from the spirit world before the Master of Spirits traps him there for all eternity. Houdini escapes, and now remembering what it's like to love, continues his quest for Laura.

The final part of David's journey requires him to travel through time. After having a humorous go at the light-hearted Master of Time, David becomes H.G. Wells and travels into the far distant future. Upon his arrival, he discovers that Laura has been kidnapped by the monstrous creatures known as the Morlocks, and is being held captive, along with other humans, in the Morlocks' caverns. Wells enlists the help of two slaves who managed to escape, and together, they defeat the Morlocks and free Laura and the others. Laura and Wells then return to the present time where the cast presents Laura, who is played by an audience member, with flowers for her participation in the show. David, now reunited with his long-lost love and filled with a new-found joy for life, reflects on his adventure and celebrates with the cast while encouraging the audience to embrace all the wonders life has to offer.

Tommy Tune brought his own vision to ''EFX'' when he replaced David Cassidy in 1999. The show was once again rewritten, this time to better suit Tommy's performance style, most particularly his dancing. The 1999 plot was a somewhat more serious show than the David Cassidy version; however, it still retained some of the humor that had been introduced by Cassidy. There was also an emphasis on dreams, with the line "Wake up and dream!" becoming the unofficial slogan.

The little town of Burnt Culvert has a problem. Storms like never before are arising. This is the beginning of the end. Foo is falling. Evil is seeping into the world, Leven and Winter's romance is beginning to be obvious, and dreams are not as they should be. Twisted minds overpower Foo. Strange things are beginning to happen in the world. Clouds are territorial; buildings walk to the opposite side of the street; and weird bugs are carrying people off. Everyone is jittery. Only Leven Thumps can save the day.

''Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo''

Leven comes into the world soon after his father "dies" in a car accident. His mother passes away a few minutes after giving birth to him. His mother's half-sister, Addy Graph, reluctantly takes him into her care but allows him to be bullied by her husband, supplying him only with Wonder Wipes T-shirts from her current job. Leven is a young teen of fourteen living in Oklahoma when he finds Clover the Sycophant under his bed on the porch. Clover informs him, "The entire world practically depends on you. No pressure though." From that moment on, Leven's life would never be the same again. He meets, and becomes friends with a thirteen-year-old girl named Winter. He meets the toothpick and lithen, Geth; who is also the single true heir of Foo and trusts Fate more than anything else. Together Leven and his friends journey halfway across the world to find the mysterious gateway to Foo and put an end to the devious man behind the gateway. Join Leven, Winter, Clover, and Geth as they attempt to save the whole world from mass chaos.

''Leven Thumps and the Whispered Secret''

''Leven Thumps and the Eyes of The Want''

Humanity's only hope is Leven Thumps. Not only must Leven race across Foo to stop the whispered secret before the deadly truth is revealed, but he must also travel to the mysterious island of Lith. There abides the Want, the maniac dream-master who can give Leven the gifts he needs against a foreboding army of rants and other foo beings. Our hero, Leven, starts his journey in a hotel with Geth, Clover, and Winter. Later in the night, The Whispered Secret speaks to Leven. The secret it holds is the Secret of the Sycophants, explaining how Sycophants die. The secret blackmails Leven with the life of Clover (the secret will kill Clover if Leven refuses to give it its key). Leven gives it the key, but then sees the secret sell himself to a man, who buries it. Soon, the sycophant population on Sycophant Run hears through the Lore Coil that the sycophant secret has been revealed. Meanwhile, Tim Tuttle meets Dennis and Ezra. Dennis is already being controlled by Sabine, and gives Tim a wristband which poisons Tim with the influence of Sabine. The trio carjacks a van and then starts driving across the U.S. to get to the Atlantic Ocean. Dennis, Tim, and Ezra start building the gateway. When Dennis is gone, Tim remembers a secret: he hates Dennis. With this knowledge, he believes that he has the power to fight off the influence of Sabine. When Leven and Clover get separated from Winter and Geth, their onick takes them to Lith, the island where The Want resides. Once the duo gets to Lith, they meet The Want. He looks like a human with a long, red beard. Leven starts feeling powerful emotions, because The Want sees every dream that comes in and out of Foo. The Want takes Leven to a room known as The Den of the Dead, where Antsel comes alive and gets the scoop on how things are in Foo. Leven then learns more about his past and sees his mother. Leven is then taken up to a high tower where The Want wants to have a chat. The Want says that tonight he’ll ask Leven to do a great task for him. Leven will have to listen to his voice, and do what it instructs. Winter and Geth’s onick flies them to a random place, where they are captured by Azure, an old defendant of Foo who has turned to Sabine’s side. Azure takes them the Hall of the Council of Wonder, the meeting place of the defendants of Foo where he tortures Geth by reading the names of the previous defendants who have died. Azure also says that he has tricked The Want into releasing The Dearth, the evil soil under Foo that has been controlling Sabine, into coming to Foo where it will mesh Foo and reality if it gets above ground. Azure then takes all of them to Lith, where he imprisons Geth, Winter, and two of his other servants in one cell. On the way, Azure tells Geth and Winter that he is destroying them and Leven in exchange for the location and instructions to open the second gateway to Foo. Once Winter and Geth are in the cell, Lith starts sinking, but Winter cleverly finds a way out. Meanwhile, Tim Tuttle falls out of a tree and is knocked unconscious. Dennis and Ezra leave him because Ezra gets a sense that there’s another gateway, so Dennis follows him. Tim has a sudden revelation and remembers the gateway. He dives in the Konigsee and gets to Foo. Leven is alone in a building on The Want’s instructions. Leven listens to The Want’s voice saying “come.” The Want is trying to get Leven to destroy him (he's old and tired of life). Leven then hears a voice in his head telling him to thrust a sword into the darkness. He thinks It's someone warning him of danger. In self-defense, he strikes, then realizes he has killed The Want. With his dying breath, The Want reveals that he is in reality the third Want, and Leven’s grandfather, Hector Thumps. Hector was the one who started the whole thing by finding a way out of Foo. He also tells Leven that he was sick of being the Want, and had planned for a long time to have Leven "accidentally" kill him. The Want also reveals that whoever kills the Want, becomes the Want. Before Hector dies, he wishes Leven luck in saving Foo. Soon, Leven reunites with Geth, Winter, and Clover. Leven being the Want is very startling to his friends, especially Winter, who has developed a deep love for Leven in the end.

''Leven Thumps and the Wrath of Ezra''

''Leven Thumps and the Ruins of Alder''

The book was released September 29, 2009. Leven, Winter, Geth, and Clover travel towards the gateway through Sycophant Run. And the love for Leven from Winter is revealed when they accidentally let a longing lose and she wants to be with him. But fate has other plans for Leven. He and Clover shadow-travel to Alder and are set out to get through unfinished business to get to the oldest tree in Foo. Will he make it in time? Are Leven and Winter not meant to be together forever, or is he meant for something bigger?

The Born Queen, Virgenya Dare, defeats the evil Skasloi with magic and frees humanity from slavery. The Skasloi king tells Virgenya humanity is cursed. About 2300 years later, Dare's grave is found by her descendant, rebellious Princess Anne.

The forester Aspar White rescues a novice monk, Stephen Darige, from a kidnapping. Aspar is warned about the mythical Briar King by the strange Selfry travellers.

Evil Prince Robert murders his sister and tricks his brother into war with nearby Hansa. Queen Muriele secretly sends Anne and her friend Austra to a convent to be trained as an assassin. Muriele and her two other daughters evacuate to the country, aided by loyal knight Neil MeqVren who is in love with Princess Fastia.

At the monastery, Stephen finds corruption within the church, and prophecies concerning the terrifying Briar King. Beneath the castle, the captive last Skasloi (known as "the Kept") makes evil predictions. Anne's training takes a strange turn as she finds herself in a magical realm. On her return, Anne is warned she must be Queen to save the world.

The other princesses are murdered as Neil and Muriele watch helplessly - themselves saved only by the appearance of the Briar King. As the assassins aim for their final target, Anne and Austra escape the mass slaughter at the convent, aided by swordsman Cazio and his mentor z'Acatto. Prince Robert murders the king who deals a fatal wound as he dies.

Muriele, back in Eslen, consults the Kept from whom she gets the most terrible curse imaginable to cast on the murderer of her husband. She does not know that it was Robert and that he is also dead. The curse, however, is more powerful even than death and by casting this on Robert, Muriele inadvertently and unintentionally breaks the Law of Death.

The Briar King ends with the awakening of Robert, now a form of undead, which also explains the title of the next volume, The Charnel Prince.

Arianus, the World of Air, is composed entirely of porous floating islands, aligned in three basic altitudes. In the Low Realm, the dwarves (called "Gegs", an elven word for "insects") live on the continent Drevlin and cheerfully serve the giant Kicksey-winsey, a city-sized machine that is the source of all water in Arianus. In the Mid Realm, elves and humans have warred for centuries with each other and amongst themselves for water, status, and advantage. Above them all in the High Realm live the Mysteriarchs, isolationist human wizards of the Seventh House rank. They were some of the most powerful wizards of their kind, leaving fellow humans behind in their disgust for the constant warfare, but they never equalled the likes of the missing Sartan and Patryn races.

In the Realm of sky, humans, elves, and dwarves battle for control of precious water—traversing a world of airborne islands on currents of elven magic and the backs of mammoth dragons. But soon great magical forces will begin to rend the fabric of this delicate land.

The assassin Hugh the Hand is about to be executed when he is rescued by Trian, the wizard who serves the human King Stephen. Trian gives him a contract to kill the child of King Stephen and his wife Queen Anne. The child is called Bane. Hugh thinks that Bane is being killed against the will of Queen Anne, but it is revealed after his departure that Anne and Stephen are allied in wanting Bane dead. Hugh departs with Bane, who's a creepy but beautiful and endearing child, and soon after they leave a man called Alfred catches up with them. Alfred is a courtier and serves Prince Bane, but he appears very weak and easily threatened, and keeps fainting whenever he is afraid.

They get close to Hugh's concealed dragon ship (an elven ship that he stole) and Hugh thinks that Bane has been killed by a falling shard from the glass trees, but by the time Hugh gets to the scene he is alive again. Then Hugh, Alfred and Bane start to fly to one of the other islands, but Bane poisons Hugh and the ship plunges down towards Drevlin and the Maelstrom.

Haplo, a Patryn, has arrived in Arianus through Death's Gate, the first Patryn to venture through it. He has been sent by his lord, Xar, to explore the world, because no Patryns have visited the worlds since the Sundering. Xar rescued Haplo from the Labyrinth, where he and all the other Patryn have struggled against countless monsters. In preparation for visiting mensch worlds ("mensch" being the derogatory term Patryns and Sartans use to refer to humans, elves and dwarves) he wears long clothes and has covered his neck and hands in bandages, to hide the runes tattooed all over his skin, that he uses to perform magic.

Haplo is not prepared for the strain of going through Death's Gate, which nearly destroys his ship. He crashes on one of the lower islands of Drevlin. He is found by a dwarf, Limbeck, who was thrown off the main Drevlin island for speaking against the leader of the dwarfs and encouraging them to question things, and work out why things are the way they are.

Jarre, Limbeck's girlfriend, and her allies rescue Limbeck from the lower island, as they planned, but Haplo comes up with him, and Haplo's dog. Limbeck thinks Haplo is a god but he says he is not a god. Shortly after Haplo and Limbeck get back to the main island of Drevlin, Hugh, Alfred and Bane crash land there in Hugh's dragon ship.

Limbeck's followers clash with the other dwarves, though neither side is particularly fierce or violent. In the confusion, Alfred falls over against the base of a statue in the centre of Drevlin, the statue that the dwarves call the "Manger". He opens a door below the base of the statue, and goes in, but then Jarre also falls down it and it closes behind her. She is terrified, having never been in this part of Drevlin before, but Alfred reassures her, and leads her through chambers near the heart of the Kicksey-Winsey. One such chamber is a mausoleum, which she realises is full of the dead of Alfred's people, and she sympathises with his grief. Alfred is a Sartan, but all the other Sartan that he used to live with in these chambers are now long dead. Alfred then leads Jarre back out of the Sartan chambers.

Another elven ship arrives to claim the regular tribute of water, to take back to their lands in the Mid Realm. The dwarves, led by Limbeck, refuse to give up the water and are in danger of being attacked until the elven lieutenant, furious at the cowardice and cruelty of the elven captain, mutinies against the elven captain and kills him. He is not the first elf to rebel -- many other elves have started rebelling against their emperor in recent years.

Bane reveals that his father is a mysteriarch who purposely swapped him with Stephen and Anne's child soon after it was born, so that he could grow up and take over the Mid Realms in his father's name. Bane persuades the elven lieutenant to take him, Hugh, Alfred, Haplo and Limbeck to the High Realm to visit his father Sinistrad. Bane has been communicating with his father all his life, via a magical feather amulet. Over the course of the book it has become clear that Bane has magical power to make people love him (a spell cast by his father), and he is also able to manipulate people, but that he also wants to be loved by his father, and hopes to rule Mid Realm side by side with him.

On the way up to the High Realm Alfred uses a spell to send Haplo to sleep and sneaks a look under the bandages on his hands, and discovers that he is a Patryn, but Alfred does not know what to do with that information. Haplo is suspicious of him in turn, but has not guessed what he is.

Sinistrad tells his wife Iridal, who lives in terror of him, that their child, Bane, is coming up to see them, and she looks forward to being reunited with her child. Their High Realm is dying, because their magic cannot sustain life up there, where the air gets too thin and there is too little water. When the elven ship arrives, Sinistrad puts on the illusion that there is a large population of happy mysteriarchs to welcome them and lead them through an apparently beautiful city.

Sinistrad gives them a feast and tries to get Haplo to tell him more about what he is. Sinistrad also talks a lot to Bane, getting Bane to tell him all about the Kicksey-Winsey, because Bane has worked out what it does. But Bane is disappointed that his father treats him harshly, not lovingly, and talks of himself ruling alone, not alongside Bane.

Hugh falls in love with Iridal, and she with him, though he rejects Sinistrad's suggestive comments about them.

Bane tells Alfred that he knows Alfred is a Sartan, and Haplo overhears. Bane knows his father's plan is to drive the "Gegs" (the dwarves of Drevlin) to war, and to take over all the lower realms. Bane, knowing Alfred's magical powers, wants Alfred to help him take over instead, starting by killing Sinistrad. Alfred refuses to kill anyone. Alfred realises he might have been wrong to bring Bane back to life back when he was impaled by a glass tree shard. Haplo's dog enters and stops Alfred from leaving, and Haplo comes and confronts him. He tells him of what the Patryns had to endure after being cast into the Labyrinth by the Sartan, and Alfred tells him the Sartan never intended the Labyrinth to be a torment, and that the Sartan have since had troubles of their own.

Bane gives up on them both and goes off to kill his father. Iridal confronts Sinistrad, to save Bane, and Hugh gets himself killed saving Iridal -- Sinistrad poisons him just before he dies himself. Once Sinistrad is dead, his dragon is free from his control and starts to attack the palace. Haplo drives it off for long enough to escape in the elven ship with the elf lieutenant (now captain), and Bane, and the dog. Iridal remains in the High Realm with Alfred. The elven ship joins the elven rebel army and Haplo returns through Death's Gate to his lord in the Nexus, taking Bane to be his lord's protege.

On steamy Pryan, Realm of Fire, never-ending sunlight and plentiful rain have created a jungle so vast that humans and elves dwell high in the trees and only dwarves live anywhere near the ground. From the treetops the aristocratic elves sell weapons to the other races, whose incessant warfare sends a steady stream of profits and essential resources skyward. Now, generations of dissent and race hatred will not heal -- not even under threat of annihilation at the hands of the legendary tytans. Armed with little more than their wits and a prophecy, elves, humans, and a dwarf must unite to try to save the world from destruction.

Paithan, Caliandra and Aleatha are the three children of one of the richest elves.

Paithan goes to the nearest human town to conclude an arms deal with two humans, Roland and Rega. They persuade Paithan to travel with them to deliver the arms to the dwarf who ordered them. They plan for Rega to seduce Paithan so that Roland can then accuse and attack him. Instead, Rega actually falls in love with Paithan, and he with her, though a series of misunderstandings delays them in acknowledging their love to each other.

In the meantime, they have finally got close to dwarf lands. They are captured by a dwarf, Drugar and he plans to escort them back to their home and watch as they and all their loved ones die, as his did. Whenever the tytans approach people, they keep asking telepathically "Where is the citadel?" and then kill people when they cannot answer them.

In the meantime, Haplo has arrived on Pryan, and realising that he passed through to Death's Gate the centre of a massive shell world. He finds his way to the elf city not long after a "human wizard" arrives, who was invited by Caliandra's father, who wanted to know more about the stars in the sky and how to get up there in a rocket.

The wizard is called Zifnab and talks very strangely, making references to other fictional texts including Star Wars. He is accompanied by a huge wingless dragon who serves him but also mothers him.

The tytans pursue Paithan, Roland, Rega and Drugar through the forests, though they finally get back to the elf city. Haplo tries to fight the tytans, who nearly kill him. Caliandra sacrifices herself to save her siblings, and Haplo, Paithan, Aleatha, Roland, Rega and Drugar, Zifnab and the dragon flee in Haplo's ship.

They fly upwards towards the stars, and keep flying towards one star until they get close enough to see that it is a citadel, in a forest. Haplo has realised that all the "stars" are citadels scattered around the inner surface of Pryan. The city is surrounded by Sartan warding runes, but they are able to camp nearby.

Haplo leaves the mensch and flies away, back to Death's Gate. Zifnab's dragon pretends to kill Zifnab and attack the mensch, to drive them towards the citadel, and the dwarf Drugar finally realises that the amulet he wears, which is a single Sartan rune, can be used to open the doors and let them into the citadel, where they can live, safe from the tytans.

Abarrach, the World of Stone is just that: lava, stone, poisonous fumes, and precious little food that can be grown. The peoples of Abarrach rely on giant rune-inscribed stone pillars called colossi to provide warmth and breathable atmosphere, but the colossi have been failing slowly for many years. The mensch have all died out, and the only remaining people — all of them Sartan — are far reduced in power; most of their innate magic is consumed with simply keeping them alive. To bolster their numbers, they have taken to the forbidden art of necromancy: the raising of the dead. These reanimated corpses are not very smart, but they're better than nothing.

Haplo is sent to this world and discovers, much to his alarm, that Alfred has somehow infiltrated the Nexus and stowed away on his ship. Before he can do anything, however, the vessel passes through Death's Gate, and their consciousnesses switch: the two are forced to relive each other's most painful memories: a seven-year-old Haplo seeing the slaughtered bodies of his parents and being taught that it is all the fault of the Sartan; and Alfred, waking up to find that he is the only Sartan left alive on Arianus and possible all the worlds for all he knows. The experience changes them and they no longer look at them with the same hatred or fear. On Abarrach, Alfred is initially overjoyed to meet living Sartan, even bastardized ones, but is appalled at the state of things; the Sartan rune-language, highly evocative, is laden with images of death when spoken by Abarrach natives. He is even more horrified that they practice necromancy. It was taught that, when one is revived untimely, another dies untimely, and (though the series never spells it out) it is implied that Abarrach's necromancy is the reason most Sartan died during stasis. And the Sartan here regard Alfred with hungry eyes: he has magical abilities that they had long forgotten existed. Even his simplest magic is beyond them, so they now want what he has.

Haplo and Alfred meet Prince Edmund, who is leading his ragged band of people to the "greener" pastures around Abarrach's capital city (Necropolis), and his chief necromancer, Baltazar. In the realm of Kairn Necros, they meet minor nobles and necromancers Jonathan and Jera, just married and very clearly in love with each other. Haplo and Edmund meet with the Dynast Kleitus XIV, who is not a pleasant man; he orders Edmund executed on a whim and imprisons Haplo when it becomes clear that he, too, still knows the secrets of rune-magic. Kleitus poisons Haplo so that the corpse will be left undamaged, the runes free to be studied at Kleitus's leisure. Alfred, Jonathan, and Jera manage to free Haplo, but Jera is killed, and Jonathan revives her immediately without waiting the customary three days to let her soul depart entirely. Jera now becomes a lazar, a revived dead who still retains her intelligence and personality because her soul is so closely bound to the body... and whose existence is endless torment, caught between life and death.

Haplo, Alfred, and Jonathan flee with the dead Edmund and Jera from Kleitus and his dead soldiers, and end up in a curious chamber: heavily warded, full of the skeletal remains of people who apparently killed each other or even themselves, with seven sealed doors spaced evenly around its perimeter and a white wooden table in the middle. It is called the Chamber of the Damned. Once rebels gathered here and were ambushed and killed here by an ancestor of Kleitus, but he and all his forces were struck down by an unseen hand on the very spot. The chamber is entirely peaceful and seems to resist violence, and Alfred (and Haplo too, though he will not admit it) feels for a moment as if in the presence of a Higher Power. While Alfred and Haplo view this ancient scene, Jera is calling to the dead soldiers that Kleitus brings with him. He arrives at the chamber, only to be killed and resurrected as a lazar by Jera. She begins to reanimate many new lazar, culminating in a slaughter of nearly the entire population of the city. The living (and Edmund) are forced to run again, trying to reach Haplo's ship to flee Abarrach, as well as stop the dead from breaking through its runes to enter the other worlds and kill all the living.

Jonathan sacrifices himself to aid their escape, and is murdered and turned into a lazar at his wife's hands; Prince Edmund, on the other hand, demonstrates how a lazar can surrender his/her anger and find true death by doing so. Baltazar gathers his remaining people on the outskirts of the city, in for the long haul, though the new army of lazar will make life difficult. Haplo and Alfred escape in Haplo's ship, and Haplo, driven by odd impulses, gives Alfred a chance to jump ship before he returns to the Nexus and his lord.

Haplo's report to Xar is minimal, he tells his lord that Abarrach may be removed from his calculations since it is a dead world. The novel, however, contains a Xar's written response in the margin of the report, where he calls Haplo a liar.

After the four worlds Alfred has at last found his people on Chelstra, the realm of sea. But his travels have taught him to be cautious... and Alfred soon realizes his caution is justified, even among his own kind. The one person Alfred can trust is, strangely, Haplo the Patryn. But Haplo's lord has decreed all Sartan to be the enemy, and Haplo dares not go against his lord. Now the companions have arrived in a land where humans, elves, and dwarves have learned to live in peace. Unaware of an even greater threat to all the realms, it is Sartan and Patryn who will disrupt this alliance of the lesser races in their struggle to gain control of all four worlds. Only Alfred and Haplo realize that they have a much older—and more powerful—enemy than each other, Samah, the nominal leader of all Sartan. Samah defeats them, and Alfred goes into exile, with Haplo imprisoned.

Samah has opened Death's Gate, allowing the dangerous dragon-snakes unfettered access to all four worlds. Haplo is too exhausted to capture Samah, so he returns to the Nexus and reports to Xar, his lord. Xar assigns Haplo to take Bane back to the air world Arianus, where Haplo will reactivate a city-sized machine called the Kicksey-winsey, which has stopped for the first time in history.

Haplo contemplates returning to the Labyrinth, the prison world of his people, the Patryn, but is intercepted by Zifnab, a Sartan. Sartans are the enemies of the Patryns; despite this, Haplo warns Zifnab to leave before Xar finds him. Bane informs Xar of this conversation and is ordered to kill Haplo for his betrayal.

Limbeck, the leader of a dwarf rebellion, enlists Haplo's help in reactivating the machine. Haplo, Bane, Limbeck, and Limbeck's wife Jarre must sneak through the elven base in the Factree to reach the machine's center. Haplo, Bane, and Jarre are separated from Limbeck and captured by red-eyed elves led by Sang-drax. Limbeck finds a room where members of all races sit peacefully together, but have frightening red eyes. He overhears elves discussing Sang-drax taking Jarre to his dragonship and plots to rescue her.

Haplo and Bane are taken to the elven Emperor, Agah'ran. Agah'ran is simultaneously fighting wars with humans, Gegs, and his own rebellious son. He plots with Bane to end the human war by assassinating Bane's adoptive parents, the human monarchs Stephen and Anne. Stephen, Anne, and Bane's true mother Lady Iridal learn that the elves are holding Bane captive.

The three do not want to rescue Bane, who is publicly charming but privately a power-hungry villain, but realize it would look strange if they failed to attempt to rescue him. Iridal decides to rescue Bane personally with the help of the retired assassin Hugh. He is persuaded to attempt to carry out a previous contract to kill Bane.

At the elven capitol, Hugh and Iridal seek help from a religious clan of elven mages, the Keepers of the Cathedral. Hugh pledges his soul to them in exchange. They slip into the Emperor's palace, where Iridal falls into a trap. In exchange for her life, Hugh agrees to kill the human monarchs for Bane.

Haplo is taken by the dragon-snakes and mentally tortured, but is rescued by the Keepers. The Keepers give Haplo a book written in every language, which will help him reactivate the Kicksey-winsey, and send him back to the surface. Iridal goes with him to stop Hugh and Bane. They find Sang-drax's dragonship. Haplo boards the vessel and rescues Jarre, but finds himself in the middle of a human mutiny. Jarre is injured before Haplo can teleport them to safety at the Factree. Limbeck is wrongly advised that Jarre is dead, and leads his rebel dwarves to massacre the elves in vengeance.

Sang-drax and his soldiers join the battle disguised as dwarves. Their red eyes give them away and they are revealed to be dragon-snakes. The battle becomes a chaotic three-way clash between elves, dwarves, and dragon-snakes. Sang-drax and Haplo sustain significant injuries. Limbeck eventually surrenders to prevent further losses. The snake-dragons begin to attack the Kicksey-winsey, causing the elves and dwarves to band together to stop them. Sang-drax's dragonship arrives and the human mutineers join the elves and dwarves against the dragon-snakes.

Hugh and Bane intercept a meeting between the human monarchs and the rebel elven prince. Bane demands Hugh accept a contract to kill Haplo, which Hugh accepts with no intention of following through. On arrival, Hugh intentionally botches his assassination of Stephen. Bane stabs Stephen and turns on Anne, but is magically suffocated by Iridal. Hugh returns to the Keepers of the Cathedral to fulfill his pledge to give them his soul. However, the Keepers cannot take it, because he is bound by the contract he made with Bane. The Keepers command Hugh to fulfill his contract by killing Haplo.

The Seventh Gate is rumoured to give anyone who enters it the power to create and destroy worlds. Haplo is the only one who knows how to enter it, but he is not aware of his own knowledge. Haplo is in mortal danger, with assassin Hugh and an ex-lover Marit having been sent after him by the villainous Lord Xar. Old enemies, the Sartan and Patryn, have crossed paths once more via the power of the Death Gate, and war is breaking out.

After numerous adventures through various planets, dimensions and labyrinths, Marit is wounded, Haplo is abducted by Xar, and Alfred goes missing.

Alfred, Haplo and Marit journey to attempt to close the dreaded Seventh Gate, which is a portal between worlds. Encountering enemies such as dragon-snakes, they battle ferociously. Eventually, they realise that the only way to seal the gate is to work a powerful, peaceful spell. At length, this succeeds- the gate is sealed, and there is some hope of peace.

Liz and Jenna keep running into the same two men in the elevator at the 30 Rock building, and find themselves interested in them. Not knowing their names, Liz and Jenna refer to them as "The Head" (Brian McCann) and "The Hair" (Peter Hermann). Jenna and Pete Hornberger (Scott Adsit) persuade Liz to ask out The Head, a low-maintenance and harmless geek, but as she goes to do so, she runs into The Hair, a suave and handsome charmer, who asks her out instead. Liz hesitates due to their perceived incompatibility, but agrees to try new things. Their date at a hip restaurant opening seems to evidence their incompatibility, but she realises they have more in common than she thought when they have the same reaction to a difficult shop owner. On their second date, Liz lets herself be charmed by Gray until she finds a picture of her great-aunt in his apartment and they learn that they are related.

Meanwhile, Tracy panics in the ''TGS with Tracy Jordan'' staff office, as his autobiography is due to a publisher the next day but he has not yet begun to write it. He engages Frank and James "Toofer" Spurlock (Keith Powell) to help him get it done in time. Despite Tracy's lack of memory of his own life, they work non-stop on the project and have it finished when Tracy remembers that the publisher actually rejected his autobiography.

Finally, General Electric Executive Vice-President Jack and NBC page Kenneth are participating in "Bottoms Up" day at the office. Jack must work in Kenneth's job for a day, to help him be a better manager. Disillusioned by the menial nature of Kenneth's job, Jack tries to get Kenneth a better role in another division, but insults Kenneth in the process. Kenneth reveals that he adores television and those who make it more than anything, and he puts up with the menial job to support the industry. Jack admires Kenneth's passion and asks his opinion on television content, something Jack has been struggling with. Inspired by Kenneth's idea, a game show called ''Gold Case'', Jack helps him sell it to NBC, but the show quickly runs into problems when the immense weight of the gold reveals its location to the contestants. The show is quickly cancelled.

''A Few Days in September'' imagines a scenario in which an American C.I.A. agent, Elliot, with advance intelligence about the attacks on New York's World Trade Center towers is being chased by an assassin, William Pound, while he is trying to reunite with his two grown up children with the help of an old colleague, Irène.

Now that their children have grown up and left home, Sarah and Frank Gladwyn are alone in their large family home. However, when they decide to move Sarah insists on selling it to "the right person". However, things soon start to go wrong and their daughter Jane also returns from college. Meanwhile, Sarah's sister Liz Ford is taking Valium.

''The Nun'' starts out with a young woman, named Suzanne, in a wedding gown preparing to take her vows of chastity, obedience, and poverty to make herself a nun, but she refuses at the last moment and instead begs her parents not to force her to take them.

This does not work, and later Suzanne learns much about her family and her heritage – or her lack thereof. She discovers that her mother's husband is not her father, and that her mother is shutting her up in the convent because she does not want her husband to know that the girl was not his daughter. She also does not want to see her sin in the flesh, for she says bearing the girl was her only sin. The father sends the priest to convince her, who reveals her heritage, but it fell on deaf ears. Later the mother falls on her knees to beg the daughter to take the vows, explaining the story enough to make Suzanne resign herself to her fate, realizing that her mother would never give her a chance to marry because the mother did not feel she was worthy to marry and the family could not afford to marry her off. According to the mother, she did not have the bloodline to marry. She writes her mother a letter that says she will take the vows, a letter that will later be used against her in the court case she wages against the church to be released of her vows.

Suzanne allows herself to be dressed in a wedding gown and takes the vows. She enters the convent, extremely depressed and unresponsive, unable to cope with the requirements of being a nun. She bonds to the Mother Superior, who takes her under her wing, and they have many long conversations. The Mother Superior, Mme de Moni, knows it is a mistake to accept the girl as a nun but does not stop it, instead telling the girl to accept her fate and make the best of it. Suzanne attempts to, which is made easier by Mme de Moni's encouragement, and does not utter more words but her body language reveals all. During this time, Suzanne's mother dies, and Mme de Moni does as well. She bears it until the life finally drives her mad, for the new Mother Superior, Sister Sainte-Christine, mistreats her because of her rebellion as a result of her dislike of the nun's life. She isolates her constantly and deprives her of food, forcing her to adopt a diet of bread and water.

Suzanne then sends her friend away with a letter to a lawyer. She wants to be free and absolved of her vows under the argument that everyone around her forced her to take the vows against her will: her mother, her father, the Mother Superior, etc. The lawyer, who becomes her biggest advocate against the religious orthodoxy enslaving her, informs her that while the case is pending, she will have to stay with Sister Sainte-Christine and endure the resulting persecution, but that either she will win or be transferred. Suzanne does not care, not truly understanding the depths of Sister Sainte-Christine' cruelty. While the case pends, Suzanne suffers many mistreatments under Sister Sainte-Christine, who steals her crucifix, forbids her to eat, forbids her to pray, forbids the other sisters to interact with or speak to her, and isolates her. She allows them to walk on the weakened, starving Suzanne after Mass. She is also whipped. They become convinced she is possessed, and Sister Sainte-Christine requests an exorcist. Officials arrive, see her mistreatment and understand that her devotion to God is not the way a possessed person would act, and investigate the mistreatment, which involves Sister Sainte-Christine's being reprimanded. After that, Sister Sainte-Christine lessens the punishment to only isolation but still treats her coldly.

When Suzanne discovers that the church has decided not to absolve her vows, she once again falls into a severe depression. Her lawyer apologizes and promises to keep in touch, although a church official forbids the contact. The same man later tells her that the church transferred her to another convent under the supervision of Mme de Chelles. In addition to long conversations about her thoughts and experiences, the light-hearted, fun, happy Mme de Chelles displays an attraction to and makes sexual advances towards Suzanne, which Suzanne never fully grasps. She meets a monk who attempts to comfort her by saying that he was forced into religion against his will as well. They develop a relationship and he later tells her that they must escape together. Suzanne goes with him, but flees from him when he forces kisses on her as soon as they are together which implies he desires more with her. Suzanne finds refuge nearby, working as a seamstress and doing chores for women. While there, she learns that the monk was caught and faces life in prison, same as she does. She cannot bear the thought of returning. She flees the small village she has taken refuge in and winds up begging on the street. A smart looking woman takes her to her home, but Suzanne does not understand it is a brothel and joins the girls who are dressing to entertain clients at a masked dinner party. As everybody takes their places, Suzanne realises what is involved. Crossing to the window, she asks God's forgiveness and jumps to her death.

The film is a biopic of American dancer Isadora Duncan.

Alex Fletcher is a washed-up former pop star (from the British group 'PoP!') who seems happy in his "has-been" status, performing for 80s-loving fans at reunions and random locations, when his manager tells him Cora Corman, a young megastar, wants him to write a song for her, titled "A Way Back Into Love". Alex is reluctant to compose again after two decades, because his strength was always the tune, his ex-partner Colin always wrote the words. However, his caring but professional manager tells him that his music career is completely doomed if he doesn't switch gears—interest in his nostalgia concerts is dwindling.

During an unsuccessful attempt to compose the song in collaboration with a "very hip, very edgy" lyricist, Alex discovers that the woman who is temporarily watering his plants, Sophie Fisher, has a talent for writing lyrics. Alex, on a 48-hour deadline to write the song, asks her to help him, but she refuses multiple times, to the chagrin of her older sister Rhonda, who happens to be a huge fan of Alex. It's not until Alex composes a lovely song with some of Sophie's lyrics and plays it for her that she realizes they could do it. Over the next few days, they grow closer while writing the words and music together. Sophie reveals she had lost confidence in herself and abandoned writing after a disastrous romance with her English professor Sloan Cates.

Barely meeting the deadline Cora has set for the song's delivery, Alex and Sophie are thrilled when she accepts it; however, at a celebratory dinner with Alex's manager Chris and his wife, Sophie is mortified to encounter Sloan. She confronts him but finds herself tongue-tied in his presence, and Alex's own attempts to defend her result in a scuffle. Nursing their wounds back at Alex's apartment, Alex and Sophie fall into an unplanned romantic encounter.

When Cora invites Alex and Sophie to hear her interpretation of "A Way Back into Love," Sophie is horrified by her Indian-vibed, sexually confident interpretation of their earnest song. Alex rushes Sophie out of the room before she can say anything, and tells her he agrees it's awful but says they need to accept it as the cost of doing business. Later at Cora's party, despite Alex's best efforts to block her, Sophie finally tells Cora that she feels the new arrangement clashes with the insecurity expressed in the song's lyrics. Cora says she's still going to perform it her way, but expresses appreciation for Sophie's honesty. Sophie leaves Alex when she gets upset by his willingness to demean his talent and his claim that Sloan was right about her personality.

Sophie, intending to start a new life in Florida, reluctantly attends the opening of Cora's new tour at Madison Square Garden, at which Alex and Cora will debut "Way Back Into Love". Upon hearing that Alex is singing a new song "written by Alex Fletcher", Sophie, believing that Alex is stealing credit for her work; attempts to leave; but however, the song Alex sings is called "Don't Write Me Off", his plea for Sophie to give him another chance. A touched Sophie finds Alex backstage and he confesses to having successfully convinced Cora to drop the risqué version of "A Way Back into Love" in an attempt to win Sophie back. He and Cora perform the tune as he and Sophie intended it to be sung.

The end of the movie (an homage to VH1's ''Pop-Up Video'') reveals that the song becomes a hit for Cora and Alex, the film version of Sloan's novel flops with critics and moviegoers (destroying his career), PoP! reunites for their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, after which their lead singer Colin Thompson (who left the band with some of Alex's songs to start a solo career) winds up having his hip replaced after years of dancing, and Alex and Sophie go on to become successful partners, both in songwriting and romance, with five more new pop hits.

Ernesto "Chili" Palmer is a Miami loan shark and movie buff. When his jacket is taken by rival mobster Ray "Bones" Barboni, Chili retrieves it and breaks Bones' nose. A vengeful Bones ambushes him at his office, but Chili shoots first, grazing Bones' forehead. Bones' boss refuses to retaliate, reminding him that Chili is under the protection of Brooklyn mob boss Momo.

After Momo dies of a heart attack, Bones takes over his operation and demands that Chili collect an outstanding debt from Leo Devoe, a dry cleaner who died in a plane crash. Chili learns from Leo's wife Faye that Leo is alive, having left the plane before takeoff; he was presumed dead when Faye identified his belongings in the crash, and she received $300,000 in life insurance, but Leo ran away with the cash. Chili tracks Leo to a Las Vegas casino, and the director of gaming asks him to collect a debt from B movie director Harry Zimm.

Surprising Harry in Los Angeles at the home of scream queen Karen Flores, Chili pitches him the story of chasing the dry cleaner’s mob debt as an idea for a movie. Harry persuades Chili to help him placate his investor Bo Catlett, owner of a limo service that serves as a drug front. Having gambled away Bo's $200,000 investment, Harry shows him the script he really wants to make, ''Mr. Lovejoy'', but the screenwriter's widow Doris controls the rights. Chili confronts Leo and takes his money to invest in the film, deciding to become a Hollywood producer, and rejects Bo's suggestion that they collaborate.

Bo has left $500,000 in a locker at Los Angeles International Airport for his Colombian contacts to collect. The cartel sends Yayo, who refuses to retrieve the money with the DEA watching. At Bo's cliffside home, Yayo threatens to inform on Bo if he is arrested with the cash; Bo shoots Yayo, knocking him over the deck railing, and plans to eliminate Chili in a similar fashion. He is later visited by Colombian druglord Mr. Escobar, who demands his money and his nephew, Yayo.

Warming to Chili, Karen also wants to become a producer and arranges a meeting with Hollywood star Martin Weir, her ex-husband. Interested in ''Mr. Lovejoy'', Martin is also intrigued by Chili's own pitch and in playing the role of Chili himself. Making Harry jealous of Chili and Karen's partnership, Bo offers him the locker money as a new investment, suggesting he send Chili to fetch it. Sensing a trap, Chili rents a nearby locker instead and is briefly interrogated by the DEA. Bo's henchman Bear demands the locker key back, but Chili subdues him, and they bond over Bear's former career as a stuntman.

After being seduced by Doris, Harry drunkenly calls Bones and tells him that Chili has Leo's money. Having already questioned Faye, Bones flies to Los Angeles and brutally beats Harry, demanding the money. They are interrupted by Bo's associate Ronnie, whom Bones shoots dead and frames Harry. Bear has a change of heart about the plan to kill Chili, but Bo threatens him and his young daughter. Chili and Karen give in to their mutual attraction, and take a badly injured Harry to meet with Martin.

Desperate to pay the Colombians, Bo demands Leo's money from Chili and kidnaps Karen. Chili delivers the money, but Bo and Bear prepare to kill him; in the scuffle, Bo falls through the deck railing to his death, as arranged by Bear, who saves Chili. At Chili's hotel room, Bones demands Leo's money at gunpoint. Chili sends him to the airport locker, where Bones is surrounded by DEA agents.

Some time later, ''Get Shorty'' — the movie version of Chili's story — is being filmed, produced by Chili and Karen, directed by Harry, starring Martin as Chili and Harvey Keitel as Bones, with Bear as stunt supervisor. When Martin's prop gun fails, Harry halts filming for the day, to Doris' displeasure. Chili and Karen depart the studio lot, officially Hollywood producers.

Renn, a gifted but often bullied Eight Year novice in the Echorium who can speak to Half-Creatures, is asked to assist the Singers by translating for Shaiala Two-Hoof, a wild girl brought to the Island for treatment, who claims to have been raised by centaurs. Although initially the pair argue, meeting Rialle helps to calm Shaiala and she begins to remember, enough to reveal that her memories were wiped using a mask made of khiz. Second Singer Kherron takes this excuse to insist that Shaiala and Renn leave with him to search for Frazhin, the escaped khizpriest whose body was never found. After this revelation, Rialle takes Shaiala, who was very disturbed by her recollections, and Renn to come to the cave where she lives and meet the merlee. While Shaiala swims with the merlee, Renn rejects their friendly offers and is horrified to learn that "crazy" Rialle is his mother.

The next day, Renn and Shaiala leave with Kherron on the Wavesong, heading to Southport. On the journey, Renn is irritable and offends Shaiala by refusing to believe her tales of centaurs. Kherron also gives Shaiala a bluestone necklace. Upon arrival, the group begins to explore Southport and Shaiala, despite being closelyguarded by a pentad of orderlies including Frenn and Lazim, escapes, only to become lost in the rough part of the city. She is kidnapped and thrown in a cellar with several street children, and Erihan, the son of Lord Nahar, the leader of the Kalerei tribe of Horselords. The children are taken away by barge towards the Plains.

While Kherron attempts to trace Shaiala through her bluestone necklace, they rapidly lose track of the barge. Meanwhile, the children meet "Aunt Yashra", a seemingly kindly pregnant woman who asks to hear each child sing, and then chooses some to return to her "Singing Palace" while others are to be "gotten rid of". This disturbs Shaiala, who recognises Yashra, and causes friction between the children, with many of those chosen wanting to stay. However, after three days of cramped conditions, they hatch a plan to escape. Shaiala kicks a hole in the side of the boat for the children to escape through, but several are left behind as the boat begins to sink, attracting the crew's attention. Shaiala and the other remaining children are taken to Aunt Yashra's camp, where Yashra uses the khiz mask to make them passive. Shaiala remembers the mask and, with Erihan's help, escapes. Shaiala and Erihan steal Yashra's horses and head onto the Plains together to search for tracks - Erihan for Horselord's, Shaiala for centaur's.

Meanwhile, Renn is asked to track Shaiala's bluestone, as novices are more sensitive than Singers. Although they follow the barge for a few days, Renn is shocked when the bluestone is suddenly underwater, and he fears Shaiala has drowned. However, the bluestone is soon retrieved by a Half-Creature similar to a merlee, known as a naga. The Singers follow the naga upriver, and eventually arrange a meeting. The naga shows them its collection of 'sparklies' – consisting of Shaiala's bluestone, a piece of khiz and Erihan's dagger. Seeing Erihan's dagger, the Singers are attacked by Lord Nahar and the Kaleri, who have been following the Singers in their search for Erihan. After a brief confrontation, the two groups agree to work together, and the Horselords tell the Singers about the Sunless Valley, reachable only through the Pass of Silence, where they suspect the children have been taken. Renn contacts the naga again and, in exchange for the return of a 'sparkly', it tells them where it found the dagger – with Shaiala's bluestone – and where it found the khiz, in the mountains. However, it leaves before Renn can ask if it knows another way into the Sunless Valley.

Meanwhile, Shaiala and Erihan eventually track down Shaiala's herd of centaurs by the Dancing Canyons. Seeing them, Shaiala remembers why no one else had spotted them - the adults use herdstones to bend light around the herd, rendering it invisible. Shaiala offers to take herdstones to the centaur foals enslaved in the Sunless Valley, and she and Erihan travel there through underwater caves, guided by naga, within which they see khiz crystal poisoning the naga eggs. Meanwhile, the Singers attempt to get through the Pass of Silence, a pass so precarious that the slightest noise can start an avalanche. However, when they are attacked, Renn accidentally cries out, setting off an avalanche. Frenn and another orderly are killed, Kherron is captured, a crystal forced into his throat, and is taken away, and only Renn's quick thinking saves himself and the other orderlies from the second avalanche set off by the Harai guarding the Pass. Grateful, Lazim finally explains how Frazhin disappeared after the Battle of the Merlee twenty years ago, and, although those sent to find his body disappeared, he was not considered a threat after the khiz was destroyed.

While the orderlies attempt to disable to gong used to set off avalanches in the Pass of Silence - thereby allowing Lord Nahar and the Kaleri to pass through safely - Renn hides, only to be caught by Yashra as she brings in the captured street children, and be taken to the Khizalace - Yashra's stronghold. However, there is trouble in the Valley - Shaiala and Erihan have arrived to find the captured centaurs working as slaves to mine khiz, and have freed them with herdstones, leading a revolution. The angry foals storm the palace, leaving Shaiala and Erihan no choice but to follow. They get inside the Khizalace, but are soon separated from the centaurs. Instead, they find a group of street children, apparently hypnotised, and follow them to their dormitory, which is dominated by the presence of a giant khiz crystal. Although the pair quickly disable the guards, they are unable to break the crystal's hold on the children, and only just keep from succumbing themselves.

Renn is taken to see Singer Kherron in the dungeons, who is clearly badly injured by the khiz crystal in his throat. Frazhin arrives, and attempts to force Kherron to teach the children in the Khizalace the Songs of Power, scorning the Singer's attempts to break free. Frazhin threatens that if Kherron does not help him, he will harm Renn - whom Frazhin believes to be Kherron's son. It is made clear in the conversation that Yashra's unborn child is Frazhin's. Renn is taken away, but escapes from his guards when he hears of a "wild centaur girl" causing havoc in the dormitories. He hurries to find Shaiala attempting to crack the khiz with her kicks, and helps her to crack the crystal and free the children. With the Khizalace shattering around them from the blow, the Harai flee, and Shaiala and Renn hurry to free Kherron, whose voice is badly damaged from the crystal, then join the battle outside.

With the arrival of the Kaleri, the battle has turned in the Singer's favour, at least until Yashra appears and seals the gates against them with khiz power, trapping them inside. Although she seems victorious, capturing Erihan as a hostage and controlling the khiz against the Kaleri, she is distracted when Singer Kherron warns her to keep an eye on Frazhin, who is trying to escape without her. She hurries after him, and between Renn's singing and the centaur's kicks, the gates are destroyed. When the group catches up to Yashra, she is watching from the lakeshore as Frazhin on a boat in the centaur calls to the naga. Although they help him initially, they suddenly turn on him and pull him under the water. Yashra, trapped by the Singers, is offered a choice: immediate execution or life on the Echorium until her child is born followed by a course of Yehn. She chooses the Echorium, for the sake of her child, and protests before she is taken away that Frazhin's crimes are the Singer's fault, for destroying his hopes of joining them when he was a child.

After leaving the valley, Shaiala and Renn forget their earlier disagreements, and with Renn's singing to assist her, Shaiala successfully cracks rock to find her own herdstone. A songless Kherron, after reporting to the Echorium with Renn's help, admits that, while he would be glad to call himself Renn's father, Rialle had a close relationship with Frenn - who Renn was named for - and Renn's parentage is uncertain. Shaiala joins the Kaleri to learn to be a tribeswoman from Erihan's mother, and Renn returns to the Echorium, where he reconciles with Rialle and the merlee.

The premise of the parody is the question, "What if Dickens' Mrs. Cratchit wasn't so goody-goody, but instead was an angry, stressed-out modern-day American woman who wanted out of this harsh London 1840s life?" The main character in ''Binge'' is the hard-drinking, suicidal Gladys Cratchit, whose harshness to her family surpasses Mommie Dearest by a mile. The other two leads are The Ghost and Ebenezer Scrooge. The Ghost, whose character is written to be an African-American woman, plays the narrator role as she escorts Ebenezer Scrooge through the past, present and future of his life. But, as she says, everything keeps going "kaplooey" because she can't get her magic to work properly. In their first journey, the Ghost tries to take Scrooge to his past at the Fezziwig Christmas party, but they end up at the Cratchits' home in the present, where we meet Mrs. Cratchit and her eternally hungry yet eternally sunny children, all 21 of them. The majority of the 21 live in "a bunch in the root cellar."

Most of the characters retain their original Dickensian qualities. Ebenezer Scrooge is old and miserly. Bob Cratchit is the gentle family man who is the primary target of Scrooge's cheapness. Tiny Tim is crippled and heart-rending. Equally heart-rending is Little Nell from Dickens' ''The Old Curiosity Shop'', who appears as one of the Cratchit children. In typical Durang style, these qualities are heightened and shaded dark (not to blackness this time, just to blueness) to give it his brand of comic tone.

Durang adds many classic allusions and pop-culture references to the story, including scenes where the Ghost accidentally takes Scrooge to the lives of Oliver Twist and Leona Helmsley. The play also makes stops in ''It's a Wonderful Life'', the Enron scandal, ''The Gift of the Magi'', and ''Touched by an Angel''.

Voyage Century Online is a game set in 16th-century Europe with its roots in the Age of Sail.

From the 15th century, western European explorers push eastward in an effort to seek treasures, spices and other luxuries of that time. They opened a gate to riches and greed for those in power, who sponsored explorers' cause without abandonment. As the fleets stretched their paths, westerners expanded their influences to Africa. Later they cruised around Cape of Good Hope to reach the Indian Ocean. In the other direction, they explored westward and found the New World. The late 15th century saw the start of the global expansion of Western capitalism and colonial exploitation of the rest of the world.

Voyage Century's storyline begins at the Mediterranean from the late 15th to early 16th century. The western powers start the bloody pursuit of riches that led Europe into an age of great turmoil. Every character in the game was from a mysterious birth. Some of them are descendants of the courageous cavalry in Yuan Empire, some carry the family line of caravan merchants faring the Silk Road, some are the witnesses of the not so well-known affair between of Marco Polo and Chinese princess, and some are even the offspring of West Europe's pirates.

As Chloe Sullivan tries to get in touch with Clark Kent, she finds herself cornered in an alleyway by a man named Sylvester Pemberton, who is wielding a staff that has the ability to control light. As Sylvester attempts to inform Chloe that he is a friend, an assassin known as Icicle attacks and Sylvester is ultimately killed. Chloe and Clark go to the hospital to investigate the truth behind Sylvester, which ultimately leads them to the ''Daily Planet'' archive room. There, Clark and Chloe discover documents and an old 16 mm film that identifies Sylvester as part of a team of "criminals", which includes: Carter Hall, Kent Nelson, Jay Garrick, Alan Scott, Ted Grant, Abigail Hunkel, Wesley Dodds, and Al Pratt. In the documentary footage, Sylvester and the rest of his team are systematically arrested. Because of allegations of jury tampering, falsified evidence, and lack of connection, all of the individuals are released.

While Clark and Chloe are looking into the criminal group, Icicle tracks down and kills Wesley Dodds following Dodds' dream about him; Clark later finds Dodds' body. Following Dodds' death, Clark tracks down Carter Hall, believing him to be Icicle's next target. Clark finds Hall at a museum; he also finds Kent Nelson, who is mumbling incoherently to himself and clutching onto a small bag. Using his X-ray vision, Clark sees a helmet inside the bag, which turns on its own and looks back at Clark. Having enough of Clark's questions, Carter sends Clark on his way.

Meanwhile, Chloe sends Oliver Queen after Sylvester's staff. Unfortunately, high school sophomore Courtney Whitmore has already taken the staff. Before Oliver can get the staff from her, Kent shows up and uses the staff to teleport both him and Courtney back to the museum. Here, it is revealed that Sylvester's team was actually a group of superheroes led by Carter Hall, who went by the codename "Hawkman". The group called themselves the "Justice Society of America". Courtney, who was Sylvester's protégé, Kent and Carter band together to find Sylvester's killer. As such, Kent places the Helmet of Nabu back on and transforms into "Doctor Fate".

After investigating Dodds and Pemberton's deaths, Clark and Chloe believe they have located the killer at the psychiatric ward of Metropolis General Hospital. When they arrive, they find the individual, Joar Mahkent, in a vegetative state and Doctor Fate reading his mind. Doctor Fate then sees Clark's fate and teleports Clark and himself to the museum. Meanwhile, the real assassin is revealed to be Joar's son, who is killing the Justice Society members for putting his father in that vegetative state decades earlier. Hired by an organization known as Checkmate, and instructed by Agent Amanda Waller, Icicle sets his sights on Courtney. Oliver tracks down Courtney—who calls herself "Stargirl"—and realizes that she is setting herself up as bait to lure Icicle out. Icicle arrives, but Oliver interrupts Courtney's plan. As a result, Hawkman grabs Oliver, throws him through the Watchtower window, and then threatens to do worse if Oliver interferes again.

Meanwhile, Checkmate sends Lois Lane an anonymous package that provides her with the truth about the Justice Society. Clark awakens at the museum, where Doctor Fate informs Clark that his fate is to lead a new generation of superheroes, and that he will one day conquer his greatest enemy, Lex Luthor. Oliver and John Jones show up at the museum to rescue Clark, unaware that Hawkman, Doctor Fate, and Stargirl are actually heroes. Banding together, the group splits up into pairs to locate Icicle. While on patrol, Doctor Fate and John Jones are attacked by Icicle. Before Doctor Fate is killed, he uses his abilities to restore John's Martian powers. While John lies unconscious, Icicle steals Doctor Fate's helmet and acquires the powers that go with it.

Clark and the others regroup at Watchtower, where Icicle arrives to kill the rest of the Justice Society and avenge his father. At first, Clark, Hawkman, Stargirl, and Green Arrow have trouble taking down Icicle and his new abilities. When John arrives, the group is finally able to defeat Icicle. Afterward, Carter tells Clark that he and Courtney have located the surviving members of the Justice Society, their children, and their protégés in order to build a new team of superheroes for today's generation. Back at the ''Daily Planet'' after having been visited by Agent Waller, Lois publishes her article on the Justice Society, revealing them to be a team of superheroes who were lambasted by the government, and falsely imprisoned. Icicle is transported back to Checkmate. With Icicle in a heated cage, Agent Waller subsequently kills him after informing Icicle that he was a part of the new Suicide Squad. Afterward, Tess Mercer is revealed to be an agent of Checkmate.

At Cape Kennedy, Florida, Colonel Benson oversees the launch of ''Sun Probe'', a three-man spacecraft designed to extract matter from the Sun. ''Sun Probe'' lifts off safely and its journey to the Sun passes without incident.

A week later, as ''Sun Probe'' nears its target, International Rescue watch live TV coverage of the mission from Tracy Island. Brains (voiced by David Graham) is absent from the proceedings as he is busy working on his latest invention, an artificially-intelligent humanoid robot called Braman. In space, solarnauts Harris, Asher and Camp fire a smaller probe through a solar prominence and succeed in capturing fragments of matter. However, by the time the probe returns to the main spacecraft, the increasing solar radiation has caused ''Sun Probe'' s retro-rockets to fail, locking it on a collision course with the Sun.

On TV, Benson implores International Rescue to save the crew. Alan and Scott (voiced by Matt Zimmerman and Shane Rimmer) suggest remote-firing ''Sun Probe'' s rockets by radio beam from ''Thunderbird 3''. Virgil (voiced by David Holliday) points out that ''Thunderbird 2'' is more powerful and that it would be easier to transmit the signal from Earth. The team finally agree to launch a two-pronged rescue attempt. Alan, Scott and Tin-Tin (voiced by Christine Finn) blast off in ''Thunderbird 3'' but their radio beam falls short of ''Sun Probe'', forcing them to travel closer to the Sun than anticipated.

Having determined the optimal Earth-bound transmitting position to be in the Himalayas, Virgil and Brains take off in ''Thunderbird 2'' carrying the Transmitter Truck. Landing on Mount Arkan, they align the truck's dish with ''Sun Probe'' but their transmission fails to reach the spacecraft.

Further attempts to transmit from ''Thunderbird 3'' fail. With the crews of both ''Sun Probe'' and ''Thunderbird 3'' growing delirious from the heat, Alan suggests that Tin-Tin overrun the power and the beam finally makes contact, successfully firing ''Sun Probe'' s retros. ''Sun Probe'' reverses course for Earth but the crew of ''Thunderbird 3'' pass out before they can switch off the beam, draining the ship's power and preventing its own retros from firing.

With the news media now reporting that ''Thunderbird 3'' is heading for the Sun, Jeff (voiced by Peter Dyneley) alerts Virgil and Brains, who hurry back to ''Thunderbird 2'' to calculate the frequency needed to fire ''Thunderbird 3'' s retros. Opening a storage box meant for International Rescue's portable computer, they are dismayed to find that they have accidentally packed Braman instead. However, Braman is able to calculate the frequency on his own and Virgil and Brains succeed in firing ''Thunderbird 3'' s retros. Back on Tracy Island, the International Rescue team thank Brains and Braman for their efforts.

Matthew Barnes is a young executive on the move, who finds himself a pawn in corporate in-fighting when he's sent to London to oversee a merger. He's to replace John Gissing. However Gissing gets wind of it, and makes sure that Matthew and his wife Linda, who has come to England with Matthew, have a miserable first few days there.

The plot is, on the whole, close to Gogol's classic tale.

The action is set in a Ukrainian village. On Christmas Eve, a minor demon arrives to a local witch called Solokha. They both ride on the witch's broom, after which the demon steals the Moon and hides in an old rag. In the ensuing darkness, some inebriated Cossacks can't find their way to a ''shinok'' (tavern) and decide to go home. One by one, they each come to visit Soloha, who hides each one (starting from the demon) in bags so that none of them see each other. At the same time, Solokha's son Vakula the Metalsmith (P. Lopukhin), tries to woo the beauty Oksana (Olga Obolenskaya), but she laughs at him and demands that he find her the shoes which the Tsarina wears. Vakula goes to Soloha in sadness, but upon coming there sees the bags and decides to take them to the forge. Getting tired along the way, he leaves the heaviest bags on the street, which are picked up by a caroling company. Vakula, who is left only with the bag containing the demon, goes to Patsyuk, a sorcerer, to ask him how to find a demon - only with the help of a demon can he hope to get Tsarina's shoes.

The Patsyuk answers that a person should not search for a demon if he has a demon behind his back. Vakula takes it as some kind of a murky wise say, but indeed eventually finds the demon in the bag and forces him to take him to St. Petersburg. There, Prince Potemkin takes him for an ambassador of the Zaporozhian Cossacks and gives him Tsarina's shoes. The demon takes Vakula home and Vakula lets him go. Oksana agrees to marry Vakula.

''Mi Vida Loca'' tells the story of young Mexican-American women in Los Angeles and the struggles they have in a life of poverty and early motherhood while being members of an infamous street gang. Mousie and Sad Girl are best friends from childhood, growing up in Echo Park, a neighborhood that had a significant amount of gang activity in the late 1980s and early 1990s era.

They pride themselves for remaining loyal to each other and their gang. But when Sad Girl sleeps with Mousie's boyfriend (a member of their neighborhood gang who is killed in a drug deal gone bad) and becomes pregnant, their friendship is ruptured.

As dramatic and occasional comical situations unfold around them, some that would turn violent, they must try to stay together as friends despite the betrayals, heartbreak and tragedies. The film takes a rather independent look at a world where women seem to have no choice but to raise their children, involve themselves with gang activity, and survive by whatever means available.

Bean Bunny wishes he could help with the preparations for the Bunny Picnic, but he is told by his older brother Lugsy that he is too small and will only get in the way. Feeling very disappointed, Bean wanders off alone into the lettuce patch, where he imagines himself as the king of the bunny picnic and community and then encounters a farmer's dog, who chases him around the patch. Bean runs away and escapes the dog and warns the village, but none of the other bunnies believe him. They conclude that there is no dog and that Bean is simply making up the story for attention.

At first, it seems that the farmer's dog is the story antagonist, but it is revealed that it is his master the farmer that wants him to get the bunnies for his stew. The dog is only trying to protect himself from the wrath of the farmer by hunting the bunnies.

The bunnies soon discover that the dog is indeed real and out to get them. After much debating and futile attempts to rid themselves of the farmer's dog, the bunnies finally listen to Bean, who seems to have a solution to their problem. Inspired by a story about a giant hedgehog, they all hide inside of a giant bunny costume to frighten the dog, except Lugsy who went out for a sleeping potion only to get captured by the dog. The dog, being threatened by the farmer to catch the rabbits or starve, sets out to pursue the bunnies. When he enters their village he is confronted by the "Giant Bunny". The dog is frightened and begs for mercy, which the Giant Bunny grants to him. However, Bean goes into convulsions upon being told of the farmer's intent to stew any captured rabbits, and his spasms cause the costume to fall apart, revealing the bunnies to the dog.

The dog is now infuriated by this deception and captures Bean, but only for a brief moment as Lugsy and their sister Twitch get him back. But just as Bean escapes and before the dog is able to attack the bunnies, the farmer appears. The dog cowers as his angry master approaches. The bunnies, feeling sympathy for the obviously petrified dog, decide to forgive the dog and help him against the vicious farmer. They run at the farmer singing an empowering song. The farmer, with his allergy to bunnies acting up, begins sneezing uncontrollably and runs off never to threaten the bunnies' village again. The bunnies then welcome the dog into their village and name him "Mr. Dee-Dop Dee-Diddly-Dog Bop."

The film then goes back to an elderly Bean (Now called "Grandpa Bean" by one of the young bunnies) who finishes telling the story. The dog, by now aged as well, is with him as he does. The film ends with the bunnies, celebrating the picnic with the dog.

The film follows Will Bastion (Morrison) as he returns home from the army after 20 years to bury his father. Upon returning home, tradition dictates that Will must take the tribal chief position. Due to his disinterest in the role, his brother Kahu (Makoare) takes charge as he appoints himself with the position. Faced with Kahu's drug-dealing and radical views, Bastion must decide if he should act.

The story picks up two months after the events in the first book. The opening chapter is narrated by Kartik, who has been brought before a council of the Rakshana. He is told that by destroying the Runes, Gemma released the magic, making it available to all the creatures in the realms, including the evil Circe and her allies in the Winterlands. Kartik is charged with helping Gemma find the Temple in the realms, where the magic can be bound by the Rakshana, and when that is successfully completed he is to kill her.

The rest of the story is narrated by Gemma, in the present tense. Gemma is told by Kartik that she must find a "Temple" in the realms to bind the magic "in the name of the Eastern Star"; unbeknownst to Gemma, saying that line would give the Rakshana the power.

At Christmas break, Gemma leaves the Spence School and goes to her family's home in London, where she has never been before. Gemma's brother Tom is late to pick her up at the train station. Gemma believes a member of the Rakshana is following her. She runs up to a young man and pretends she knows him, under the pretense that the other man following her will go away. The young man turns out to be Simon Middleton, a young aristocrat who is immediately smitten with her. Middleton invites her and her family to dinner, and he begins to court Gemma.

Gemma finds out that her brother attended Eton with Simon. Gemma runs into Miss Hester Asa Moore, her former art teacher who mentored her at Spence, and who has now taken a flat in London. A new teacher turns up at Spence, Miss McCleethy, whom Gemma suspects is Circe. At Bethlem Royal Hospital (i.e. "Bedlam"), where Tom works, one of his patients is a girl named Nell Hawkins, who murmurs of the Temple. Gemma visits her, and through Nell's ramblings, she begins putting together clues as to the location of the Temple. She also discovers that Nell was a student at a finishing school that Miss McCleethy had taught at before coming to Spence, as well as three other girls whose terrible fate Gemma repeatedly envisions. Together with Ann and Felicity, they meet up with their deceased friend Pippa, who has remained in the realms, and they try to locate the Temple.

Ann has gone to stay with Felicity for the holidays, and with Felicity's assistance, parades around pretending to be Russian nobility. Ann hopes this will impress Tom, among others, whom she has fallen in love with. Felicity's mother returns from Paris, and gossip is all about. After Felicity's parents take in her orphaned cousin, Polly, as a ward, Felicity tells Polly to lock her doors and "not let Uncle in"; Gemma surmises that her friend was molested by her father as a little girl. Gemma must also tend to her father, who has taken ill several times and is eventually placed in a rehabilitation sanatorium. Gemma, Felicity, Ann, and Kartik make a ragtag crew, and Kartik advances his moves on Gemma, which she declines, still unsure of what she wants. In the end, Ann admits to Tom her deception, and he scolds her.

Eventually, Gemma discovers that Miss Moore is Circe, whom she defeats in a climactic battle, binding the magic not to the Order or the Rakshana, but among everybody in the realms, declaring that she is "the temple" and the magic is inside her. Pippa, who wants desperately to remain in the realms forever, is slowly being corrupted by the dark spirits, and is no longer their friend. Kartik helps Gemma escape from the Rakshana and turns his back on them forever. Gemma rejects Simon, knowing he could never accept her for who she truly is, but Simon continues to pursue her.

A middle-class Manila neighborhood is home to the Bartolome family. Couple Amanda Bartolome (Vilma Santos) and Julián Bartolome Sr. (Christopher de Leon) are parents to sons Julian "Jules" Bartolome Jr. (Piolo Pascual), Isagani "Gani" Bartolome (Carlos Agassi), Emmanuel "Em" Bartolome (Marvin Agustin), Jason Bartolome (Danilo Barrios) and Benjamin "Bingo" Bartolome (John Wayne Sace).

1965-1970

In 1965, as a young boy, Gani fights with his friend while playing a game in the street, their mothers come to stop the fighting and make them stay away from each other. In the streets of Manila, protests take place when the Philippines enters the Vietnam War. Five years later, Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos wins his re-election bid as president. Julián stops Amanda from looking for a job with Amanda intent on pursuing it. At dinner time, Jules and Gani speak about the upcoming Junior-Senior Prom. At the prom, Gani tries gropes his partner and gets kicked . The Bartolomes get stuck in traffic in the streets on the way home from the event due to a protest with effigy burning taking place near the Legislative Building.

1971

A protest takes place in the University of the Philippines where Jules with his best friend Willy (Jhong Hilario) become activists and join a resistance movement. At the same time, Emmanuel begins writing illegal exposés and other kinds of banned literature. During protests, attendees sing the Philippine National Anthem, "Lupang Hinirang", with raised fists. The protesters outnumber the authorities but their efforts to make them leave become futile and they retreat. Julián becomes furious when he discovers their activities, and he angrily explains to Jules and Willy the consequences of their actions, the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus and the disappearance of the student leader Charlie del Rosario.

Gani reveals his plans to apply for a job in the United States Navy to Julian but is overheard by Jules, who admonishes his actions as a lack of patriotism. Gani furiously explains to him that working for the US government entitles one to a high salary with numerous benefits. Julián accepts the plan, thus making Gani the family's newest breadwinner. Sometime later, another protest depicts President Ferdinand Marcos acting as a lackey to Uncle Sam, and crucifying a Filipino. Bingo pulls down a flying kite and Amanda discovers that the kite is made out of copies of the Communist newspaper ''Ang Bayan''. Julián discovers that Jules is an activist and he sneaks up to his room to check his rebellious pamphlets.

1972

Marcos declares martial law on nationwide television, as well as imposing nighttime curfews in order to round up anyone suspected of being a terrorist or communist to be imprisoned. The change of events results in interrogations, tortures, and deaths. Gani accidentally impregnates his girlfriend Evelyn (Dimples Romana). Two police cars escort the Bartolomes to Evelyn's house where her father blackmails them into marrying her.

Jules comes home late and confesses to his family that Willy was tortured to death for staying past curfew. He later reveals his plan to travel to Bicol and join the Communist Party's NPA group despite his mother's opposition.

1973-1976

Evelyn gives birth to a baby girl. Sometime later, Gani leaves for the United States via Subic Bay and Evelyn returns to her family. Emmanuel plans to go to Bataan to research an article on the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant. Julián furiously opposes as the topic is a possible target for roundup under Martial Law.

Jules brings a wounded friend home for care, as a hospital would arouse too much suspicion, but leaves two days later. After two months of not returning, Jules is revealed to have been married to fellow NPA member Mara (Ana Capri) and they now have a baby boy. One night, the family burns Jules' anti-government pamphlets out of fear of the presence of authorities who instead turn out to be Christmas carolers.

Amanda receives a phone call informing her that Jules has been imprisoned.

Amanda and Julian visit Jules in prison where he recounts his experience with torture and solitary confinement.

At Christmas Jules' family, including his parents and siblings along with his wife and son, visit him prison his fellow inmates are sing Christmas songs.

Final years of the 70s

Amanda is involved with a non-government organization (similar to Amnesty International or any other human rights groups) reaching out to families of victims of human rights abuse.

Amanda and Julian search for Jason whose whereabouts are unknown after a night of being out. Emmanuel joins in the search and discovers in a morgue that his brother's body was found inside Manila Zoo with multiple stab wounds.

Amanda, drunk, not knowing what Emmanuel has found, berates him for coming home late. Emmanuel tells his father Julian of his discovery and Julian attempts suicide in grief. Jules attends the wake in handcuffs and in tears.

Amanda and Julian blame each other on their son's death and on the verge of separation, are interrupted by news that Jules is finally released from prison.

The family reunites at dinner, with Jules' wife and son, and Evelyn and her daughter. Jules announces to the family that he will be returning to the revolution, which Julian accepts and wishes him good luck. Eventually, Amanda and Julian get emotional and reconcile.

In the end, Amanda and her son Emmanuel participate in singing the Philippine National Anthem at a play about the revolution written by Emmanuel himself.

Epilogue

In 1983, the Bartolome family attend the wake of Ninoy Aquino at the Santo Domingo Church in Quezon City after his assassination. Amanda joins a large group of activists at the Post Office Building to overthrow the Marcos regime once and for all. The Marcos regime is peacefully overthrown during the 1986 People Power Revolution when Corazon Aquino is sworn into office as president.

The film begins with a man on a stage who is the film's only member of average height. He announces that this film is the first of its kind and speaks the title: ''The Terror of Tiny Town''. He is interrupted by the hero, Buck Larson, who walks on and tells him the story is serious as he is the hero and will become the biggest star in Hollywood. The film's villain, Bat Haines, walks on and says ''he'' will become the biggest star in Hollywood, and the two argue. The M.C. breaks them up and lets the film proceed.

The townspeople are at work while singing "Laugh Your Troubles Away". Buck Larson's father, Pop Larson, tells Buck that he wants him to go to the ranch and find out why the calves are disappearing. Bat Haines and his gang are seen roping the calves while riding Shetland ponies. Buck spots the cattle rustlers, and they run off before he can see them up close. The rustlers plant a branding iron with the initials of a neighboring rancher, Tex Preston. Meanwhile, Bat tells Tex that the Larsons are shooting his cattle.

Later Tex goes to town to retrieve his niece, Nancy Preston, who was orphaned and will now live with him. In the town saloon, Bat tells the sheriff to stay out of the Larson/Preston feud or he will be sent back to jail. He also reveals that he will rob a stagecoach carrying money. While Bat and his gang try to rob the carriage, Buck and his group see the attack and run Bat Haines off. Buck is able to stop the runaway carriage that is carrying Preston's niece Nancy. She thanks him and he takes her back into town. Their romance continues, but they must meet secretly because of the Larson/Preston feud. Eventually, Pop Larson discovers them and forces them to stay away from each other.

Buck chases after Nancy and they ride away together. Bat spies on the couple and tells Tex that they are together. Tex rides to meet them and sends Nancy home. Buck convinces Tex that someone else has stolen their property. As Tex rides away he is murdered by Bat who then tries, unsuccessfully, to kill Buck. Bat tells Nancy that it was Buck who shot Tex. Bat forces the sheriff to arrest Buck for Tex's murder. Buck confronts Nancy and convinces her he didn't shoot Tex, figuring out in the process that Bat is causing all the problems.

In the town's saloon, Buck confronts and punches Bat, and the sheriff takes Buck into custody. Bat tries to have Buck hanged without a trial. Buck sends Nancy to the Larson ranch to round up people who can help him escape. As the angry mob closes in on Buck, the sheriff intervenes but Bat shoots him and escapes through the window before the Larson crew arrives. Buck chases Bat to his secret hideout. Meanwhile, angry dance-hall girl Nita plants dynamite in Bat's cabin, angry that he neglected, then abused her. Buck and Bat engage in a final duel inside the cabin. Buck runs out of the cabin at the last second, leaving Bat behind. The cabin blows up as Bat prepares to shoot Buck in the back of the head. Buck and Nancy are finally able to share a kiss.

A voice over says, "No, that's not right." The scenario is repeated with adjustments until the voice is eventually satisfied. The screen fades to Cathy Palmer (JoBeth Williams) sitting at a typewriter, finishing up the story. She seals it in an envelope and sends it off. When Kevin (James Staley), her conventional, self-centered husband, comes home, she tells him about entering a contest to write a short story following the "Rebecca Ryan" series of novels. Kevin is patronizing, telling her, "The important thing, kid, is that you're doing something you like to do."

Cathy is notified by mail that she has won the contest, including an all-expense-paid trip to Paris for two, an Award ceremony and a meeting with the author of the "Rebecca Ryan" novels. Kevin tries to persuade her to decline, but she goes on the trip alone. While sightseeing in Paris, her purse is snatched. Chasing the thief, she runs into a street where she is knocked down by a car.

The accident leaves Cathy with amnesia; she thinks she is the detective, Rebecca Ryan. She escapes from the hospital and assumes Rebecca's dashing persona, lavish wardrobe, and residence at the Hôtel de Crillon. The hotel staff are so in awe of the novels that they go along with her demands. When she enters "Rebecca's" apartment, she is greeted by Alan McMann (Tom Conti), who thinks she is a clerical assistant he has requested from an agency. Alan is the actual author of the "Rebecca Ryan" novels. Cathy ignores all of the tasks he assigns her, instead believing that Alan is Rebecca's gay sidekick, Dimitri.

Cathy as Rebecca is convinced that she must save Victor Marchand (Giancarlo Giannini), the leader of the opposition party, from an assassination plot. Rebecca and Alan chase Victor around Paris in an attempt to protect him from the (fictitious) murder plot, with Victor instead getting injured several times from Rebecca's rescues. They are also running from a shadowy figure. Rebecca and Alan flee to Alan's mother's house. While there, Alan and Rebecca consummate their relationship.

Kevin, who has been following them, enters the house and meets Rebecca & Alan coming down the stairs. He punches Alan, but Rebecca doesn't see him. She and Alan run off to save Victor, who is on a train. Victor jumps from the train.

Rebecca and Alan come face to face with Kevin. Cathy gets her memory back. She wakes in the hospital. Alan and his literary agent announce that Cathy's writing is so good that she could get a lucrative book deal.

While recovering at a hospital, Cathy apologizes to Alan for her delusions and bids him goodbye. At the airport, she realizes that she does not want to go home with Kevin. She leaves Kevin at the airport, and returns to the hotel to find Alan. They embrace, and are soon kidnapped.

Cathy and Alan learn their kidnapper is Victor, the man they'd been trying to "protect" all along. Victor has been seriously injured from Rebecca's repeated rescue attempts, and is clad in neck brace and arm sling, and walks with a cane. Victor reveals that he is running a drug-smuggling operation, and he believes that Cathy and Alan know about his secret criminal dealings. Alan tries to tell Victor the truth about Cathy's accidental amnesia and series of lucky coincidences, but Victor doesn't believe them. Cathy and Alan manage to escape from their bonds and, in a leap of faith, jump into the moat surrounding Victor's chateau, eluding Victor and his henchmen.

The scene shifts to a living room. Cathy and Alan (now a couple and writing partners) are reading the manuscript of the most recent Rebecca Ryan novel to Cathy's two children. They get to the end of the chapter, and pack the kids off to bed, in spite of the children's demands to know "what happens next". The film ends with some banter and cuddling where Alan and Cathy tease that the next part of the Rebecca Ryan story (i.e. their story) is too sexy to be written down.

Peter Proud, a college professor in Los Angeles, begins having recurring dreams he cannot explain. In one particular nightmare, Peter witnesses the murder of a young man by his girlfriend, Marcia, while he swims naked in a lake near a hotel. As he screams his final words, "Marcia, don't!," she bludgeons him with an oar, and he drowns. In subsequent dreams, Peter witnesses brief vignettes from the man's life, including romances with two different women, and has visions of houses and landmarks that are unknown to him.

Peter is haunted by his dreams and seeks medical treatment. He attends a sleep laboratory to try to decipher his dreams. However, the resident doctor, Sam Goodman, informs him that his dreams do not register as being dreams; in fact, they do not register at all. One evening while watching television, several of Peter's visions play out before him on a local documentary film titled ''The Changing Face of America''. He sees an arch and church in the documentary that have figured prominently in his dreams, and calls the television station to discover the location. Upon learning that the location of his "visions" is in Massachusetts, Proud and his girlfriend Nora travel there.

In Massachusetts, the couple drive from town to town, but are unsuccessful until they arrive in Springfield. It is here that Proud begins to see familiar sights from his visions, such as a bridge, a church, the Puritan statue, and others. Nora decides to return to California, tired of Peter's relentless searching, which she dismisses as delusion. After Nora leaves, Peter continues his journey. Eventually, Peter locates Marcia, the mystery woman from his nightmares, now a middle-aged alcoholic. Peter subsequently befriends Marcia's daughter Ann at a local country club where Marcia's husband Jeff was once a tennis pro; Ann has recently returned home to care for her emotionally unstable mother. Through his research, Peter uncovers that Jeff was found drowned in the lake in 1946 under mysterious circumstances.

Marcia is suspicious of Peter and curious about his motives, specifically how much he seems to know about her life. Ann and Peter quickly develop a romance, much to the disapproval of Marcia, who responds by increasingly drinking and taking prescription drugs. Peter initially has some hesitation toward pursuing a relationship with Ann after considering that she may have been his daughter in a previous life, but he ultimately chooses to continue the romance. Ann tells Peter her father proposed to Marcia.

One afternoon, Marcia accompanies Peter and Ann to the country club, where they lounge at the poolside. While Ann goes for a swim, Marcia witnesses a sleeping Peter repeating the phrase "Marcia, don't!" in Jeff's voice. This horrifies her, and she flees home where she locks herself in her bedroom. Later, she masturbates to the memory of Jeff raping her after she confronted him about an affair he had while she was pregnant with Ann. The following day, Marcia confronts Peter, demanding to know his true identity. The two get into a heated argument, during which he confirms that he is a reincarnation of her deceased husband.

Meanwhile, Peter realizes that by having re-enacted or visited the sites of his visions, they seem to have ceased haunting him. The lake vision of Jeff's murder is his last to be conquered. Drawn to the lake where Jeff died years prior, Peter enters the water, hoping to unfetter himself from the vision. While in the water, Marcia approaches him in the same boat she did Jeff years ago, now brandishing a pistol. Addressing Peter as Jeff, Marcia asks why he has returned to torment her, and accuses him of incest with Ann. When Peter tries to climb into the boat, Marcia shoots him to death. She watches as his body sinks to the bottom of the lake.

Nanomachines accidentally released into the atmosphere form a large storm disintegrating anything in its way. Colonel Thomas Miller sends groups of fighter jets to destroy the storm, but they fail. As the storm threatens to grow into a worldwide one, Miller proposes destroying it with a nuclear missile. After extensive research, reporter Katherine Stern and meteorologist Nathan S. McCain counterpropose hitting the storm with a giant electromagnetic pulse (EMP), but the military is reluctant to go with the plan. Miller suggests using a specially designed aircraft called ''Icarus'' to detonate the EMP. The nuclear missile is launched as Katherine, Nathan, and Miller take off in ''Icarus''.

The nanomachines damage ''Icarus'', preventing it from deploying the EMP device. Miller then has Katherine and Nathan escape in two escape pods while he detonates the EMP manually, killing himself and destroying the storm. The missile strike is then aborted.

The deactivated nanomachines then fall to the ground as Katherine and Nathan crash land in the ocean. Sometime later, Katherine is reporting the story on air, and she and Nathan prepare to go on a date after.

Jake spends a day having strange flashbacks of himself in a rainforest, which leaves him disturbed.

That evening, after watching a boxing match with his brother and father, he leaves for a grocery store, where Tobias has discovered something has crashed and the high-ranking Yeerks are trying to hide it. The other Animorphs join them, and together they infiltrate the store in fly morph. Cassie overhears Chapman saying that it was a Yeerk Bug Fighter. After Ax manages to reconfigure the ship's controls, the Animorphs escape, pursued by Chapman and the other Yeerks. They plan to fly the spacecraft to Washington, in order to convince the American government that Earth is under attack by extraterrestrials. When Ax discovers that the fighter's technology to keep human radar from seeing it is broken, they are intercepted by two U.S. Air Force F-16 fighter jets, however, Cassie notices that they are over the Red Sea in the Middle East - far from their intended destination. Flying above the atmosphere, they are picked up by Visser Three's Blade ship's sensors. The Animorphs, knowing they can't escape, try to fire on the Visser's vessel. Both Jake and the Blade ship fire their Dracon beams at the same time, and, coincidentally, their projectiles intersect, and both ships crash.

The kids wake up in their wrecked Bug Fighter. They look around, noticing that they've crash-landed in a rainforest. They assume they're in the Amazon rainforest, but are also disturbed by the fact that it is the middle of the day (whereas it was nighttime in the United States, which is in roughly the same time zone as South America). After Jake reveals the strange flashbacks he was having, Ax speculates they may have caused a ''"Sario Rip"'' and traveled twelve hours backwards through time, which would explain why Jake was having strange flashbacks: he was in two places at once, and the two Jakes---the "past" and "future" versions---experience each other's thoughts at random moments. However, Cassie later notices that only Jake has the flashes so Ax says that Jake is the only "real" person - the rest are just a memory.

They soon find that the Yeerks have traveled backwards through time as well, and will need both ships to create another ''Sario Rip'' and return to the right time. Ax takes the Bug Fighter's computer to prevent them from doing so, and the group ventures out into the hostile wilderness, constantly plagued by insects, fire ants, snakes and piranhas. They're pursued by the Yeerks, who ruthlessly destroy the animals and trees around them in a bid to kill the Animorphs, desperate to retrieve the precious computer. The children acquire jaguar and monkey morphs in order to traverse the rainforest more easily.

They eventually stumble across a group of Amazon Indians, led by Polo, their tribal chief. Marco, who knows some Spanish, manages to roughly translate the natives' Portuguese, and Jake and Polo agree to assist one another in eliminating the Yeerks. Polo and his men kill the Hork-Bajir guarding the Blade ship with poison-tipped spears, leaving the Animorphs with Visser Three, who morphs an amphibian-like ''Lerdethak'' and picks the Animorphs off one by one. Jake morphs into a monkey to use the Lerdethak's vine like arms to move himself to Visser Three's body. He then throws a poison-tipped spear into Visser Three; while never revealed, this may have been fatal. Regardless, Visser Three is still able to use an arm to break Jake's neck. However, Jake wakes up back at the grocery store, just as they are about to infiltrate it. He calls off the operation, and the Animorphs all go home.

The next day, Jake asks Ax what had happened. Ax postulates that the travel through time created two separate versions of Jake. The reason Jake simply "woke up" back at the grocery store was that the Jake in the rainforest died at the hands of Visser Three; since it is impossible for one consciousness to exist in two separate locations, when one was eliminated the two snapped back together. Ax also speculates that Jake had to die, or else both Jakes and both their universes would collide and cease to exist. The events in the rainforest never actually happened (including the acquisition of jaguar and monkey morphs), and only remain in Jake's memory. He is left with a feeling of chilling relief.

At the zoo, Rachel and Cassie witness a boy fall into the crocodile pit. Rachel jumps into the pit to rescue him. Out of sight, she acquires and morphs a crocodile, carrying the boy to safety.

At a meeting later in the barn, the Animorphs focus on their latest news: Jeremy Jason McCole, a teen heart-throb, has become a new spokesman for The Sharing. The Animorphs feared this could make many join The Sharing, and they decide to stop it from happening.

That night, Rachel suddenly finds herself morphing involuntarily into a crocodile, then directly into a fly without returning to human form, a violation of morphing "rules", and then an elephant. She meets up with her father and has him get her on the Barry and Cindy Sue Show, which McCole will be on. Rachel tells Cassie what really happened, but she tells her not to tell Jake. Cassie agrees.

The next day, the Animorphs spy on McCole's yacht to find Visser Three there. McCole tells the Visser he wants to become a Controller. Rachel suddenly finds herself involuntarily morphing into various animals, the last being a crocodile. Visser Three is alerted and morphs. The Visser is thwarted when Rachel bites him.

Back at the barn, Ax diagnoses Rachel's condition. She is allergic to crocodile DNA, explaining her involuntary morphing, which happens when she is emotionally stressed or excited. Ax tells her she needs to expel the DNA from her body, a process known as the ''hereth illint''. Jake pulls Rachel off the mission until she undergoes the process. She lies to him the next day, pretending that it occurred overnight.

The next day, Rachel is scheduled to be on the show. At the show, the ''hereth illint'' begins. Cassie rushes her to the bathroom, and Rachel "burps" the crocodile DNA. However, what Ax had not told Rachel was exactly how the DNA would come out of her: in the form of the actual animal acquired. In this case, to the girls' horror, Rachel expels a live crocodile. As it attacks her, she morphs a bear, and Cassie morphs a squirrel. The crocodile runs onto the stage with Rachel and Cassie, causing a commotion. Ax kills the crocodile, and Rachel steps on McCole's Yeerk, killing him.

The mission to stop McCole is a success. He retreats to Uzbekistan.

Neelix becomes interested in Earth history, spurring research about an ancestor of Captain Janeway named Shannon O'Donnell, who was alive at the turn of the 21st century, and who Janeway believes single-handedly fought to complete the Millennium Gate tower project in 2000, and would later be part of NASA's missions to Mars. Neelix, prompted by Janeway, proceeds to track down further information on Shannon.

Neelix and Seven of Nine discover that Janeway's information was incorrect: Shannon was a traveler who happened to have her car break down in the small town of Portage Creek in Indiana where the Millennium Gate was to be built. Set on December 27, 2000, the plan has caused most of the businesses in town to leave, save for a bookstore owned by Henry Janeway, who refuses to sell the store to make way for the project. Shannon joins Henry in the opposition, and learns that if Henry refuses to sell, the project would have to be moved to a new location. The two also develop a bond during this time. Shannon is offered a job by the company if she can convince Henry to leave before the 11:59 deadline on New Year's Eve 2000. When she tells Henry this, he asks her to leave. As she drives away, she turns around, and tries another approach to convince Henry to sell. He eventually relents at the very last minute, selling his bookstore to allow the tower to go forward.

Captain Janeway is disappointed to learn the truth about Shannon, who was never a NASA astronaut, as Shannon was her childhood hero and the stories about her convinced her to join Starfleet. However, Neelix has provided a surprise: a gathering of the senior staff to celebrate their ancestors, and presenting Janeway with a photograph of the elderly Shannon, after she had married Henry and raised their extended family together. Janeway realizes that the revelation about Shannon should not impact what she has done with her own life.

In 1985 Michael (Freddie Prinze Jr.), the narrator, is a lovable charmer with the soul of a con man who successfully scams his way into the pre-law program at Columbia University. In contrast to Michael's desire to leave the Brooklyn streets behind, his close friend Carmine (Scott Caan) is a handsome lady-killer who is enamored of the Mafia lifestyle and wants only to stay there. Rounding out the trio is Bobby (Jerry Ferrara), an endearing cheapskate who longs for a simple life of working at the Post Office and settling down with his fiancée. While at Columbia, Michael falls for a beautiful young student named Ellen (Mena Suvari), a society girl whom he initially wins over with his preppy schoolboy cover. As their relationship blossoms, leaving the streets behind seems increasingly possible, but when Carmine catches the eye of Caesar (Alec Baldwin), a feared Gambino family capo who controls their neighborhood, Michael and Bobby are drawn into that world despite their reluctance to get involved.

One night, in a city during the Belle Époque, a man with a moustache is walking down a street when he hears the cries of a woman. He rushes towards the noise and finds a man strangling the woman in a fountain. The moustachioed man knocks out the assailant and discovers the woman is a harpy, a large, white bird of prey with the bald head and naked breasts of a woman. The man takes her to his home, where he lives with his parrot, to shelter and feed her.

During dinner, the man discovers the harpy's insatiable appetite: she flies to his table and eats all of his food, starving him. When he searches for something to eat, the harpy appears to have eaten his parrot and immediately flies up behind him, stealing any food he finds. When he attempts to leave the house, she overwhelms him and eats the lower part of his body, forcing him to move around on his arms.

The man plays music. When the record player gets stuck, the harpy is absorbed by the repetitive noise, giving him a chance to escape. He becomes attentive to sounds and briefly scared by a gargoyle, then finds a snack bar named Friture Gargantua. At the same time in the house, the record player stops. As the man eats chips in a park, the harpy finds him and eats his snack. The man is enraged and begins to strangle the harpy but a police officer hears her cries and knocks the man to the ground with his baton. The harpy looks at the officer in glee.

Marshall Lawson (Steven Seagal) is the commander of an elite U.S. military unit. During an overseas assignment in Paris, Lawson loses all three of his men in a seemingly random attack on their hotel room. He takes it upon himself to investigate the attack, with the help of his girlfriend Tia (Lisa Lovbrand) and his friend Dwayne (David Kennedy). Marshall uncovers CTX, a covert military drug so secret that an arm of the military headed by a man named Werner (Danny Webb) wants Marshall eliminated. Tia turns out to be one of the two military scientists who developed CTX.

Reina (Evelyne Armela O'Bami), the hooker who slaughtered Marshall's team, was under the influence of CTX. The drug gives its users superhuman strength and agility, but also irrevocably drives them to violence. The other co-inventor of CTX is Aroon (Adam Croasdell), now a Paris night club owner. Aroon has plans to release the CTX into the Paris' water supply, which would turn the city's residents into deranged killers. Marshall, Tia, and Dwayne must stop Aroon and Werner before that happens.

Bimbo is walking down the street when he suddenly disappears down an open manhole, and is subsequently locked down there by a mouse who resembles Mickey Mouse. He lands in the underground clubhouse of a secret society. The leader asks Bimbo if he would like to be a member, but Bimbo refuses and is sent through a series of dangerous events. He is repeatedly asked by the leader to join their society, but keeps refusing. Bimbo is brought through a series of mysterious doors that lead him into yet another sub-basement. Bimbo flees through various death traps before landing in front of the mysterious order's leader again. Bimbo still refuses to become a member, but finally accepts the invitation when the leader reveals herself to be the real Betty Boop and the rest of the society members remove their costumes, showing that they are all Betty clones. Bimbo dances with all the Betties to celebrate.

On 4 April 1928, a schoolteacher named Hisako Ōishi arrives on the island of Shōdoshima, where she will be teaching a class of first grade students from the nearby village. Because Ōishi rides a bicycle and wears a suit, the adult villagers are initially apprehensive towards her. Ōishi is introduced to her class of twelve students: Isokichi, Takeichi, Kichiji, Tadashi, Nita, Matsue, Misako, Masuno, Fujiko, Sanae, Kotoe, and Kotsuru. She teaches the children how to sing songs, and plays outside with them. Most of the children have to care for younger siblings or help their parents with farming or fishing after school.

On 1 September, the class goes to the seashore, where some of the students play a practical joke on Ōishi by causing her to fall into a hole in the sand. The fall injures one of her legs, and she takes a leave of absence. A substitute teacher takes her place, but the children are not as receptive to him as they were to Ōishi. One day after lunch, the students sneak away from their homes and journey on foot to go visit Ōishi. They spot her riding in a bus, and she invites them to her house, where they have a large meal; later, the children's parents send Ōishi gifts as thanks for treating them. Because of her injury, Ōishi is transferred from the schoolhouse to the main school, where teachers instruct students in fifth grade and above.

By 1933, Ōishi is engaged to a ship engineer, and her original students are now sixth graders. Matsue's mother gives birth to another girl but dies in the process, leaving Matsue to care for the child. Soon after, the baby dies as well, and Matsue leaves Shōdoshima. Ōishi learns that a fellow teacher, Mr. Kataoka, has been arrested on suspicion of being "a Red". Kataoka was suspected of having a copy of an anti-war anthology printed by a class taught by a friend of his in Onomichi. Ōishi notes that she shared stories from that anthology with her own students after a copy was sent to the school. The principal warns Ōishi against discussing politics with her class, and burns the anthology.

In October, Ōishi and her class take a field trip to Ritsurin Park in Takamatsu, as well as to the Konpira Shrine. Ōishi goes into town and encounters Matsue, who is now working at a restaurant as a waitress. Back at school, Ōishi has her students write down their hopes for the future; Sanae dreams of becoming a teacher, while Fujiko, whose family is impoverished, feels hopeless. Kotoe drops out of school to help her mother at home; Masuno wants to attend a conservatory, but her parents disapprove; the male students in the class want to become soldiers. Ōishi is reprimanded by the principal for not encouraging the boys in their military aspirations. Some time later, Ōishi, who is now pregnant, decides to resign from teaching.

In 1941, Ōishi visits Kotoe, who now has tuberculosis. Ōishi has given birth to three children: Daikichi, Namiki, and Yatsu. Misako has been married; Sanae is now a teacher at the main school; Kotsuru is an honors graduate in midwifery; Fujiko's family went bankrupt; Kotsuru works at a café in Kobe; Masuno works at her parents' restaurant; and the male students have all joined the military. As time passes, Ōishi's mother dies, and Ōishi's husband is killed.

On 15 August 1945, Emperor Hirohito announces the surrender of Japan at the end of World War II. Ōishi's daughter Yatsu dies after falling from a tree.

On 4 April 1946, Ōishi, now struggling financially, returns to teaching. Among the students in her new class are Makoto, the younger sister of Kotoe, who has died; Chisato, Matsue's daughter; and Katsuko, Misako's daughter. Ōishi reunites with an adult Misako, and they visit the graves of Tadashi, Takeichi, and Nita, all of whom were killed during the war. Misako, along with Sanae, Kotsuru, and Masuno, hosts a party for Ōishi at Masuno's residence. They are joined by Isokichi, who was blinded in the war, and Kichiji. The students present Ōishi with a new bicycle to ride to school.

''Le rêve'' is a simple tale of the orphan Angélique Marie (b. 1851), adopted by a couple of embroiderers, the Huberts, whose marriage is blighted by a childlessness which they attribute to a curse uttered by Mme Hubert's mother on her deathbed. Angélique is enthralled by the tales of the saints and martyrs — particularly Saint Agnes and Saint George — as told in the ''Golden Legend'' of Jacobus de Voragine. Her dream is to be saved by a handsome prince and to live happily ever after, in the same way the virgin martyrs have their faiths tested on earth before being rescued and married to Jesus in heaven.

Her dream is realized when she falls in love with Félicien d'Hautecœur, the last in an old family of knights, heroes, and nobles in the service of Christ and of France. His father, the present Monseigneur, objects to their marrying for reasons of his own. (Before entering the Church he had married for love a woman much younger than himself; when she died giving birth to Félicien, he sent the child away and took holy orders.) Angélique falls ill and pines away. Won over by her virtue and innocence, the Monseigneur finally relents and the lovers are married; but Angélique dies on the steps of the cathedral as she kisses her husband for the first time. Her death, however, is a happy one: her innocence has freed the Huberts and the Monseigneur from their curses.

At the end of season eight, hours after giving birth to her and Ross's daughter Emma, Rachel accidentally thinks Joey proposed to her, and says yes. Throughout the episode, Joey tries to tell her the truth before Ross finds out but keeps getting interrupted. Meanwhile, Monica asks Rachel if she really wants to marry Joey. She admits that she does not want to marry him; she only said yes out of fear of raising Emma alone.

When Phoebe sees Rachel with the ring which actually belonged to Ross's grandmother, she thinks Ross proposed. She confronts Ross who denies proposing to Rachel, but later thinks he might have. He decides to meet Rachel to put an end to the confusion. Joey comes in and Ross and Joey then end up arguing and Rachel realises that no one actually proposed. Joey leaves and Ross tries to see if he can start things up again with Rachel. Then he sees that Rachel is wearing the ring and asks her if she said yes when she thought Joey proposed. Rachel does not know what to answer and the episode ends in a cliffhanger.

Monica and Chandler continue their attempts to make a baby of their own, and use a utility closet in the hospital, where they are caught by Monica's father, Jack. When he proceeds to show them sex moves that guarantee conception, the couple are visibly freaked out.

A former intern and a worker of a mental hospital relates his experience with Joe Slater, an inmate who died at the facility a few weeks after being confined as a criminally insane murderer. He describes Slater as a "typical denizen of the Catskill Mountain region, who corresponds exactly with the 'white trash' of the South", for whom "laws and morals are nonexistent" and whose "general mental status is probably below that of any other native American people". Although Slater's crime was exceedingly brutal and unprovoked, he had an "absurd appearance of harmless stupidity" and the doctors guessed his age at about forty. During the third night of his confinement, Slater had the first of his "attacks". He burst out from an uneasy sleep and into a frenzy which was so violent that it took four orderlies to restrain and strait-jacket him. For nearly fifteen minutes he gave vent to an incredible rant. The words were in the voice and couched in the paltry vocabulary of Slater but the onlookers could construe from the inadequate language a vision of:

The ranting stopped as suddenly as it had started. This was the first of what would become nightly "attacks" of a similar nature. The peripheral otherworldly images of Slater's visions were different and more fantastic with each successive night, but always there was the central theme of the blazing entity and its revenge. The doctors were perplexed with Slater's case. Where did a backward man like Slater get such visions, when surely an illiterate rustic like him would have had little if any exposure to fairy tales or fantasy stories? Not that there were stories similar to Slater's. Why, too, was Slater dying?

As an undergraduate, the intern had built a device for two-way telepathic communication which he had tested with a fellow student with no result. The device was designed around his principle that thought was ultimately a form of radiant energy. Heedless of any ethics, he attached himself with Slater to the device as Slater lay near death. With the device switched on, he received a message from a light being whose experiences had been what were transmitted through Slater's medium. This being explained that, when not shackled to their physical bodies, all humans are light beings. The thought-message went on to explain that, as light beings within the realm of sleep, humans can experience the vistas of many planes and universes which remain unknown to waking awareness.

The intern understood that the light being would now become completely incorporeal, and finally undertake a last battle with its nemesis near Algol. Slater died then, and there were no further transmissions. That night an enormously bright star was discovered in the sky near Algol. Within a week it had dimmed to the luminosity of an ordinary star and in a few months it had become barely visible to the naked eye.

Emma and Marc, two young lovers, move into a house which has been uninhabited for thirty years. They do not know is that in 1979, in a cave under the house, there was a gay disco, which burned down when a foam machine short-circuited, and five bodies were never found. Today, the house is haunted by five gay ghosts. However, only Marc is able to see them, and his visions drive Emma away. The ghosts, touched by Marc's problems, do everything in their power to help him get his girl back.

Willow Ufgood is worrying over planting his crops for the harvest, once again in the life of a farmer. He falls asleep, distraught over not being able to attend a party for Elora Danan, of whom he served as protector about a year ago. He dreams that night of riding on the back of a great dragon, who drops him off at Tir Asleen. After bantering with Madmartigan and Sorsha, during which Sorsha bestows upon him a new name, "Thorn Drumheller," he continues on to see Elora and give her a gift that he has created: a teddy bear with crystal eyes that Willow says will protect her when he is not there to do so. Leaving the sleeping child with her gift, he converses with the two brownies, Rool and Franjean, and leaves.

He wakes up the next morning to find two Brownies sitting at the end of his bed and that a horrific cataclysm has wiped out 12 areas in the world, including Tir Asleen.

The novel then jumps forward in time 11 years with Willow now going by Thorn Drumheller. During the intervening time he has left his people behind and been investigating what caused the cataclysm with the aid of the Brownies Rool and Franjean and Eagles Bastian and Anele.

In the present Thorn is investigating a mountain destroyed by the cataclysm. Upon returning to his camp he after completing his investigation he is met by the pathfinder Geryn Havilhand and almost immediately attacked by death dogs. After fighting off the death dogs Thorn learns that Geryn has been sent by the King of Angwyn, the Kingdom where Elora Danan currently resides, to find Willow Ulfgood and bring him to Angwyn to celebrate Elora's ascension on her thirteenth birthday. Thorn agrees to accompany Garyn, who has not realized Willow and Thorn are the same person, back to the kingdom.

Thorn and his companions then travel by ship with captain Maulroon, are transferred to a different boat captained by Morag with the Wyr crewman Ryn to Angwyn. During their travels they encounter the Thunder Riders, warriors from a different Kingdom, who appear to also be looking for Willow. Upon reaching the bay of Angwyn Thorn remarks on how deep the bay is and how as a result silting should not be a problem despite the number of rivers which flow into it. Before arriving in port the Eagles take their leave of Thorn as the Thunder Riders hunt them for sport and are viewed as an ill omen by the Eagles.

After arriving in port Thorn is accompanied by Geryn to the fortress in Angwyn. When he arrives at the gates of the Fortress he is accused of being an imposter and is told that the real Willow has already arrived for the celebration of Elora's ascension. Thorn is then thrown in a dungeon rumoured to be haunted by a demon as there are no living creatures in the dungeon.

Elora is in hiding underground with a clan of Rock Nelwyns, while outside, the Maizan, led by Mohdri are conquering everything in their path. Guided by his master, The Deceiver, he has commanded the dreaded Black Rose assassins to find and bring her and Thorn to him. Something is also stripping the land of magic and closing gates.

The play's central character is Lyman Felt, an insurance agent and bigamist who maintains families in New York City and Elmira in upstate New York. When he is hospitalized following a nearly fatal car crash on an icy mountain road, both wives—the prim and proper Theo, to whom he's been wed for more than thirty years, and the younger, more assertive Leah, whom he married nine years earlier—show up at his bedside. When confronted with his duplicity, Felt states that the two options in life are to be true to others (and to what he deems a hypocritical society) or to himself, and that he has chosen the latter. He justifies his actions to both shocked women by explaining he has given them good lives, has supported them financially and emotionally, and has been a good father. He goes on to say that the two women have been happier with this arrangement than they would have been if they had each been his only wife. As reasons for this he cites domestic boredom, routine, and the angst of being trapped in the same relationship forever. The play uses flashbacks to take us to previous situations both families have lived.

Doubts linger about the crash having been an accident, and some characters start suspecting it was an attempted suicide, maybe motivated by Felt's growing discomfort about his unusual family arrangement. The flip side of the wives' ostensible faultless lifestyle is also presented, when it is suggested that Leah has been involved in another relationship, and Theo admits to having experienced long spells of being cold and sexless. Every character starts having to deal with their own hypocrisy, even Felt's outraged business partners who are later discovered to keep lovers. Through Felt, Miller presents the supposition that monogamy is an unnatural and unattainable state imposed on men by rigid but unnecessary social convention.

After extinguishing an oil well fire, Scott and Virgil Tracy (voiced by Shane Rimmer and David Holliday) prepare to return to base. As Virgil departs in ''Thunderbird 2'', Scott discovers reporter Ned Cook and his cameraman, Joe, filming ''Thunderbird 1'' and orders them to desist. Thinking that he has the makings of an award-winning scoop, Ned drives away with Joe, forcing Scott to pursue their van and use ''Thunderbird 1'' s electromagnetic pulse to erase the camera footage.

En route to Tracy Island, ''Thunderbird 2'' is spotted by United States Navy strike vessel USS ''Sentinel'', whose crew mistake it for a hostile craft and target it with surface-to-air missiles. Jeff (voiced by Peter Dyneley) immediately contacts Washington, D.C. and has the attack called off, but ''Thunderbird 2'' is left badly damaged and on fire and Virgil is barely able to crash-land it on the Tracy Island runway. While Brains (voiced by David Graham) organises repairs, Virgil recovers from his ordeal.

Some time later, the Tracys are watching a live broadcast of an operation to re-locate the Empire State Building to make way for a regeneration of Midtown Manhattan. Disaster strikes when a subsidence causes the skyscraper to break free of its cradle and collapse. Ned and Joe, who are covering the event, are swallowed up by a crevice and trapped underneath the wreckage. Radioing the studio, Ned reports that they are in a cavern which is flooding with water. Brains theorises that the subsidence was caused by a subterranean river flowing into the cavern.

Ned and Joe's only hope is an underwater rescue, but without ''Thunderbird 2'' the Tracys have no way of airlifting ''Thunderbird 4'' to New York. Virgil proposes that the ''Sentinel'' transport the submersible by sea, and Jeff dispatches aquanaut Gordon (voiced by David Graham) to rendezvous with the Navy. Meanwhile, Scott flies out in ''Thunderbird 1'' to help the authorities monitor Ned and Joe. A borehole is drilled into the cavern to supply the men with emergency underwater breathing equipment.

By the time the ''Sentinel'' reaches New York, the cavern is completely flooded and Ned and Joe have been forced to don their breathing equipment, which gives them enough air for just two more hours. Gordon launches ''Thunderbird 4'' and sets off downriver. Above ground, the subsidence has expanded and now threatens to bring down the nearby Fulmer Finance Building. Fearing that Ned and Joe will be killed, Scott radios the men and instructs them to start swimming upriver. Almost out of air, the men are finally met by ''Thunderbird 4'', which evacuates them from the area just as the Fulmer Finance Building collapses, triggering an underwater shockwave.

In the closing scene, Ned introduces his regular TV show in front of a live audience by publicly thanking International Rescue for saving his life, unaware that most of the organisation are sitting in the back row.

The book tells the story of Simplício, a naïve and near-sighted man who lives with his brother Américo, an ascending politician, his cousin Anica and extremely religious aunt Domingas, and wishes to be able of seeing again one day. A friend of his, old man Nunes, takes him to Reis, an optometrist who is able to make very powerful lenses; however, none of them are able to make Simplício see again. Reis then suggests Simplício to go see a friend of his, an unnamed Armenian magician who makes magical lenses.

Simplício is finally able to see again, but the Armenian tells him that if he looks to someone or something for more than three minutes, he would see the evil enclosed on them. However, Simplício does not pay attention to the Armenian's warning, and starts seeing the evil parts of all things, and considered to be crazy, becomes a recluse.

Simplício accidentally destroys the "evil" lenses one day, and returns to see the Armenian – this time he gives to Simplício new lenses that make him see the '''good''' parts of all things. Being seduced and manipulated by everyone he knows, after many mishaps Simplício finally obtains the "sanity" lenses, and is able to live happily again.

Category:1869 novels Category:Brazilian fantasy novels Category:Portuguese-language novels

Blart, after the imprisonment of Zoltab, is living the good life on his own pig farm. But a wily merchant named Uther has conned him out of everything he owns and his freedom by a game of cards called "Muggins".

To play Muggins, the dealer simply picks two cards from the deck, hands one to the non-dealer and keeps one himself. Each player turns over their cards. If the cards were the same, say, a king and a king, then the dealer wins. If the cards are different, say, a three and a five, then the non-dealer wins. Even Blart has grasped it that the chances of the non-dealer winning is drastically in his favour and resolves to play the game with Uther to make money.

However, no sooner than Blart bets stakes in the game of Muggins than Uther begins to win every round. But then quite out of the blue, Capablanca arrives to tell him that Blart and the other questors are wanted, dead or alive - or both. They are wanted because it is believed that they are minions of Zoltab, even though it was them that imprisoned him. So Blart, Capablanca and Uther (who must help them as he is wanted for associating with Blart) must find and warn the other questors.

After gathering the original company (with the exception of the deceased dwarf Tungsten) they must travel to where Capablanca has imprisoned Zoltab, so as to prove their innocence. However, Capablanca has difficulty remembering where he has imprisoned the last lord.

Category:2007 British novels Category:British children's novels Category:British fantasy novels Category:Bloomsbury Publishing books Category:Novels by Dominic Barker Category:2007 children's books Category:Children's fantasy novels

Jason Ha Ling-ching is a dedicated, by the books prosecutor who has tried to maintain patience and tolerance under the somewhat flimsy laws of the court. However, when his mentor is publicly gunned down in New Zealand and the key witness of Ha's latest case and his entire family is wiped out overnight, Ha can no longer go by the book.

Ha's initial plan is to take the law into his own hands and kill the two men he believes called for his witness' murder. He is successful in killing the first, which causes the Hong Kong Police Department to wake up and take action to regain order. Enter Senior Inspector Cindy Si, who is put on the case to find the killer under her superior, Superintendent Wong Ching-wai. However, when Ha goes to kill the second defendant, Chow Ting-kwong, he is already dead. Unbeknownst to them, both of the defendants were working under an even higher power, known only as "Crown". However, it is soon discovered that "Crown" is none other than Superintendent Wong, who was also Chow's killer.

Once Si realizes that Wong is the true mastermind behind all of the recent murders taking place, she and Ha finally work together to bring him in to prove he is not "above the law". Si storms through an airport hangar to confront Wong, but is fatally impaled by Wong using a hand drill. Ha arrives at the scene to fight Wong in the hangar and aboard a plane. Ha kills Wong with an axe to the back of the neck and jumps off the plane before it crashes, but dies on impact after landing into the ocean and his lifeless body afloats.

Alternate ending

In an alternate ending, both Si and Ha survive. Ha, however, is arrested and sentenced to eight years in prison for manslaughter (the Mandarin dub has him given a life sentence for first-degree murder).

Series 1 (2008)

''Rock Rivals'' follows the lives of two celebrity judges on an ''X Factor'' style show as their marriage falls apart. Simon Cowell joined forces with Shed Media to produce the show.

Catwalk Dogs is the story of Sally and Michael a couple who are coping with the trauma of miscarriage. The day Michael brings home pedigree puppy Archie it changes their lives forever. Archie is a Wire haired fox terrier.

With their relationship wavering under the emotional stress, Sally decides to leave Michael. As a bolt hole she moves in next door to her new-found doggie friend, Guy and his formidable mother, dog show judge and Rottweiler breeder, Mrs Jessop.

Michael goes to pieces when Sally leaves, losing his job and self-respect. He turns to Archie for solace and man's best friend leads him to the disparate but caring members of a local dog club who just might be able to help him win back Sally.

He then does.

When Adrien Williams is released from a mental institution, her former doctor Henry Thompson immediately tries to get her back on her feet by getting her a job at a country club on the East Coast, where she is introduced to the lifestyle of the snooty, rich "beautiful people".

Brittany Foster, a young woman who lives in the area, befriends Adrien and takes her under her wing, accepting her as part of a clique of wealthy teenagers. Brittany's group of friends make comments about how much Adrien looks like Brittany's older sister Sandra who had moved away. At first she enjoys being a close confidant of Brittany but Adrien soon begins to discover how twisted Brittany actually is when Matt Curtis, an object of Brittany's affection, begins to show an interest in Adrien.

Brittany sets out to get rid of Adrien, by stealing her file from Henry's office and discovers Adrien's past. Adrien's revelation of Brittany is much more disturbing, when she discovers that Sandra used to be "queen bee" of this circle of friends and that she often treated Brittany badly. Brittany is furious that her best friend Kelly deceived her when she overhears her explaining the situation of her missing sister to Adrien. To keep her secret under wraps, she drowns Kelly and later kills Henry, pinning the blame on Adrien. Her supervisor knew about Adrien's stay at the mental institution and readily believed Adrien to be the killer.

With the help of Bobby, one of Brittany's friends, Adrien escapes the mental institution. Adrien heads back to the country club, where everyone is attending an end-of-summer party. Using the information that Kelly told her, and putting together some odds and ends Adrien realizes that Brittany had actually killed Sandra and faked her moving away. Adrien shows up at the country club dressed as Sandra. Brittany sees who she believes to be her sister and starts to freak out. Brittany heads to the woods and unearths Sandra's body, just to prove that she is, in fact dead. Adrien confronts her, and is attacked by Brittany and just before she tries to murder her, verbally confesses why she killed her sister. Hearing the fight everyone gathers outside to witness that Brittany is insane and that she killed her sister. Adrien moves on and leaves the country club, and it is Brittany who ends up in the mental institution. The last scene shows Brittany using her beauty and womanly wiles on a male orderly, with the audience led to believe that she would more than likely escape the mental institution.

A beggar woman and her son were returning home when he saw a blue belt. She forbade him to pick it up, but after a time, he snuck away from her and got it, and it made him feel as strong as a giant. When she had to rest, he climbed a crag and saw light. He came down to his mother to suggest they seek shelter there. When she could go no further, he carried her, but she saw that the house was that of trolls. He insisted, and she fainted. A old man was within. The boy called him "grandfather" and he said he had been sitting there three hundred years without anyone calling him grandfather. They talked, and the old man prepared supper for them by killing an oxen with one hand.

At night, the boy got the cradle, and the old man gave his mother the bed. The old man told the mother that if they got rid of her son, they could live happily together. He promised to crush the boy under rocks at the quarry. The boy went with him the next day, but the boy was unhurt and rolled a stone on the troll which crushed his leg. The troll told the boy's mother that he had a garden with twelve lions in it that would tear the boy to pieces. The mother pretended to be sick and sent the boy for lion's milk, but there, he dashed the biggest of them to pieces, scaring the others, and got the milk. The troll said he didn't believe it, but the boy tossed him to the eleven lions, which had followed, and then rescued him.

The troll then told the old woman that he had two brothers with twelve times his strength. That was why he was here, having been turned out of their home. They had apples that would make someone sleep for three days and three nights, and the boy would be unable to keep from eating them. The old woman sent her son to get her some apples from their garden. He went with the lions, ate some apples, and slept. On the third day, the brothers came, but the lions tore them to pieces. He found a princess that brothers had carried off. She gave him one of the troll's swords. After they lived together for a time, she decided to let her parents know what had happened to her, and sailed off.

He went to see his mother and the troll. She asked for his secret, and he revealed the belt. She tore it off. She and the troll put out his eyes and put him adrift in a small boat. The lions dragged the boat ashore on an island. One day, a lion chased a blind hare, but it fell into a spring, and after that, the hare could avoid things in its path. The lions dunked the boy in the spring, and he regained his sight. He had the lions bring him back, and then stole the belt again. He punished his mother and the troll and set out to find the princess.

The sailors stopped and found an enormous egg. They could not break it, but the boy could. A chick came out. He told the sailors to sail very quickly and leave the boat. A great bird came and sank all the ships. The boy cut its head off.

The boy disguised himself as a dancing bear and was brought to court. The king brought him to the princess, and he revealed himself to her. Then he came to the king and told him he wanted to find the princess. The king warned him that whoever did not find her within a day would be killed. The boy insisted and then led him to the princess. The princess told the king that the boy had rescued her, and so they married.

The short stars '''Quasi''', "an infantile duck with buck front teeth, thick glasses and a red cape", voiced by Kim Deitch; '''Anita''', which one writer described as "Betty Boop with a New Wave wardrobe" and whose Mae West-like voice was supplied by Cruikshank, and robot '''Rollo'''. They progress through the Quackadero, a Coney Island-esque sideshow with such attractions as the Hall of Time Mirrors, which depict the viewer as he or she will look in "old age" or "100 years from now"; the Roll Back Time Machine, in which Quasi watches a skyscraper's life running backward; the Think-o-Blink Machine, which illustrates one's thoughts; the game show-like act "Your Shining Moment"; Madame Xano's, where the audience can see last night's dreams; and the Time Holes, in which one can lean on a railing and see a live slice of three million years ago unfold.

Having found themselves unable to tolerate Quasi's rude behavior any further, Anita and Rollo quickly come up with a plan to permanently get rid of him using the Time Hole, which no one can escape from once after falling into one. Anita distracts Quasi with a chocolate cake and places it slightly over the railing for him to try to reach. Rollo is then given the signal by her to push Quasi into the Time Hole, sending him back to the year 3,000,000 BC. Now forever trapped in prehistoric times, Quasi is last seen eating a slice of watermelon until he is forced to run away from a odd-looking creature.

In 1961 Long Island, Alice Bloom is a ten-year-old girl who is trying to understand how love works. She is infatuated with the girl across the street, 17-year-old Sheryl O' Connor. She often looks at her from her bedroom window. Alice starts to copy every detail about Sheryl, including her perfume and even the record she listens to. She admires the affection that Sheryl's father gives her, as she doesn't receive the same from her own father. She then tells her mother about how amazing Sheryl is but Alice's mother pays little attention.

One day she goes bowling with some of her friends and is ridiculed by them. Reeling from comments made to her, she immediately becomes excited when Sheryl walks into the bowling alley along with a group of guys trying to win her affection. Sheryl, seemingly innocent and moral, rejects their advances. Sheryl meets the counter boy Rick, and they are instantly attracted to one another. As Alice continues to bowl with her friends, she constantly watches Sheryl's every move. Her friends doubt she even knows Sheryl. Rick pages Sheryl to come back to the desk, and a police officer tells her that her father just died.

During the funeral, Sheryl is obviously upset. Afterwards she returns her bowling shoes to the bowling alley. Rick tells her they are closed, and she starts crying over her father. After some conversation, Rick walks Sheryl home, and this leads to their first kiss which is seen by Alice. The next day Rick comes back with his gang, and they take Sheryl to the beach, where they have oysters and tequila and Sheryl pours her heart out over her father's death. They spend the whole day and night together.

All is not well, however. Sheryl's mother disapproves of the relationship between her and Rick. Eventually, she bars her from seeing him, and the neighborhood begins to gossip. Sheryl refuses to listen to her mother. Sheryl babysits Alice and a friendship begins with Sheryl imparting wisdom about boys. Alice offers help to Sheryl to sneak out and see Rick. The three of them spend much of the night together which includes bringing Alice to seedy places like dive bars and under the boardwalk. She also makes a record in a booth detailing everything that happened that night.

Alice continues to help Sheryl and Rick hide their relationship. She goes to the bowling alley to explain to Rick why Sheryl couldn't see him one day. Alice's father tells her to stay away from the older Rick. It's revealed that Sheryl is pregnant. Her mother decides to send her to an unwed mother's home 300 miles away. Rick repeatedly calls Sheryl's house only to have her mother tell him not to call. Finally, he and his gang drive to her house where Rick pleads to speak to Sheryl. This captures the attention of most of the immediate neighbors. Her mother informs him that Sheryl is gone and he is to leave. He refuses to believe her and pushes her aside to go into the house. The neighborhood fathers then rush to help Ann, and a brawl ensues between Rick's gang and the neighbors. Rick spends a week in jail and it's assumed that no serious charges were filed.

Alice becomes withdrawn from the incident and she decides to run away. Rick finds her under the boardwalk and the two talk. Reluctantly, Rick agrees to drive upstate with Alice to meet Sheryl at the unwed mother's home. Alice arranges for Sheryl to sneak out at midnight to meet Rick at the restaurant.

The couple meet but Sheryl has decided that she wants to put the baby up for adoption. She realistically can't see a life with Rick and a baby. They have no money or viable jobs. Rick is upset and hands her an engagement ring that he suggests she pawn. Alice then talks to Sheryl and asks her what happened to true love. Sheryl tells her that she is simply too young to understand. Alice still wants the three of them to run away together. Sheryl tells Alice that she can't leave her family. As Alice is put on a bus back to Long Island, she stares out the window as Rick and Sheryl embrace.

Alice makes it home, and her parents are relieved to have her back. She states that despite the gossip about Sheryl, she received a postcard telling her the truth: Sheryl and Rick were well on their way to the west coast and they were doing well. Alice then reveals that she learned some things that summer that she would never forget.

Valya, a 30-year-old university drop-out, works for the police acting out murder victims during reconstructions of crimes. His co-workers are a charismatic straight-edge captain, camerawoman Lyuda, and a dim-witted sergeant. At home, Valya's widowed mother has started a relationship with Valya's uncle, who considers Valya to be a "punk" and thinks he should get a normal job. At night Valya has recurring nightmares of his father, who also seems to disapprove of him.

Throughout the film we see the reconstructions taped by Lyuda (from the perspective of her camera), in which the captain has the accused recreate their actions step by step. These scenes are often riddled with absurdly comical situations that contrast the grim nature of the work being done. Valya does not seem to take anything seriously, which irritates the captain, amuses the sergeant, and infuriates his uncle/stepfather.

As the movie progresses, the strain of work causes the captain to lose his temper. This culminates in a 5-minute profane rant about the state of Russia's new generation and football team. Later on, Valya feeds poisoned Japanese food to his family and recently pregnant girlfriend. In the recreation, three other people play the victims while Valya is the accused. When asked what he did as they were dying, he says that he was taking everything in so that he could accurately reconstruct what happened. In the final scene, Valya has a flashback where his father throws him out of a rowboat to teach him to swim, an event mentioned earlier in the film by his mother.

The plot revolves around the lives of three close friends: Keong (Jack Neo), a spendthrift white-collar worker, Ong (Mark Lee), a general contractor, and Hui (Henry Thia), a kopi tiam waiter, who is single and lives with his elderly mother, and wastes his meagre salary on 4D and pursuing an insurance agent who he has a crush on.

One day, things change for the worse for Keong when his boss (Chen Zhao Jin) picks a newcomer, Jeremiah Lee, over him as manager and is transferred to a different department - partly due to his poor English and inability to understand computer technology. This culminates in Keong having a heated argument with his boss and resigning, to the dismay of his wife, to whom he assures that he will get another, only to be turned down due to his insuffiencies.

Ong borrows S$40,000 from loan sharks, and plans to repay them after collecting a debt owed him by a friend who in turn borrowed from a Taiwanese who scams him, and subsequently runs away. He sells his car to repay, but it's not enough. The loan sharks beat up Ong for not repaying the loan within the two-week deadline, but gives him another week upon Ong's pleas.

With bills (especially installments) to pay, his possessions confiscated, and a family to support, Keong goes heavily into debt whereupon his wife leaves him, taking their daughter with her.

In an attempt to resolve their financial problems, the three friends decide to start a car polishing business together with the limited capital they have. However, at the opening ceremony of their business, Hui's mother collapses and is taken to hospital, where she is diagnosed with leukaemia. Hui has three wealthy older sisters, but they refuse to help pay the medical bills, and his application for financial assistance is rejected because of his sisters' high incomes. To compound matters, the loan sharks show up at the company to harass Ong, who then flees to Johor Bahru.

Ong and Hui ask to cash out their shares so they can pay the loan sharks and medical bills respectively, but all their money has already been spent on equipment and other business running costs. Hui's mother dies and at her wake, which raises ten thousand dollars of 'bai jin' (contributions toward funeral expenses) initiated by his sisters. Later, before the funeral march, Hui lashes out at his sisters for their selfishness and greediness (refusal to pay medical fees and having people donate money for their funeral expenses rather than using their own).

As Ong joins the funeral march, the loan sharks turn up, pursue him and are arrested after a lengthy police chase. Keong convinces his wife and daughter to enter an obstacle race where they win the first prize of S$100,000, which he uses to pay his creditors, and his family is reunited. The car polishing business is successful, and the three friends go on to become the directors of Autoglym Singapore.

In the epilogue, though, it is revealed that the three still borrow money - with Ong and Hui borrowing from Keong and leaving him with an empty wallet.

The story takes place at the United States Army's Fort Neal, Louisiana, in 1944 during the time when the military was racially segregated. In the opening scene, the audience witnesses the murder of black Sergeant Vernon Waters by an unseen shooter. Just before his death, Waters utters the enigmatic cry, "They still hate you!"

Captain Richard Davenport, a rare black Army officer, has been sent to investigate the killing. Initially, the primary suspects are local Ku Klux Klansmen. Later, bigoted white soldiers fall under suspicion. Ultimately, Davenport discovers the killer was one of the black soldiers under Waters' command. Waters' men hated him because Waters himself treated Southern black men in utter disdain and contempt.

As Davenport interviews witnesses and suspects, we see flashbacks showing what Sergeant Waters was like, and how he treated his men. The light-skinned Waters was highly intelligent and extremely ambitious, and loathed black men who conformed to old-fashioned racist stereotypes. Waters dreamed of sending his own children to an elite college where they would associate with white students, rather than with other blacks. In Waters' mind, Uncle Toms and "lazy, shiftless Negroes" reflected poorly on him, and made it harder for other African-Americans to succeed. For that reason, Waters persecuted black soldiers like Private C.J. Memphis, whose broad grin and jive talk made Waters' blood boil. Waters' cruelty and vindictiveness drove Memphis to suicide, which alienated the rest of Waters' men, and turned them hopelessly against him.

Shortly before he was murdered, Waters came to realize how futile and foolish his lifelong attempts to behave like a white man had been. His dying words, "They still hate you," reflected his belated understanding that white hatred and disdain of black men like himself had nothing to do with stereotypical black behavior, and that whites would probably always hate him, no matter how hard he tried to emulate "white" ways.

A German mother, Elisabeth Vincken (Linda Hamilton), who had already lost her eldest son in the Battle of Stalingrad and whose husband is a cook serving in the German Army, and her younger son, Fritz, are seeking refuge in a cabin near the front lines in the Ardennes forests region of western Europe. They are invaded by three American soldiers and then soon after by three German soldiers, and after much resistance the mother manages to convince the enemy soldiers to put aside their differences for one night and share a Christmas dinner. The Germans were planning to kill the Americans, but eventually they and the American soldiers share their rations to make a proper Christmas dinner. This includes homemade cookies and other goodies.

Throughout the night the Americans and Germans befriend each other, despite the fact that they will eventually have to return to the war. The next morning an American MP comes and is surprised by what he sees. As he learns of what has happened he turns his rifle on the American soldiers and begins talking with the Germans. Realizing the officer is really a German soldier who has infiltrated the American lines, the Americans surrender and the three German soldiers get their weapons. The German infiltrator then orders the three other soldiers to execute the Americans. Just before he is about to shoot the mother, one of the German soldiers knocks him out, saving her. The soldiers depart, with the Americans taking the German infiltrator as a prisoner of war, and also one of the Germans, who is only fifteen - neither side wants him to die in a future battle. The Germans also return to their side. All say goodbye and wish each other good luck for the rest of the war. In the present day, an elder Fritz (Michael Sinelnikoff) is visited by Private Jimmy Rassi's grandson, Christopher, with Fritz handing over Rassi's dogtags which were used to adorn the top of the cabin's Christmas tree.

The film follows two best friends Grant and Paul who hit the road for a weekend of surfing, booze and hopefully... girls. With night falling they take a short cut and meet Lisa and Kelly, a couple of babes with a fast car, who invite them to a party. Lust takes the wheel and a game of cat and mouse begins leading them deep into the heartland of evil where they meet... The Locals.

Yogi and his little pal, Boo Boo, are usually hibernating during the Christmas season, but this year they are awakened when Huckleberry Hound, Snagglepuss, Augie Doggie and Doggie Daddy come to Jellystone Lodge for the holiday. They are joined by Ranger Smith, hotel manager Mr. Dingwell, Otto the chef, and lodge owner Sophie Throckmorton and her spoiled brat of a nephew, Snively. The gang is obsessed with keeping Mrs. Throckmorton happy to keep her from closing down the lodge, which has become unpopular due to activity caused by Herman the Hermit, a grumpy Christmas-hating hermit who just wants to be left alone.

Yogi and Boo Boo are put to work as employees of the lodge when the music wakes them up and they enter the lodge through the kitchen where Otto works. Yogi is first ordered to operate the snowplow to which he saves Mrs. Throckmorton on the road from an avalanche caused by Herman. Later, Yogi is working as a bellhop, where he is tasked by Ranger Smith to stay on Mrs. Throckmorton's good side.

Though Snively tries to embarrass Yogi with his pranks, Yogi comes out on top. In another attempt to degrade Yogi, Snively tricks him into entering a figure skating contest, which Snively is also a participant. Although Snively earns high marks, Mrs. Throckmorton covertly wishes Snively would lose in order to tame his poor attitude. Yogi, the last contestant, manages to impress the judges well enough to earn the highest marks and win. Snively is a sore loser and enraged that Yogi beat him at his own game, but his aunt Sophie says that Yogi won fair and square and losing is a lesson of life.

Following different situations caused by Herman that Yogi saved her from, Mrs. Throckmorton has Mr. Dingwell promote Yogi to chief of security. Cindy Bear also awakens from her hibernation, to help Yogi out (due to her love and concern for him). Fed up with Snively's antics, Yogi gets revenge on him during an ice fishing contest, with Mrs. Throckmorton agreeing that he needed to be taught a lesson. Furious, Snively runs away and meets up with Herman, and the two team up to ruin Christmas. However, Yogi manages to thwart them every time.

Eventually, Herman and Snively are forgiven, invited to the Christmas celebrations and they have a profound change of heart at such generosity of spirit. Then in the midst of the festivities, Santa Claus plummets down the chimney bearing a picnic basket full of food for Yogi. Yogi, however, falls asleep, due to his natural instincts of hibernation. Santa then says that Yogi and Boo Boo can have the basket when they wake up in the spring. With that, the partiers return Yogi, Boo Boo and Cindy to their caves for the rest of their hibernation.

Rusty-gate Primary School does not teach espionage and sleuthing, so when Dawn Buckle is asked by S.H.H. (Strictly Hush Hush) to become a highly trained spy with P.S.S.T (Pursuit of Scheming Spies and Traitors) she feels rather at a disadvantage. But showing an incredible ability and very quick thinking she soon finds herself caught up in an incredible adventure to unearth the wicked 'spy-gone-bad' Murdo Meek.

Can Dawn piece together all the parts of the incredible riddle before Murdo does away with his hostage? Can she outwit this master criminal while at the same time keeping herself safe?

Cynthia Kellogg is interrogated by Detective John Woods and Detective Linda Nealon at a police station regarding the murder of her husband, Artie. Cynthia provides a deposition, relayed in detailed flashbacks. Cynthia recounts her employment as a hairdresser at her friend Joyce's Bayonne, New Jersey hair salon. Joyce's husband, Jimmy, is a violently abusive drug addict, and Joyce expresses a desire to kill him several times. One night, Cynthia accompanies Joyce and Jimmy to a Feast of Saint Rocco festival. After Jimmy becomes drunk and picks a fight with Joyce, he heads back to their van. Cynthia follows him and takes the keys, leaving him to sleep in the back of the vehicle.

Per Cynthia's account of events, the two women returned to the van later on to find Jimmy dead inside, his throat slashed; Cynthia claims Joyce admitted to cutting his neck after she went to check on him, during which he attacked her. According to Cynthia, at Joyce's insistence, the women disposed of Jimmy's body by dumping it in a ravine. After the murder, Cynthia returns home covered in blood and admits to her husband, Artie, what happened. Several days later, after Jimmy's body is found, Joyce's paranoia about being caught causes her to act increasingly erratically. At one point, she instructs Cynthia to kill one of the hairdressers at the salon out of fear she will tarnish the women's alibis. Joyce subsequently discovers that Artie knows about the murder, and she threatens to Cynthia that she will kill him to silence him. Cynthia does not believe Joyce can actually carry out her threats; however, after Artie is found shot dead at his home on Christmas Eve, Cynthia accuses Joyce.

Throughout Cynthia's interrogation, Detective Woods is skeptical of her descriptions of events and challenges her on them, but ultimately allows her to leave. Cynthia exits the police station, but pauses and recounts the details of what actually happened at the festival: Upon bringing Jimmy to the van, he attempted to rape Cynthia, and began beating her. In self-defense, she slashed his throat with a boxcutter. Cynthia and Joyce left the festival and began driving toward a hospital; however, when Joyce realized he tried to rape Cynthia, she turned the van around and began driving in another direction, biding time while Jimmy bled to death in the back of the van. After he died, the women disposed of his body and made a pact not to tell anyone.

As Cynthia stands outside the police station recalling the truth of what occurred, Joyce is brought inside for her own interrogation. Cynthia decides to re-enter the station, now prepared to tell the truth of her guilt in Jimmy's death. She sits before Detective Woods' camera to record her taped confession.

The cartoon focuses on a Donkey, a Dog, a Cat, and a Rooster and their leader, a Troubadour (possibly to represent a classical five-piece rock-band). At the start of the cartoon, the band sings about the joy of freedom, which they feel in their travels. They arrive in a palace and begin a show for the King and his subjects. They perform a variety of tricks. However, while the Troubador is balancing upside-down on top of his animals, he and the Princess catch each other's eye; they both blush. The unexpected event derails the show, causing Donkey to shatter a window. The King furiously throws the band out of the palace and into the woods.

Back on the road, Troubadour looks up at the moonlit sky and dreams of the Princess, seeing her face in the moon. As he sings, it is revealed that the Princess, too, is gazing at the moon thinking of him. Their translucent figures share a duet in the sky. Afterwards, they each sing, pulling the moon their way; it tilts to and fro until at last it is at its highest point in the sky.

Presumably at midnight, the band chances upon a stone hut housing a band of bandits. Their leader is a fortune teller with golden bracelets, heavy makeup, and a long black ponytail - likely a stereotype of Romani people. Shuffling a deck of playing cards, she sings about her desire to rob the king. The other crooks merrily join the song, drinking foaming mugs of beer and dancing together as they sing along. The woman dances atop her drum as the song speeds up into a ragtime, with a vision of fire behind her. Meanwhile, the crooks engage in a sword dance. She swooshes her shawl and shimmies her shoulders, laughing maniacally as the song concludes. Suddenly, the music stops as they are interrupted by Troubadour and the animals. They frighten the crooks with strange noises and a trenchcoat-like disguise. The crooks scramble out of the windows in fear, and the musicians take possession of the hut.

The next day, the King and his military escort are marching to a classified location when their road is blocked by Troubadour and his companions, who are disguised similarly to the crooks; they sing a song about being bandits. The group chases off the cowardly soldiers and capture the King, tying him to a post and running into his hut. The King trembles with fear, having a vision of knives slicing against each other. Unable to escape, the King sinks down in despair.

Troubadour then comes out of the hut as his regular self and plays a song on his guitar about how he would do anything for the King, especially if he could marry the King's daughter. The King notices the Troubador and desperately gestures to be saved. Troubadour immediately runs into the hut and the house trembles as he appears to beat up the bandits within (in reality, he and his band are simply doing cartwheels and jumping jacks while throwing laundry out windows). At last the King is untied by the Troubador's band, and thereby winning the King's favor.

With the King rescued, the musicians lead a procession back to the palace. The guards attempt to reconcile with the King to no avail. The King formally introduces Troubador to the Princess, implying they are to be wed. That night, the King throws a ball, where Troubador and the Princess dance in modern ways that energize the other guests. Meanwhile, the animals are not allowed in the palace; they are forced to spend the night outside, unsuccessfully attempting to peer in through windows.

In the morning, the Rooster calls for Troubadour multiple times, sounding dejected towards the end. Hearing no answer, the animals pack up their things and leave the palace, beginning a solemn rendition of the song they sang in the opening. To their surprise, one of the verses is sung by outside voices: Troubadour and the Princess. Now reunited, Troubadour, the princess, and the animals set off into the unknown.

As a child, Juan Gallardo (Rex Downing) wants only to become a bullfighter like his dead father. One night he has an argument with the pompous critic Natalio Curro (Laird Cregar) who asserted Juan's father's lack of talent in the bullring. The argument spurs Juan to travel to Madrid and achieve his dream of success in the bullring. Before leaving, he promises his aristocratic child sweetheart Carmen Espinosa (Ann E. Todd) he will return when he is a success and marry her.

Ten years later, Juan Gallardo (now played by Tyrone Power) returns to Seville. He has become a matador and uses his winnings to help his impoverished family. He sets his mother (Alla Nazimova) up in a fine house and enables her to give up her work as a scrubwoman. He also lavishes money on his sister Encarnacion (Lynn Bari) and her fiancé Antonio (William Montague) so they can open a business and wed. He hires ex-bullfighter Garabato (J. Carrol Naish), who has become a beggar, as his servant. Best of all, he is now able to marry his childhood sweetheart Carmen (Linda Darnell) as he had promised.

Juan's wealth and fame continue to grow along with his talents as a bullfighter. Eventually he becomes Spain's most acclaimed matador. Even the once scornful critic Curro now lavishes praises upon Juan and brags that it was he who discovered Juan's talent. Although Juan remains illiterate, doors open to society and he catches the eye of sultry socialite Doña Sol des Muire (Rita Hayworth) at one of his bullfights.

Juan is blinded by the attention his fame has brought and Doña Sol finds it easy to lead him astray. He soon begins to neglect his wife, family and training in favor of her privileged and decadent lifestyle. His performance in the bullring suffers from his excesses and he falls from his position as the premiere matador of Spain while his extravagant lifestyle means that he has no savings and fails to pay suppliers and employees. His manager warns Juan that he is heading for destruction but Juan refuses to accept his advice. With falling fame and income comes rejection by everyone once important to him, while Carmen leaves him after she learns of his affair. With his fame now gone, Doña Sol moves on to new up and coming matador Manolo de Palma (Anthony Quinn), Juan's childhood friend.

After losing everything, a repentant Juan begs for forgiveness and is taken back by Carmen. He promises her to leave bullfighting but wishes to have one final bullfight to prove he is still a great matador. His prayers for one last success, however, are not answered and, like his father before him, he is gored by the bull. Garabato angrily says the "beast" is the crowd, not the bull. Juan dies in the arms of Carmen as the crowd cheers for Manolo's victory over the bull. Manolo bows to the fickle crowd near the stain left in the sand by Juan's blood.

''Song Quest''

In ''Song Quest'', Rialle, a novice Singer, is asked to travel to the mainland in order to stop the hunting of merlee and other Half Creatures, and her friend Frenn leaves orderly training to join her. As she leaves, another novice Kherron runs away from the Isle with the help of the merlee hunters. They discover Frazhin controlling the Karchlord with poisoned merlee eggs, and keeping the other inhabitants under control using khiz ures to stop him.

''Crystal Mask''

Set 20 years after ''Song Quest, Crystal Mask'' introduces Rialle's son Renn as a novice at the Echorium, who must travel overseas when the arrival of Shaiala, a wild girl who claims to have been raised by centaurs, casts doubt on the long-held belief that Frazhin is dead. Between them, they discover that Frazhin, with the help of his lover Yashra, has been kidnapping children and enslaving Half Creatures in an attempt to build a khiz palace of the Songs to rival the Echorium. By combining Renn's songs with Shaiala's centaur kicks, the khiz is defeated and Yashra captured, although Frazhin disappears, presumed drowned.

''Dark Quetzal''

Eleven years after ''Crystal Mask'', Kyarra, a gifted young novice, is horrified to learn from her friend Caell's discussion with the merlee that her parents were not Singers, and she falls into a trap and is kidnapped. Meanwhile, Night Plume, a dark-coloured quetzal under Frazhin's control, suddenly finds himself free after being sung to by a captured Rialle. He fetches the Singers to help while Kyarra struggles with her new identity as Frazhin and Yashra's daughter, and all the while Frazhin grows closer to eradicating Singers forever using the quetzal Memoryplace. The characters from the series come together to stop him, and eventually the world is put right, Frazhin is killed and the Half Creatures are freed.

The film is set in a remote and forgotten desert mountain village in the former Soviet Union, and chronicles a standoff between the sexes: the local women decide to withhold sex (a sex strike) until their lazy men fix the pipeline that carries the village's water supply. Young lovers Aya and Temelko are caught up in the argument and Temelko becomes determined to fix the pipeline so he can be with her.

It is Christmas, 1931, and John Resko (Ben Gazzara) wants to give his baby daughter a new teddy bear. He goes, without money, into a shop and tries to get the shopkeeper to give it to him saying he will pay him later. The prosperous shopkeeper, who cleans his eyeglasses with a dollar bill, refuses. Resko grabs a gun he saw in the till and points it at the man. The shopkeeper lunges at Resko and is shot. Resko is condemned to the electric chair at the age of eighteen.

Pardoned by the governor at the last minute, Resko is sentenced to Dannemora Prison, where he has difficulty adjusting to life behind bars. It becomes even less bearable after hearing that his wife (Carmen Phillips) has left him and that his father (Jack Kruschen) has died while rescuing a drowning child to make up for the life that was lost.

Resko attempts to escape twice, and does long stretches in solitary confinement. But he is befriended eventually by fellow convicts like Iggy (Ray Walston) and Wino (Sammy Davis Jr.) who help him to pass the time. When he takes up art as a hobby, Resko's work is seen by an art critic, Carl Carmer (Vincent Price), who believes him to have promise.

In 1949, after 18 years in prison, Resko is released. His daughter (Susan Silo) and granddaughter are waiting when he gets out.

In 1938, Geoffrey Firmin is an alcoholic former British consul to Mexico, despondent from the yearlong absence of his wife Yvonne. He spends his days drinking and awaiting letters from her that never arrive, save a divorce notice signed by her lawyer. On the Day of the Dead, he wanders the streets of Quauhnahuac in a stupor, observing the morbid festivities and crashing a Red Cross charity ball.

The following day, Yvonne returns. Their initial reunion is terse, Yvonne claims to have sent him letters and expresses the desire to stay with him, even after the divorce. He resolves to quit drinking, but his newfound sobriety is short-lived. His half-brother Hugh, a war correspondent, arrives and tells Yvonne that a minor injury from covering the Spanish Civil War has brought him back to Mexico. Yvonne confides in him about her husband's alcoholism; it's gotten worse but she wants the two to reconcile. When Geoffrey suggests they go on a day trip to a local carnival, Hugh tries to leave to ease the tension, but Geoffrey insists he stay.

As they walk to the theater, Yvonne stops to admire the volcano on the edge of the village and Geoffrey suggests they climb it later. After running into his physician friend Dr. Vigil, Geoffrey leaves Yvonne with him at the carnival as he goes out to get a drink, confiding in an old drinking acquaintance. On the bus ride to the volcano, Geoffrey witnesses an Indio die in an apparent riding accident, and a Sinarquista loots money from the corpse.

Yvonne, Geoffrey and Hugh stop for lunch at a mountain café overlooking a bullfighting ring, where Hugh reminisces about the fallen colleagues he left in Spain. Hugh grabs a red cape and makes his way to the ring where he jousts with the bull. The crowd is jubilant and hoists Hugh in the air. Caught up in the swell of emotion, Yvonne suggests to her husband that they give their relationship a fresh start in a new city.

Geoffrey agrees and describes an idyllic retirement, living with Eskimos. Geoffrey pointedly adds that when Hugh visits, he will practice the Eskimo custom of sharing his wife. Ignoring her pained look, Geoffrey lashes out about a past affair between Yvonne and Hugh and then stalks off. Hugh fears that Geoffrey will not let them forget about their affair even though it is over. Through her tears, Yvonne searches for her husband, but Geoffrey boards a bus before she can find him.

Geoffrey walks into a brothel tucked in the side of a mountain, where a pimp pretends to recognize him and buys him drinks. Meanwhile, the owner of a bird that has just won a cockfight walks in and hands Geoffrey a stack of Yvonne's lost letters. In a daze, Geoffrey reads Yvonne's letters, which reveal that she is sorry for the affair and wants a second chance. Aloud, he confesses that he cannot forgive her. The pimp sends one of his girls to seduce Geoffrey and she takes him into a back room. Yvonne and Hugh arrive at the brothel, but the pimp tells them that Geoffrey is with a girl. Distraught, Yvonne leaves in tears.

Sometime later, Geoffrey stumbles out of the brothel but the rain discourages him and he returns. A group of men claiming to be police officials confront him, first accusing him of theft before taking his money and demanding his passport. The Sinarquista from earlier (who’s been tailing Geoffrey) confides with them. They taunt him with antisemitic slurs and take his letters. Geoffrey grabs a machete and a fight breaks out, accusing the men of conspiring with the Sinarquista to kill the Indio and take his money, before drunkenly ordering they “stop sleeping with [his] wife.” They shoot him dead.

Yvonne runs back to the brothel at the sound of gunshots, but a skittish horse knocks her down and kills her. The assassins kick Geoffrey's body down a ravine, while Hugh cradles Yvonne's lifeless body in the rain.

Taunted by four of the school's prettiest girls at a high school party, a star athlete with a severely disfigured face lashes out at one of them in his drunken frustration. Sent to reform school for assault, the boy undergoes extensive facial reconstructive surgery at state expense. Years later, the girls are in college when one of them is murdered, her face mutilated, and the others receive threats. The young man's whereabouts are unknown and it is learned there is no photographic record of his new face.

Category:1957 American novels Category:Novels by Jack Vance Category:Works published under a pseudonym

Tobias takes Rachel on a tour, to show her the Yeerk pool entrance that he had discovered. Soon, though, he finds he is not where he was heading; they suddenly are flying over the forest, without warning. He turns and turns but cannot get to the spot he wants to go to. They try to fly away but discover that they are still in the same spot. A pair of Hork-Bajir come up from a secret hatch in the woods. The two aliens are promptly pursued by human-Controllers on dirtbikes and jeeps, bristling with shotguns and automatic rifles. Tobias and Rachel decide to help the supposed fugitives. They lead the male to safety, but the female is struck by a vehicle. The first Hork-Bajir screams for his wife, yelling in his language, but the Animorphs do not understand. He tells them then that she is his wife. The Animorphs tell him to run or he might die, and the Hork-Bajir runs for his life. Tobias then leads him to a cave for the time being, leaving the female Hork-Bajir behind.

The other Animorphs suspect a Yeerk trap to lure them, but they return to the cave the Hork-Bajir is hiding in. He calls himself Jara Hamee. But Ax isn't convinced he's not a Controller, so Jara pulls his head open. Horrified, but seeing no Yeerk, the Animorphs have some peace of mind. But just then Controllers had found out where they were. The team concocts a plan. To help Jara Hamee escape, Rachel morphs him (Jara Hamee turns around in order not to see Rachel demorphing). Tobias is worried about Rachel, so he hitches a ride on one of her forehead blades. However, Tobias slaps into a branch, is knocked off, and finds himself in a Swainson's hawk's clearing, where the other Hork-Bajir is cornered by a group of human-Controllers and Visser Three himself. The Visser calls this Hork-Bajir Ket Halpak. Tobias provides a distraction by drawing out an aggressive Swainson's hawk, the "owner" of this clearing, and rakes the Visser's stalk eyes, allowing Ket Halpak to escape.

With Jara Hamee and Ket Halpak reunited, the Animorphs now need to decide where to hide them. Tobias suggests a hidden valley with fresh streams, a meadow, and tall trees. But he'd never seen the place in his life, even though the images are clear in his mind. Tobias now suspects foul play - and that someone or something is manipulating him.

During the night while he is guarding the Hork-Bajir along with Ax, Tobias suddenly has visions of tracker Taxxons hunting. He doesn't know exactly but he has a feeling that they are tracking him. To avoid the Taxxons picking up the Hork-Bajir scent, Tobias and Ax take the Hork-Bajir and retreat further toward the mountains. While riding on the Hork-Bajir, Jara Hamee tells Tobias that a voice in his head just told him to escape with his wife from the Yeerk Pool and that "it" would send a guide. Frustrated about being used, Tobias stops everyone and demands to find out what is happening. He yells in his head and asks who is manipulating him, threatening not to go on unless this voice gives him some answers.

Tobias then finds himself in another plane, and sees himself as both human and hawk. He then encounters the Ellimist, who explains that while his species does not interfere with other people's lives, he wishes to save the Hork-Bajir, and the Ellimist justifies himself by saying that the Animorphs owe him their lives. Tobias also learns that when he could not get anywhere earlier and the images in his head were all the Ellimist's doing. Frustrated, Tobias wants to be made human in return for his efforts. The Ellimist says that he knows what Tobias wants but asks Tobias if he himself really knows what he wants.

Tobias and the Animorphs take the Hork-Bajir to the mountains, pursued by Yeerks in Dracon beam-wielding helicopters, Hork-Bajir, and Taxxons. Tobias, out hunting breakfast (while the other Animorphs, Ax, and the Hork-Bajir are still trying to climb the mountain), is caught in the helicopter's rotor vacuum, and breaks his wing against a tree. He is immediately discovered by a raccoon, who prepares to eat him. At that moment, the Ellimist asks Tobias if he wants the reward for his services now and makes him able to morph again, but does not return him his human form. Tobias is enraged, accusing the Ellimist of not keeping his promise. Tobias escapes by morphing the raccoon. Once more, he rejoins the others in his hawk form already healed.

The Animorphs realize that the Yeerks will not give up until the Hork-Bajir are dead because if two escaped safely, others would try. Tobias comes up with a plan. Ax, Cassie, and the Hork-Bajir go to the safe clearing while the others execute the plan. Tobias morphs Ket Halpak and, together with Rachel in Jara Hamee morph, go over to the ravine. Rachel is made to jump over the ravine, where she is caught by Marco, in gorilla morph, in a small cave right below the top of the ravine that is not visible from the top. However, Tobias is intercepted by Visser Three. He yells "Ket Halpak free!", convincing Visser Three that he is the Hork-Bajir, and runs toward the ravine, Visser Three being forced to allow him to fall as otherwise, even if he killed Tobias, the Hork-Bajir's momentum would carry Visser Three over the edge of the cliff as well. At the bottom, the real Ket Halpak and Jara Hamee are pretending to be dead, while Cassie and Jake are in wolf morph pretending to eat them. Visser Three is convinced that they are dead and the Yeerks give up searching. They take the Hork-Bajir to the valley which is mysteriously difficult to locate from a distance without prior knowledge of its existence. Ket and Jara tell the Animorphs that they are expecting a baby.

Tobias has his morphing power back. He thinks about what the Ellimist had said and laments that maybe he didn't want to be a human again. Tobias falls asleep, and wakes up in his old bedroom—the Ellimist apparently had sent him back in time to the night before he first met Elfangor. The "past" Tobias (human) wakes up, and the "present" Tobias (hawk) acquires his DNA before the past version falls back asleep. He also tells him to go to the construction site with Jake. As a result, he can morph his own human body for up to two hours at a time (or, as later books will point out, stay in human form forever—the Ellimist, in this way, was giving him a choice.) The next day (Monday), he shows up at school for Rachel's Packard Foundation Outstanding Student award ceremony, as a human, to Rachel's amazement.

Robert Stroud is imprisoned as a young man for committing a murder in Alaska. He is shown as a rebellious inmate, fighting against a rigid prison system: while being transported with other prisoners by train, he breaks open the window to allow the suffocating inmates to breathe.

He comes into conflict with Harvey Shoemaker, warden of Leavenworth Prison.

While in jail, Stroud learns that his mother tried to visit him but was denied and told to return later in the week. Outraged, he attacks a guard, fatally stabbing him. Stroud is sentenced to death, but his mother runs a successful campaign to have his sentence commuted to life in prison. The sentence requires him to serve in solitary confinement for the rest of his life.

While in the exercise yard during a heavy rainstorm, Stroud finds a downed nest holding an orphaned baby sparrow. He takes care of the bird, and starts a trend. He and other convicts acquire and care for birds, such as canaries, given from outside sources.

Stroud develops a collection of birds and cages. When the birds fall ill, he conducts experiments and comes up with a cure. As the years pass, Stroud becomes an expert on bird diseases and publishes a book on the subject. His writings are so impressive that a doctor describes him as a "genius".

Stroud is later visited by bird-lover Stella Johnson and agrees to go into business, marketing his bird remedies. He and Stella later marry, but his mother disapproves. This causes a permanent rift between mother and son and further disowns him by refusing to support his release petition. He is abruptly transferred to the federal penitentiary at Alcatraz, a new maximum-security institution where he is not permitted to keep birds. Although growing elderly, he remains independent, writing a history of the U.S. penal system that is suppressed by Shoemaker, now warden of the Rock.

Still at odds with authority, Stroud helps end a prison rebellion in 1946 by throwing out the two firearms acquired by the convicts. He assures the authorities that they can now re-enter the premises without risk of being shot. Shoemaker acknowledges Stroud never lied to him and takes him at his word.

After a petition campaign by admirers, Stroud is eventually transferred to another prison in Missouri. During the move, he meets several reporters and displays a range of knowledge on more than just birds, such as the technical details of a passing jet aircraft. He meets author Thomas E. Gaddis, who wrote a book based on his life.

Cassie and Rachel drive with the former's father, Walter, to the Dry Lands outside of town. 'Crazy Helen', a client of Walter's, has informed him of a sick horse stumbling about the plains. Helen rants on about Martians while Walter and the girls search for the horse in the dark. Rachel spots it trying to make a call at a pay phone. The horse then tries to escape, but is too weak to walk, and falls over. Cassie and Rachel notice a Yeerk falling out of the dying horse's ear. Cassie, getting a bad feeling, tells Rachel to run. A second later, they're knocked over by an explosion. Cassie wakes up in Crazy Helen's caravan, who insists 'it was the Martians!'. Cassie and Rachel decide she is half right - and assume that the Yeerks were trying to keep them away from the horse.

The other Animorphs are skeptical, though. Rachel and Cassie are frustrated, but Jake allows the group to go back to the site and investigate. Cassie, Rachel, Marco and Tobias travel in bird morph, and land in a rocky outcrop. They're promptly arrested by soldiers, and taken to the Air Force base - Zone Ninety-One. There, they meet Captain Torelli, the chief of base security, who is suspicious of the kid's lack of shoes. Cassie, Rachel and Marco, fearing being grounded, or charged with trespassing, give the captain fake names and phone numbers. The captain leaves, and the kids escape via cockroach morph. They escape outside, but Cassie is nearly crushed by a tank. Tobias picks her up, and airlifts the trio to safety.

Cassie decides on a new plan. They need horse morphs from the racetrack. They're nearly caught by the staff, and Cassie morphs Minneapolis Max - a champion stallion. The animal's jockey assumes Cassie is the real horse, causing Cassie to be caught up in a race, which she wins. The Animorphs are now ready to infiltrate Zone Ninety-One.

Back in the Dry Lands, the teens morph their respective horse morphs. They join the alleged Yeerk herd, and trot directly into the base. They hear the horse-Controllers speak Galard - the interstellar lingua franca. Ax translates for them, telling them that the Yeerks are planning to complete their mission tonight. The Yeerks promptly break into a run, and rush into a hangar. There, the Animorphs see what the government's been hiding. They know it's not human, but they don't know what it is. Neither do the Yeerks. The Yeerks are depressed and afraid, aware of the consequences for failure. They rendezvous with Visser Three, who decapitates the Yeerk 'responsible' for the failure. The Visser then orders his Hork-Bajir to eliminate the suspicious-looking horses standing close by. Cassie knocks over a Hork-Bajir, and the rest make a break for it. It is then that an embarrassed Ax tells them what the humans have been guarding: a disposable waste module from an Andalite Dome ship; an alien toilet. The disgusted Animorphs decide they've been wasting their time, and head home.

At home, Cassie berates herself for wasting her team's time, but then realizes the significance of the Andalite toilet; it's proof that sentient life exists beyond Earth, and that Visser Three needed humanity to know as little as possible in order for the invasion to continue to run smoothly. Cassie then remembers a pin-up board for 'Gondor Industries'; a dummy corporation employee's day out. Cassie takes the Animorphs to The Gardens amusement park. Cassie figures that Visser Three plans to kidnap Captain Torelli and other Air Force staff at Zone Ninety-One. The Animorphs, chased by Captain Torelli, end up in the horror house, where the Hork-Bajir wait. The children morph, and a battle ensues. They wound the Hork-Bajir and rescue the captain from Visser Three. The Yeerks escape in their vessels, in front of totally oblivious humans at a night parade.

The book starts off with the four human Animorphs helping four parrots in a new mall cafe by telling the customers disgusting things about the cafe's food. After this, Marco's old acquaintance, Erek King, who was watching at the room's back, has some disturbing news about his mother, Eva (Visser One). She has returned to Earth, overseeing a Yeerk bio-weapons program to allow them to venture into deep waters; this is a requirement made by the Yeerk command for the invasion of Leera, a planet covered almost entirely by oceans. The research is conducted in the waters around Royan Island. The Animorphs infiltrate the facility, and discover that the Yeerks are trying to create super-intelligent sharks which can be infested and controlled, because in their natural state, the sharks' brains are not big enough. They decide to acquire hammerhead morphs. Marco accidentally reveals to the other Animorphs his fear of sharks. While scouting the waters off Royan Island, the Animorphs are captured by a computer while morphed as sharks. They have devices installed in them designed to bestow sentience on animals. The Animorphs then try to morph flies, but find they can no longer morph into small creatures because the devices are too large for small creatures' brains. They realize the only way to remove them is to destroy the facility, deciding to attempt to do so. During the ensuing battle, Marco reveals to Rachel and Ax that Visser One's host body is his mother, just as they were about to kill her. Visser Three storms in, angry that Visser One would do these experiments without his knowledge or consent, and they have an argument. Visser Three is about to eat Ax in a snake-like alien morph, but Rachel intervenes and grabs him by his wrist in bear morph, threatening to cut him in half. Because of this, Marco sees an opportunity and morphs into a gorilla, knocking out the Visser.

The Yeerks have just captured some new specimens of aquatic species - known as Leerans. The Leerans are capable of telepathy and limited mind-reading capacity, hence the Yeerks' attempts to endow the sharks with sentience - a secret invasion is impractical due to the Leeran mind-reading abilities. A possibly infested Leeran states to Visser One that Marco (still in gorilla morph) is human. Visser One, however, misunderstands and thinks it's saying that the morph is a human. Marco knocks the Leeran unconscious before it can explain what it meant. The Animorphs know that the Yeerks must be stopped before they can utilize two new powerful living weapons. They destroy the factory and escape unscathed.

Marco's mother may or may not be dead. She was unconscious when the flooding started, but a Leeran was seen swimming toward her and the Animorphs heard a torpedo being expulsed, which may have carried her to safety.

Jake discovers a Yeerk website, but is unsure of its legitimacy. He and the other Animorphs can't tell if it's a Yeerk trap, or a place for potential Yeerk-fighters to meet. The Animorphs decide to travel to the Web Access America headquarters, a two-hour flight from their own city. The kids can't afford plane tickets, so they morph flies with Tobias acquiring a fly morph. After Marco dabbles in a first-class passenger's Salisbury steak, the occupants on the plane are alerted. A flight attendant swats Jake, nearly killing him. A shaken Jake survives and tries to hide his fear, but Cassie takes notice.

At Web Access America, Marco and Ax hack into the WAA records and discover the identities of some of the screen names on the Yeerk website. They need a distraction, so the children morph and create a spectacle for anyone working in the offices. One of the users from the website is the founder of WAA himself, Joe Bob Fenestre - the second richest man in the country. On the way back to the airport, Cassie objects to Jake morphing the fly again. Jake untruthfully tries to convince the others that he has no issue morphing the fly, getting him into an argument with Cassie. Their relationship is strained for the time being.

Back home, Jake needs to form a new plan to infiltrate Joe Bob Fenestre's multi-million dollar compound. Cassie objects, instead wanting to save a young child on the Yeerk website going by the screen name of Gump from confessing to his Controller father what he knows. Jake and the others overrule Cassie, deciding that Fenestre is the more pressing matter. Jake, without any prior intelligence or preparation, sends himself and the Animorphs to the billionaire's property. They are immediately attacked by gun-toting humans and pack hounds, and Rachel is shocked unconscious by a bug zapper. Ax is captured by the dogs. Jake and the others, shaken, need to find another way to break in. Jake travels to The Gardens zoo complex, and acquires a rhinoceros morph. He morphs and breaks through the entrance to the Fenestre mansion, impervious to human shotguns. The others follow, and morph their standard battle morphs.

They find Fenestre, along with Rachel and Ax in a suspended time state known as "biostasis". The Yeerk controlling Fenestre explains to Jake, Cassie, Marco and Tobias that he is Visser Three's twin brother - Esplin 9466 Lesser. Visser Three, unwilling to share his power with his sibling, banished him to Earth as a lowly telephone operator. Esplin, combining his Yeerk technical knowledge with his host's human knowledge, created a web service that would serve as a vast pool of information for the Yeerk invasion. The Visser was enraged, and has been plotting to kill him ever since.

Jake asks Esplin how he survived without a Yeerk pool. Esplin unemotionally explains that he finds human-Controllers on the Yeerk forum. Every three days, he has them kidnapped, splits the hosts' heads open, and has his human host feed on the Yeerk inside. Fenestre admits that he is a cannibal serial killer. A horrified Cassie tries to attack him, but Jake stops her. He'd rather allow Esplin to kill as many Yeerks as he could - even if it means sacrificing the host. Cassie is enraged at and disgusted with Jake. Jake threatens Esplin, and they leave with Rachel and Ax.

Jake later meets with Cassie, who'd been talking to Gump, from the Yeerk website chat, at his elementary school. The saddened Cassie tells Gump never to trust his father. Jake tries to comfort her, but to no avail. Later on, Jake watches a news report that Fenestre's house had been burned down. He hints that he may have burned down the house out of disgust for the cannibal killer.

The Animorphs save a man named George Edelman from jumping out of a building. They later hear that he has been committed to an asylum for talking about aliens living in his head. They bust in to talk to him, and he reveals that some Yeerks have discovered a way to survive without the Kandrona: eating Instant Maple and Ginger Oatmeal. However, the oatmeal is extremely addictive to the Yeerk, who goes insane and never leaves the host body. The Animorphs decide to use this information to hurt the Yeerks by dumping oatmeal into the Yeerk Pool.

They attempt to morph flies and follow a controller into the pool, but find that the Yeerks have installed "Gleet Bio-Filters" on all Yeerk Pool entrances which destroy any unauthorized life forms that attempt to enter. They decide instead to morph moles and dig their way in. On the way through their tunnel, they find a bat cave. They morph bats and fly into the Yeerk Pool, but are attacked by hunter robots. Ax, Jake and Tobias are captured, and Rachel falls into the pool. She morphs an ant, gets out, steals a Dracon beam, and disguises herself as a human-Controller. After overhearing that there is a stash of the oatmeal near the pool confiscated from addicted human-controllers, she finds Cassie and Marco just as Visser Three arrives to receive the captured "Andalite bandits." Rachel throws a barrel full of oatmeal into the pool and threatens to burst it open with the Dracon beam unless the others are released. Visser Three is about to allow the Yeerks in the pool to be sacrificed in order to capture the "Andalite Bandits", so Rachel tosses him in as well. They begin to escape with the others, but as they are escaping the Visser begins morphing, so Marco shoots open the barrels of oatmeal. Rachel uses the Dracon beam to collapse the tunnel on them, and they dig to the surface as moles.

The book ends as Rachel's mom reports that George Edelman escaped from the asylum with the help of a psychic grizzly bear.

Thanks to intel from their friend and ally, Erek the Chee, the Animorphs discover that a high-ranking member of the Secret Service, Hewlett Aldershot III, has been intentionally injured by the Yeerks and is being kept secretly in a hospital where he is heavily guarded. Since he cannot be infested while in a coma, Visser Three acquires his DNA in hopes of impersonating him to eventually acquire an even more senior official. However, he figures out that the Animorphs are spying on him in seagull morphs, so he morphs a ''kafit'' bird from the Andalite home world and gives chase to Ax, Rachel, and Marco, whom he spies at the time. Eventually, he settles on only chasing Ax, and after cornering him on the roof of a McDonald's, they engage in tail-to-tail combat in their Andalite bodies. Surprisingly, Ax defeats the older Andalite under Visser Three's control, and he forces him to retreat, which gives himself time to escape.

The next day, while meeting in Cassie's family's barn, the team decides to morph mosquitoes with the theory that they can acquire Aldershot by sucking his blood without being in their natural forms, where the Yeerk guards might notice them. However, while in mosquito morph, they are transported to Z-Space when their extra mass is caught in the slipstream of an Andalite ship, the ''Ascalin'', heading for the planet Leera, where there is a Yeerk invasion underway. Just before they suffocate, they are rescued and taken aboard.

Once on the ship, Ax begins to subconsciously, unintentionally ignore the Animorphs, instead following orders from the captain, largely due to how much he missed being around other Andalites. The humans are told to stay calmly in a room while the Andalites do all the work. Unfortunately, the captain of the ship, Captain Samilin-Corrath-Gahar, reveals himself to be a traitor. He incapacitates the other Andalites on the bridge, stunning most and amputating the tail blade of the tactical officer, Harelin-Frodlin-Sirinial. Ax is held, unharmed, as a hostage and an offering to Visser Four, who is overseeing the Yeerk invasion on Leera and is the best friend of Visser Three. Ax calls out to the Animorphs for help, but they reveal to Ax that they are already present in the room. Cassie and Ax distract Captain Samilin long enough for Tactical Officer Harelin to kill him. As the ship is about to be taken by the Yeerks, Harelin instructs them to leave while he initiates the self-destruct sequence, which kills him and every other Andalite aboard the ship.

After the Animorphs escape from the self-destructed ''Ascalin'', emotions are running high, mainly surrounding Ax. While Jake, Tobias, and Cassie are more understanding of Ax's temporary transference of loyalties to the Andalites during their time on the ship, Rachel and Marco are incredibly angry and annoyed at his decision and repeatedly browbeat him for it (despite Tobias attempting to make them stop), with Rachel even pushing Ax far enough to put his tail blade at her throat for her comments. But after Jake calms the tension down, Ax apologizes to his friends for his treatment of them and reaffirms his loyalty to Jake. Then, they focus on finding a way back to Earth.

The Animorphs head across the major landmass of Leera to try to find friendly Andalites. In the midst of the war going on, Tobias suddenly and mysteriously disappears, but the others don't know where he's gone and are forced to move on without him. Ax is struck with a sudden realization about where to find some friendly Andalites, and the Animorphs follow him out into the ocean. Rachel disappears like Tobias, and the others rescue a group of Leerans from Yeerk control. The Leerans agree to be acquired in order to help fight off the Yeerk invasion. In their new Leeran morphs, the Animorphs enter a Leeran city. The Andalites based there inform the Animorphs that they have planted a bomb to explode the continent, just as Ax had suspected, but that it needs to be activated. Just as the Animorphs volunteer for the mission, Marco disappears, causing a panic among Ax, Jake, and Cassie. After explaining their problem to the Andalites, the Andalite scientists theorize that the Animorphs' unexplained disappearances are the result of a "snapback" effect, meaning that when the Animorphs disappear, they are reappearing either on Earth or in Z-Space, the latter possibility causing fear among Ax, Jake, and Cassie.

Soon after they set out to activate the bomb, they meet a Leeran-Controller who reads their minds and alerts the Yeerks of the bomb. After dealing with the Leeran, Cassie disappears. When they reach the explosives, Jake disappears, leaving Ax alone. He activates the bomb, but a platoon of armed Hork-Bajir appear in an attempt to disarm it. A Hork-Bajir fires at him, but he disappears right before the beam hits him. The bomb goes off right after he disappears. All the Animorphs arrive back in the hospital, where they were before they got sucked into Z-Space, and despite being pulled away from Leera at different times, they realize that they have all arrived back at Earth at exactly the same moment that they were pulled into Z-space. In addition, Hewlett Aldershot III wakes up, apparently healthy again, foiling the Yeerks' scheme and leaving the Animorphs' plans to acquire him officially unnecessary.

The Animorphs celebrate their victory at the food court, and Ax silently realizes that the Animorphs are the true people that he must follow, especially in light of Captain Samilin's treachery. Glad to get back to normal with them, he is ready for his favorite snack: cinnamon buns.

The Animorphs attack the Hork-Bajir bodyguards at a Sharing meeting. The very second Jake ordered his team to break off, Cassie tore the throat out of a Hork-Bajir. Cassie, ridden with guilt, runs away. She senses someone watching her, but doesn't pay much attention. She demorphs, and has a nightmare (a scene from ''Megamorphs #2''). She wakes up, and begins scrubbing her teeth and gums until they bleed as she had found a piece of Hork-Bajir flesh stuck in her teeth. The next day, Cassie meets the others at her barn. She explicitly declares that she's fed up with all the violence, and quits being an Animorph. The others are disgusted with her scrupulous behaviour, and brand her a hypocrite; Rachel in particular declares their friendship over, informing Cassie that she basically said the world can die so long as Cassie doesn't end up becoming as ruthless as Rachel. Marco makes a sarcastic remark about Cassie "going back to playing with her animals". Cassie then tells them that her father lost the much-needed funding to keep the rehabilitation clinic open. A distraught Cassie goes on a horse ride to calm her nerves.

Cassie suddenly spots a girl being chased by an angry bear. Cassie pursues them, but is knocked off her horse, and falls into the icy river. When she wakes up, she realizes she'd been saved by the little girl. The girl introduces herself, calling herself Karen. Karen tries to force Cassie to reveal her true identity. Cassie laughs and pretends the girl is mistaken. Soon it is apparent that the girl is a Controller, Aftran 942, watching her own father, the president of UniBank. It also becomes apparent that Cassie had killed Aftran's brother Estril 731. They are both lost in the forest, and Cassie knows that a leopard that escaped from a private zoo is lurking about. During their time together, Cassie is forced to reveal her identity when she fends off an attack by the leopard by morphing wolf.

Cassie begins to discuss the morality of enslaving another creature, while Aftran defends a Yeerk's right to experience life as a human or an Andalite does. Cassie tries to turn Aftran against her own people. Aftran tells Cassie that to preserve the freedom of one species, she must surrender her own freedom. Aftran presents Cassie with the following scenario: if she were Aftran, would she stay in the Yeerk Pool forever? Cassie is uncertain. She allows Aftran to enter her brain, thus freeing Karen - and putting the life of the planet at stake. Cassie convinces Aftran that what the Yeerks are doing is wrong. In return, however, Aftran compels Cassie to morph into a caterpillar and to live life as a helpless worm, as she is essentially asking Aftran to do. Cassie reluctantly agrees, and morphs, staying beyond the two-hour limit.

Jake and the others soon find Aftran back in Karen's body, and Cassie now a caterpillar. The Animorphs are enraged and more than willing to kill Karen/Aftran in revenge for Cassie, and to keep their identities a secret. After stopping the escaped leopard - Marco throwing it to the side in gorilla morph, Jake hears her out, though, and lets her live. The Animorphs take Cassie back to civilization, and Controllers using park rangers and state police as hosts rescue Karen. Cassie spins a cocoon, and stays dormant for a couple of days. Cassie emerges as a butterfly, and the Animorphs are overjoyed, but saddened, as well, certain that Cassie would spend the rest of her brief life as an insect. Ax is puzzled at how Cassie could turn into a butterfly. One of the Animorphs explains the process of metamorphosis. Ax then theorizes that the morphing clock has essentially been reset by this and she would be able to demorph, which she eventually does after the other team members chase her down. Again human, Cassie is willing to be an Animorph once more. Aftran keeps her promise, frees Karen, and establishes the Yeerk Peace Movement; Karen compels her father to fund Cassie's father's wildlife clinic, in part thanks to Cassie being a brief town celebrity for surviving in the wilderness.

Johnny Solo, the owner of the Pink Flamingo club in London's Soho area, battles with rival club owner Diamonds Dinelli and the police. When Johnny receives threats and demands for protection, he fights back.

Johnny's girlfriend Midnight Franklin, one of the club's headliners, wants him to leave the business. In the background are a sadistic client, an underage chorus girl, a wisecracking siren who is not averse to rough trade, a visiting journalist and a dancer who guards her past.

The journalist becomes involved in the strip scene while writing a story on the clubs. The competition between the two clubs intensifies. Johnny unknowingly plays a part in the death of the chorus girl. Midnight informs on him to save him from the violent blackmailers who are pursuing him.

After failing miserably to pick up a girl at his locker, Marco is shocked to find a boy carrying the morphing cube, known as the Escafil Device. Marco introduces himself to the new boy, David, and lamely tries to buy the box off him, but David ignores him. Marco tells Jake about it, and both agree that the situation needs to be taken care of immediately. But that's not the only surprise in store for them. Erek the Chee tells them that a group of six G8 leaders (specifically, those from Britain, France, Russia, Japan, Germany, and the U.S.) are gathering at the Marriott Hotel resort on the city coast to discuss the problems in the Middle East. Erek also tells them that the Yeerks are plotting to infest each leader, and soon the most powerful nations in the world would be under Yeerk influence. The biggest problem is that one of these heads of state is already a Controller. Now the Animorphs need two plans: one to retrieve the blue box, and another to stop the Yeerks from taking over the world.

Marco, Tobias, and Rachel try to raid David's house in bird of prey morphs. Unfortunately, it fails miserably. Tobias is knocked unconscious, Marco is attacked by David's cat, Megadeth, and he and Rachel both get shot at by David with his BB gun. The next day at school, David tells Marco his seemingly ridiculous story about trained robber birds, and discusses his plan to sell the blue box online. In addition, he tells Marco that someone has already responded to his online notice and wants to buy it. Marco knows that the interested party is Visser Three, and he immediately skips the rest of the schoolday in order to stop the automatic email David has set up (which contains his contact information and his address) from going out. Unfortunately, they're too late, due to David's computer's clock being an hour fast. Marco acquires Spawn, David's contraband, defanged cobra. Visser Three storms into David's house with a team of Hork-Bajir. A fight ensues between the Yeerks and the Animorphs, destroying David's house. Rachel, in bear morph, rams David out the window, and the Animorphs retreat. The Yeerks withdraw with David's mother and father.

The Animorphs are unsure of what to do with David. Although Ax draws attention to the fact that they can use the box to give him the power to morph, the Animorphs vote on whether or not to actually do it. Marco and Ax, despite the latter having brought up the possibility in the first place, decide that they cannot risk recruiting David, given his strange behavior and their lack of knowledge of him. Tobias votes to take him in out of moral concern and not just leaving him for the Yeerks, while Cassie and Rachel decide that David might be their ticket to recruiting more Animorphs in the future. Jake is left with the final vote, and he sides with Rachel, Tobias, and Cassie. With Marco and Ax outvoted, they reveal to David the Yeerk invasion and give him the morphing power.

From the very beginning of his recruitment, David displays his eagerness to kill by attempting to kill Tobias after morphing into a golden eagle (though in this case, he is under the control of the eagle's instincts). He also does not seem concerned enough about his parents being Controllers. It is only through Marco showing him that his parents are now indeed Controllers that it finally resonates with him. On the way to the Marriott resort, David indiscriminately kills a crow, although he passes it off as his morph's instincts taking control.

As they near the resort, they spot the Blade Ship taking the Marine One helicopter hostage. The Animorphs, fearing that the Yeerks have captured the President of the United States, enter the Visser's ship. The Animorphs are then discovered in cockroach morph, and end up falling out of the Blade Ship, and down into the ocean.

Young con artist with a rather nice personality, Edik (Konstantin Khabensky) gets in trouble gathering long lost foreign relatives together. Wealthy and middle-class émigrés who have made it in the new lands (the Americas, Israel) return to the homeland, to the roots from which they were severed. The implicit motivation for their return is the search for spiritual nourishment, and so the émigrés sacrifice the material comforts of their villas and Western civilization to journey to their ancestral past, the timeless village of Golotvin. They believe that here they will be able to complete themselves by reconnecting with their heritage. All for the nominal fee of Edik, a free agent and a small-time crook who orchestrates an elaborate crime with the intention of earning a pile of money by tricking a group of pilgrims into thinking that a small village is their homeland and its inhabitants are their long lost relatives. The levels of deception multiply quickly...

The film follows Max Parry (Kevin Howarth), a disturbed wedding video cameraman, and his unnamed assistant (Mark Stevenson) as they perform several murders that they have videotaped. The two have used a video store tape in order to record the proceedings, breaking the fourth wall, and insinuating that the copy of the film being watched is the only existing version of the tape. Throughout the film, Max uses meta-references in order to show off his gruesome activities as a serial killer. The film raises questions surrounding visceral pleasure, this can be seen in one scene in particular during which the audience cannot see the victims (two at once) being murdered, Max Parry then asks the audience, "I bet you wanted to see that, and if you didn't, why are you still watching?"

At the end of the film the audience is left to believe that since they are watching the only copy of the film, that they will potentially become one of Max's victims.

The story is set in an alternate-history late-Edo period, where humanity is attacked by aliens called . Edo Japan's samurai fight to defend Earth, but the ''shōgun'' cowardly surrenders when he realizes the aliens' power. He agrees to an unequal contract with the aliens, placing a ban on carrying swords in public and allowing the invaders to enter the country. The samurai's swords are confiscated and the Tokugawa bakufu (shogunate) becomes a puppet government.

The series focuses on an eccentric samurai, Gintoki Sakata who works as an odd-jobs freelancer. He helps a teenager named Shinpachi Shimura save his sister Tae from an alien group that wants to send her to a brothel. Impressed by Gintoki, Shinpachi becomes his freelance apprentice to pay the bills and learn more about the enigmatic samurai. When the pair rescues a teenage alien girl with super-strength, Kagura, from a Yakuza group, they accept her into their freelancing business and the three become known as .

While working, they regularly encounter the Shinsengumi police force, who often ally with Gintoki when work involves dangerous criminals. The trio also meets Gintoki's former comrades from the Amanto invasion, including the revolutionary Kotaro Katsura who is friendly toward them despite his terrorist activities against the alien-controlled government.

Although the story is mostly episodic, a few story arcs and recurring antagonists develop. For example, Gintoki's former comrade Shinsuke Takasugi is a major antagonist who regards Gintoki and his other former comrades as enemies and seeks to destroy the shogunate. Over time, Takasugi gains allies, including Kagura's brother Kamui, and the elite fighting unit Mimawarigumi to prepare for his large-scale ''coup d'état''. After the true antagonist—the immortal Utsuro—is introduced, Gintoki works with both friends and enemies to stop Utsuro from destroying the Earth.

Sapphire and Steel arrive in Cairo, 1926 to solve an impossible murder...

Khaavren of Castlerock is a young Dragaeran gentleman from the House of the Tiassa whose family has fallen onto hard times. Though lacking an inheritance, Khaavren has a long sword and is "tolerably well-acquainted with its use." On his way to the capital city of the Empire, Khaavren befriends Aerich and Tazendra, nobles from the Houses of the Lyorn and Dzur who also lack income. Khaavren tells them of his plan to join the Phoenix Guards, the new Emperor's elite personal troops, and his new friends decide to accompany him.

The trio arrive in Dragaera City and meet Pel, a Yendi who joined a few days previous. Pel helps the trio sign up and buy their equipment, and quickly befriends them. The four are unusual for Phoenix Guards because most guardsmen come from the militaristic House of the Dragon. The recruits are each paired with a haughty Dragon veteran for their first patrol, but each recruit kills his or her Dragon partner by the end of the night. The group is thereafter only partnered together on patrols and soon becomes inseparable.

The group learns of the standing feud between the White Sash Battalion of the Phoenix Guards and their own Red Boot Battalion. They fight a duel and several brawls with members of the enemy battalion. After learning of the White Sash's failure to apprehend a murderer, Kathana, the group decides to earn glory for their own troop by tracking her down themselves. Unbeknownst to the group, a number of powerful figures in the Imperial Court have a vested interest in the fate of Kathana. Seodra, the Court Wizard, and Lytra, the Warlord, want to manipulate Kathana's arrest to gain favor from the Emperor. The Imperial Consort, however, is a friend of Kathana's and wants her protected, as do those who wish her favor. Before setting out, Khaavren's would-be lover Illista, a Phoenix courtier seeking favor, wrings a promise from Khaavren to prevent Kathana from being arrested.

Kathana, a remarkable painter, is charged with killing the Marquis of Pepperfield, who insulted her painting. The Marquis's son Uttrik, a soldier, desires revenge for his father's death. Wanting to be rid of both Uttrik and Khaavren, Seodra manipulates Uttrik into challenging Khaavren to a duel, hoping that one would kill the other. Khaavren wins the duel, but spares Uttrik's life and allows him to join them. Seodra sends an ever-increasing number of thugs to stop the group, but the group manages to reach Kathana's hiding place: the manor of Adron e'Kieron, a prominent Dragonlord. Uttrik challenges Kathana to a duel. The rest of the group is unsure what to do, unwilling to obstruct the honor of a duel or to abandon their original purpose. They convince the pair to hold their duel in the Marquisate of Pepperfield, hoping to buy time from the journey.

The group encounters more thugs and works together, despite its differences, to bypass them. By the time they reach Pepperfield, Uttrik and Kathana have become friends and regret the events that have led them to their duel. Before the duel can commence, however, an invading army of Easterners arrives. The group manages to negotiate a peace agreement with the general of the army, Fenarr, to prevent an invasion. After the Easterners leave, Adron arrives with his army and two of Seodra's minions, Shaltre and the Duke of Garland, under orders to kill the group. Aerich reveals that Shaltre had wronged his father, the Duke of Arylle, and challenges him to a duel. Aerich kills Shaltre and Garland flees. Adron allows the group to go in peace. Uttrik swears off his duel with Kathana, who vows to turn herself in and accept her fate.

The group returns to Dragaera City, but before they can tell anyone of the peace treaty with the Easterners, they are imprisoned. Illista comes to speak to Khaavren, but he finally realizes that she is simply using him for her own ends. Eventually the group is summoned before the Emperor and Khaavren volunteers to be questioned under the Orb, which can detect falsehood. Lytra acts as the inquisitor, however, and tries to manipulate the interrogation to incriminate Khaavren and his friends. Eventually Khaavren is able to get the truth across to the Emperor, who is pleased by the group's service. He punishes many of those responsible for the intrigues, gives Kathana a very light sentence of service in the Phoenix Guard, and promotes Khaavren to Ensign.

Only Khaavren stays in the Phoenix Guard for very much longer, however. Aerich returns to his duchy now that his shame has been removed. Tazendra learns from Aerich that her own family shame was simply a misunderstanding, and she returns to her family estates, making her Aerich's vassal. Pel enters training to learn the Art of Discretion and become an influential court advisor. Khaavren continues to live in the house they all shared and keeps rooms ready for each of them should they ever return.

After five hundred years, an older and wiser Khaavren has become the de facto commander of the Phoenix Guards. Pel continues to scheme and study the Art of Discretion, while Aerich and Tazendra live quietly on their estates. Khaavren learns that the now-decadent Emperor Tortaalik has allowed his Empire to hover on the brink of financial collapse. After Khaavren survives an attempt on his life, he learns that several key members of the court have been killed, including his former commander, Captain G'aerrth (leading to Khaavren's promotion to captain and officially taking full command of the Phoenix Guards), and deduces that a conspiracy is underway to damage the fragile Empire. A shadowy figure called Greycat has planned the murders as part of a scheme to cause chaos in the Empire and then come to its rescue, so that he may gain a place at court.

Aerich, Pel, and Tazendra learn of their friend's danger and come to his aid. They are also helped by the powerful enchantress, Sethra Lavode. Adron e'Kieron, the Dragon Heir, and his daughter Aliera arrive at the city as well, but the growing tension between the Emperor and Adron threatens to break into full-scale sedition. Greycat continues to send minions in failed attempts to kill Khaavren, while his conspirator Grita works to start a riot in the city.

Grita successfully sparks a riot that is only barely contained by Khaavren's men. The city lies in shambles and resentment toward the Emperor runs high. Meanwhile, Greycat directs his lackey, Dunaan, to hire a naive but highly skilled Jhereg assassin named Mario to kill the Emperor and gives him a fake magic weapon for the task. Greycat plans on Mario failing, but will use the fake assassination to further unnerve the Emperor. Mario does fail, but manages to escape with the help of Aliera, who now truly hates the Emperor after he orders the arrest of her father for treason. Tortaalik has her arrested for high treason for her complicity.

Adron has become so disgusted by the actions of the Emperor that he decides to start a revolt and seize the Orb for himself. He does not have the military might to do the deed, so he plans to use outlawed elder sorcery to steal the Orb directly. While Adron begins his spell, Tortaalik's forces engage his troops. Meanwhile, Khaavren and his friends, while on their way to arrest Adron, are met by Greycat, Grita, and their thugs. Khaavren and company recognize Greycat as the former Duke of Garland, who had been disgraced by the group's actions during the events of ''The Phoenix Guards''. During the fight, Khaavren kills Greycat, and a horrified Grita reveals that he had been her father.

During the fighting, Mario returns to the Imperial Palace to free Aliera. Together, they return to the throne room, disable the Orb, and kill Tortaalik. As a result, Adron's spell is caught in a logical feedback loop, as its purpose was to steal the Orb from the sitting Emperor to give itself to Adron who is now the sitting Emperor. The spell cannot be stopped and continues to grow in power until it will eventually explode. Adron knows that he has doomed himself and the city with his pride. He uses his fleeting moments of immense power to teleport Khaavren and his friends to safety. Back in the castle, Sethra Lavode receives a final telepathic message from Adron and comprehends what is about to happen. She first teleports the Orb to the Paths of the Dead for safe keeping. She then attempts to send Aliera after it, but her teleportation spell fails and only Aliera's body and Mario, who grabbed Aliera, is teleported, while Aliera's spirit is ripped from her body and is lost. Adron's spell then explodes into a sea of chaos that destroys Dragaera City and the area around the city, a cataclysm later called Adron's Disaster.

Khaavren, Pel, Tazendra, and Aerich, arrived safely at Aerich's home in the duchy of Arylle. Without the Orb, there is no Empire. A lawless time of plague and strife called the Interregnum has begun.

A young witch enters the Eastern town of Blackchapel on a quest to find his name. After a conversation with Miska, a strange coachman, the witch receives the name Morrolan, meaning "Dark Star". He meets a fellow witch named Arra, who counsels him to pledge his soul to Verra, the Demon Goddess. He does so, and together they summon other witches to the town and build a temple. While Morrolan is in a trance, some bandits from a neighboring village sack Blackchapel. Morrolan is consumed with the desire for revenge, but he is interrupted when Miska brings Lady Teldra, an Issola, who informs Morrolan that he is both a Dragaeran and a Count of House Dragon. Morrolan vows to journey to Dragaera, receive his birthright, and then return to take vengeance.

Meanwhile, in Dragaera, three hundred years without sorcery or the authority of the Empire has ruined the land. Banditry, plague, and petty warlords reign. One warlord, Kâna, has conquered roughly a quarter of the old Empire's territory, and holds influence over another quarter. His loyal cousin and strategist Habil advises him to start a new Empire with himself as Emperor, and he summons the Princes of the sixteen noble Houses to make the proposal. The reception is generally dubious. Pel, who has become Kâna's agent, goes to speak with Sethra Lavode, and she expresses her total opposition to the plan.

In the County of Whitecrest, which has been largely untouched by the ravages of the Interregnum, Khaavren has become a broken man, weighed down by guilt over his failure to protect the Emperor and prevent Adron's Disaster. His son Piro, the Viscount of Adrilankha, has matured into a bright, bold young man. One of Piro's friends, Zivra, is summoned away on a mysterious task. Shortly thereafter, Piro himself is summoned to Dzur Mountain, the home of Sethra Lavode, on a quest. He and his companions have uneventful encounters with a bandit company and a mysterious sorceress named Orlaan. At Dzur Mountain, he learns that Zivra is really Zerika, the last Phoenix and the true Empress. He must accompany her to the Paths of the Dead to recover the Imperial Orb and restore the Empire. Their party will also include Tazendra, who has been studying under Sethra.

Pel meets with Khaavren and discovers his sorry state. Pel later contacts Aerich and together they scheme to snap their friend from his funk. They send a certain pyrologist to Adrilankha to inspect the city for signs of plague. During dinner with Khaavren and his wife, the pyrologist relates how a past failure drives him to achieve his fullest potential. Khaavren decides that he must get back into shape and help his son. He sets out with two young female houseguests, Ibronka and Röaana.

The Lords of Judgment, chief among the gods, convene and decide what to do. They note that the Empire's chief function is to help keep the Jenoine from returning. It must be restored for the good of the world. While the Orb is in their possession, they modify and improve it, and Verra decides to send a demon under her sway to help Sethra Lavode.

Zerika's band sets out and reaches the cliffs that border the Paths of the Dead. Orlaan arrives with the bandit band she commands, determined to stop them. Tazendra recognizes Orlaan as Grita, the daughter of Greycat, who was killed by Khaavren's company during the events of ''Five Hundred Years After''. As the bandits attack, Zerika throws herself from the cliffs. Believing Zerika dead, Piro and company bitterly fight off the bandits while Tazendra drives away Grita with her superior Elder Sorcery. Zerika lands safely in the Paths and navigates her way to the Lords of Judgment. After a hard-fought debate, she convinces the gods to give her the Orb. She emerges from the Paths as Zerika the Fourth, Empress of the restored Empire.

Morrolan reaches his birthright, the County of Southmoor, which is in ruins. He enlists a number of Vallista architects and Teckla laborers to restore his family's castle into a temple.

Meanwhile, Piro, Tazendra, and their company pursue Grita, believing that she has caused the death of Zerika. Grita gathers up the bandits that previously fled her service and attacks again. Again the heroes quickly outfight the bandits and force their surrender, while Grita again flees. After the fighting, Khaavren, Aerich, and their companions happen upon the scene by chance and join with their friends. Pel, who is scouting ahead for a group of Kâna's troops, sees his friends and realizes that his service to Kâna puts him in opposition to them. He reveals himself and renounces his service, joining his friends once again. Kâna's troops attack. The bandits join with Khaavren, Piro, and the rest out of necessity and manage to outfight the troops. Realizing that they are surrounded by enemies, the group sets out for Dzur Mountain.

Morrolan's construction is progressing so well that he decides to build a castle instead of a temple. His retainers discover that the Orb has returned. Morrolan learns of the existence of sorcery and throws himself into its research while his construction continues. He decides to call his new home Castle Black, after the color symbolizing sorcery. During his study, he learns of Kâna's forces bearing down on his county and receives an Imperial order from Zerika to hold them off. Though he is not sure if he holds any loyalty to this new Empire, Morrolan needs no order to defend his land. He enlists the help of his most experienced Dragonlord retainer, Fentor, to see to the county's defences.

While preparing for battle, Morrolan learns of the existence of Sethra Lavode, who is technically his vassal due to her home, Dzur Mountain, residing within Southmoor county. Insulted that she has never sent him a tribute, he rides to Dzur Mountain and demands his due at swordpoint. Sethra quickly realizes that Morrolan does not comprehend the scope of her power, and refrains from killing him. After her servant calls her attention to a certain prophecy, she gives Morrolan a Great Weapon called Blackwand to stand for her tribute. She also lends him the services of the Necromancer, a demon sent by the gods to help Zerika's cause, to assist in the defence of Southmoor.

Khaavren and Piro's company ride in and are admitted into Castle Black, but they can provide little help. Kâna's troops close in and the battle begins. Fentor's hastily assembled defences and small conscripted army are no match for their opposition. Morrolan's various magical allies, including the Necromancer, the Warlock, and his circle of witches all lend their aide to the struggle, but it is still not enough. After consultation with his guests and various retainers, Morrolan decides to have his circle of witches levitate the Castle and his troops up to safety. He then has most of his army, which becomes the new Imperial Army, teleported to Dzur Mountain.

Grita joins with Kâna's forces and gives him information about Khaavren's companions as well as the soul that she has trapped within a staff. With these tools, Kâna and his cousin Habil begin plotting their alternate plans to seize the Empire. Habil gives Grita's staff to an Athyra necromancer and guides Kâna in the rituals of contacting the god Tri'nagore.

After a stay in Dzur Mountain, Khaavren, Piro, and company return to Whitecrest. Piro tells his father that he has fallen in love and wants to marry Ibronka, who is a Dzur. Having lived his life during the Interregnum, Piro does not appreciate the serious taboo of marrying outside of one's House in the Empire. Khaavren is mortified, and categorically refuses to consider such a breach of protocol. Piro leaves home with Ibronka and his friends and together they take up banditry.

Zerika, the new Empress of the newly restored Dragaeran Empire, struggles to win the support of the remaining sixteen noble houses. Meanwhile, Kâna enlists the services of Illista, the second-to-last Phoenix, who was exiled in the events of ''The Phoenix Guards''. Together with Grita and Kâna's cousin Habil, the three set in motion a grand scheme to seize the Empire. As a first step, Grita spreads her knowledge that Zerika keeps the Warlock, an Easterner, as a secret, taboo lover. Because Zerika has only knowingly shared this secret with Pel, her royal confidant, Grita hopes this will discredit the crafty Yendi. Khaavren speaks on Pel's behalf, however, and Zerika pardons him.

Reunited with his eternal companions once again, Khaavren requests a leave from duty to find his wayward son, Piro. Having fallen in love with Ibronka, who is not of his House, Piro has become a legendary bandit dubbed the Blue Fox. Khaavren locates Piro's band with the help of Pel and partially reconciles with Piro, though the issue of Piro's love remains unsettled. After Khaavren leaves, bounty hunters ambush Piro's band and kill one of his companions. Piro vows to return his slain friend's heirloom to his sister.

Sethra Lavode informs Aerich that Tazendra has disappeared. Aerich finds that her manor has been scorched and a Teckla squatter has taken residence in the abandoned building. Eventually Aerich notes a spot marked on one of Tazendra's maps and deduces that it marks Tazendra's location. Realizing that the mark was most likely planted as bait in a trap, Aerich nonetheless prepares to make the journey.

As Kâna's forces descend on Adrilankha, Sethra Lavode knows that she has military superiority, which causes her to wonder what else Kâna has planned that makes him confident in victory. She prepares her defenses and sets the Necromancer, the Warlock, and Morrolan's witches to repeat the magical help they gave in the previous battle. As the battle begins, however, all magic stops working. Sethra realizes that Kâna has let the bloody god Tri'nagore loose on the world, who has negated most forms of witchcraft, and has allowed a Jenoine access to the world, which has shut off the Orb. Meanwhile, Khaavren and Pel foil an assassination attempt on the now-helpless Zerika.

Morrolan passes up participation in the battle to return to his Eastern home of Blackchapel and take vengeance on the raiders of his home and their god, Tri'nagore. Using his Great Weapon, Blackwand, Morrolan easily levels all four raider villages, then defiles Tri'nagore's altar to challenge him to single combat. Morrolan duels the god, but cannot harm him until he manages to contact his witch circle and request a canceling spell to the god's invulnerability. The spell works despite the block on witchcraft and Morrolan slays the god.

Piro and his company locate their slain friend's sister and return the heirloom. The heirloom locates a nearby source of magic and the group investigates. In the cave where Zerika originally emerged from the Paths of the Dead, they discover Grita and Illista lying in ambush with a captive Tazendra. Aerich and Tazendra's lackey Mica also arrive. A fight breaks out, but Grita and Illista draw power from the Jenoine and become invulnerable. They mortally injure Aerich and begin systematically slaying Piro's friends. Tazendra frees herself, breaks the Jenoine's protection, and kills Illista before being killed herself by Grita. Sethra, the Necromancer, and Khaavren arrive. Piro kills Grita as Sethra and the Necromancer banish the Jenoine. Aerich shares a final moment with his friend before expiring.

With magic restored, Kâna's forces rout while he and his cousin flee. Khaavren quickly hunts down Kâna and Habil and arrests them. They are executed as traitors for warring against the Orb and nearly giving the world into the hands of the Jenoine. At the victory celebration, Zerika gives various commendations, appointing Pel to Prime Minister and raising Morrolan to Duke. However, Khaavren and Pel mourn their dead friends, as their group is now broken. Together with Piro's friends, they take their slain companions to Deathsgate Falls and perform the funeral rites. Afterwards, Khaavren has no strength to resist Piro's forbidden love and allows him to return home.

Tom wakes up after a nightmare of being turned into a nail-shape and pounded into the ground by a giant bulldog. When he sees Jerry catching a bone, he flicks the bone with his finger and then Jerry wallops him on the head with it and runs off, stopping at a giant dog house. When Tom approaches it, he realises it wasn't a dream and runs off in horror.

Instead, a small bulldog (first seen in ''The Cat's Me-Ouch!'') comes out. When Tom grabs Jerry, the bulldog grabs his tail and rapidly eats away at Tom's fur, spinning in a blur, until Tom is literally bits of sausage except for his head, and pounding his head to the ground. Jerry pats the bulldog as a reward, in which the bulldog licks Jerry in the face and snuggles up.

Tom has several attempts at catching Jerry, even attempting to attack the dog with a hammer, stuffing an oversized bone with a grenade, spraying himself with dog repellent, and lastly playing fetch with the dog by throwing a stick into a safe, and hurling the safe into a deep pit.

However, every time the minuscule pup manages to eat away at Tom, and in the final attempt when he grabs the mouse, the pup manages to chew at Tom's fur until he is bits of sausage again.

Tom finally gives up, he takes some medicine and plays some smooth jazz on a record before going to sleep and calmly dreaming of being pounded once again into the ground, which to Tom, doesn't seem so scary and has now become a rather pleasant thought, after all, it's better than dealing with that tiny dog.

Set in three distinct parts, ''An Open Swimmer'' is a 'coming of age' novel; it details the late-teen life of a young man named Jerra Nilsam. A considerable part of the novel describes the camping trip taken by Jerra and his childhood friend, Sean. On this camping trip, Jerra and Sean meet an old man living in a shack on the beach near their camp site. As the story progresses, it becomes apparent that the old man had murdered his wife in a similar shack on a nearby beach by burning it down with her inside. Many sub-plots are scattered throughout this book in the form of spontaneous paragraphs and dialogues between unnamed characters (but presumably one of them is Jerra).

In the end, after having returned home and parted ways with Sean, Jerra returns to the camping site alone. While Jerra is sleeping in his van, there is a violent storm which results in a large tree falling on the Kombi. Jerra awakes in the old man's hut, the storm having passed and having been saved by the old man. In the final paragraph, Jerra returns to his Kombi, opens the fuel tank and drops a match into it before running.

Italian police officer Giorgio Berni (Maurizio Merli) is seeking to arrest Michele Barresi (Mario Merola), who is hiding in New York under the name Vito Ferrando, for his role in the murder of Salvetore Santoro. He plans to accomplish this by having a witness to the murder, Salvetore Scalia, testify against Barresi in court as evidence that Barresi was involved in the crime. On their way from Italy to New York Berni and Scalia experience several lethal encounters with Barresi's men trying to prevent them from getting to Barresi.

Assuming that Salvetore Scalia is dead, as a result of a newspaper report put out by the police, Barresi has his sister Liana murdered so as to eliminate all witnesses to the murder of Santoro. While searching Liana's apartment, police find a plane ticket for New York. While leaving Liana's apartment a shootout breaks out between Barresi's men and Berni, resulting in the death of Giuseppe Caruso, and revealing that Salvetore Scalia is alive. In order to secure a safe hiding spot for Scalia, Berni takes him to the house of his ex-wife, Paola. After leaving Paola's house another firefight ensues with Barresi's men. Poala, Berni, and Scalia then stay in a hotel for the night. As they head to the airport the following day, the road is blocked by Barresi's men, where Berni commands Paola to speed through their barrier. From here, Berni and Scalia take a plane to New York.

According to plan Scalia and Berni take refuge in a hotel the evening before they plan to testify against Barresi. After realizing that the man guarding the door is missing, Berni must take Scalia somewhere else to hide. He takes him to Joe's Restaurant and Pizzeria, where the head of the restaurant, Luigi, allows them to hide in his apartment upstairs. Meanwhile, two of Barresi's men enter the restaurant aiming to murder Berni and Scalia. However, a group of robbers enter immediately after, prompting Barresi's men to engage in shootout with the robbers, then flee the scene. Berni and Scalia exit Joe's Restaurant to track down the two men who left the restaurant, but are instead ambushed by a street gang. Police arrive to the scene of the ambush, where they arrest Berni and Scalia after receiving a report of two dangerous men, one armed, in the area. They do not initially believe that Berni is an Italian police officer. After Berni convinces them to take him to Lieutenant Sturges, who is sitting on the court case of Barresi, Berni and Scalia are free to begin their testimony against Barresi. When Scalia takes the stand to testify against Barresi, however, he claims that he does not know the man and has never seen him in his life, causing the judge to order Barresi to be set free.

Outside the court house, Scalia is shot dead by a gunman on the roof, revealed to be a clerk working at the hotel in which Berni and Scalia stayed when they first arrived in New York. The film ends with Berni searching Scalia's jacket pockets and finding a note stating that, if he were to die, let it be known that the man who goes by Vito Ferrando is actually Michele Barresi, providing Berni with the evidence he needs to bring Barresi down.

After falling from the Blade ship, the Animorphs are snagged from mid-air by Rachel and Tobias, in their respective eagle and hawk morphs. They land on the beach, needing a plan to infiltrate the Marriott resort. Jake becomes aware of the tensions between David and Marco, and is disturbed by David's unnecessary excesses. The team morphs into seagulls, and spy out the area, crawling with security agents armed to the teeth and accompanied by dogs. They're zapped by a security man wearing sunglasses with weak Dracon beam emitters built into them. Jake tells them to leave.

Upon his return home, Jake's parents tell him and his brother Tom that their obnoxious cousin, Saddler, was gravely injured in a car accident, and that they were leaving town to spend time with his parents. Jake is presented with the opportunity to advance his plans. Unfortunately, that night, David disappears from Cassie's barn. Jake morphs into his dog, Homer, and tracks David's scent to an inn. David had morphed into a golden eagle, smashed the window with a rock and entered a room without paying. Jake warns him of the consequences of this action, while also saying he won't have time to help David with his living problems until after the mission. David doesn't hide his contempt, but leaves with Jake anyway.

Cassie formulates a plan to infiltrate the resort. Jake morphs into a dragonfly, while the other Animorphs, with the exception of Tobias, morph into fleas and latch onto Jake's body. Tobias guides them to the hotel. Inside, Jake tries to find the banquet hall where the speeches and infestations will take place. Inside an air vent, he gets caught in a spider web. Terrified, Jake demorphs, and the others follow. Cassie is badly wounded when Jake's demorphing creates a human artery that forces more blood into her flea body than it is prepared to hold. He releases them, and they begin demorphing. Marco is stuck mid-morph, as a giant flea. They begin to despair, but Cassie guides Marco and enables him to demorph. Marco then becomes emotional, something very unlike him.

Jake inspects the banquet room, and notices the number of holograms in place. Here they discover how the Yeerks plan to infest each world leader, Visser Three having infiltrated the facility by acquiring and morphing Tony, the White House Chief of Staff, although there are two schools of thought about why he would do this: Ax theorizes that it was because there would be no way for the man to have access to a Kandrona if he is infested and something goes wrong with the mission, whereas Cassie thinks that it is simply Visser Three's ego wanting him to take the key role in a plan that could result in the Yeerks winning the war for Earth at last. Now the Animorphs need a plan to thwart it. They return to the resort, knock out the guards, morph into them, and reenter the banquet. Soon they realize they have been deceived, and have fallen into Visser Three's trap. David is frightened and turns against the Animorphs in order to preserve his own life, Cassie having to attack him to stop him revealing who they are. It isn't long, though, before they discover that the Hork-Bajir surrounding them are only holograms. They take the Visser hostage, and both groups then withdraw on a truce. The Animorphs, now disgusted and angry with David, try to plan their next move before it's too late.

However, during the night, David returns to his old home in eagle morph. Jake and Ax pursue him, only to find that David had apparently killed Tobias. David explains that the Animorphs weren't treating him as an equal, and that he'd have to take matters into his own hands. Enraged, Jake engages David, only to be ambushed by Hork-Bajir. Ax rescues Jake, and they escape. David then leads Jake to the mall, and they each morph their battle morphs, lion and tiger respectively. After a brief duel, David severs Jake's carotid artery, leaving him to bleed to death.

After having a bizarre dream, Rachel is woken by Ax, who explains Jake's express orders to summon her. That decision bothers her, but her qualms are silenced when Ax breaks her the news of Tobias's probable death. Rachel is willing to do what Jake expected her to do. They first fly to the mall to try and help Jake, only to be ambushed by David in his lion morph. Rachel escapes the attempt on her life, and David retreats. Later, Cassie arrives with her family to tend to Jake, who was injured in his fight with David at the end of the previous book, so Rachel and Ax decide that Jake will be all right in their hands. They fly to Marco's house. Ax tries to fly through his window, but is promptly knocked out by David disguising as Marco's morph. Rachel allows David to morph to golden eagle, and leads him on a chase through town. Rachel plans to lure him into the power lines, electrocuting him, but David outmaneuvers her and almost kills her. David is attacked by a hawk, which turns out to be Tobias, with David thinking that it is a natural red-tailed hawk.

Relieved that Tobias is alive, the Animorphs plan how to trap the traitor. At school, they're surprised, though, when David, in Marco's body, demands the Escafil device, the blue box, threatening to betray their identities to the Yeerks. Cassie realizes that David wants the Escafil device to ransom his parents from the Yeerks and tries to reason with him, telling him it won't make Visser Three give his parents back. However, her attempt is to no avail. Making no progress, David leaves, with Rachel in pursuit. In a secluded spot on the school grounds, Rachel tells him that even if David betrays them, she'd still have time to make short work of him and his parents before she would be silenced by the Yeerks. David tries to attack her, but she pins him down. Having made her threat, she releases him. Soon after, Rachel becomes enraged with the way Jake is manipulating her violent tendencies.

The Animorphs formulate one final attempt to doom the Yeerks' plan to make Controllers of some of the G8 leaders. They morph dolphins and travel to the shore of the Marriott resort. Then, they morph elephants and rhinoceroses, and ravage the resort huts in which the heads of state reside. They leave a screaming Visser Three in "Tony's" morph, and retreat into the ocean. The plan is a success, but they encounter David in orca morph. Here, David accuses Rachel of threatening to kill his family, and Rachel is hurt by her teammates' silence. After an exhausting battle, Cassie morphs into a humpback whale and drives David away.

Rachel collapses in her bed the next morning, but is almost immediately pestered by her sister, Jordan, wanting some comfort regarding Saddler's grave condition. Soon after, Rachel walks into the bathroom and is confronted by a seemingly invisible David. He challenges her to a personal war, which she accepts only when he threatens her mother and sisters the way that she had previously threatened his parents. Rachel then accuses Jake of not standing with her against David, and that Jake thinks she is a psychopath. At the hospital, the family visits their dying child, Jake and Rachel's cousin, Saddler. It becomes apparent, however, that he is far from dying and had somehow miraculously made a full recovery. Jake immediately suspects David. When the three of them are alone, "Saddler" confirms Jake's suspicions by revealing himself to be David in morph. David mocks Rachel and Jake, once again demanding the Escafil device. Rachel and Jake reconcile, and then begin concocting a scheme to beat David at his own game.

The Animorphs meet in Cassie's family's barn and have a mock discussion about an Escafil device that breaks into smaller pieces, and Rachel pretends to have been morally defeated by David, being mocked by Marco the whole time. The whole discussion is really a farce put on for David's benefit, in case he is spying on them in morph from somewhere close by. They meet David at a Taco Bell, and agree to lead him to the Escafil device, allowing him to abuse Rachel some more. Rachel and David fly to the abandoned construction site, with the other Animorphs following close behind. David traps the Animorphs as cockroaches in a Pepsi bottle, and he and Rachel morph into rats. They venture into the pipes to retrieve each "piece." David soon figures out the Animorphs' elaborate trap, though, and Rachel tries to escape, barely doing so. The instant she escapes, a cage door is dropped, trapping David. Tobias swoops down and reveals to David that he is, in fact, still alive and freed the other Animorphs from the bottle. Cassie had plotted out all of David's emotions, gauged his inflating ego, and knew the sociopath would select Rachel as his victim.

Although Rachel and the others do not want to do it, especially due to the incredible level of cruelty behind it, they decide to let David be trapped forever as a rat. Rachel and Ax stay behind, Rachel doing so because she says David's anguish won't bother her (even though it does), and Ax so he can keep track of time and make sure David remains trapped as a rat. Rachel and Ax carry David out to a desolate rocky outcrop a mile offshore (which Rachel had first glimpsed the night they stormed the Marriott resort beach), and leave him, his pleading and cursing trailing behind them.

Three friends, Arlene, Shanna and radio DJ "Jungle" Julia Lucai, drive down Congress Avenue in Austin, Texas, on their way to celebrate Julia's birthday. In a bar, Julia reveals that she made a radio announcement offering a free lap dance from Arlene in return for addressing her as "Butterfly," buying her a drink, and reciting a segment of the poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening." Aging Hollywood stunt double Mike McKay trails the women to a bar and claims the lap dance. He notes that Julia is on billboards across town, and she is cold towards him. He returns to sit with the group and recites the line to Arlene. She is suspicious, having seen Mike's car earlier that day watching her outside a restaurant, but he convinces her to give him the lap dance.

The women prepare to depart with Lanna, another friend, to Shanna's family lake house. Pam, Julia's old classmate, is in need of a ride home and accepts Mike's offer. Mike takes Pam to his Hollywood stunt car, which is rigged with a roll cage, and tells her the car is "death proof." Once Pam is in the passenger seat, he reveals it is only death proof for the driver. He speeds and slams on the brakes, smashing Pam's skull on the dashboard, killing her. He catches up with the women's car and drives into it at high speed, killing them. Mike survives with no serious injury. Sheriff McGraw believes that Mike killed the women intentionally, but because Mike was sober while the women were intoxicated, he cannot be charged.

Fourteen months later, three young women — hair and makeup artist Abernathy "Abbie" Ross, stuntwoman Kim Mathis, and up-and-coming actress Lee Montgomery — are driving through Lebanon, Tennessee, where they are shooting a film together. They stop at a convenience store, where Mike watches them from his car. The women are en route to pick up Abbie and Kim's friend, stuntwoman Zoë Bell, from the airport while Mike inconspicuously photographs them. Zoë tells them that she wants to test-drive a 1970 Dodge Challenger, the same type of car from the 1971 film ''Vanishing Point'', that is for sale nearby. The owner lets them test-drive it unsupervised after Abernathy tells him that Lee is a porn star and will stay behind.

Zoë tells Abernathy and Kim that she wants to play a game they call "Ship's Mast," whereby she rides the hood holding belts fastened to the car while Kim drives at high speeds. Kim is hesitant, but agrees. The three enjoy the stunt, unaware that Mike is watching them. He rear-ends them in his car, causing Zoë to accidentally drop one of the belts. After several more collisions, he T-bones them, throwing Zoë from the hood. Kim shoots Mike's left shoulder, and he flees in his car. Abernathy and Kim cry over the loss of their friend, until Zoë emerges uninjured. The three agree to catch up to Mike and kill him.

Mike has stopped on a narrow road to treat his wound with whiskey. The women rear-end him at a high speed. Zoë gets out and beats him with a pipe, but he resists and drives off again. After a long chase, the women push Mike's car off the road. They drag him from the wreckage and beat him to death.

In rural Texas, go-go dancer Cherry Darling runs into her mysterious ex-boyfriend El Wray at the Bone Shack, a restaurant owned by brothers J.T. and Sheriff Hague. Meanwhile, the demented Lt. Muldoon and his men make a transaction with chemical engineer Abby for mass quantities of DC2, a deadly biochemical agent. When Muldoon learns that Abby has an extra supply, he attempts to take Abby hostage, causing him to release the gas into the air, mutating most of the town's residents into deformed zombies. The infected townspeople are treated by Dr. William Block and his unhappy, unfaithful, and bisexual anesthesiologist wife, Dakota at a local hospital.

Random attacks begin along the highway, causing El Wray and Cherry to crash. In the aftermath, several zombies tear off Cherry's right leg. At the hospital is Tammy, the former lover of Dakota, who Block recognizes. Upon realizing Dakota was about to leave him for Tammy, he stabs Dakota's hands with her anesthetic syringe needles repeatedly, rendering them useless, before locking her in a closet.

El Wray is detained by Sheriff Hague based on past encounters between the two. As the patients mutate, El Wray leaves the station and arrives at the hospital, attaching a wooden table leg to Cherry's stump. As El Wray and Cherry fight their way out of the hospital, Dakota manages to escape in her car. Meanwhile, Block becomes infected along with others, while Cherry and El Wray take refuge at the Bone Shack.

Dakota retrieves her son Tony and takes him to her estranged father, Texas Ranger Earl McGraw. (Following a "missing reel" segment) Dakota, Earl, Cherry's former boss Skip, and Tony's crazed babysitter twins arrive at the Bone Shack. With Hague badly injured, the group decides to flee to the Mexican border, before being stopped by a large mass of zombies. Muldoon's men arrive, killing the zombies before arresting the group. Abby tells them that the soldiers are stealing the gas supply because they are infected and constant inhalation of the gas delays mutation. They also learn that some of the population is immune, hinting at the possibility of a cure.

As Cherry and Dakota are taken away by two soldiers, the others defeat the guards. J.T. sustains a gunshot wound in the process while the group searches for Muldoon. When he is found by El Wray and Abby, Muldoon explains that he killed Osama bin Laden before he and his men were infected and were ordered to protect the area before being killed by Abby and El Wray. Meanwhile, Cherry is held at gunpoint and forced to dance by a soldier who threatens to rape her. Eventually, she breaks her wooden leg across his face and stabs him in the eye. Dakota, after realizing her hands have regained feeling, uses her syringe launcher to subdue another soldier. El Wray and Abby arrive to rescue Cherry and Dakota; El Wray replaces Cherry's broken wooden leg with an assault rifle.

J.T. decides to stay behind to detonate explosives to eliminate the remaining zombies while the others flee. The survivors make plans to escape by stealing helicopters after fighting through a large group of zombies, but Abby dies in the process. While saving Cherry from a zombie, El Wray is fatally wounded. Cherry, now sporting a minigun leg, leads survivors to the Caribbean beach at Tulum, where they start a peaceful new society during a worldwide zombie outbreak. It is also revealed that Cherry has given birth to her and El Wray's daughter.

In a post-credits scene, Tony is sitting on the beach at the survivor's "base" playing with his turtle, scorpion and tarantula.

While Rachel tries to convince Cassie to go to the beach with her, Cassie notices what looks like a toy spaceship attached to her water pump. Cassie notes that it's where she hid the blue box, and is a bit unsettled by it, but brushes it off and puts the spaceship with a bunch of other things being donated to charity. They head off to the beach, coming back to find Jake. They notice a different "toy" spaceship attached to the water pump and, while they watch, it detaches itself and flies away. The Animorphs immediately hold a meeting and decide to go to Goodwill to try to retrieve the spaceship that Cassie had seen earlier. While there, the spaceship starts shooting at them and demands that they surrender and bring them the "power source". It flies away and they realize it is returning to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic to retrieve the blue box. Since it is a spaceship, it can travel much faster than their bird morphs, and when they finally arrive, they discover to their dismay that the waterpump was cut open and the spaceship has stolen the blue box. There are some flashes and Tobias, Cassie, and Marco are significantly smaller (about one sixteenth of an inch). Cassie and Marco decide to pretend to surrender to the Helmacrons which are the aliens that are aboard the spaceships, while Tobias stays with Rachel. It is revealed that the Helmacron females are in charge, while the males are feeble and weak. Cassie and Marco claim that they work for the Yeerks (whom the Helmacrons are familiar with and despise), and that Visser Three can get them the box. Eventually they catch up with the Visser, who is at a Sharing meeting (along with Chapman and other controllers). They morph to flies to escape the ship, now being as small as cells. The Controllers get a lucky shot, and destroy the ship, Cassie and Marco barely getting out in time. They find that they have landed on Chapman's head. The other Helmacron spaceship had lured the rest of the Animorphs there in an attempt to steal the blue box. During the meeting, the Helmacrons attack, indiscriminately shrinking everyone at the meeting. Upon seeing the blue box, along with Visser Three's prodding, all the controllers try to grab it and there is chaos. Cassie morphs into a whale in order to crash the ship. She and the other Animorphs eventually end up on Ax, the only Animorph remaining unshrunken. Visser Three and many Controllers also end up on Ax. Visser Three briefly sides with the Animorphs, saying, "I don't know about you Andalites, but these Helmacrons are really, really, ''really'' annoying me." Ax, in harrier morph, flies over to the Gardens where they all acquire and morph anteaters, which unshrinks them while in morph. As anteaters, Jake and Rachel slurp up the Helmacrons, and The Animorphs, Controllers and Helmacrons reach an agreement and everyone is unshrunken. Before the book ends, Marco and Cassie give the Helmacron males a bit of a pep talk, and it ends with the male and female Helmacrons squabbling with each other.

On a snowy Christmas Eve, a pair of anxious young children eagerly anticipate the arrival of Santa Claus and the gifts that they will be receiving. Taking notice of this, their elderly grandfather narrates a poetic fable with the intentions of educating them on the true nature of the holidays.

The tale details the life of an outrageously overindulged, bratty 5-year-old named Jeremy Creek, who is excessively spoiled by his mild and intimidated parents, flinging himself into destructive and violent temper tantrums when his demands are not met. After his parents decide to stand their ground by refusing to indulge their son any longer, an infuriated Jeremy, recalling the upcoming Christmas season, decides to write Santa Claus a lengthy and demanding wish list consisting of all the presents that he does not yet own. However, when Santa receives the massive list, he assumes that it was written on behalf of multiple people. He discovers an impoverished swamp town coincidentally named "Jeremy Creek" on his map, and realizing he has never delivered them presents before, resolves to make up for his prior absences.

On Christmas morning, Jeremy is crestfallen to discover there are no gifts for him beneath the Christmas tree, and catches sight of a news broadcast detailing the joy of the penniless and bedraggled children of the town Jeremy Creek upon receiving the countless presents from Santa. Surprisingly, Jeremy himself is touched by the joy brought to the less fortunate through his own greed inadvertently, and his self-absorption is dissolved upon the realization of the true meaning of Christmas. Santa also visits Jeremy to apologize for the mistake, and in recognition of his newfound selflessness, Santa offers him the opportunity to help him deliver gifts every Christmas Eve. Jeremy agrees, giving away many of his own toys, and continues to aid Santa until he grows too big to fit in the sleigh.

The grandfather concludes the story by explaining that Santa selects new assistants like Jeremy every few years. The grandchildren, taking the story to heart, are no longer quite as concerned with toys. As the special concludes, the two grandchildren ponder if one of them could be Santa's assistant, and the grandfather muses the same could be true of him, as the name on his mailbox reveals that the grandfather is actually Jeremy Creek himself.

When the Animorphs attend a performance of ''The Lion King'' at a school assembly, the Ellimist freezes time and appears to enlist their aid. He tells them there is another force as powerful as him, the Crayak. The Ellimist reveals that this creature is the blood-red eye Jake saw when the Yeerk in his head died in the sixth book, ''The Capture''.

The Ellimist tells the kids that when the Crayak first appeared, the two of them waged a war which destroyed a tenth of the galaxy. They realized their fight needed to be much more subtle. That is why the Ellimist is only allowed or only allows himself to give the Animorphs tiny bits of help so far.

The Crayak is targeting another race, called the Iskoort, and that interferes with the Ellimist's concealed agenda. The fate of the Iskoort will be determined through a proxy battle with rules of engagement. The Crayak and the Ellimist will each choose seven combatants to face off on the Iskoort homeworld. Crayak has chosen seven of his shock troops, the Howlers, members of the race which destroyed the Pemalites.

The Animorphs choose Erek King as their seventh, and they are taken to the Iskoort world, a huge metropolis miles above the ground. While the Iskoort turn out to be bizarre and grating, they are not actually evil. The Animorphs and Erek enlist a young Iskoort trader named Guide to show them around.

Eventually, they run into one of the Howlers. Even alone, it proves to be completely superior in battle. They barely survive the fight, while the Howler quickly recovers from its injuries. Regrouping, they buy copies of Howler memories with Guide's assistance. (Ax determines that the Iskoort homeworld is sufficiently isolated from Yeerk influence for this transfer of information to be of negligible risk to Animorph secrecy on Earth.) Erek watches the purchased Howler memories, revealing all the massacres the Howlers have committed. They determine that the Howlers were created by Crayak, and that they have collective memories, giving them each thousands of years of battle experience. There are no memories of the Howlers ever being defeated.

The Animorphs find a new safehouse as Guide mentions a personal errand: A function of Iskoort physiology requires the Iskoort to separate into two halves, the Isk, the body, and a slug-like entity, the Yoort. Guide continues to explain that every three days, Iskoort must separate so the Yoort can feed. Upon recognition of the similarities to the Yeerks, chaos ensues, interrupting Guide, and violence is narrowly averted. Guide explains early Iskoort history, closely resembling the Yeerks' current existence of conquering and enslaving alien races. The Iskoort ancestors disliked their evolved biology of parasitism, instead employing genetic engineering to create a primary host, the Isk, and additionally altered Yoort physiology to become true symbiotes in order to maintain the established standard of living but removing the necessary violence. At this point, the relevance of the Iskoort to both the Ellimist and the Crayak is revealed. Should the Yeerks ever interact with the Iskoort, the Yeerks would learn of a possibility for nonviolent existence. Since the Yeerks are conquerors, the desired nonviolence of some Yeerks and dissidence within the Yeerk Empire would delay Crayak's goal of dictatorship over the galaxy and ultimately, the universe. Even worse (in Crayak's view), the Yeerks could abandon their current imperialistic nature, forcing Crayak to find new conquerors to unite the galaxy under his rule.

After several narrow escapes, Jake and a Howler both fall off a building towards the ground below. Jake acquires the Howler and quickly morphs to peregrine falcon, pulling to safety with a spiteful quip as the Howler plummets to its death. Back atop, Jake reunites with the others. Jake and Cassie run to each other and kiss, prompting Rachel to say that "it's about time".

Jake morphs the Howler under guard with the others under strict orders to kill him if he loses control to the instincts of a killer created by Crayak. He finds no such things. Instead, he discovers that Howlers have the personalities of little children: the Howlers consider their battles to be fun and exciting games and have no perception that they are hurting real people and annihilating entire civilizations. In addition, they realize that while the Howlers' collective memory shows no memories of ever being defeated, it is unrealistic to believe that the Howlers have been at war for thousands of year without ever losing. They deduce that Crayak must intervene when the Howlers are in danger of losing in order to prevent their collective memory from being tainted.

The Animorphs, along with Erek and Guide make their own memory-recordings. When the Howlers next attack, the Animorphs use Jake in Howler morph to stun one of them and force the entire combined memories of the eight of them (the Animorphs plus Erek and Guide) into the Howlers, along with the knowledge that the non-Howlers are real beings. Crayak is forced to destroy all six Howlers before the memories can contaminate the collective memory. The Animorphs win the standoff on behalf of the Ellimist.

The Ellimist transports the Animorphs to n-dimensional space in order to talk with Crayak face-to-face in a way that the Animorphs can see. Crayak concedes defeat and agrees that the Iskoort will live. Jake morphs the Howler in order to determine the effectiveness of the Animorphs' "memory contamination" attack. He finds nothing in the collective Howler memory relating to the Iskroot homeworld; however, a single incident has penetrated the collective memory: that of Jake and Cassie kissing.

Taking his warriors back to Earth, the Ellimist talks with the Animorphs further. He reveals that in a few months' time, on the next Howler raid, the Howlers will attempt to kiss their targets. The contaminated Howlers are no longer useful as Crayak's shock troops. The Ellimist also reveals that in three hundred years' time, the Iskoort will meet the Yeerks.

The following night, Jake tries and fails to turn his dreams from the Howler he sent to its doom.

Milián plays Rambo, an ex-cop who seeks revenge against two powerful crime families who were responsible for the murder of his friend.

During a shopping trip with Cassie, Rachel sees Erek's hologram malfunctioning. They barely manage to get him away before other humans notice. Soon they discover every Chee is having trouble with their technology, particularly their holograms, because of interferences with the Pemalite ship hidden in the ocean. The vast majority of the Chee have adequately hidden themselves, so humans cannot discover they are aliens. However, two are still in danger.

One of the Chee in danger, Lourdes, is hidden in a flophouse where drug fencing occurs, but a SWAT team - with a Controller member - are about to raid the house. The Animorphs successfully rescue her.

Next, the Animorphs need to come up with a plan in order to reach the Pemalite ship, so they can fix the malfunctioning technology. They struggle to think of an appropriate morph for the bottom of the ocean. Cassie realizes a giant squid would work, but they still do not know how to get close to one. They do know sperm whales capture giant squids. Thankfully, a sperm whale has been beached. Rachel and Tobias acquire the whale's DNA, morph into the whale, dive into the ocean, and find and then end up battling a squid. Finally, all the Animorphs acquire the squid and dive together.

They notice several Yeerk bug fighters en route to the Pemalite ship as well, following the signal. Reaching it first, they use the single-digit access code to infiltrate it and fix the Chee programming, but then a self-destruct sequence is initiated too.

The group is confronted by a being called the Drode, an aide of sorts to the Crayak. The Drode threatens and insults them all. He shows some bizarre fondness for Rachel and tells her that if she wants to gain favor with the Crayak, then she should kill Jake. The Yeerks also emerge into the ship, and the group must stand and fight them before allowing them to gain control. But as the battle reaches a climax, Erek appears - to the shock of the Drode - and activates a violence-dispeller. The Yeerks and Animorphs are forced to leave the ship, and the Chee have their holograms restored.

The Animorphs find out from Erek that the Yeerks have taken control of a meatpacking plant and a laboratory. They acquire chimpanzees and infiltrate the lab. They don't find very much information so Tobias and Ax morph into bulls (thinking they would morph into steer but not realizing that the DNA does not include surgical procedures) to go to the meatpacking plant. Inside the plant, they discover a room with humans in cages. The computer tells them that it is an experiment designed to destroy the free will of the human population so that the Yeerks can take over easily, but a Yeerk scientist eventually confirms that the experiment was a total failure.

Cassie and Jake are dragged along by Rachel and the others to the school dance. They have a few good laughs when Ax's unfamiliarity with human culture scares away some of the crowd. The laughter stops, however, when he demorphs involuntarily. It soon becomes apparent that Ax is suffering from an inflamed Tria gland (as well as a fever)—much like the lymphatic tonsils in the human mouth. Unlike humans, though, this gland is located at the back of Ax's brain. If it bursts, it will cause irreversible and fatal damage to the brain. Cassie hides the sick alien in her barn, and Erek the Chee erects a hologram around them both.

At the same time, Mr. Tidwell, one of Cassie's teachers, informs her that Aftran, a Yeerk who Cassie met and convinced to free her host, has been captured by Visser Three. She will be tortured, and will thus be forced to divulge all of her secrets, including that of Cassie and the Animorphs. Cassie endures her friends' thinly veiled blame, but they decide to act. They form a plan to enter the Yeerk pool via the facility's extensive piping system. Tobias brings them eels to morph. The children morph and enter the pipes, but Jake falls ill from Ax's virus (although it is established that this virus will just make humans sick rather than having the fatal effects that the Andalite version has on Ax). The plan fails, and they return to the surface—through a fire hose and into a burning building.

That night, Cassie has a bad dream. In the morning, she discovers that Rachel is ill. Mr. Tidwell reveals he shares control of his body with Illim, a Yeerk, and that he is a member of the Yeerk Peace Movement. He tells her the time and location of Aftran's interrogation. Marco is the next to fall ill. Then, while Cassie is with him, Tobias, too, falls ill to it, flying into one of the barn rafters. To keep Tobias safe, she locks him up next to a golden eagle, much to his dismay.

Cassie is all alone, and she needs to infiltrate the Yeerk pool, so Illim allows her to acquire his Yeerk DNA and take control of Mr. Tidwell. Cassie and Mr. Tidwell enter the enemy stronghold, and she is disgorged into the Yeerk pool. She finds Aftran's cage, and manages to take control of a voluntary host. She rams the Visser, who drops Aftran. Cassie leaves the girl, dives back into the pool, morphs her osprey, and carries Aftran away, pursued by Visser Three, who has morphed a creature resembling an eyeball with tentacles.

Back at the barn, Cassie learns that Ax is in crisis. She allows Aftran to enter Ax's head and tell her the location of the Tria gland. Cassie makes her incision, and pulls the gland out, saving Ax's life.

A few days later, the other Animorphs have recovered from the illness. Aftran is safe, but in order to keep her alive without access to the Kandrona, the Animorphs allow her to morph a humpback whale—on the condition that she stays in that form as a ''nothlit''.

Enjoying a day to skip school, Marco unexpectedly runs into his mother (Visser One), and discovers she is hiding in an office building, planning to find the Hork-Bajir colony. Marco, Tobias and Ax confirm this on a late-night visit, in which they negotiate a deal with Visser One. Marco begins to formulate a plan that will destroy Vissers One and Three, and free his mother, and make the Yeerks believe they have destroyed the Hork-Bajir colony. The plan goes well for the most part, but a few miscalculations reveal to Visser One that at least one of the guerrilla fighters is human and there is a misconception that Jake and Cassie have died. When the Animorphs spring the battle between the two Vissers, Visser Three is forced to retreat and Visser One is believed to have perished (over a cliff, butted by Marco in mountain goat morph), though not before realizing that Marco is one of the warriors.

Jake returns from school to discover that his great grandfather has died. His father insists that the family go to his home in a wooded cabin far away and help plan the funeral arrangements. They plan to be gone for three or four days, however, this presents a problem for Tom, who can not stay away from the Yeerk Pool for more than three days at a time. Tom fights relentlessly with Jake's father about going. When they leave for a Sharing meeting together, Jake fears that Tom may force their dad into involuntary Yeerk infestation or even kill him. Jake must save his father, but for the first time, his quick thinking tactical mind freezes up. A slight power struggle ensues between Jake and Marco who insists that Jake isn't thinking clearly on this matter. After several close calls protecting Jake's father, the Animorphs decide to make a distraction for the Yeerks so that Tom is no longer their top priority. The Animorphs kidnap Chapman, holding him hostage in an abandoned house to distract the Yeerks from taking care of Jake's father. To make the kidnap seem convincing they have Ax interrogate Chapman for hours. Afterward, they allow him to escape, and Ax insists that he will never do such a thing again as it is not the conduct of a warrior. After this Jake insists on handling the situation by himself. With the distraction successful, Tom heads up to the cabin with the rest of the family. In the middle of the night, he tries to kill his father with a dagger, but is stopped by Jake with the help of rest of the Animorphs, who are running a plan devised by Marco. Tom is injured and taken back to the hospital in the city where he has access to a Yeerk pool.

The Hulk's nemesis, the Leader, begins a bid for world domination. He constructs a fortress base in a savage forest, manufactures a vast battalion of robots to march against the nations, and genetically engineers mutants to patrol and protect his fortress. Taking the Hulk's brute strength into account, he further enlists the aid of four of the Hulk's arch-rivals: Rhino, Absorbing Man, Abomination, and Tyrannus.

The Hulk clears the Leader's troops out of the city and defeats Rhino in a construction site. In his search for solitude in a remote forest glade, he falls into Tyrannus's underground labyrinth. After defeating Tyrannus, the Hulk infiltrates the Leader's fortress, where he encounters and defeats Absorbing Man. The Hulk confronts the Leader, who teleports him to the lair's interior, where his mutant soldiers are being produced. After destroying the lair's bio-mechanical "brain", the Hulk breaks through the lair's inner sanctum and confronts the Leader once more.

The game's ending is determined by the difficulty setting. The Easy ending has the Leader scoffing at the Hulk's power, further angering him. In the Normal ending, the Leader triggers the fortress's self-destruct sequence and leaves his hideout in an escape pod. The Hulk escapes before the fortress explodes. In the Arcade ending, the Leader attempts to escape, but the Hulk retaliates by throwing a chunk of rubble at the Leader's escape pod and sending it crashing down, and he stands triumphantly before the Leader's ruined fortress.

After the infamous possum "Fairway Frank" bites Mayor Gunderson's dog at a golf course, mayoral representative Evelyn (Judith Moreland) asks Leslie (Amy Poehler) to form a task force to capture it. Leslie, Tom (Aziz Ansari), Andy (Chris Pratt) and two incompetent animal control workers, Harris (Harris Wittels) and Brett (Colton Dunn) go to the golf course and quickly find the animal. The animal control workers are useless and Tom immediately runs away, but Andy dives toward the animal and captures it. Evelyn is impressed with Leslie and promises her a special favor from the mayor's office. However, Leslie sees a second opossum and fears they have captured the wrong animal. She later finds out that the mayor doesn't care about catching Fairway Frank, but rather about securing a trophy animal for his bathroom.

Back at the department office, reporter Shauna Malwae-Tweep (Alison Becker) interviews Andy for a newspaper article. After he brags about the capture, the reporter suggests his heroics might win him back the affections of Ann (Rashida Jones), his ex-girlfriend, much to Andy's excitement. April (Aubrey Plaza), who has romantic feelings for Andy, overhears this and leaves jealously. Evelyn demands delivery of Fairway Frank. Leslie responds that there is uncertainty about the identity of Fairway Frank. She refuses to hand over the captured opossum and creates a ketchup-blood diversion so that April can escape with the caged animal.

Leslie and April take the opossum to Ann's home, where April has been paid $50 to housesit. April lets the opossum out of its cage, and it causes havoc and minor damage. While hiding from the animal, April reveals her feelings about Andy to Leslie for the first time. When Leslie refuses to hand over the opossum, Evelyn angrily takes back her promise of a favor from the mayor's office. Andy, still oblivious to the reasons behind April's jealousy, delivers coffee to April, as well as the day's newspaper, containing a story which credits April for providing moral support to Andy. It is later revealed that Leslie has donated the opossum to the Pawnee zoo.

Meanwhile, Ron (Nick Offerman) plans a woodshop expansion in his home and seeks the approval of city planner Mark (Paul Schneider). Mark informs Ron that an inspection is needed to ensure that the facility meets all current zoning code standards, and an obviously lying Ron claims it does, clearly underscoring his vexation with governmental regulations. During the inspection, Mark finds numerous code violations, including oily rags placed above a wood-burning fireplace and a long-outdated fire extinguisher. Later, Mark takes a half-day off so that he can help his friend's woodshop meet city code. Ron thanks Mark by building a wooden canoe and leaving it in his office.

After the man she loves dies suddenly, Maria must choose which of two suitors to marry. One offers a change to life in the big city, but Maria decides to stay in the countryside.David Stouck. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=R3tTsYA5DZ0C&pg=PA143 Major Canadian Authors: A Critical Introduction to Canadian Literature in English]''. U of Nebraska Press; 1 January 1988. . p. 143–.

Pre-War Games arc

One day in class, Ginta is teleported to the other world he had always dreamed about, MÄR Heaven. Once there, he is quick to enjoy the fantasy world and quickly discovers his increased strength. Along with Dorothy, Ginta goes into a cave and finds the ÄRM Babbo, who Ginta thereafter uses as his own personal ÄRM, much to Babbo's annoyance. Ginta then meets a farm-boy named Jack, and rescues his farm from two vegetarian werewolves. Shortly after that Ginta meets Alviss, who reveals he was the one who brought Ginta to MÄR Heaven and the reason he summoned Ginta: to fight the Chess Pieces, who are trying to take over MÄR Heaven. Although at first Alviss finds it hard to believe that Ginta could do so, he later warms up to Ginta and believes Ginta can do so.

After Alviss leaves, Ginta and Jack find a dog named Edward, who reveals that the princess of Lestava and his best friend, Snow, has frozen herself in a nearby castle to protect herself. Ginta and Jack, with Alviss and Dorothy following them, attempt to rescue her, but are stopped by two Chess Pieces named Ian and Loco, although the emergence of Alan, who was sealed within Edward, and Halloween saved both Jack and Ginta and Ian and Loco from death. The next day Alan put Snow, Ginta, Jack, and Dorothy in a three-day training session inside of the Training Gate, although to the four it would have actually been 180 days. During the three days they are training, the Chess Pieces begin to take action and take over a large chunk of MÄR Heaven. Once the four get out, they have a small battle with Ian and Gido, where in a show of their new strength none of them receive any harm. Once the battle in finished, the five of them together form Team MÄR

Team MÄR then heads south to the Hild continent, where they meet Nanashi, the leader of the Thieves Guild of Luberia and a major enemy of the Chess Pieces. Nanashi quickly befriends Team MÄR and joins them. With Nanashi's help, they all go to Vestry, a city which is under the attack of two powerful Chess Pieces, who are currently hiding inside Vestry's famous underwater cave. After splitting up in the cave, Ginta eventually meets Tom, and they quickly become friends. Ginta and Tom later find one of the two Chess Pieces, Girom, and defeats Girom using his newly found power, Gargoyle. Ginta then falls unconscious, and it is revealed the Tom is really the leader of the Chess Piece army, Phantom. Nanashi and Dorothy then take him back to Vestry, and that night it is revealed that the War Games will soon begin. MÄR then heads to Reginlief Castle to help fight in the War Games, and, surprisingly, only them and Alviss pass the preliminaries.

War Games arc

Ginta has a large number of battles in the War Games, and fought in all but one of the War Game rounds. In each battle Ginta will have trouble mentally as well as physically, and each fight gives him a new challenge, including fighting a seemingly un-win-able fight or having to fight someone whose reason for fighting is sympathetic.

During the War Games, Ginta soon finds out that Tom is really Phantom, and later he has a small unofficial fight with Phantom at Kaldea island, where Phantom quickly defeats an already exhausted Ginta, which later proves to be further determination for Ginta to win. In an anime filler arc, they also oppose the Zonnen, outcast Chess Pieces who are near Knight level. In the end, all of the Zonnen are trapped in the Training Gate forever.

• Ginta vs. Garon - 1st Round - Although at first Ginta has trouble fighting Garon due to his hardened body, Ginta is quick to turn the battle around with Gargoyle. Ginta also finds out in this battle that his father was the previous person from his world to be sent to MÄR Heaven and the hero of the last War Games.
• Ginta vs. Kannochi - 3rd Round - Kannochi quickly takes the advantage of the battle by using a Darkness ÄRM on Ginta, though Ginta reverses the curse by using Alice. A melting Kannochi then wishes him good luck in the future battles Ginta will fight.
• Ginta vs. Girom - 4th Round - A rematch between the two as requested by Girom. Just before the battle Girom killed Aqua, which quickly angered Ginta to the extent he couldn't use Babbo correctly. Babbo then calmed him down and Ginta used Gargoyle to send Girom into the sky to unknown whereabouts, although Girom is later revealed to survive.
• Ginta vs. Ash - 5th Round - By a request made by Ash, Ginta has his first battle against a Knight against Ash. Ginta soon learns the Ash's reasons for fighting is to protect children who would otherwise be killed in the wars of nations, although Ginta refuses to believe this and defeats Ash. Ash later turns out to be a valuable ally and friend.
• Ginta vs. Ian - 6th Round - For revenge in causing the punishment of Gido, Ian, now at Knight class, plans on defeating Ginta. Entirely out of his determination to save Snow (who was just kidnapped right before the battle), Ginta manages to defeat Ian, and Ian quits the Chess Pieces and vows to kill the one who punished Gido.
• Ginta vs. Phantom - Final Round - The last battle of the War Games, Ginta and Phantom continuously send blow after blow to each other, but in the end Phantom is crushed by an enlargened Babbo, defeating the #1 Knight and winning the War Games.

Post-War Games arc

After the War Games are over, Team MÄR set out to find the King and Queen and rescue Snow, who King and Queen were going to use to open a portal to Ginta's world and take over Earth along with MÄR Heaven. During this point in the anime, there are several filler episodes that largely change the plot from the original manga.

Manga version

In the manga, shortly after defeating Phantom, Team MÄR are opposed by the King and Queen. The Queen, Diana, faces off against Dorothy, while the King, Danna-Orb fights Ginta. During their battle, King reveals that he isn't really Ginta's father, and that Ginta's father's real soul is Babbo's. Ginta removes Kaldea's Orb from King's body and puts Babbo's soul in the soul-less body, giving life back to Danna. Kaldea's Orb takes on its true form, but Ginta then defeats it and finally defeats the Chess Pieces. Afterwards, Ginta returns to Earth and reunites with his mother and Koyuki. Ginta cameos in the second last chapter of ''MÄR Omega'', the sequel to ''MÄR'', aware of the situation that occurred in MÄR Heaven in the sequel.

Anime version

While Ian pursues Chimera and Dorothy and Alviss fight Rolan and Candice, Alan and Ginta storm Lestava Castle to rescue Snow, and end up fighting Magical Lou, Snow's childhood caretaker and her kidnapper under Queen's orders. In the end, however, Magical Lou frees Snow in a way of apologizing for putting Snow through all she had gone through instead of helping her. Afterwards, they encounter Phantom's loyal vassals the Ghost Chess, and after defeating them, put an end to Phantom.

Once they return to Lestava Castle, King decides to take action and kill Team MÄR and their allies. In knight armor, King quickly disposes of Alan. While Ginta and Dorothy head to Caldia to free Kaldea's Elder from an ÄRM used on him, the rest of Team MÄR reunite with Pano, who reveals that her brother and father were also killed by King. Nanashi, Snow, and Alviss try to oppose King, but just before Ginta and Dorothy return the King kills both Nanashi and Snow, although they help Alviss escape. After Ian, Gido, and Ash return, Ginta, Dorothy, and Alviss learn of King and Queen's plan to take over Ginta's world, and their three friends try to oppose King, but Ash dies, and Ian and Gido promise to take care of his children friends. Alviss is then the next to fight King, and King reveals that he is really Danna, the hero of the last War Games, and kills Alviss.

Ginta and Dorothy then return to Lestava Castle, and Dorothy fights Queen Diana, her own sister, and wins. Afterwards, King shows up and kills the weakened Dorothy just after Diana dies, and then fights Ginta. During battle, Ginta discovers that his father's soul was within Babbo all along while the Kaldea's Orb was in Danna's body. After Kaldea's orb is removed from Danna, Kaldea's Orb takes on its true form and invades Earth. With Kaldea's Orb on Earth, Ginta takes Babbo's Gargoyle to Earth for the final battle. Using the power of all people in MÄR Heaven, Ginta sends a devastating blow to Kaldea's Orb that destroys the orb forever. Afterwards, Alan, Garon, Leno, Nanashi, Dorothy, Ash, Fuugi, and Alviss are revived, and Ginta, with his father, return to their world. Once there, Danna reunites with his wife, and Ginta does so with Koyuki, who has merged with Snow to create one soul so that both of them could be with Ginta.

"13th Floor"

On October 14, 1986, a fire triggered by a burning paper destroys an orphanage, killing many of the orphans including their matron Jene. Twenty years later, a high-rise apartment building stands on the site of the orphanage. In one of the apartment's penthouse suites resides Alex (Krystal Reyes) and her parents, Diana and Oscar (Isay Alvarez and Robert Seña).

For Alex's birthday, which happens to fall on the 20th anniversary of the orphanage fire, Diana and Oscar plan to throw a party and hires a group of party organizers. Upon arrival, the group led by Sonny (Bearwin Meily) consists of head caterer and chef Marge (Keanna Reeves), the assistants Gino (Joseph Bitangcol) and Alyson (Roxanne Guinoo) and the magician/clown Jun (Janus Del Prado), examines the building and begins to feel the presence of lost souls, which was first felt during their elevator ride.

Upon stepping at Alex's suite, the group again experiences strange phenomena but dismisses them to set up for the party. After inviting some children with their matron, they begin Alex's birthday party. Unknown to any of them, the children and the matron they invited were the souls of the orphans and their matron who died in the aforementioned fire.

The presence of the souls disrupted the party into chaos. The spirits manifested themselves altogether and the original 14th floor where the party was held was changed to 13. After the chase, the lost souls reappeared in the form of the orphans and Jene. Jene reveals the truth to the family and the party organizers: Alex herself has a connection to them as she was born on October 14, 1995, the ninth anniversary of the incident. Jen also reveals that two of the party organizers, Sonny and Jun, are both the only survivors and the reason why the orphanage was burned. Eventually, the souls forgive the organizers and depart for Afterlife.

"Yaya"

Mischievous child prankster Benjo (Nash Aguas) sends many nannies packing and resigning. When his mother Grace (Sheryl Cruz) hires a new nanny named Cecil (Iza Calzado), Benjo promises to stop his mean pranks. Although things seemed normal at first, Benjo becomes suspicious about Cecil; evidenced was shown when the family's pet dog dog Toby barks mad at her on her arrival. Grace insisted for Benjo to calm down.

During Cecil's tenure, Benjo's suspicions arise and he becomes more watchful and alert. At school, a determined Benjo sought help from his teacher Mel (TJ Trinidad), telling him everything about Cecil's demonic nature. Mel reveals to Benjo that garlic is the only weapon to repel aswangs.

During the full moon, Cecil transforms into her aswang form, killing the house helper and the family driver. Benjo takes his sister with him to run outside their house. Grace arrives with teacher Mel before Cecil could catch the siblings. Recalling Mel's advice, Benjo fought the evil creature and thrusts garlic to Cecil's mouth, killing her instantly.

"LRT"

Thirteen commuters take the last trip of the Manila Light Rail Transit System Line 2 at nearly midnight after hours of work from Katipunan to Santolan, supposedly. While on board the train in midnight, Jean (Manilyn Reynes) met her long lost boyfriend Cesar (Keempee de Leon), who according to him, they last saw each other since they were college. Jean introduced her son, Jimmy (Quintin Alianza). During their conversation, a female deacon named Lita (Eugene Domingo) preaches verses from the Bible, annoying some passengers.

The train travels into an abandoned station which the passengers thought that this was the final stop. Exploring the station, they find out that everything was shut down and the gates were closed locked. After several minutes of annoyance, the passengers decided to find a telephone booth to call for help. Actually, it was because while between Katipunan and Santolan, the train suddenly shook and went backward to the spur to Santolan Depot Workshops. They passed by some train cars in 2000 series under repair.

As they find a telephone, Martin is pulled up the balcony. The group finds his corpse and his heart pulled out. Unknown to them, a human heart-eating eyeless, strong-sensed and vigilant monster lurks the station every midnight. Lita also falls victim same creature. Ojie (IC Mendoza), sees the corpse of Lita and was killed.

The evil creature suddenly appears, killing more passengers until Steph, Don, Nina, Jimmy, Jean and Cesar are the only ones left alive. As they were trying to escape from the monster by closing the doors, one of them got eaten. Another passenger, Rico (Mico Palanca) was killed. The female passenger, Jenny (Ehra Madrigal) was captured and also killed when they ran. Nina was separated from the members. Nina (Empress Schuck) and her boyfriend Rocky (Dino Imperial) wandered in an old train and discover numerous dead bodies. Apparently, these were the bodies of the passengers who also took the previous last trips of the LRT. The monster appears behind Rocky and kills him while Nina escapes. Steph (Cass Ponti) and Don (Charles Christianson) escaped the train after their friends Jenny and Rico were killed by the monster.

Steph and Don met with Jimmy, Jean and Caesar who were losing contact in the phone. The two friends went out to find an exit but they are again confronted and killed by the monster. After several desperate tries of finding an emergency exit, the remaining survivors Jean, Cesar and Jimmy, found an emergency exit. Shortly after climbing down from the station tower, Cesar pledges his still-living love for Jean. He urged Jimmy and Jean to run while he wards the monster off. After a long fight, Cesar was killed.

As Jean and Jimmy ran, they found a police and tell everything what happened to the train station. Nina, Jean, and Jimmy alert nearby patrolling officers of the Philippine National Police about the incident. The terrible truth was unveiled. The monster is the mutant son of their chief, and that the passengers on the last train every night are being set up to be the food of the monster, with any survivors being killed off by the police. Then, the film ends with the monster growling while Nina, Jean and Jimmy scream and the janitors are cleaning up the mess of blood stains, fixing broken window glass, etc.

The Federation starship ''Voyager'' finds an alien junkyard and trades for supplies with the junk dealer, Abaddon. Ship's pilot Tom Paris discovers a derelict shuttle in the yard and convinces his superiors to let him bring it aboard and restore it, just as he has been doing with old cars on the holodeck as a hobby. He discovers that the shuttle is equipped with a neural interface. It reads and communicates directly with its pilot's mind, giving it instantaneous maneuverability. He tries out the interface and the ship makes a record of his brain patterns.

As time goes on Paris becomes more and more obsessive about restoring and caring for his new shuttle, which he has named ''Alice''. He can even hear "her" speaking to him in his mind. His behavior becomes more and more strange. He wants to spend time with ''Alice'' and no one else, Chief Engineer B'Elanna Torres, who is distressed about Paris's obsession. He begins to neglect his appearance and duties, looking more tired and frantic as time goes on, and he wears a spacesuit designed for use with ''Alice'' instead of his ''Voyager'' uniform. When power cells from ''Voyager'' s back-up systems go missing, Torres finds them in the cargo bay where Paris fixes ''Alice''. She then sneaks aboard ''Alice'' to see what is drawing Paris there so strongly, but the ship springs to life, traps her inside, and shuts off life support.

Paris gets Torres out of the shuttle before she is seriously injured, but soon after that he loses control of his own behavior. He boards ''Alice'' and speeds away from ''Voyager'' with her, disappearing from ''Voyager'' s sensors. Janeway contacts Abaddon to try to learn more about ''Alice'', and discover that Abaddon too still struggles with his previous encounters with her. From him, they identify that the intelligence behind ''Alice'' was trying to head toward a particle fountain, which it called home; the fountain would destroy the craft and its pilot should it get inside. ''Voyager'' arrives in time, but find they cannot use weapons to stop the ship without harming Paris, his mind still linked to the ship. Torres uses ''Voyager'' s neural interface to project herself to Paris and convince him to return to ''Voyager'', allowing Tactical Officer Tuvok to sever the neural link to ''Alice''. Paris is transported back to ''Voyager'' moments before ''Alice'' is destroyed in the fountain.

Police inspectors Lau Ching-hei and Yau Kin-bong arrest a rapist in 2003. When Yau returns home later, he sees that his pregnant girlfriend has committed suicide by slitting her wrists. Yau is so depressed with her death that he indulges in alcohol and turns in his police badge to work as a private investigator. He becomes obsessed with finding out the reason for his girlfriend's suicide.

Three years later, Yau discovers that his girlfriend had actually cheated on him and she was waiting at a bar for her secret lover on the night she died. Her secret lover did not show up that night because he was involved in a car accident. Yau initially thought that he will be angry with his girlfriend's lover, but he ends up taking care of the comatose man in the hospital. Yau gets over the unhappy incident and falls in love with Hung, a girl who sells beer in the same bar.

Lau's wife, Susan, is the daughter of the billionaire Chow Yuen-sing. One night, Lau and two accomplices break into his father-in-law's residence, where they kill Chow and his butler, Uncle Man. Later, Lau lures his partners-in-crime to a rundown house and murders them, after which he attempts to make the scene seem as though the two of them killed each other in a dispute over the loot. Susan is not convinced that only the two killers were involved, so she hires Yau to help her investigate further. She has also become paranoid after her father's murder, so Lau has to discreetly give her pills to calm her down and put her to sleep.

After a long investigation, which includes a few dangerous confrontations with a "suspect", Yau discovers Lau's secret and dark past. Chow Yuen-sing had murdered Lau's family members in Macau several years ago when Lau was still a boy, and he bribed the police to close the case. Lau survived, took on a new identity, and grew up in an orphanage before moving to Hong Kong, where he became a police officer. Lau seeks vengeance on Chow and he pretended to fall in love with Susan and married her. He attempts to kill Susan by drugging her and locking her inside the kitchen after turning on the gas. Susan survives, but is badly injured because there was an explosion, and ends up in hospital.

Lau visits Susan in hospital and mentally confesses the truth to her. She reveals that she already knows he tried to murder her because she was still partially conscious when he drugged her and locked her in the kitchen. She then asks him if he ever really loved her. Lau realises that, in his desire for revenge, he has destroyed a new family he created with Susan. Susan does not believe him, loses her will to live, and dies. Yau meets Lau outside the hospital and tells him his conclusion. Lau returns to Susan's room, where he feels overwhelmed by guilt and eventually commits suicide by shooting himself in the head.

Aleksandra Nikolaevna is invited by her grandson, Denis, a senior lieutenant (''Stárshiy Leytenánt'') in the Russian Army, to visit his military base in Chechnya. Her journey is aided by soldiers who have been ordered to be her escorts. But it is a lawless land; the two young happy-go-lucky conscripts who assist Nikolaevna on to an armoured train are assailed shortly after saying goodbye at the station.

On arrival at the army camp, Aleksandra is taken to her grandson's platoon area and told to wait. But she refuses to sit inside the tents because of the sweltering summer heat. Wandering around, she meets and interacts with the young soldiers on the base. Many are standoffish at first but soon, after she shares some pies, some begin to talk to her. She returns to the tents to find Denis had returned. They hug and exchange pleasantries. Later Aleksandra meets her grandson's commanding officer who shows her around the base; he also questions her as to her reasons for visiting. He explains that Denis is a good officer but the request asking for permission for his grandmother to visit was bemusing.

The next day she decides to leave the cantonments and visit the local market despite the reservations of the soldiers on guard duty. Nevertheless, she insists on going so they then ask her to get cigarettes and biscuits. In the town she discovers that many of the locals are hostile towards her because she is Russian. However she soon starts talking to an elderly Chechen woman named Malika who explains she was a teacher before the war. The local lady explains that many of the young people have been irreparably changed by the fighting. Malika gives Aleksandra some cigarettes and biscuits before inviting her back to her war-ravaged apartment where they drink tea and talk.

Aleksandra thanks Malika and promises to return and pay her for the supplies. A local boy is then asked to take Aleksandra back to the Russian army camp. Although initially aggressive to her because she is a Russian, his attitude softens when she tells him that people should not be labelled together and that intelligence is more powerful than war. On arrival back at base, Aleksandra distributes the cigarettes and biscuits among the soldiers. Some then take her to a mess where she is given a hot meal. Aleksandra then returns to Denis' quarters where she finds her grandson mulling over his life in the army after he had to strike a soldier for disobeying him. After talking about their lives (she wants to live more even though her body is getting old), Denis soon brightens up and plaits his grandmother's hair while she promises to find him a wife.

The next day, Aleksandra is woken up by Denis who tells her she has to leave now because he and his men are going on a five-day mission. Slowly the elderly lady gathers her things before making one last walk through the camp saying goodbye to the soldiers she met. At the gate, she says goodbye to Denis as he climbs onto an armoured vehicle and to his commanding officer who silently acknowledges the good her trip has done to her grandson and the men under his command.

Aleksandra then walks back to town where she meets Malika and her local friends. Refusing to take any money for the cigarettes and biscuits, the group walk Aleksandra back to the armoured train. Aleksandra gives Malika her address asking her to come and visit her in Russia. She then boards a rolling car. The train moves off with Aleksandra waving from the doorway. With the train's departure, Malika turns and walks away with a grim expression. Aleksandra rides along looking out across the desolate empty fields of Chechnya.

Abu Zayd al-Hilali's son and wife escape and years later, after his son has grown into a powerful and idealistic man, a battle between the two tribes starts. The son fights his father but is not aware who he is fighting. The Banu Hilalis defeat the Banu Zahlanis. Back home, Abu Zayd is greeted as a hero. A huge war then starts with the Zirids, who had abandoned Shiism. The Banu Hilalis weaken the Zirid state and plunder their lands.

Most of the story takes place in a room in a house called 'The Snuggery', which the narrator, "Jack", converts into a kind of erotic torture chamber equipped with beds to which women can be strapped and held helpless and which is soundproofed to make their screams unheard. Other equipment includes cords and pulleys, flagellation implements and a mechanical "Chair of Treachery" to which helpless females are lured to be restrained in.

The first of many victims lured into 'The Snuggery' to be raped is a girl called Alice, a member of Jack's social set who had earlier jilted him and on whom he takes revenge by subjecting her to a series of sexual acts without her consent (and without any more thought of marrying her). The very detailed description of Alice's rape, with the narrator repeatedly expressing great satisfaction at her fear and humiliation, takes the whole of the first part, called "The Tragedy". At its end, Alice has completely submitted and become Jack's willing sexual partner.

In the second part, called "The Comedy", Alice locates for Jack further victims, helps lure them to be raped in turn, and actively helps in making them sexually available to Jack. The rape scenes of Alice's servant girl, Fanny, and Alice's friend, Connie, follow the same pattern, with the new victim vainly protesting and resisting the gloating Jack, and then converted (as Jack puts it) into a willing and eager sexual partner and an active accomplice in the rape of the next victim.

By the final episode, when the wealthy Lady Betty and her daughter Molly had been lured into the rape room, Jack need not exert himself to tie up and undress the new victims. All the dirty work is being performed eagerly by his earlier victims-turned-accomplices. Thereupon, mother and daughter are not only subjected to repeated rape, but also forced into a long series of incestuous acts with each other, carried out to inflict the maximum of humiliation and degradation upon mother and daughter, and accompanied by endless gloating and taunting from Jack and his three female accomplices.

It is once again the lunch rush at Eat at Fillmore's, and Airos is ticked off. He quits his job, and tries to find a new job. Zant has opened a store called '''Game House'''. Airos tries out the games, and thinks that they're all okay. Soon, Darunia notices something strange going on at the store. He soon discovers that Airos is tied up in ropes. Zant appears and is shocked to see Darunia. Zant releases an army of Supersoldiers! Darunia fights the army, one-by-one. After the chaos, Bazzal asks Zant why he didn't get in the fight. Zant says that he "''Doesn't believe in violence''". The staff and Airos quits and gets a new ''new'' job called Nymph Hotels.Airos decides to stay at his job for all eternity. Darunia also does not believe in violence.

Parodies

*The haunted game store Game House is a parody of Gamestop.

Trivia

*In The Hippies that Bind, The seven supersoldiers names are:

'''Gord'''

'''Venus'''

'''Bazzall'''

'''Hamish'''

'''Megan'''

'''Ashley'''

'''Percy'''

*The system at the end that Zant eas holding looked very similar to a PS3.

*In Nymph Hotels, paintings of Nymphs can be seen.

*You can watch this episode here [http://www.YouTube.com].

*When a rock covered the entrance to Zant's store in the end, Percy can be heard saying "Zant is a damning retard"! This theory is unknown if it is right or wrong.

*Darunia had a minor apperance in this episode.

*'''Declined'''. We cannot accept unsourced suggestions or sources that are not reliable per the verifiability policy. Please provide sources with your suggestions. '''Kuru''' ^''talk'' 02:56, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

The film opens with a luff tracing the building's history, as wealthy expatriate and Egyptian residents give way, after the 1952 coup that overthrew King Farouk and eventually resulted in the installation of Gamal Abdel Nasser as President of Egypt, to new families, and as the rooftop storage rooms are converted into living space for lower-class families. The rooftop community, effectively a slum neighborhood, is symbolic of the urbanization of Egypt and of the burgeoning population growth in its large cities in recent decades, especially among the poor and working classes. In the faded apartments of the main floors and on the building's teeming roof, the film's principal characters are introduced: '''Zaki Pasha el Dessouki''' (Adel Emam) – a wealthy and elderly foreign-educated engineer who spends most of his time pursuing women and who maintains an office in the Yacoubian, he personifies the ruling class prior to the Revolution: cosmopolitan, cultured, western in outlook, and not particularly observant of Islam '''Taha el Shazli''' (Mohamed Imam) – the son of the building doorman, he excelled in school and hoped to be admitted to the Police Academy but found that his father's profession, considered too lowly by the generals conducting his character interview, was an obstacle to admission; disaffected, he enrolls at the University and eventually joins a militant Islamist organization modeled upon the Jamaa Islamya '''Buthayna el Sayed''' (Hend Sabry) – initially Taha's childhood sweetheart, she is forced to find a job to help support her family after her father dies and is disillusioned to find that her male employer expects sexual favors from her and her female coworkers in exchange for additional money and gifts on the side, and that her mother expects her to preserve her virginity while not refusing her boss's sexual advances outright; embittered, she eventually comes to use her beauty as a tool to advance her own interests but finds herself falling in love with Zaki Bey el Dessouki, whom she'd been planning with Malak to swindle out of his apartment '''Malak''' (Ahmed Bedeir) – a shirtmaker and petty schemer seeking to open a shop on the Yacoubian's roof and then to insinuate himself into one of the more posh apartments downstairs '''Hatim Rasheed''' (Khaled El Sawy) – the son of an Egyptian father who was a noted legal scholar and a French mother, he is the editor of ''Le Caire'', a French-language daily newspaper; more attention is paid to his private life, for he is a fairly open homosexual in a society which either looks the other way or openly condemns such behavior and inclinations '''Hagg Muhammad Azzam''' (Nour El Sherif) – one of Egypt's wealthiest men and a migrant to Cairo from the countryside, in the space of thirty years he has gone from shoeshiner to self-made millionaire; he seeks an acceptable and legal outlet for his (temporarily) resurgent libido in a secret, second marriage to an attractive young widow, and also realizes his goal of serving in the People's Assembly (Parliament), but comes face to face with the enormous corruption, graft, and bribery of contemporary Egyptian politics. *'''Christine''' (Yousra) – a world-weary chanteuse who advises Zaki Bey on his love life and whose poignant singing of European songs like "La Vie en Rose" punctuates the film.

The stories of each of the primary characters are intertwined, at times colliding or converging with one another. Together, they give a biting condemnation of a nation that has squandered its promise and which has been forced to compromise its own principles, resulting in a corrupt and undemocratic political system dominated by a single party (the fictitious "Patriotic Party", a thinly-veiled version of Egypt's National Democratic Party). The unlikely pairing of the elderly roué and the disillusioned young girl that ends the film provides a closing grace note that can be seen as a ray of hope against the death and unhappiness that has befallen the other characters.

The story focuses on the Magrath sisters—Lenny, Meg, and Babe—who reunite at the family home in Hazlehurst, Mississippi, after Babe shoots her abusive husband. The three were raised by Old Granddaddy after their mother hanged herself and the family cat and have been eccentric ever since. Lenny is a wallflower who bemoans her shriveled ovary. Egocentric Meg is a singer whose Hollywood career ended abruptly when she suffered a nervous breakdown. Unruly and impulsive Babe shocks her sisters with stories about her affair with a teenage African American boy. Past resentments bubble to the surface as the women are forced to deal with assorted relatives and previous relationships while coping with the latest incident that has disrupted their dysfunctional lives.

Following Ash's death in the previous 'Army of Darkness' storyline ''The Death of Ash'', he is now in (what appears to be) Heaven. The superpowered entity known as The Sentry shows up in the afterlife (having been sent there by the Watcher in ''Marvel Zombies Return'') and begins consuming everyone in sight. Ash and the Sentry end up shunted into another reality (again by the Watcher according to ''Marvel Zombies Return''). Along the way, Ash receives a prophecy warning him that "an army of the dead will rise" and that this world will fall.

In this alternative version of the Marvel Universe known as Earth-2149, Ash encounters a fight between Daredevil and Thunderball. He mistakes Daredevil for the villain, and after letting Thunderball escape, tries to warn the Avengers of a Deadite invasion. They do not believe him, mostly due to his buffoonery while hitting on the female members of the team. Scarlet Witch teleports Ash away, as Jarvis tells the team of a disturbance.

When Ash spots the now infected Avengers, he says he tried to warn them, and Spider-Man arrives and takes Ash off with a request from Colonel America. While Ash tells his side of the story to Spider-Man, Colonel America attacks and bites Spider-Man on the left shoulder, who seemingly drops Ash on the ground in front of some zombified Avengers. Realizing Ash is right and that his body is fighting the infection, Spider-Man bluffs and says he wants to eat Ash and carries him off, only to abandon him when he goes to check on his Aunt May and wife Mary Jane. (In the prequel comic ''Marvel Zombies: Dead Days'', it is revealed that Spider-Man is eventually 'consumed' by the zombification disease and kills and devours his loved ones.)

Ash then encounters the Punisher, who gives Ash a bag of spare weapons and shoots and presumably kills Kingpin, Hammerhead and the Owl. On the ground, Punisher kills Thunderball, who is fending off his zombified Wrecking Crew allies, who then turn on Punisher. Ash bumps into Dazzler, who takes him to Doctor Strange's headquarters. Simultaneously, this reality's version of Ash, who had decided to fight the zombies, joins Dazzler. This reality's Ash is killed by a zombie Howard the Duck, who is in turn killed by the main version of Ash and the Scarlet Witch.

In Strange's mansion, Ash, Dazzler and the Scarlet Witch search for the Necronomicon, as Ash suspects that this is a Deadite invasion. Since there is no Necronomicon in the mansion, the trio travel to Latveria, the castle of Doctor Doom, which is under attack by an invasion force (from ''Dead Days'', where Reed Richards turned his Fantastic Four into zombies upon deciding this infection is the most efficient form of life). Doom has Ash imprisoned with the other survivors for acting like an idiot. Ash then steals a Doombot's armor, disguises himself as Doom, and roams around Doomstadt.

While wandering, Ash meets the Enchantress, held prisoner by Doom, and frees her. When he takes her to Scarlet Witch and Dazzler, Enchantress drops her illusion, revealing that she is a zombie, and bites off Dazzler's finger, whereupon Doom kills both women with an energy blast. The zombies break into the castle; Scarlet Witch is attacked and infected by the zombified Punisher, and Doom is bitten and infected by Reed Richards, but manages to escape and fight back the disease to aid his people's escape to an alternate universe.

Ash locates this world's Necronomicon, but the talking book says that it cannot stop the zombie plague because the zombies are not Deadites. The book reveals that yes, an "army of the dead will rise" and yes, the world will fall, but that those two things don't necessarily have anything to do with each other, apart from happening around the same time. Ash threatens the Necronomicon, saying that when the human food supply is exhausted, the zombies will eat the book because it is bound in human flesh, and the Necronomicon decides to cooperate. On Ash's orders, it raises the zombie victims up as Deadites, distracting the zombies long enough for Doom to teleport Ash to a parallel world of his choosing and the survivors to a safe haven.

The invading zombies attack Doom just as Ash escapes. The zombies, upon finding the Necronomicon, reveal to it that they would never eat a book, and the zombified Wolverine hands the book over to the Hulk for use as toilet paper. Going through multiple alternate worlds, Ash accidentally chooses an alternate Earth populated by Marvel superhero werewolves and is pursued yet again. Ash is revealed to have somehow escaped from this Earth and returned to his own Earth by the following 'Army of Darkness' storyline: ''From The Ashes'.

Spider-Man reaches Mary Jane Watson-Parker and Aunt-May Parker to find them safe and sound. When questioned about the current situation, Peter confesses to being bitten by Colonel America. Peter then succumbs to the virus, attacking Mary Jane as Aunt May runs into the room in dismay.

As the battle between infected zombies and non-infected humans rages on, Magneto, on board Asteroid M, feels sorry for bringing the virus to Earth-2149 and returns to the planet to help. Nova arrives at the Parker flat to find the zombified Spider-Man devouring the slain Mary Jane and Aunt May and tries to reason with him. At this point Daredevil shows up to explain to Nova what is going on, and that the rules have changed. Daredevil is infected by Zombie Peter in the process.

Meanwhile, the zombified Colonel America has a moment of clarity and leads the rest of the infected Avengers to the Avengers Mansion to try to find a cure for the virus. At the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters in Salem Center, Westchester County, Storm, Cyclops, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Shadowcat and Colossus try to fend off the newly undead Alpha Flight (including Sasquatch) to protect the surviving students in the mansion, although Professor Xavier has already been killed by the Alpha Flight zombies. Magneto shows up and recruits the X-Men to work with him in fighting the zombified heroes after disposing of the zombified Alpha Flight.

Aiming to find a cure Giant Man and Black Panther make their way to his lab. Black Panther realizes Giant Man is infected, but is knocked unconscious by Giant Man before he can do anything. Zombie Giant Man plans to keep Black Panther as a living cadaver to save him the trouble of searching for food when the infection spreads.

Quicksilver seemingly rescues his sister Scarlet Witch from Zombie Black Cat only to be revealed that it is actually a Zombie Mystique in disguise who proceeds to bite and infect Quicksilver thus spreading the disease from North America (United States and Canada) to other parts of the Earth such as Britain, Russia and Japan.

As the battle rages on, Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, The Thing, and the Human Torch mourn the death of Franklin Richards and Valeria Richards at the hands of She-Hulk, who has been infected. As Sue kills Zombie She-Hulk there is an incoming transmission from Nick Fury.

Back in the heat of battle, Thor fights against his previous allies including zombified Giant Man. Nova shows up to help Thor in the brawl. The Fantastic Four arrive in their Fantasticar to lead Thor and Nova to the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicopter where Nick Fury is calling all the remaining superheroes and villains together in an attempt to counter the virus.

Nick Fury informs all that the epicenter of the infection was in New York City specifically Manhattan. The Avengers were first on the scene and as such first to be infected. He also declares that anyone who isn't infected should be considered an ally. Nick Fury puts Iron Man, Hulk, and Mr. Fantastic into researching a cure for the contagion. Fury then assigns everyone else to go out and rescue who they can. Nova protests that the infection is too far gone to be stopped, but is silenced by Fury.

Zombie Giant-Man arrives back at the Avengers Mansion, infected and looking for a new snack in Jarvis. Realizing the other Avengers have beaten him to it, the Zombie Avengers talk about their resolution to give up the fight and accept their new condition.

Dr. Doom watches the ongoing fight from his secure fortress at Latveria and refuses to aid Fury in his plans.

Back on the Helicarrier, Mister Fantastic is busy researching a zombie. Sue walks in asking why he is not helping Iron Man and Hulk with their research for a cure, which Mister Fantastic defends by saying that they are approaching the problem from all angles. The Fantastic Four then get in a fight over Mister Fantastic's thoughts that the zombies are like advanced lifeforms.

Fury checks on Iron Man who has decided to build a machine that will teleport them to an alternate universe similar to their own, reasoning that reconstruction would take too long with so many dead even if the virus was stopped immediately. Iron Man hopes to have the machine operational as soon as possible.

Back on the ground, the resistance is losing the fight against the zombies, with Wolverine and Nova succumbing to the virus, and have to retreat back to the helicopter.

Mister Fantastic calls the rest of the Fantastic Four to his lab to discuss his findings. Insane, Reed now believes that the infection is evolution and as such has infected the team. Reed then allows them to feed on him and in turn infect him, wanting to experience the change himself.

Just as Iron Man finishes the machine, the Zombified Fantastic Four burst into the room and infect him. Fury grabs the machine and pulls it into a small room where some of the last remaining heroes have gathered. Realizing that completing the machine will give the zombies the opportunity to spread their infection to other realities, Fury commands Thor to destroy the machine and for this the zombies kill him, while turning the remaining heroes.

When asked what will happen next, Zombie Reed responds that he shall rebuild the machine and "spread the gospel."

Adam and Paul are childhood friends from Dublin who as adults have become heroin addicts, tied together by habit and necessity. The film is a stylised, downbeat comedy, following the pair through a single day, which, like every other, is devoted to scrounging and robbing money to buy heroin.

Adam and Paul wake up sick in the middle of a field with Adam glued to a mattress. They make their way into town via a run-in with a belligerent drug dealer named Martin living in Ballymun, a hasty exit from the top deck of a bus, a long trudge down the median of a dual carriageway, and an incident with a moped that injures Paul's leg. Wandering through St Stephen's Green they meet a group of their old friends who are drinking alcohol and having "a little picnic for the kiddies". Unwelcome, the boys sit down despite a torrent of abuse from Marian and Orla who are furious with them for not turning up that morning to the month's mind of Matthew, the boys' best friend and Orla's brother. Marian, backed by her brother Wayne, warns them to stay away from his sister, Janine. To the disgust of Wayne and the girls, Georgie lets slip that there was to be a "do" on for Matthew that night in the Bunker pub.

From there the film follow the pair as they aimlessly wander around the city looking for an unknown person — perhaps a contact that might be able to sort them out with a fix. They have a misunderstanding with a homeless man in a sleeping bag who thinks they're looking for a local troublemaker under the alias of "Clank" who he mistakenly gathers owes them money. Paul hurts his hand in a botched attempt at a smash and grab; they get kicked out of a café for trying to steal a handbag, and Paul gets banned from a shop. After an argument with a Bulgarian immigrant, and failing to get anywhere in their search for drugs, they make their way to Janine's. She is not home but the door is left open. The boys are just about to steal her television, when they hear the sound of a baby crying. Janine returns home to find the two gently holding and whispering to the baby. They leave Janine with the promise that they will see her again that night at the Bunker.

The pair mug an adolescent with Down syndrome, but find he has neither cash nor valuables. Later, a furious man violently confronts them, accusing them of spreading rumours that he owes them money. He identifies himself as Clank. Clank and his friend Zippy kidnap the two and force them to keep a lookout for trouble while they "cause a bit of mayhem" in a nearby garage with baseball bats. Adam and Paul fail to notice the arrival of police, and both Clank and Zippy are arrested.

They decide to take Clank's car to a fence, but crash in the process. Sitting on an old cooker down a back lane, they come across a large television set. With the help of a fence named Kittser, they take the TV to Ballymun and attempt to sell it to an older man. But Kittser and the buyer argue and the TV gets damaged in the altercation, forcing a demoralised Adam and Paul to leave. On their way out, they pass the door of drug dealer Martin who is being attacked by a gang of vigilantes. As the two sit outside the block, the contents of Martin's flat are thrown off of his tower block and land on the ground around the boys including two bags of heroin.

After spending the night in the centre of Dublin intoxicated on their find, Paul wakes up the next morning on Dublin Bay. Adam, who is lying behind him, has overdosed and died. Paul, visibly distraught and conflicted, resigns to taking the two bags of heroin from Adam's pockets and leaving.

In 1982, the town of Crippen was rocked by a series of murders at Crippen High School. The killer was never caught. Several years later, Cosmic Pictures, headed by sleazy producer Harry Sleerek, arrives in Crippen to make a biographical movie about the crimes titled ''Horror High''. To maximize the production's low budget, the cast and crew temporarily move into the real Crippen High School, where they are to film on location; the lead actress, Callie Cassidy, is hired to play multiple roles. In the midst of the film shoot, multiple disappearances and murders occur, which are subsequently investigated by police Chief Deyner and Officer Tyler. While the bodies are recovered from the school, Chief Deyner and Officer Tyler interview the film's screenwriter, Arthur Lyman, outside, and he recounts the events on-set:

Some days prior, lead actor Oliver informs director Josh Forbes that he is dropping out of the production. Before leaving, he is murdered in an empty wing of the school. Harry immediately replaces Oliver with Steven Blake, a real-life police officer and former Crippen High student. Tensions on set rise when Harry insists Callie show on-screen nudity, while Arthur is forced to repeatedly make script changes to accommodate Harry's requests for more gore. One day, an extra is murdered, followed by Choo Choo, a special effects assistant. Shortly after, cast member Richard Farley is caught in a booby trap that drags his body into a steel-blade industrial fan.

While wandering the high school in-between scenes, Steve recounts to Callie his relationship with his high school girlfriend, Kathy; her father, Crippen's Principal Kastleman, is on-set serving as a technical advisor, but Steve has not seen Kathy in years. Meanwhile, Callie begins noticing that cast and crew are disappearing. Fearing the killer has returned, she and Steve begin their own private investigation. Callie's discomfort is compounded one day while watching the filming of a brutal scene in which the school biology teacher, Richard Birnbaum, is dissected.

Later, Steve notices a photo of Kathy on the set; when he inquires to Principal Kastleman about Kathy's whereabouts, he claims she is in graduate school. That night, Steve and Callie find a trail of blood in the hallway, and discover Harry and Josh's corpses, as well as a trapdoor leading to a basement. In the basement, they find a classroom full of the decomposed victims of the 1982 massacre, all posed in desks. They are confronted by Amos, the school janitor, who attacks Steve. During their fight, Steve inadvertently removes a latex mask from Amos's face, revealing him to actually be Principal Kastleman in disguise. Kastleman explains how years ago, Kathy discovered she was pregnant with Steve's child, after which Kastleman murdered her in a rage and hid her body in the school basement before killing multiple students. Callie and Steve manage to overpower Kastleman, impaling him with a javelin.

In the present, after Arthur finishes recounting the events to Chief Deney and Officer Tyler, the police enter the school to investigate. While they do so, Arthur calls out "all clear" outside, upon which all of the victims who have been laid in the grass and covered in sheets rise; they have in fact been alive all along. In reality, Callie and Steve uncovered in their research that Kastleman was in fact the true killer in the 1982 massacre, and killed him in the basement. Harry decided to capitalize on this by devising a mock massacre centered around the revelation as a publicity stunt to help promote the film. In the basement, police find Kastleman, still impaled by the javelin, but alive; he lunges at them, leading them to shoot him multiple times. When they return outside and find the bodies of the film crew inexplicably gone, they assume there is still a killer on the loose.

Later, Arthur sits at a typewriter to compose a new screenplay he has called ''The Return to Horror High'', which he intends as a sequel. A framed photo of Principal Kastleman sits on his desk. An unseen figure enters the room and stops at Arthur's typewriter, dripping blood on the pages being typed. Arthur looks up at the unseen figure and says, "Dad?"

In April 1942, after a raid on Japan, eight American aircrew made up of the crews from two North American B-25 Mitchell bombers, are captured. Capt. Harvey Ross (Dana Andrews), becomes the leader of the captives. Initially, the men are picked up by a local government official who is a Chinese collaborator in a Wang Jingwei controlled section of China. The collaborator delivers the Americans to the Imperial Japanese Army to be put on trial at the Shanghai Police Headquarters. Although international observers and correspondents are allowed to witness the trial, the commanding officer, General Mitsubi (Richard Loo) refuses to allow Karl Kappel (Torben Meyer), the Swiss Consul to contact Washington.

At the start of the trial, Lt. Greenbaum (Sam Levene), an attorney in civilian life (CCNY Law 1939), declares the trial is illegal, as the men are in the military service of their country. When the senior officer Captain Ross refuses to answer the demands of the sly General Mitsubi to reveal the location of their aircraft carrier, the general decides to break the men. The airmen endure harsh interrogation and torture from the Japanese guards with Sgt. Jan Skvoznik (Kevin O'Shea) left in a catatonic state with a permanent head twitch. In court, the men see the pitiful state of Skvoznik. Lts. Canelli (Richard Conte) and Vincent (Don "Red" Barry) rush the Japanese general, quickly felled by rifle butts and are returned to their cell. Canelli, an artist, suffers a broken right hand and arm. Vincent ends up in a catatonic state much like Skvoznik. Sgt. Clinton (Farley Granger) returns seemingly unharmed, but the Japanese have ruptured his vocal cords, and he is unable to speak. The Japanese have a listening device in the cell when Greenbaum (Sam Levene) repeats what the speechless Clinton writes. If anything happens to Lt. Bayforth (Charles Russell), he will tell all. After being tortured, Bayforth returns with his hands and arms useless, covered in black rubber gloves.

In the face of his captives' unshakable resolve and the realization that the Japanese are doomed to destruction, the sadistic General Mitsubi ultimately chooses to shoot himself. The systematic torture and abuse the airmen endured while in captivity, and their final humiliation of being tried, convicted and executed as war criminals is unveiled to the world.

Chi Tien-wei has been elected Chief of the ''jianghu'' after his three disciples eliminate the most feared fighters in the ''jianghu'', namely: the "Militant Dragon and Tiger", the "Devil Stars" and the "Three Horrid Mice". However, not everyone is pleased at Wei's appointment as Chief and many anonymous fighters and wizards are sent to upset his household, "The First family". Soon Chi Tien-wei realizes that there is a betrayer within his own house.

;Act I In 1866, Josephine March (Jo) receives a notice of rejection from another publisher, making it her twenty-second rejection. Jo asks Professor Bhaer, another boarder at Mrs. Kirk's Boarding House, his opinion on her story ("An Operatic Tragedy"). The professor is not entranced by her blood and guts saga. He tells her that he thinks that she can write something better. Jo, taken aback and angry at Bhaer's reaction, asks him what he knows to criticize her and insults him by calling him old. He reacts by saying that he has stated his opinion as she has hers. He leaves. Jo, left alone, wonders what could be "better" than the story she has written. But then she muses that perhaps her writing was better when she was at home in Concord, Massachusetts ("Better").

Three years earlier at her attic-studio, Jo assembles her sisters, Meg, Beth and Amy, to tell them that she will be putting up for a show of her own called the "Operatic Tragedy". The sisters beg Jo to not put it up for a show but Jo convinces them that this play will be a hit and will make for the best Christmas there ever was. ("Our Finest Dreams"). Marmee, their mother, comes in with a letter from Mr. March who is away as a Union Army chaplain in the American Civil War. As she writes a response, she reflects on how hard it is to be the pillar of strength in the March home ("Here Alone").

Aunt March, the wealthy aunt of the March sisters, asks Jo to change from being a tomboy to a model lady of society. She tells Jo of an idle thought to bring her along to Europe. Jo begs to go with her, but Aunt March reasons that she will take her only if she changes. Jo, who has always dreamed of seeing Europe, agrees ("Could You?"). Meanwhile, Meg has one of her own dreams realized: she and Jo are invited to Annie Moffat's Valentine's Day Ball. But on the day of the ball, while the two sisters are rushing around for their finishing touches, Meg announces that she cannot go. She asks Marmee what to say when one of her potential suitors asks her to dance. Marmee tells Meg to just smile and say "I'd be delighted" ("Delighted"). Amy, who cares about society and fine things more than Jo, rushes down in Jo's old ball gown to join them in going to the ball, but Jo stops her, as she is not invited.

At the ball, Jo accidentally sits on Laurie, who is a neighbor of the Marches' along with his grumpy grandfather, Mr. Lawrence. She apologizes to Laurie and asks him why he is sitting down. Laurie replies that he must have passed out from too much dancing. Laurie's tutor, Mr. John Brooke, then comes in and scolds Laurie for not meeting important people, which would make Mr. Lawrence furious. Mr. Brooke asks Meg to dance and Meg agrees. Meg and Mr. Brooke are smitten at first sight. Laurie confesses to Jo his need for friends and asks Jo to dance with him. Jo replies that she doesn't dance and has a patch on her dress but Laurie keeps on trying to make an impression ("Take A Chance On Me").

Back at the March's after the ball, Jo and Amy have a little confrontation after it is revealed that a spiteful Amy had burned Jo's story manuscript in the fireplace, but Marmee sends Amy off to her bed and tells Jo that Amy is just a child. Jo spits back that Amy is a not a child but a demon in a child's body. Jo then rushes up to her attic to rewrite her story. Laurie invites Jo to a skating match, which she at first refuses but eventually agrees to. Amy wants to go with them but she already outgrown her pair of skates. Beth, who intends to stay home, offers Amy her old skates.

Beth is sitting at the family's old piano when Mr. Lawrence comes in looking for Laurie, who is out with Jo and Amy. Mr. Lawrence discovers Beth's talent at the piano and they sing a duet ("Off to Massachusetts"). Jo and Laurie come in from the skating race with Amy in Laurie's arms because she had fallen into the ice while skating. Jo and Amy reconcile, and Jo makes Laurie an honorary member of the March family ("Five Forever"). Mr. Brooke excuses Meg for a while to tell her of his enlistment in the Union Army. He then asks Meg her hand in marriage, and she accepts ("More Than I Am").

But Jo's life goes to crisis when Mr. March's sickness calls Marmee. She has a confrontation with Aunt March after she cuts her hair to bring Marmee to Washington. Aunt March then turns her focus to Amy, molding her to be the society lady that she envisioned for Jo. Laurie, who decides to ask Jo to marry him, then comes in her attic-studio. Laurie tries to kiss her but Jo gently pushes him away. He put out a ring but Jo thinks that it is a joke. Laurie says he loves Jo. Jo does not accept his marriage proposal. He tells her that she will marry, but Jo tells him that she will never marry; Laurie, on the contrary, says she will, but not to him ("Take A Chance On Me (Reprise)"). Jo then ponders her future, which is changing significantly. She vows to find another way to achieve her future ("Astonishing!").

;Act II At Mrs. Kirk's boarding house at New York City, she is holding a telegram for Jo from Mrs. March. Jo bounces in, looking for the professor. She then realizes that the professor is right in front of her. She tells them her fantastic news: she made her first sale as an author ("The Weekly Volcano Press")! She tells them the story of the sale as well, thanks to Professor Bhaer's advice, the re-edited story. But the news was disturbed when Jo reads the telegram. She is notified of Beth's scarlet fever and immediately packs her bags to return to Concord.

Jo, after a few days, sends a letter to Professor Bhaer, asking him what's new in New York. The professor struggles to write a decent response ("How I Am"). Back in Concord, at a nearby seashore, Beth says good bye to Jo, telling her that she is not afraid to move on because she is loved by everyone, especially Jo, and that she is grateful to have them with her during her lifetime ("Some Things Are Meant To Be"). Beth dies soon after. Amy and Laurie come home from Europe and struggle to tell Jo of their pending marriage because they do not wish for Jo to be upset ("The Most Amazing Thing").

Jo and the family grieve Beth's death. Marmee, being the strong one, tells Jo of how she copes with Beth's death: she tells Jo that she cannot be defeated by Beth's death, and that she must move on ("Days of Plenty"). Jo reminisces while her sisters are still with her. She finds that her family and friends are themselves astonishing and this encourages her to write her novel, ''Little Women'' ("The Fire Within Me").

On the day of Laurie and Amy's wedding, Professor Bhaer comes to Concord to see Jo. Jo is very surprised to see him because she "never thought he would do it." He then proceeds to tell Jo of his feelings for her saying "Though we are not at all alike, you make me feel alive." ("Small Umbrella In The Rain"). He then proposes and Jo accepts his proposal. The professor tells Jo that he sent the manuscript of her novel ''Little Women'' to the Weekly Volcano Press, the same publisher that accepted Jo's operatic tragedy. He tells Jo that the publisher agreed to publish it, and Jo proclaims her happiness ("Sometimes When You Dream (Reprise)").

Tuvok and Neelix have returned from a diplomatic mission. Tuvok scans the Delta Flyer, discovering a cloaking frequency, and suffers neurological damage after an attack by an invisible alien. He experiences cognitive impairment, memory loss, personality changes, and loss of emotional control. With help from the race they had just met with, Voyager receives a deputy investigator with theories on the terminally cloaked alien race, allowing ''Voyager'' to expose them.

Neelix resolves to help Tuvok recover. In the process, they develop a deep friendship, one that Neelix has desired but Tuvok has till late denied. As Tuvok's recovery ensues, he slowly is able to recall details of the encounter, as well as discover new abilities in himself such as preparing desserts and enjoying jazz.

The information locked in Tuvok's damaged mind is essential to locating the cloaked alien race. Neelix must also work with the conflict of what Tuvok needs, what Neelix himself desires in his new friendship, and what the crew of ''Voyager'' itself needs out of their formerly expert tactical officer Tuvok.

Following Captain Janeway's encouragement, Tuvok eventually draws the cloaking frequency in icing on a cake he prepared, and the crew is able to produce this frequency through the deflector. They expose a cloaked space station, and eventually negotiate for details on the weapon used on Tuvok. Tuvok eventually makes a full recovery, but appears to still retain a bit of the illogical self he briefly knew.

The game opens in 1924 at a farmhouse in New Paltz, New York. NYPD officers arrive at the farmhouse and surround it. After a brief gun battle, two men walk out of the house and surrender.

The story shifts 10 years later to November 1934. Antoinette Marceau begins her adventure in Sirkeci Terminal, Istanbul, where she becomes acquainted with Poirot, whom she admires, as well as the other characters who later accompany her aboard the Orient Express. Soon after the train departs Istanbul, its passage is blocked by an avalanche, stopping it. The sudden stop causes Poirot to fall out of his bunk and sprain his ankle, rendering him bed-ridden. Soon after, Ratchett is found murdered, with twelve possible suspects to the murder, and the investigation begins. Marceau is challenged by Poirot to find the solution to the murder and do the legwork by gathering clues. Marceau splits her time between seeing to the duties of the train (such as helping to fix the heat in the engine), interviewing passengers about the murder, and examining the train and surrounding area for clues. She travels to several additional locations that Poirot does not travel to in the book, such as the engine, the baggage car, and an old shack outside of the snowed-in train. Additionally, a sabotaged ham radio is in one of the compartments which, when repaired, allows Antoinette to contact Barnaby Lewes, a young friend of Poirot's, and ask him to research the passengers.

Ratchett is eventually revealed to be Cassetti, the criminal mastermind behind the Daisy Armstrong kidnapping. Each of the passengers on the train as well as the conductor are connected in some way to the Armstrong family, each with a motive for murder. Additionally, each person had an alibi corroborated by other passengers.

When Marceau believes she has solved the murder, Poirot gathers the passengers and poses a series of questions to Marceau about the clues found. Three possible solutions to Ratchett's death emerge. In the first, Poirot suggests that an assassin may have come aboard the train during the night, killed Cassetti, and then escaped the train, which is supported by evidence such as a bloodied stiletto with fingerprints that do not match anyone on the train. The second solution pieces together a number of clues showing that all of the train's passengers and the conductor, Pierre Michel, are responsible for the murder, to which they confess.

Unique to this adaptation of the story, Marceau finds additional clues such as a crate full of living accommodations in the security vault of the baggage compartment and a picture of Michel's family, despite Barnaby Lewes reporting that the man has none. After explaining the second solution, Poirot reveals that Michel is not who he appears, but is in fact Robert Perkinson, Cassetti's criminal partner. Perkinson confirms this to the shock of the other passengers, and reveals that Cassetti kept Daisy Armstrong at his house. But when he and his brother, Jeffrey, refused to kill Daisy, Cassetti decided to do the job himself. In doing so, he gunned down Perkinson's daughter, Teresa, whom he mistook for Daisy. Afterwards, Perkinson and his wife fled to France and raised Daisy as their own daughter.

Perkinson reveals that, after his wife's death, he had sought out Pierre Michel, and that Michel had told him of the plan to murder Cassetti. However, in spite of his own loss, he was too afraid to go through with it himself. Since the others had never seen Michel in person, Perkinson volunteered to impersonate Michel and stab Cassetti on his behalf so that he could get revenge for Teresa's death. He then reveals that the now 13-year-old Daisy Armstrong has been hidden in the baggage compartment of the train during the journey, having boarded at Belgrade disguised as an attendant. Daisy then comes out to meet the people who thought she was dead. Poirot, Dr. Constantine, and Marceau decide to tell the police officials the first solution – that an unknown assassin came aboard the train, killed Rachett, and left. The passengers are overjoyed that Daisy is alive and Poirot concludes that it is "a most satisfactory solution indeed."

The plot revolves around – a schoolfriend of 's who is preparing for his – discovering he is a bastard and taking this as a welcome pretext for running away from home. He spends a night in 's bed (where describes a recent visit to a prostitute and how he did not find the experience very enjoyable). After steals the suitcase belonging to , 's uncle, and the ensuing complications, he is made 's secretary. is jealous and ends up in the hands of the cynical and downright diabolical , who travels with him to the Mediterranean.

Eventually, and decide they do not fit as well together as anticipated, and leaves to take a job at a school, then finally decides to return to his father's home. is now made 's secretary, and after an eventful evening on which he embarrasses himself grossly, ends up in bed together with , finally fulfilling the attraction they have felt for each other all along but were unable to express.

Other plotlines are woven around these elements, such as 's younger brother and his involvement with a ring of counterfeiters, or his older brother and his relationship with , a married woman, with whom he has a child. Perhaps the most suspenseful scene in the book revolves around Boris, another illegitimate child and the grandson of , who commits suicide in front of the assembled class when dared by , another of 's cohorts.

In some regards, such as the way in which the adolescents act and speak in a way beyond their years and the incompetence of the adults (especially the fathers), as well as its motives of developing and confused adolescent sexuality, the novel has common ground with Frank Wedekind's (at the time scandalous) 1891 drama ''Spring Awakening''. ''The Counterfeiters'' also shares with that play the vision of homosexual relationships as under certain conditions being "better" than heterosexual ones, with the latter ones leading inevitably to destructive outcomes in both works.

The extraordinary novel tells the story of a French silkworm merchant-turned-smuggler named Hervé Joncour in 19th century France who travels to Japan for his town's supply of silkworms after a disease wipes out their African supply. His first trip to Japan takes place in the Bakumatsu period, when Japan was still largely closed to foreigners. During his stay in Japan, he becomes obsessed with the concubine of a local baron. His trade in Japan and his personal relationship with the concubine are both strained by the internal political turmoil and growing anti-Western sentiment in Japan that followed the arrival of Matthew C. Perry in Edo Bay.

Julia Robbins (Kim Delaney) is an emerging fashion designer returning home to Los Angeles after a sales trip in northern California. She passes a hitchhiker named Trey (Miles O'Keeffe) on her way back to the 5. During lunch at a diner, she notices a mysterious man eating by himself. The hitchhiker enters the diner, and they make eye contact. Outside, he asks her for a ride, but Julia declines. As she drives off, she notices a flat tire. Trey fixes it for her, and she decides to give him a ride.

At a motel that night, she offers him a ride into L.A. in the morning. He asks to sleep in her car. Instead, she ushers him into her room, and they have sex. At Oki Dog in West Hollywood, Julia drops the drifter off, and indicates that she wants to leave things at a one-night stand. At her apartment, her boyfriend Arthur (Timothy Bottoms) is waiting for her.

Julia is guilt-ridden over the affair, confessing what happened to her friend Matty (Anna Garduno). Eventually, Trey calls Julia at home and asks to see her. She declines, but he calls her again at work. Unnerved at how he has been able to track her down, Julia agrees to meet him back at Oki Dog, where he insists that they must be together. Julia reaffirms her wish to be left alone, but Trey shows up at her office in another attempt to win her back. Finally, when she notices a knife in one of her car tires, she goes to the police for help.

She meets with Detective Morrison (Larry Brand), and explains how Trey will not leave her alone. Meanwhile, Arthur meets with a private investigator, who turns out to be the mysterious man from the diner. He has been trailing Julia, and he breaks the news of her affair to Arthur. The detective makes some cryptic remarks to Arthur about killing women.

Later, at Julia's apartment, she discovers Matty dead in her bed. She goes to Morrison again, begging for help. Arthur collects her from the police station and takes her to his house. In the climax to the film, Julia finds Arthur dead in his study from a gunshot to the head. The mysterious detective emerges from hiding and attacks her, binding her hands. He eventually explains that he was snooping on Julia at her apartment when Matty showed up, and he had to kill her to cover his tracks. Arthur was not comfortable with the murder, and the detective killed Arthur to prevent him from going to the police. Intent on killing Julia to complete his cover up, they are surprised by Trey. The detective shoots Trey but does not kill him. Trey eventually wakes up and subdues the detective. Morrison arrives at the house and kicks in the front door, with his gun drawn. Thinking that he will shoot Trey, Julia cries out to stop him. A shot rings out, but Morrison has killed the detective, who had drawn a hidden pistol and was about to kill Julia.

The film ends with a shot of Julia and Trey together on a beach with her cat at their feet.

John (John Eaves) and Suzy (Suzy Chaffee) meet while skiing in Aspen, Colorado. They run into each other again in New York and John follows her around the country.

Edward Rodney Fleming (Weaving) is a man living alone after losing his job and wife. One morning, Detective Sergeant John Steele (Martin) and his subordinate, Detective Wayne Prior, break into Fleming's apartment. They rough Fleming up, ransack his belongings, and take him to the police station in handcuffs.

Steele and Prior question Fleming in an interrogation room. The police claim a witness saw Fleming with Andrew Beecroft, the owner of a stolen car. They also claim Fleming's handwriting matches the writing on some forged sales correspondence between Beecroft and a fake buyer, and that the fake buyer's alias matches an alias Fleming used as a teenager to steal a car for a joyride. Fleming denies any knowledge of the theft and only meekly asks for food, as he has not eaten since the previous day. Steele offers false expressions of empathy, while Prior intimidates Fleming when the recorder is off.

In between questioning, Detective Inspector Jackson orders Steele to deal with an intrusive reporter, Barry Walls. Steele complains to Walls about how his reckless reporting has previously interfered with police work. Walls shares that he overheard Prior questioning Steele's skills behind his back, to convince Steele he can be useful in return for information. Steele confronts Prior in private, pins him to the wall, and warns him against future disloyalty.

As the interrogation proceeds, Steele reveals to Fleming that the car's owner is missing. Fleming correctly guesses he is suspected of murdering the car's owner, and that the police believe the theft is related to other missing persons cases reported in the news. Fleming asks for a lawyer. While Fleming's lawyer advises him to say nothing until he is released in a few hours, Steele convinces Jackson to give him more time with the Fleming.

Fleming's demeanour grows in confidence. Despite his lawyer's advice, he expresses his belief that the missing persons were murdered, and mocks the police for chasing some kind of overarching motive. Fleming hints that he might have more to share after eating. When Steele finally provides food, Fleming proudly details how Beecroft picked him up while hitchhiking. He decided to kill Beecroft on a whim. He bludgeoned Beecroft after they drank together, and then he took Beecroft's car and wallet after disposing of the body. Fleming also casually admits to killing five or six other victims starting from a few years ago, claiming he cannot be bothered to remember the details although he always beat them to death after hitchhiking with them. Fleming agrees to provide a video-recorded confession as well.

However, during the videotaping, Jackson walks in and asks to speak to Fleming. Fleming immediately recants everything and says he only told Steele and Prior what they wanted to hear because they brutalized him, threatened him, and refused to feed him. Jackson forces Steele and Prior to end the questioning.

Later, Steele is informed that the entire day's interrogation was being filmed without his knowledge, due to an investigation by a police ethics committee after too many suspects made formal complaints about his conduct. The officer in charge of the ethics review, Detective Hudson, determines that Steele's entire interview is inadmissible in court due to suggestions, false promises, intimidation, and other questionable techniques by Steele and Prior.

Steele blames Jackson for ruining the interview and failing to stand up for him, although Jackson offers to testify that Steele tried to reel in Prior's aggression. Convinced of Fleming's guilt and outraged that he will walk free, Steele arranges to secretly give the entire case info and the audio recording of the confession to Walls. Steele tells Walls he does not care about the consequences since he believes he will be fired anyway. Afterwards, Hudson interviews Steele using another audio recorder. Steele accuses Hudson of a personal grudge, as Hudson led previous ethics investigations against him too. Hudson turns off the recorder, angrily insults Steele, and tells him he will make sure he is fired. Unbeknownst to Hudson, Steele had his own recorder running and recorded Hudson's abusive comments. Steele is last seen planning how to use his recording of Hudson to defend himself.

Fleming leaves the station with an ambiguous grin. In the final scene, Fleming is shown hitchhiking again.

''Voyager'' encounters a graviton ellipse: a massive body of subspace energy that temporarily leaves subspace and travels through normal space for a time. After Seven of Nine provides ''Voyager'' with Borg information on how to avoid being harmed by the ellipse, the crew begin scanning it. They recognize it as a similar phenomenon that reportedly consumed the ''Ares IV'', a command module used in Earth's Mars mission in 2032, and its pilot, John Kelly, and that had stranded his two other mission officers on Mars for weeks before they could be rescued. The mysterious disappearance of the ''Ares IV'' had almost caused humans to abandon further space missions but ultimately would be the precursor for humankind's future exploration of deep space.

Further scans detect signs of the ''Ares IV'' within the ellipse in a stable field that acts as the eye of the storm. Plans are made to modify the ''Delta Flyer'' with Seven's information to allow it to enter this field and recover the module. Chakotay and Tom Paris, history buffs for the Mars missions, quickly volunteer. Captain Kathryn Janeway encourages Seven to join them as part of this historic event, even after Seven initially rebuffs the effort as a worthless exploration mission.

The modifications work as expected and the crew soon finds the module, nearly in one piece. ''Voyager'' detects the ellipse being drawn towards a dark matter asteroid and warns the ''Delta Flyer'' to escape before collision. Chakotay insists on leaving with the module despite Seven's concerns that this will slow the ''Flyer'' down. They are unable to clear the ellipse in time and are caught in a shock wave from the collision; Chakotay is injured with plasma burns and the ''Flyer'' s shields and engines are knocked off-line. ''Voyager'' warns that the ''Flyer'' only has a few hours to escape before the ellipse returns to subspace, where they would be trapped indefinitely.

After stabilizing Chakotay, Paris begins effecting repairs but the ''Flyer'' s power converter is beyond repair. B'Elanna suggests salvaging the power converter from the ''Ares IV'' module to bring the ''Flyer'' back online. Chakotay instructs Seven to go, but asking her to not only collect the part but to take time to download data from the module. Seven arrives and powers up the systems. While she works at removing the power converter, John Kelly's logs of the few days he remained alive after being consumed by the ellipse are played out. Seven begins to come to appreciate what Kelly had done, continuing to take readings and collect as much information as he could before his power reserves died, hoping that it would be useful to somebody someday. With little time left to escape, Seven spares enough time to download the module logs and instructs Paris to bring Kelly's preserved body to the ''Flyer''. They are able to install the power converter on the ''Flyer'' in time to escape the ellipse with ''Voyager'' s help before it returns to subspace.

The crew holds a formal memorial service for Kelly to pay their respects. Among others, Seven provides a brief eulogy, praising the man's exploratory nature that would eventually lead to ''Voyager'' and her own existence.

Dresden is hired by a Monica Sells to find her husband Victor Sells, an amateur magician who has been acting oddly. Later that day, he gets a call from Lieutenant Karrin Murphy, director of the Special Investigations (SI) Unit of the Chicago Police Department. Murphy's partner shows him the bodies of two people, who die by having their hearts ripped out, apparently by magic. Dresden realizes that he is the chief suspect for these magical murders.

Eventually, despite encounters with vampires, the unknown warlock, and the ever-suspicious Warden Morgan, Dresden learns that the affair centers around the drug "ThreeEye", which allows normal humans to temporarily acquire Wizards Sight, which eventually drives them insane. Victor Sells has been manufacturing ThreeEye to edge out mob boss Johnny Marcone. Using the energy of thunder storms and the orgies held at his home, he powered the spells to remove his enemies, namely Marcone's men and anyone else threatening his operation, in order to gradually bring down Marcone and corner the drug trade.

Dresden interrupts Victor's spellcasting and attacks him, "brains versus muscle", eventually burning down Victor's house while Victor is still inside grappling with monster scorpions and a demon he had summoned to kill Dresden. Dresden survives, but is himself trapped on the balcony of the burning house until Morgan steps in to rescue him. Morgan had witnessed the fight with Victor and, knowing now that Dresden is innocent, reluctantly testifies on Dresden's behalf to the White Council.

Carol Hammond (Florinda Bolkan) is the daughter of a wealthy lawyer and politician named Edmund Brighton (Leo Genn). Her husband Frank (Jean Sorel) is a lawyer working for Brighton's practice. They all live together in a large apartment with Joan (Ely Galleani), Frank's teenage daughter from a previous marriage. Carol has been visiting a psychoanalyst because of a string of disturbing dreams she's been having featuring her decadent neighbor, Julia Durer (Anita Strindberg). Julia's frequent, late-night parties infuriate and yet excite Carol, evoking images of wild sex-and-drug orgies.

During a meeting between Edmund and Frank, they talk about their recent court cases in which Edmund asks Frank if he has been unfaithful to Carol, which Frank denies. Then a phone call is made by an anonymous woman who claims to Edmund that she has damaging information about his family. But unknown to everyone, Frank is indeed having an affair with his personal secretary Deborah (Silvia Monti) whom he meets after work at her country house for some romantic tryst.

Carol's dreams continue which become more complicated during scenes that appear to be dreams or hallucinations. Describing her latest one to her psychoanalyst, they depict a lesbian encounter between the two women, culminating in Carol grisly stabbing the seductive Julia to death. In an enigmatic coda to the dream sequence, Carol sees two kaftan-clad hippies who have apparently witnessed the whole thing without intervening.

The following day, it's revealed that Julia Durer has indeed been murdered. Inspector Corvin (Stanley Baker) from Scotland Yard arrives to take charge of the investigation. The room and condition of the dead body are identical to their depiction in the dream sequence. To make matters even more incriminating, there is a discarded fur coat near the body. Learning of the murder, Carol insists that she see the scene of the crime and when she enters Julia's apartment and sees the body, she faints.

After weeding out a false and self-serving confession from a delirious regular at the Durer parties, Corvin focuses on Carol Hammond. Meanwhile, Carol, during a shopping excursion with her step-daughter Joan, see the two hippies from her dream sequence. Following them to an abandoned theater where other hippies hang out, Joan asks them if they know Carol or have ever seen her before. The hippy man and woman claim they had not. As the evidence against Carol mounts, the police surreptitiously obtain her fingerprints, which match those found on the murder weapon, and Carol is soon arrested and charged with murdering Julia. However, Corvin begins to wonder if she is the killer, as she had described the murder to her psychoanalyst in detail before it actually took place. Could it be that someone has read her dream diary that she kept and modeled the killing on dream images she described in order to frame her for something she fantasized about? Corvin also wonders who the two hippies are that she claims to have witnessed her crime without intervening.

As Carol is awaiting trial in the grounds of a maximum security sanitorium, she sees one of the hippies break in and chase her through the grounds. Carol flees into the building and in trying to hide she enters a room containing a hideous experiment: four live dogs, clamped in an upright position, whimper helplessly, their abdomens sliced open and pinned with surgical clamps exposing their glistening innards and still beating hearts. Carol faints in horror. When she comes around, there is no trace of the threatening man. The sanitorium director thinks that Carol's ramblings about the intruder, and the disemboweled dogs, must have been another one of her elaborate hallucinations.

Meanwhile, Carol's father swings into overdrive with her case and manages to elaborate a suspicion that appeals to the police. Edmund Brighton discovers Frank's affair with Deborah and that Julia Durer had been blackmailing him for money as not to expose his extramarital affair. Brighton's argument is enough to get Carol released on bail, but Frank remains free and desperately tries to prove his innocence.

While relaxing at Brighton's country estate, Carol is contacted by the hippy woman and agrees to meet with them at a secret rendezvous, at the Alexandra Palace in North London. Once there, Carol is attacked by the hippy man in the cellar and chased through the building where she gets attacked by bats in the attic and gets brutally stabbed as the hippy catches up to her on the rooftop. But Carol is rescued by the police, forcing the hippy man to flee. Another red herring emerges when Joan meets with the hippy woman concerning her stepmother's wellbeing and agreeing to meet. The next day, Joan is found murdered in a field with her throat cut. Inspector Corvin meets with Carol recovering at her father's estate to ask about the hippie couple and of the blackmail that Julia Durer may have been planning for Frank. Corvin finally tracks down and arrests the hippie couple, Hubert and Jenny, whom he takes to the scene of the crime to interrogate them about the Durer murder. Although Hubert admits to have stalked Carol and murdered Joan, they protest their innocence claiming not to remember anything about that night except for recalling "a lizard in a woman's skin". Then a phone call comes informing the police that Brighton has been found dead at his estate, the victim of a suicide, and leaving behind a note confessing to the murder of Julia Durer which seems to wrap up the case.

A few days later, Carol is at her father's grave when Corvin arrives to offer his condolences to her. When Corvin asks Carol about the phone call that her father got from Julia Durer which Carol admits that she knew about, he asks how did she know that Julia Durer phoned Mr. Brighton on the day before she was murdered since he never told anybody about it. Too late to realize her slip, Corvin deduces Carol's guilt as she was with Julia Durer during that day the phone call was made. As it turns out, Carol Hammond really did kill Julia Durer after she threatened to go public with their lesbian relationship which they've been having for several months. Carol did break into Julia's apartment and stabbed her to death, only to realize that two hippies saw her, which made her panic and leave the scene of the crime. Carol had felt certain that the two hippies would describe her to the police. The murderous, but sane, Carol entered the event in her dream diary immediately afterwards so by combining details of the murder with images from the recurring nightmares for which she had sought treatment, she hoped to avoid a murder sentence and get off with guilt by temporary insanity that the dream diary would provide plausible evidence in court of a split personality. But Carol did not realize that both hippies were high on LSD and unable to register the significance of what they saw that night. Carol is then led away by Inspector Corvin from her father's grave to a waiting police car.

''New Day'' recounts the story of Jamaica's first post-emancipation rebellion against colonial rule that cemented a stifling socio-economic and political framework three decades after the abolition of slavery. The novel is framed as the aged narrator John Campbell's account of the Morant Bay Rebellion of 1865 and the series of uprisings and negotiations that finally culminates in the creation of the New Constitution in 1944.

Recognized for its particular approach to the historical novel, the narrative opens with the elderly narrator John Campbell reminiscing of his family and country's long-standing history over the course of 79 years, as he lies awake on the eve of Jamaica's Constitution Day and his memory refuses to elude him. The narrative quality of ''New Day'' is evident when the aged narrator transitions from past-tense into present voice as old Campbell struggles to recall the events of the past ("remember I remember").Reid, V. S. ''New Day''. NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1949.

The protagonist John Campbell, of mixed African and European descent, is a member of a family that has risen to greater standing with each generation. Since the abolition of slavery, Campbell explains that the large estates in Jamaica have ceased to function. Many droughts devastate the island and the state of the Afro-Jamaican population only worsens. Anger and resentment grow towards the Governor's administration and the wealthy land-owners, in turn sparking the Morant Bay Rebellion. John's older brother Davie Campbell, whom John idolizes, joins forces with the Jamaican radicals of Stoney Gut. The colonial militia open fire on and kill forty men from Stoney Gut and Morant Bay. The rebels kill 40 militiamen in retaliation.

Although John's father, Pa John Campbell, is a peaceful and devoted Christian, he and all of his family, excluding John and Davie, are eventually killed by the time Governor Eyre eventually stops the reign of terror that he deemed to be the solution to the rebellion. Subsequently, John escapes with Davie and Lucille Dubois, the girl who marries Davie. The three proceed to live on a small cay until the colonial authorities have stopped hunting them. It is not James Creary, son of Lucille and David, but their grandson Garth Creary who assumes leadership in the struggle. Garth, a wealthy lawyer and businessman, is ultimately responsible for executing the series of propaganda, lawsuits, strikes, and negotiations that eventually pave the way for a new Jamaican constitution. The new political day is celebrated on the morning following old John Campbell's long and restless night. Jamaica's partial self-government gives way to the country's "New Day".

The film recounts the events in the life of Colonel Margarethe Cammermeyer which led to her retirement from the Washington National Guard under the U.S. military's gay exclusion policy.

Tom Paris has written a popular new holodeck program about an Irish village called Fair Haven. Captain Janeway enters the program, and while she is taking a tour the crew is alerted to an approaching storm front. Lt. Torres informs the captain that the disruption caused by the storm prevents ''Voyager'' from going to warp, and impulse power will not be enough to outrun the storm. Janeway decides to batten the hatches, drop anchor and ride out the storm.

After a discussion about crew morale with Neelix, Janeway agrees to allow the Fair Haven program to continue to run. During this downtime many of the crew stop in to spend time in Fair Haven. Some even take roles in the village; the Doctor becomes the town priest and admonishes Paris and Kim to attend the following Sunday's Mass. Captain Janeway stops again to visit the program, and spends an evening getting to know one of the holodeck characters, barkeeper Michael Sullivan. After spending the entire night in a relaxed date with Sullivan, morning brings his wife into the program. Janeway becomes flustered and leaves the program, returning to the bridge as the first wave of the storm hits. The storm will last a further three days, and the captain gives Paris and Kim permission to expand the program to holodeck 2. At this point Captain Janeway edits the character of Sullivan to her specifications. She gives him more intelligence, a few traits that make him more compatible with her personality, and finally deletes his wife. While Janeway is spending time with her modified version of Sullivan, Chakotay encounters the two of them, causing the captain some embarrassment.

Janeway has mixed emotions about her motives, and discusses moral and ethical implications of having a relationship with a holodeck character with Chakotay. Being so far removed from any practical relationship with a "real" person, and realising that her first officer believes it could produce healthy results, Janeway continues to enjoy the holodeck program (as "Katie O'Clare"). Eventually she removes the other characters and kisses Sullivan.

While the captain is away from the program tending to ship's business, Sullivan becomes depressed because he thinks Katie has left him. He starts a fight in the holodeck which quickly grows into an all out brawl with both holodeck characters and crew members suffering the effects. After learning about the fight, the captain shares her thoughts and concerns with the Doctor. The Doctor sees holograms as equals to their flesh and blood counterparts, and encourages her to continue her relationship with Sullivan.

Eventually the full brunt of the storm hits with its most destructive forces taking out many of the ship's systems. While some of the holodeck program Fair Haven survives, many of its finer points are lost. When approached by Tom and Harry about what should be saved, the captain returns to the holodeck. She does decide to save the character of Michael Sullivan, and after more thought she tells the computer to deny her access to modifying any more of the program's sub-routines.

The story arc is concluded in ''Spirit Folk''.

Having returned from a two-week away mission of scanning planets and gathering dilithium ore, Chakotay, Tom Paris, Harry Kim and Neelix begin experiencing strange visions: Tom dreams he is engaged in an alien battle whilst Harry has an anxiety attack during routine maintenance. Meanwhile, Chakotay suffers from violent dreams about being in battle and Neelix has a battle hallucination and takes Naomi hostage in the mess hall.

The Doctor's tests show they are reacting to what seem to be real memories, not delusions. As Captain Janeway asks them to retrace their mission, they begin having flashbacks of their roles in a military force whose orders are to temporarily evacuate a group of colonists called the Nakan. (No reason is given for the evacuation.) Commander Saavedra wants no bloodshed but fears that a few of the colonists will resist leaving their homes. In fact, a small group of the colonists do begin firing weapons. Chakotay and the others panic in the ensuing chaos and shoot back; Harry kills two people he finds hiding in a cave. In the end 82 Nakan civilians are dead.

Trying to piece together the puzzle, Janeway orders ''Voyager'' into the system the away team was scanning and joins Seven of Nine in reviewing the Delta Flyer's sensor logs. As soon as the Captain sees Tarakis, the second planet encountered by the away team, she also begins having flashbacks of the massacre. She remembers pleading with Saavdra to admit their mistake, but he continues to vaporize the evidence of the colonists' bodies. When she wakes up later in sickbay, Janeway learns that other crew members have also begun experiencing the battle memories.

The Captain sets a course for Tarakis and Janeway, Chakotay, Tom, Tuvok and Harry beam to the surface, but there seems to be no trace of a massacre. Harry locates the cave he remembers, still containing the two Nakans' remains—but they have been dead for 300 years.

Meanwhile, Janeway and Chakotay find a large structure erected in the middle of a grassy field. Seven identifies the structure as a synaptic transmitter sending neurogenic pulses throughout the system. Anyone who enters will experience the memories of the battle—a memorial to the victims and a vivid reminder to never let such a tragic mistake happen again. Because the power cells are deteriorating, the memories are fragmented.

As the hallucinatory nature of the experience has put people in danger, Tuvok has no hesitation about planning to shut down the transmitter; Chakotay, still shaken by the disturbing realism of the visions he was forced to endure, is equally certain. But Neelix, although equally disturbed by the experience, argues that if they do, the Nakan will be completely forgotten. Captain Janeway agrees: she orders them to recharge the power cells, and to place a warning buoy into orbit, so any other unsuspecting visitors to the system will know what to expect. They leave the memorial, so that it may continue to spread its hauntingly effective message.

The crew are granted shore leave on an alien planet. Commander Chakotay (Robert Beltran) and Lt. B'Elanna Torres (Roxann Dawson) attend a mixed martial arts ring sport called "Tsunkatse," while Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) visits a neighboring system in the ''Delta Flyer''. Following the match, Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) and Lt. Cmdr Tuvok (Tim Russ) ask Chakotay if they can study a micro-nebula on an away mission. He grants them permission, telling them that they can spend their shore leave in whatever manner they choose. Seven and Tuvok depart in a shuttle, but are captured by an alien vessel en route and Tuvok is injured. Seven is brought to Penk (Jeffrey Combs) who blackmails her into fighting in the Tsunkatse matches or else Tuvok will be refused medical treatment.

Chakotay invites other crew members to join him at the next Tsunkatse match. These include Neelix (Ethan Phillips), who is forced to restrict his activities following an allergic reaction to a homeopathic medical treatment. They arrive at the bout and Chakotay explains the rules of the fight to Neelix. The first challenger walks out, a Pendari man (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson), and the ''Voyager'' crew are surprised when he is followed by Seven. As the two circle each other, Chakotay contacts Torres on the ship and updates her on the match, ordering her to transport Seven back to ''Voyager''. Torres discovers that Seven is not on the planet's surface, and the fight is actually a holographic projection. Seven is defeated by the Pendari and later wakes up in the fighter's barracks where a Hirogen (J. G. Hertzler) is healing her with a dermal regenerator. Penk visits the duo and informs Seven that her next match will be to the death. After he leaves, the Hirogen promises to train her. Seven accepts his training, realizing that even if ''Voyager'' can rescue them, she and Tuvok must still survive until then.

On ''Voyager'', the crew track down the source of the holographic transmission – a much larger ship. Seven is led out for the next Tsunkatse match, and discovers that the Hirogen himself is her opponent. As they start to fight, ''Voyager'' attacks the Tsunkatse vessel and destroys a localized shield generator. Torres transports Tuvok off the ship, but Seven isn't in the unshielded area of the ship. The Hirogen takes the advantage in the match, and ''Voyager'' weapons are taken offline. Janeway arrives in the ''Delta Flyer'' and destroys the Tsunktase ship's signal generators which broadcast the matches. Penk reroutes power to another transmitter, thus weakening his shields. As Seven takes her position to reluctantly kill the Hirogen, both are transported onto ''Voyager''. Afterwards, Chakotay tells the Hirogen that they are en route to transfer him to a vessel of his species. The Hirogen thanks the crew and tells them that he plans to look for his son.

During an away mission, the ''Delta Flyer'' is intercepted by a Borg cube. Chakotay, Paris and Neelix find themselves in what appears to be an assimilation chamber. A partially assimilated body with crude Borg implants lies on a table in the center of the room. Harry Kim, who was knocked unconscious during the initial encounter, is still aboard the ''Delta Flyer'', which is inside the Borg cube.

''Voyager'' locates the ''Delta Flyer'' and the disabled Borg cube. The Borg's erratic attack strategy allows ''Voyager'' to disable the cube's weapons array, and Seven detects only five Borg signatures aboard the cube. The Borg agree to return the captured crew members in exchange for ''Voyager'' s navigational deflector, which would leave ''Voyager'' without warp propulsion. Seven surmises the Borg want the deflector to contact the Collective.

While stalling the Borg, Janeway sends Seven to their ship to confirm that the captured crew members are unharmed. Seven discovers the drones aboard the cube are all dead, except for five children, who believe the Borg will rescue them once their link is re-established. Seven returns to ''Voyager'' with a dead adult drone. The Doctor discovers that a space-borne virus killed it. The immature drones were unaffected by the virus because they were protected while inside the maturation chambers. Mechanical malfunctions later opened their chambers prematurely. The Doctor also discovers that if the pathogen is revived, it could be used to neutralize the drone children. Janeway considers weaponizing the virus against other Borg, an idea the Doctor opposes.

Because ''Voyager'' cannot give up its deflector, Janeway offers Seven's technical services in repairing the cube's technology. A Borg child threatens Janeway, saying the repairs must be completed in two hours or else a hostage will be killed. Meanwhile, Kim regains consciousness inside the ''Delta Flyer'' and contacts ''Voyager''. Seven attempts to break the Borg children away from the Collective and persuade them to join ''Voyager'' s crew.

While working on the cube's repairs, Seven discovers that the Collective deliberately ignored the drones' distress call, considering them irrelevant and damaged. Their link to the Collective was permanently severed. The drone children were unable to decrypt the Collective's reply that they were unworthy of re-assimilation. Meanwhile, Kim is captured and awakens to raw-looking implants on his face. "First" (the unnamed leader of the Borg children) grows frustrated and demands that ''Voyager'' turn over their deflector immediately. Seven tells the drone children that the Collective will never return for them and that their distress call was purposely ignored.

''Voyager'' successfully beams Chakotay, Paris and Neelix back onto ''Voyager'', but Seven and Kim are held in a shielded area. Angered, First violently attacks Seven, but his Second pulls him away. As the cube's transwarp core destabilizes, Seven orders evacuation. However, First refuses to leave and is lethally shocked and knocked off his feet. Seven comforts him as he dies, though he remains defiant, proclaiming, "We are Borg."

Back aboard ''Voyager'', the Doctor successfully removes Kim's and the children's Borg implants. Seven partially salvages the cube's database, including the surviving children's original assimilation profiles. The children discover their real names are Icheb, Mezoti, Azan, and Rebi.

It is New Year's Eve and the employees of a House of Culture are ready with their annual New Year's entertainment program. It includes a lot of dancing and singing, jazz band performance and even magic tricks. Suddenly, an announcement is made that a new director has been appointed and that he is arriving shortly. Comrade Ogurtsov arrives in time to review and disapprove of the scheduled entertainment. To him, holiday fun has a different meaning, he imagines speakers reading annual reports to show the club's progress over the year and a lecturer speaking for 40 minutes about the possibility of life on the planet Mars. And, perhaps, a bit of serious music, something from the Classics, played by the Veterans' orchestra.

Obviously, no one wants to change the program with only a few hours before the show, much less to replace it with something so boring. So everyone teams up in order to prevent Ogurtsov from getting to the stage. They manage to trap Ogurtsov by any means necessary so that the acts can perform their scheduled pieces, and celebrate New Year's Eve as originally planned.

Former Eighth Air Force bomber crewman Captain Jeff Eliot returns to Germany in 1947 to visit the family who rescued and hid him from the Nazis after his plane was shot down over Munich in World War II.

He learns that most of the family was killed by an American air raid. The only survivor is the daughter, Wilhelmina Lehrt, who is working as a hostess in a nightclub and hates Americans. Eliot nonetheless manages to romance "Willie" and in his time at the nightclub, he develops a friendship with Heisemann, a comic.

Heisemann, it turns out, has secret ties to an underground Nazi revivalist movement. When Eliot discovers this, he tells his superiors, who order him to continue his relationship with Willie to learn more about Heisemann's operation.

The climax of the picture takes place in Berchtesgaden, and the scenes of Heisemann being chased through the rubble were filmed inside the ruins of Hitler's house just before its final demolition by the German government. Heisemann in the scene's final frame stands facing his captors in the notorious huge picture window of the house.

In 1877 Paris, a pack of rats save an abandoned baby from a basket that was flowing along a river. They raise him in the underground of the Opéra de Paris. This child becomes the Phantom of the Opera, a misanthrope who kills anyone who ventures into his underground chambers, just as rats are killed whenever they venture above ground. The Phantom (Julian Sands) falls in love with the young opera singer Christine Daaé (Asia Argento), while she sings alone on stage one night. He appears before her and tells her that her voice fills his heart with light. After leaving, he speaks to her using telepathy, and the two begin a romantic relationship.

The aristocratic Baron Raoul De Chagny (Andrea Di Stefano) has also fallen in love with Christine, though at first Christine offers him only a platonic relationship. Later, she ruminates that she may be in love with both men. One night, the Phantom calls to her and she descends to his lair across an underground lake in a boat. Upon arriving, she finds him playing an organ and he tells her to sing for him. Christine sings the same song he heard her sing when he first saw her onstage. After making love in his bed, the Phantom reveals his past to her. He tells her to stay in the lair while he goes to secure the role of Juliet for her but she refuses to stay alone, causing him to storm out. Christine grows angry with him, and as he leaves in the boat, she shouts that she hates him.

The Phantom threatens Carlotta, the show's spoiled diva, not to sing but she ignores the warning. During her performance as Juliet, the Phantom brings down the chandelier, injuring many audience members. When he returns to Christine, she refuses the role he has secured for her. He becomes angry and forcefully rapes her. After Christine awakens, she witnesses the Phantom covered in his rats and petting them. While he is playing with the rats, she escapes on the boat. She flees into the arms of Raoul, and they ascend to the roof, where they confess their love for each other. The Phantom watches and breaks down crying when he sees them kiss.

The next night Christine sings as Juliet, but the Phantom swoops down onto the stage, and she faints in his arms. Raoul and the police give chase. The Phantom carries Christine back down below and lays her down. When she awakens, he tells her that she is his, and that they will remain alone together until death. She hits his face with a rock and calls to Raoul for help but instantly regrets her actions, and her feelings for the Phantom return. Raoul appears and shoots the Phantom in his stomach with a rifle. Christine screams and cries for the Phantom, surprising Raoul. Though mortally wounded, the Phantom's main concern becomes Christine's safety, as he fears that the police will kill her now they know she is with him. The Phantom leads them to the lake. Raoul and Christine get in the boat but the Phantom remains on the dock and pushes the boat away. He tells Raoul to get out of the cave and out to the river. Raoul does so, ignoring Christine's screams and objections. The Phantom fights the police but is shot multiple times. He hears Christine calling him "my love" and cries out her name before being stabbed in the back then falling into the lake and dying. The rats watch sadly as his body drowns and Christine weeps, heartbroken.

Anderson Nez dies in the hospital of bubonic plague in a virulent new form. Dr Woody brought him in, and is now demanding details on everything that happened as Nez died in Northern Arizona Medical Center. The infected flea bit Nez the day before with a new strain of plague, at the end of June.

At Yells Back Butte near Black Mesa, Acting Lieutenant Jim Chee finds Officer Kinsman nearly dead, bashed in the head. Robert Jano, a Hopi man, stands close by, with blood on him, and an eagle in a cage. Chee arrests Jano for murdering the police officer. Jano protests his innocence. Kinsman dies in the hospital. Jano is assigned an attorney from the Department of Justice, as the charge carries the death penalty. Attorney Janet Pete is back in Phoenix; she is given his case. She believes he is innocent. Mrs. Vanders hires Joe Leaphorn to find her niece, Catherine Pollard. She has not returned from her work as a vector control specialist, a flea catcher, nor left any word of her plans, since early July. Mrs. Vanders thinks graduate student Victor Hammer might be the problem.

Leaphorn receives Pollard's field work notes, which Louisa Bourebonette reads. Pollard's job is to track down the source of the fleas with bubonic plague, and then to destroy them or the “reservoir” of small rodents that harbor those fleas. She is still pursuing the source for Nez's infection, and realizes someone has lied to her. Leaphorn realizes that Pollard was last seen on the same day that the officer was attacked, July 8. Chee is firm that Jano is guilty. Cowboy Dashee, a good friend of Chee, thinks Chee is wrong. Dashee talks to Leaphorn with an alternate theory of the case, that Pollard is the killer, perhaps in self-defense, as Dashee learned she was there that same day. Leaphorn presents the idea to Chee. Chee works on finding Pollard's black jeep. First evidence is a boy trying to sell the radio from that vehicle. Chee and Officer Manuelito visit the boy. Manuelito tells him of the reward from Mrs. Vander for finding the vehicle, and the boy leads them to the jeep. Pollard is not in it, but her field gear is, except for her Positive Air Purifying Respirator (PAPR) suit. The spacesuit-like garment is used to keep her safe from airborne infections or toxins in the field. Chee listens to Jano's story of what happened before Chee arrived on the scene, learning about the first eagle that Jano tried to catch, but let go, because it was not fit for the religious ceremony. That eagle scratched him, and that is why the eagle he put in the cage shows no blood on it. Chee visits his grand uncle Hosteen Frank Sam Nakai for advice. Chee gets the advice on catching the first eagle and learns that his uncle is dying from lung cancer. Chee proceeds to Jano's first hunting blind and catches the first eagle. He calls the FBI agent in charge to collect the eagle in support of Jano. The agent refuses, so Chee begins recording the call. He tells Janet Pete he has the eagle and of the call, and that he taped it.

Chee and Leaphorn meet Old Lady Notah who tells them all the people present at Yells Back Butte on July 8, not by name but by description, including one in the PAPR garment. Krause tells them that only one shovel is usual in Pollard's jeep, and two were found. At the death hogan, they find Pollard buried in her PAPR garment. They reach Dr. Woody's travelling lab, to find him very ill and irritable. He confesses to both murders as an unimportant detail. He wants his research passed on to a colleague. He killed Pollard because she was about to kill the prairie dog colony infected with the new strain of bubonic plague, and killed Kinsman because he saw Woody burying Pollard. Chee and Leaphorn drive Woody to meet an ambulance. Chee calls the FBI to report Woody's confession, to remove the charge from Jano. Leaphorn asks if Chee would accept the permanent Lieutenant position; he says no. Probably Chee made that choice before he recorded that phone conversation. Chee thanks Leaphorn for his help and Leaphorn enjoys working with Chee again. Chee calls Janet Pete, who meets him in Tuba City. She had two ways to use the information Chee gave her about the FBI's refusal to test the first eagle, and she chose the one that was least risk to her, and most likely to hurt Chee professionally. Their love is not strong enough to overcome their differences, and the pain of losing her will hurt tremendously.

In ''ER'' first season, the core cast consisted of Chief Resident Dr. Mark Greene, pediatric resident Dr. Doug Ross, second-year resident Dr. Susan Lewis, medical student John Carter, head nurse Carol Hathaway, and second-year surgical resident Dr. Peter Benton.

The series premiere "24 Hours" sees Dr. Greene considering a move into private practice at the request of his wife, Jen. The episode also sees an attempted suicide from staff nurse Carol Hathaway, who had previously been in a long-term relationship with Doug Ross, as well as the first day for medical student John Carter.

Originally, Carol Hathaway died by suicide, but her death in the pilot was never shown or referred to by other characters, leaving her open for a return. Audiences responded so well to her character that producers decided to offer Julianna Margulies a permanent spot in the cast. Her love interest in the first season is John "Tag" Taglieri.

One of the major events this season is a blizzard that sends multiple patients to County General.

Also over the course of the season, Dr. Greene's marriage begins to disintegrate. At work, he experiences problems, after making a fatal error in the treatment of a pregnant woman in the Emmy-winning episode "Love's Labor Lost." He falls into a depression.

Meanwhile, a lovelorn Ross struggles to come to terms with the fact that a recovered Hathaway is moving on with her life while Dr. Lewis tries to cope with her rebellious sister, Chloe, who becomes pregnant and gives birth to a daughter at the end of the season. Lewis also struggles professionally with cardiologist Dr. Kayson and romantically with mentally unstable psychiatrist Dr. Div Cvetic.

Carter comes to grips with the fast-paced life of an ER doctor, while trying to win the approval of his demanding supervising resident, Dr. Peter Benton. Hathaway gets back on her feet in the aftermath of her suicide attempt; she gets engaged and tries to adopt an HIV-positive Russian orphan, but is denied due to her suicide attempt. On her wedding day, her fiancé, Dr. John Taglieri, questions the strength of her love for him. She admits she does not love him as much as he loves her, and he leaves her shortly before the ceremony.

Dr. Benton is forced to cope with his busy surgical schedule, while caring for his ailing mother. After her death, he becomes romantically involved with her physical therapist Jeanie Boulet.

Dr. Weird unveils his newest invention, a titanic robotic rabbit named The Rabbot, to solve the world's "vegetable nightmare". Dr Weird then sprays the Rabbot in the face with French perfume, which causes the Rabbot to go berserk, break out of Dr. Weird's laboratory, and flatten Carl's car. The next morning, Carl notices his flattened car; Master Shake comes out to solve the mystery of what happened to Carl's car, but after briefly examining the crime scene, Master Shake concludes that "Meteors did it" and charges Carl $20. Frylock then comes out to teleport Carl to work. Carl reasserts that he works out of home, so Frylock's teleportation beam simply flings Carl onto the roof of his house. Master Shake and Frylock then proceed to solve the rest of this mystery from inside Carl's pool against his demands. There, Shake says that the culprit "is someone who is jealous of Carl's ability to drive" and goes to wake Meatwad. Upon awakening, Meatwad begins to dance to his jam box, but then Shake stomps on it, saying that "Dancing is forbidden".

Once again, Master Shake, Frylock, and Meatwad loiter in Carl's pool, where Shake loses all his enthusiasm he had for the mission and wishes to close it, but Frylock insists that they continue. Meatwad is then hitched to the Aqua Teens' mode of transportation, the "Danger Cart". After a mishap with the garage door, which Frylock resolves by blowing it up, the Aqua Teens head for the mall. However, the Rabbot has already rampaged the mall, spraying various objects with a strange hair growing formula. The Aqua Teens make it to the mall, where Frylock discovers a mountain of evidence from Rabbot's rampage. He continues to investigate, but Shake, growingly increasingly bored, calls off the investigation and declares the case solved.

As the Aqua Teens return home, they head through downtown and notice that the Rabbot is rampaging through the city and is spraying buildings with his hair growing formula. The Rabbot sprays Shake with the spray, causing him to grow long hair and to abandon the mission to get a perm. Meatwad then stops Rabbot by playing his jam box, which causes Rabbot to dance along to the music. However, upon Shake's return, he orders Frylock to blast the Rabbot with his eye lasers, but they reflect off his body and burn Shake's hair off. Angered, Shake declares he will destroy the Rabbot, but only produces a blob of milkshake that plops out of him harmlessly. The Aqua Teens then flee as the Rabbot starts to chase them. The Aqua Teens regroup in Carl's pool, where Shake says that the Rabbot (who is still dancing to the music from Meatwad's jam box) has made downtown unsafe and that they must find some new restaurants and nightclubs. Carl then demands they get out of his pool. The episode ends with the Rabbot dancing downtown, while the closing credits are shown on a split screen.

Greene's attempts at balancing his work and family after moving to Milwaukee comes to an abrupt end when his wife is caught cheating on him with a colleague, the divorce becomes final and he starts dating again. At work, he is promoted, becoming an attending physician. He locks horns with close friend Dr. Doug Ross, whose reckless professional behavior is called into question by the hospital authorities, and new Chief Resident, Dr. Kerry Weaver. Ross breaks protocol to treat an HIV-positive child and is about to be fired. He has already accepted a job at another medical facility when he heroically saves a child, trapped in a sewer in the landmark episode "Hell and High Water". His heroism creates a media sensation and the hospital reconsiders its decision when Dr. Ross receives an award for outstanding community service. Later in the season, his father returns, and while attempting to bond his father again walks out on him. While tracking him down Doug becomes embroiled in a relationship with his father's girlfriend.

Lewis is left holding the baby when her sister, Chloe, skips town, leaving daughter Suzie in Susan's care. She struggles to find time to care for the child and complete her residency. She considers having Suzie adopted, but at the last minute decides to keep her. Just as Susan starts to become attached to the baby, Chloe returns, a changed woman, and a short custody battle ensues. Eventually, Susan hands Suzie over to Chloe and is left devastated when her sister and her new husband move to Phoenix, taking the baby with them.

Carter, now a fourth-year medical student, starts a relationship with medical student Harper Tracy. He becomes involved in the treatment of an elderly patient and her husband (played by comic Red Buttons) in order to secure his place in developing a new heart procedure study and a spot in the surgical program. After the surgery is complete, the woman's condition deteriorates and Carter is overwhelmed by the husband's constant needs. The woman's subsequent death results in tremendous personal guilt, but Carter still manages to win a place as a surgical intern despite the fierce competition. Hathaway becomes involved with paramedic Ray "Shep" Shepard. Their relationship develops quickly and they move in together. However, things go wrong when Shep's partner, Raul, suffers third degree burns to over 85% of his body during a fire rescue and dies shortly afterward, resulting in emotional crisis and guilt for Shep. Shep grows volatile and violent, and after he refuses Carol's recommendation that he see a psychiatrist, the couple separates.

At the start of the season, Dr. Benton is in a relationship with Jeanie Boulet. She ends the relationship in a bid to save her marriage, but soon starts working as a physician assistant at County General. Benton is frosty towards her and is angry when he finds out about her divorce from her husband. At the end of the season, Jeanie finds out that she may be HIV-positive after her ex-husband, Al, is diagnosed. She informs a dismayed Peter and suggests that he too be tested. Benton also struggles to decide whether to lodge a formal complaint against his mentor Dr. Vucelich, when he discovers irregularities in his research method.

When a robbery goes awry, the bandits end up accidentally killing one of their own. Johnny, one of the robbers, goes to jail for five years. His ex-girlfriend, Gloria, holds him responsible for the death of her brother, the one killed during the robbery. Upon Johnny's release, she wants her new boyfriend to kill him. Only trouble is, the boyfriend knows it wasn't Johnny's fault, and can't bring himself to kill him. Meanwhile, Johnny tries to turn his life around by becoming a boxer and training under a former heavyweight contender.

The series tells the story of an orphaned boy Catch Kandy and his sister Kate Kandy who, as the series begins, are living with their uncle, Earle Kandy. Their uncle, however, slips on a roller-skate which Catch left lying near stairs, and knocks himself unconscious. Believing he has killed his uncle, Catch and his sister go on the run. They end up hiding out at the Taronga Park Zoo in Sydney, living in a cave within the bear sanctuary whilst their uncle tries to track them down. They befriend a zoologist called Christian Faber.

Four small-time gangsters from Copenhagen trick a gangster boss: they steal over 4,000,000 Danish kroner which they were supposed to bring him. Trying to escape to Barcelona they are forced to stop in the countryside, in an old, wrecked house, hiding there for several weeks. Slowly, one after another, they realize that they would like to stay there, starting a new life, renovating the house and turning it into a restaurant. But their past eventually catches up with them.

During the American Civil War, Brad Fletcher retires from his position as History Professor at Boston University due to tuberculosis and retreats to Texas. The sexually repressed Fletcher is a well-meaning, albeit conceited, liberal who opposes violence and human suffering. While taking a siesta, a stagecoach carrying several lawmen and Solomon "Beauregard" Bennet, a captured criminal, stops by Fletcher's hotel. When Fletcher tries to give Bennet a drink of water, he is taken hostage, and they escape on the stagecoach before becoming lost in the desert. Under Bennet's instructions, Fletcher takes him to a hideout in the forest, where Bennet recovers from his wounds. During this time, Fletcher learns from Bennet how to fire a revolver.

Charley Siringo, a mysterious outlaw, encounters Fletcher and Bennet, convincing the latter to reform his gang, "Bennet’s Raiders". Bennet agrees, and he convinces Fletcher to return to Boston. While staying in a hotel in Purgatory City, awaiting an Eastbound train, Fletcher finds Bennet again, who has been hired by businessman Williams to dispatch Sam Taylor's gun-fighting gang; in exchange, Aaron Chase, a Raider, will be freed from prison. A gunfight between Bennet and the gunmen ensues, and Fletcher saves Bennet's life by killing one of them. Later, as Fletcher prepares to board his train, he decides to follow Bennet and Aaron; they are soon joined by fellow Raiders Vance and Jason.

Bennet and Fletcher ride to the de Winton Plantation to visit and recruit another Raider, the Southern gentleman Maximillian de Winton. Siringo returns and proves his loyalty by killing a sheriff attempting to capture Bennet and the gang. Bennet's Raiders ride to their main hideout of Puerto de Fuego, an anarchist community of outsiders and desperados. When Bennet and the other Raiders leave to partake in a train robbery, Fletcher accosts Maria, Vance's girlfriend, and they begin an affair.

Vance confronts Maria and Fletcher; the latter subsequently kills him in self-defense. Later, Fletcher suggests to Maria and the Raiders that they rob the Willow Creek Bank, disguising themselves as ordinary citizens to lower the chances of gunplay. After testing Fletcher's ruthlessness with a mock duel, Bennet agrees to the plan. The robbery runs smoothly until a peasant boy recognises Bennet and blows his cover. Siringo, revealing himself as an undercover Pinkerton agent, captures Bennet and aids the local authorities in killing Jason, Maximillian and Aaron. Fletcher and Maria return to Puerto del Fuego with the stolen money, but Maria dies from wounds sustained in the battle. Driven to madness by Maria's death and Siringo's betrayal, Fletcher declares leadership of Bennet's Raiders, turning Puerto del Fuego into a fascist state fuelled by money, violence and fear.

In Silvertown, a vigilante posse is organized to eliminate Bennet's Raiders, as they are cutting a swathe through their profits. Siringo and Bennet, who has lost his passion for violence as a result of his friendship with Fletcher and the death of the peasant boy during the robbery, refuse to lead the vigilantes, but Zachary Shawn, a former, jailed member of the Raiders, agrees. The next morning, Bennet escapes from his prison cell and rides to Puerto del Fuego, where he finds many innocent people massacred.

As Fletcher attempts to take the other refugees across a desert, one of the transport wagons breaks down, and the people on board are forced to travel on foot. Upon being separated, the group is wiped out by Zachary's vigilantes. Bennet meets Fletcher and the others just as the vigilantes prepare to attack. As the refugees escape, Fletcher and Bennet prepare to hold Zachary's gang off. Siringo arrives to stop the posse, killing Zachary and a vigilante to prevent further bloodshed, and confronts Bennet and Fletcher alone. Fletcher, angry at Siringo for his betrayal of the Raiders and the people of Puerto del Fuego, prepares to kill him, but he is shot by Bennet. Expressing regret over his unfulfilled plans for Bennet's Raiders, Fletcher dies. Bennet allows Siringo to execute him, but Siringo, noticing Bennet's desire for redemption, shoots the face of the vigilante's corpse, creating a "fake" Bennet to present to the authorities. Confused but thankful, Bennet rides off to start a new life with the refugees.

On the same day as a scientist is performing body teleportation experiments, Woo-Soo Choi and Kang Too-Jee end up in a fight after Woo-Soo Choi pulls down Kang-Too Jee's trousers accidentally. As they are fighting, the mad scientist - currently chasing a homeless person she was trying to bribe who stole the money - runs them over. She then uses them to test her new teleportation device. The transportation is successful and she then unceremoniously dumps their bodies and drives off only to find something was wrong with the device. She had just teleported their bodies, not their minds to go with them.

When he wakes up, Woo-Soo Choi sees himself lying on the ground. He realizes that his body has somehow been switched and runs his unconscious body to the hospital. When Kang Too-Jee - now in Woo-Soo Choi's body - wakes up, he appears to have amnesia and has reverted to a childlike state. Woo-Soo Choi's mother believes Woo-Soo Choi - in Kang Too-Jee's body - to be the one who caused it and chases him out of the hospital.

Woo-Soo Choi is able to find out where Kang Too-Jee lives and goes to school, but soon enough trouble appears in the form of Kang Too-Jee's old rivals and the fighting begins.