A washed-up Hollywood star is flown to England to play the title role in ''King Lear'' at "Stratford" believing he will be appearing onstage at the legendary RST in Stratford-upon-Avon, the birthplace of William Shakespeare. Instead he finds he has signed on with the "Stratford Players" in the Suffolk village of Stratford St John. He goes to the United Kingdom with his career deteriorating and having problems with his daughter who is an aspiring actress on the fringes of the New York theatre. The local villagers are somewhat of a motley crew and are naturally delighted to have such an - albeit unsuccessful - star playing with them. Reynolds plays a typically selfish American with no time for manners, and displays an appalling lack of class, considering himself too big for this lowly setting. The transition to humble actor, happy to play with the British actors takes some time, but eventually he is reconciled with his estranged daughter and realises that he is no better, in terms of talent and intelligence, than his amateur colleagues.

At a barbecue in suburban Melbourne, a man slaps a 3-year-old boy across the face. The child, Hugo, has been misbehaving without any intervention by his parents, "the steely-eyed Rosie and the wimpish Gary".[http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24600679-5003900,00.html Armanno, Venero (2008, 8 November) "Smack dab in the middle class"], ''The Australian'' The slapper is Harry, cousin of the barbecue host and adulterous businessman whose slightly older son, Rocco, is being threatened by Hugo. This event sends the other characters "into a spiral, agonising and arguing over the notion that striking a child can ever be justified. Some believe a naughty boy should be taught some discipline, others maintain the police ought to be brought in to investigate a common assault" with a range of positions in between.

The game's plot is about the son of two Kendo champions named Musashi. He strives to become as great at Kendo as his parents. The entire story centers around the world of Kendo and its up-and-coming competitors. The anime is broken up into two parts. The first part follows Musashi's early years in grade school while the second part follows his high school years. In the first episode, Musashi befriends an Akita puppy who is by his side throughout the series.

A wealthy Jewish homosexual film producer (Molina) is making a film based on Puccini's opera ''Tosca'' and a famous German diva (McCormack) is cast opposite a difficult English actor (Pryce). As filming gets under way on a sound stage in Rome, World War II in 1939 escalates around them threatening the film's completion.

Min-su (played by Jo) is a playboy. With his attractive looks, money and position as a CEO of a game company, he can easily lure women he likes and simply enjoys casual relationships with them. His life, however, reaches a turning point when Hye-won (Choi) enters the scene.

At first, she is nothing more than one of many women he has met, but as he gets to know her he realizes that he is in love, which he has never experienced before.

Although Hye-won has to spend most of her time at hospital due to a fatal disease, she is always cheerful and not discouraged with her misfortune and tries to enjoy life. Mysteriously, Hye-won does not give any signs that she is dying until their relationship is in full bloom. As the story progresses, Min-su learns about the true meaning of love and Hye-won has the best time of her life, thanks to him.

College students Vivia, Jennifer, and Phoebe decide to pledge a sorority at their university, Briggs College. During hell week, the sorority's housemother, Mrs. Henshaw, urges the women not to hold their initiation rituals at Pratt House, an abandoned fraternity nearby. Mrs. Henshaw goes to Pratt House and, in an overgrown garden outside, visits the tombstone for a man named Allan. She implores that, should the students do enter the house, that Allan leave them alone. Upon going inside, Mrs. Henshaw is bludgeoned to death by an unseen assailant.

The day of the initiation, Vivia, Jennifer, and Phoebe break in to a boys fraternity to steal clothing as part of their hazing ritual. Inside, Jennifer is confronted by Blake, who swiftly takes romantic interest in her. Back at her dorm, Jennifer is met by her shy and nerdy classmate Martin, who returns a book she dropped outside. That night, the women arrive at Pratt House for their hazing ceremony. During the hazing, which includes the women be forced to hold raw eggs in their mouths, the lights begin to flicker, and the group are terrified when glasses begin flying off a table by themselves. Vivia goes downstairs to investigate noises, and when the women follow, they find her bound to a guillotine and watch her be beheaded. Vivia suddenly emerges from the shadows and picks up the severed head, revealing the entire scenario to be an elaborate prank using a dummy.

The following morning, Martin gives the women a ride to the sorority to receive news of their acceptances or rejections. All three are selected, though Vivia learns that her prank was the only reason for her acceptance. Veronica, the mean sorority's leading member, demands Vivia recreate the prank during an upcoming April Fool's Day masquerade party at Pratt House. At a committee meeting for the university's Greek society, Professor Zito recalls the hazing ritual 22 years ago that resulted in Allan's death by a guillotine. That afternoon, Jennifer, Phoebe, and Vivia set up the prank in Pratt House, and Jennifer tells them she did research showing that Allan was involved in the occult and had conjured evil; she also cites news articles about people going missing in the house, never to be found. Later, Professor Zito inspects the house, and is electrocuted by an assailant in the basement.

At the party that night, Vivia's prank is hatched during Veronica's toast, and Jennifer is dragged into the basement by a hidden cord while the partygoers watch in horror. In the basement, Jennifer and Vivia laugh and quickly prepare Vivia's guillotine stunt, when Jennifer is suddenly overcome and possessed by a spirit. She returns upstairs in silence, and worriedly tells Blake she needs to leave. Vivia follows, aborting the guillotine stunt. As the party filters out, Pam, a sorority sister, is killed with a trident by someone dressed in a diving suit. The same assailant beats Veronica to death with a hammer before using the guillotine to kill Albert, Phoebe's love interest. Blake is subsequently lured into a bathroom. Numerous partygoers are dispatched in swift succession, and Vivia discovers the dismembered body of a delivery boy named Virgil in the refrigerator.

Vivia flees upstairs to retrieve Phoebe, and the two find Blake's drowned corpse in the bathtub. They are subsequently confronted by Jennifer, who reveals herself to be possessed by Allan. Jennifer pursues them with the trident, causing the stairs to collapse as they climb them. They attempt to escape through an upstairs window, but Jennifer throws Vivia to the ground, breaking her legs, before propelling after her. Phoebe climbs down the wall and begins beating Jennifer with a broken board before impaling her through the chest, killing her. Phoebe consoles Vivia, but it is soon apparent that she has been overtaken by Allan's spirit. Police arrive and whisk the two women away together in an ambulance, as Vivia pleads not to be left alone with the possessed Phoebe, who smiles maliciously at her. The ambulance drives away in the night, while Vivia still screams.

'''Brady Darby's Story'''

Sixteen-year-old Brady Wayne Darby and his eight-year-old brother Peter live in Touhy Avenue Trailer-Park with their alcoholic chain-smoking mother Erlene; Erlene's husband had abandoned her shortly after Peter's birth.

Brady, who dreams of buying a car and fleeing the trailer-park, has obtained a part-time job sweeping up the local launderette—from which he often takes a share of the coins in the machines' boxes to supplement his wages. At school, he is on the Football Team; however, he generally does not perform well academically, which causes him to be cut from the athletic squad—with a suggestion from the coach to try the Drama Club.

'''Thomas Carey's Story'''

Forty six-year-old Thomas Carey, a pastor who has never been long at one church, finds a posting in Georgia. While going there, he and his wife Grace visit their twenty four-year-old daughter Ravinia, a law student at Emory University of whose spiritual position they have great concern.

The Careys are eventually driven out of this posting by the Selection Board chairman, who has decided hypocritically (as his own five sons have a combined-total of eight marriages) that Thomas Carey is a poor example of a Christian, having not raised Ravinia properly. They eventually move to Adamsville, OH where Carey is appointed as the chaplain of the Adamsville State Prison, a super-maximum-security facility which houses a death row. ASP's warden, Frank "Yanno" (so nicknamed due to his oft starting sentences with "yeah, no"—a nickname he dislikes to hear) LeRoy allows inmates condemned to death to choose their method of execution, assuming they will choose between: * hanging (he boasts to Carey that ASP is one of the few prisons to still have a gallows) * electrocution * gas-chamber * lethal-injection

When they reach Adamsville, Grace Carey is diagnosed as having a severe form of leukemia, for which inducing remission is possible for short-term, but not permanently.

'''Brady Darby's Conversion'''

After Brady, now 30, is convicted of the horrific murder of twentythree-year-old Katie North (whom he believed to be in love with him), he is sentenced to death speedily—and though there is a mandatory appeals process which can take several (at least three) years, he informs his lawyer that he will be uncooperative so that his execution will be guaranteed. He is taken to ASP in Adamsville.

After his 90-day administrative-break-in period, Brady asks for a meeting with Carey, and is mailed a literature packet (which includes The Romans Road and a modern-English translation of the New Testament). Within a month, he asks for a personal visit from Carey so that he can "confess Christ with his mouth".

About six months into his time at ASP, Brady chooses the method of his execution—crucifixion, complete with thorn-crown and spear-pierce of his side after his death—which surprises not only Carey and Ravinia, but even Yanno who initially reacts that Brady must choose from the four methods he has in-situ. Ravinia is, however, able to persuade Yanno on this, as Brady's idea is to show exactly how ugly and cruel that first-century Roman punishment was. As Ohio's Director Of Corrections and its Governor argue against the appeals—successfully—and anti-death-penalty activists protest against the planned execution, the Government Of Israel donates a cross specifying it as "roughly of original Roman dimensions". Eventually, Brady's request to be crucified is granted—but his requests for thorn-crown and post-mortem piercing are denied.

As the date draws closer, Brady sees his mother claim on TV that she "had raised him to know Jesus" and that she is "glad he is coming back to his faith", and then wailing that she cannot fly from her current address in Florida to visit her son. The International Cable Network, which is covering the execution and its leadup, flies her to Adamsville for a visit. Brady, meanwhile, reads the Bible aloud for other inmates, hoping that some of them will also convert.

Category:2008 American novels Category:American Christian novels

Category:Muskingum County, Ohio Category:Novels set in Ohio

The film is based on the true story of a senior member of the Polish Politburo (played by Donald Sutherland) and his wife (played by Anne Archer) who are both abruptly banished from the party. While they struggle to figure out why, having unusual encounters with people they do not know in the process, things start to take a darker turn when the wife is sent to a mental asylum and their 15-year-old daughter is kidnapped.

The pilot of a space vessel is carrying important cargo vital to the survival of humanity. The pilot is attacked by space pirates and forced to land on the planet Oo-Topos. After landing the pilot is captured and imprisoned in a fortress on the alien world. The pilot must escape confinement, retrieve the precious cargo taken from the crashed ship and get off Oo-Topos with it in order to save the human race from extinction.

A young woman with a troubled past marries a worker from a mechanical engineering factory and tries to live a respectable life. However a man who knows her background attempts to blackmail her and loses her head and kills him. She is sentenced to ten years in prison, and gives birth to a child while in jail.

The film is based on the true story of Bob Champion (portrayed by John Hurt), who was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 1979. After treatment with an operation to remove the diseased testicle and chemotherapy, Champion recovered and went on to win the 1981 Grand National on Aldaniti.

The story begins in Greenwich Village, New York. The main character, Mike de Wolf, is a struggling pianist. His friend, Horace Hackett, is an author and popular pulp fiction writer. Hackett is portrayed in the book as a skilled writer able to quickly produce voluminous amounts of material for pulp magazines. Hackett writes under stress, as he is facing a deadline. Hackett attempts to persuade his book publisher that he has almost finished writing his latest novel, while in actuality he has already depleted his advance payment prior to coming up with an idea for a story. Hackett's publisher pressures him and he rapidly decides to place his friend Mike as the central character in his story.

Hackett writes about Mike as the villain in his book, a swashbuckling adventure story. Mike enters the bathroom of Hackett's basement-level apartment, and hears the sound of someone typing on a typewriter. After electrocuting himself, Mike loses consciousness. He subsequently awakens to find himself on a beach in the year 1640, as a character within his friend's novel. He inspects himself to find he has a saber attached to his person, and is wearing strange attire.

Mike learns he is regarded in this world as the villain, Spanish Admiral Miguel de Lobo, a "pirate potboiler". He knows that the villains in stories written by Hackett often do not come to a favorable end, and is therefore anxious to exit the situation safely. Mike recognizes the specific work into which he has been transported: a tale by his friend called "Blood and Loot". Assuming the role of the villain, Mike realizes he must face off against a formidable opponent in the story, its protagonist named Tom Bristol.

The story takes place on the high seas in the Caribbean during the 17th century during a conflict among colonists. When a major event occurs, Mike hears the sound of a typewriter in the sky. Mike's reality literally changes each time the author makes a change to the story. Mike realizes that during times when he hears the audible sounds of the typewriter, his actions and words are not of his own volition, and when such sounds are absent he is able to make decisions for himself. Mike falls in love with a woman in the story, and grows frustrated after realizing that she is just another of Hackett's fictional creations. At the end of the work, Mike returns to New York, and is left with lingering doubts whether he is still a character in someone else's story. He muses whether a "typewriter in the sky" is creating the world. Mike looks up into the sky in search of this mystical device or its controller: "Abruptly Mike de Wolfe stopped. His jaw slackened a trifle and his hand went up to his mouth to cover it. His eyes were fixed upon the fleecy clouds which scurried across the moon. Up there – God? In a dirty bathrobe?"

Caccia all'uomo

In France, Jean Valjean tries to steal a loaf of bread to feed his grandchildren, but is immediately taken by the police and sentenced to five years in prison, which becomes 18 due to his numerous attempts at escape. After his sentence is served, he is turned away by everyone, with the only positive gesture being given to the bishop of Digne, from whom he had stolen two candelabras, who convinces him to change his life. He then builds a new identity as Mr. Madeleine, and becomes a successful industrialist. During these years, however, Inspector Javert has never stopped looking for Valjean and constantly searches for him. Valjean reacts by attempting to flee, but first fulfills a promise he has made to Fantina, a young woman driven out of the factory after it is discovered she has given birth at a young age and has to take care of her daughter Cosetta. She is temporarily entrusted to Mrs. Thenardier who, despite the money received from Valjean, treats Cosetta as a slave.

Tempesta su Parigi

Fourteen years later, all the characters meet in Paris. Valjean has built a new identity like Leblanc and protects Cosetta, keeping her away from the world and unaware of their past. The Thenardier family runs an inn where Mario, the young revolutionary, is staying, and with whom their daughter is secretly in love. Mario flees from the police and hides in the Leblanc house, where he falls in love with Cosetta. Valjean is discovered by Thenardier, who intends to take revenge but is stopped by Javert.

During the revolutionary uprisings of 1832, the fate of the various characters is fulfilled. Mario is injured and brought by Valjean to his father's home, police minister also thanks to Javert, who finally understands his mistake and leaves him free, but kills himself by leaping into the Seine. Mario reconciles with his father, and he and Cosetta can fulfill their dream of a relationship. They plan to marry, which is halted when Thenardier reappears and dies after shooting Valjean.

Peter Derns is a recently-divorced father and executive for a baked goods company in Portland, Oregon, who has just been released from a clinic after being treated for paranoia. On his first day back at work, he is upset to find that his company has been taken over by a major food conglomerate who are making cutbacks. Peter's ruthless boss and supervisor, Charlene, demands a complete report by Peter on a new product the following day. When Peter's personal assistant, Lance, is unavailable, he frets that he will never make the deadline. But to Peter's good fortune, the company assigns him a temp worker, an attractive young Stanford graduate named Kris Bolin.

Kris quickly endears herself to Peter by solving product issues and proving herself unflaggingly loyal and quick-witted. Simultaneously, various people around the office meet with unfortunate "accidents", beginning when Lance is maimed by a paper shredder, forcing him to take an extended leave of absence. Peter's workplace rival, Hartsell, is subsequently found dead from a wasp sting in his stalled car on the Marquam Bridge, while Jasser is later found hanging in his office in an apparent suicide. Each of these successive deaths give Peter unearned promotions in the company. When Peter inquires about why Kris would take such a low-earning position given her educational background, she tells him she prefers to work temp jobs in order to see how she fits within the company, and that she has yet to find the "right fit." In conversation, Kris explains that a photo of a man and child on her desk is her estranged husband, Mark, and daughter, Lizzy.

After Peter refuses Kris's advances for a sexual relationship, he finds himself the subject of various professional troubles that threaten his career. Believing he is being sabotaged and gaslit, Peter suspects his old friend from a rival company, Montroe, as well as Charlene, whom he theorizes may be trying to save her career by destroying his; he also suspects Kris. Peter begins researching Kris's past with the help of Sara, another secretary, and discovers that Kris's former boss died mysteriously. He also learns that Kris never attended Stanford. Peter confronts her, but she denies his accusations. The following morning, Peter is shunned in the office after someone frames him for leaking confidential company information. However, Kris comes to his aid by accepting responsibility for the "computer error," which earns Peter's promotion to vice president and Kris's promotion to marketing executive.

As a reward, Charlene sends Peter and Kris to the company's bakery on a weekend retreat. En route, they find that the brakes to Kris's car have been tampered with. After checking into the hotel, Peter gets a message from Charlene about an emergency at the bakery. Upon going there, he finds a dead security guard, and Kris, who appears to be suffering from a mild concussion. He is subsequently hit over the head by an unseen assailant. In his disoriented state, Peter wanders out of the office to see Kris struggling with Charlene along a catwalk. Peter intervenes to prevent Charlene from strangling Kris to death. In the melee, Charlene falls from a plank and is left hanging from a railing. He attempts to pull her up but she falls to her death, but not before saying "The picture".

Months later, Peter is rebuilding his relationship with his wife Sharon and their son, and has been made president of the company. As he settles into Charlene's former office, he discovers several identical framed photos left behind of Kris's husband and daughter; he is shocked when Charlene's secretary, Rosemary, explains that the picture frames were a cheap gift from her to Charlene, and that the pictures in them are stock photos the frames came with. Recalling Charlene's final words, Peter realizes that she too had detected Kris's duplicity. Peter confronts Kris about the photo, and accuses her of orchestrating the bakery incident to kill Charlene, and possibly himself. Kris again tries to assuage him, explaining that she presented the photo as her husband and daughter as a means of discouraging male co-workers from hitting on her. Peter, finally realizing that Kris is a master manipulator and sociopath, knows he cannot prove her culpability in any of the events. To rid himself of Kris once and for all, Peter simply fires her, and orders her detained until the police can escort her out.

Wildlife photographer Katy Mazur is sent to Africa on an assignment by her fiancé Dex Dellum to track down the rare bird falcon talon. While there, she meets a parachuter named Grant Orion, whom she has an affair with. Little does she know, he is there to rescue her from becoming a target of an assassin organisation.

Two petty thieves plan a much bigger scam than they usually practice, but complications ensue.

Zetterstrøm (Ulrich Thomsen) once had a love affair with a woman (Helena Christensen), then left her and forgot all about his past, in favour of his musical career. While he is away from Copenhagen, a supernatural incident occurs, making the central part of Copenhagen inaccessible, over time it becomes impossible to enter the area due to some invisible shield. When Zetterstrøm returns to Copenhagen, he is oblivious to this incident and is guided by a mysterious man (Henning Moritzen) into the zone. Inside the zone, Zetterstrøm must re-experience his unresolved and traumatic love affair.

Nancy's friend Bess has been hired by Special Effects, a River Heights company, to decorate Albemarle's department store for the holidays. When Bess discovers that her friend Ali Marie is now working at that store, she is thrilled — the two of them can have lunch and try on clothes for fun! However, when some dresses are swiped, Ali is accused of stealing and the party is over. Sure of her friend's innocence, Bess calls Nancy to help find the real thief. With all the suspects and misleading clues, Nancy and her friends are running in circles — and the holiday shopping rush isn't helping! But with all the difficulties they figure out that Bess's boss Wayne is the real thief.

Nancy, George and Elsa are enjoying a horse ride, when Nancy's horse falls into a hole while attempting a four-foot jump over a post-and-rail.

Elsa is a counselor at Green Spring Pony Club summer camp, which has been vandalised by unknown persons. The owner, Mrs Rogers, is getting worried. Nancy, disguised as a counselor, tries to figure out who the culprit is. As more incidents happen, the more Nancy realizes she has to work quickly. Will Nancy and her friends be able to keep the Green Spring Farm going?

Inspector Ghote is tasked by his Superintendent to attend the London police conference and present a prepared speech. On arrival at the airport, Ghote is met by his cousins, Mr and Mrs Datta, who run a London restaurant. Their niece, 17-year-old Ranee – known as the "Peacock" for her brightness – has disappeared. The family suspects her boyfriend, 35-year-old pop music star Johnny Bull. Ghote interviews the Peacock's friends, who believe she has been murdered but don't know who did it.

Ghote pays a visit to Johnny, who claims to have not seen the Peacock since she disappeared and has taken up with another girl, Susan. Johnny, a self-confessed opium user, informs Ghote that the Peacock herself acquired drugs from a local public house known as the "Robin's Nest". There, Ghote extracts a confession from the owner of having supplied opium to Peacock. He learns of a protection racket being run by the Smith brothers and is surprised to find that the Peacock's uncle, Vidur Datta, is an opium user.

Later, Ghote manages to confront the Smith brothers at their home, only to find himself in immediate danger. He is rescued by a passing policeman, who warns him not to interfere with a Scotland Yard investigation into the brothers. Finding no help from the British police and believing he is at a dead end to his enquiries, Ghote decides to drop the case. Mrs Datta quickly changes his mind by making it an issue of professional pride.

Ghote keeps watch on the Smith home the following night and gains access while they are out. While talking to their mother, he learns they were in police custody during the Peacock's disappearance. Returning to the "Robin's Nest," Ghote accuses the owner of lying and attempting to steer him into harm's way. However, Ghote satisfies himself that the man could not have murdered the Peacock.

Ghote attempts to interview Johnny again, but fails to get past Susan. He learns that Johnny will be at a particular recording studio that afternoon. Returning to the conference, Ghote listens to a superb presentation and learns that his own presentation must follow it the next day. He begins to become nervous about addressing a crowd. At the recording studio, Ghote conceals himself and eavesdrops on Susan, realising that Johnny could not have kidnapped or murdered the Peacock.

Ghote is scolded by the Dattas for his lack of progress and develops a cold as a result of the British climate. He finds the conference has moved into a much larger and grander room for the conference's final day, when he will give his speech. Nervous and irritated by the tardiness of the conference's emcee, Ghote makes a botch of his presentation. Frustrated and angry at everything that has happened, he adds what he has learned about Johnny's opium habit and walks out.

That evening at his cousin's restaurant, Ghote realises he has solved the mystery of the Peacock's disappearance. Ghote accuses his cousin, Vidur Datta, of murdering the Peacock because she was blackmailing him with his secret opium habit. The body is concealed under the restaurant's rubbish. No sooner has Ghote forced Mr Datta to confess than the police arrive, eager to congratulate him on the information he supplied about Johnny. It is revealed that Johnny has confessed to smuggling drugs in the Indian harmonium he used for his latest songs.

After a gathering with Chuck, his family and Morgan for pizza, Sarah returns to her apartment where she is assaulted by a masked intruder. Following a short and inconclusive fight, her opponent unmasks herself to reveal an old DEA friend code-named "Carina" (played by Mini Anden) who has come to request Sarah's help in recovering a stolen diamond.

The following morning Chuck sees Carina on his way out of his apartment while she's loitering outside by the fountain. He joins Casey and Sarah in a briefing with their superiors, and they are ordered to assist Carina with the recovery of the diamond from Peyman Alahi, who they believe intends to use it to finance drug smuggling operations. Sarah introduces Carina to her "team," though Casey and Carina are already acquainted. Carina is immediately curious about Chuck but Sarah deflects her interest. Before they can leave Morgan sees and is smitten by Carina.

Later, Carina approaches Chuck at the Buy More to question him further, but he evades her when Sarah arrives. Sarah confronts Carina, and while Chuck watches with Jeff and Lester, Morgan pesters Chuck to be fixed up. Chuck relents and asks Sarah to fix Morgan up while prompting her to refuse, but Sarah agrees anyway. The four spend the evening at Chuck's house, where Chuck lets slip that he knows about Carina's past missions. He receives a late-night support request while working on-call for the Nerd Herd and arrives at the location to discover that Carina faked the call to get him away from Sarah. She reveals that only someone with very high security clearance could have seen her file, and when Chuck attempts to deflect her questioning Carina attempts to seduce him. She also reveals that Sarah and Bryce were together before he went rogue.

The next day Chuck, Sarah and Carina infiltrate Alahi's compound for reconnaissance, using Chuck's flashes to map out his security systems. They sneak into the vault where the diamond is kept, where Alahi confronts them. Sarah and Carina take advantage of his infatuation to learn about the security around the diamond. While Sarah distracts him Carina and Chuck take a closer look, and Chuck flashes on a high-voltage security system. Carina improvises and uses a fire extinguisher to safely remove the diamond, and escapes to the beach. Carina plays on Chuck's trusting nature to make off with the diamond and leave them on the beach, though Chuck and Sarah are rescued by Casey.

Casey is sent to recover the diamond from Carina, but she plants it on Morgan, who came to her hotel to see her. She is cornered by Casey, but easily seduces him. Sarah arrives to find him in his underwear and handcuffed to the bed. While playing video games with Morgan, Chuck stumbles across the diamond when he goes to grab a game out of Morgan's backpack. He flashes on the gem and realizes it's not a drug diamond, but is being used to fund terrorists. He calls Sarah with the revelation, but she and Casey have been captured by Alahi, who demands its return. Carina breaks in and tries to steal it back, but Chuck plays on her conscience to help him rescue Sarah. Carina and Chuck confront Alahi to arrange the exchange in the lobby, while Casey escapes confinement upstairs. A fight breaks out, and while Sarah and Carina take on Alahi and his men Chuck flees with the diamond and locks himself in the mail room. He quickly addresses a package and, when one of Alahi's henchmen breaks in, threatens to drop it in the mail slot as he doesn't know where it will be going. Casey arrives and disables the goon, and Chuck accidentally drops the diamond.

Beckman and Graham congratulate the team on stopping Alahi. As the briefing ends a package is delivered to Graham, containing the diamond. The team and Carina say their farewells, but not before Carina tries to come on to Chuck one last time. When he asks her why, she leaves him saying that she always goes after what Sarah wants. Chuck tries to deflect the comment but Carina tells him not even Sarah knows it yet. Chuck later brings pizza to Sarah's apartment to discuss his trust issues with Carina. Sarah smiles to see Chuck noticed she doesn't like olives (she picked them off her pizza during the opening scene with Chuck's family, and the double-date with Morgan and Carina). Chuck says that the fact she doesn't like olives is the only thing he knows about her that is real. He asks her if she can at least tell him something real about herself, such as her real name or where she grew up, or even her middle name. With each one Chuck asks of her, Sarah remains silent. Giving up, Chuck says he's going to get napkins. As he walks away, Sarah whispers "It's Lisa. My middle name is Lisa."

Children play outside a rural Colorado home. They belong to Orville Beecham (Charles Dierkop) and his three wives. Two masked men pull up in a truck and wait for the children to go inside. They proceed to kill the three mothers, who are sister wives, and the children. The police arrive before the father, Orville, who returns to find his family massacred.

Arriving on the scene with the chief of police, Barney Doyle (Daniel Benzali) is a Denver newspaper reporter, Garret Smith (Charles Bronson). They were having lunch with a wealthy local businessman, Homer Foxx (Laurence Luckinbill), to discuss how to get Barney elected Denver mayor when Barney was called about the murders.

Garret does a news story on the massacre. Orville is in a local jail, there "for his own protection." Orville is reluctant to talk to Garret but does reveal that his father, Willis Beecham (Jeff Corey), may have been involved. Willis lives in a compound with his followers. He is an excommunicated fundamentalist Mormon who practices polygamy, as do his son and followers. Willis is the sect's prophet.

Willis tells the reporter that he believes that it was his brother, Zenas Beecham (John Ireland), who killed Orville's family. Willis and Zenas are alienated from each other by a doctrinal dispute.

Garret, aided by a local editor named Jastra Watson (Trish Van Devere), begins to investigate if Zenas could be behind the killings. Zenas lives in a different Colorado county on a large farm that happens to sit on an artesian lake that a large corporation, The Colorado Water Company, has wanted for years. Zenas tells the reporter that Willis probably killed the family of his own son because Willis preaches blood atonement. The symbol of both brothers is an avenging angel, which is alleged to be an early Mormon symbol with a doctrinal counterpart reflecting the idea of blood atonement.

As soon as Orville is released from jail, he returns to his father's compound and plots to attack Zenas in retaliation. Garret tries to warn Zenas, but it's too late. Armed men back each man and they open fire. Garret gets them to agree to a cease fire, but a third-party shoots Zenas (not one of the followers) and the shooting begins again. Zenas and Willis both are killed.

Garret realizes what is happening—The Colorado Water Company is behind everything. The company has hired an assassin (John Solari) and a junior partner (Gene Davis) to murder Orville's family, counting on the feud between the brothers to eliminate the rest.

Garret is approached by the junior assassin to make a deal, but the senior assassin kills his partner. It turns out the person who hired the assassin is Foxx, the businessman trying to get the police chief elected mayor.

The assassin shows up at a fundraising party for Doyle thrown by Foxx, where he attempts to kill Garret. The reporter gains the upper hand and gets the assassin to reveal that it was Foxx who was responsible for all of the murders. Foxx steals the chief's gun and kills himself.

An unmarried, middle-aged woman accidentally becomes pregnant by an internationally renowned pianist and decides to keep and raise the baby on her own.

A family of three, mother Deborah (Lisa Vidal), father Jim (David Chisum) and son Ian (Joshua Pelegrin) move to L.A. from Seattle after Deb is entranced by a house with beautiful glass pane windows. As the family settles in, Deb attempts to resume her career as a photographer while simultaneously taking care of her son as Jim is usually working late. After having some strange experiences with the mirrors and windows in the house, she talks to her chatty neighbor, who tells her a famous artist and his family used to reside there until they mysteriously disappeared. Her mother also visits and tells Deb that in Feng Shui window panes are used to trap evil spirits and stop them from harming anyone.

Yet, as Deb continues to experience strange occurrences and explores the dark history of the house, she becomes convinced that something evil resides within the mirrors and windows. When people she has photographed start dying, she is convinced that the evil spirit has infiltrated her camera lens and is killing people. First, the interviewer who makes fun of Deb is killed, then a woman who shouts at Deb for damaging her car while parking, and then the lurking old neighbour woman. Deb finds out that everyone she takes snapshots of with her camera dies, and the bodies go missing. She tells this to her husband, but he thinks she's sick. She shows him a mysterious door that does not exist but is seen in the mirror only; Jim being tired, gets confused and tells her to discuss it with him the next day. Her mother, however, believes her and guides her.

In her chimney, she finds a painting of the previous owner's wife along with a diary, reading which Deb finds out that the wife (Elenor) of previous owner Rupert Wills (a painter) was also a painter and her husband was selling her paintings in his own name because Rupert's painting were not good enough to sell. Elenor was scared of her husband and he made her a prisoner in the house. Elenor kept drawing things and the things soon started to become reality due to the evil trapping mirrors in the house. She kept looking for the exit but couldn't find any. One day Jim is talking formally to the beautiful neighbour Tammy, but when Deb sees them through a glass window she sees them as flirting; she gets mad at Tammy and takes a snapshot of her with her camera. At night she smokes and falls asleep. In her dream she sees Tammy dying. When she wakes up, she's sure about the camera and looks for the camera. She finds it in her son's room with pictures of Jim and Ian. She freaks out and breaks the camera. When the camera lens still glitters, she realizes that it is the mirror that has evil. She looks for the diary and tries to find the escape/exit. She finds a hidden safe in a wall and there is a gun in it. She sees someone around the house and shoots him, but the person turns out to be Jim. He ties her and tells her that she's been killing everyone. Deb tells him about Elenor and Rupert, but Jim does not believe her. In the morning when Jim and Ian are sleeping, Deb's mother wakes and unties her and she goes to the mirror where she finds out that it is Elenor who's trapped in the mirror and killing people using Deb's body. She kills Jim walking through the mirrors, and is going to kill Ian when Deb stabs herself, killing Elenor as well. She takes Jim's body and herself to the mysterious door and hence disappears like the other bodies.

The police are confused by seeing blood trails ending into a wall. A female police officer takes picture of the mirror and sees a ghost, implying that Elenor still exists and has possessed the policewoman.

Set in Paris, France, in 1940 in the early days of World War II before the German invasion and conquest of France, Elena Martin (Audie England) is a young American writer struggling to get by in Paris while searching for inspiration for her first novel. Elena meets and has a sordid affair with a fellow American expatriate named Lawrence Walters (Costas Mandylor). With some encouragement from her friends, her lover, and her publisher, Elena gets involved in nude modeling and progresses onward through many other forms of voyeuristic and participatory sexual adventures as she further researches for inspiration to write her book and become an author of erotic fiction.

Marcello Curti is a young man who is part of a middle-class family. In spite of his appearances, however, he conducts trafficking in dirty money by acting as an intermediary between the large foreign mafia clans and his fellow villagers.

During his usual bargaining, a fight breaks out between the two sides and the buyer of US dollars is fatally wounded by a gunshot. Immediately after the fight, the police are called and the killer manages to escape, leaving Curti alone with the body.

The young man is therefore accused of manslaughter, and therefore begins a long series of interrogations administered by the police inspector and the sergeant. Although the evidence seems overwhelming, the police inspector is convinced that the young Curti is not the perpetrator, so he leaves him on parole; later, however, he has him tailed to control all the boy's movements.

In the meantime, however, Marcello Curti begins his own investigation to search for the real killer, helped by his faithful girlfriend. Determined to take justice by himself, the young Curti arrives on the trail of the murderer, thanks to a detail found on the corpse previously analyzed.

In the end, a fight takes place between Marcello Curti and the murderer, named Alfredo; following a ferocious chase, Curti manages to kill the culprit. Meanwhile, the police station had followed the whole affair, intervening in the middle of the final confrontation. The young Curti therefore manages to prove his innocence before the court and can thus begin to live peacefully again, no longer having to deal with the trafficking that previously saw him as a protagonist.

Nino Martoni is the manager of a ramshackle show company. Her dancers include Lucy, the soubrette, capricious and obstinate, Franca, who left her beloved boyfriend Carlo with bitterness and suffering, because he was too poor for her ambitions, who aspires to a comfortable and luxurious life and Vera, in love , reciprocated by Mario, the son of a rich and wealthy bourgeois.

The troupe is joined by Margherita, who has fled from the village and is wanted by the police on behalf of her parents, who is welcomed by the manager moved by the frightened and melancholy girl.

When Lucy, after yet another altercation with Nino, leaves the company, this replaces her with Margherita who reveals unsuspected skills as a dancer and singer. The success of the girl, renamed Rita Buton, in the Alambra in Rome is overwhelming and the highly satisfied impresario of the theater signs a contract with the company for 2 months.

Unfortunately, success and fame will not be for everyone:

Franca reluctantly accepts the attentions of a very rich, but slippery and repulsive entrepreneur, attracted by the comfortable life that he can offer her and which she yearns for. She will then end up committing suicide shortly after the wedding by throwing herself out of a window, when her repellent husband introduces her to his newly hired technical director, who is none other than Carlo, who in the meantime has managed to make his talent appreciated and to patent one of his invention.

Mario's father joins his son who has run away from home to run after his beloved, still a minor. In the police station, where the girl is summoned together with Nino, accused of circumvention of minors, however the unexpected happens when Vera recognizes in the man, the guy who had given her a lift with the car and who had tried, in vain, to abuse her. At that point Mario's father, bitterly opposed to his son's relationship with a dancer, realizes that Vera is a good and serious girl and accepts her by apologizing and withdrawing her complaint. Vera, radiant and happy, prefers marriage to her career.

Meanwhile Nino, in love with the beautiful Rita, is ready to make his declaration of love with a precious ring as a gift, but unseen attends an important offer of engagement of the girl by a well-known and prestigious theatrical impresario of Milan , who witnessed the show was favorably impressed by the young woman's talent.

Nino, reluctantly, sacrificing her feeling for Rita and not wanting to compromise the young woman's career, takes her in a bad way, even driving her out of her company. The girl, bewildered, unable to understand the man's behavior, runs away from the theater crying and goes to sign the contract with the Milan impresario.

By now Margherita, alias Rita Buton, has become a famous and acclaimed soubrette; Nino secretly goes to the theater where she is performing a show and leaves an anonymous bouquet of flowers at the entrance to be given to the girl.

Nino is left with the rest of the company, in which he resumes Lucy, meanwhile without a job, continuing to direct the shows despite the difficulties.

For a native New Yorker, Stewart Lewis (Gabe Kaplan) has a strange—some would say twisted—ambition: he wants to own a country-music club. His wife and kids hate the idea. Despite their misgivings, Stewart moves his family to Luckenbach, Texas, where he bought the Nassau County Cafe, a joint that has had nine owners in the last six years and sports a sign that says "Always Under New Management". While his sidekick Roscoe Clark (Guich Koock) stands by, Stewart lets fly one-liners and bad puns.

The series featured an episode with guest appearances by Robert Hegyes and Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, who were two of Kaplan's co-stars on ''Welcome Back, Kotter''. At one point during the episode, Hegyes' character tells Lewis, "You should have been a teacher."

Meat Boy lives with his girlfriend Bandage Girl. One day, Bandage Girl is kidnapped by Dr. Fetus, an intelligent fetus in a life support suit. Meat Boy then goes after Fetus, until Fetus burns down the forest and tries to kill Meat Boy in his "Lil Slugger", which is destroyed after Meat Boy tricks him into running into a bunch of saws. Fetus escapes to an abandoned hospital, where Fetus unleashes C.H.A.D., a giant monster made of blood. Meat Boy shows the sun to the monster and redeems him, but then goes after Fetus, who goes to his salt factory. There, a clone of Meat Boy made of faeces called Brownie is created, leading to a race between the two, presumably killing Brownie. Fetus goes to Hell, where Meat Boy discovers that every time he dies, his corpse goes to Hell. Little Horn, a Meat Boy-esque monster made up of these corpses attacks Meat Boy. Fetus escapes and triggers a nuke, which opens a path to the top world. Meat Boy is lured to fight Larries Lament, three worms who inspire the Larry Jr. boss from The Binding of Isaac.

In the final level, Dr. Fetus runs after Meat Boy, who destroys the bridge he is on, destroying Fetus's life support system. Fetus tries to kill Meat Boy and Bandage Girl by blowing up his facility, but Brownie appears and saves the two while sacrificing himself. As Bandage Girl hugs Meat Boy after escaping, Fetus suddenly lands on Bandage Girl and tries to pummel her as the game cuts to credits. If Dr. Fetus is beaten in the Dark World, it is shown that Fetus's attacks were ineffective and Bandage Girl proceeds to stomp on him.

In the future, the eyes of all humans are revealed as intelligent unto themselves, having merely used humans as their hosts. They leave their bodies and fly to the moon, develop weapons, and attack the human race, capturing several Asian countries, including China, Thailand, and Korea. Humanity sends two blinded pilot brothers, Mickey R. Dole and Mackey I. Dole, who both possess a sixth sense, to defeat the invaders. The pilots cover their eyes with different methods - a double eyepatch and shaded glasses. Each pilot's custom fighter uses a different attacking technique.

At the top of the Empire State Building, Zeus meets Poseidon, accusing Poseidon's demigod son, Percy Jackson, of stealing Zeus' master lightning bolt. Poseidon reminds his brother that Percy is unaware of his true identity, but Zeus declares that unless the bolt is returned to Mount Olympus before midnight of the Summer Solstice, in two weeks, war will be waged between all the gods.

Sixteen-year-old Percy struggles with dyslexia and ADHD, but has a unique ability to stay underwater. On a school trip, Percy is attacked by Alecto, a Fury masquerading as his substitute English teacher, who demands the lightning bolt. Percy's best friend Grover Underwood and his Latin teacher Mr. Brunner help scare off Alecto. Mr. Brunner gives Percy a pen which he claims is a very powerful cosmic weapon, and instructs Grover to take Percy and his mother Sally to Camp Half-Blood — a hidden summer camp for demigod children on Long Island, leaving behind Sally's abusive husband, Gabe Ugliano. There, they are attacked by the Minotaur, who seemingly kills Percy's mother. Percy discovers that Mr. Brunner's pen is a magical sword, and uses to fight off the Minotaur, killing it with its own horn.

Waking up three days later, Percy learns he is the son of Poseidon, Grover is a satyr and Percy’s protector, and "Mr. Brunner" is Chiron, a centaur. Percy starts coming into his latent demigod powers, which include hydrokinesis and healing, and meets other demigods, including Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena; and the camp's leader Luke Castellan, son of Hermes. Percy is visited by an apparition of Hades, who reveals that the Minotaur abducted Sally to the Underworld to trade for the lightning bolt. Defying Chiron's orders, Percy sets out for the Underworld with Grover and Annabeth. Luke gives Percy a map with the location of three green pearls belonging to Hades' wife, Persephone, which will allow them to escape the Underworld. Percy is also given a pair of flying winged shoes stolen from Hermes, and Luke's favorite shield. Meanwhile, Percy is declared a missing person.

At a garden centre in New Jersey, with help from Grover and Annabeth, Percy manage to decapitate Medusa and takes the first pearl from her corpse. At the Parthenon in Nashville, Percy uses the shoes to retrieve the second pearl from the crown of the statue of Athena there, and Grover kills a Hydra with Medusa's head. The trio arrive at the Lotus Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas to obtain the third pearl; however, they forget their mission after eating lotus flowers, the effects from which causes them to lose sense of time. Percy snaps out from the spell after hearing the voice of his father, Poseidon, through telepathy telling him not to eat any more flowers. Percy frees Grover and Annabeth from the flowers' effects; they locate the final pearl in the casino and escape the hotel. Annabeth realizes that they only have one day left to prevent the gods' war, as they were in the casino for five days. They discover that the Underworld is in Hollywood and race there. With all three pearls, Percy, Grover, and Annabeth enter the portal to the Underworld upon arriving in Hollywood.

In the Underworld, Hades finds the lightning bolt hidden inside Luke's shield, revealing that Luke was the thief all along. Hades tries to kill the trio, but Persephone turns on him in retaliation for imprisoning her, and gives the bolt to Percy. As they only have three pearls, Grover remains behind, while Percy, Annabeth, and Sally teleport to the Empire State Building, the entrance to Mount Olympus. However, before they can enter, they are ambushed by Luke, who reveals that he stole the bolt to demolish Mount Olympus and establish the demigods as new rulers of Western civilization. After a battle across Manhattan, Percy seemingly kills Luke, returns the lightning bolt to Zeus, and reconciles with his father Poseidon. Having been reunited with Grover, Percy and Annabeth continue to train.

In a mid-credits scene, Sally has kicked Gabe out of her apartment. He returns to get a beer and, upon opening the refrigerator, is turned to stone by Medusa's head.

Marianne (Greta Garbo) is a poor French country girl who goes to Paris in the 1860s to seek her fortune as an actress. As she rises to success in the theatre, she must choose between the romantic attentions of two men. The first is Lucien (Lars Hanson), a poor but passionate young soldier who deserts the army to be with Marianne and goes to jail after stealing a dress to give her. Her other suitor is Henry Legrand (Lowell Sherman), a wealthy middle-aged Paris producer who offers her fame and fortune.

Zakes (William Ash) and his girlfriend Beth (Christine Bottomley) are travelling along the M1 motorway at night, bickering over the fragility of their strained relationship. While Beth is asleep, a large white truck overtakes Zakes and its tailgate momentarily slides up, revealing a naked woman, bound and bloodied in a cage, screaming for help. He immediately calls 999 but is unable to provide a number plate as it is covered in dirt.

Zakes follows the truck and, when they come to a standstill in a queue of traffic, he gets out and goes to the truck, managing to slide his hand under the tailgate to take a photograph using Beth's mobile phone. It appears to be nothing more than a white blur from the flash but Zakes later suspects it could be a hand. When the traffic starts moving, Zakes is unable to follow the truck, making Beth furious, claiming he never takes responsibility for anything.

They stop at a service station; Beth ends their relationship and tells Zakes she will find her own way home. Back at the car, Zakes sees the truck pull up, and watches a man in a dark hooded jacket go inside. Zakes follows to try and find Beth but she is nowhere to be seen. He alerts two security men about her disappearance but they do not believe him. Zakes later finds Beth's necklace in the car park. Believing she has been taken by the man in the truck, he decides to follow it, but upon returning to his car, finds his tyre has been punctured by a group of rowdy football fans. Zakes steals a car from a woman getting fuel at the station.

Meanwhile, one of the security guards decides to look through the CCTV footage. He sees Beth entering the station by herself and sees that she leaves through the back door with a man in a hooded jacket. Suddenly, he is killed by the other security guard who is revealed to be connected with the kidnappings. Zakes follows the truck to a site that is full of identical white trucks. A police officer arrives and arrests Zakes, believing he is trespassing. Zakes begs the officer to check all of the vehicles before they go. When the officer does, he is killed by the hooded man.

Zakes manages to escape from the police car and flees back to his car. Suddenly, a distraught woman appears claiming she has been kidnapped. He lets her in and drives to a nearby house in order to call for help. The elderly couple living there cautiously invite them in; the bloodied woman offers to call the police but cuts the phone line beforehand, revealing she too is part of the plan. She cuts the power in the house, kills the elderly couple and then attacks Zakes. He wakes up with his hands nailed to the floorboards. When he manages to get free, a fight ensues; Zakes overpowers her and finally kills her by stabbing her in the eye with one of the nails.

Zakes goes back to the truck site and finds Beth chained up in a cage outside. She tells Zakes the keys are with the man who is showering inside. Zakes goes inside and finds several other women locked up and gagged; it is revealed they are being used for human trafficking. Zakes manages to retrieve the keys and returns to Beth to help her escape first, but they hear the man coming and Zakes is forced to flee. A cat-and-mouse game begins when he realises Zakes is hiding on the site somewhere. He calls the woman's phone, which Zakes has on him, and follows the ring to where he is. However, Zakes has left the phone on the seat in an empty truck and is hiding in the forklift nearby. When the man steps into the right spot, Zakes pushes a button and the crane releases a heavy load onto the attacker, killing him.

One year later, at a service station, a man is seen picking out a book entitled "Traffic"; Zakes has written a non-fiction story based on the events he and Beth went through. The driver is revealed to be the security guard who killed his partner earlier in the film. He purchases the book, goes out to his truck (a white truck identical to the killers) and drives off.

Newspaper reporter Vanessa Trojan (Lindsay Calkins) is sent to "Anywhere, Washington," to do a feature on two female racing legends. When the women, Jo Leene Dodge (Melene Marie Brown) and Betty Petty (Kimberly Lynn Layfield), take her to a rockabilly house party, a glowing light appears in the night sky and people begin to feel ill. The party ends with a huge fight between Jo Leene and her jealous rival Vikki Lee. The next morning Vicki Lee has disappeared, leaving only a few severed fingers on the seat of her car. Jo Leene is accused of her murder. But when more people turn up missing or dead, Anywhere's only detective, Detective Lloyd (Jimmi Davies), realizes that this is much bigger than a simple murder case.

Ageha Shiroi finds out her sister, Hibari, is pregnant and she will have to be married in less than a month. When shopping with her friend, Mamoru, they meet Yukari Arisaka and Mitsuya Kuromine. Ageha finds out that the bridal store that Hibari is going to is owned by the two men. But during one of their visits, Ageha loses her temper about the wedding and accidentally injures Mitsuya's hand.

To make up for it, Ageha decides to help finish Hibari's wedding dress. Soon after the wedding in volume 2, Yukari offers a part-time job for Ageha at V.B.R. Ageha accepts this job, not knowing that it will ultimately change her life, and cause her to make new friendships-and even love.

A boy named Bobby, gets a lesson in school about how to properly massage his gums to take care of his teeth. After class is dismissed, Bobby is offered by one of his friends in to an ice cream shop to have a sundae and go fishing. Bobby turns it down because his extremely strict, cold-hearted, and mean father (Billy Bletcher) wouldn't let him. On the way home, Bobby finds a beagle named Joseph and takes him home. They sneak into the house where Bobby cleans him up in order to convince his father to keep him. However, Bobby's father, who wakes up just in time to hear Joseph's barking coming from the upstairs bathroom, angrily scares Joseph away and Joseph hides in the house. He then cruelly and unfairly sends Bobby to his room without supper for disobeying him. Muttering about his son, he steps on a rollerskate and falls down the stairs. He brutally walks back upstairs to Bobby's room to punish him, but Bobby is not there and he begins looking for him. The gnomes and elves on the wallpaper in Bobby's room come alive and knock Bobby's father unconscious and take him into the forest scene in the wallpaper.

He wakes up in a stock before a judge and jury, where he learns that he is charged with being "neurotic and erratic." Joseph the beagle appears in the scene and gives a false testimony that the father "hit him, and then he kicked him." The jury finds that he "has no mentality" because he does not massage his gums, and is "childlike in his dental knowledge" despite the fact that he attended college, and so finds him guilty. The judge then reveals himself to be Bobby, and he sentences his father to the "youth machine," The father is falls through a trap door in the ground, sliding down a series of curved slides before falling through an open hatch in the youth machine. He is then battered by two boxing gloves, that disorient and position him in the center of the machine where a hydraulic press squashes him down to a shorter size. A large metal spoon spins and rises up from the floor underneath him, knocking him off his feet. He is then strapped into a crude barber chair where gloved mechanical hand pulls on his nose, snapping it back and leaving it button shaped. Next his hair is shaved, a strange dollop of some kind of substance is applied to his forehead. Finally a steam press like machine comes down over him, ejecting his clothing in every direction before lifting and revealing it had successful regressed the adult into a baby. The baby cries defiantly as the machine powders his behind before diapering and rubbing the nipple of a bottle against his mouth. Bobby's father wakes up from Joseph the beagle licking his face, explaining the sensation of the bottle being rubbed against him. His behavior changes when he sees the Ipana toothpaste sign that concludes that Bobby is smart and begins acting kinder to him. Bobby, his father, and his friends all go out for sundaes and go fishing in the river.

''The Cake Eaters'' is a small-town, ensemble drama that explores the lives of two interconnected families coming to terms with love in the face of loss. Living in rural America, the Kimbrough family are a conflicted bunch: Easy, the patriarch and local butcher, is grieving over the recent loss of his wife, Ceci, while hiding a secret ongoing affair for years; Beagle, his youngest son who was left to care for his ailing mother, works in the local high school cafeteria by day but has a burning passion inside that manifests itself through painting street signs; and the eldest son, Guy, has been away from the family for years while pursuing his rock star dream in the big city until the day he learns of his mother's death and that he has missed the funeral.

Upon Guy's return home, relationships between the characters begin to unravel: Beagle's pent up emotions connect with Georgia Kaminski, a terminally ill teenage girl wanting to experience love before it is too late; Easy's long-time affair with Marg, Georgia's eccentric grandmother, is finally exposed to the Kimbrough children; and Guy discovers that in his absence his high school sweetheart, Stephanie, has moved on and started a family of her own. Consequently, The Kimbroughs and Kaminskis manage to establish new beginnings in facing their varied relationships.

When Teresa (played by Vanessa Bauche) was left in Mexico by a husband who hiked it up to Montreal, Quebec, Canada, she followed in search of him with the help of Fenton (played by Jesse Aaron Dwyre), a grocery-store stock boy, but little does her new companion know of the mystery surrounding this mistress and her equally enigmatic ex-suitor. This emotionally ambitious and frequently comedic feature follows the two as they travel across Montreal, often encountering colorful characters who lead them to the final denouement, where Teresa will have more explaining to do than she ever expected.

Betty Anne Waters' life revolves around her brother Kenneth, who is now in jail for murder. Despite Kenny's knack for getting in trouble, they have always been close. After the murder of Katherina Reitz Brow on May 21, 1980, in Ayer, Massachusetts, Kenny is initially taken in for questioning by Sergeant Nancy Taylor, but released. Two years later, based on new testimony from two witnesses, Kenny is arrested and tried. The evidence presented at Kenny's trial is entirely circumstantial, but he is convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole. The three main witnesses against him are Sergeant Taylor, his ex-wife Brenda, and ex-girlfriend Roseanna.

Three years later, Betty Anne lives with her husband, Rick and two sons, Richard and Ben. She is frantic that she has not heard from Kenny, who calls her every week from prison, and finally discovers that he tried to commit suicide. Betty Anne decides to go back to school and become a lawyer so she can exonerate him, but her husband is skeptical and unsupportive, and eventually they split up and later divorce. As Betty Anne struggles with being a working mother attending law school, flashbacks reveal that her mother was callous and uncaring, forcing Kenny and Betty Anne to fend for themselves. The two were very close, but frequently got into trouble, and were eventually taken away from their mother and sent to separate foster homes.

Betty Anne continues to visit Kenny in prison, working in a bar while going to school, but her busy schedule causes her to miss a planned outing with her sons, who decide they would be better off living with their father. Struggling in school, demoralized and exhausted, Betty Anne stops going to classes, until a friend from school, Abra, comes to her house and prods her to just get up, get dressed, and get back to class.

In a study group, Betty Anne learns about the new field of DNA testing and realizes that this could be the key to overturning Kenny's conviction, as only blood types had been matched at the time of the trial. She contacts attorney Barry Scheck from the Innocence Project. The backlog of cases will mean waiting at least 18 months unless she can pass the bar exam and find the blood evidence from Kenny's trial herself to have it tested. She passes the bar exam and begins working hard to get her brother out of jail. At first she is stonewalled, then told the evidence was destroyed, but she refuses to give up, and she and Abra embark on an odyssey to recover any evidence that might still be stored away somewhere.

In the process, Betty Anne learns that Nancy Taylor was fired from the police department for fabricating evidence in another case, which deepens Betty Anne's suspicions about Kenny's conviction and the evidence presented at trial. She is told that the evidence has been moved to the courthouse but after 10 years it was destroyed. Refusing to give up, she and Abra travel to Ayer and personally ask the courthouse supervisor to look through the records and the evidence is found. The DNA results come back and establish that the blood was not Kenny's. Betty Anne and Kenny are overjoyed anticipating his release, but Martha Coakley, of the District Attorney's office, refuses to vacate the conviction, claiming that there was still enough evidence to convict Kenny as an accomplice. Kenny is convinced that no matter what, the authorities will find a way to keep him in prison to avoid admitting their mistake. Betty Anne is heartbroken again, but refuses to give up after Scheck advises her that their discovery not only proves Kenny's innocence, but also that the main witnesses against him were lying.

Betty Anne, Abra, and Scheck visit the other two main trial witnesses, Kenny's ex-wife and his ex-girlfriend. Both tearfully confess that Sergeant Taylor coerced them into perjuring themselves at Kenny's trial. With an affidavit from Kenny's ex-wife and the DNA evidence, Kenny's conviction is vacated and he is freed from prison in June 2001. Betty Anne is able to persuade his daughter, Mandy, whom he hadn't had any contact with since she was a small child, that he never stopped trying to reach out to her while he was in prison. He is able to reconnect with his daughter, and is reunited with his sister and her sons.

The epilogue states that Betty Anne continues to work at the bar as well as with the Innocence Project to prevent wrongful convictions. She also won a major settlement against the Ayer police department for Kenny's conviction although Nancy Taylor (whom she also won the settlement against) was never charged because of the expiration of the statute of limitations had expired. The real killer of Katherina Brow has never been found.

Having survived the stab wounds he sustained in Palm Meadows, Los Angeles at the end of the previous film, Gene Clifford (Robert Wightman) escapes from the same institution in Puget Sound, Washington he was placed in four years ago. He seeks out a back alley plastic surgeon (Mario Roccuzzo) to alter his appearance, using no anesthesia. After a few days, Gene kills the doctor by slitting his throat with a bone saw and makes his way to Deer View, California, where he acquires a new identity, "Keith Grant", as well as a small cottage and a job at a plant nursery. Nine months after crafting his new life, Keith, during an Easter dance held by the church, meets divorced school principal Christine Davis (Priscilla Barnes) and her psychosomatically paralyzed son Andy (David Tom). Keith and Christine begin dating. When Christine's possessive ex-boyfriend Mark Wraynal (Stephen Mendel) follows Keith home and confronts him, Keith offers to have a chat. Keith kills him with a shovel and buries the body in his garden.

Keith and Christine marry, despite Andy's misgivings. Andy's biological father Steve (Jay Acovone) offers Andy the chance to spend the summer with his family and attend a school for the gifted, and Andy decides to take his father up on the offer, despite Keith's protests. With Andy gone and Christine revealed to be infertile, Keith begins courting Jennifer Ashley (Season Hubley), a widow who has moved into Keith's old cottage with her son Nicholas (Adam Ryen). Keith plans to murder Christine and marry Jennifer. Keith murders his boss, Mr. Thompson (Dennis Paladino), with a rake when Thompson teases him about spotting Keith cheating on Christine with Jennifer. When Andy sees a news story about an unidentified serial killer who murders families, and suspecting that Keith is the culprit, he fakes homesickness to return home. Keith returns home with an axe to kill Christine, only to find Andy in bed. Keith calls Andy "Nicky" which makes Christine suspicious, though Keith gives her an explanation. The next day Jennifer meets Christine while enrolling Nicky in school. Keith stops by the school and sees them together and panics.

Andy asks family friend Father Ernest Brennan (John Ingle) to help him discover Keith's past. While cooking dinner for Father Brennan, Christine asks Keith if he knows Jennifer, but he denies it. Christine grows more suspicious since she knows Jennifer is renting Keith's cottage. Andy and Father Brennan sneak Keith's fork off the dinner table, to have the fingerprints analyzed. Realizing Brennan is up to something, Keith excuses himself after dinner and follows the priest home. He runs Brennan off the road, beats him to death, and makes it look like a car accident. He also discovers the fork.

When Christine mentions visiting Jennifer, Keith rushes to the plant nursery and calls Jennifer, telling her to meet him. Before going to the nursery Jennifer calls Christine to cancel their meeting, claiming her new boyfriend called with an emergency. When Jennifer arrives, Keith reveals he is married before claiming he needs her out of the way. Keith knocks her unconscious and prepares to kill her by feeding her body into a big wood chipper.

Christine and Andy suddenly appear; Christine has figured out that Keith is Jennifer's new boyfriend and confronts him about the affair. He beats her unconscious when she discovers Jennifer weakly writhing on the ground. As Keith prepares to murder his two lovers, Andy finds the courage to get out of his wheelchair and walk. Keith chases him through the nursery until Andy pushes him off the ladder which knocks him into the wood chipper. However, Keith is only hanging on the edge and grabs Andy. Christine gets up and helps Andy get away, leaving Keith to fall into the wood chipper, killing him. Jennifer cuts the cable with avhatchet, when the wood chipper’s engine suddenly shuts off. Jennifer sees the body pieces of Keith in the blood-covered wood chipper. Andy stands up and Christine is surprised and hugs him. As they walk away, Andy turns around and looks at the bloody wood chipper and says, "Happy Father's Day, slugger." They then exit the garden.

In Paris in 1944 Tank Corps Sergeant Boysie Oakes kills two Germans attempting to assassinate an Intelligence Corps officer named Mostyn. Twenty years later Mostyn's memories have transformed Oakes (who is in reality cowardly and hedonistic) into a fearless master assassin though nothing could be further from the truth. Mostyn recruits Oakes into the Secret Service where after a training course he is given an enviable lifestyle. Oakes' function is to "liquidate" security risks for the State. Oakes hires a mild-mannered professional assassin to do his dirty work for him.

Going for a "dirty weekend" leads to Boysie being captured by enemy agents who involve him in an assassination plot.

Young sisters Annie and Grace squeeze in one last game of "Tracking" with their dad at the seashore, the beach by Point Nepean. There is a storm coming and it is getting dark. Annie, younger by eleven months and more agile than Grace, scrambles up the side of a steep hill. Grace struggles to follow when suddenly the ground falls away. The search for her begins, but is hampered by bad weather. The police become convinced that the young man, Kip, who found Grace's backpack on the beach, and Ted, who was too inebriated to remember much of what he did that night on the beach, may have had something to do with her disappearance. The police initially are unable to successfully interrogate Ted, but as the story is gradually assembled, it looks worse and worse for Kip and Ted, the longer Grace cannot be found.

Born in 1930 to a recently widowed Englishwoman on a homestead in South Africa, little Peter Philip Kennith Keith (nicknamed 'PK') is schooled in the ways of England by his mother and the ways of Africa by a Zulu nanny, whose son Tonderai is also his best friend. However, their peaceful life is soon shattered when the farm's cattle are claimed by ''rinderpest''. PK's mother succumbs to a nervous breakdown, and he is sent away to a conservative Afrikaans boarding school while she recovers.

Being the only English student at the boarding school, PK earns universal contempt from his Afrikaner fellows—particularly from Jaapie Botha, the oldest student. The extreme bullying strikes PK with a severe case of bed wetting, a habit which he eventually overcomes with local sangoma Dabula Manzi. In conquering his nightmares, PK is given a chicken, whom he names Mother Courage, and which becomes his closest companion.

When war suddenly breaks out in Europe, the Afrikaner students kidnap PK and Mother Courage and has them tried before a mock Nazi court where Botha elaborates on the depth of his hatred for the British—a people he holds responsible for atrocities committed during the Second Boer War. The Afrikaner boys hang Mother Courage and kill her with a rock. When PK physically retaliates against Botha, they attempt to execute him in a similar manner, but are interrupted by a teacher who later oversees Botha's expulsion.

With his mother dying, PK finds himself living with his grandfather in Barberton. He eventually finds a mentor in Karl "Doc" von Vollensteen, a lonely German musician whose family was executed by the Nazis. Doc warms to PK and under his guidance PK soon becomes an excellent pianist. He is soon interned as an enemy alien for the rest of the war, but PK continues to visit him regularly in prison. Doc introduces the boy to Geel Piet, a Cape Coloured inmate who trains him to be an excellent boxer. Piet also impresses on PK his mantra: "first with the head, then with the heart".

A maturing PK begins to express sympathy towards black prisoners, who are detained under appalling conditions and frequently beaten by the Afrikaner guards. He works with Doc to distribute contraband among the Africans, writes their letters to home, and shares their many sufferings. The war does not end happily for PK, as Doc is repatriated and Piet is killed by a guard. PK goes to study at the prestigious Prince of Wales School in Johannesburg. While attending a boxing championship, he is enamoured by Maria Marais, the Afrikaans daughter of a leading National Party official. Since her strict father will not permit them to see each other, they begin dating in secret. On one such outing they are introduced to Gideon Duma, a prominent boxer in Alexandra, a black township. Duma's passion for resisting apartheid inspires PK, and he opens an English school for Africans.

Maria's father, incensed by the couple's ongoing relationship and PK's ties to a multiracial gym, leads him to request a formal investigation by one of his South African Police contacts, Colonel Breyten. Breyten and his sergeant, an embittered Jaapie Botha, place PK under surveillance for subversion. His clashes with the police (which result in detainment of numerous people he knows) come to a head when Duma is severely injured and Maria is killed during a raid on their school in a church along with numerous other innocent people. Maddened by grief, PK considers going to study at Oxford in England, but is consoled by a recovering Duma who shows him that all his teachings have finally shown progress and reminds him of all the good he can still do in Africa.

Botha leads a violent raid on Alexandra the following night which results in Breyten's death at the hands of an enraged villager. Botha threatens to shoot Elias Mlungisi, the local boxing promoter, only to be confronted by PK. They fight, and PK finally defeats his childhood enemy. Despite the loss, a bloodied and vindictive Botha is still bent on killing him with a hidden pistol, but an arriving Gideon Duma brutally kills Botha with a cricket bat to the head before he can fire. Now wanted fugitives from the apartheid government, PK and Duma vow to continue a campaign against racial injustice with the aid of the other survivors. PK's closing narration identifies meaningful voices during his life from his nanny to Doc, Geel Piet, Dabula Manzi, and finally Maria.

A naval officer becomes the lover of his brother's girlfriend. The latter kills a suitor of the girl; of the murder, however, the other is accused, who is forced to flee. Returning years after joining the Foreign Legion, he discovers that a son was born from the relationship; the brother opposes their union and accidentally dies, but before him he confesses his crime.

Two young people, Pieri Cossutti and Gemma Vianello, live their love in the town of Stella, an alpine village in Carnia located next to a large dam, not far from the border between Italy and Austria. The Second World War provokes the call to arms of Pieri and his brother Olinto, who must leave his wife and little son. Gemma's father dies during a bombing, and at that point she is welcomed into the Cossutti house.

At the time of the armistice of 8 September, Pieri and Olinto are in Albania, from where - with other Italian soldiers who refuse to surrender to the Germans - they begin a long march to return to their homeland. Among the hardships, the group gradually shrinks and even Olinto dies.

Pieri and a few others arrive in Stella and are able to courageously prevent the Germans from blowing up the great dam. Gemma is injured and Pieri decides to marry her on the verge of death. The woman, however, against all odds, recovers and the two will finally live their complete love story.

Annie Rooney (Shirley Temple), the 14-year-old daughter of a struggling salesman, falls in love with rich, 16-year-old Marty White (Dickie Moore). While at first, Marty's snobbish friends give Annie the cold shoulder, her jitterbug dancing skills impress, and soon, she is a welcome addition to their circle. Marty's wealthy mother and father, who own a rubber-making business, are not as easily persuaded of Annie's worth. But when her father manages to invent a new form of synthetic rubber, her triumph is complete.

Hilde Latymer, Sir Hugo's former secretary and for nearly twenty years his wife, discusses literary business by telephone. Hugo joins her and displays signs of nervousness at the impending arrival of Carlotta. He explains to Hilde that his affair with Carlotta "lasted exactly two years and we parted in a blaze of mutual acrimony". He does not know why she now wishes to see him again after so many years.

Carlotta arrives. Hilde introduces herself and leaves Carlotta alone with Hugo. Their reminiscences of old times together mix sentimental and waspish memories. The atmosphere becomes tense when Carlotta asks for Hugo's permission to reproduce some of his love letters to her in her forthcoming memoirs. He refuses, and she offers to return them to him, as they are no further use to her. However, she has in her possession other letters written by Hugo – to Perry Sheldon, whom she knew in his dying days, and who, she says, was "the only true love" of Hugo's life. Hugo admits that in the past he had "homosexual tendencies". Carlotta dismisses this, and tells him, "You're as queer as a coot and you have been all your life." She reproaches him for his neglect of Perry, his former lover, and also for his pretence of heterosexuality which has made his novels and especially his autobiography dishonest.

Hilde returns. To Hugo's amazement she knows all about his affair with Perry, and she persuades Carlotta to return all the letters that Hugo wrote to him. Carlotta gives them to Hugo. In return, Hugo changes his mind about his letters to her, and gives his consent to their publication in her book. Hilde shows Carlotta out, and returns to find Hugo reading his old letters, "deeply moved... with a sigh [he] covers his eyes with a hand".

Mario, a student from a noble Milanese family, falls in love with Lulù, a young slender girl. While the student is at Lulu's house, her protector arrives and gives him the keys to the apartment. Mario, who had naively believed in Lulu's good faith, leaves the house upset. When she returns after some time, he no longer finds her than she does: she has left the apartment and returned to live with her parents, people of questionable principles, who suggest that their daughter pretend to be pregnant. Mario, feeling responsible, marries Lulu against the wishes of his family and continues his studies in Milan, finding accommodation in the countryside in a house left by his grandmother. Lulu begins to find country life boring and resumes an old relationship. When Mario is warned by an anonymous letter, he rushes home and surprises Lulu with her lover. The latter, threatened by Mario, shoots him, but hits Lulu who stood between the two.

A live webcast from a reputedly haunted house turns into a supernatural bloodbath when the ghost of a murderous mountaineer returns to finish what he started when he slaughtered his entire family twenty years prior. It's been two decades since famed mountaineer and ice climber Sean McIntire turned the tools of his trade on his unsuspecting family, but grim legends die hard in small towns and the locals still shudder at the mere mention of his name.

Now, an unscrupulous young entrepreneur named Richard is seeking to cash in on this gruesome legend by staging a special Halloween webcast live from McIntire House. Three young couples will attempt to spend a night in the long-abandoned property, but only one will walk away with $5000 in prize money. When the ratings prove less than stellar, Richard attempts to spice things up by throwing a randy porn star into the mix.

Later, after a group séance in which the participants revive the spirit of Sean McIntire, they split up into groups and search for the clues that will help them win the competition. His supernatural strength growing thanks to the mystic powers granted to him by Himalayan monks, McIntyre chases the last remaining contestants into the darkened attic of the home as horrified viewers all over campus watch in abject horror.

Massimo lives in luxury, but in reality he is overwhelmed by debts and is tight in the shady business of the racing hall that he manages. To support his illusory rich life, he is forced to turn to usurers. He spends his days with a group of other snobbish and idle young people. Her partner Elena loves her, but he has no qualms about betraying her. His friend Daniele is released from prison, where he ended up despite being innocent, and discovers that Massimo, in order to pocket a derisory sum, had bribed the lawyer who defended Daniele and plotted so that his friend was sentenced. Elena is pregnant and a scam, discovered in her racing room, creates new problems for Massimo.

To silence Daniele, Massimo arranges a meeting with Lucia, her ex-girlfriend, but the girl no longer wants to know about that old love. To get out of Elena's pressures, Massimo convinces a young friend, Sandro, to take responsibility for Elena's pregnancy and to ask his parents for help. In this way he obtains that the girl is entrusted to an unscrupulous doctor who agrees to have her aborted. When Sandro discovers that he has been used and rebels, a fight breaks out and he dies hit by Massimo. To give the impression of a suicide, Massimo throws the body out of the window, at this point Lucia, even though she is in love with him, denounces him and has him arrested. Meanwhile, Elena escapes the clutches of the doctor and decides to continue the pregnancy, while Daniele is not resigned to her, he confesses to Lucia that he still loves her and that he will know how to wait for her.

A girl called Rebecca has just had a row with her best friend, Sarah, because of Mandy, who is pretty, girly type, who can sometimes be quite nasty and rude to Rebecca. Both Rebecca and Mandy thinks that Sarah is their best friend. One day, the girls discover a pond. Rebecca spins a tale, saying that it is a witch's pond in which a witch drowned. Sarah seems to be impressed. Then Mandy, trying to get Sarah's attention, says that the pond wasn't deep enough. Sarah seems to think the same thing. Rebecca goes in the pond to prove it, but Sarah leaves, saying that Rebecca is a baby. While she is in the pond a toad grips at her foot. Rebecca finds out that the toad is Glubbslyme, who is the witch's familiar and has magical powers. Together they seek revenge on Mr. Baker, a man who is fed up of Rebecca because she always ruins her flower beds. They also seek revenge on Mandy. In the end Rebecca and Sarah become friends again.

Antonio Trabbi is a greedy old man with a very rough personality and obsessed by money. He deprecates charity and love and has no friends or love interest, being lonely and avoided by people. On Christmas Eve he is visited by the ghost of his former business partner, who warns him about his life-style and announces the visit of three spirits, who will show Antonio past, present and future Christmas days. During the night, the three spirits actually appear to Trabbi, showing him his sad past, the bad reputation he has with everyone and the bad outcome of his actions, which will lead him to a lonely death and to terrible punishments in Hell. When Trabbi wakes up he is greatly distressed by the visions and eager to change his life, starting with that very same Christmas Day.

András Vayda (Tom Berenger) grows up in a turbulent, war-torn Hungary, where he procures local girls for the occupying G.I.s during World War II. Disappointed by the girls his age, he meets Maya (Karen Black), a married woman in her 30s, who tutors him in love and romance. Maya is only the first of many mature women whom András will meet through his teenage and young adult life.

The film takes place along a stretch of coastline somewhere in Florida, where a local tourist spot has become plagued by a mysterious marine creature. Unbeknownst to them, the monster is the product of a secret military experiment; it is a genetic hybrid mutated from a common octopus and the prehistoric ''Dunkleosteus''. Unfortunately, the creature has broken loose and is now feeding on swimmers and tourists swimming or sailing along the coast. As the monster is only an infant, it will continue to grow if it is left to hunt much longer.

A team of scientists led by a scientist named Peter and his colleague, Dr. Stella Dickens, are trying to find the creature and stop it; meanwhile, a group of military scientists are trying to stop the scientists, as the experiment was classified military business. The creature slowly picks off both groups while they try to track it down. They eventually find it hiding in the Everglades, corner it in shallow waters, and kill it with repeated blasts from flamethrowers.

Cathy and her older brother Rob grow up without their parents on an estate in rural England in the early 20th century. Their mother had abandoned them for a better life in southern Europe, and their father was committed to a sanatorium. They live with their grandfather and are brought up by one of the servants, Kate. Their governess is Miss Gallagher, but the siblings hate her. Cathy and Rob have little contact with the outside world, and as they get older, they grow closer. An older, wealthy neighbour Mr Bullivant befriends Cathy, but she is more interested in her brother.

Cathy and Rob's contact becomes more intimate and eventually sexual. Miss Gallagher finds out about their liaison and threatens to expose them to their grandfather. Kate notices that Cathy is pregnant and assumes the father is Mr. Bullivant. Cathy wants the pregnancy terminated before anyone else notices, and Kate arranges an illegal abortion for her. Cathy is depressed about losing her baby, but tells no one, not even Rob. To prevent Miss Gallagher finding out, Cathy leads her deep into the nearby woods, ostensibly to show her some wild flowers. Cathy, knowing she will not find her way back home on her own, frightens her with ghost stories, then abandons her. The next day Miss Gallagher is found dead of a suspected heart attack. Cathy is overcome with guilt and withdraws. She and her brother drift apart.

Rob and Kate become close and they leave for a new life in Canada. The Great War starts and all the local boys of age depart to fight in France. Mr. Bullivant serves on a hospital ship. Rob returns from Canada, without Kate, but leaves soon after for France. Cathy later receives news that her brother is missing, presumed dead. After the War, Mr. Bullivant returns and persuades Cathy to travel with him to France to see her mother. Cathy has no interest in her, but agrees to go. In Brittany she finds and reunites with her mother.

Elena (Irene Azuela) and Sebastián (Ángel Onésimo Nevárez) are a teenaged brother and sister who have been reunited at their home while looking after their ailing mother, singer Eugenia Díaz (Claudette Maille). Eugenia has been diagnosed with cancer and doesn't have long to live, and it has fallen to Elena and Sebastián to care for her in her last months, with Elena (who is older) spending her days with her mother while Sebastian goes to school and looks in on Eugenia in the evenings. Elena is obsessively caring for Sebastián, but while he loves his sister and mother, he seems detached from the affairs of his family. He's more drawn to his roughneck schoolmate Juan (Bernardo Benítez). As the reality of Eugenia's fate becomes clearer, Elena and Sebastián's confusion about love, mortality and family becomes more acute, and circumstances become even more muddled when they take in a boarder, Aurora (Jessica Segura), who falls in Sebastián's wealthy schoolmate Ismael (Ramón Valdez Urtiz).

The story takes place in 15th-century Spain. Canarian forces rise against Castille. Backup troops arrive on the island of Gran Canaria for aid due to the rising power of the Grancanarians. However opinions about the war differ in the royal class. Guanarteme the king and his daughter want peace. On the other hand, the warrior leader and the high priest want war.

One day, Castillian officer Don Hernán falls in love with the king's daughter, despite the difference in their status. The high priest poisons the king fatally, and then tries to marry the princess. Soon after, the embassy of Castille, including Don Hernán, arrives for the peace. His confession of love in his camp causes war.

The princess and the high priest marry, despite the Castillian troops advancing. The princess runs away with the high priest to the mountains of Tirma. Don Hernán follows them and does not let the princess fall off the cliffs with the high priest. However, she is disgusted by him and utters the torn Guanche oath.

Mara

From a story by Vasco Pratolini, written by the author.

Vasco and Mara get to know in a restaurant, go to the cinema, and spent the evening intimately, fall in love. She tells him that, being short of money, will try to work the next morning in a brothel, but he convinces her to desist from this connection, to begin to live with him, who has a job as a teacher, even if their economic situation may be difficult.

The baby

Written by Alberto Moravia. Young couple the suburbs of Rome are in financial trouble. She would like to work, but must take care of the child who has recently given birth. The two then set out, reluctantly, to leave the baby in a church, but the mother can not decide on the right place and finally the father has second thoughts.

Outdoor scene

From a story of Marino Moretti, written by Ennio Flaiano.

A man and a woman no longer young, fallen nobility, meet again by chance after many years as they are worded as film extras in a carriage in motion. During the scene must speak, not heard, a theme to their liking. The scene is repeated several times, and so was born the opportunity to confide things that I had said many years ago. Finally decide to get married and run away from the set at the edge of the carriage.

Other people's houses

From a story by Silvio D'Arzo.

The old priest of a small mountain village realizes that the old Zelinda has for some time sad and thoughtful. After much persuasion, can be confident that the poor thing has soul: he would like to end prematurely to his strenuous and monotonous life. Mind the sacedordote search animatedly distogliela this regard, slips off a cliff and save it Zelinda pulling it upward.

Don Conrad

Subject of Giuseppe Marotta, dialogues by Eduardo De Filippo.

Don Conrad, a driver of public transport, paying court to love many women, that because of defaults on work that is not forgiven by his superior Amedeo. During a bus ride, his young friend Lando says he is dissatisfied with her boyfriend Michael, and understand to be attracted to him.

The camera

By Age & Scarpelli.

A girl Sophia Loren, is left by photographers friends in a room where he set up a game where you can win a camera. A customer Totò, helps her win the coveted prize, then walks away with her from the room without paying, and asked her to pose for the camera test, until he confesses to be with her by the court. So they try, unsuccessfully, to take a picture together with the help of the self timer, which the machine is equipped. After several attempts, they decide to make taking the picture with help from a stranger passing by for the event, which, after having distracted the two making them pose, runs away with the camera.

Chisato Mineta (Maki Horikita), a 20-year-old homeless girl who moves about from parks to net cafes.
Her mother died of illness, and when her father disappears after earning an incredible 100 million Yen debt, she is chased out of her home. Chisato spends her life running from debt collectors living as a homeless person. One day she gets caught by debt-collectors to force her to pay the 100 million Yen debt her father left behind. Where then a president of a huge toy company (Okura Shinzo) comes and rescues her by paying off the debt but then tricks her into marrying him. She then finds out that he only has one month to live and is in need of a "wife" to take care of him. If she stays married to him then she does not have to pay back the debt but if she leaves then all the money has to be returned immediately in cash.

A month later, she finds out that the president actually has more conditions than just being his wife. She must also live in the ''Trick Heart Castle'' with his six sons, all adopted to be successors of the company, and act as their mother for three months in order for the debt to be fully paid. However, each son has hidden himself away from the rest of the family and treat each other as mere strangers that live in the same household. Will Chisato be able to open up their hearts and turn these strangers into a loving family?

Carol Williams is a beautiful young dancer with a promising career who is crippled by polio. Her dance partner and fiancé Guy Richards wants to see her through her illness, but Carol prefers to endure her recovery alone. Carol's father takes her to the Kabat-Kaiser Institute for rehabilitation, where she meets fellow patients in recovery. By allowing others to share her grief, Carol is able to pull herself together and go on with her life.

In the 17th century, a Welsh captain (Ken Scott) and his crew are dispatched to the Spanish-controlled island of Tortuga, where famed privateer Henry Morgan (Robert Stephens) has defected from his support of the English empire and is running a strictly piratical venture, stopping any and all vessels, including British carriers. Since the captain cannot attack the island without incurring the wrath of the Spanish government, he must go one-on-one with Morgan himself.

A comely female (Leticia Roman) inadvertently stows away on the captain's vessel and becomes the de facto central focus of the story (Morgan doesn't appear until the latter half of the film). She is initially deposited on the nearby island of Jamaica, where she makes a halfhearted play for the colonial governor, but eventually readjusts her sights on the captain himself. In the meantime, the captain fully engages in pursuing the pirate Morgan.

Main Plot

At a dock in Helsinki, Finland, a crane is loading a storage container for transport. The crane operator nearly drops his container and is warned by an armed man on the ground to be careful because the contents are live. Inside the crate, a clock is counting down, with 72 hours remaining. In Burbank, Chuck announces his intentions to break up with Sarah to Morgan, who doesn't believe him. Sarah arrives and the two discuss the situation in the Home Theater room. She doesn't believe the breakup is a good idea, but Chuck insists he needs a real relationship. Sarah relents, and begins to cry and leaves the store to sell the breakup. Back at Casey's apartment, Beckman expresses her concerns about the breakup, and is alarmed that Chuck is dating a civilian whom they have no information on. Beckman demands more information on Lou (Rachel Bilson) before she can get too close, meanwhile, Chuck and Lou make out in the Herder while on a date. Lou takes him into the deli to make him a sandwich, where Chuck flashes on an invitation to a party at Club Ares, which is owned by Lou's Greek ex-boyfriend, Stavros Demetrios (Theo Alexander).

Beckman informs the team that Stavros is part of the Demetrios smuggling family, and orders Chuck to use his relationship with Lou to get close to him and investigate a package they believe that the Demetrios family is bringing into the country. Chuck objects but has no choice, so he asks Lou about meeting Stavros, to head off any possible trouble with him later. Sarah and Casey fit Chuck with a listening device and an ear bug, and watch from the van while Chuck and Lou visit Club Ares. Lou introduces Chuck to Stavros, and the three retire to his VIP booth. Sarah is anxious about leaving Chuck in the club alone, but Casey implies her feelings for Chuck are more than professional. Sarah denies this, but when Stavros makes comments she hears as threatening, Sarah leaves the van to check on him. Lou sees her, and Chuck confronts Sarah for interfering. Lou gets upset and leaves, but before he can follow, Chuck flashes as Stavros' father Yari (John Kapelos) arrives. He tries to get back to the VIP booth where the two are meeting, but the bouncer blocks him. He leaves the listening device on a tray of drinks, heading into the booth and heads off to catch Lou before she can leave, but she departs in a cab.

The next day at work, Chuck calls Lou but she does not answer. Casey and Sarah tell him that they learned the location of dock where the smuggled container is arriving, and will be raiding it that day. Sarah apologizes for ruining his date with Lou and hints to him that she likes gerber daisies. Chuck heads to the deli with a bouquet and waits, but Lou refuses to see him without a number. After all the other customers leave, she accepts his apology. At the docks, Casey and Sarah lead the team to confiscate the container, but when they open it all they find is a camera. Yari realizes they had been discovered, and demands to know who planted the bug. Stavros recognizes the bug as belonging to Chuck.

Chuck wakes up the next day after making up with Lou. Casey and Sarah let him know that they were set up and the container was empty. Surveillance photos of Club Ares show Lou talking with Stavros, so the team heads back to stakeout the club. Lou arrives and Chuck leaves the van to follow her. She meets with Stavros and he delivers a crate then leaves. Chuck confronts her and breaks it open, revealing it is filled with imported deli meats smuggled through customs. Lou angrily admits to smuggling it, and Chuck ditches his watch so the transmitter doesn't pick up her confession. Sarah follows him when Chuck doesn't return, and arrives after Lou leaves. The two are captured by Stavros and several gunmen, who throw them in the trunk of his car and drive off. Casey investigates and finds Chuck's watch. He heads to the deli and coerces Lou into giving him the location of Stavros' dock in exchange for immunity for her own smuggling activities.

Chuck and Sarah are taken to the dock, and Yari demands to know who they work for and threatens to torture Sarah if Chuck doesn't answer. Chuck takes advantage of flashes on two of Yari's men to distract them long enough for Sarah to break free of her restraints. She sees Casey arrive, and she coordinates an attack on Yari's men while Casey opens fire. Sarah and Chuck escape to find the container while Casey and a government team engage Yari and his men in a firefight. Casey runs down Yari, but before he can apprehend him, Yari is shot by a sniper, (Anthony Ruivivar) who makes a call warning someone on the other end they have a problem. Meanwhile, Sarah and Chuck locate the container. They open it, and finds a bomb-like device with a counting down timer. After Chuck fails to flash, Sarah orders Chuck to run but he refuses to leave her. Just as the timer expires she kisses him, but the countdown expires and nothing happens, leaving them in an awkward (for Sarah) moment.

Chuck and Lou break up, and Chuck returns to work the next day. He calls Sarah and leaves her a voicemail asking her out on a real date. Sarah and Casey are watching the government team working on the container, who announce that the timer was not a bomb, but measuring an air supply. The container is opened to reveal Bryce Larkin, who takes a breath.

Buy More

Lester watches Sarah leave the Buy More after their breakup and decides he's going to go after her. He follows her to the Wienerlicious to ask her out, but Sarah scares him off with over-aggressive advances. Seeing that Chuck already has a girlfriend after breaking up with Sarah, Morgan decides he needs a girlfriend too. Jeff mentions he intends to go after Anna, but she tells him off saying she'd rather hook up with Morgan. When Morgan tries to kiss her in the Home Theater room later she rebuffs him, leaving Morgan afraid she'll tell everyone. He does so himself when he misinterprets Anna, Jeff and Lester laughing about Chuck being in trouble with Lou so soon after breaking up with Sarah, and Jeff and Lester begin teasing him unmercifully. Anna feels sorry for him, so later while he's watching a movie in the Home Theater room she kisses him.

Previously infallible actuary Milton Haskins is mortified when he misplaces a decimal point which would have cost the Nutmeg Insurance Company money if it had not been caught. He also loses a brand new promotion. Depressed, he lets wisecracking carny Goldie McGoldrick talk him into getting "with it" and joining Acres of Fun, a traveling carnival. They discover that Milton can tap dance (due to his mathematical skills) and sing. He gets to show off his newfound abilities when a performer shows up drunk. Milton dances and sings "Down at Baba's Alley", and the act gets three curtain calls.

Milton's fiancee and former secretary, Vivian Reilly, tries to get him to resume his old, humdrum life, but he likes it where he is. Bunny La Fleur, Goldie's girl, talks Vivian into coming along so she can try to change Milton's mind. Meanwhile, a mysterious person tries to search through Milton's suitcase, and when Milton shows up, throws a knife at him.

On the train, Sally (at the instigation of Herman Bogel, the carnival's accountant) asks Milton about insurance to find out more about him. Vivian overhears what sounds like Milton being too friendly with Sally from the next compartment, though Milton is actually dealing with Sally's dog Boopsie. That causes a rift between the couple.

Later, Milton is startled when Vivian shows up in the middle of his act and starts doing a fan dance (though it is clear she is fully, if skimpily, clothed). When he drags her off the stage, the audience riots, and they all end up in jail. That leaves the carnival in dire financial straits, and owner Jason "Pop" Carter in danger of losing it to potential buyer Mrs. Minerva Henkle and unable to post bail for most of his people. Bogel reveals that he is now working for Mrs. Henkle. Faced with ruin, Pop reluctantly agrees to sell.

Nutmeg executive Mr. Bixby pays for Milton and Vivian's release on condition that Milton go back to work for him (and pay for it out of his salary). At a business meeting, Milton advises the company to keep his original mistake; it turns out that what Nutmeg loses with the reduced rate is more than made up by the large number of new customers. Then Vivian shows him what she found out about Mrs. Henkle from the company's files.

The couple hurry back to the carnival and convince Pop to fight to keep it. They put on a show, starting with just the five of them, then use the receipts to gradually bail out the rest of the carnies. When Bogel and Mrs. Henkle show up to take possession of the carnival, Milton proves that she defrauded Nutmeg, collecting on a life insurance policy a week ago for her husband, presumed lost at sea and legally declared dead seven years later. Milton identifies Bogel as Mr. Henkle by the tattoo on his chest. Since the payout was used to buy the carnival, Nutmeg is the new owner, so Milton and Vivian can work for both.

The play simultaneously examines the creative process behind Beethoven's ''Diabelli Variations'' and the journey of a musicologist, Katherine Brandt, to discover the meaning behind why Beethoven was compelled to write thirty-three distinct variations on a simple theme by a minor music publisher. The progression of her Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and her relationship with her daughter are also themes of the story, as is Beethoven's growing deafness.

The action takes place both in Beethoven's time and the present, switching back and forth between the two. However, at certain key points, characters from both time periods appear on stage to deliver lines simultaneously, emphasizing the parallels between the exploits of both sets of characters.

Donning a disguise modeled after a raccoon, Cartman becomes a vigilante dubbed "The Coon", who attempts to wipe out crime in South Park. Though Cartman tries to raise awareness about The Coon through word of mouth, nobody pays much attention to the Coon's efforts. When he reports "crimes" (such as mistaking a man innocently trying to kiss his date for a rapist) to the police department, he is threatened with jail time and snubbed off. During class, Cartman tries to hype up an appearance from the Coon, saying he will be on the roof of a Walgreens later that evening. Cartman (as the Coon) shows up to the spot to find another child superhero named "Mysterion", who is far more successful in garnering appreciation as a crime stopping icon from the police and South Park citizens who want to know just "Who is Mysterion?" Cartman is angered by his lack of popularity and the attention Mysterion is receiving.

Coon decides to rid the town of Mysterion, enlisting the help of Professor Chaos (Butters) and his sidekick General Disarray (Dougie). Unlike the Coon, Professor Chaos and General Disarray have become as familiar to the residents of South Park as Mysterion. Butters also wants to know the identity of Mysterion but can only narrow the list of suspects to the boys from Mr. Garrison's 4th grade class whose shapes do not differ greatly from that of others. In contrast, he has nearly pinned down Coon's identity to a few fat celebrities, and Cartman. In a scheme to uncover Mysterion's identity, the Coon convinces Professor Chaos to threaten the destruction of a hospital unless Mysterion reveals his identity. After the Coon plants the TNT and leaves to buy detonators, Mysterion unexpectedly arrives. He points out that this is not Professor Chaos' usual style, and fights Professor Chaos and General Disarray on top of the building. A crowd forms below and cheers on Mysterion as the police take no action, believing that their bullets are no match for Professor Chaos' aluminum foil armor. Dramatically, the Coon appears to fight on the side of Mysterion, with the hopes that he too will be hailed as a hero. At that point, Professor Chaos and General Disarray run off in defeat. After their victory, the Coon convinces Mysterion to unmask himself by claiming such threats to public safety will continue until Mysterion's secret is revealed.

Despite the threat of imprisonment, Mysterion unmasks himself, showing the television viewers only the portion of his face that looks similar to almost all of Mr. Garrison's 4th grade class. The crowd, however, is shocked to learn Mysterion's identity and, much to the regret of all except Coon, who says that he knew who Mysterion was, even calling him out on it at one point (though this helps the audience little as Cartman claimed that practically everyone in his class was Mysterion at times), Mysterion is hauled to prison. With Professor Chaos, General Disarray and Mysterion defeated, Cartman now perceives that he is the superhero in South Park and that every town should have a Coon like him.

The ''Spirit of Fire'' is sent to the ruined planet Harvest to investigate Covenant activity, where Cutter learns that the Covenant has excavated something at the planet's northern pole. When the UNSC's main outpost on Harvest is captured, Cutter orders Forge to retake it. Soon after, Forge scouts the Covenant excavation and discovers that they, under the direction of the Arbiter, have discovered a Forerunner facility. Forge's troops defeat the Covenant forces before they can destroy the installation, and Anders arrives. She determines that the facility is an interstellar map, and recognizes a set of coordinates that points to the human colony of Arcadia.

After escaping the facility, the ''Spirit of Fire'' travels to Arcadia, where the Covenant has begun raiding local cities and slaughtering civilians. Forge contacts the local Spartan special forces and helps with the evacuation process. UNSC forces discovered that the Covenant has built a giant energy shield to hide the construction of a gigantic Scarab super-weapon, and their search of Forerunner ruins in the area. The UNSC forces use experimental equipment to break through and destroy the Scarab. The Arbiter kidnaps Anders during a salvage operation and escapes the planet, with ''Spirit of Fire'' in pursuit.

''Spirit of Fire'' follows Anders' signal to an uncharted planet in another star system. The planet's surface is infested by the parasitic Flood, who attack and assimilate any sentient life they encounter. The ''Spirit of Fire'' inadvertently activates a Forerunner docking station and enters the planet's interior, revealing the planet is actually a Forerunner installation with a hollow, habitable interior, and a miniature sun at its core. The Covenant's plan is to activate a dormant fleet of highly advanced Forerunner starships inside the installation, and use them to obliterate humanity.

While the Forerunner ships are being activated, Anders escapes through a teleportation device and is rescued. Cutter decides to destroy the Forerunner fleet rather than allow the Covenant to use it. Anders formulates a plan to detonate the ship's faster-than-light drive in the planet's sun, as the explosion would cause a supernova. Before they can prepare the reactor, Forge and the Spartans are ambushed by the Arbiter and his Elites. The Spartans dispatch the aliens and Forge kills the Arbiter. The reactor is damaged during the fight, necessitating a manual detonation. Forge volunteers for the suicidal task, telling the Spartans that they will be needed in the coming fight. The ''Spirit of Fire'' escapes just as Forge overloads the reactor, destroying the fleet and the Forerunner world. Without its faster-than-light drive, the ''Spirit of Fire'' is left drifting in space. The crew enters cryonic sleep for long-term storage as Cutter takes a last look at Forge's empty cryonic tube. If the game is completed on the "Legendary" difficulty mode, Serina wakes Cutter and tells him that "something has happened".

Major Alex McAndrews is escorted to a research laboratory where he meets with General Greg Slater. Slater explains that two months prior, researchers accidentally blasted a hole through a wall, from which a bright light emerges. Scientists believe it is a gate. Due to the accidental nature of its creation, they cannot replicate it. Slater warns McAndrews that four volunteers have already entered and never returned. McAndrews agrees to investigate.

McAndrews enters the hole and arrives in what looks like a meadow. There is atmosphere to support life, but no sign of the "gate", and radio communication with headquarters is disabled. He meets one of the earlier volunteers, Kincaid, who is accompanied by a woman named Baret. The other volunteers arrive. They have determined from the stars that they are not on Earth, and there is no way to return from this side. The indigenous people welcome them to their peaceful idyllic community. McAndrews thoroughly explores to assure himself that there is no point of return, but gradually finds he is happier remaining in this world.

McAndrews discovers that the volunteers lied about the gate. It is still there but can only be seen at night. Kincaid claims that if they went back the government would send in more people, ruining the paradise they have found. McAndrews considers this insufficient grounds for betraying their honor. Kincaid proposes to keep McAndrews there by force, so he strikes Kincaid and escapes through the gate. McAndrews reports everything to his superiors. Immediately afterwards McAndrews changes his mind. He discards his military badge, destroys the computer which created the gate, and runs through the gate. Back in the community, McAndrews tells Baret that without the computer, the gate can never be recreated.

Jay Brooks (Montgomery), a black man, vows to give up dating white women in favor of dating black women, only to fall in love with a biracial woman.

The story follows Tatsumi Oga, who is a first year student at a school for juvenile delinquents called Ishiyama High. The story starts with Oga telling his best friend, Takayuki Furuichi, the strange story of how he found a baby. One day while doing 'laundry' by the river, he saw a man floating downstream. Oga pulled him to shore but the man split in half, revealing a baby boy inside. This baby turned out to be the son of the great demon king, and Oga has been chosen as the one to raise him, along with the baby's maid, Hilda. The manga follows Oga's life as he tries to raise the child while enrolled at Ishiyama High.

In the early chapters, he attempts to 'pass on' Beel to other students at Ishiyama, thinking that if he can find someone stronger and more evil than himself, the baby will attach himself to that person instead. He decides to try to pass the baby on to the ''Tōhōshinki'', Ishiyama High's strongest four students. Oga meets and fights Hajime Kanzaki, the first member of the Touhoushinki and the one who is closest to dominating the school; however, Oga defeats Kanzaki, which causes Beel to find him even more appealing.

Later, Oga then discovers a peculiar symbol etched on the back of his right hand. Hilda explains that it is the fly king's seal, more commonly known as the Zebul spell, and serves as the family crest of the royal family. The appearance of the seal means that he has officially made a contract with Beel. She also explains that the more evil the bearer of the seal is, the more complex the design of the seal will become. Oga attempts to prevent the seal from growing by avoiding fights with other students, but gives up when Himekawa, the second member of the Touhoushinki, captures Hilda and Furuichi. Oga then infiltrates Himekawa's base to rescue them and defeats him by using the Zebul blast for the first time. The consequences of using the seal's power cause the crest to stretch across his arm. Hilda comments after looking at the crest that the amount of energy it used would have driven a normal human mad.

While visiting the park, Oga then meets a girl named Aoi and her brother, Kouta. Oga asks her immediately to go out with him, which causes a misunderstanding that stays within Aoi's heart. Oga tells Beel to fight Kouta, possibly as a joke, but Kouta accepts the challenge and easily pushes Beel off a bench. This event sparks a rivalry between the two babies. It is later revealed that Aoi, who was in disguise the whole time, is in fact Aoi Kunieda, then, the leader of the Red Tails and another member of the Touhoushinki.

Aoi, who was then away from school during the earlier events of the manga, has returned to Ishiyama High to defeat Oga in order to prevent him from causing any more trouble within the school. When they encounter each other in battle, she realizes that she has already met Oga in the park, but he doesn't recognize her. After he dodges her attacks twice, he notices Beel's interest in Aoi and asks her to become Beel's mother. Although he means for her to replace him as a parent, his request causes another misunderstanding similar to the one in the park. The fight is postponed, and Hilda soon arrives to give Beel his milk. The MK5 make their debut in the story, only to be defeated in a five panel pattern which appears again later in the story. After the fight, Beel senses something which turns out to be the last of the Toushinki, Tojo. Oga, however, does not notice.

Aoi sees Oga and Hilda's fight with the MK5, and believes the rumors that they are husband and wife. She is challenged by Hilda to a fight so she can test her ability, but the fight ends quickly with Hilda deciding that Aoi isn't on the same level as Oga. At the same time, Oga is confronted by Chiaki and Nene. Two female students tell Aoi that Oga injured the two of them, which later turns out to be MK5.

Aoi fights Oga to avenge her two classmates, while Oga assumes that she wants to accept the role of becoming Beel's parent. At the same time, Nene wakes up in the infirmary and goes to warn Aoi of MK5's trap, which turns out to be Miwa's scheme. MK5, however, prevents anyone from interrupting Aoi and Oga's fight. Nene is about to get shot, but Natsume appears and fights with MK5 to allow Nene to tell Aoi. She was unfortunately too late, as Aoi seems to have defeated Oga, and she comes just in time for Miwa and Ikari to take over.

Oga suddenly gets back up and defeats Ikari and Miwa with ease. It is then shown that Furuichi and Hilda have been watching the whole time. Oga, Furuichi, Hilda and baby Beel go to the beach in search of Tojo to hand baby Beel over to him, not knowing that this is a plot set up by Kanzaki and Himekawa, who want Tojo and Oga to crush each other. Aoi goes to the beach as well to warn Oga of Tojo's strength. Oga and the gang have troubles searching for Tojo and are sent on a wild goose chase. Oga decides to write a letter of challenge to Tojo and have Aoi pass it to him. Aoi attempts to tear it up, but one of Tojo's henchmen finds it. They are supposed to meet between the two rocks at 5 PM. Oga is confronted by the MK5 once again, but quickly defeats them and arrives late. Tojo has left after crushing several motorcycle gangs, which inspires Oga to find Tojo. Later, baby Beel starts feeling sick and it appears that he's come down with a cold. However, Oga's tattoo mysteriously vanishes, and later that night Beel disappears. Hilda kicks Oga out of the house and leaves to find help in the demon world. Oga goes off to find Beel, but runs into Tojou, who, as it turns out, has Beel on his back. After a scuffle, Tojo comes out as the victor, and asks Oga to challenge him again sometime. Once Oga gets home, he is in a surprise to find Hilda there waiting for him, with a strange demon doctor known as Dr. Furucas, and his assistant, Lamia. Furucas reveals that the cold is actually Beel's way of coping with a rise of his power, by keeping the energy within himself, and that he cut off the link between him and Oga to protect him. Lamia then injects Oga with a drug that allows him to re-establish the connection with Beel. Oga then goes to confront Tojo with the aid of the three other Tohoshinki. Once he makes it to Tojo, Beel returns to normal and goes back to Oga. Tojo and Oga then have one final duel in which Oga is victorious, but baby Beel's influx of power causes him to destroy Ishiyama.

Due to their school being destroyed, the students of Ishiyama can only go to their sister school, Saint Ishiyama. Initially, they are constantly looked down on, but after a volleyball match against the Six Knights, the negative views towards them stop. During the volleyball match, Oga's demonic power is displayed due to a fight with someone who had a grudge on him, though it is covered up by the Saint Ishiyama president who claimed that it is just a trick. The president turned out to be a demon himself.

A new teacher soon arrives to replace the one teaching the Ishiyama group, knocking out both Oga and Tojo on the same day before carrying them to the classroom. The teacher, Zenjiro Saotome, later appears when Oga, Hilda and Aoi are attacked by Hecadoth, and puts up a fight against the demon. Later, Naga and Graphel, the other two demons who came to the world in search of Oga, appear before Saotome, but Saotome uses his Spellmaster spell to attack them. After realizing that he is a Spellmaster who is too powerful for them to win against, Naga uses a teleporting jewel to take the three demons back to Demon World. After that, Saotome, the spellmaster, although having Oga refuse, ends up training him. After successfully powering up, Oga confronts the demons and defeats them. He later battles with other human-demon contractors and is brutally defeated before eventually gaining more strength and defeating the strongest contractor. The last chapter displays him returning from an adventure to the demon world with another baby on his shoulder.

Inspector Burke of Scotland Yard concentrates all his forces on the capture of London Letter, a notorious criminal leader in the Limehouse district who possesses both Rinty, a splendid dog, and a man-beast monster called The Monk who ravages and kills at his master's command. Burke almost apprehends the gang in the midst of an attempted theft, but Rinty's uncanny perceptions foil Burke's coup, and Foster is killed for betraying the gang. When Rinty loses in a fight against another dog, Burke's daughter, Dale, rescues Rinty from London Letter's abuse, and he becomes devoted to his new mistress. At the criminal's order, the monster kidnaps Dale and imprisons her. Burke and his men wound London Letter while on his trail, and Rinty finds him dying. In a ferocious battle, Rinty kills the monster by tearing out his throat.

Miguel introduces Dexter to former football player Billy Fleeter (Jeff Chase), a debt enforcer who kills other gamblers to pay off his own debts. Dexter is initially hesitant when Miguel suggests that Dexter teach him how to murder Fleeter, but the two go to a casino where Dexter tries to explain Harry's "code" to Miguel. They later break into Fleeter's house and, although they find the murder weapon, Dexter says that they need evidence proving that Fleeter has the incentive to kill again. Dexter finds a ledger recording each of Fleeter's bets and returns with Miguel to the casino, where they prepare an unused storeroom for Fleeter's murder.

Before they move to kill Fleeter, somebody recognizes Miguel in the casino and Dexter calls off the plan. Dexter is angered when Miguel criticizes Harry's code, but he agrees to go ahead with the murder after Miguel mentions that he severely beat his own abusive father and found it to be one of the most satisfying moments of his life. They drug Fleeter and take him to the storeroom, when Miguel stabs and kills him. While cleaning up the crime scene, Dexter has a vision in which his father tells him that sharing the code was a mistake and that Dexter is now responsible for Miguel's actions.

Debra finds a hidden bag of marijuana in Anton's apartment and asks Quinn about his previous charges for drug possession. She discovers that Anton had been working for Quinn unofficially and that he is not legally obligated to disclose any information to the police. After telling Anton that he no longer has to work as an informant due to a "clerical error", he disappears. Debra and Quinn continue to work the Skinner case, believing may be a tree-trimmer. One of the contractors they interview, George King (Jesse Borrego), tells Debra about one of his suspicious workers, Mario (Jerry Zatarain). When Mario tries to flee, Debra and Quinn arrest him. Mario pleads to be sent back to Nicaragua at the mention of King's name. Debra later visits Anton's apartment and realizes that he has been taken by The Skinner, who recently trimmed the trees.

Rita is unusually temperamental due to her pregnancy. She complains to Miguel's wife Syl (Valerie Cruz) that Dexter refuses to help with the organization of their upcoming wedding. Despite having told Dexter that she did not want an engagement ring, Debra and Dexter choose one for Rita, and she apologizes for her behavior. Meanwhile, defense attorney Ellen Wolf (Anne Ramsay) tells LaGuerta that she thinks that Miguel is going out of his way to make her job harder. After killing Fleeter, Miguel makes an unannounced visit to Ellen's house.

As luridly described in a film magazine, the Kaiser has plans to conquer the world while all of the other nations are engaged in peaceful pursuits. The Germans enter France and their U-boats work like sharks in the sea, and after many insults the RMS ''Lusitania'' is sunk, causing the United States to enter the war. Before Bernstorff (McEwen) leaves the country, he establishes a spy system headed by Otto Goltz (von der Goltz). Under his orders, German agents burn factories, wreck trains, stir up labor troubles, and interfere with American war work. Goltz marries a young American woman and brutally drives her to her death. Her sister finds her in a dying condition and takes her home to die. A young brother goes after Goltz, who is running a nest of spies where bombs are being made. Dick Gregory (Mason), an American soldier, sees Goltz on the street dressed in an officer's uniform on a day when a confidential order was given out that no officer was to wear one. Dick follows him and finds the nest of spies. Under his command the regiment wipes out the nest and Goltz while trying to escape is overtaken by the brother of the young dead woman and is killed. Meanwhile, American forces are pouring into France so fast that the Kaiser sees his dream crumbling and dies like a rat.

Nancy receives a mysterious letter claiming she has won a week-long holiday for two at the Sweet Springs Resort on Anchor Island in the Bahamas. Nancy is puzzled because she never entered any contest. The enclosed plane tickets are for the next day, so she sends her friends Bess and George to go to the resort, and she and her dad will follow later. After Bess and George have left for Anchor Island, she and her dad, Carson Drew, go down to Miami to investigate a mysterious ship. It has been linked to them as it contains newspaper clippings on some of Nancy's recent adventures. The boat is owned by Jeff and Lena DeFoe, who Nancy finds out are the owners of the Sweet Springs resort. While searching the boat for any evidence, Nancy loses her earring and while trying to find it uncovers an old medallion. Her father takes it to Avery Yates, an antique jewelry restorer. Meanwhile, Nancy is worried because her attempts to contact Bess and George have failed.

Chrissa Maxwell and her family move from Iowa to Minnesota in order to be closer to Chrissa's grandmother, Louise "Nana" Hanlon, after the death of Chrissa's grandfather. At her new school, Chrissa has difficulty making friends and soon finds herself bullied by Tara James, Sonali Matthews and Jayden Johnson, a trio of girls called the Mean Bees.

Chrissa tries to befriend another girl, Gwen Thompson, who’s also being bullied by Tara, Sonali and Jayden. Gwen avoids Chrissa at first, but Chrissa later finds out that Gwen avoided her because she was homeless and ashamed of it; Chrissa and Gwen then become best friends. Later, Gwen tells Chrissa in the music room that her mom got a job and they're moving into an apartment. Tara, Jayden and Sonali overhear the conversation between them. Gwen asks Chrissa to cut her bangs for her in the bathroom. Tara, Jayden and Sonali enter and Tara offers to cut them for Gwen. She purposely does a terrible job, telling Gwen she really looks like a homeless person. Gwen gets angry at Chrissa because she thinks that Chrissa told Tara that she is homeless. The other girls are sent to the principal's office where they are asked to tell the truth. Tara lies and says that Chrissa told her about Gwen being homeless; Jayden also lies and says that she didn't see anything. However, Sonali tells Mrs. Zimisky the truth about what happened. The principal suspends Tara, Sonali and Jayden — Tara for three days, and Sonali and Jayden for only a day. After her suspension, Sonali apologizes to Gwen about all the mean things she has done to her, and leaves Tara and Jayden, then befriending Chrissa and Gwen.

After the incident, the bullying gets more intense. Posters and rumors about Chrissa on the Internet are spread around by Tara and Jayden. Chrissa quits her school swim team as a result of being picked on, after an incident that involved her older brother, Tyler. Chrissa gets advice from Mrs. Rundell, her art teacher, to tell her parents about the bullying. After she tells her parents, they help Chrissa see that sometimes, bullies are mean because they want to feel better about themselves, and try to do so by insulting others and putting them down.

With her newfound confidence, Chrissa and her friends show everyone that they are happy with who they are by doing fun things such as wearing homemade painted headbands. Their happiness and confidence annoys Tara and Jayden, but the three friends ignore them. Chrissa decides to do a project to make people aware that about bullying, and rejoins the swim team. The big swim competition approaches, and Chrissa realizes that she and Tara have to work together if they want to win the relay. Although Tara is reluctant, Chrissa assures her that though they may not be best friends, they can still work together to win. Their teamwork earns them their victory, and they reconcile and hug.

The 4th grade class present their project about how bullying affects everyone and how friendship can overcome bullying. One of Chrissa's best friends from her previous school, Amanda, visits her for the summer; Amanda befriends Sonali and Gwen, and the four become best friends.

Terry Anders is a fourteen-year-old boy who lives in Cleveland, Ohio. When both of his parents abandon him, he decides to go on a cross country adventure to find an uncle that he vaguely remembers after assembling his father's abandoned Blakely Bearcat kit car project. Along the way he befriends two Vietnam vets, Waylon and Wayne, with whom he enjoys life on the open road. This book is about their adventure together as they travel across the country.

Category:1993 American novels Category:Novels by Gary Paulsen

New York lawyer Allister Park is inexplicably torn from his normal existence and thrust into a series of parallel universes. Each morning he discovers he has become someone else, in a world changed from his own, initially finding himself in worlds where the American Revolution failed and France won the Napoleonic Wars. Ultimately he finds himself a bishop in the alternate New York City of New Belfast, in Vinland, a North America colonized by descendants of the Vikings and now divided between Norse-derived and native polities. He determines that this new world's differences from his own stem from two divergences in the course of history, relative to his own world.

The first was that King Oswiu of Northumbria was persuaded by Celtic Christianity, rather than the pre-Schism Roman tradition at the Synod of Whitby in 664 AD. The other was that the Franks lost the Battle of Tours in 732 AD, aborting the later rise of Charlemagne and disrupting the formation of France due to continued Umayyad insurgency and occupation. This meant that Italy placed itself under the protection of the Byzantine Empire, given that the Celtic/Roman schism had rendered Roman Catholicism weaker than it was in our timeline. Gorm, a Danish monarch, succeeded in unifying the British Isles and Scandinavia, which stayed united thereafter, despite intervals of disunity. In the tenth century, one "Ketil Ingolfson" discovered North America. However, Europe had nowhere near the population scale that it possessed by the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries in our own timeline. This meant that Vinland's growth was truncated as Native Americans recovered from the arrival of European germs and epidemic disease and engaged in political consolidation. By its twentieth century, Vinland has a parliamentary democracy with several political parties and an elected legislature. "New Belfast" (New York) is its largest city. In technological terms, they have automated vehicles and aircraft, albeit steam powered in the latter case, as well as telephones in its alternate 1940.

The displacement of his consciousness turns out to have been incidental to a plot directed against his other self, Bishop Ib Scoglund, whose campaign to extend civil rights to Vinland's native inhabitants, the Skrellings, has aroused opposition. However, that opposition also attracts foreign intervention, most notably from Sioux-dominated Dakotia, which encompasses Ohio, Wisconsin and the extreme eastern areas of North and South Dakota in our timeline. To get home, Park must continue his counterpart's struggle while somehow unraveling the mystery of how to reunite the minds of all his selves with their proper realities. Ultimately successful in these goals, he decides the life he has built for himself as "Scoglund" is better than anything he would be likely to achieve in his original life, and elects to remain in Vinland. At the very end of the story, the International Court appoints Skoglund/Park as a member of a trouble-shooting international tribunal established to deal with disputes among the various American nations.

The story begins with a struggle between the helmsman, who narrates, and a stranger who refuses to accept his position, takes over the helm and drives the narrator away. The helmsman goes to his shipmates to complain and get their help, but, although they agree that he is the true helmsman, they seem to be hypnotized by the stranger, and do nothing to drive him away. When the stranger tells them not to disturb him, they withdraw, leaving the narrator to wonder, "What kind of people are these? Do they ever think, or do they only shuffle pointlessly over the earth?"

The story was not published in Kafka's lifetime. It first appeared in ''Beschreibung eines Kampfes'' (Prague: Verlag Heinrich Mercy Sohn, 1936). An English translation by Tania and James Stern was first published in ''Description of a Struggle'' (New York: Schocken Books, 1958).

A comic-book adaptation of the story, illustrated by Peter Kuper, is included in ''Give It Up!''. <!--

Ex-military Nick returns to his hometown. His father, who is the sheriff tries to stand up against a brutal gang of ruthless criminals who intimidate and blackmail the people to sell them their business. He is then killed by the gang's leader Harvey Morris. With the help of an FBI agent and a few old friends, Nick himself becomes the sheriff, then vows to do everything in his power to destroy the gang and their ruthless leader, and win back his city. Eventually he shoots Morris and his gang and becomes the new sheriff of his hometown

Lieutenant Hearn is an aide to General Cummings, who treats Hearn as a son and a friend. The general believes that commanding officers should inspire fear in their subordinates in order to enforce discipline. Hearn expresses distaste for these views, preferring instead that soldiers should have mutual respect for one another, regardless of rank.

Hearn is transferred to lead an intelligence and reconnaissance platoon on a dangerous mission. The platoon had originally been led by Sergeant Croft, who now must serve under Hearn. Croft is a professional soldier with a reputation for cruelty. Hearn's idealistic approach is contrasted with Croft's desire to win at all costs. When Hearn considers abandoning the mission in the face of formidable Japanese opposition, Croft tricks him into underestimating the enemy. This eventually leads to several deaths in the platoon, and Hearn himself is wounded. Some of the men retreat, carrying Hearn on a stretcher. Croft presses onward with the remaining men. He is killed in action, but his men accomplish their mission, relaying vital intelligence to headquarters. Hearn's men consider leaving him to die, as they can escape faster on their own, but continue carrying him despite the risk.

Upon receiving the platoon's report, a subordinate of Cummings orders an immediate large-scale assault on the Japanese position, scoring a major victory despite Cummings' harsh skepticism. The survivors of the platoon, including Hearn, are able to reach headquarters. Once there, Hearn tells the chastized Cummings that the men who carried him on a stretcher did so out of love, and that the human spirit will always be too strong to be cowed by any terror imposed by other men.

During an encounter with a Celtic force, a Roman legion is magically transported to another world when the two opposing leaders' swords touch. The Roman force and Celtic leader find themselves in an empire called Videssos. This empire hires them as a mercenary force to help defend their lands from an enemy nation, Yezd. It quickly becomes apparent to the leader of the legionaries, Marcus Aemilius Scaurus, that the Empire is rife with political intrigue. With steadfast loyalty to the Emperor and a certain bull-headedness, Marcus manages to safely navigate the particularly dangerous political landscape and advance the place of himself and his men.

At a party to celebrate the arrival of the Romans held by the Emperor Mavrikios, Marcus, slightly inebriated, slips on the floor and bumps into the emissary of Yezd, Avshar. He tries to apologize, but is rebuffed and a duel results. Marcus wins, but chooses to spare Avshar rather than kill a helpless man. Avshar then sends an assassin after Marcus, but the assassin fails and the Emperor uses this attack as an excuse to declare war upon Yezd.

Avshar leads the enemy army of Yezd nomad warriors against Mavrikios' Videssos soldiers and mercenary forces. When Avshar casts a magic spell at the commander of the left wing, Ortaias Sphrantzes, the entire wing of the army is set into chaos as Ortaias turns his horse and flees at full speed. Only the quick actions of Gaius Philippus, the sub-commander of the legion and the aid of a clever ally Laon Pakhymer kept them from falling to the nomad forces. Mavrikios, seeing his grand army destroyed, led a charge of his personal bodyguards directly at Avshar, hoping that he could at least take the life of this one great enemy. He fails and is struck down. His brother Thorisin, leader of the right wing of the army is forced to flee and Yezd has won the battle.

Both Ortaias and Thorisin declare they are emperor of Videssos after the battle, but Ortaias, with the help of his Uncle, controls Videssos the City. Civil war erupts. Eventually, Thorisin emerges victorious as the citizens inside Videssos the City turn on Ortaias and open the gates for Thorisin's troops. It is revealed that the leader of the city guards put in place by Ortaias was none other than Avshar in disguise. Avshar manages to escape the city.

In an attempt to bolster his forces, Thorisin sends emissaries of his own to other countries to recruit more mercenaries for his Empire. Unfortunately, before he can organize any such force, a group of his own mercenaries turn on him and declare the western half of the empire their own. Thorisin sends a force, including the Legionaries, to the west to put down the rebelling mercenaries while he dealt with threats to the east. Half the western army turns in favor of the usurping forces and Marcus is forced to take over and do the best that he can to follow Thorisin's orders. He engages in guerrilla tactics that eventually bring down the mercenary usurpers.

As he is bringing the leaders of the rebellion back to Thorisin in Videssos the City, he is betrayed by his wife who frees her brother and the rest of the prisoners. He returns to Videssos in shame. While suffering through the betrayal of his wife, Marcus begins a relationship with Alypia, the Emperor Thorisins niece. When discovered, he is hauled to jail to await his fate. Thorisin sentences him to death, but commutes the sentence provided that Marcus, alone, remove from power a heretic to the west. Marcus agrees on the condition that he can openly suit Alypia. Thorisin agrees and sets Marcus on a boat to his destination.

After successfully defeating the heretic, Marcus flees the city in front of an advancing barbarian army (his own Legion coming to rescue him.) He signs up with a caravan train and ends up going to Mashiz, capitol of Yezd. There he witnesses the overthrow of the King of Yezd by Avshar. Fleeing Avshar, Marcus manages to escape in the company of an army of Nomads who have come to seek revenge upon the Yezd. Together they flee to the east to find Thorisin and plan a campaign against Avshar and the Yezd.

At the final battle, Avshar kills the Videssian Patriarch and seems on the edge of total victory when Marcus and Viridovix touch their blades to one another again and the released magic transports Avshar to another world, apparently Skotos' hell. These acts lead to Marcus being granted title and significant position in the empire and his marriage to Alypia.

The plot begins when a young ninja name Kanzo Hattori is searching for his master in order to complete his training. While searching for his master, he encounters a young 10-year-old boy named Ken'ichi Mitsuba and makes him his temporary replacement master. In order to develop Ken'ichi's confidence, they went on many adventures together. The game was aimed at a young audience the same way that the manga and anime did.

Meet (Jimmy Sheirgill), a Punjabi boy who lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, is a total fun loving chap. Adventure is his second name. High speed bikes, racing cars, ice hockey and what not, you name any adventure and Meet is there to rock. He is an adventurous brat of a highly sophisticated Canadian family. Rajjo (Kulraj Randhawa) is a girl of principles from Punjab. She has family values & cultural priorities very close to her heart. Come what may, she will never act in a way that will embarrass her family. What happens when Meet and Rajjo, from entirely different worlds, come together, and fall in love!! As everything was going in a merry way, the tale takes a sudden turn. Before they could realise, fate has parted their way, but destiny has something else in store. Meet is not ready to surrender in front of his fate. He will not let his love slip away in front of his eyes. In this topsy turvy tale of love, family & relationships, they just can't help asking each other, ''Tera Mera Ki Rishta''?

Archie Melville takes a job with his Uncle Verlin at the mortuary. When the local bullies die in a car crash, they are taken to the mortuary, where they become reanimated. The bullies, now zombies, become even nastier and begin to torment Archie and his friend Charly.

Archie is tormented by jocks John Devlin, Rog Davis, and another friend. John is dating a popular girl named Roberta Woods, played by Darcy DeMoss. The torment doesn't end there, as Archie works for his uncle Verlin, who more or less treats Archie badly, often forcing him to do disgusting work while Verlin does not. Perhaps Archie's only friend is Charly (Cheryl Pollak), a pretty tomboy who works at a local gas station fixing cars, but has announced her intentions to leave town. After Archie finally plays a prank on his tormentors, they plot revenge, though Roberta begs them not to, as she has grown tired of them picking on Archie for no reason. Before any revenge can take play, Archie's bullies (and Roberta along with Joanie, another girlfriend of Archie's tormentors) perish in a car crash. Verlin, who'd rather go out on a date than do his work, assigns Archie the task of getting the bodies or his tormentors ready for autopsy. As Archie is going about these task, a bolt of lightning re-animates the recently deceased teens. Though his now dead bullies seem intent on killing Archie, zombie Roberta seems to have more romantic intentions, as she tries to kiss Archie any time she is near them.

Uncle Verlin returns to find the mortuary a mess and begins to yell at Archie, who by now has the zombies trapped. Verlin dismisses Archie's warnings and goes into the mortuary, where he is captured by the zombies. Instead of eating his brains, they strap Verlin onto a table and fill his body full of embalming fluid until it finally explodes, scattering his internal organs everywhere. Eventually, Archie escapes, but the zombies are hot on his trail, stopping to beat up and kill two cops that were on patrol. Finally, Archie is able to reach Charly and convince her of what's going on. After the zombies take out a few more victims (including Charly's would be boyfriend, a self-absorbed race car driver) Charly and Archie team together to rid the world of the Zombies, even Roberta, who still showing romantic interest in Archie, despite the fact she's a zombie. Charly kills Roberta, and realizes that she has always been in love with Archie. With the four zombies now dead, Charly and Archie look over the scene and ponder their life together.

The story begins with Peter Parker standing among other reporters on the presidential inauguration of Barack Obama, photographing this historic moment. Suddenly a limo pulls up and reveals another Obama. The Secret Service does not know what to do, so Peter, who quickly dons his Spider-Man costume, asks both questions that only the real Barack Obama would be able to answer. When he asks what his nickname was during his college days, the actual Barack says his true name, and the fake one is confused and angry, causing him to reveal his true form, which turns out to be the super-villain known as the Chameleon. This gives Spider-Man the opportunity to capture the Chameleon and the Secret Service arrests him. Obama tells Spider-Man that he is a fan of the hero and thanks him. Afterward, as Obama swears his oath as President, Spider-Man is shown sitting at the top of the Washington Monument, where he thinks Biden notices him.

Flashbacks

Shortly after the Oceanic six's rescue, Kate Austen and a baby Aaron visit Cassidy, who is an ex-girlfriend of James "Sawyer" Ford. Kate gives Cassidy and Sawyer's daughter Clementine (Olivia Vickery) money from the severance pay from Oceanic. Cassidy deduces that Aaron is not Kate's baby, prompting her to tell her the truth about everything that happened on the island. Cassidy eventually leads Kate to realize that the reason she took Aaron as her own, is because Kate needed him in order to get over her emotional attachment to Sawyer. After the survivors's confrontation with Ben, Kate momentarily loses Aaron in a supermarket. She recovers it from a woman with a big resemblance of Claire Littleton (Emilie de Ravin), Aaron's mother. After this, she decides to return to the island with the others who left. She leaves Aaron in the care of Carole Littleton (Susan Duerden), Aaron's biological grandmother. Kate also tells Carole that she is returning to the island to find Carole's daughter, Claire, and bring her home.

1977

After Sayid shoots a young Ben, Jin-Soo Kwon (Daniel Dae Kim) wakes up and notices the situation. He brings Ben to the barracks so that his injuries can be treated by Juliet Burke (Elizabeth Mitchell). Juliet is unable to perform the necessary surgery on Ben and sends James "Sawyer" Ford (Josh Holloway) to retrieve Jack Shephard (Matthew Fox), a spinal surgeon. Meanwhile, Hugo "Hurley" Reyes (Jorge Garcia) and Miles Straume (Ken Leung) debate the nature of time travel. Hurley is convinced that they have changed the past, as in ''Back to the Future'', but Miles tells him that these events always happened in the past. Hurley, however, points that an older Ben didn't recognize Sayid when he was tortured in 2004, as the man who shot him as a kid. Jack, knowing what Ben does in the future, refuses to help, saying that "he already saved him once". This drives Kate Austen (Evangeline Lilly) to do everything she can to help Ben.

Kate goes to the sick bay where Ben is being treated and donates her blood because she is a universal donor. She strikes up a conversation with Ben's father, Roger (Jon Gries), who is upset that Ben stole his keys and freed Sayid from the jail. Once it becomes clear that Ben will succumb to his injuries without further intervention, Kate decides to take Ben to the Others, the island's native population. Sawyer comes to Kate's aid and they bring Ben to Richard Alpert (Nestor Carbonell), who warns them that if he treats Ben, he will not remember what has happened and will never be the same again. They agree anyway. Another Other urges Richard to inform "Ellie" of his intentions and implies that "Charles" will not be pleased if he finds out, but Richard says he doesn't answer to either of them. Richard then carries Ben into the temple.

2007

After being knocked out unconscious by Sun, Ben (Michael Emerson) wakes up in the infirmary, and is greeted by John Locke (Terry O'Quinn), who welcomes him back to "the land of the living".

Angela Petrelli has gathered the family--- sons Nathan and Peter, granddaughter Claire Bennet, and Claire's adoptive father Noah--- at the abandoned settlement of Coyote Sands, and prepares to explain what had happened there.

It is revealed that back in 1961, the site had been a relocation center, sponsored by the government, to study people with abilities. Angela and her sister, Alice Shaw, were two of many individuals sent there. Angela soon met the younger Bob Bishop, Daniel Linderman, and Charles Deveaux. Alice, who is revealed to have the ability to control the weather, remains suspicious of the project's intentions, headed by Chandra Suresh, with Dr. Zimmerman also working there. Angela insists they are here to be treated, but Charles and the others convince Angela they have essentially become prisoners. The four soon hatch a plan to escape, though the boys convince Angela that Alice must remain behind, as it would slow them down. Angela lies to Alice, saying to have had a dream that showed Alice must remain there. That night, Chandra Suresh calls Alice in for treatment, but she refuses and ends up causing a storm. The ensuing chaos escalates in a riot, resulting in the deaths of most of those in the camp. Later, Angela meets with the three boys at Coyote Sands Cafe (where she had shared a dance with Charles), explaining she has dreamt of their future and that they must form a company, and do terrible things ("It's a necessary evil"), to keep people like them safe from others.

In the present, Angela begins to think that Alice may still be alive after a vicious sandstorm quickly whips up. The group also finds Mohinder Suresh there, investigating what his father had been doing. At first, Peter thinks what they are doing is wrong and flies off. Nathan tracks him down, and the two reconcile. They return to find only Claire, as Angela has disappeared after venturing into the storm. Peter and Mohinder search one side of the settlement, while Noah, Nathan, and Claire search the other. Claire discovers the cover for the "Alice In Wonderland" book that Alice had with her and laments that everything she's been through has caused her to grow up too fast; Mohinder laments that his generation is doomed to repeat their parents' mistakes, as Peter tries to help him cope.

Angela, who was knocked out during the storm, awakens in an old bunker. She finds her sister Alice, who had been living there since Angela had left. Angela apologizes for what she had to go through, and reveals her lies to her. Enraged, Alice begins whipping up another storm, though Peter and Mohinder come to save Angela. Angela tries to convince Alice to come back with them, to her new family, but Alice refuses and disappears outside. The group decide to leave, though Mohinder declines Peter's offer to go with them. Later at the Coyote Sands Cafe, Angela implies she intends to start another company with the group. Nathan gives Angela the "Alice In Wonderland" book, reunited with its cover, and helps Angela overcome her guilt over losing Alice again. Peter states the importance of forgiveness and the strength of family, and Claire asks about their next move. Nathan tells Claire that he will own up to his mistakes and speak with the President in Washington. Claire draws the group's attention to what appears to be Nathan himself giving a press conference on TV; Noah recognizes him as Sylar.

The story appears to be centered on the investigation of the Book of the Silver Cross, an ancient Belkan magical tome, and that tome's accompanying Dividers, magical weapons with currently unknown powers. Thoma Avenir, while travelling, discovers a girl named Lily Strosek trapped inside a strange research facility. When Thoma rescues Lily from her confinement, she grants him a new magical device that refers to itself as one of these Dividers. However, unbeknownst to them, a group of people known as the Huckebein family are also using these weapons to cause large amounts of chaos and destruction, leading to an investigation by the Time-Space Administration Bureau. Before long, Thoma and Lily find themselves caught up in the ambitions of the Huckebein family and the investigation of the Bureau.

Main plot

Bryce Larkin (Matthew Bomer) is undergoing examination in a CIA detention facility while Casey and Sarah look on. However, he refuses to speak with anyone but Chuck. Chuck is at work, still trying to get in touch with Sarah since their kiss in the previous episode. Sarah arrives to bring him in before they can discuss what happened between them.

Chuck is shocked to learn Bryce is alive and wants to see him. Casey lets Chuck into the room where he's being held, but Bryce doesn't believe it's him until after a short exchange in Klingon. Before Chuck can get any answers, Bryce takes him hostage and uses him to escape into an elevator. Bryce releases him and begins to explain when the elevator stops and he is confronted by Tommy (Anthony Ruivivar). Chuck flashes and identifies him as a member of Fulcrum. Tommy tells Bryce to give himself up, but Bryce refuses. The elevator starts moving again and Chuck questions him about Fulcrum, but Bryce is evasive. He admits his surprise how quickly the Intersect works but as the elevator stops again, Bryce tranquillizes Chuck and leaves him as he makes his escape.

Later Sarah is helping Chuck home and tells him that Bryce is not their concern. Ellie comes out to ask if Sarah is joining them for Thanksgiving dinner and Sarah agrees. The next night Sarah meets Chuck at his home. Ellie has also invited Casey, and Morgan brings Anna. Chuck has to go to his car to get the marshmallows for Morgan's favorite dish and is approached by Bryce, who requests to talk to Sarah without Casey interfering. Chuck agrees and lets Bryce hide in his room before returning to dinner, where he tips off Sarah. Bryce starts explaining the situation and that she should believe him because she's still in love with him, then kisses her. Unknown to both, Chuck sees the two kissing and tips off Casey that Bryce is there. Bryce leaves before Casey arrives and Thanksgiving dinner breaks up, with Casey, Sarah and Chuck pursuing Bryce.

Casey has Chuck and Sarah look in his apartment while he checks the back, where Chuck admits to having seen Bryce kiss her. They're unable to discuss the issue further before realizing someone is inside Casey's apartment. They enter to find Bryce attempting to break into the computer. Bryce tells them he's not rogue and that he was recruited by Fulcrum for an operation called "Sandwall," which causes Chuck to flash, confirming his story. He tells them Fulcrum is a rogue faction within the CIA, and he stole, destroyed, and sent the Intersect to Chuck to keep it out of their hands. Casey returns home, and before anyone can stop him, shoots Bryce.

Sarah checks up on Bryce and finds he was wearing a bulletproof vest. They manage to convince Casey that Bryce is telling the truth, and develop a plan to turn Bryce over to the CIA, using the Buy More Black Friday sale and the Intersect to ensure the contacts are not Fulcrum. Everyone arrives at the store and the hand-off goes as planned. Sarah accompanies Bryce to the transfer point, but they are ambushed on the way. They manage to escape their captors and head back to find Chuck. Meanwhile, Tommy shows up at the Buy More having deduced that Chuck is actually the Intersect. Chuck uses a pre-arranged "panic" word ("Pineapple") to trigger an evacuation of the store, distracting Tommy long enough for Casey to get him to the safety of the Home Theater room.

A shootout between Casey and Tommy's team erupts after the store evacuates, destroying the store. Bryce and Sarah arrive and engage the Fulcrum team in hand-to-hand combat while Casey attempts a breakout with Chuck but is knocked out by Tommy, who takes Chuck captive. Bryce asks Chuck a question in Klingon, and after he responds, Bryce shoots Chuck. Casey then arrives and knocks out Tommy. Sarah discovers Chuck is wearing a bulletproof vest and is alive. Bryce is assigned to go after Fulcrum and offers Sarah a chance to go with him. The episode ends with both Bryce and Chuck calling her, and Sarah unsure of which call to answer.

Buy More

Morgan is placed in charge of prepping the store for the Black Friday sale by Big Mike. The Nerd Herd team spends Thanksgiving morning going over crowd control. Morgan teaches them to use the word "pineapple" as a code to trigger an evacuation of the store, which the team begins mocking.

Morgan brings his new girlfriend, Anna, to Thanksgiving dinner where Anna immediately takes a dislike to Ellie, as Morgan's crush on her is well known. When Morgan begins going into ecstasies over his favorite dish, which Ellie makes as a specialty, Anna gets upset and leaves.

The next morning at the store, Chuck uses the "pineapple" code to trigger an evacuation when he's captured by Tommy. Big Mike panics at seeing the customers leave but is unable to stop them and is swept out of the store. Anna is knocked down by the press of people, and Morgan carries her out, passing her "test". Big Mike is about to fire Morgan when a fireman (part of an NSA cleanup team) tells him there was a gas leak, and Morgan saved everyone's life.

Federal agent, Terry McVey, who goes undercover as a cowboy staying at the Silver Bar Dude Ranch to investigate the disappearance of Frank Adams, a noted engraver, which is possibly connected to a counterfeit money case.Richard Jewell & Vernon Harbin, ''The RKO Story.'' New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House, 1982. p167.

Taking place at a remote laboratory in the year 19XX, a three-staff research team consisting of Dr. Knavik and his assistants the TWIN sisters Cecile and Lucia is studying the exploration and usage of ESP. One day while Lucia was getting ready for work, an explosion burst from the lab. By the time Lucia got there, Dr. Knavik was all right, but Cecile had disappeared. Dr. Knavik explains that part of his experiments involved running tests on a variety of monsters, but eventually the subjects rebelled and took Cecile with them. As Lucia follows the monster's track, Dr. Knavik gives her the ESP Booster, a device he created that will enable the user to wield psychic powers.

In 1937, two years before World War II, a spinster named Miss Bentley has returned to Lake Como to spend a month's summer holiday to heal herself from the grief of her father's recent death. While there, she meets a bachelor named Major Wilshaw and develops some feelings for him. However, a young American girl named Miss Beaumont arrives and flirts with the major out of sheer boredom, leading him to believe she's actually interested in him.

The opera has a non-traditional plot structure split between two acts, with three scenes in each act. The subject of the opera is the biblical figure of the Antichrist, and the consequences of the Antichrist's activities on Earth. It begins with the Antichrist being sent into the world and ends with the Antichrist's final destruction. In between these two structural points, each scene illustrates an aspect of the Antichrist in the world.

Act 1

The prologue starts with Lucifer, sung by a Baritone, raising the Antichrist out of the pit and God, who is represented by a speaking voice, allowing the Antichrist to act on the Earth for a period of time.

Scene 1, titled ''The Light of the Wilderness'', features a tenor singing the part of the Spirit of Mystery and a mezzo-soprano sing the spirit's echo. The scene focuses on the apathetic state of the world and looks forward to the dawning of a new age of hope.

''Vainglory,'' the title of Scene 2, is primarily focused on a tenor playing the Mouth Speaking Great Things and espouses a populist slogan characterized by faith in the progression of society.

In Scene 3, ''Despair,'' Despondency (Despair), once again sung by a tenor, sings of pessimism and cynicism that functions as humankind's cross under the age of the Antichrist.

Act 2

The second act starts with ''Lust,'' which features a soprano as the Great Whore (Babel), a tenor playing the Scarlet-Coloured Beast, and a mixed choir representing humanity. The two figures elaborate on egocentric hedonism worshiped by humankind.

The Great Whore and the same tenor who played the Scarlet-Coloured Beast, now playing the Lie, feature in Scene 5 ''Every Man Against His Neighbour''along with a bass representing Hate, accompanied by a mixed choir representing demons. The Lie and the Great Whore argue over truth and power, while Hate intervenes in their squabble, while the world begins to perish.

The final scene ''Perdition'' features a Mystical Voice, sung by a baritone, who curses the Antichrist, while God destroys the Antichrist. This is followed by the Ephphatha Chorus, sung by the choir, where God gives peace harmony and insight to creation.

Sumika Murasame is a high school girl who is in love with her female best friend Ushio Kazama, but is unable to confess how she feels as Ushio only likes girls she considers to be "cute" and "small", while Sumika is tall and athletic. Sumika discovers one of her classmates, a boy named Masaki Akemiya who likes her, started cross-dressing to catch her attention, but inadvertently was hired as a model. Sumika and Ushio get to know two girls in their class who are a couple, Tomoe Hachikusa and Miyako Taema; Tomoe wants to start a "girl's club" where only lesbians can join but is wrought with opposition. Sumika agrees to go on one date with Masaki, who comes cross-dressed as his female persona Akemi Yamasaki. Sumika becomes involved with her classmate Azusa Aoi, a quiet girl and aspiring writer who plans to attend a ''dōjinshi'' convention fueled by her love of yuri author Orino Masaka, which is the pen name of Ushio's older brother Norio. Sumika gets roped into helping Azusa and attending the summer convention as well, despite wanting to spend time with Ushio.

After the sports day competition and cultural festival, a short German high school girl named Charlotte Münchhausen (nicknamed Lotte), comes to stay at Sumika's home and dojo to train in karate. Sumika, who had quit karate because it is not "cute", starts training again to help in Charlotte's training, much to the joy of Sumika's father. Ushio is unhappy about Charlotte's training and merely wants her to be a gentle, cute girl. Charlotte gets sick after running in the rain during training, and after Ushio confronts her about it, Sumika lashes out, distraught how she cannot become any cuter or smaller. Following Tomoe's suggestion, a female karate club is formed with Sumika as the president and Charlotte as the vice-president. After Ushio starts realizing she has romantic feelings for Sumika, she starts to worry that Sumika may stop being friends with her. Masaki stops being a fashion model after being traumatically exposed as a cross-dresser.

After Sumika and her friends enter their second year of high school, two first-year girls named Mayu Semimaru and Koino Matsubara join the female karate club. Sumika is troubled over her relationship with Ushio, which has an adverse effect on her karate performance, much to the disappointment of Mayu. Sumika starts to get more involved with karate training to take her mind off of Ushio and in doing so, inadvertently distances herself from her. Ushio breaks down in depression because of this distancing, which results in Ushio breaking her arm, but is able to make up with Sumika. Tomoe accidentally implies to Ushio that Sumika has romantic feelings for her, much to Ushio's surprise, and Ushio finally accepts that she has fallen in love with Sumika but decides to become less dependent on her friend before confessing because she believes love will always fail for her. Meanwhile, Mayu realizes that she might have romantic feelings for Sumika as well, which distracts her in a karate tournament. Later, Sumika runs for student council president, though runs into various problems concerning rumours about her, and is forced to recede when Mayu ends up punching another student for insulting Sumika. As such, Ushio ends up becoming the new student council president.

The story begins with Sylvester the Cat finding himself the heir of his mistress' vast fortune. While his financial adviser, Elmer Fudd, is urging him to invest his money, Sylvester is frightened he will simply lose his money. Meanwhile, his street cat friends are out to get the money for themselves, but Fudd manages to thwart each attempt, including the one from Johnny, a cat who pretends to be a salesman for a "silver cleaning liquid" of the Hi-Ho Silver Cleaning Company of Walla Walla, Washington. Finally, Fudd manages an extensive lecture on the benefits of good investment on the economy with an educational film to illustrate the point. While Sylvester is not convinced, the cats outside see the film themselves and are persuaded to the point when Sylvester manages to get the money to them, they demand he give it over to Elmer for investment. Defeated, Sylvester gives in and growls to the portrait of his mistress that his life would have been less complicated if she took her money with her.

After Robin gets upset about the gang not watching her show, they all agree to watch Robin's 4:00am talk show. Ted informs them that Karen broke up with him after finding Robin's earring in his bed. Ted discovers the matching earring on Marshall's dresser and mutes the television to confront Marshall, believing him to have sabotaged his relationship. Lily confesses that she was the saboteur, as she had been in some of Ted's prior relationships, including with Robin. She justifies her actions using the "Front Porch Test"—an indication of how they would all live together once they grow old. Scenes are shown of Marshall, Lily and Ted in the far future playing bridge, their interactions with Ted's potential partner driving Lily's present actions.

Robin returns home to learn that her friends missed her event-filled broadcast due to the argument, involving her giving a heartfelt tribute to her friends, dousing her co-anchor with a fire extinguisher after he catches fire, administering CPR to her co-anchor after he collapses, and helping a guest give birth live on-air. Lily insists she did not want to break them up, but merely to consider their future together, a suggestion that seeded the conversation that would lead to their breakup. Ted heads into the bar the next day to find Karen waiting, having had the situation explained to her by Lily. Karen hands Ted an apology letter from Lily, who has prepared a fine dinner in Ted's apartment for him and Karen. Ted breaks up with Karen after she says he cannot see someone as manipulative as Lily again and he does the "Front Porch Test" himself, imagining what the future would be like without her and Marshall. Returning to the apartment, Ted asks Robin to be his "plus one" and they enjoy the meal Lily prepared. They wonder whether or not they would still be together if not for Lily's intervention. Ted then makes a mock proposal to Robin, asking her to be his "backup wife". She accepts.

Marshall wears a nightshirt to the pajama party to watch Robin's show, while Barney wears a silk suit. Barney insists his clothing choice is superior, citing the possibility of attractive women coming to his home at night and seeing how good he looks, but then admits how unlikely that is and uncomfortable the "suitjamas" are. Marshall convinces Barney to try a nightshirt instead. Barney and Marshall delight in their nightshirts, having a dream about flying together in them. Barney starts wearing nightshirts to sleep. A week later, an attractive woman shows up at his apartment at night but, upon seeing his nightshirt, she decides to leave, much to Barney's chagrin.

Luca (Marcello Mastroianni) is a man who runs a mill and he is married to Carmela (Sophia Loren), a beautiful wife, set in Naples in 1860. But his wife's beauty catches the eye of Don Teofilo the Governor (Vittorio De Sica), who sets about to have Carmela. He has Luca arrested on trumped up charges, and then tries seduce Carmella. She resists, so he tells her he can free Luca, but there are strings attached.

Episode starts with House building a Rube Goldberg machine while Cuddy interrupts him. Nursing-home worker Morgan fakes an illness to get House's attention after the home's pet cat, Debbie, sleeps next to her. It seems that the cat only visits people if they are about to die and does so with alarming accuracy (similar to real-life cat Oscar). While House dismisses Morgan as faking, he is intrigued by her theory on the kiss-of-death cat, and sets out to disprove it (by making a trial for the cat with 3 coma patients, one of them a firefighter that, later in the episode, dies). When Morgan falls seriously ill (and therefore, doesn't suffer from Münchausen syndrome), he and the team are forced to get to the bottom of both mysteries. Ruling out multiple illnesses, House observes Debbie sitting on his warm computer and determines the cat is attracted to warmth. This explains the "death visits", because of the heat coming from the warming blankets on the patients.

House diagnoses Morgan with a carcinoid tumor of the appendix, interrupting the brain surgery she was about to undergo at the time. After a brief discussion on her willingness to sacrifice all on a crazy suspicion, she remarks that William Miller, the preacher that House had compared her with previously, had many followers, but even after being proven wrong about the second coming again and again, his said followers went on to found the Seventh-day Adventist Church. House states that this was just because his followers were as deluded as the preacher. Morgan simply says, "Maybe he just gave them something to live for." House ponders her statement for an instant, says "Feel better," and leaves.

Meanwhile, Taub struggles with his finances and reconnects with an old high school friend at the clinic whose business successes present Taub with an entrepreneurial opportunity he had not previously considered. Taub decides to pursue this opportunity and tells House of his resignation. At first House refuses it, prompting Taub to ask why. House merely replies, "It avoids the whole thing where you panic, run back and grovel, and then I punish you and take you back." Taub leaves, and House calls after him to bring donuts when he comes back the next day. Preparing to invest all his money remaining after a previous financial crisis, Taub arrives for a meeting with his friend, only to be confronted by a sympathetic secretary 15 minutes later to say that the friend was arrested and was actually a con artist who only worked as a temp at the company. Shocked, he takes his money and leaves. Taub returns to the hospital with the box of doughnuts he was told to bring back when he returns as per House's prediction and sits resignedly at the table. Debbie the cat then appears on his table. In one of the dialogues House mimics a famous quote from Goldfinger: "No Mr. Bond, I expect you to die".

During the diagnoses of Morgan, House ridicules Kutner about his superstitious nature, and tests him with classics such as the umbrella indoors and walking under a ladder. House goes as far as to fake an illness. Towards the end of the episode, House sits down at his desk to build a toy car track similar to the one he was working on in the opening sequence, only to spring up upon realizing his chair is soaked with urine. House orders Kutner to pay for the dry cleaning and storms out, leading Thirteen to question why Kutner is still alive after a prank like that, and to marvel at the fact that he got the cat to urinate on the chair. As he walks out, Kutner replies, "Yeah. A ''cat''." His ironic tone prompts Thirteen to realize that it was Kutner's own urine on House's chair much to Thirteen's own disgust.

The main character, Mary, is brought up by her guardian Mr. Raymond in a loving environment, separate from the prejudiced and patriarchal society of Britain. This unsullied childhood begins to shift, when at the age of 11, two brothers, William and Edmund Pelham, come to live with and be educated by Mr. Raymond. Mary soon develops a close friendship with William, and on two separate occasions their games make Mary run into Sir Peter Osborne, who lies in the neighboring house. On the first occasion, William convinces Mary to steal grapes from the neighbor's garden, but is caught by several young men, one of which being Sir Peter Osborne. Sir Peter Osborne threatens to kiss Mary but she is able to escape before he is able to. On the second occasion, Mary attempts to save a hare from a hunting party during her games with William, and Sir Peter Osborne whips her several times with his horse whip before forcefully kissing her.

As William and Mary grow older, Mr. Raymond sees that he must separate them in order to maintain his promise to the boys' father; that he should keep them from any acquaintance that might negatively affect their future as men of fashion and wealth. He sends Mary to live with a friend, Mr. Neville, and his family. During this time, Mary is saved from being swept away to sea by a boat of seamen, one of which is Sir Peter Osborne. After returning her to the Nevilles, Sir Peter Osborne makes several offers to pay a visit to Mary and shows up at the house on several occasions, all of which are denied by the Nevilles.

The rest of the novel details the trials that Mary encounters upon the death of her benevolent guardian Mr. Raymond, and her subsequent reliance on the charity of those around her.

María Sánchez Amaro is a woman from a wealthy family, educated in the moral habits of the 20s, whose live revolves around three men: Alfredo, the seducer, whom she married and procreate a child, Enrico, mature man, noble and protector, with whom he formed a second marriage, and Antonio, who teaches her the promise of true love.

After suffering abuse and betrayal by Alfredo, she is alone with her daughter when he goes to jail. She goes forward with his beautiful voice, but when he was released he returns to harass, María falls into the arms of Enrico, captivated by his love and goodness, and therein lies the love and protection that she has always yearned.

Antonio then appears, as a man who received protection from Enrico when he fled his country, accused of a crime he did not commit. Enrico does not only work but also gave him the same affection that he gave his own son. Antonio falls madly in love with the wife of the man who most wants and respects, and she does, too, although both try to resist this tormented and impossible love.

The story is about the singer Brianda (Daniela Romo), the girlfriend of Gustavo (Alfredo Adame). On a trip Brianda's plane suffers an accident and falls into the sea. She runs to a forest where she meets Manuel Santa María (Jorge Rivero) who flees from thugs. Brianda and Manuel fall in love until he discovers that he is her father. Brianda is slowly discovering that who she really loves is Gustavo.

Mario and Santiago are both in love with the same woman, Martha. Martha becomes pregnant by Santiago and together they raise two daughters, Gabriela and Julieta. Mario and Santiago are involved in a diamond smuggling ring headed by Adolfo Avila, who murders Martha and blackmails both Mario and Santiago into taking the fall for it. Santiago flees with his young daughters, using his skills as an actor and master of disguise to assume the new identity of Fausto Guillén and the girls grow up unaware of his past as Santiago.

Twenty years later, the now wealthy Mario discovers that he is dying, so he seeks out Santiago and asks him to take his place. But Adolfo murders the ailing Mario, and Santiago is forced to hastily adopt Mario's identity in order to throw Adolfo off track, while keeping from the girls that he is not Fausto, but Santiago. Meanwhile, Gabriela meets Santiago's adopted son David and they fall in love with each other. But Gabriela's physical resemblance to her mother Martha attracts Adolfo's attention, placing everyone's lives in deadly danger.

''Lizzie Zipmouth'' is about a young girl named Lizzie who moves into a new home with her mother after her once-single mother finds a new boyfriend, Sam. Disgruntled and unhappy about the way these proceedings are going, she doesn't try to make friends with Sam's two sons, Rory and Jake, and keeps to herself by not saying a word. Soon, Jake nicknames her 'Lizzie Zipmouth' because of her obvious silence to everyone. It is only when she meets her scary step-great-grandmother that she begins to find a connection with her new family, bonding with Great-Gran over their love of dolls. However, Great-Gran has a bad stroke, and the family is unsure of the outcome. Lizzie, using Great-Gran's phrases and back-chats, manages to snap Great-Gran out of her ill trance. Soon, Great-Gran is making a full recovery and Lizzie is not so zipmouthed anymore.

A tale about a group of tourists who go on whale watching expedition. During the expedition the ship breaks down and they are picked up by a nearby whaler. The Fishbillies on the vessel have just gone bust and everything goes out of control.

In 1983, off-duty policeman Reiden picks up a suspicious couple, Kei and Ai, who claim to be father and daughter but appear to be close in age. Reiden thus becomes involved in a fight between them and the female fighter K2 who is chasing them. Kei draws out his latent ability to the maximum by a Legendary "Trigger" and Ai blows away K2. The night sky splits and strange space is shown. Their enemy is the secret society "Fraud" of para-psionics, which is commanded by Kuu Ragua Lee. Kei, Ai and Reiden meet the assassins whom Fraud sends out one after another.

After a long humbling year temping as a traffic cop on a studio lot, Jody is faced with the hard decision of taking the only well-paying industry job she has yet been offered — editing porn at Grind Productions, a profitable adult film company run by former porn star Irene Fox (Kristen Johnston).

At first horrified by the prospect of exposing herself to the cockroaches of the film industry, not to mention the effect it would have on her strict Jewish parents, Jody has a remarkable change of heart when she realizes that Grind has all the facilities she needs to make her own low budget movie — on the sly of course — but things get complicated when Jody meets Jeff Drake (Matthew Davis), the charming Herr Director of adult films. Jeff, also an award-winning filmmaker, once had his own dreams of making "real" films, but now is a hard-worn cynic who masks his disappointment behind a façade of irony. In Jody, he sees the idealism he once had, while Jody starts to face her own sexual hang-ups as she begins to get aroused by the porn she so harshly judges. Jody and Jeff get close to each other, but she gets hurt when she sees him making out with one of his actresses, Sindi, who was actually taking advantage of Jeff in his drunken state. The movie made by Jody is well received by critics, and Jeff is also nominated for an AVN Award for his movie. Jody wants to set things right with him; she accepts help from Bliss, the lead actress in both Jody's and Jeff's movies, but with different identities, and pretends to be her to gain entry at an award function. On stage, when Jeff receives his award, he announces his retirement from the Adult Industry to move on. Jeff calls Bliss for special thanks. He realizes that Jody is in disguise as Bliss, and they kiss.

Off the coast of Alaska, oceanographer Emma MacNeil is studying the migration patterns of whales aboard an experimental submarine she took without permission from her employer. Meanwhile, a military helicopter drops experimental sonar transmitters into the water, causing a pod of whales to go out of control and start ramming a nearby glacier. In the chaos, the helicopter crashes into the glacier, and the combined damage breaks the glacier open, thawing two hibernating, prehistoric creatures. MacNeil narrowly avoids destruction as, unknown to her, a giant shark and octopus are freed. Some time later, a drilling platform off the coast of Japan is attacked by the octopus, which has tentacles large enough to wrap around the entire structure. After returning to Point Dume, California, MacNeil investigates the corpse of a beached whale covered with many bloody wounds. Her employer Dick Richie believes them to be from a tanker propeller, but MacNeil insists they appear to be from a creature. Later, she extracts what appears to be a shark's tooth from one of the wounds. Elsewhere, the huge shark leaps tens of thousands of feet into the air from the ocean and attacks a commercial aircraft, forcing it to crash into the water.

A review board convenes and fires MacNeil from the oceanographic institute for stealing the submarine. She brings the shark tooth to her old professor, former U.S. Navy pilot Lamar Sanders, who believes it belonged to a megalodon, an enormous species of shark believed to have become extinct 1.5 million years ago. The duo is visited by Dr. Seiji Shimada, a Japanese scientist trying to determine what attacked the drilling platform. The three review a videotape recorded during MacNeil's submarine voyage, finding images of both the megalodon and a gigantic octopus. MacNeil reflects on the polar ice caps melting due to man-made global warming, and wonders if the creatures are mankind's "comeuppance". Meanwhile, a U.S. "naval destroyer" engages the megalodon, but is destroyed after its guns fail to destroy the shark. MacNeil, Sanders, and Shimada are arrested by a team of soldiers and taken to government official Allan Baxter, a rude and racist man who demands their help in destroying the creatures. The three agree to help, in exchange for the government trying to capture the creatures for study rather than destroy them.

While working at a naval laboratory to develop a method for luring the creatures, MacNeil and Shimada become attracted to each other and have sex in a utility closet. The incident makes them realize they can attract the creatures using chemicals. MacNeil and Sanders agree to place a trap for the shark in San Francisco Bay, while Shimada returns to Tokyo to attract the octopus. MacNeil and Sanders barely escape the shark after placing the trap with a mini-submarine. The plan fails, however, when the shark destroys another destroyer sent by Baxter. The shark then resurfaces and bites off a large portion of the Golden Gate Bridge, killing many civilians on the bridge. Later, Shimada contacts the Americans and says the Japanese trap, having the same disaster, only succeeded in angering the octopus, which has escaped despite multiple artillery and missile hits. Baxter suggests using nuclear weapons against the creatures, which MacNeil, Sanders, and Shimada strongly oppose due to the risk of marine devastation, coastal damage and human casualties. As an alternative, MacNeil suggests using the same pheromone traps to create a "Thrilla in Manila" by drawing the two creatures together. She believes that because the two creatures were frozen in ice locked in combat, they must be natural rivals and their aggressiveness towards one another will cause them to fight to the death if they're lured together. MacNeil, Sanders, and Baxter are assigned to a submarine to find the shark and lure it to the North Pacific Ocean.

After a short search, the submarine brings both the shark and the octopus to an ice trench off the Alaskan coast, where MacNeil first encountered the creatures. Sanders himself ends up piloting the sub after the original pilot loses his nerve and pulls a gun on the captain before he is overtaken. As the creatures meet, the octopus wraps itself around the shark and tries to suffocate it, but the shark bites its tentacles to escape and attacks the submarine. MacNeil, Sanders, and Baxter man a mini-submarine and detach just as the shark bites the larger submarine in half, killing the rest of the crew. The shark gives chase, but the mini-sub and its crew are saved when a Japanese submarine with Shimada on board fires torpedoes at it. The octopus grabs the Japanese submarine and nearly destroys it, but the sub is released after the octopus is attacked by the shark. The two creatures engage in a fierce battle, at the end of which, the octopus strangles the shark after the shark dismembers some of its tentacles, causing it to bleed to death. The two sink, dead, still locked from their battle. McNeil and the others, after watching the showdown between the two monsters, discover Shimada and his sub survived the octopus attack. The film ends with MacNeil, Sanders, and Shimada deciding to visit the North Sea after receiving infrared images of mysterious organic life there.

At the start of ''Sweet Blue Flowers'', Akira Okudaira, who is an entering high school student into Fujigaya Girls Academy, becomes reacquainted with her childhood friend Fumi Manjōme whom she has not seen for ten years. Fumi is attending Matsuoka Girl's High School where she quickly becomes friends with a handsome third-year student named Yasuko Sugimoto. Akira joins her school's drama club with her friend and classmate Kyōko Ikumi, who is in love with Yasuko, though Yasuko turns her down. Akira meets Kyōko's fiancé (in name only) Kō Sawanoi. Yasuko and Fumi become a couple, and Fumi comes out to Akira who is at first unsure on how to act, but still tries to support Fumi's new relationship.

Akira's drama club does an adaptation of ''Wuthering Heights'' for a drama festival; Fumi helps out with her friends Yōko Honatsugi, Misako Yasuda, and Miwa Motegi. Yasuko breaks up with Fumi, who learns that Yasuko's older sister Kazusa is marrying a teacher at Fujigaya named Masanori Kagami whom Yasuko had fallen in love with. Time passes after the wedding, and Yasuko decides to study abroad in London after graduating. Miwa and Akira's older brother Shinobu start going out, and Fumi tells Akira that she was her first love, much to Akira's embarrassment.

When Akira and her friends enter their second year of high school, an energetic first-year student named Haruka Ōno joins the Fujigaya drama club. Akira and Kyōko are split into different classrooms, and Akira meets a tall girl in her new class named Ryōko Ueda. The high school division of Fujigaya does the play ''Rokumeikan'' with Akira, Kyōko and Ryōko playing lead roles, though Ryōko only agrees to act because Akira also agrees to act alongside her. Fumi and Haruka become friends, and Haruka confides in Fumi that she suspects her older sister Orie may like women. Not knowing how to respond, Fumi seeks advice from Akira, but ends up confessing her love for her instead. Kyōko does not want Kō to break off the engagement, but he ends up finally breaking up with her. The play goes well and everyone praises the actress' performances. Over summer vacation, Akira suggests to Fumi that they go out together after thinking deeply about it.

The novel is set in the fantasy world of Ranadon, where there is no night time. Two suns orbit the earth and bathe it in light constantly. A religious sect known as the Shadowdancers claim this is the work of the Goddess, a deity both benign and merciless, whom most in the world believe in. The back story is that many years ago the second sun mysteriously vanished and left Ranadon in the Age of Shadows. At the insistence of the self-appointed High Priestess of the Shadow dancers, Belegren, the lion of Senet, a powerful and devout man named Antonov, sacrificed his baby son Gunta, after which the second sun returned and so it has been ever since. Dirk Provin, the second son of the Duke Wallin Provin of Elcast, saves a wounded sailor from a shipwreck, brought about by a volcanic eruption and consequent earthquake. Through the course of the man's recovery it is revealed that he is in fact, Johan Thorn, the exiled King of Dhevyn who was utterly defeated by Antonov during the Age of Shadows, and is now the most wanted man in Ranadon. News of this reaches the Lion of Senet himself, who arrives with Belegren the High Priestess, on Elcast, and the secret web of lies which had been built up around Dirk and everything he ever knew begins to slowly unravel, as the apprentice physician comes to realise that others are slowly drawing their own plans around him.

This novel picks up two years after the events of the previous one, with Dirk fleeing Avacas a wanted man and seeking sanctuary in the Baenlands. Obsessed with Dirk's capture Antonov arrests Morna Provin at her husband's funeral and announces that he will have her burned at the stake come Landfall. Despite the best efforts of Tia and Reithan Dirk still finds out and demands that they attempt to save her. The other major plot follows the domestic quarrels of Alenor and Kirsh, who is still besotted with the acrobat Marquel. At Dirk's suggestion, Alenor invites Marquel to Kalarada willingly in the hope that keeping Kirsh distracted will give her some measure of control over her kingdom. Arriving on Elcast too late, Dirk has only time to beg Tia to end his mother's suffering. She refuses at first, but forced to listen to Morna's screams, Tia relents and shoots the former duchess through the eye, ending her pain. The two escape with Master Helgrin and row back to the Wanderer, watching as Reithan Seranov's diversion burns Antonov's flagship to the waterline in retribution. Tired of running, Dirk announces that night that he is going to Omaxin in an attempt to break through the labyrinth and discover the truth that sent Neris Veran into madness. The strain of her husband openly flaunting a mistress takes its toll on Alenor and her relationship with Kirsh grows fractious. She eventually begins an affair with the captain of her guard.

Long before the events of ''Jewel Summoner'', monsters and humans coexisted peacefully in the game's world. Eventually, a mysterious event called the "Great Disaster" occurred, and many monsters disappeared. Those that didn't were contained within "jewels" that became a source of energy that humans harnessed to provide power for their civilization, called the "Powered Civilization". Occasionally, rogue monsters called Abominations would appear and attack humans indiscriminately. The humans responded by developing a skill known as "Jewel Summoning", which could be used to fight and capture Abominations. Jewel Summoners are generally descended from a clan called the "Enchanters" and receive special training in the use of jewels. Trained Jewel Summoners work for an organization called the Order and collaborate to fight Abominations.

''Jewel Summoner's'' story centers around a young Jewel Summoner named Vice. Vice's mother died at the hands of an Abomination named Shina years before, and Vice has been searching for the monster ever since. Before she died, Vice's mother gave him a jewel containing a monster, Schatten, and he subsequently discovered that he had the ability to summon and control Schatten despite not having been trained at the Jewel Summoner Academy. Vice traveled for some time, hunting and destroying Abominations, before drawing the attention of the Order. He eventually enrolls at the Academy and is joined by several other Summoners. The rest of the game follows Vice's journey with his Order teammates and his quest for revenge.

After a massive earthquake in Tokyo 25 km under the sea at a magnitude of 8.0, two young siblings Mirai and Yūki, who were visiting a robot exhibition in Odaiba at the beginning of their summer vacation, struggle to reach their parents in their house in Setagaya, assisted by a female motorcycle courier named Mari, who is striving to reach her own daughter and mother in Sangenjaya. Together, the three of them brave the partly ruined city and try their best to make it home safely.

Arlo, a ten-year-old orphan boy, lives in Genopolis, in a university called the Inn of Court, where he is looked after by his mentor, Doctor Ignatius. One day Arlo makes a horrifying discovery. Instead of being a Citizen, he is actually one of the hated Naturals, who had been abandoned by his Natural parents when he was born and taken into the care of Doctor Ignatius, ostensibly to research emotions and pain for scientific purposes. However, Ignatius is also leader of a secret resistance circle against the Rulers of Genopolis, and plans to destroy Genopolis by bringing back pain to its Citizens. However, Ignatius’s plans – and Arlo – are now in danger because a new Ruler of Genopolis has been appointed who is opposed to any research that could bring back the past. From the moment that Arlo first sets eyes on the new Regis, he feels a powerful connection, and knows that if he falls into the hands of the Regis then his life will be forfeit.

Meanwhile, Usha, an eleven-year-old slave-girl, lives in drudgery, serving her ninety-nine-year-old Citizen mistress who she calls Auntie. Usha is a Gemini, a member of a clone-class who have been bred in the pharms, and whose orders are only to obey her superiors. However, Usha soon becomes aware that Auntie’s intention is to use her to clone her own dying body. Waking up in panic on the operating table, Usha escapes, but with the whole of Genopolis on her tail, there is nowhere that she can run to.

Arlo escapes from the Inn of Court and the murderous Regis, and with his dog Rem is sent first to the Inn of the Maia, a female Inn of Court, and after that to a rich man and his family, sympathisers of Ignatius's cause. However, in the escape, his beloved dog Rem is lost.

Wandering through the sewers, the underworld of Genopolis, Usha falls in with a gang of abandoned children, who have been thrown out of society because of becoming disabled through accidents or illness. Their ringleader, Ozzie, inducts Usha into his gang, and for a time they live by pilfering from the warehouses by the port where the food is delivered from the pharms. After a botched robbery, Usha is kidnapped by smugglers and sold to the Circus, a semi-illegal underworld gladiatorial arena, where criminal Citizens, escaped Gemini and the occasional captured Natural fight against themselves, and against genetically-engineered monsters.

The laboratories of the pharms (which provide food, replacing the historical farms) have created hybrid animals along the lines of classical monsters using genetic fusion technology; the Minotaur, the Gorgon, the Cockatrice and the Sphinx. Usha is dispatched to fight in the Circus, where she befriends Talia, a female gladiator, and the other slaves. In the pits of the Circus, Usha meets Arlo's dog Rem. When Arlo comes to the Circus as a guest of the rich man, he sees Rem and runs into the pit to be reunited with him. Together they escape from the Minotaur who is hunting them, and disappear into the sewers once more.

Usha, Rem and Arlo, together with the friends they have met in the Circus and Ozzie's gang from the underworld, escape the island of Genopolis by boat, and find their way to the Natural outerlands. Here they are reunited with Arlo's sister, Kira, and join the Natural tribe.

Meanwhile, back in Genopolis, the Regis broods over the missing Arlo and plans his revenge.

Continued in: Fearless (c) 2009, Scholastic Books)

The subtle connections of a deputy sheriff, a Nashville-bound singer, an ex-con, and a single mother will intertwine in this tale of small-town life. Tommy Carson (Shawn Christian) works around the clock to keep the peace in Prospect, but Donny (John Hawkes), who is on a downward spiral, makes this even more difficult for the deputy Sheriff. Rhett Ryan (Chris Pine) discovers that the desire to follow his dream conflicts with his desire to be with the woman he loves. While Samantha (Bre Blair) does love the singer-songwriter, she comes to realize that what's best for her daughter (Kali Majors) and their future may not be what's best for him. Les (Adam Hendershott) just wants to fit in with his big brother's friends, but his overbearing mother (Lin Shaye) desperately wants him to stand out.

James (Niven), the Duke of Brampton and the richest man in England, is so trusted by King Charles II (Sanders), he is able to have two of the King's loyal friends executed for treason. The second is the father of Lady Mary (Blyth). She travels from France to London to seek justice. While there, she meets Michael Dermott (Purdom), a soldier who fought to restore Charles to the throne.

He and many others were never paid for their services, unbeknownst to the King. He therefore turned highwayman. He and his comrades rob the Duke and come into possession of the Duke's notebook. In it are listed twelve rich and powerful people, as well as details of their possessions. Two names are crossed out; it does not take long for Michael to realize that the other ten are in peril for their lives. Michael first tries to blackmail the Duke, but without much success. A fence named Simon betrays his hiding place. Michael and his comrade Jack (Moore) escape from the Duke's soldiers, though Michael is wounded in the shoulder. Adventure abounds as the Duke tries to retrieve his property before it can be used against him.

Main plot

Chuck escorts Lester and Jeff to do an install on a private boat owned by philanthropist Lon Kirk (Michael Wiseman) to keep the two out of trouble. However Jeff and Lester still go below deck, where they find men counting a substantial amount of money. Chuck flashes on one of the bills and realizes that it's counterfeit. Beckman begins to brief Chuck and Casey, but Sarah—who skipped work at the Wienerlicious—is absent. The two attempt to cover for her before she arrives late. Beckman orders Chuck and Sarah to infiltrate a charity casino being run by Kirk to investigate the counterfeiting operation. Chuck later remarks to Sarah how he expected her to be "halfway to Bryce," but she tells him that this is her assignment. Regardless, the situation between them remains strained and is only made worse when, at the charity event that night, Chuck grows increasingly jealous while Sarah flirts with Kirk as part of the operation. He loses $100,000 at a roulette wheel as a result of trying to show up the philanthropist, but also flashes on an attache to the Taiwanese ambassador, whom he sees Kirk arguing with.

The next morning Chuck watches Casey washing his prized 1985 Crown Vic, and asks what Beckman meant by Sarah using any means necessary to get close to Kirk as part of her investigation. Casey plays on Chuck's jealousy by telling him Sarah will be seducing Kirk. Chuck goes back to work, where Morgan, who is having lunch with Anna and her parents, calls him to say he thinks he sees Sarah on someone's boat. Chuck heads down to the marina to check up on things, while Casey angrily shows him a full team is in place keeping watch on things. Just as Kirk and Sarah are on their way below deck, one of Kirk's men is bringing a crate on board which triggers a flash. Chuck believes the crate contains the counterfeit plates. The team moves in based on the Intersect intel, but discover medical supplies instead. Due to the humiliation of the botched op, Beckman benches the team.

An angry Sarah, professing to believe that Chuck's flash was faked out of jealousy, confronts him. He insists it was genuine. The heated discussion turns towards Sarah's feelings toward Bryce, and Chuck and Sarah's kiss, and soon leads to an argument when Chuck asks if she had kissed him when they thought they were going to die because he just happened to be there, or if she actually felt something for him. Sarah angrily tells him it was a mistake that would not be repeated. During a briefing with Beckman and Graham, Casey and Sarah both appear suspicious that Chuck's flash was fraudulent because of his jealousy. Afterward, an annoyed Casey demands to know if Sarah compromised herself with Chuck. Sarah somberly asks Casey if he's ever wanted to have a normal life, to which he responds that sacrificing that to protect the nation and its people was the right choice. Sarah agrees to talk to Chuck, and if she cannot fix things, will request reassignment.

Chuck returns to work where Morgan sends him a picture of himself taking a cruise with Anna and her parents, and catches a glimpse of one of Kirk's crates. Chuck realizes Kirk put the counterfeit plates on the boat belonging to the attache whom Anna's parents work for, but Casey refuses to act since Beckman has benched the team. Chuck then turns to Sarah, who initially tries to postpone the conversation. Chuck insists anyway, and after explaining and telling her Morgan and Anna are on the boat, she unhesitatingly jumps to help (against standing orders from Beckman and Graham). They are joined by Casey at the marina, who also decides to disregard his orders and join them in stopping Kirk. Chuck spots and flashes on a GPS transponder fixed to the Tawainese attache's boat, and when he also flashes on a crate Kirk is loading onto his own boat, realizes that he's going to destroy the plates and kill the attache, along with Morgan, Anna and her parents.

While Sarah and Chuck use their cover to distract Kirk (Sarah wanting to go with Kirk, and Chuck as her jealous boyfriend), Casey sneaks aboard and disables the guards. A fight breaks out and Kirk disappears into the cabin. Chuck pursues him, but is nearly hit when Kirk fires off the missile (knocking himself unconscious from the blast at the same time). Casey and Sarah secure the boat, but the missile is now homing in on the GPS beacon. Chuck resets the missile's homing device, but this sends it back to them. With no other choice, Chuck uses the GPS built into Casey's Crown Vic and redirects the missile, destroying the car. Later at the Buy More holiday party, Chuck and Sarah reconcile their relationship and agree to remain friends. Meanwhile, Beckman calls Casey to inform him the new Intersect is nearly ready and that it would soon be time to "take care of Bartowski."

Buy More

Morgan has been spying on Anna, and saw her go out with someone else while hiding in her bushes. Anna reveals that she was meeting her parents, who work in Taiwan's diplomatic office and are in the country to attend a charity function. Morgan insists on meeting them, which Anna reluctantly agrees to. Chuck tells Morgan to just be himself, but Jeff and Lester tell him he has to be better. At lunch with them the next day, Morgan makes a fool of himself and embarrasses Anna attempting to impress them. While there, he sees Sarah flirting with Kirk on his boat and calls to tell Chuck. Chuck later tells him he was mistaken.

Morgan joins Anna and her family for a cruise aboard the Taiwanese attache's boat, unaware that Kirk has stowed the crates containing counterfeit plates and plans to destroy it. He sees the missile and thinks it's fireworks.

At the Buy More Christmas party, Anna admits she was not embarrassed about Morgan, she was embarrassed about who she is when she's with her parents because she changes her looks and behavior to fit what they want her to be and is not herself. The two reconcile and sneak off to have sex in the break room.

The story centers around a teenage girl named Sheri, whose desire is to join the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. At 17, fulfilling her dream, she discovers she has a leukemia. Sheri rebels against her father and God, causing her father to seek to keep his daughter close to God, to soften her heart, and to live out her dream before dying, all while he anguishes over losing his daughter so young. While praying to God to ask for strength and clear direction for her remaining days, God blesses Sheri so she is able to bring people to Christ against their will.

In Venice, Amy and Dan are separated from Nellie when Ian and Natalie steal their tickets and board the plane with the au pair already on board. The siblings run into Alistair, who offers them a ride to Tokyo on his private jet. Once there, they learn about the life of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the son of Thomas Cahill. They discover a collection of strange symbols, but are taken captive by the Holts who steal their lead.

The Holts bring their three captives to an underground train station, but a train scares the Holts off. Amy, Dan, and Alistair barely escape the train, and find themselves in an unused storage room. There, they find strange artifacts, but are chased back to the surface by the Yakuza. They're rescued by Ian, Natalie, and Nellie, who have stuck a deal and are working together. Amy and Dan are hesitant, but Ian gives Amy a small coin, stolen from Vikram Kabra, that should help them find the next clue. The six go back for the artifacts, discovering a message telling them to head to Seoul.

In Seoul, the six go to Alistair's house. They discover his hidden library, and after earning entrance, Amy and Dan discover a book informing them more about the 39 Clues. Alistair notes how much Ian and Natalie seem to already know, and how they're playing dumb to appeal to Amy and Dan. They then discover to head to Bukhansan, where Ian and Amy's flirting leads them to a secret entrance. The coin is the key, and after gaining entrance, Amy returns the coin to Ian. Nellie stays behind. In the cave, the five discover Hideyoshi's treasure, and the third clue--gold. Dan and Natalie discover mirror writing, and Dan solves the anagram, telling everyone Lake Tash is the next destination. Ian and Natalie take the information, betraying the others and sealing them in the cave. Angry, Dan reveals that he lied, and that Al Sakhet and Alkahest are the words. The siblings manage to escape the cave, but Alistair is killed in the collapse.

As the siblings are meeting up with Nellie, they see Bae Oh speaking with the Man in Black. They figure out the that clue is pointing them to Egypt. Meanwhile, Bae Oh is sitting in his office. He pages his secretary, but his resentful nephew Alistair answers, threatening him. When Bae looks into the receiving room, no one is there.

The Roman Empire has been unable to fully conquer Britain, reaching a harsh stalemate in the North. The Picts engage in guerrilla warfare against the Romans along the Glenblocker forts and the Gask Ridge at the southern border of the Scottish Highlands. At the Roman outpost of Pinnata Castra, Pict warriors led by Vortix and Aeron kill the entire garrison, taking only the second-in-command, Centurion Quintus Dias, because he can speak the Pictish language. Brought before Pict king Gorlacon, who has united the northern tribes, Dias is brutally interrogated, but escapes on foot.

A messenger from the fort reaches Gnaeus Julius Agricola, Roman governor of Britannia, who hopes to obtain favour with the Roman Senate and transfer back to the comforts of Rome. He dispatches the Ninth Legion under General Titus Flavius Virilus to eradicate the Pict threat, providing him with a Celtic Brigantian scout, Etain. Marching north, the legion rescues Dias from his pursuers.

Etain leads them into an ambush where, surprised by flaming pitch-wood 'boulders', they are massacred and the wounded Virilus is captured. The few survivors – Dias, the legionaries Bothos, Thax, Brick, Macros and Leonidas, and the cook Tarak – set out to rescue Virilus, finding him at Gorlacon's village. Sneaking in at nightfall, they are unable to break his chains, and he orders them to return to Roman territory without him. In Gorlacon's hut, Thax suffocates the king's young son to prevent him giving them away.

The next morning, Gorlacon burns his son's body on a funeral pyre and forces Virilus to fight Etain, who as a child witnessed her parents raped and slaughtered by the Romans; she kills him with a spear through the heart. Gorlacon sends her after the legionaries at the head of a group of mounted warriors, including Vortix and Aeron, to avenge his son's death.

The Romans plan to travel north away from Roman territory, to throw the Picts off their trail, then head west and back south. After several days' pursuit, the Picts continually catch up with the fugitives, who jump off a cliff into a river to escape them; Tarak is killed before he can jump, and Macros and Thax become separated from the others. Dias’ group camp for the night while their pursuers camp across the river. Dias and Brick raid the enemy camp, killing two men and wounding a third, who reveals they are being pursued because of the death of Gorlacon's son, which Thax had kept secret. Etain has launched her own attack on the Romans, and Dias and Brick return to discover Leonidas dead and Bothos wounded.

Meanwhile, Macros and Thax have washed up further down river. The two encounter a wolf pack and end up running. When Thax falls Macros returns to help him, only for Thax to cut his Achilles tendon and leave him to the wolves.

Dias, Bothos, and Brick find the forest hut of Arianne, an exiled Briton accused of witchcraft who learned Latin from a nearby Roman outpost. She gives them shelter, food, and medical attention for Bothos. When Etain and her warriors arrive, Arianne hides the Romans under her floorboards. When Bothos, Dias, and Brick leave Arianne's in the morning; Arianne, having become fond of Dias, is saddened to see him go.

They find the outpost abandoned, with an order declaring that the Roman troops have retreated south by order of Emperor Hadrian. Seeing Etain's warriors approaching and tired of running, they set up a defensive position inside the fort. Brick is killed, as are Vortix, Aeron, and the rest of the Britons, with Dias finally killing Etain.

Taking the Picts' horses, Dias and Bothos continue south, reuniting with Thax. Reaching Hadrian's Wall, now under construction, Thax threatens Dias, afraid he will report his dishonourable actions. They fight, with Dias choking Thax to death. Bothos, joyfully riding toward the Romans, is mistaken for a charging Pict and shot by an archer. Devastated, Dias reports to Agricola, who worries that news of the legion's annihilation will lead other tribes to revolt. Fearful of his reputation being tainted by a military failure, he decides the Ninth Legion's fate should remain a mystery and Dias must be silenced. Dias foils the attempt on his life by Agricola's daughter Drusilla. Badly wounded in the thigh, he knocks Drusilla unconscious and escapes from the camp, returning to Arianne in the forest. The film ends with Arianne kissing him after he falls from his horse.

The film takes place at an undetermined point in the future, when humanity has developed advanced robotic technology with enhanced artificial intelligence. This includes the use of cybernetic organisms (or ''cyborgs'') called the TR-4 (all TR-4s are played by Paul Logan) for general labor. After being reprogrammed by the newest model TR-5, the machines instigate a cybernetic revolt against humanity, bombing cities and sending thousands of armed, identical TR-4 androids to eradicate all human life.

A band of survivors, led by small-town Sheriff Reed (A Martinez), battle to make it through and defeat the TR-4s. During their journey, they encounter a mysterious man, Kurt Ross (Jeremy London) who possesses a weapon that can disable any TR-4 it hits. Ross also has intimate knowledge of the TR-4s and is heavily implied to have met Reed in the past. With Ross's help, Reed's group struggles through several battles with the TR-4s and ultimately locate an airship used by the machines to travel. Ross proposes that they travel to the space station where the TR-4s originate from and shut them down remotely, but they must first acquire fuel for the ship. They find the fuel, but Sheriff Reed is shot in the leg by a TR-4.

On the ship, the survivors discover metal beneath Reed's skin, causing him to begin questioning his existence. Ross reveals that Reed is actually one of the first TR-5s, planted in the community with Ross as his handler. Reed's memories are all implants based on Ross's own memories. Bronson (Dustin Harnish) becomes paranoid and believes the other survivors are also androids, but Chloe (Lauren Walsh) persuades him by revealing she is pregnant. At the space station, the group battles the TR-4s en masse, resulting in Bronson's death and Tiffany (Lucinda Rogers) becoming separated from the others. Ross attempts to shut down the TR-4s but the control console fights back, repeatedly locking him out. Suddenly, the TR-4s all shut down, and Ross ominously realizes their power is being funneled to a much worse problem – the giant TR-5 that caused the rebellion in the first place. The massive robot appears and kills Ross with a blade mounted in its arm after shrugging off his EMP weapon, then attacks Chloe. Reed appears and baits the TR-5 into an airlock, and Chloe ejects both it and Reed into outer space. The TR-4s come back to life despite Tiffany hitting the shutdown switch, but when she rips the cords from the control box, they all die simultaneously. Chloe, Tiffany, Tanner (Mark Hengst), Laura (Krystle Connor) and Chloe's unborn child are left as the only survivors, possibly of all humanity.

''11 listopada'' is set shortly before and at the beginning of World War II. It tells the story of a group of Scouts from Zielonka, a small town near Warsaw, who, finding themselves unable to come to terms with the German occupation, decided to continue in secret their scouting activity. One night, on the eve of 11 November 1939 (Polish Independence Day), they put up in the streets of the town 15 hand-made posters with the text of ''Rota'' (''The Oath''), a poem and an anthem by Maria Konopnicka. In the gloomy reality of the German occupation this act was supposed to express hope. Perhaps they were dreaming of a moment of hesitation from a passer-by, rising hearts, a kind smile at this manifestation of national solidarity.

Fred Miller must prove that his new design for an underwater home is viable by convincing his family to live in it for 30 days. His son and daughter are members of an emerging rock band, and they invite the two other band members to live with them during the experiment. Their temporary home, which Miller dubs the "Green Onion," is 90 feet below the surface of the ocean and is filled with modern appliances and amenities for housewife Vivian, all designed by Miller. A large opening in the floor provides direct access to and from the sea.

The group are soon joined by a live-in seal named Gladys and a pair of dolphins that stay close at hand and fend off sharks. The family is confronted by many obstacles, including a rival designer from Undersea Development, Inc. who begins to cause problems.

Meanwhile, the band's single has gotten the attention of record executive Nate Ashbury, who wants to sign them. He books them for a televised performance on ''The Merv Griffin Show'' without first communicating with them. After learning that they are living under the sea, he schemes to bring Griffin and the TV crew down to the Green Onion, but the navy is alerted to the sound of the music and becomes suspicious.

''The Temple'' begins in Oxford, where Paul Schoner meets Simon Wilmot and William Bradshaw, caricatures of the young W.H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood respectively. They encourage him to visit Germany, hinting that Paul might prefer Germany to Britain because of Germany's liberal attitudes towards sex and the body. During this section, Paul is introduced to Ernst Stockmann, a fan of his poetry who later invites him to visit his family home in Hamburg.

Paul visits Ernst Stockmann, meeting his wealthy mother and friends, Joachim Lenz and Willy Lassel. During his time at the Stockmann household, Paul experiences the liberality of German youth culture first-hand, attending a party at which he drinks too much and meets Irmi. his later love affair. Paul, Ernst, Joachim and Willy also visit Hamburg's notorious quarter Sankt Pauli. In Sankt Pauli, at a bar named The Three Stars, Paul meets some young male prostitutes who claim to be destitute. It is on this evening, while he is drunk, that Paul agrees to go on holiday to the Baltic with Ernst despite being uncomfortable in Ernst's company.

When Paul and Ernst arrive at the hotel by the Baltic where they will be staying, Paul is distressed to find that Ernst has booked them into a shared room. Paul feels suffocated by Ernst's clear affection for him and tries to deter Ernst by telling him that he is not interested. Afterward, Paul ponders Stephen Wilmot's quasi-Freudian premise that it is kindest to offer love in return to those who love you, especially if you do not find them attractive. As a result, when Ernst comes on to Paul in the hotel room, Paul accepts his attention and they have an uncomfortable sexual encounter. In the morning, Paul is keen to escape the hotel room, and runs down to a beach, where he meets Irmi again. They have a more satisfying sexual experience on the beach.

In the next chapter, Paul goes on a trip with Joachim Lenz to the Rhine. On this trip, Joachim makes it clear that he intends to fall in love, but there is little indication that he and Paul could be lovers. Nevertheless, Paul is distressed when Joachim books him an adjacent hotel room so that he can stay with a young man named Heinrich who he had met on the beach.

In Part Two, "Towards the Dark", Paul returns to Germany in the winter of 1932. Spender admits in his introduction to the 1988 edition that both parts had taken place in 1929 in reality, but that he moved this part forward to winter 1932 to increase the sense of foreboding (as Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany later that winter). In this section, Paul visits several of his friends again, most notably Willy Lassel, who is now engaged to a Nazi woman, and Joachim Lenz, whose relationship with Heinrich is struggling. Heinrich has made friends with Erich, a fascist man. Paul meets him and is disgusted and disturbed by his ideology. Soon after, Paul visits Joachim again and finds him with a cut on his face, staying in a trashed flat. Joachim tells Paul how one of Heinrich's Nazi friends had threatened him and destroyed his possessions after Joachim defiled a Nazi party uniform belonging to Heinrich. This discussion about their former acquaintances is the end of the novel.

When wealthy American expatriate Cornelia Wheelwright (Robson) is informed by her longtime lawyers that her late father swindled his partner, Fortune McCallister, out of $700,000, she acts decisively. First, because James Amory is the only lawyer in the firm to be outraged by the injustice, she hires him and fires the rest of the firm. His first task is to locate all of McCallister's heirs. It turns out there is only one: granddaughter Pam McCallister (Lane).

Pam works in Lacey's Department Store and lives in a boardinghouse in New York City. To find out what kind of person she is, Cornelia becomes a fellow tenant. Cornelia also meets Pam's boyfriend, composer and piano player Pete Rowan (Reagan).

Cornelia then has Jim give Pam a million dollars. Pam is excited at first, buying gifts for her boardinghouse friends, and her boyfriend, who lives across the hall from her. Much to her surprise, her friends and boyfriend seem to change overnight. They are not as overjoyed at her good fortune as she imagines they would be, and rather resent her. As the last straw, her boyfriend tells her she's an Elsie Dinsmore and breaks it off with her. Pam finally decides on a course of action that makes her happy, as well as those around her.

Following an attack, ruthless businessman Russell Bayne shapeshifts into a werewolf and seeks help from Alex Layton, an occult shop owner. Together, they learn that vampires under the leadership of Von Griem seek to resurrect their queen, Lilith, in order to unite the warring factions. Bayne allies with a vampire hunter, Jacob Van Helsing, and they battle Lilith and her vampire servants.

Due to the detailed nature of the overall story within the novel, the plot has been divided into ''Backstory'' and ''Modern Day'' respectively in order to provide a more coherent timeline for the events depicted in the novel.

Backstory

In the 13th century, there once existed a circle of authors and playwrights known as the Order of Psion (a parody of the Knights Templar), most of whom were females writing under male pseudonyms, who once predicted the coming of "the ultimate book" that would render publishers obsolete. The formula for the making of the ultimate book – known as the Asti Spumante Code – is contained within the ''Mure de Paume'' (French for "The Blackberry of the Palm"), otherwise known as "the legendary keystone".

Fearing the consequences of the ultimate book, a group of publishers named ''The English Book Guild'' was established in Stevenage, England to try to counteract the progresses made by the Order.

Modern day

The book itself focuses on American Prof. James Crack – a professor of "Paraliteral Metasymbolist studies" – and Belgian Emily Raquin, a "biblio technical cryptologist", as they discover a set of clues left by the deceased Grand Master of the Order of Psion that will ultimately lead to the discovery of the Asti Spumante Code.

However, the two are hindered by the efforts of ''Uxbridge Road Group'', a fanatical offshoot of the English Book Guild situated in Brussels, whose members encourage sadomasochism and segregate works of fiction by gender stereotyping (e.g.: men read only adventure fiction, women read only romance novels), who wish to destroy the Asti Spumante Code before it can be put to use by anyone.

After playing an impromptu instrumental number using household appliances and outdoor noise, Bret and Jemaine are paid a visit by their landlord, who demands he be paid for the last two years of rent in American dollars (the duo have been paying in New Zealand dollars). Lacking the funds, Bret and Jemaine visit Murray for solutions, who is unable to offer them anything promising, except a musical he's been writing since becoming the band's manager. Broke and evicted, and after being rejected by Murray and Dave, they find themselves with no choice but to move in with Mel and Doug.

At Mel's home, Bret falls into a dream and sings a Russian sailing-themed song, in which he is slowly cannibalized by Mel and Doug, under the disguise of Petrov and Yelyena. Meanwhile, Murray starts rehearsals for the hopeful off-Broadway musical detailing the journeys and misadventures of Bret and Jemaine, who play the lead parts themselves. However, it turns out Murray has confused Bret's life with that of Luke Skywalker.

Life at home with Doug and Mel is hard, with frequent arguments arising between the two. Drama comes to a head when, after offering to play the harp for Bret and Jemaine, Mel tells Doug that harp-playing is very feminine. Doug and Mel decide to separate and, like children from a broken home, Bret and Jemaine are forced to live with separate "parents": Jemaine with Doug, and Bret with Mel.

After their musical's opening night, the embassy members Murray invited become suspicious of the musical's frequent theme of illegal immigration. Bret and Jemaine are questioned and subsequently deported to New Zealand. Mel and Doug passionately reunite after Mel sees Doug gracefully playing the harp on stage. The final scene of the episode shows Bret and Jemaine returning to their jobs as shepherds at a farm somewhere near Mount Ruapehu, with Murray working the tractor.

John Reilly, an American national, finds himself in an African hospital where, he learns he has spent the last two years due to a head injury. He remembers nothing of his past and is accused of being a spy. The film features Helen, a woman Reilly believes might be his wife.

In this novel by John Wilson set during the Battle of Stalingrad, three participants — two soldiers and a boy — are caught in its horrors. Their story is told over seven days of fierce and deadly street-by-street fighting. Vasily is a patriotic Russian soldier determined to rid his country of the hated Nazi invaders — if he can stay alive long enough. Conrad is a German tank officer, part of the seemingly unstoppable force sweeping eastward over the steppe, expecting a quick victory over Stalin's ill-trained and badly equipped Red Army.

Between them is eight-year-old Sergei, whose home is the maze of rubble that used to be the city of Stalingrad. None of them can know that their fates will be intertwined as the cataclysm engulfs them.

In the middle of the conflict is eight-year-old Sergei who lives in the cellar of his former apartment, scavenging among the ruins of his hometown while the Germans and Russians wage war on one another. Thousands of bodies litter the streets, and yet, Sergei is not bothered by any of this, being hardened by the horrors that he faces every day. He dreams of being a famous sniper one day and ridding his homeland of the "Fascists".

It is the early 1960s and Inspector Ghote is on leave from the Bombay police before taking up a post in crime branch. His wife, Protima, is heavily pregnant with their first child. The former police commissioner, now retired, Sir Rustom Engineer, requests that as a favour Ghote investigate the motiveless suicide of Iris Dawkins. Robert Dawkins is an old friend of Sir Rustom's from before Indian independence and has written a letter asking for help.

Ghote arrives at the remote town where the tragedy occurred and finds that Iris Dawkins apparently committed suicide by shooting herself in the head with a shotgun without leaving a note. Afterwards the Dawkinses' man servant telephoned Mr Dawkins at the nearby golf club and asked him to return home as there had been a "nasty accident".

At the local police station, Ghote finds a rival from police training college, Inspector Darrani, has already investigated the case and has a closed mind on the subject.

From an old letter, Ghote gets the name of an old friend of Mrs Dawkins: Pansy, who married a Forest Officer named Peter Watson. Forest Officers move from one place to another every few months, however, and Ghote has to use his initiative to find her.

Shinto, the young boy who takes care of the Dawkinses' garden, tells Ghote that a young man apparently visited Mrs Dawkins on the morning of her suicide. From the same boy, Ghote learns that the gun was in the wrong position for a left-handed person to have committed suicide with.

From Pansy Watson, Ghote learns that Iris Dawkins was the daughter of Sir Ronald and Lady Mountford. Sir Ronald was an ICS advisor to a Maharaja before independence. Her parents were killed by a rampaging elephant while touring a remote area when Iris was a child. Iris stayed in India with the family of the British Resident until roughly the age of twelve or thirteen, when she was seduced by the son of a Maharaja (who was the same age) and became pregnant. She was then sent to stay with the nuns at St Agnes Convent in Poona until her child was delivered and then the child, a boy, was sent to the raja's palace. Iris Dawkins was then sent home to England, where she was cared for by poor relations of her own family and adopted their name, Petersham.

When she came of age, Iris Petersham found a job in London and saved up until she could return to India after independence. She then came to stay with the Watsons until she met Robert Dawkins, who was a friend of Peter Watson, and married him.

Ghote learns that Iris Dawkins was left-handed and that her left eye had a green fleck from a picture taken by a local photographer. That she was left-handed is relevant to the position of the shotgun she supposedly committed suicide with. That her eyes, described by her husband as "violet", were in fact blue with a fleck of green, shows Ghote that her husband, Robert Dawkins, held many cherished illusions about his wife.

When Ghote reports his findings to Mr Dawkins, Inspector Darrani intervenes and persuades Mr Dawkins to put the matter behind him. Afterwards, Ghote resolves to ask Inspector Darrani about the young man who was seen visiting Mrs Dawkins on the morning of her death. Ghote also realises, belatedly, that the phrase "a nasty accident" was specifically used in the telephone message that alerted Mr Dawkins to his wife's death and that such a phrase is more typical of a man like Mr Dawkins than the manservant who would have made the call.

Investigating at the golf club, Ghote learns that at the relevant time of day the club is nearly empty and that Mr Dawkins may have been the only person present. His alibi is therefore unsound.

Interviewing Shinto the gardener boy at the boy's home, he learns that the Dawkinses' manservant has threatened the boy to make him keep silent. Ghote decides to return to the Dawkins residence and interview the manservant about the morning of Mrs Dawkins' death.

After interviewing the manservant, Ghote realises that the man must be blackmailing his employer, Robert Dawkins, and re-assesses what he knows about Mr Dawkin's character.

Carefully considering the case, Ghote comes to the conclusion that the young man who visited Mrs Dawkins was in fact her long-lost son whom she would have immediately recognised from the green flecks in one eye, a genetic trait inherited from her. Robert Dawkins returned home from the club unexpectedly having forgotten his spectacles and found them embracing. Misunderstanding the situation, Robert Dawkins fetched the shotgun from his gun cabinet and killed Iris Dawkins, her son having already escaped at her urging.

The Dawkinses' manservant then moved the body out of the room where the crime had taken place into the living room, while Dawkins himself returned to the club. The club being nearly deserted at that hour, no one had noticed his absence and it was there that the message, phrased using words he had given to the manservant, was delivered to him.

Before Ghote can act on his conclusions, an urgent message comes for him telling him his wife, Protima, is about to give premature birth. Ghote hurries back to his wife only to discover the message is a hoax by his wife, who has been missing him. Ghote forgives his wife and after an hour, returns to the scene of the crime.

Ghote conducts another search of the Dawkins home and re-enacts the crime in an effort to prove his theory. He challenges the manservant with the knowledge that Iris Dawkins was killed in the sewing room, not the living room. The manservant confirms this and explains he was looking for a fragment of a letter written by the Maharaja to Iris Dawkins, which her son had dropped before fleeing the scene. The manservant also confirms that Inspector Darrani had quickly discovered that Iris Dawkins's long-lost son had visited her. The young man is now the surviving heir to the Maharaja, who has been searching for him. In hope of securing a large reward from the Maharaja, Inspector Darrani has concealed the young man's whereabouts and attempted close the books on Mrs Dawkins death quickly, with the minimum of investigation.

Ghote telephones Inspector Darrani and forces him to come to the house to arrest the manservant as an accessory after the fact. Robert Dawkins overhears Inspector Ghote put his case to Inspector Darrani and, after fetching the shotgun, commits suicide in the room where his wife died.

The game begins with the narrator (voiced by Will Stamper) telling the adventures of the hundreds of friends aboard the S.S. Friendship, as well as Hatty Hattington, who is known as "best friend to one and all". After encountering a heavy storm, the S.S. Friendship becomes shipwrecked on a mysterious, seemingly abandoned island, whereupon most of the friends go missing. Upon waking up from the wreck, the player character seeks shelter from the storm in a dilapidated theater.

Upon coming to, it is revealed that the entire crew of the S.S. Friendship is being held prisoner by cats, with Hatty, wearing a glowing top hat, as their apparent new leader. The player is then released from their cell and forced into deadly games by the feline wardens. As the player completes challenges, they find gems which are spent on unlocking fellow crew members to play as in these theater performances. Appearing to be possessed by the hat's unknown powers, Hatty begins working for the cats and against the player.

As the player progresses, the narrator reveals more about the theater. Hundreds of years before the player shipwrecked on the island, Purrham Furbottom, a theatrical aficionado, sought to build the world's greatest theater. The opening night saw the most jaw-dropping feats and thrills the likes of which were never seen before, making the theater an overnight success. However, Furbottom did not allow intermissions in the theater, and after an untold amount of time watching the show, he died after "pooping himself to death on the way to the bathroom." Since then, his top hat has been passed down to various others, who were each revered by the cats as their leader, and who each met with grim fates of their own. The hat, the narrator theorizes, is haunted by the grief and sorrow of each of its past wearers, and Hatty is its current victim, having sunk into a depression while being surrounded by the many gems the player has accrued, without doing anything to help the state of the theater.

Eventually, the cats grow tired of Hatty's inaction, and begin rioting, striking, and more, while the player's challenges grow increasingly difficult. As the theater deteriorates further, the narrator provides encouragement to the player and continues to shed light on the cats' mental state, which grows more unstable as time progresses. The narrator also instructs the player to enter The Vault, which houses Hatty and all the gems the player has spent, before the cats kill Hatty and the rest of the crew, starting the madness over again.

After completing the final set of challenges inside the Vault, the player breaks into Hatty's throne room. Hatty does not budge, so the player carries him out of the crumbling theater as the crew of the S.S. Friendship orchestrates a mass breakout. Everyone manages to make it back to the boat amidst the chaos, escaping the island and the cats that reside there. The cats try to foil your escape, but are shot by the others with guns. As the player celebrates with hot cocoa on the ship, he tries to cheer up Hatty, who the narrator says that he would not move, blink, respond to hugs, or talk. He also asks "Where has he gone to? Where?", referring back to Hatty's death during the riot at The Vault. The narrator sings a sad song as the credits roll, before quickly recovering and singing a nonsensical, upbeat song, rocking the boat and flinging Hatty into the sea, where he sinks to the bottom. The hat lands on his head and begins glowing green as opposed to its usual red, and shoots a beam skyward, where it sends the boat flying and continues into space, where it vaporizes ''Alien Hominid'' from the game of the same name and a bear that appeared during the narrator's upbeat song, foreshadowing the events of ''Pit People''. The narrator claims to understand what just happened but does not explain, sending the game back to the title screen.

The number 0 wants to climb up an apple tree, but ends up watching the numbers from 1 to 20 (including the number 5 wearing a top hat) in counting order, then 30 to 90 by tens (including the number 70 with long hair), and finally 99, climb it. As the numbers were climbing, 0 wondered if there would be a place for him. But as they all come before him, there is no room for him, until a group of bumblebees claim the tree by getting angry and ordering the numbers to get out of their tree. While counting backwards, the bumblebees fly around them, causing all the numbers (except 10 who was hiding, but including 99 who immediately falls out before the rest and continued right after the bees told the numbers to get out of the tree), to fall out of the tree. Also while falling down, 11 gets bent up, 8 gets a crack (broken bone), and 6 gets twisted. The number 0 now knows where he would be in the apple tree. He goes to the top of the tree and joins with 10 to make the number 100, which scares all the bees away, and all the other numbers convene to cheer for 10 and 0's bravery.

Psychiatrist Ann Hecker has a successful practice in Manhattan. During a session with a disturbed art gallery owner named Eve Abergray, Eve describes a sadomasochistic sexual encounter she recently had with her male lover. The next day, one of Ann's patients, Johnny, a painter, remarks that he passed by Eve on his way out of the office the day before, and that her beauty provoked violent sadistic fantasies in him. Ann begins suffering troubling dreams based on Eve's stories. She seeks advice from her former medical school instructors, Leo Green and his wife Sarah, both psychologists, over the recurring dreams. Meanwhile, she also begins dating Doug McDowell, a former Air Force pilot who works in her building.

During another session with Eve, Ann is shocked when Eve insists on undressing, and confesses that she has fantasized about masturbating in front of Ann. She subsequently divulges another disturbing sexual encounter with her lover, in which he placed a noose around her neck and threatened to hang her. Despite the disturbing nature of the encounter, Eve says that she found it profoundly erotic. A short time later, Ann sees Doug having lunch with Eve at a restaurant where Eve has claimed to meet with her unnamed lover. During Eve's next session, Ann inquires about the identity of her sadomasochistic lover—Eve says his name is Francis Douglas McDowell. Ann responds by suggesting that Eve find another psychiatrist.

Later, Doug accosts Ann in the lobby of the building, an event which is witnessed by Eve. Eve confronts the both of them, accusing Ann of seeking out Doug to fulfill sexual fantasies spurred by Eve's stories. She also informs Ann she stole her file from the office, including numerous tapes Ann made reflecting on their sessions. The next day, Ann goes to visit Eve in an attempt to reason with her, only to find Eve's corpse hanging from a rafter in her apartment. Detective Morgenstern, the officer presiding over the investigation, informs Ann that Eve died from a skull fracture, not from the hanging, suggesting she was murdered.

Morgenstern confronts Ann with the theory that Johnny murdered Eve, based on the fact that Johnny's artwork was featured at Eve's gallery. He also shows Ann evidence of Johnny's criminal history, which includes various violent attacks on women. Shortly after, Johnny breaks into Ann's apartment, binds and gags her, and accuses her of helping Morgenstern frame him. Johnny smashes Ann's window and climbs onto a ledge, threatening suicide. Morgenstern arrives and attempts to reason with Johnny, who claims he has an alibi for Eve's murder; when Ann convinces him to come off the ledge, he accidentally falls to his death. Leo and Sarah console Ann, who is reminded of her father's suicide which occurred while she was in medical school.

Doug visits Ann after hearing of Johnny's death, and invites her to accompany him to visit his family in Iowa. In conversation with Doug's mother, Ann is disturbed to learn that his ex-wife, Jenny, hung herself several years before on Christmas. Back in New York, Morgenstern warns Ann that he now believes Doug to be Eve's killer, but she rebukes him. Later, Ann goes to meet Doug at an air hanger to go on a flight, only to find him with Morgenstern's dead body. Doug claims he found him there, but Ann flees in terror. Doug chases after her, only to be hit by a passing car, severely injuring him.

Ann goes to convalesce with Sarah and Leo at their beach home in Cape Cod. While Sarah and Leo make a trip to the grocery store, Ann uncovers a cache of tapes Leo has kept on the sessions they had together when she was still in medical school. In the recorded notes, Leo admits to being obsessed with Ann. Leo returns in the midst of Ann listening to the tapes, but pretends not to have heard them. Later, over dinner, a drunken Leo openly admits to having killed Eve, and claims he had gone to her home to retrieve Ann's stolen tapes. The revelation shocks Sarah, and Leo proceeds to bludgeon her with a wine bottle, rendering her unconscious. He also admits to murdering Morgenstern. Ann flees to the beach, and is pursued by a belligerent Leo, who attempts to drown her. In the struggle, Ann locates a pole hook, which she uses to impale him through his skull, killing him.

Some time later, Ann and Doug visit the air hanger together, reunited, as Ann begins taking aviation lessons herself.

The film begins with Jack Dobson, a homicide detective from Palm Beach, flat on his back with a bullet in his chest. It is then told in flashback form, leading up to the events that led him to this fate.

Jack has been receiving threatening letters. He and his partner Steve Frayn conclude that the source must be a mob figure whom Jack is about to testify against in court. But another possibility is that someone could be causing trouble for Jack's brother, Michael, who is in an election campaign for public office.

Women begin turning up dead with lipstick traces left by the killer. A woman Jack has begun seeing, Ellen Schofield, could be involved. But when Ellen sees Jack leave a restaurant with a woman who soon becomes a victim, suspicion is cast toward Jack himself as the killer. Jack eventually reveals that he was raped as a child by his former 1st grade teacher, Gloria Wurtz. While speaking with Michael, Steve learns that it was by his own mother who raped Jack. Steve decides to go forward with his own investigation but, in the process, winds up having sex with Ellen, much to his wife's (who he earlier celebrated his seventh wedding anniversary with) and Jack's (who now sees him as a traitor) dismay. After Ellen turns up dead, Jack decides to take Beth (Steve's wife) with him to a secluded getaway home, immediately following Steve confiding in Jack that he trusted him. After finding evidence that Jack is indeed the killer, Steve and Michael rush to the getaway home where Jack and Beth are. Jack is holding Beth and is seemingly about to strangle her when Steve yells at Jack to freeze. Jack pushes Beth aside and draws his gun, but is shot by Steve before he can get off a shot. Then, Jack (in narrative form) says "I guess you probably thought that I was some kind of hero when you first saw me laying there, at the beginning. Wrong. But the story wasn't over ...... not yet." Eventually, Michael is revealed to be the real killer. Jack's murder was faked, as he wanted to give Michael a false sense of security that he was dead, and responsible for the murdered women. Michael is set up to seemingly be alone with a woman in a hotel room. After he attempts to strangle the woman, Steve bursts into the room with his gun drawn, and tells Michael to freeze. It is then revealed that Jack is not dead, much to Michael's shock. Jack tells Steven and the woman to leave the room, so that he can talk to his brother alone. As they are embracing, Michael manages to take Jack's gun. Michael then commits suicide by shooting himself in the temple. The movie concludes with Steve asking Jack if he's ready (after his brother's funeral), to which Jack replies, "I will be."

In December 1943, three Jewish children in France are fleeing the Nazis toward a contact who will guide them into neutral Spain. A friend who has been guiding them tries to steal food for them from a Catholic convent/boarding school. However, his raid proves untimely, as Nazi officers arrive to tell the convent that roads in the area are being closed off to prevent possible escapes across the nearby border. Having been spotted, the man tries to run but is killed by the Germans. Seeing this, the youngest child runs toward the downed man, oblivious to the Germans' presence. In a quick act of thinking, Sister Gabrielle grabs the girl and pretends she is one of the convent's students, carrying her inside. After the Germans depart, the two other refugees also take cover inside the convent. They have arrived while the school is preparing to stage a Nativity pageant. After examining the body of the man who was guiding the children, the Germans found three forged Spanish passports that were made for the children. The Jewish children remain in the school while the Nazis that are patrolling the area, led by an SS Major (Robert Joy), hunt for them in the woods surrounding the convent. Sister Gabrielle takes great lengths to keep the children's identities a secret, but the major is suspicious and continues to believe that Jewish refugees are hiding in the school after seeing the luggage belonging to the children when he came to apologize to Sister Gabrielle for the shooting incident earlier.

Meanwhile, the three children have to cope with negative attitudes towards Jews from the Catholic students at the boarding school. The Jewish students are able to gradually win over their classmates by teaching them about Judaism. Eventually, the entire school helps in the escape by dressing the Jewish and Catholic children in each other's clothing during a school outing. This stunt confuses and distracts the Nazi pursuers, who focus on the wrong children while the real Jewish children flee towards the border and escape into Spain.

On August 19, 1966, protestors burn their Beatles records and paraphernalia after Lennon says The Beatles are more popular than Jesus. When a firecracker is thrown onto the stage the group decides to stop touring.

John meets Yoko Ono, who is married and has a daughter. John brings her to the studio with him, causing friction with the other Beatles. The Beatles manager, Brian Epstein, dies of an accidental overdose of sleeping pills. John develops a crush on Yoko.

In 1968, The Beatles and their partners travel to India for transcendental meditation with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. On his return, John invites Yoko to his house while their partners are both away. They record songs together and consummate their relationship at dawn.

John and Yoko stage art exhibitions and plant acorns for peace. John is arrested for possession of hashish, and Paul bails him out. Yoko miscarries John's baby. John, Yoko, Kyoko, and Julian are hurt in a car accident. Paul marries Linda Eastman, and John marries Yoko in Gibraltar. He starts playing with Yoko's Plastic Ono Band.

John and Yoko stage "Bed-Ins for Peace" in Amsterdam and Montreal, which receive wide attention. Paul signs with his father in-law Lee Eastman as manager; John, George, and Ringo sign with Allen Klein. Yoko again miscarries. In 1970, The Beatles disband and Yoko is widely blamed by the public.

A year later, Yoko's ex-husband Tony Cox refuses to let Yoko see their daughter Kyoko, in breach of the granting of joint custody. Yoko takes Kyoko during a trip to Mallorca, Spain, but is charged with kidnapping.

In 1971, John and Yoko emigrate to New York where he records his hit solo album ''Imagine''. They are threatened with deportation, spied on, and their house is bugged. Tony is jailed for denying access to Kyoko. Yoko obtains full custody of Kyoko but does not know where she is.

Upset at Richard Nixon's 1972 re-election, John gets drunk and has sex with another woman, prompting Yoko to say she still loves him but that they need time apart. He goes to Los Angeles and begins an affair with music producer May Pang. He and Harry Nilsson are thrown out of the Troubadour nightclub for drunkenly heckling The Smothers Brothers.

In 1974 Nixon resigns and Elton John collaborates on Lennon's song "Whatever Gets You Through the Night" for his new album ''Walls and Bridges'', and makes a deal for a concert appearance if the song hits #1. When it does, Lennon joins Elton's Madison Square Garden concert in November, and sings "Whatever Gets You Through the Night" with him. Afterwards, John encounters Yoko backstage and Elton reveals he had known she was in the audience. John and Yoko reunite, and on October 9, 1975, John's 35th birthday, Yoko gives birth by Cesarian section to their son Sean. John learns that the deportation order against him has been overturned.

John decides to retire to raise Sean for the first five years of his life, becoming a house spouse while Yoko runs a business. Three years later, Julian visits John and has a jamming session with him and three-year-old Sean. Kyoko wants to visit for Christmas but is unable to, leaving Yoko sad.

In 1980, John is amazed by new-wave music and starts writing songs again for a new album. John and Yoko record first ''Double Fantasy'', and then ''Milk and Honey''.

On December 8, after a recording session, John suggests they go on tour when the album is released. Yoko asks that they go and eat, but John wants to go home and see Sean. After arriving, John hears his name called, and turns to face a man pointing a gun at him and about to shoot.

Paulino Córdoba, Gabino Roura, Rodolfo Huerta, and Matías Quiroga have been friends since their childhood. As adults, their priorities change and a sin threatens to destroy their friendship.

Paulino is the owner of the hacienda ''El Milagro'', which produces and distributes apples, and is married to Rosario, with whom he has two children, Lucrecia and César. Rosario has always shown preference for her son and openly rejects her daughter. Rosario's servant, Delfina (Magda Karina), essentially raises Lucrecia alongside her own son, Manuel, and they become like siblings. Lucrecia's best friend is Julián Huerta; they both share the same likes and eventually, as the years pass, come to also share a great love.

Gabino Roura is a clever and ambitious man who kills his wife, Inés, in order to seize her fortune. Gabino manipulates his friends and his children, Carmelo and Teresa. He is the owner of the best farming lands, which he rents out to Paulino in order to control the distribution and marketing of the apples.

Rodolfo Huerta is the teacher in the town of San Pedro; he is an upstanding and hard-working man who is married to Justina, a sensual woman who is dissatisfied with her husband's simple lifestyle, and they have two sons, Julián and Josué. It is Justina Almada who detonates the serious conflicts that threaten to destroy the friendship between Rodolfo, Paulino, and Gabino.

Matías Quiroga, the priest of the town of San Pedro, sees with a heavy heart that his friends are now enemies and are the principal obstacle for Lucrecia and Julián's love.

Unfortunately, Lucrecia and Julián are involved in an accident that costs César his life, and although they are both innocent, Rosario believes them to be responsible. Depression seizes Rosario, who always merely tolerated her daughter's presence. Her resentment forces Paulino to send their daughter away and to distance himself from Rodolfo Huerta's family. As a result of his infamy, Julián is tormented by the denizens of San Pedro, who nickname him ''El Chamuco'' (Mexican slang for "the Devil"), the pain of which he must carry for the rest of his life.

Years later, Julián and Lucrecia come across one another, when Lucrecia returns from school, and their love flourishes once more. Although their parents are in opposition, Julián and Lucrecia are prepared to fight for their love, and they count on the support of Delfina, her husband Modesto, and Manuel, who in spite of his love for Lucrecia helps her to be happy with Julián. Lucrecia does not return to San Pedro alone, but accompanied by her cousin, Renata, an envious girl who is prepared to seize everything that is Lucrecia's. In San Pedro, Paulino suffers an economic crisis and Gabino demands Lucrecia's hand in marriage, but the very jealous Carmelo steps in and kills his father. Julián is unjustly accused of this crime and Lucrecia is forced to marry Carmelo in order to prevent her father's financial ruin and to save Julián from jail. Julián leaves San Pedro to Veracruz, convinced that Lucrecia betrayed him.

Three years later, Lucrecia lives drowning in sorrow as Carmelo's wife; furthermore, she has lost her land due to Carmelo's ineptitude. In San Pedro, the townspeople talk of the arrival of an outsider who has bought ''Los Alamos''. Lucrecia discovers that this outsider is none other than Julián Huerta, who is now engaged to his ex-girlfriend, Lorena Mendizábal. Carmelo finds out that Julián has returned and a war unleashes between the two for Lucrecia's love. Julián plans on leaving Lorena, but she lies to him that she is pregnant with his child. Meanwhile, Lucrecia gives Carmelo divorce papers, and he responds by ripping up the papers and raping Lucrecia.

When Lorena finally accepts the fact that Julián does not love her anymore, she wants to take revenge by killing them both. One day, while Lucrecia and Julián are in the fields, Lorena tries to run them over, but fails, crashes against a truck, and goes flying out the windshield; consequently, ending up with a disfigured face.

Carmelo, furious that a judge has approved of Lucrecia's request for divorce, takes revenge by burning down the warehouse full of apples that Paulino owns; Paulino is accidentally trapped in the warehouse and dies from smoke inhalation. At his funeral, Lucrecia faints and discovers that she is pregnant but does not know who the father is. Rosario finds out that Lucrecia was raped and for once takes Lucrecia's side; however, when she finds out her daughter is pregnant, she urges her to have an abortion. Carmelo, on the run from the police, kidnaps Lucrecia; later on, Julián saves her. Throughout Lucrecia's rescue, Renata is accidentally shot and dies on the way to the hospital. After returning home, Lucrecia confronts her mother about the hatred Rosario has always shown towards her. Rosario finally admits her secret: Lucrecia is not only Rosario's daughter, but she is also her sister, because Rosario was raped by her father and became pregnant with Lucrecia as a result.

Finally, Lucrecia and Julián are married. Rosario does not attend her daughter's wedding but watches from afar with tears in her eyes. Months later, Lucrecia gives birth to a son whom she names César, in memory of her brother. Lucrecia leaves Rosario with César so that they can spend some time getting to know one another. After Lucrecia returns to the room, she sees her mother and son have fled; she assumes the worst. They soon discover Rosario has left the baby on the bed in Lucrecia's brother's room, and goes to the river where her son died and drowns herself.

Three years later, Lucrecia stands by the river and throws two white roses into the river: one for her brother and one for her mother. Although saddened by the loss of her family, she is joined at the river by her husband and son, whose strong blue eyes reveal him to be Julián's child, and the three live happily ever after.

The film opens at Princeton University, 1968, where Matt Caulfield and his friends are watching television. There, they witness President Lyndon B. Johnson inform us of his plans not to rerun in the upcoming election. Upon hearing of his plans, Matt and the rest of the students celebrate by smoking marijuana. An "uncool" student from next door is disturbed by the boys' racket, and upon being pelted with junkfood by the boys for telling them to be quiet, he calls the police. Within minutes, Matt and his roommates are caught smoking and are banned from college campus. Matt returns home to his family, where he is faced with various issues before being shipped off to Vietnam.

Set in the Filipino world of pre-World War II Intramuros of Old Manila in October 1941, the play explores the many aspects of Philippine high society by telling the story of the Marasigan sisters, Candida and Paula, and their father, the painter Don Lorenzo Marasigan. Due to an artistic drought on Don Lorenzo's part, the family has to make ends meet by relying on the financial support provided by their brother Manolo and sister Pepang, who were urging them to sell the house. Later on, they also had to take a male boarder, in the person of Tony Javier. Don Lorenzo, who refused to sell, donate, or even exhibit his self-portrait in public, was only content in staying inside his room, a stubbornness that already took a period of one year. The painting has attracted the attention and curiosity of journalists such as a family friend named Bitoy Camacho, and other obnoxious visitors pretending as art critics. When one of the daughters, Paula, elopes with Tony, a journey of personal liberation is set in motion, which ends with a restoration of family relations which had been strained due to the neediness of the artist's family. The theme focuses on family conflict and the amalgamation of old Filipino identity and cultural character with the arrival of contemporary and Western ideals.

Abner Meecham, an aging Tennessee farmer discarded at a nursing facility by his lawyer son Paul, flees the old folks home and catches a ride back to his country farm to live out his days in peace. Upon his return, he discovers that Paul has leased the farm to an old enemy and his family. Not one to suffer fools or go down easy, Abner moves into the old tenant shack on the property and declares that he will not leave until the farm is returned to his possession. But Lonzo Choat, the new tenant, has no intention to move out or give in to the demands of the old man.

Abner catches Lonzo beating his daughter with a garden hose after she was caught returning from dating a forbidden boy, and Abner scares Lonzo off by shooting a pistol in Lonzo's direction. The next day Abner has Lonzo picked up by the police, and Lonzo's wife Ludie is upset that she has to pay for bail, which they cannot afford. When the Choats come back from town, Lonzo is visibly upset, and kills Abner's dog Nipper and hangs him from the porch of the tenant shack. Abner disappears for two days, and the Choats suspect he has finally given up. Instead, he returns with Nipper's stuffed corpse, and sets him on the front porch and tells it to stand guard. Abner and Lonzo get into an arguing match in which Lonzo threatens to burn the shack down with Abner inside. The argument culminates with Abner pointing a pistol at Lonzo, but Lonzo easily disarms Abner. The police are summoned the next day, and Abner is forced to move out, partially by Paul, who believes he has lost his mind. Abner admits defeat and says he'll move out by the next morning. Instead he tells his neighbor that Lonzo has threatened to kill him by burning the shack. Abner, haunted by recurring dreams of his long-dead wife, then sets the shack ablaze, but stumbles while trying to exit, and he is rescued by Lonzo.

When Abner awakes, he is in the hospital with Paul by his side. He accepts that he will move into a retirement community, but insists that he will plant corn in his small garden there, instead of tomatoes as his son suggested. In the final scene Abner visits his house one more time; the house has been vacated by the Choats.

During World War II, after the Soviet invasion of Poland, young Polish army officer Janusz Wieszczek (Jim Sturgess) is held as a prisoner and interrogated by the NKVD. The Soviets, unable to get him to admit that he is a spy, take his wife into custody as well and severely torture her; from her they extort a statement condemning him. He is sentenced to 20 years in a Gulag labour camp deep in Siberia.

There he meets those with whom he later plans an escape: Mr. Smith (Ed Harris), an American engineer; Khabarov (Mark Strong), an actor; Valka (Colin Farrell), a hardened Russian criminal; Tomasz (Alexandru Potocean), a Polish artist; Voss (Gustaf Skarsgård), a Latvian priest; Kazik (Sebastian Urzendowsky), a Pole suffering from night blindness; and Zoran (Dragoș Bucur), a Yugoslav accountant. Khabarov secretly tells Janusz that he is planning to escape south to Mongolia, passing Lake Baikal. Smith cautions Janusz that it is Khabarov's way to discuss escape plans with newcomers, to maintain his morale, but nothing will come of it. At times Janusz seems to hallucinate the front door of a country home and adjoining window ledge, which holds plants and a rock he attempts to reach for. Janusz follows through with the escape with Smith, Valka, Voss, Tomasz, Zoran and Kazik during a severe snowstorm that covers their tracks.

Kazik freezes to death the second night of the trek, after losing his way back to the campsite while looking for wood, and the group buries him. After many days of travelling across the snows of Siberia, the group reaches Lake Baikal. There they meet Irena (Saoirse Ronan), a young Polish girl, who tells them that Russian soldiers murdered her parents and sent her to a collective farm near Warsaw, where they treated her cruelly, so she escaped. Smith realises the inaccuracies in her story, as Warsaw is occupied by the Germans; nevertheless, despite his misgivings that she'll slow them down and tax their meager food supply, he agrees with the group to let her in. Smith eventually cautions her about the lie and says he will not tolerate any more, in response to which she admits that her parents were communists but the communist rulers killed them anyway and sent her to an orphanage.

When the group reaches an unpatrolled border between the Soviet Union and Mongolia, Valka, who idolizes Joseph Stalin and does not know what he would do elsewhere, decides to stay. The rest continue to Ulaanbaatar, but soon they see images of Stalin, Khorloogiin Choibalsan and a red star. Janusz realises that Mongolia is under communist control and since China is at war with Japan, tells the group they should take refuge in British India. As they continue south across the Gobi Desert, lack of water, sandstorms, sunburn, blisters and sunstroke weaken the group. They find a well, which provides temporary relief. However, shortly after departing, they are hit by a sandstorm and lose the majority of their water supply. Realizing they could never find the well again, the group carries on. Irena collapses several times and soon dies. A few days later Tomasz collapses and dies. Smith is on the verge of death, but after being motivated by Janusz, Zoran and Voss, decides to rejoin the group and the severely dehydrated four find a much-needed water source. Soon after, they reach China by passing through the Great Wall.

As they reach the Himalayas, all of them on the verge of death, they are rescued by a Tibetan monk who takes them to a Buddhist monastery where they regain their strength. Smith decides to go to Lhasa with the help of one of the monk's contacts, who will smuggle him out through China. Once there, he anticipates he will be able to connect with the US military, his return to America ensured. The remaining three continue to trek through the Himalayas and soon reach India and get assistance from villagers. The Indian government helps them reach their home peacefully.

At the end of the film, Janusz keeps walking around the world until 1989, when the communist regime in Poland is ousted from power. The final scene of the film shows Janusz, 50 years after being taken captive, again envisioning the door and reaching for the rock; this time he takes a key hidden beneath the rock to open the door and reconcile with his wife.

American lawyer Henry Strauss (Robards) is preparing to return to Germany for the first time since he left in 1933 following Adolf Hitler's rise to power. He is seeking to renew an "enchanting friendship" of his youth with aristocrat Konradin Von Lohenburg (West).

Strauss was the son of a Jewish doctor and the friends did not see that around them the rise of Nazism would lead to their separation. Their travels together and philosophical discussions against the elegant background of 1930s Stuttgart form the main part of the film, told in flashback.

The older Henry's search for his childhood friend leads to a startling revelation as he discovers what became of Konradin after Hitler took power.

A photographer named Corrado (Mastroianni) snaps a picture of Antonietta (Loren). When it shows up on the front page of a magazine, she wants to take him to court over it. He then tries to convince her that he can connect her up with powerful men and introduces her to Count Gregorio Sennetti (Boyer), who can make her a movie star, but things do not turn out well when the count's wife shows up.

Mario De Santis, an enterprising trade representative who sells toothpastes, regularly married to Valeria, sees his life upset by the accusation of being bigamous. Accompanied to the police station, he is confronted with a certain Isolina Fornaciari, whom he would have married in Forlimpopoli a few years earlier. Mario, furious at the accusation, goes into de facto ways with Isolina's father, with whom he has a fight so much that he is put under arrest. Moreover, no one seems to believe in his innocence, not even his wife, who lets herself be negatively influenced by her sister and the family lawyer.

When Mario is granted bail, his case is entrusted to an eccentric prince of the forum, talkative and extravagant. A friend of Mario's, met in prison, realizes that it could be a case of the same name and sets out to travel all over Rome in search of Isolina's real husband. When he finds him, he manages to drag him to court where, in the meantime, Mario - following the advice of his defender - has pleaded guilty. Thus the court, while recognizing him innocent of the charge of bigamy, condemns him for self-malignancy; and Isolina, who, complicated by her condition as an elderly single girl, had exploited the circumstance to try to frame a handsome man, is in turn condemned for perjury. Having served the small sentence inflicted on him, Mario can finally return to the arms of his family, who are waiting for him at the exit of the prison.

In Italy, in the 1950s, the lives of five families intersect. Vincenzo Corallo is a widowed tailor who has no control over his teenager, Marcella, who skips school to go with her boyfriend, Sandro Bacci, older than her, in assize trials. Her son, Carlo, is the master of the family who can't stand his sister's bad manners and wants to put her back on the right track.

At the Bacci, the father, Vittorio, has problems with his eldest son.

In the same building, Guido and Giula Blasi are expecting their first child. Anxious, Guido contacts a nurse, Ines Santarelli, who offers him injections for his pregnant wife.

Ines Santarelli, married to a zookeeper, is the overworked mother of five children. She entrusts one of her sick sons to her sister Rita, happy to welcome him, because she cannot have children with her husband.

Visa Vuorio (Tobias Zilliacus), a 35-year-old team leader at the Helsinki city gardening department, is suffering from a terminal neurological disease and only has a few months to live. Because of this, he is a member of a therapeutical support group for people suffering from terminal diseases. Visa's life changes when a young female reporter, Hanna Manninen (Helena Vierikko), arrives at the support group offering to write a series of articles about Visa's life story.

While visiting the doctor, Visa hears there's been a mix-up of samples, and he is in fact perfectly healthy. However, he does not want to tell this to either Hanna or his girlfriend Riia (Susanna Mikkonen), as he wants to avoid shocking them, and doesn't want to lose the experience of having an article series written about him. He only confides in his best friend Harri (Jarkko Pajunen), who unknown to him is in love with Riia.

Visa and Hanna travel to Copenhagen together, and they fall in love with each other there, but don't dare to confess it to each other yet. Back in Helsinki, the support group organises a great party, where Visa is invited as a speaker. On stage, he admits being perfectly healthy and confesses his love to Hanna. However, Hanna is shocked by this, and turns him down. Instead, Hanna's ex-boyfriend Ilkka seeks a new relationship with her, and proposes to her in a restaurant in Porvoo. Visa takes desperate measures to stop this, but at the restaurant door, he realises he is in fact sick after all, and passes out on the street.

Visa is taken to a hospital in Helsinki, but he takes the first chance to escape and crash Hanna's and Ilkka's wedding to admit to being sick after all and confess his love to Hanna. He kisses Hanna, and almost immediately, falls dead on the ground.

In a quiet New England town, the body of shy teenager Jason Green washes up on the shore, and the police soon claim that the death was a suicide induced by steroid addiction. However, Terry Novak, a fifteen-year-old aspiring boxer, is not so sure, especially considering that Jason was an artistic person who had no interest in sports, and thus was not the type to be taking such drugs. Assisted by his friend Abby, he begins an investigation of his own, and soon learns that asking too many questions can lead him into serious danger.

TV personality Carrie Madison goes to visit crackpot scientist Dr. Hartmann who has invented a teleporter to another dimension. On the way she gets into a car accident with electrician Dan Roebuck, mainly caused by earthquake tremors, which effectively destroys Dan's pickup, and they argue. While demonstrating his machine to Carrie, Hartmann disappears. Dan comes to the house looking for help; while he and Carrie examine the machine they, too, disappear. Carrie finds herself alone in what appears to be a prehistoric world in a parallel universe, called Vonya, where time runs differently. Unable to find the Doctor, Dan and Carrie must figure out a way to get back home. Before they can do that, however, they must deal with tribes of savage cavemen, as well as a brutal warlord named Kleel who has taken a liking to Carrie and seems to be unusually well-supplied with Earth technology...

Issue 1

In the build-up to this series, Superman agrees to a deal with his aunt Alura that he renounce his allegiance to Earth and severs ties there in order to live on New Krypton with his people. He does not truthfully renounce all ties to his adopted home, as he tells his wife Lois Lane. He instructs his friend Mon-El to "take over for him" and has conversations with the Guardian and Jimmy Olsen before disembarking for New Krypton. Superman intends to live amongst the Kryptonians in the hopes of easing tensions with Earth and teaching them to use their powers responsibly.

When he arrives on the planet, he receives a lukewarm welcome from members of the Kryptonian military. He is openly welcomed by Alura, who asks him to pick a guild with which to be employed while on the planet. While he is deciding this, it is revealed to him that General Zod has been released from the Phantom Zone and is lauded as a great leader and a hero. He is given his previous job as the head of the Kryptonian military, and Superman finds this alarming. Zod maintains that he no longer has any reason to hate his fellow Kryptonians, as they have now accepted him. While deciding which guild to register for and having an argument with Zod, he is assaulted by his father Jor-El's former friend and lobotomized disciple of Zod, Non. Superman disposes of him quickly, and makes it clear that while the New Kryptonians hostile to him are steadily learning their powers, Superman has had his for years and demonstrates his vastly superior fighting skill and capability with his powers.

When Alura asks Superman which guild he has chosen, he admits that he is not comfortable with any, even going so far as to liken the Kryptonians' working conditions to slavery. However, Superman ultimately is assigned to be a member of the Military guild and is referred to by General Zod as "Commander El".

Issue 2

On Oa, the Guardians of the Universe discuss New Krypton, fearing that the Kryptonians while under the leadership of General Zod will return to a military expansion that the Guardians feared long ago before Krypton's destruction. On New Krypton, Zod boasts of a recently redesigned rifle made to kill native Kryptonian species. He puts "Commander El" in charge of the "Red Shard", a unit responsible for law enforcement and civic defense.

As his second, Superman is assigned Lieutenant Asha Del-Nar. Together, they find members of their new unit forcing Non, a recent transfer into the unit, to fight against a vicious Torquat. Superman reprimands the unit and later shares a conversation with Alura about the Kryptonian guilds. Avoiding Zod, Superman runs into his servant of the labor guild who speaks of unrest in his guild. Zod then arrives and orders Superman to kill a stampede of beasts that threatens a colony.

When the Red Shard prepares to kill the animals with their new rifles, Superman orders them to put the weapons away and instead teaches them how to wrangle the beasts without killing them. Zod compliments Superman on handling the situation, but admonishes "Commander El" for challenging his authority. Their conversation is stopped when news of a Labor Guild member taking hostages, including Alura, emerges. Commander Gor, a man responsible for killing several human police officers in ''Superman: New Krypton'', arrives and threatens to kill them all if the hostages are not released. This leaves Zod pleased and Superman concerned that there could be a loss of life on his watch.

Issue 3

Superman tries to talk General Zod out of allowing Commander Gor to execute the Labor Guild prisoners. Zod is undeterred, but Superman convinces him to allow him to try to quell the situation without further violence. As a sign of good faith, Superman allows himself to be blasted with the red solar energy of an Archer rifle, which negates his powers for thirty minutes. Superman goes into the Galla where Labor Guild leader, Tam-Or, is keeping the provisional government captive. He appeals to his aunt, Alura, and asks her to consider the Guild's needs should they agree to set them free. Alura allows Tam-Or to air his demands.

Tam-Or says that as Earth's sun precludes the need for rest or food, the Labor Guild has been working literally non-stop since New Krypton has been formed. They want time to rest and see their families. Additionally, there is some unknown disease spreading through the Labor Guild ranks, even though that shouldn't be possible, and they want the Science Guild to find out why. Finally, they want a representation on the new Science Council being formed. Alura agrees to the first two requests, but points out that the Labor Guild has never had a seat on the Science Council in Kryptonian history, to which Superman points out that this is New Krypton. Alura finally agrees to consider the third demand if the Labor Guild agree to stand down.

The Labor Guild surrenders and sets down their weapons. Superman has resolved the situation peacefully before General Zod's deadline. Commander Gor however, sits with a sniper rifle above the square where Alura and the others were being held. Ignoring a direct order from Zod not to attack unless Superman is unable to reach a peaceful resolution, Gor fires a shot aimed at Tam-Or, but Supergirl rushes in and catches the bullet before it can strike its target.

Superman returns to Military Guild headquarters and gives Zod an update. Commander Gor, having nursed a dislike for Superman for quite some time, kicks him in the back. By Guild protocol, an official duel is conducted. Since both men have super powers, Superman relies upon his combat training to win the day. As the fight concludes, Superman turns his eyes upward to see three members of the Green Lantern Corps hovering above them. Green Lantern Hal Jordan tells Superman: "It's time we talked".

Issue 4

Based on the recent arrival of New Krypton, the Guardians of the Universe have sent a fact-finding mission. Their first contact, Kal-El, is pleased to see his old friends, but General Zod arrives within seconds. He remembers the Earthly Green Lanterns that fought him skilfully when they last met, and he orders Kal and Tyr to give them a tour of New Krypton.

Flying over the city, Tyr-Van gives the Green Lanterns a rundown of the city's founding, before moving on to encompass the whole planet - using the tech they were able to steal from Brainiac, they have made a new planet. Currently they are building an atmosphere, then a moon. Within a year, they will be finished. Kal is proud and happy. He and Sodam Yat chat briefly about Mon-El.

Lieutenant Nar arrives to get Kal for an emergency briefing. Thirteen criminals were brought to New Krypton from the Phantom Zone, and adapted to their powers faster than the other Kryptonians. They have been on the run, but they have a lead on one of them. Orders are to bring them in, but the Red Shard has been ordered to escort the Green Lanterns on their tour.

The Green Lanterns are surprised, and a little unsympathetic, to find that New Krypton is building a fleet of space ships. Tyr tells them that they are billed as a security deterrent, but Hal Jordan believes Zod is planning something. Kal cannot vouch for Zod, but he asks Hal to trust him.

Suddenly, an explosion occurs at the other end of the yard. A group of the criminals were meeting here, and when they were ambushed by the Military Guild, one of them ruptured a fuel line to cover the escape of all the others. There were no deaths, and no apparent leads. But Kal points out that the Kryptonians can hear someone flying away very fast. The chase is on.

The fugitive is identified as Val-Ty, alias Greyline, a notorious murderer who fought Tomar-Re. They chase him into the scaffolding around one of the unfinished ships, where he steals welding equipment and uses it as an explosive. Nar takes the Red Shard around the other side and Kal and the Green Lanterns are to herd him there. However, Zod has his own plans - when Nar has him in custody, she is to execute him. Kal overhears her from the other side of the scaffolding, and asks her to ignore Zod's last order.

The plan is a success, and Greyline is taken into custody. The Green Lanterns prepare to take him back to Oa to be imprisoned for past crimes, but Zod arrives and points out that New Krypton has jurisdiction - and Oa has no extradition treaties with New Krypton. Hal is set to argue, but John Stewart gets him to back off on the condition that Zod not execute Greyline, and the Green Lanterns go home to make their report.

That night, Greyline is behind a force field, already swearing revenge on Kal (who is surprised to see Zod kept his word) and the rest of the Military Guild. Zod is impressed at his skill, but he orders Kal and Nar to be taken into custody and charged with treason.

Issue 5

Imprisoned by General Zod for treason, Kal is visited by Dyn-Xe of the Artists Guild, who was appointed as his defence counsel for his trial.

Dyn-Xe informed Kal that if found guilty of treason, the penalty is death by execution in the absence of the phantom zone for incarceration. Due to the Nova Day Celebration, all pending legal matters must also be resolved before the end of the holiday or the day after tomorrow.

Dyn-Xe's defence strategy is to argue that because Zod has a history with the house of EL, prosecuting Kal is just another vendetta against the house of EL.

At the trial, Zod withdrew himself from prosecuting Kal but continued to prosecute Lieutenant Nar. She admitted to all charges and claimed she acted alone. However Kal argued for her and eventually inform the council that he stopped Nar from obeying Zod's order. Zod dismissed all charges against Nar but ask the council to find Kal guilty of treason by his own admission.

Nar and Tyr-Van visited Kal at his cell and Tyr-Van installed a device to deactivate the red sun generator in his cell, which would allow him to escape. However, Kal does not escape and choose to accept his punishment.

Kal was found guilty by the council and denies that by disobeying Zod's order, he was a traitor. Zod spoke up for Kal by pointing out that on Nova day, the religious guild has the power to grant absolution. Kal was eventually spared and freed.

As part of the Nova Day celebration, New Krypton planned to remove the dome covering their city with the successful regulation of the atmosphere. At the height of the celebration, Zod was shot by an assassin.

Issue 6

The assassin, Ral-Dar was captured by Kal, Kara and his team and interrogated. Ral-Dar revealed that his attempted assassination on Zod was done to save New Krypton.

Zod's injury was serious and the doctor has to put him in a stasis to prevent a cascading failure. The people of New Krypton were afraid that the attempted assassination of Zod is the start of an attack. Alura managed to calm the people down.

Kal headed back to interrogate Ral-Dar and discovered he managed to escape, apparently with some outside help was seen leaving for Earth.

Fearing an escalation of tension between Earth and New Krytpon, Kal decide to capture Ral-Dar with Kara.

Issue 7

While Superman returns to New Krypton with Ral-Dar's body, an Interim Ruling Council session revealed that the weapon used in the assassination attempt on Zod was Earth-made, leading to the conclusion that there were traitors amongst the Kryptonians. Zod turned up at the meeting and appointed Kal-El as General and Commander of the New Krypton armies.

Kal figured out that Tyr-Van was working for Zod and was instructed by Zod to allow Kal to escape when he was imprisoned for treason.

New Krypton is carrying out Operation: Callisto, a plan to disengage one of Jupiter's moon to act as New Krypton's moon. The plan was going as planned until they encountered a Thanagarian's battle group. When the pilot ship guiding Callisto was destroyed, the explosion affected the sunstone crystal inserted into Callisto's core and it is now out of control and heading for New Krypton.

Issue 8

The Thanagarian's battle group, led by Wing-Master Vetalla Dae's gyrfalcon was engaging the Kryptonian when it suffered a catastrophic hit. Kal, Nar and a few other Kryptonian beached the ship and managed to save the ship.

Kal explained that New Krypton bears no hostility towards Thanagar and that he has ordered all Kryptonian forces withdrawn and asked to attend to the more urgent task of the out-of-control Callisto.

The Thanagarian assisted in the slowing down of Callisto by firing nth metal energy beams and hitting Callisto with targeted gravity wells, but it remained on a collision course with New Krypton. Kal managed to get all the people of New Krypton to nudge Callisto to its intended orbit.

Wing-Master Dae was directed by her government to open diplomatic channels between New Krypton and Thanagar. The Interim Council agrees but the session was interrupted by another alien named Jemm.

Issue 9

Jemm from Saturn started a fight in the council but eventually agreed to stop the fight and address the council. He chided the Kryptonian for their arrogance and feeling of entitlement and warned that they will be watching.

The Labour Guild is having an epidemic with those working the farm details being infected with shakes.

Kal was visiting Zod who is making a slow recovery, when they received word that there was something wrong at councillor Mar-Li's residence. Kal forced open the door to see Adam Strange standing over the body of the councillor.

Issue 10

Adam Strange explained to the Interim Council that he was not responsible for the councillor's death as the operation of the Zeta Beam is not a precise transportation instrument. He also revealed that he comes to New Krypton to deliver a formal protest due to their establishment of diplomatic accord with Thanagar.

Kal convince the council to allow Adam Strange to leave if he can prove his innocence by solving the murder of Councillor Mar-Li.

An examination of the room revealed that the killer has not left any presence behind. An examination of his body revealed traces of carbon casing for small explosive rounds, fired from a device used to help with terraforming. It was a tool used by the Labour Guild and Mar-Li was vocal opponent of admitting a labour guild member into the council.

Kal and Adam proceed to the Labour Guild to talk to Tam-Or, their unofficial spokesman where they came across another sick Labour guild member. Tam-Or run away from Kal with the help of the Labour Guild members. Adam pursued Tam-Or but he managed to escape.

Kal and Adam revealed their findings while Lieutenant Nar requested for permission to switch to orbital scanners as they have not being able to find Tam-Or. Kal is convinced that Tam-Or is not guilty as he wanted representation for the Labour Guild. Kal's postulated that killing councillor Mar-Li may be an assassination attempt. Kal's aunt Alura, another council member is seen targeted in a sniper's scope.

Issue 11

As Alura discussed with her assistant, Lyra on the councillor's death and the rite of selection for a new council member, Lyra was shot. After escorting Alura to safety, Kal's team managed to recover the weapon that shot Lyra, but the ease at which the weapon was discovered aroused Adam's suspicion, There was genetic residues left on the rifle that matches Tam-Or, which suggested that he was the shooter that made an attempt on Alura's life.

Kal reported his findings to the council and it was suggested that Kal was not seriously pursuing Tam-Or because his mother was also from the Labour Guild.

Kal visited Zod who told him that it is not difficult with Kryptonian technology for genetic material to be planted. He concluded that Tam-Or is smart but not a tactician and could not be responsible for Mar-Ali's death or the attempt on Alura's life.

Kal and Adam met Tyr-Van and convinced him to lead them to a military facility lined with lead and soundproofed. They found Tam-Or and persuaded him to surrender. Councillor Zo and Commander Gor tracked Kal as there was some question about his loyalty. Kal was informed that Zod had resumed active duty and that he had been demoted back to Commander. Kal, Tyr and Tam were hit with the Red Sun beam while Gor gave the command to fire the kinetics.

Issue 12

Adam managed to Zeta all of them out and back but he was not fast enough to stop Tam-Or from being hit by the kinetic bullets.

Gor, Zo and Zod turned up at their location and Zod demoted Gor to Lancepsade for not following his orders of no lethal force. Zod request Adam Strange's departure due to his sensitive position as a representative of Rann.

Kal told Zod that Tam was being manipulated and knew who was responsible but died before he could tell them.

Kal and Zod revealed the facts of the case and Kal concluded that Ral-Dar and Tam-Or were probably misled. Kal eventually figured that Councillor Wri-Qin was the mastermind. Kal visited Wri-Qin who revealed that Superwoman came on General Lane's behalf and convinced them to weaken Krypton, so that Earth can achieve a quicker victory against Krypton.

It was Wri-Qin that had his co-conspirators killed so that he could have all the spoils to himself. Kal and his Red Shard team managed to capture Wri-Qin into custody.

Zod informed Kal that the council has granted the Labour Guild a seat on the council and that Tyr-Van has been named his representative. As Kal-El contemplated his contributions to Krypton, Zod commended him for being instrumental in changing the foundation of society. As they conversed, a Brainiac robot suddenly appears.

Monsieur Chargon comes to Eaton Place with his daughter (Madame Chargon) and his daughter in law (Madame Huguot). They are refugees of the War in Belgium and they tell the story of death and terror. Monsieur Chargon (Cyril Cross) is the father of Madame Chargon and the grandfather of the little boy Jean-Paul (Ian Hoare) and the little girl Celestine (Lisa Moss). His wife went missing and was never found. His son and grandson were killed in the fighting at the hands of the invading Germans and his little granddaughter died . Madame Chargon (Karen Glaser) is the daughter of the old man Monsieur Chargon. Her husband was executed by the Germans. She came together with her little son Jean-Paul (Ian Hoare) and her little daughter Celestine (Lisa Moss). Madame Huguot (Elma Soiron) is the wife of the old man's son. She lost her husband and son (only 16 years old) in the fighting and her little daughter in her arms was killed in bombing. Only the daughter's doll remained.

Setting and themes

The main part of ''Tayutama'' takes place in a town called , which houses various landmarks such as the , which the main characters attend, and the , a local Shinto shrine managed by Yuri's family. Sosei Academy consists of two departments: a notorious all-girls department named , which stems its roots from the Sosei Girls' Academy; and a recently added coeducation department named . The campus grounds are separated into two parts which houses the two separate departments. Students attending the Flawless department live in a dormitory across from the school building, which is separated from Slightly's school building and schoolyard by a small forest.

Supernatural phenomena are a recurring theme in ''Tayutama''. The fictional, mythological race is worshiped by the Yachimata Shrine, and its members are able to take shape in various forms, including humans. Various characters also possess supernatural abilities, such as Yuri who excels in Shinto studies and practices, and Mashiro, who is a Tayutai herself. Yumina and Ameri both receive wings as a result of gaining the favor and allying respectively with Houou and Ouryu, two Tayutai. Mifuyu is befriended by Nue, another Tayutai, and is physically powerful enough to engage a Tayutai in battle.

Principal characters

The player assumes the role of , the protagonist of ''Tayutama''. Yuri comes from a family that presides over the Yachimata Shrine, and holds a vast knowledge in Shinto practices. He takes an interest in automobile maintenance, and also aspires to be an auto mechanic or designer. , the main heroine of ''Tayutama'', is a Tayutai girl with a high understanding of spiritual powers. She is the incarnation of the goddess , and wishes for a mutual harmony between humans and Tayutai.'''Untranslated quote:''' 「さあ、五百年越しの夢を叶える時です！人間と太転依が共存できる新しい世の中を、私たち夫婦で切り開きましょう！」
'''Translated quote:''' "Now, this is when a dream comes true after five hundred years! Let us create a new world where humans and Tayutai can coexist together as a couple!"
She falls in love with Yuri soon after being left in his care, to the extent that she claims to be his wife.

Several characters also become involved in Yuri and Mashiro's attempt to create a world where both humans and Tayutai can coexist together. , another heroine, is Yuri's energetic and outgoing childhood friend. She frequently carries around candies, which she often shares with others, and has a crush towards Yuri, but is unable to carry her feelings further. , also a heroine, is Yuri's stepsister who resided with his family until their mother's death. She is often shy and quiet in front of others, and takes an interest in activities such as drawing and cooking. Yumina transfers into Flawless early in the story, and often voluntarily takes care of the household chores for Yuri's family. , the last of ''Tayutama'' heroines, is an honor student from Flawless. She is calm and intelligent, and tends to act as an elder sister figure to other Flawless students. She is skilled in various martial arts, and is in particular proficient in kenjutsu.

Story

The story of ''Tayutama'' revolves around the male protagonist Yuri Mito, whose family manages the local Shinto shrine. One day during spring break, Yuri and his friends Ameri Kawai and Sankurou Kaname find in the school's woods a mysterious relic that was used in the past to seal the Tayutai, an ancient, mythological race. Yuri discovers that the school board has determined that the relic is insignificant for preservation, and that it will be demolished to allow the school to expand. After coming to the conclusion that destroying the relic may have adverse consequences, the trio attempts to relocate the relic's spirits. As Yuri performs the ritual, he summons Kikuramikami no Hime, a Tayutai goddess who explains to him the belligerent relationship between humans and Tayutai; Kikuramikami then incarnates as a young girl, Mashiro, in hopes of maintaining a mutual relationship with humans. Shortly afterwards, the relic is destroyed in an accident, releasing the entire race of Tayutai. Among them are Nue, Houou, and Ouryu, three influential Tayutai who hold humans in low regard and are referred to collectively as the . Following the incident, Yuri takes Mashiro to the Yachimata Shrine to live with his family, and later finds Mashiro as a teenager, who proclaims herself to be Yuri's wife.

In their attempt to create a world where humans and Tayutai can peacefully coexist, Yuri and Mashiro battle the members of the Three Mightiest in a successive, nonlinear order determined by the player's decisions. In one scenario, Nue, a young female Tayutai, begins to steal undergarments from the Flawless dormitories due to her curiosity in them. She is defeated by Mashiro and Mifuyu Kisaragi, and finds herself befriended by Mifuyu, who later begins to take care of her as a guardian. Yumina Takanashi, Yuri's stepsister, also begins to take care of Hou, an exhausted bird Tayutai who begins to nest on Yumina's head. Yumina is later attacked by Ou, another Tayutai who makes up the Houou couple with Hou, before the couple reconciles with the help of Yuri and Mashiro. Lastly, Ameri allies herself with Ouryu, the last of the Three Mightiest, out of jealousy from the amount of attention Mashiro receives from Yuri. After Ameri reconciles with Yuri, Ouryu agrees to stop attacking humans, and acknowledges Mashiro's goal.

Francis is the son of the Comte de Balansun, whose family resides in the French town of Saint-Clar, near the Pyrenees. Francis, in the beginning of the novel, skips school and helps a refugee called "The Mohican" escape to the Free Zone in Spain during the German Occupation of France. Before he departs, the "Mohican" promises Francis to inform Jean, the fiancee engaged to Francis' sister, Helene, and who had escaped through Spain to England. Afterwards, Francis informs his father that he has joined the French Resistance, and the Comte de Balansun, who is initially supportive of Marechal Petain, is then moved by his son's actions and declares his support for the Resistance. Francis tells his acquaintance, Philip Arreguy, to inform his sister Helene the next time he visits Paris, and let her know that he has tried to get a message across to her fiancee Jean. In the process Francis also reveals to Philip that he is part of the Resistance.

Helene is living in Paris, having graduated from studies in physics and chemistry. An admirer named Gerard who frequently spends evenings with her longs for her to be his lover, but out of respect for her engagement, as well as her intelligence, virtue, and position, he decides to remain as a friend. Helene grows tired of waiting for Jean and eventually succumbs to the sensual attentions of Philip, who becomes her lover. Afterwards, Helene sends a message directed to Jean, not knowing if he will ever receive it, informing him that she has decided to break their relationship.

One evening, a British soldier survives a crash landing near Saint-Clar and, speaking French, passes himself off as a French villager when he is discovered by Jacques, a resident of Saint-Clar. Jacques brings the British soldier to dine with a German officer, claiming that the soldier was his friend from the army. The next day, Jacques reveals to the soldier that he was aware he was the soldier who had crashed that evening. The soldier then leaves for England.

Gerard and Francis both find Helene changed, and feel somewhat disgusted by her presence even though she has not told them she has taken Philip as a lover. Philip becomes involved with a gang who supports the German occupation and eventually rats on Francis, who is later captured in Bordeaux and subsequently tortured then killed while trying to escape with Philip. Helene eventually learns that her brother Francis was murdered and that her ex-fiancee, Jean, committed suicide by driving his plane downwards to a crash after receiving her letter informing him of their breakup. She feels alienated from her former virtuous self and has difficulty reconciling what she has caused with her ethics. Feeling distanced from most people, she eventually becomes the lover of Jacques, who attempts to profit from the war.

The Americans and Russians eventually advance into France, eventually liberating Paris, during which crowds of people join in to help fight the retreating German occupants. The Comte de Balansun, while initially holding out hope that his son Francis might still be alive, eventually comes to believe that his son did indeed die. The novel also describes that during the occupation there were those who profited from the war, those who collaborated, those who switched sides depending on who was winning, and the different shades of morality that were created by the imposition of the darkness of the "night" during the German occupation.

Maurice Castle (Nicol Williamson) is a mid-level bureaucrat in MI6 whose life seems unremarkable, apart from the fact that he has an African wife, Sarah (Iman), and son, Sam (Gary Forbes). The company regime, represented by Dr. Percival (Robert Morley), an expert in assassinations and biological toxins, and éminence grise Sir John Hargreaves (Richard Vernon), advise newly appointed security chief Daintry (Richard Attenborough) that they believe they have a leak in Castle's department. The duo determine the mole must be quietly killed, rather than be allowed publicity in a trial or a flight to Moscow. They quickly decide the most likely candidate for the traitor is Arthur Davis (Derek Jacobi), Castle's red brick–educated playboy office partner.

Castle is actually the mole, but the information he leaks is mostly unimportant. He became involved in leaking to the Soviets when he was an MI6 agent in apartheid South Africa, seven years earlier: he met and fell in love with Sarah; when their affair was discovered by the authorities, Castle was thrown out of the country, and Sarah was smuggled out with the help of Matthew Connolly (Tony Vogel), whose Communist network Castle was originally assigned to spy upon. Ever since, Castle has been repaying the favor by passing information on via a contact in London. However, Castle is not a communist. His only interest is in his wife and son, who are ultimately left in London—where they remain separated from him.

Jennifer Verti has spent all of her savings buying her first house and all of her belongings have recently been stolen while trying to move into her new house. Vince is a ladies' man and a gambler, and owes money to a debt collector known as "The Monkey" (real name is Eugene). They meet at a wedding, initially Jennifer dislikes Vince and begins to predict what kind of person he is, and as a result, he dislikes her. However they talk about weddings and are amazed by the cash and gifts a couple get, and consider how easy it would be to get that kind of income. When Jennifer loses all her belongings along with the stolen moving van, she arranges to meet Vince for lunch and to suggest a fake romance and engagement, which he is very interested in going along with.

When her brother in law decides to sleep over at the hospital, Jennifer agrees to take their two children for the night. As the day progresses, Jennifer finds herself noticing how well Vince does with the kids. At nighttime, when the young boy asks Vince when he and his sister will get to go home, Vince, trying to make a joke, replies "never." The young boy starts to scream and Jennifer comes to calm him down and has the boy tell her a bedtime story. After the kids have fallen asleep, Vince goes to sleep in Jennifer's room on an air mattress which then springs a leak. She invites him to sleep on top of the covers on her bed, but the two just can't keep their hands off each other. The young boy then reveals to Vince that he won't be going to college because all of his and his sister's college money is being used to pay for the wedding. Vince realizes that this has gone too far and goes to see his estranged father. His father had recently hit it big at the race track and owed Vince some money. Vince's father tries to make amends on the past by paying him six-thousand dollars and Vince invites the latter to the wedding, as thanks. Instead of paying off his loan to "The Monkey", he uses the money to finance the wedding. He then tells the kids, "Looks like you're gonna have to go to college after all."

With Jennifer's feelings beginning to become confused, she begins to feel the weight of how important her marriage actually is to her family. At the wedding rehearsal, Jennifer's sister gives a heart felt speech, which drives Jennifer to leave the room. She confesses to Vince that she can't go through with this and can't marry a man who doesn't love her. Vince then reminds her of all that's at stake and she reluctantly agrees to go through with the wedding. At the wedding, Jennifer's sister gives Vince the wedding vows that Jennifer has written for him. Vince then writes his wedding vows and gives them to the sister.

As Vince and the groomsmen wait for Jennifer, she tries to tell her father that it's all a hoax and she can't go through with it. Her father keeps interrupting her and tells her how much he loves who she is and how he knows Vince will be a great husband. She reluctantly walks down the aisle and the preacher begins the sermon. As the preacher speaks, he talks about why two people get married, and when he mentions, "Some just want all the gifts," the two look at each other and laugh nervously while the rest of the congregation is laughing. When the preacher gives them a chance to read the vows, Vince begins to read the vows she wrote for him, but tears them up and speaks from the heart instead. This culminates in him telling her he really does love her.

When Kelly and Michael decide to get married, they want to have an off-beat wedding without all the traditional glitz. But when their friends and Kelly's mother introduce them to the rules of engagement, a simple, intimate wedding becomes a huge production.

The story has two main threads: the white fur traders, and their relatively friendly relationship with the Sioux; and the US Cavalry who have a very distanced relationship with the Sioux. The traders and scouts are led by Jim Bridger who has the Indian name of "Tomahawk".

A small travelling show run by Julie Madden gets an escort cross-country to a fort from Lt Dancy. En route Dancy kills a young unarmed Sioux boy without provocation, for being near his horses. He tells his corporal to explain the night-time shot as him killing a fox. In retaliation on the following day, half a dozen mounted Sioux ambush the travelling show hitting Julie's elderly companion Dan with an arrow in the chest. They take the injured man to the fort but the doctor refuses to operate. Julie persuades Jim Bridger to operate and Bridger saves his life. Jim asks Julie to look after Monahseetah his female Cheyenne travelling companion, the daughter of Chief Black Kettle .

The Sioux approach the fort in small groups and pick off one sentry at a time then ride off. Julie has taken a horse out without permission and they chase her. Jim calls them off, but one still chases her. Jim pulls him from his horse and they fight. It is Red Cloud's favourite son and he is killed. When they get back to the fort they can hear the Sioux war drums.

Bridger discovers that Dancy killed his Cheyenne wife, Monahseetah's sister, after Dancy leads a suicidal attack on a group of Sioux where he is the sole survivor.

The Sioux attack the fort in waves but the newly arrived breach loading rifles defeat them.

Marina is a young orphan from the coast who struggles to support her and her two younger brothers, her only support is Nicola, in love with her but not reciprocated by her. One day she goes out to sea, but a storm arrives that wrecks her little boat. She is saved by Pietro, a young fisherman who welcomes her into her house and starts courting her.

Not being able to fish anymore Marina she decides to go to work in the salt pan accompanied by her brothers, asking for the same place that her father had. Pietro too, with all her men, gets hired at the salt pan in order not to stay away from her. Alberto, the dishonest supervisor of the salt pan tries several times to approach Marina who always manages to escape. All this gives rise to the jealousy of Vida, another worker in the salt pan, and Alberto's clandestine lover.

One evening the events precipitate, Vida desperate after another quarrel with Marina, she confesses to Alberto that she is expecting a child, but the man rejects her badly, the girl falls and dies. The man who had been accused by the workers of withholding part of the wages decides to flee the island but is stopped by Nicola and Piero managing to exonerate Marina, accused of the girl's death.

The following morning Marina thanking Nicola for the help received accepts his proposal to leave with him but when she realizes that Pietro is also leaving for the island she runs to the pier and followed by her brothers throws herself into the sea and then gets on board his boat and stay with him.

In the maternity ward of a large Roman hospital, we witness the secret love between the young doctor Pietro Valeri and the nurse Luisa Morelli. Pietro has difficulty in making a career and hesitates to marry Luisa as he does not know what future he could offer her.

The situation seems to get worse when Luisa realizes she is expecting a baby. Pietro, always irresolute, seems to be in favor of a clandestine abortion, a solution that the girl refuses to consider. Luisa leaves the hospital and moves to her former colleague Margherita, who has set up on her own as a midwife. Margherita and Luisa organize pre-baby courses in which a revolutionary method of painless childbirth is developed, a technique learned in the same hospital where they worked. One of the young women assisted by Margherita is hospitalized in the ward where Pietro works and actually manages to give birth in conditions of relative serenity, transforming what mothers always considered "the worst moment" into the “most beautiful moment”: the episode comforts the doctor, who finally decides to marry Luisa and assist her in her maternity leave.

Barny is a young mother raising her daughter, named France, in a small town in the French Alps during the Occupation of France. She works correcting assignments for a Parisian correspondence school that has moved to the town. Her Jewish husband was killed in the war, and, sexually-frustrated, she finds herself attracted to Sabine, the administrative secretary at the school.

As a jaded lapsed-Catholic-turned-atheist and militant communist, Barny is cynical about religion, but she and a few of her Jewish and communist friends decide to have their children baptized to try to protect them from the occupying troops. Some time afterward, Barny impulsively enters a church in town to make a fake confession. She decides to talk to Léon Morin, who, being a young curate with a name that does not strike her as bourgeois, seems most likely to take the joke in good humor. In the confessional, she attempts to provoke Léon by questioning and criticizing Catholicism, but, instead of getting offended, he engages her in a calm theological discussion. The altruistic priest offers to lend Barny some books, and they arrange a time to meet. Barny exits the church in a daze.

For France's protection, Barny sends the girl to live on a secluded farm. She begins to visit Léon regularly, finding his moral strength and the steadfastness of his faith impressive as he works to help her on her spiritual journey. Despite her resistance, Barny gradually finds herself drawn in by Léon's musings, philosophies, and interpretations of passages from the Bible.

The circumstances in the town get worse for the residents after the Germans fully push out the Italians, and Barny and Léon both do what they can to help and protect those in need. Barny's feelings for Sabine change after the distress the woman feels after her brother is arrested by the Gestapo and taken to Germany causes her to seem to age several years in just a few weeks.

Reluctantly, but feeling compelled to do so, Barny decides to fully return to the Church. She and Christine, a collaborationist coworker with whom she became friends after they discovered they were both talking with Léon, each refer a friend to Léon. The other women's reactions to him cause Barny to see him in a different light, and, noticing for the first time how handsome he is, she begins to develop romantic feelings.

One night, the Germans abandon the town. France comes back to live with Barny, so she tells Léon she can no longer come to visit him, and he offers to come to her instead. On one visit, Barny asks Léon if he would marry her if he were a Protestant minister. He does not answer, but becomes perturbed and abruptly leaves, and they do not see each other for a while. Eventually, he knocks on Barny's door and proceeds to talk about theology as though nothing happened. She cannot focus and reaches out to touch his arm, causing him to jump out of his chair. Before leaving, he tells her that he will return for more conversation, but she must come to him at the church to confess and receive penance for trying to lead a priest astray.

Léon learns he is being transferred to another parish, and he tells Barny. They catch France eavesdropping and he puts her back to bed, prompting Barny to think about God's irony in finally bringing Léon into her bedroom, not to sleep with her and break his vows, but to comfort her daughter.

The correspondence school announces it is moving back to Paris, which means Barny will be leaving the town around the same time as Léon. On the night before his departure, he asks her to visit him. She thanks him and they have a brief conversation before Barny bids Léon farewell. He tells her they will meet again, in another life. Barny tearfully leaves and stumbles out into the street.

In Lurgan, Northern Ireland, during 1975 and the Northern Irish Troubles, the Irish Republican Army are targeting loyalists; in turn, the loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force are exacting revenge on Catholics they claim are militant republicans. Alistair Little, 17, is the leader of a UVF cell, eager to let blood. He and his gang are given the go-ahead to kill a young Catholic man, James Griffin, as a reprisal and a warning to others. When they kill Griffin, his 8-year old little brother, Joe watches in horror. Little is arrested and sentenced to prison for 12 years.

In 2008—thirty-three years after the murder and nineteen years after Little is released from prison—Little and Griffin have been set up to meet on camera by a reconciliation project. Little has served his sentence and peace has been agreed to in Northern Ireland, but Joe Griffin is not coming on the programme for a handshake. He is carrying a knife and intends to murder his brother's killer during the meeting. However, just before he is to go on camera, he becomes extremely agitated and demands that the cameras be removed. When the producers try to calm him, he leaves, and the two men do not meet.

Little offers to meet Griffin, and Griffin accepts. Griffin asks Little to meet him at Griffin's childhood home, now abandoned and boarded up, where Little murdered his brother. As Griffin reaches for the knife before the meeting, his wife tries to stop him, but he pushes her to the floor. At the meeting, Griffin, full of hate and wanting vengeance, attacks Little from behind and attempts to stab him. In the struggle, they fall through a second story window. Both are hurt. Little tells Griffin that he is leaving for Belfast. He explains why he killed Griffin's brother. He tells Griffin to "get rid of me", to tell his family that he has killed Little and to live his life for them, not for vengeance.

Griffin very shakily lights up a cigarette as Little pulls himself from the wall he was sitting against and limps down the road. Soon after, Griffin attends a therapy group and tells them, crying, that he wants to be a good father for his daughters. He calls Little and tells him, "We're finished." Little appears happy and befuddled, not quite sure what to do next.

Kareem Samar, Saeed Jaffrey, and Zohra Sehgal are professional actors who interact with actual inhabitants of the area. Samar portrays a rent collector representing a landlord who was a friend of Merchant and approved the project. Jaffrey's role is that of an actor whose infatuation with one of the dancers becomes an obsession, and Segal is a retired courtesan who recalls her earlier life when her aunt arranged for her care by a wealthy benefactor.

A Don Juan named Roberto woos a young actress of photo novels on the day she is expected to be engaged to the woman he loves, despite the opposition of her family.

Franco, a train attendant, secretly lets her girlfriend, her telephone operator, get on it to be able to see her despite their working hours which do not coincide.

Finally, an ex-prisoner, Paolo, is looking for a job to be able to marry his girlfriend Marisa, whom a trauma has made mute.

Charley becomes ill, which brings the Doctor to the Amethyst Viral Containment Station. There they witness a confrontation between the Daleks and the mysterious Viyrans.

Story set in 17th century Spanish court, where King Philip IV, on a getaway with Count of Peña Andrada, is stunned to see the naked body of Marfisa, a prostitute of the town (in a pose reminiscent of the Rokeby Venus). After this discovery, the king decides to see the naked body of his wife, Queen Elisabeth of France.

Due to this the Grand Inquisitor is obliged to convene a meeting of theologians to discuss the matter. Both sides of the debate are represented by the figure of the friar Villaescusa, which ensures that the claim of the king is a serious sin that can bring punishment on the whole country and the Father Almeida, a Jesuit missionary who replies that the luck of the governed depends on the ability of its rulers rather than their morality and that the desire of the king is a private matter. Although the Queen is willing to accommodate to the wishes of the king, Villaescusa and his minions do enough to frustrate his desires. Finally, with the help of the Jesuit and the Count of la Peña Andrada, the King gets to meet with the queen alone in the monastery of San Plácido and achieves his goal.

Meanwhile, the Count-Duke of Olivares fears that he could being punished by God because he fails to have children with his wife, so he gets advice from Villaescusa, who informs him that the pleasure he and his wife obtain when performing the sexual act is to be blamed for the infertility. The "divinely inspired" solution proposed by Villaescusa is that the Earl and his wife copulate in the choir of the church of San Plácido (where by coincidence are also very nearly the kings) in front of the choir nuns. At the end of this sexual encounter the Count-Duke of Olivares receives two letters which informs him of the successful arrival of the Indian fleet to Cadiz and the victory of Spanish troops in Flanders. Villaescusa says that the happy ending is due to the sacrifices they all have passed, but the Count Duke replies that by the date of the letters it could be seen that the fleet had arrived in Cadiz two days ago "just the day King went whores". The Count-Duke sends Villaescusa to Rome with a sealed letter asking to not let him go until he has changed his attitude.

Nicholas Gillis Freestone is sent to Burma after his mother's apartment is destroyed in the blitz or the Battle of Britain. He meets Nang the foreman, his daughter Mya, and his son Indaw, a mahout. At the time of Nick's arrival, there is much talk about the recent Japanese bombing of Rangoon, predicting the British defenses in Burma will soon fall. The next day Nick is at the village and Hannibal, a koongyi (timber elephant) with a grudge against tiger Nats (spirits of the forest), attacks Nick and his ribs are cracked. Out of embarrassment, Nick keeps the incident to himself until his father hears of the accident from Hilltop (Taung Baw in Burmese), a monk who was one of the two original mahouts to come with Nick's great-grandfather, Sergeant-Major Jackson Theodore Freestone I, who founded Hawk's Nest. Hilltop is Mya & Indaw's great-grandfather, who some people rumor is over 100 years old. Hilltop is said to know the secret language of the elephants. Rumor says he lives in the forest and disappeared for sixty years before returning to the Freestone Plantation.

On Christmas, Nick, his father, Indaw, and Mya are traveling to the nearby Freestone Island when the Japanese invade. Japanese soldiers soon overrun and capture the Freestones' camp, taking into custody all its inhabitants while Nick and the elephants go into a safe hiding place. Not long after, though, Nick is captured by an amiable soldier, Sergeant Sonji, whom Nick initially takes to be crazy. Sonji takes an interest in Nick, teaching him to create haiku and treating him relatively well for a Japanese sergeant of the time. Nick is returned to the elephant village by the sergeant, at which point the brutal extent to which the Japanese are taking in their conquest becomes clear. Under the newly erected Japanese flag lie the corpses of Nang, who has been beaten to death, and Captain Josephs, a British officer who has been decapitated. His father and Indaw have been taken as POWs (prisoners of war), and Nick is taken a hostage at Hawk's Nest. He remains there for ten months as a servant of sorts to Colonel Nagayoshi, the Japanese commander of Hawk's Nest. While there, Nick is routinely beaten by a crippled elderly Japanese sympathizer named Bukong but is otherwise left unscathed by the Japanese.

Later, Nick gets a letter from his father saying he was transported from a camp for British and Australian prisoners in Singapore to one in Burma. One night Hilltop shows a secret passage that was in the house to Nick and Mya. Everyone later believes that they escaped when they were actually in the tunnel. From then on Hilltop shows the passages that link to Hawk's Nest. On their escape day, Nick and Mya disguise themselves as novice monks and escape Hawk's Nest with Hilltop and Hannibal. In a nearby village, they are trapped by Captain Moto who wants to find and catch the infamous thief Kya Lei (Tiger's Breath), a Burmese Robin Hood. The next day Hilltop writes a letter saying that he was at the prison camp and would be back. Kya Lei helps Nick and Mya to get to the first camp. Each day, they progress closer to Jackson and Indaw. When Hilltop returns he tells Nick and Mya that he talked to Indaw while he was at the prison camp and planned an escape. The day of his escape was on the festival day, a day where the Japanese soldiers buy goods for themselves. Because the guards were distracted by the festival, Indaw was able to escape. Later that day, Jackson faked his death and was able to escape, with the help of Sergeant Sonji.

The group trek into the jungle but are caught by Captain Moto, Bukong, and Japanese sympathizers. However, Hannibal attacks them, due to the presence of tiger skins on Moto's jeep, and the group is liberated by Bernard and Kachin scouts, who parachuted in to destroy the airfield at Hawk's Nest. Hilltop elects to stay behind, and not go with the group because he feels responsible for Hannibal and loves Burma.

The book fast forwards to 1945, where the Freestones have moved to the Australian Bush and opened a cattle ranch. Nick Freestone and Mya became a couple, his stepfather and mother are happy and, Jackson Freestone, Hilltop, and Hannibal are in good terms. And most especially, the Land of Burma belongs to the Burmese again.

The premise of the story revolves around the main character Hosuke Sharaku ("the Evil Prince" 悪魔のプリンス). Hosuke is the heir apparent to an ancient civilization of three-eyed superhumans who built an advanced civilization long ago. The story sees Hosuke go around solving problems (most often by his own causing) and investigating lost ruins to learn more about his origins. He is often accompanied on these deeds by his best friend Chiyoko Wato.

On a stormy night, Dr. Kenmochi was visited by a strange woman bearing a child. The woman, who had a third eye on her forehead, encourages him to take care of his child in exchange for her having a "long and prosperous life" she will want for nothing and ran off from the house. Before Kenmochi could stop her, she was hit head first by a lightning strike, and burned to a flaming cinder. Kenmochi went on to raise the child, named Sharaku, as his own. As the doctor was taking care of Sharaku, he noticed that a ''third eye'' was forming on his forehead; after the eye grew, Sharaku began to develop a high intelligence and an evil behavior beyond that of any mortal. To repel any further development from this weird desposition, Kenmochi stuck a cross-shaped bandage on his forehead shutting his third eye, and Sharaku went on to have a mostly normal childhood, bearing a dumb mind and being a strictly obedient person.

Sharaku is frequently bullied for his childishness, and as such the story is also about how he fights back when the cross-shaped bandage that covers his third eye is removed. Hidden behind the bandage is Sharaku's malicious third eye, and the boy's hidden evil genius emerges when it can see. Sharaku's rivalries with teachers or students are occasionally developed into major plot points.

To learn about his roots, Sharaku must investigate the mysterious ruins that a long lost civilization called the Three-Eyed Ones bequeathed to him. In his worldwide search, which takes both he and Wato-''san'' to locations like Arizona, Easter Island, and Mexico, Sharaku deciphers ancient scriptures and uses gadgets he invents to help solve (or start) problems and mysteries.

Some of the story's appeal is that Osamu Tezuka, the story's author, has Sharaku investigate actual historic ruins that are shrouded in mystery and offer his own unique ideas.

Main plot

In 2004, John Casey is in Chechnya undercover as an energy consultant, staying with his AP photographer girlfriend, Ilsa (Ivana Miličević). She goes out with her camera, leaving him to sleep in and enters a restaurant just as a bomb explodes. Casey is jarred from bed and runs out to find the plaza near the hotel in chaos. All that's left of Ilsa is the charred remains of her camera. Four years later, it is revealed a digital camera triggered Casey's memory. He is about to attack an angry customer who is berating him when Chuck intervenes. Chuck goes to the storage cage and kicks out Jeff, who is stealing celebrity hotel room phone numbers from the hotel's computer, which is in for repairs. Chuck flashes on one name in the register, and as more names trigger additional flashes he begins writing them down, except for one: Ilsa Trinchina, who has a connection with Casey. Chuck informs Casey of the flashes, and then teases him with the nickname "Sugar Bear," which he got from Ilsa's file. Casey nearly strangles him in a fit of rage.

Chuck advises Sarah of the flashes, and what he saw about Casey. Sarah's own interest is piqued and she agrees to check into it. The team is ordered by Beckman to head to the hotel to investigate. Chuck begins to tease Casey again about Ilsa, but he storms out angrily. Sarah tells Chuck that she discovered Ilsa was dead. They reach the hotel, where Chuck and Sarah use their cover as hotel staff to get close to a group of Russian mobsters gathered in town, on whom Chuck flashes. One of the mobsters mistakenly identifies Chuck as his cousin and pulls him into the celebration. While dancing with the Russians, Chuck sees Ilsa and tries to alert Sarah, but the mobster sees him and believes Chuck is trying to tell him he's interested in Sarah, so she is drawn into the dance as well. Chuck warns Sarah about Ilsa, and the two break away warning Casey they've been compromised. Before they can get out of sight, Casey runs right into Ilsa, and tells her in disbelief he thought she was dead. Ilsa tells him when she woke up after the blast she had no memory of who she was, and could only recall his face. Meanwhile, Chuck flashes on the head of the mobsters, Victor Federov (Pasha D. Lychnikoff). He is in town to marry his fiancé, Ilsa.

Sarah is ordered to monitor Federov, while Chuck and Casey return to the Buy More. Chuck tries to get Casey to open up, but he initially rebuffs him. After some more pestering, Casey finally tells Chuck about how he and Ilsa met, surprising Chuck that Casey is capable of real emotion. He asks why Chuck is so interested, and Chuck admits that if even Casey can find love, maybe there's hope for him as well. Casey is prepared to give up - if Ilsa was the good woman he thought, she wouldn't be with Federov. Chuck then reminds him that she didn't know what Casey did when they were together, so maybe she doesn't know about Federov. The two head back to the hotel, and tell a suspicious Sarah they've come to help. She goes to plant a bug in Federov's room and asks the two of them to monitor the surveillance. Ilsa is alone in the bar, and Chuck convinces Casey to go see her. Meanwhile, Sarah runs into trouble when the one of the mob enforcers recognizes her from the party, and she is forced to knock him out and hide him. Sarah calls Casey to plant the bug, but Chuck goes instead. He sneaks into Federov's room and, while planting the bug, sees Ilsa's briefcase. He opens a secret compartment and flashes, learning that Ilsa is not who she says she is, and is actually a French spy.

Ilsa returns to her room and Chuck is forced to hide under the bed. She brings Casey into the room and the two are about to have sex when Chuck's phone rings and alerts Casey to his presence. Chuck warns him about his flash, but Ilsa already has a gun on him. Before any explanations can be made, a very drunk Federov returns to have sex with Ilsa, but he passes out. Ilsa helps Chuck and Casey escape. She later approaches Casey at the Buy More and admits she was never caught in the bomb blast, and works for the French Secret Service assigned to bring down Federov. She apologizes to Casey for her dishonesty, and returns the necklace he gave her in Chechnya. Later, Chuck goes to Casey's apartment and finds him heavily drunk, listening to Neil Diamond, and enjoying a dinner of burnt Hot Pockets. Chuck tries to convince him to fight for Ilsa, but he's resigned to letting her go until they discover a bug in Ilsa's necklace planted by Federov, who knew from the start she was working for the French government. Casey immediately decides he has to save her, and drags Chuck with him.

They contact Sarah and arrive at the hotel but are ambushed in Federov's room and tied back-to-back. Federov intends to marry and murder Ilsa, then fake his death by putting Casey, Ilsa and Chuck on his private plane and letting it crash. After Federov leaves, Casey provokes the guards. Using Chuck to protect his back and also as a weapon, he takes on the henchmen but they are eventually forced out a window and fall several stories into a pool below. Casey emerges from the pool and has guns drawn on him by several of Federov's men as he announces his objection to the wedding. Sarah backs him up, but recognizing she is outnumbered, sets her gun down only to kick it to Ilsa, who ends the stalemate by drawing it on Federov.

Casey and Ilsa share one night together and say goodbye outside Chuck's apartment the next morning (while he incompetently tries to spy on them). After she leaves, Casey tells Chuck that they'll likely never see each other again. Chuck tries to offer Casey consolation saying that at least they have their friendship, but Casey angrily shoves him away into the bushes and walks alone back into his apartment.

Subplot

Ellie and Awesome come into the Buy More. They're greeted by Jeff and Lester, but Morgan takes control to help them decide on a joint anniversary gift. Ellie is interested in a big-screen TV, but Awesome is eyeing a washer and dryer. Both insist their choice will give them more time together - Ellie believes they can watch TV together, while Awesome argues they don't have to worry about laundromats and can stay in more. Ellie gets paged by the hospital and leaves the choice to Devon, who decides on the washer/dryer. When she finds out that he went with his own choice of the washer/dryer, the two get into a fight.

Awesome spends the evening at the Buy More with Morgan, Jeff, Lester, and other Nerd Herders and Green Shirts complaining about relationships over a game of poker, which Awesome wins. Unfortunately he didn't realize that the all-male group was playing strip poker, and hurriedly leaves when the others start undressing. Meanwhile, Sarah is looking for Chuck and arrives at his apartment, where she finds that Ellie is very drunk and upset about the fight. Sarah tries to get away at first but agrees to stay when Ellie begins to freak out about being left alone. Morgan shows up and Sarah uses him as an excuse to leave and find Chuck and Casey.

Morgan tries to help Ellie to bed, but she passes out drunk on the couch. Eventually he gets her to the bedroom where he stays at her insistence. When she wakes up the next morning she initially panics before realizing that nothing actually happened. She thanks Morgan for being there, and especially for not taking advantage of her. Awesome comes in and apologizes. Morgan flinches fearing he's about to be hit, but Awesome knows that it wasn't even possible Ellie would actually sleep with Morgan. Awesome shows Ellie that he got her the TV, and the two make up.

Severino Balestra, a peddler who goes around the various village festivals of the Po delta selling trinkets, returns to Migliarino, where three elderly people live who make ends meet with a few barber jobs, or poaching eels. Marina also lives there, the young woman who had an affair with him the previous year and who now works in the village inn.

Severino tells the three naive old unlikely stories about big cities and progress. In the evening, after unsuccessfully trying to spend the night with Marina in the inn, Severino stops by the three elderly people and here proposes them a deal: the sale of pieces of the sky, which will make them rich because they will be able to get the rent paid from the planes. that pass from there. Of course - he tells them - they will only be able to use the property when they are dead.

The three naive elders accept the deal and give him 3,000 lire, all their savings, as an advance. Then they decide to kill themselves in order to immediately take advantage of their investment and try to do it in the only way possible in that area: by drowning in the swamps. But they did not calculate that many areas have now been cleared and when one of the three jumps into the water, it is only a few centimeters deep.

Severino, who had not realized the consequences of his gesture, meanwhile remained in the village to make his scams. He meets Marina again and this time the girl, who is in any case attracted by Severino's cialtronesca sympathy, does not reject him and goes away with him among the reeds.

Here Severino understands the intentions of the three elderly and desperate, believing that they are really committing suicide, he starts looking for them in the swamp. The three meanwhile, after the failed dive into the water, get drunk, but they really run the risk of drowning because the old boat on which they live goes out to sea and sinks. They are rescued by the guards, with whom they have been in conflict for years over poaching.

In the end Severino, happy that nothing has happened, gives back to the elderly the money he had had as an advance of that hectare of sky they wanted to buy and leaves because the village festival is over. Marina leaves with him.

Naples, 1806. The king Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies is frowned upon by the people, especially the comic theatrical Pulcinella, which continually delivers hard sermons, earning a reputation among the Neapolitans. Ferdinand one day gets angry and does condemn to death Pulcinella, while every night the king masquerades himself as populate with a false name, having fun in the taverns. Pulcinella unmasks him and invokes the rebellion of the people of Naples, that never comes. However, the cruelty of Ferdinand stops when Napoleon Bonaparte arrives in Italy. While the Neapolitans celebrate (false) freedom, Ferdinand makes a noble disguise his coachman while he wears populate dresses, and runs away from the city.

The story takes place at a stadium in medieval Canterbury (which is later incorrectly indicated to be in the British Empire), and features a jousting competition between Sir Loinsteak and Sir Cumference, who is a black knight and the current champion, with a sportscaster-like announcer calling the action of the battle. The prize for the contest is the right to marry Princess Esmeralda.

Due to a pre-bout accident, Sir Loinsteak is knocked out, leaving his loyal and humble squire Cedric to take his place in the tournament. While Sir Cumference dominates the inexperienced simpleton early on, Cedric's unorthodox improvisations gradually begin to tip the scales in his favor. Finally, after launching assaults with his lance, sword, mace, and (surprisingly) a jackhammer, Sir Cumference collapses from exhaustion. Cedric wins by default and is crowned the new champion. Princess Esmeralda leaps down to her new fiancé with glee, while a serf nonchalantly pushes Sir Cumference from the field in a scoop shovel.

The intro of the game tells the player about the recent events in city of Daggerford. Pwyll Greatshout, the duke of Daggerford, died during strange circumstances. To maintain stability, a new leader was chosen: Baron Matagar Bugo, who promises the citizens to make Daggerford a new trading giant like Waterdeep. In the meantime, raider attacks on caravans become too often, and strange disappearings of cattle make people believe that hard times wait ahead.

The game begins with players working as freelance adventurers escorting a caravan from Waterdeep to Daggerford. Along the way, the caravan is attacked by a mysterious group and one of the player's party members, Talarenne, is kidnapped. The player soon discovers that Talarenne was mistaken for an agent of Waterdeep who came to the city in order to find out the truth about Pwyll Greatshout's death and the current political situation. The player decides to aid the agent.

The rest of the story follows the player character's efforts to rescue the missing party member and find the truth about what is going on around Daggerford. Gradually, an evil plot by Zhentarim is uncovered, and player has to do everything to stop it from fruition, or the city might be taken over... or even destroyed.

Maverick scout Ed Bannon (Charlton Heston) is working with cavalry stationed at Fort Clark, Texas. The US army is trying to talk peace with the Apaches and move them to reservations in Florida. Bannon's activities seem counter productive to this new policy. Toriano (Jack Palance), the son of the Apache chief, returns from an Eastern education. Bannon is suspicious of his motives and their distrust of each other is eventually resolved by single combat.

Count di Roviano refuses to sell his palace to a developer, despite having no money. He lives with ghosts: Ronaldo, a lady's man, Bartholomew, a friar, Flora, who died with love, and a five year old boy.

The Count is blown up by his water heater and joins the ghosts. His nephew Federico inherits the castle and moves in with his girlfriend Eileen, intending to sell it. The ghosts call in an artist friend, Caparra, and try to get him to finish a painting so the castle is declared a national monument.

Early one morning at an expensive apartment in Rome, the police arrest Alfredo, a good-looking bachelor who runs an upmarket antique business selling fakes. The charge is murder: Adalgisa, his wealthy former mistress, has been found dead in a seaside hotel. Alfredo is dumbfounded, since he had visited her that night to ask for more time to repay a loan and they had made love, but he would never have dreamed of killing her.

His life becomes a nightmare as the police stick regardless to their theory, interrogating him endlessly and probing into his past life. He comes to see that the existence he had never examined before was founded on egoism and lies. His relationships with his widowed mother, with his innocent fiancée, with the customers he cheated, and with the dead Adalgisa were all hollowed out by his superficiality and selfishness.

Next morning the police release him into the street, realising at last that he is innocent of the murder. But all his other problems remain.

The marshal of Medicine Bend, Calem Ware (Randolph Scott), tries to keep peace in a lawless town whilst trying to prevent himself from being killed. The arrival of a show troupe re-unites the marshal with someone from his past, leading to a showdown with his would-be killers and his old flame, Tally Dickinson (Angela Lansbury).

A secret conspiracy to oust the Marshall exists between saloon owner Cody Clark(Emery) and Hamer Thorne(Anderson), owner of the Music Hall where Lansbury is appearing. Thorne fancies himself a ladies man and is playing several women at once—Lansbury and Parker;the lonely,middle aged wife of a wealthy rancher(Bell) and a Scott ally.

Marshall Scott gets into a brutal fistfight with Dooley(Megowan),the brother of a man the Marshall killed in self-defense, Dooley is impressed enough by the beating he took that he also becomes the Marshall's ally.

Emery and Anderson finally resort to bringing in a hired gun (Pate'---"don't call me that!") to kill Scott. Scott loses a gunfight to Pate';but he is only unconscious from a bullet that creased his head. Scott's friends keep him concealed in the town jail until he is recovered enough to fight back.

The town goes through a brief period of lawlessness---but Parker discovers Anderson's true nature and offers to turn State's Evidence. When Scott is recovered, he makes quick work of Pate in a second showdown.

Anderson accidentally kills Emery when he hears a doorknob rattle and assumes Scott is on the other side of the door. A posse catches up with Anderson.

With the town apparently cleaned up for good, Scott resigns as Sheriff and leaves town to renew his relationship with Lansbury. who now understands better about Scott's devotion to duty.

Beneath the ocean, a fish named Inspector Gil works for his police department under Chief Abalone. He solves the various crimes in his city while tangling with Biscotti Calamari.

On her wedding day, New York heiress Diana "Dee Dee" Dillwood (Joan Fontaine) complains to her uncle and guardian, Ralph Tutwiler (Roland Young), that she is having second thoughts about her marriage to Henry Benson (Willard Parker). Having gone through six previous broken engagements with Dee Dee, Ralph and psychologist Dr. Blucher advise her to stop doubting herself and "plunge into it" with Henry. She agrees, but as soon as she and Henry arrive at the Hampshire Hotel to start their honeymoon, she panics. Dee Dee tells Henry that their marriage is a mistake, but he declares that he will not be humiliated and lunges for her. Wearing a dressing gown, Dee Dee runs from their room and hides in the neighboring wedding suite, which is being occupied by Marvin Payne (James Stewart), a World War II army air force veteran trying to make it on a shoe-string with a startup air-freight business. Staying at the hotel courtesy of night manager Dick Hebert, Marvin has the misfortune of being roomed next to Dee Dee and Henry Benson.

When she enters Marvin's room, Dee Dee introduces herself as "Dottie Blucher," and Marvin assumes that she is a penniless country girl come to the city, who has descended to sleeping with married men to get by. All the while Payne does not realize that Miss Dillwood is independently wealthy and the married man she was to sleep with was the man she had just exchanged vows with that afternoon. Nonetheless, he agrees to allow Dee Dee to spend the night, and the over-excited Dee Dee asks the exhausted Marvin for a sleeping pill. Marvin phones Dick to have one delivered, and Dick's suspicions are aroused when he sees that Marvin is sleeping on the couch. As he searches the suite, Dee Dee hides and Dick leaves, satisfied that no "hanky-panky" is going on. Early the next morning, Marvin's business partner, fellow veteran, and co-pilot, Bullets Baker (Eddie Albert), shows up and finds Dee Dee knocked out by the pill. Marvin explains the situation, and as they have a scheduled flight to fly, he and Bullets try frantically to wake Dee Dee, but finally are caught by Dick. Marvin grudgingly agrees to give Dee Dee a lift out of town and encourages her to go back to home.

While Marvin and Dick rouse and dress Dee Dee in some of Marvin's pilot clothes, Bullets stalls a young couple who are due to be married in the suite. Then, Marvin and Bullets sneak the half-conscious Dee Dee out of the hotel and take her to the Newark, New Jersey airport, from which their twin-engine cargo plane is to fly. There, Dee Dee begs Marvin to fly her out of town, insinuating that she is in a serious predicament. Marvin agrees to take Dee Dee as far as Chicago, then learns that the free-wheeling Bullets sold the newlyweds from the hotel, Georgia and Milton Goodrich, two "tickets" to California for $100. Just before take-off, Dee Dee confesses to Marvin that she sold a man named Mr. Caslon a ticket to California for $300. During the flight, which they share with a cigar-smoking chimpanzee named Joe, Marvin reveals to Dee Dee that he is not going to marry until he has enough money to comfortably support a family, an eventuality he calculates will not occur until 1954.

When they land in Chicago, Dee Dee, who is falling for Marvin, reluctantly says goodbye to him, but he gives in and invites her to California. Soon after, a detective asks Marvin and Bullets if they are carrying a blonde who, along with her middle-aged partner, is wanted for embezzlement. The pilots answer no but come to the conclusion that the blonde is Dee Dee, especially after she returns from a shopping trip nicely dressed and bearing gifts (including a diamond ring for Georgia). Once back in the air, Marvin questions Dee Dee about her situation, but she is evasive. To Bullets' annoyance, Marvin decides not to land in Kansas City as planned but to go on to Tulsa to avoid authorities looking for Dee Dee. Near Tulsa, however, a storm hits and Marvin makes an emergency landing in a farm field.

After farmer Matt Racknell (Percy Kilbride) and his family invite the crew and passengers to spend the night in their home, Dee Dee and Marvin finally admit their mutual attraction and kiss. A guilt-ridden Caslon then confesses to Marvin that he is really Chalmers, the embezzler the policeman in Chicago was looking for and that his blonde secretary cajoled him into committing the crime. Now completely confused about Dee Dee, Marvin calls Dick in New York to inquire about her. The next morning, while trying to move the plane out of the muddy field, Marvin snubs Dee Dee without explanation. When Dee Dee finally realizes that he knows about her engagements and marriage, she tries to convince him that she truly loves him; however, he rejects her. With the help of some Cherokee Indians, the plane is pulled to dry land and takes off for California, without Dee Dee.

As soon as he lands in Burbank, Marvin learns that, because of the unexpected delays and other problems, his airline faces bankruptcy. However, during an impromptu stockholders meeting, Marvin discovers that Dee Dee has bought the company. Furious, Marvin finds Dee Dee at her aunt Martha's Bel Air home and informs her that he is not working for a woman. Dee Dee, who has just arranged for an annulment from Henry and has taken another sleeping pill, tries to argue with Marvin but falls asleep. The next day at the airport, she tells Marvin that he is going to run the company while she stays at and tends to the home. Dee Dee then presents Marvin with his own four-engine plane.

Sara Morgan, a graduate student who has left an abusive relationship with Clip, starts a new relationship with a handsome professor named Liam O'Connor. Liam is extremely superstitious and lives with his sister Margaret, to whom he is very close. Sara does not mind these quirks and marries Liam. Shortly, people start dying in grisly ways, and it turns out the professor knew all of them. Sara begins to wonder if her husband might be the killer, while Liam's superstitious behavior increases.

One day, after Sara discovers Margaret and Liam in bed together naked, she smashes the mirror out of protest and runs out of the house. She returns later to retrieve her keys only to find Margaret dead; she leaves afterwards in search of her boss' house. There, she spots her boss dead and Liam glaring at her. He explains to her that Margaret was his wife and that the demons of superstition living inside of him can pass through Sara to the child she bears. He went on to explain that when the demons slip away, they kill someone he knows; when Sara broke the mirror, the demons slipped out, murdering Margaret.

Sara, who wants to show Liam that there are no demons, shatters a mirror in the house; the demons slip outside of him, he says it's okay because with his death Sara will be safe, and they murder Liam. Sara is knocked out afterwards by the demons, and later awakens in the hospital. Sara then finds out she is pregnant, causing her to scream in horror.

The episode begins with Jeff and Lester reviewing footage they shot of women's cleavage with one of the store's demo cameras when Chuck arrives to remind them of Big Mike's warning about "Mammary Cam." The two Nerd Herders protest the accusation, but while chewing them out, Chuck is confronted by Devon who wants to ask him a question. Chuck discovers a bug hidden on one of the Nerd Herd's displays and flashes. He has to dodge Devon for a moment to confront Casey, who he believes had placed the bug. Casey denies it and leaves. Chuck then returns to where Awesome is waiting at the Video Wall. Devon has come to ask Chuck for permission to marry Ellie, as he considers him the man of the family. Chuck gives his blessing and Devon asks Chuck to hide his great-grandmother's ring so Ellie can't find it. Meanwhile, Casey alerts Sarah about the bug, and she acknowledges that they have a problem. General Beckman identifies the device as a Fulcrum bug, and tells them Chuck's time as a civilian may be over.

The next morning, Big Mike arrives at the store and is oblivious to the place having been completely cleaned out until he reaches his office and discovers his prized Marlin is missing. The rest of the employees soon arrive with Lester acting particularly panicked, but Jeff tells him to keep his mouth shut. When Chuck arrives, he rushes to his locker, where he hid Awesome's ring and discovers it missing. While Big Mike grills the rest of the employees with Detective Conway (Mark Derwin), he demands to know where Casey is and sends Chuck to find him. Casey demands Chuck join him at a warehouse, where Chuck discovers the CIA and NSA have completely cleaned out the Buy More to check for more bugs. They find a total of 29 short-range GLG-20 listening devices including the one Chuck discovered, but there's no sign of a receiver for the bugs. Chuck praises their thoroughness and asks for Awesome's ring back, but Sarah tells him there was no ring in the inventory. She and Casey then tell him that if the receiver isn't recovered he will be taken into protective custody.

The government team discovers that the store's security system was mistakenly turned back ON by Jeff and Lester the night before, and caught the Fulcrum agent who planted the bugs on tape. They cannot identify the agent, but the security tapes shows the receiver being placed inside Big Mike's Marlin. Jeff and Lester then make off with the fish after the Fulcrum agent leaves.

Jeff and Lester

Throughout the first half of the episode, Lester is on the verge of panic and acts suspiciously, while Jeff continuously threatens him if he "talks." After seeing them on the Buy More security tape, Chuck and Casey drag Jeff and Lester into the Home Theater Room, where Casey intimidates them into confessing. After Jeff was cut off (again) at the local Bennigan's bar, he and Lester came back to the store to access Big Mike's stash of liquor in his desk. Intending to turn the security cameras off so as to leave no trace of their intrusion, they instead mistakenly turned the security cameras back on, unaware there was a real intruder in the store. They arrive in Big Mike's office to discover his stash is already empty, and decide they have to do something else. Jeff suggests they burn it down, while Lester instead decides on stealing something and makes off with Big Mike's Marlin, which they stash back at Chuck's apartment.

Morgan

Chuck and Casey rush back to his house and begin searching for the missing Marlin. During their search they are interrupted by Ellie. Anticipating he may not be able to see her again, Chuck tells her goodbye "just in case." She then tells him she saw Morgan leaving with the fish.

The duo returns to the store. While Chuck is called in to Big Mike's office to be questioned by Conway, Casey takes Morgan to the Home Theater Room and interrogates him on the location of the Marlin, turning to grape soda "on the rocks" (which Casey tries but is disgusted by) when threats fail. Morgan reveals that the night before the store was cleaned out, he grabbed Chuck's bag from his locker and went back to Chuck's apartment to play an advanced copy of the next Call of Duty game that Chuck had refused to let him play unless Morgan was under "adult supervision." While he was digging through the bag, he discovered the ring Chuck was holding for Awesome. He freaked out and Ellie, who was in the living room, rushed in. Morgan mistakenly believed the ring was for Sarah. Casey presses him on the Marlin, but Morgan is too wrapped up with the thought that Chuck was going to propose to Sarah. Before he can extract any more information from him, the Schwarma Girl arrives with a lunch delivery from Pita Palace and Morgan slips out. While eating, Jeff and Lester ask him what he told Casey, and where he hid the Marlin. Morgan tells them he hid it in the freezer at the Wienerlicious. The delivery girl overhears them and leaves.

Lizzie

Lizzie (Noureen DeWulf) is the delivery girl for Pita Palace. She makes a delivery for Jeff and Lester at the beginning of the episode and hangs out for a bit, where they film her on "Mammary Cam" before she leaves. While Chuck is being interrogated by Big Mike and Conway, she arrives again. After being left alone, Chuck overhears Lizzie mention to the Buy More crew that this is Jeff and Lester's 30th delivery. Chuck makes the connection that Lizzie had previously made 29 deliveries, and 29 bugs had been found in the store. He sneaks out of Big Mike's office through the ceiling and finds the "Mammary Cam" recording in Jeff and Lester's secret hiding spot. He returns to the office and uses Big Mike's computer to view the video, and confirms his suspicions and sees Jeff and Lester had caught Lizzie planting a bug without realizing it. Lizzie is the Fulcrum agent and Chuck hurriedly sends Sarah an e-mail before Big Mike and Conway return, after which they let him leave and call in Casey before he can further interrogate Morgan. Chuck grabs Morgan, who confesses that he saw the ring. Chuck demands to know what he did with it and lightly slaps him when Morgan initially refuses to answer. Morgan tells him he hid it in the Marlin, which is at the Wienerlicious.

Meanwhile, Lizzie, who had overheard Morgan telling Jeff and Lester where he hid the Marlin, heads to the Wienerlicious and arrives just as Sarah receives Chuck's warning. She tries to gain access to the freezer but Sarah refuses and the two engage in a fight. The two women are evenly matched, but Lizzie manages to get to a gun and imprisons Sarah in the freezer. Chuck arrives to find the Marlin broken on the restaurant floor and Lizzie, the receiver, and the ring gone. He hears Sarah call for help and finds her locked in the freezer. At her instructions, he finds a gun hidden in a tub of horseradish sauce and bumbles his way through trying to shoot the lock. However, Detective Conway arrives at the behest of Big Mike and sees the gun in Chuck's hand, taking Chuck into custody despite his protests that he was trying to help Sarah out of the freezer.

After Casey is finally released from his interrogation, he tracks down Morgan, forcing the location of the Marlin from him, and hurries to the Wienerlicious. He rescues Sarah from the freezer, who tells him Lizzie planted the bugs and that Conway arrested Chuck. They report in to Beckman with the information, who has decided to extract Chuck anyway. Sarah and Casey are ordered to track down Lizzie. Sarah objects but Casey accepts the General's instructions. After they break contact with Beckman, he tells Sarah he'll take care of Lizzie while she tracks down Chuck.

Conway

While in his car, Chuck tries to reason with Conway, but the detective doesn't listen. Conway makes a phone call and reports in to his superiors as "Longshore." Chuck flashes and realizes that Conway is actually CIA. Longshore tries to encourage Chuck that things aren't going to be so bad in government custody - he'll have every amenity he needs, and will be allowed outside in controlled locations. He admits though that it's safer for Chuck's family and friends that he just disappear and for them not to know what's happened.

He takes Chuck to a rooftop helipad for extraction, where the two are confronted by Sarah. Sarah tells Longshore they've identified Lizzie as the Fulcrum agent and will soon have the receiver so there's no longer a need to extract the Intersect, but he tells her he has received no instructions to that effect. She asks Longshore for just a few minutes to talk to Chuck, and is ready to draw her gun (hidden behind her back) until Longshore agrees. Chuck asks her to tell his family and friends something to make his disappearance easier to bear, and that since they no longer work together, he and Sarah can be honest with each other about how they really feel.

The three are then ambushed by Lizzie, who kills Longshore and shoots Sarah's gun from her hand. Sarah and Chuck take cover while Lizzie gloats about knowing that ''Chuck'' is the Intersect. She also has Awesome's ring for Ellie. While Chuck creates a distraction, Sarah sneaks up on Lizzie and the two engage in another fight. The two are again evenly matched and the fight takes them dangerously close to the edge of the building. Casey finally arrives to back Sarah up only to watch the two women plummet over the side. They land safely in a garbage bin, where Lizzie is knocked unconscious. The receiver is recovered, and Big Mike arrives at the store the next morning to find that everything is back, including his Marlin (which is now held together by duct tape).

Captain Awesome

Throughout the episode Devon prepares to ask Ellie to marry him. Chuck tries to buy more time by convincing him to carefully consider how he intends to ask, finally settling on a romantic dinner with the ring hidden inside dessert. However he grows frustrated when Chuck doesn't arrive in time ("this is NOT awesome!"). The ring isn't on Lizzie's finger when they take her into custody, so Chuck asks Sarah to help him search the dumpster where he finally finds it. The two rush back to Chuck's apartment, where he sneaks in through his window to give Devon the ring. Chuck then leaves to watch from outside while Awesome proposes. Sarah tells Chuck he's safe for now and that the extraction order has been canceled. Chuck asks her to come inside to congratulate Ellie, but Sarah tells him that it's a family moment. He looks back at her and tells her "I know," before finally going in alone. Casey arrives, and while Sarah watches Chuck, tells her they won't be able to keep him there forever.

A Milanese entrepreneur becomes obsessed with how much air a balloon can take before it breaks. His inability to control this detail destroys his perfect life, leading to madness.

A group of terrorists led by Commander Topov (Zahari Baharov) kidnap the Ukrainian Prime Minister's son and daughter and hold them hostage, demanding the release of their imprisoned comrades within 72 hours. In addition, they have taken over the crippled Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and threaten to detonate it if their demands are not met. It is revealed that among the ranks of the terrorists is an experimental Next-Generation UniSol (NGU) (Andrei Arlovski), who was smuggled in by rogue scientist Dr. Robert Colin (Kerry Shale). U.S. forces join up with the Ukrainian Army at the plant, but quickly retreat when the NGU slaughters most of them effortlessly. Dr. Richard Porter (Garry Cooper), Dr. Colin's former colleague on the Universal Soldier program, revives four UniSols to take down the NGU, but they are systematically eliminated.

Former UniSol Luc Deveraux (Jean-Claude Van Damme), who is undergoing rehabilitation therapy in Switzerland with Dr. Sandra Fleming (Emily Joyce) with the goal of rejoining society, is taken back by the military to participate in the mission. As the deadline nears its expiration, the prime minister announces the release of the prisoners. The terrorists, having gotten what they wanted, rejoice and shut off the bomb. Dr. Colin, however, is not pleased with the outcome, as he feels his side of the business is not done. As the NGU is programmed not to harm the terrorists, Dr. Colin unleashes his second UniSol: a cloned and upgraded version of Andrew Scott (Dolph Lundgren) – Deveraux's nemesis – who quickly kills Commander Topov. However, Dr. Colin never considered Scott's mental instability, and he is killed by his own creation. Scott then reactivates the bomb before heading out to hunt the children.

In the midst of the chaos, Capt. Kevin Burke (Mike Pyle) is sent in to infiltrate the plant and rescue the prime minister's children. He is successful in locating them and leads them toward safety. On their way out, they encounter the NGU. The children flee as Kevin tries in vain to hold off the NGU, who stabs him to death after a brutal fight.

With 30 minutes remaining on the bomb's timer, a re-conditioned Luc is geared up and sent to the plant, where he kills every terrorist he encounters. He searches the buildings and finds the children cornered by Scott. Scott, who has distorted memories of Luc, is about to kill the children when Luc attacks and a grueling fight ensues. In the end, Luc impales Scott on the forehead with a lead pipe and fires a shotgun through it, blowing his brains out.

As Luc escorts the children to safety, they are attacked by the NGU. Luc and the NGU take the fight to the site of the bomb, with less than two minutes remaining. During the melee, Luc removes the detonator and jams it in the back of the NGU's uniform as they both jump out of the reactor chamber. NGU pulls the detonator off his back as it explodes, taking him with it. U.S. soldiers quickly arrive on the scene and tend to the children as Luc leaves. Kevin's body is placed in a black bag and taken away, as well as recovered pieces of the NGU.

In Langley, Virginia, Kevin's body is shown stored in a cryogenic chamber as a new UniSol, along with multiple clones made of him.

Traveling in the spaceship "Space Colony", Nick, with the help of his ball-shaped robot "Ball Boy", arrive on Earth to study the behavior and manners of human beings for his doctoral degree thesis. Under the human identity of a young man named Ken Takase, he meets Maki Hayama, a photographer at Shukan Hit newspaper, and later saves her from a building fall. Maki was taking pictures for a scoop about a building which had been mysteriously demolished. Later, she and Ken find that the evil organization "Tentacle" is behind the demolitions and other evil deeds around the world. Nick then decides to extend his stay on Earth and uses his advanced technology and superior powers to protect Maki and the children of Earth under the alter-ego of Machineman, a red- and yellow-suited superhero. Armed with an advanced technology weapons, he begins fighting Tentacle's cyborgs and protect humankind.

A few episodes later, Machineman succeeds in dismantling Tentacle; however, Professor K flees to Spain and his niece, Lady M, appears. With her aide Tonchinkan, they establish a new organization called "Octopus". Like her uncle, she is allergic to children (whenever she is near one, her nose turns red). In the beginning, she calls up various thieves and legendary criminals from around the world, but later robotic drones are assembled to combat Machineman. By the end of the series, the missing Professor K returns, bringing with him the biggest threat the hero had ever faced: Golden Monsu, a fortified version of Tetsujin Monsu.

Alberto is a sculptor who sometimes has trouble separating his fantasies from reality. He shares a home in Naples with his Uncle Nicola. One night after meeting the beautiful Tania, he dreams that his neighbour, Amitrano, has been murdered by his family. He reports it to the police. Later he tells the police that he may have just imagined it but the police refuse to believe him, knowing that Amitrano was a gangster, and arrest him. Then Amitrano appears and demands Alberto's passport so he can escape to South America. Eventually Alberto and Tania flee from Naples.

The storyline of consists of the player taking the role of a captain aboard a cargo ship. The name of the cargo ship is "Chromium B.S.U." The player is given the task of delivering cargo to troops on the front line. The cargo ship has a series of robotic fighter spaceships aboard. Your job is to make use of these ships to ensure that the cargo ship makes it to the front line.

While Anton Zilwicki and Victor Cachat were working undercover on Mesa, Mesa launches an attack at Torch. Anton Zilwicki and Victor Cachat escape Mesa amidst general mayhem together with a defecting leading scientist. The attack against Torch is thwarted by Rear Admiral Luiz Rozsak of the Solarian League Navy, who had amassed a fleet in the interest of the Maya Sector.

Queen Berry becomes romantically involved with Hugh Arai, who, after being freed from slavery by Jeremy X from the Audubon Ballroom, worked as a commando for the Beowulf Biological Survey Corps (BSC), and was assigned by Jeremy X as Berry's bodyguard.

The book begins in January 1922 P.D. The Star Empire of Manticore remains at war with the Republic of Haven, despite their mutual losses during the Battle of Manticore. Now, the Star Empire is in danger of entering an entirely new conflict with the Solarian League, a galactic superstate with a population numbering several trillion. Though Manticore possesses a decisive tactical and technological edge over the Solarians with their anti-ship missiles and missile defense systems, the Solarians boast a fleet of over ten thousand capital ships. The planet Mesa and its shadow government continue to foment an increasingly hostile Manticoran-Solarian relationship for its own nefarious ends. At the same time, Mesa has launched a potentially devastating strike against the Manticore Home System itself, which has gone completely undetected by Manticore.

Meanwhile, Admiral Duchess Honor Alexander-Harrington of Manticore is dispatched on a diplomatic mission to the Republic of Haven, having convinced Queen Elizabeth III of Manticore that the Haven issue cannot be left unresolved in the wake of an increasingly likely confrontation with the Solarian League. Traveling to the Haven System itself in her civilian yacht, but escorted by her own 8th Fleet, she offers the Republic a chance to conclude their war diplomatically rather than face sure annihilation due to Manticore's unmatchable tactical advantage. Despite getting off to a good start, the negotiations become stalled when Havenite politicians obstruct the talks for personal political gain. Alexander-Harrington initially tolerates this effort in the interest of good diplomacy, but eventually publicly calls out the leader of the opposition politicians, forcing him to back down. However, the talks are suspended when word reaches Haven that a sneak attack, by seemingly unknown forces, has wrought havoc on the Manticore Home System's infrastructure.

While Alexander-Harrington is trying for a negotiated peace settlement with Haven, the Royal Manticoran Navy's 10th fleet led by Vice Admiral Michelle Henke is attacked by a Solarian task force at the Spindle System in the newly incorporated Talbott Quadrant. Admiral Sandra Crandall, commander of the Solarian Force, acting on her own desire for vengeance and Mesan manipulations and bribes demands the surrender of 10th Fleet and arrest of Henke. Baroness Medusa, Governor-General of the Talbott Quadrant, refuses to honor Crandall's demands. The Solarian forces begin their attack run but are ambushed by 10th Fleet in a lopsided victory, despite the fact that Henke has only a few dozen cruiser-sized ships to defend against 73 ships of the wall and their screening elements. After the destruction of the Solarian flagship and a third of the task force, Crandall's third in command assumes control and surrenders the survivors.

Shortly afterward, Mesa's secret Operation Oyster Bay is launched. Covert operations ships using a radically new drive technology have been operating in the Manticore System undetected and placed several stealth missile pods aimed at the three inhabited planets in the Manticore System. In a coordinated attack, the pods fire several volleys of new missile systems which proceed to destroy all of the important orbital infrastructures around Manticore, Sphinx, and Gryphon. Several million Manticoran civilians and naval personnel are killed. The Star Empire completely loses the space stations Hephaestus, Vulcan, and Weyland, and with their loss, the ability to construct new shipping and missiles. Grayson, Manticore's loyal ally, is similarly attacked. This is all happening at the same time that Manticore is facing a full-scale conflict with the Solarian League. Alexander-Harrington is recalled from the peace negotiations with Haven in the wake of the assault. She returns to discover that after station debris reentered the atmosphere of and impacted her homeworld of Sphinx, many of her closest relatives have died.

The Solarian League's leadership learns of both events in quick succession. The incompetent League military leadership, finally realizing the true scale of disparity between their ships and weapon systems and Manticore's, decides to go forward with a plan to invade the Manticore System itself with a force of 400 super-dreadnoughts, believing that the aftermath of the (Mesan) strike will leave Manticore possibly unprotected and unwilling to fight a protracted war, even if they successfully defend against this initial invasion. This idea that Manticore's system defenses have also been wrecked has been secretly purported by Mesa, which desires a situation in which the League is severely bloodied by just such a hapless invasion attempt. Meanwhile, Manticore is informed of the impending Solarian offensive through a covert channel on Beowulf. Manticoran leadership is confident of their ability to repel any Solarian attempts to invade the Home System but at the cost of expending great amounts of ammunition, which is now a precious commodity.

The situation appears in crisis until Captain Anton Zilwicki of Manticore, who had been thought dead, and Special Officer Victor Cachat of Haven finally arrive in the Haven System with a Mesan defector. They inform President Eloise Pritchart of the truth behind the nuclear attacks on Mesa, and also of Mesa's long-term goals as an organization called the Mesan Alignment. The defector also gives background information on the new technology which was used to attack Manticore. Pritchart decides that the information is too important to ignore and personally embarks with several important members of her administration for Trevor's Star, along with Zilwicki's party. She eventually meets with Queen Elizabeth and Admiral Alexander-Harrington, and the true threat posed by Mesa becomes clear to all.

Both sides realize that they have been manipulated over the past several decades by Mesa to fight each other so that they should not pose a threat to Mesa's masterplan for galactic domination. Despite ongoing diplomatic problems between them, and the certainty that many political factions in both Haven and Manticore will strongly disapprove of cooperation in the wake of such a long and bloody conflict, Elizabeth and Pritchart agree to both end the war for good and tentatively form a military alliance against Mesa and their Solarian pawns as the Star Empire and its armed forces await the arrival of the Solarian attack.

Elderly Barbara LeMay gets great joy out of attending funerals for people she does not know. Her son Jason is upset at this hobby of hers and, to a greater extent, her refusal to agree to have Thanksgiving with Jason, his wife, and their children because she "can't make any long-range plans." He tells her she has an unhealthy obsession with death.

That night, a man named Trent breaks into Barbara's home and keeps Barbara at gunpoint. Injured and bleeding, he passes out. Barbara turns on the radio and hears that a local liquor store was robbed; she deduces Trent is the robber. She nurses him as best as she can but is quick to conclude that he is dying. He begs her not to take him to the hospital but requests that he not die alone. Another man enters the house, who Barbara recognizes as Death. Barbara is excited and talks to him in the manner of a fan to a celebrity. She asks Death to take her instead of Trent, saying Trent does not appreciate him the way she does. Death denies her and says he cannot take a life where there is none, because she embraces him while others resist him. Death takes Trent and leaves. Barbara begins sobbing, thinking Death would not take her because she is not good enough for him.

After Trent's body is taken away, Death visits Barbara to comfort her. She explains that because he took everyone she loved, she became jealous and her love transferred to him. Her husband was in great pain before he died; she found that she could not take away his pain, but Death could. She considered suicide, but felt it to be "too forward"; she wants Death to take her willingly. Death offers his hand and brings her where she is "most needed." They appear in a hospital, where Barbara, now dressed in black, goes to a man who is dying and offers him comfort, taking him just as Death took Trent. Death commends her on a job well done.

When land surveyor K. (Ulrich Mühe) arrives at a small village that houses a castle, local authorities refuse to allow him to enter. As he tries to convince the officials that they sent for him, they clamp down with increasingly complicated bureaucratic obstacles.

The title character, a cynical atheist science professor, is participating in a psychology experiment in Canada in which the scientists claim to have developed a helmet that can invoke religious experiences. Grace, although skeptical (when asked what the helmet is called, she mockingly answers, "The God Helmet"), is mesmerized by the feelings she experiences while using the device. Throughout the play, she is "pulled out of the scene" and asked questions about her experiences.

Grace's son, Tom, is considering becoming a priest, and when Grace learns this, she is mortified and demonizes him in front of Tom's girlfriend, Ruth. Grace believes that anyone who tries to preach religion is being an active part of the world problems stemming from religious fanaticism, especially violence. Tom tries to assure Grace that he's trying to form a "better religion," one that does not promote violence, but personal improvement and love. Grace stubbornly refuses to listen to Tom and after a bitter argument, the two become estranged. Meanwhile, Grace's husband, Tony, is a practicing Jew, and although he disagrees with Tom's Christian views, is far more tolerant and understanding.

Ruth tells Tom she is pregnant with his baby, and Tom considers this news the time to talk about marriage. Ruth is very reluctant to move forward, saying she is unsure of Tom's religious beliefs herself.

Off scene, Tom is killed in an Islamic terrorist attack. A heartbroken Grace uses this as an example of her reasons behind her anti-religious views during her lectures that she teaches. Ruth tells Grace Tom had requested to have his funeral at a church, but Grace refuses in a fit of rage. Ruth tries to convince Grace to fulfill Tom's wishes, but Grace makes the decision to have a small, informal, non-religious funeral ceremony. In retaliation, Ruth tells Grace she cannot see her future grandchild.

After the funeral, Grace begins to have visions of Tom through her helmet. She begins to question her own atheist views, although only mentions this to Tony. Tony recommends to Grace that she visit Ruth and tell her that she had been wrong about her views on religion. Grace sees Ruth at the cemetery paying her respects to Tom. Ruth mentions to Grace that the only reason she did not like Tom's religious views was because of her jealousy that Tom would prioritize God above her. After a heated discussion about how Grace and Tom had a toxic relationship because of her intolerance, and even after his death, Grace tells Ruth about her visions. Grace says that, although it's probably manufactured from her "God Helmet," she finds comfort in her visions of Tom after his death. In the end of the conversation, Grace and Ruth each come to the conclusion that it is not even love, but kindness, that is most important to the well-being of the world and society. Ruth and Grace reconcile their differences and in the end scene they reminisce about Tom and Grace volunteers to tend to Ruth's crying baby.

The story is narrated by a Roman historian, during the time of the Emperor Nero. He tells the story as a secret history of humanity's beginnings, as pieced together from scraps of documents and oral histories, passed down through the ages.

In the beginning, humanity was composed solely of females who reproduced asexually. They were at peace and had few problems. They lived by the sea and were partially aquatic. They called themselves "Clefts," after The Cleft: a fissure in a rock which the females deemed sacred, and which resembled a vagina.

One day, a Cleft gave birth to a male child, which they called a "monster." They were so frightened that they killed the boy. But more "monsters" were born, and the Clefts left them on a rock to die. Eagles, which lived nearby, saw the dying babies and swooped down and carried them off, to deposit them in a nearby valley where they were then suckled by benevolent deer. The children gradually grew older and able to fend for themselves. Soon, as more boys were brought by the eagles, a tribe emerged.

One day, a female wandered over to the valley and was raped by the now-adult men. She fled and gave birth to a new, mixed child nine months later. When she told her story to the rest of the Clefts, the two tribes soon came into contact with each other. The matriarchs of the Clefts, however, feared the "monsters" and decided to try to kill them off.

The film follows a man going through an acute existential crisis. He leaves Mexico City to go out to the country and prepare for his death, staying with an old indigenous widow in her ramshackle home overlooking a desolate canyon. In the vastness of a wild and impressive nature, he confronts the infinite humanity of the widow and oscillates between cruelty and lyricism. His senses become dull, arousing his desires and instincts for sexuality and life.

Kylar Stern has rejected the assassin's life. In the wake of the Godking's violent coup, both his master and his closest friend are dead. His friend was Logan Gyre, heir to Cenaria's throne, but few of the ruling class survive to mourn his loss. So Kylar is starting over: new city, new companions, and new profession. But when he learns that Logan might be alive, trapped and in hiding, Kylar faces an impossible choice: he could give up the way of shadows forever, and find peace with his young family. Or he could succumb to his flair for destruction, the years of training, to save his friend and his country - and lose all he holds precious.

Godking Garoth Ursuul has assumed power in Cenaria and is manipulating the futures and destinies of all who live there. Many nobles, led by self-proclaimed Queen Terah Graesin, have left the city in ruins to the Khalidorans. Attempting to leave behind the life of shadows that ruined his master, Kylar flees to Caernarvon and an idyllic life with Elene. But darkness finds Kylar along the road to the light as friends return for one last job and Kylar learns more about who Durzo and ultimately Kylar are. Kylar has become a titanic force with a foot in the light and in the dark, but must choose which path to follow.

As punishment for plagiarizing the classical Syrian satirist Lucian, Father Reynardine Bombo is commanded by an apparition of the "famous prophet Mahomet" to "take a long and tedious Journey to Mecca" on foot.Freneau & Brackenridge, ''Father Bombo's Pilgrimage to Mecca,'' Princeton U Library, 1975. p. 7. To atone, Bombo must also convert to "Mahometanism," become a zealous devotee, and don a "Turkish habit and particularly that of a Pilgrim." His forced religious conversion does not prevent Bombo from frequently indulging in alcohol and pork during his pilgrimage.

Headed for the harbor of New York, Bombo sets off from his New Jersey "castle" (the fictional stand-in for the college's Nassau Hall) clothed in a turban and a "Turkish vest". Seeking quarter in inns, houses of ill fame, and at his father's castle on Long Island, Bombo initiates a series of angry disputes when the characters he encounters fail to show the respect and deference that is his due as a pilgrim. These episodes often devolve into gross-out humor and violent slapstick pratfalls, of which Bombo is the usual victim despite his great size and pugnaciousness.

While sailing across the Atlantic, Bombo is tied to the ship's yard-arm for propositioning the captain's wife and instigating a mutiny, abducted by French then Irish privateers, and finally set adrift in a barrel. Washing ashore on the Irish coast, Bombo tries his hand at teaching and panhandling.

Bombo's trek across the Middle East and arrival in Mecca are hastily detailed in the book's final chapter. In Mecca, Bombo visits the mosque that purportedly contains the tomb of Mahomet, wherein he deposits dictionaries "in one of the most sacred closets of the place" in order to complete his penance and "pacify the Ghost of Lucian." Bombo returns safely to his castle in New Jersey, a refined and more responsible scholar, and eventually retires to a country estate in the vicinity to live out his days.

Randy Marsh is trying to teach his son Stan to save money, so he has him deposit $100 into the bank only for it to "disappear" moments later when the bank manager invests the money in a money market mutual fund. After Stan is kicked out of line because it is only for bank members who have money, the same thing happens to an elderly woman. When Randy complains to the manager, his money is transferred from his account into a portfolio with Stan and the manager repeats "Aaaand it's gone!". A recession then hits the nation and South Park.

At dinner, Randy explains to Stan that the economy is failing due to people spending their money on luxuries. He continues his hypocritical tirade while making himself a margarita in a Margaritaville-brand mixer, the noise of which drowns out his voice for part of the tirade.

People in South Park are struggling with the recent economic downturn, and many people on the street are castigating those whom they would blame. Eric Cartman blames the Jews, claiming they hid the money in a "Jew Cave", but Randy convinces everyone to reduce their spending to only the "bare essentials" in order to propitiate the economy, justifying his own frivolous purchase by adding that the essentials include margaritas. His recommended changes make the town resemble first-century Galilee.

Kyle Broflovski becomes annoyed, responding that the economy is not actually angry with them, and that they should be out spending money, and continues to preach that the economy only exists as a mental construct, and that people have lost their faith in it because of the recession. He then convinces his friends that if they want the economy to be strong, they must have faith in it. Upon hearing of this heresy, Randy and his makeshift economic council decide that they must kill Kyle. Cartman, in his desire to obtain a copy of ''Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars'', says that he will deliver Kyle to Randy and his friends in exchange for the game.

In a scene resembling that of the Last Supper, Kyle and his friends go out for pizza where he laments that he feels they will not be able to get together like this anymore because he thinks one of his friends will betray him. The next day, Kyle sets up a table with a credit card machine in the town and begins "paying everybody's debts" with his American Express Platinum Card. Kyle's mother begs him to stop because he will be in debt for life, but Kyle feels he must to help everybody in the town. After paying for the debts, he passes out and the people carry him to his bed.

Soon enough, the economy takes a turn for the better. Malls and shops start opening again for business and the now debt free people start purchasing again. Randy is shown buying the new Margaritaville with a salsa dispenser ("You pour salsa into the top, and then it dispenses out the bottom!"). The news incorrectly acknowledges President Barack Obama for the sacrifices he made and credits him for bringing these improvements in the economy, leaving Kyle flabbergasted.

As a subplot, Stan spends most of the episode trying to return the aforementioned Margaritaville mixer. The trendy retailer Sur La Table will not accept the return because it was bought on a payment plan, and as Stan tries to find out to whom he can return it, for each person to tell him the debt has been packaged and sold to someone else (much like real-life mortgage-backed securities). Eventually he goes all the way to the United States Treasury, where a group of associates "consult the charts" and tell him the mixer is worth $90 trillion. As Stan questions this, one of the treasury workers announces that another insurance company is failing and asks what they should do. They decide they have to "consult the charts" again, and Stan follows them inside to a round lit-up game show style board, where the men cut off a chicken's head and let the decapitated chicken run on the board while one of them plays a tune (similar to Yakety Sax) on a kazoo. The chicken falls on the "bailout!" spot, so that is what the men do. Angered by the farcical nature of the system, Stan smashes the mixer on the platform by the chicken's body and walks off.

The film opens with 22-year-old AIDS activist Pedro Zamora in his New York City hotel room in 1994, getting ready for an appearance on CBS. His contact calls him to ask why he has not arrived at the studio, but Zamora, disoriented, does not know who he is. Hotel security subsequently finds him lying unconscious on the floor.

In a flashback, 21-year-old Zamora is in Miami, Florida, where his family emigrated from Cuba. After making an audition tape for MTV's reality television series, ''The Real World: San Francisco'', he is interviewed by producers. He tells him that if he is cast, he will not change his name to "Peter", nor hide his HIV status. He says that it does not matter if he dies of AIDS, as it is more important that he speak out about the disease. He is eventually cast, and meets his housemates when he moves into the house. As the housemates get to know one another, Judd Winick, who was informed by the producers that he would be living with someone with AIDS, is nervous about which of his housemates has it.

Zamora tells the others about his HIV/AIDS status by showing them his scrap book as an AIDS educator. Housemate Rachel Campos, who is uncomfortable, feels it is Pedro's responsibility to ease her concerns, and that she is being made the villain. Housemate David "Puck" Rainey, meanwhile, makes derogatory jokes about Zamora and his homosexuality. Zamora spends time with Sean Sasser, and becomes friends with Pam and Judd, his roommates. Rainey alienates the rest of the cast with his behavior, and when Zamora threatens to move out if Rainey stays, the others evict Rainey.

Zamora continues his work, speaking publicly despite protesters, though he continues to get sicker. Despite Winick's attempts to be reassuring, Zamora laments that he is only going to get worse. When one of the producers asks him if he wants to stop taping or be sent home, Zamora insists that he promise him that they continue filming until the end.

In 1994, the unconscious Zamora is brought to St. Vincent's Hospital in New York. He is told that his sister, Mily, will be arriving to see him. When a staffperson asks him if he wishes her to remove the anklet he has on his left ankle, he refuses.

In an interview, Mily Zamora calls her brother a "miracle", as her mother, who had already had several children, had had an operation to prevent further pregnancies prior to his conception. In a flashback, the young Zamora is taken to a priest of Santería, who adorns him with flowers, and ties a chain to his ankle to keep him symbolically tied to Earth. Later the family is torn in half during the Mariel Boat Lift, because the four eldest children are of military age, and are not permitted to leave. They insist to their parents that they leave with Zamora, Mily, and younger brother Jesus.

The family settles in Miami. Zamora's mother, Zoraida, grows close to her children, but the separation from her older children makes life difficult for her. When he is 13, his mother dies of cancer. Zamora does not openly grieve, but decides to become a doctor. By the time he is a young man, Mily is troubled by the secretive nature of the time he spends with his "friends". After rummaging through his belongings, and finding letters, she discovers that he is gay, leading to a confrontation.

In 1994, Mily is at Saint Vincent's, and is told that her brother may have toxoplasmosis, a parasitic infection common to AIDS patients, but that it may be the more serious PML. Further tests must be conducted to make a determination.

In flashback, Zamora is an outgoing teenager who easily finds suitors. He does not practice safe sex, because the only education he receives on AIDS presents it as something that afflicts only prostitutes and drug addicts. When he is 17, he volunteers to give blood at a high school blood drive, and discovers he has HIV. Mily is devastated when she finds out. He goes into denial, but months before he graduates high school, he comes down with shingles, and comes to the conclusion that he has no future. After educating himself, however, he decides to dedicate his life to becoming an AIDS educator, speaking at schools, and doing radio shows.

In an interview, Zamora's boyfriend, Sean Sasser, talks about how he tested positive while at culinary college, and later met Zamora at a gay and lesbian march in Washington, D.C. As they get to know one another, they feel a mutual attraction. Sasser tells Zamora that he should look him up if he ever visits San Francisco. When Zamora eventually does move to San Francisco six months later as part of ''The Real World'', they begin to date, though Zamora is reluctant to be open about his sexuality in public, having been subject to homophobia in Miami. Nonetheless, the two fall in love, and Sasser asks Zamora if he will stay in the city after filming ends. The two exchange wedding vows in a ceremony in the ''Real World'' house.

In 1994, Winick visits Zamora at Saint Vincent's, and tells him that Zamora's agent asked him if he would substitute at his lecture. Winick suggests postponing the lecture, but Zamora insists that he stand in. After Zamora undergoes a brain biopsy, Mily expresses enthusiasm that he will appear on TV, but he tells her that he will not be making any more appearances. He is transferred to a Miami hospital, where his loved ones are told that he has PML, and that he does not have much time left. Sasser insists that they try all available treatments, including an experimental one that would likely be painful. Zamora's family oppose the treatment, and wish to take him home. Zamora also decides against the treatment, and asks to be taken home, where his family try to bar Sasser from seeing him. As his condition deteriorates, and his story makes the news, he confronts his sister over his family's exclusion of Sasser. After they view a videotape of the wedding ceremony, they have a change of heart, and welcome Sasser back into the fold. Zamora gets a phone call from President Bill Clinton, who thanks him for his work, and who facilitates the reunion of his older brothers and sisters, who have been allowed to leave Cuba to join the family in Miami. As the family is now reunited, the bedridden Zamora sees a vision of his mother at his bedside.

Pedro dies on November 11, 1994. Footage of Pedro Zamora and Sean Sasser's real-life commitment ceremony from ''The Real World'' is shown, over which title cards describe what happened to the others in the story.

Estrella struggles to move forward with her family (a younger brother very attached to her, a teenage and ambitious sister and an almost absent father). She is the dressmaker of Graciela who hires the girl to make her clothes, so Estrella have to go every now and then her house to take measures, in one of these visits she meets her son Enrique who is immediately attracted. Enrique begins a relationship with Estrella and Graciela meddles since her son can not fall in love with a seamstress.

The series follows a young girl named Tista Rockwell and her work as an assassin for a religious extremist group. After she meets a man named Arty, she begins to see the hypocrisy of her organization and attempts to leave.

Alejandra (Daniela Romo) is a photographer who is afraid of the love from Raul Contreras (Enrique Novi), an orthopedist, because she is already engaged to Ernesto Millan, an incapacitated racing-driver. Marcos Dario (Armando Silvestre), the father of Alejandra, has a secret affair with Cristina (Chela Castro), the mother of Raul. Marcos Dario caused the financial ruin and suicide of Raul's father. Then Alejandra gets married and divorces Ernesto because he is rude and jealous. Cristina wants to take revenge on Marcos Dario for what happened on the past. Raul and Alejandra gets together, but he dies in a car accident and Alejandra will remain alone with their son.

Set in the city of Antioch (in the Roman Empire) during the third century, the Roman army has been ordered to hunt and kill all Christians. Marcus Gallerius, the commander of the Roman garrison hires a desperate street performer, Cockian, to impersonate the Christian priest Philemon, so that he may lure the true leader of the Christian underground. Cockian at first is unwilling to assume this role, but once his freedom is promised for carrying out this task, he agrees. The role is simple enough - living in a jail cell and intercepting any secret messages that may come through. Cockian meets Andos, a seemingly young prisoner who is responsible for seeing to Philemon's needs. But soon, the relationship between Andos and Cockian grows as the latter begins to see in him his deceased son. Cockian begins to realize that he identifies more and more with the values promulgated by Christianity. By the end of the play, when Cockian is given the chance to escape, he denies and instead attempts to make the Commander see the world in a new light, and embrace the values of love and freedom for all that he has come to appreciate. The Commander soon realizes that Cockian has transformed, and that while he had initially only been playing the role of Philemon, that he has now become Philemon, and when given the choice between life as Cockian or death as the Christian leader, Philemon chooses to die as a martyr.

Many Halloweens ago, Hannah's cousin, Jimmy, loved dressing up like a monster until last Halloween when he discovered that monsters are real and fears they will get him again this year; he plans to end Halloween to protect himself, while his friends, Daryl, Bert, and Katie, decide to go trick-or-treating with Hannah while distancing themselves from Jimmy due to his monster paranoia.

On the Fright Side, the Scary Godmother and her assortment of friends (Harry, Mr. Skully Pettibone, Bug-A-Boo, the vampire family of Max, Ruby, and Orson) are planning another annual Halloween party; however, the Fright Side is being affected by Jimmy's actions to end the holiday, such as smashing pumpkins in the pumpkin patch, sneaking into stores to contaminate candy and make costumes flammable, and vandalizing the abandoned spook house Hannah met the Godmother last time with toilet paper, and as this is happening he is slowly turning into an actual devil such as growing pointed ears, a unibrow, a scrunched-up nose, a wide grin and sharp teeth. Hannah successfully gets around these hurdles by making the smashed pumpkin holes serve as mouth, making new treats not involving candy, and imagining the toilet paper on the house as a set of ghost, putting the Fright Side universe back together and stable. Hannah takes Daryl, Bert and Katie to the house, introducing them to the friendly monsters and having them be taken to the party on the Fright Side.

Jimmy has one more plan to spoil the holiday, by stealing the party's Best Costume prize. He is initially successful, stealing the prize while all the guests are dancing. However, Jimmy bursts out loud the pumpkin consists of candy, which is noticed by a food-addicted Harry; a fight between the werewolf and Jimmy ensues, before Bug-A-Boo arrives and scares Jimmy, while Jimmy also makes Bug-A-Boo scream. After Jimmy's fright, Bug-a-Boo explains that he looked really scary, so Scary Godmother announces that Jimmy has won the contest. Jimmy is back to his old self again, and the party continues.

A young man wants to know the world and travels to the frontier between Mexico and the U.S. in search of his brother. Upon arrival, he realizes that his brother has died in an accident of bizarre characteristics. Anyway, he decides to stay and continues the business with his brother's girlfriend, together they will try to rebuild a restaurant with the help from family and friends. But everything is complicated when the mafia and drug dealers attack the project as it moves.