Dilber lives with her family in a very poor eastern village. Her only dream is to marry her childhood lover, Ali. But when she finds out that it will not happen, she goes crazy and locks herself in her family's barn. Then she makes everybody know that she will marry the first guy who proposes and will not leave the barn until that happens. One day, a limping man comes to the village. He is alone and has heard that there is a girl in that village who is ready to marry him.

During the , the Goseigers and Gosei Knight are overwhelmed by the Zangyack's first invasion force until they are saved by the Gorengers' Akarenger and J.A.K.Q.'s Big One and are told that all the Sentai teams are gathering. With the Sentai supporting warriors giving them safe passage, the Goseigers meet up with the other 33 Super Sentai and the teams proceed to battle the numerous Gormin and Zugormin. The battle reaches its end when Akarenger tells everyone to join their powers together so their combined powers can wipe out the armada. Having survived, the Gosei Angels learn that they and other Super Sentai have lost their powers, which have dispersed all over the universe. Alata believes they can still protect the planet without their powers as the teams go their separate ways.

However, a new Zangyack invasion appears a few years later. Luckily, having witnessed the battle from space, Aka Red managed to gather the Ranger Keys, the Super Sentai's sealed power, leading to the formation of the Gokaigers who use the Ranger Keys as part of their arsenal in their quest for the Greatest Treasure in the Universe. During a forced battle with a platoon under Barizorg and Insarn, the Gokaigers use the Go-onger, Dynaman, and Fiveman Keys to take out waves of the grunts, but before they can use the Goseiger Keys, Agri and Moune steal the Goseiger Ranger Keys so their team can regain their powers. With Barizorg and Insarn forced to withdraw, the Goseigers ask for Gosei Knight's Ranger Key to restore the Groundion Headder to his usual form. Though having no idea that they have it, the Gokaigers demand the Goseiger Keys back. Despite attempting to settle things peacefully, Gosei Red sees no choice but to fight. The battle between the two Sentai teams ends in a stalemate with the pirates withdrawing.

Meanwhile, aboard the ''Gigant Horse'', Warz Gill and his crew are notified of a void approaching their ship. The entity, revealed to be the Black Cross King, the resurrected Black Cross Furher, manifests and proposes an alliance with the Zangyack so he can have his revenge on the Super Sentai and their supporters. Although Warz is initially unwilling, he accepts Black Cross King's offer when he promises to leave the Earth to him as all he wants is to kill the Gokaigers. Back aboard the Gokai Galleon, as he and his shipmates have familiarize themselves with the sixth hero Ranger Keys, Doc finds the Gosei Knight Key in the Gokai Treanger Box with Captain Marvelous deciding to use it as bait. However, the Gokai Galleon falls under attack by Gosei Great as GokaiOh forms to fight back. During the battle, Gosei Red sneaks into the Gokai Galleon's living quarters to get the Gosei Knight Key. But found out by Gokai Red, Gosei Red is forced to steal the entire Gokai Treanger Box as the two red warriors take their fight outside and Gosei Red manages to get the Gosei Knight Key. By then, the ''Gigant Horse'' enters Earth's atmosphere and opens fire with the Black Cross King taking the Gokai Treanger Box before resurrecting Brajira of the Messiah, Hades God Dagon and Yogoshimacritein as the three villains teleport the two groups away. Afterwards, Navi investigates the scene and finds the Gosei Knight key which Alata dropped.

As this all happened, after selling off some of his anpan at an elementary school and meeting a child with a well preserved DaiDenzin toy, Daigoro Oume makes his way to the next school before meeting Ryo of the Heavenly Fire Star as he saves a salaryman from being unintentionally run over by S.P.D. Officer Koume "Umeko" Kodou. The three soon learn that the salaryman lost his job and his inability to sell off a toy replica of the Variblune made him consider suicide on the street. The heroes, however, encourage him not to lose hope as Ryo offers him a serving of his gyōza. The three Sentai warriors, along with their various allies, witness the Black Cross King appearing in the sky as he announces that he has their powers and will soon acquire the powers of the Gokaigers and Goseigers before enacting his revenge.

Finding themselves in an office building, Marvelous and Alata find themselves needing to defeat Brajira while dealing with his Bibi Soldiers in order to return to their space. Doc, Ahim, Eri and Hyde have their trouble with Dagon and his Zobils while Joe, Luka, Agri and Moune contend with Yogoshimacritein and his Ugatz in a Feudal Japan movie set within a thirty-minute timeline. Despite their differences, the Gokaigers and Goseigers find common ground with each other and manage to defeat the three resurrected villains and return to their space where are welcomed back by Navi and a restored Gosei Knight. Deciding to accept a team up with the Gosei Angels, Captain Marvelous and his crew face the Black Cross King as he has them fight the animated Ranger Keys. After a grueling battle, the Gokaigers and Super Goseigers manage to revert their numerous opponents back into Ranger Keys. Upset by the turn of events, yet taking advantage of their weakened state, the Black Cross King assumes his full size to finish the two Sentai teams off himself. However, the Ranger Keys suddenly glow and enveloped the Super Sentai groups in a bright light.

The two teams find themselves surrounded by the Ranger Keys as they are spoken to in spirit by Tsuyoshi Kaijo, Sokichi Banba, Kanpei Kuroda, Rei Tachibana, Shirō Gō and Riki Honoo, who see the two teams holding the morals and values they themselves strive for. As they, Daigoro, Ryo, Koume, Satoru Akashi, Chiaki Tani, Genta Umemori and Saki Rōyama agree to letting him and his crew have their teams' Great Powers, Captain Marvelous demands all their aid. Answering his call, the Ranger Keys create the Super Sentai Bazooka which the Gokaigers and the Goseigers use to destroy the Black Cross King before the Ranger Keys fly back into the Gokai Treanger Box. The Black Cross King, however, reveals his true form as the Black Cross Colossus while proceeding to wreak havoc on Tokyo. Both the Gokaigers and Goseigers take the fight to the Black Cross Colossus in Gokai-oh, Gosei Great, and Gosei Ground. However, the Black Cross Colossus easily swats them all away, with Gosei Knight being taken out of the fight. Nozomu Amachi and the salaryman, remembering the sentai heroes' words, urge the citizens not to lose hope and cheer for the two Super Sentai groups. This support restores GokaiOh and Gosei Great's power as they are joined by the main giant robots of the other 33 groups animated from various items including the salaryman's Variblune and a schoolboy's Daidenzin toy, as Gosei Knight proclaims it as "the greatest miracle in Earth's history".

Though the Black Cross Colossus attempts to counter with Brajira and his Buredoran incarnations, Dagon with fellow Hades Gods Cyclops and Ifrit, and Yogoshimacritein with two of his followers, they are all easily destroyed by the Sentai mecha. The Gokaigers then receive the Greater Power of the Gorangers, allowing Gokai-oh to combine with Variblune to form Goren Gokai-oh, much to the Black Cross Colossus's shock. Using this new power, the Gokaigers execute the Gokai Hurricane: Cassiopeia finisher to finally destroy the Black Cross Colossus once and for all, permanently ending the Black Cross Army's dream of once again conquering Earth. With the battle over, the 33 past Super Sentai mecha vanish as the crowd thanks both the Gokaigers and Goseigers for saving the day. Later, the Gosei Angels give the Goseiger Keys back to the Gokai Galleon crew while hoping the pirates would begin to love their planet while giving them their Great Power. As the Gokai Galleon sails off for another adventure, its departure is watched by Gokai Silver.

While leading the Dendarii Mercenaries on a hostage rescue mission, Miles Vorkosigan has a seizure — a recurring consequence of his death and resuscitation in ''Mirror Dance'' — which results in his accidentally (and non-fatally) severing the rescued hostage's legs with his weapon. Terrified of the consequences, Miles falsifies his mission report to his boss, Simon Illyan, the head of Imperial Security (ImpSec). Illyan finds out anyway, and Miles is forced to accept a medical discharge.

Miles becomes seriously depressed. His cousin Ivan Vorpatril, with the help of his friend and ImpSec Captain Duv Galeni (who encountered Miles during the events of ''Brothers in Arms''), manage to get him to break out of his funk.

Duv Galeni is enamored of Laisa Toscane, a very wealthy heiress and member of a Komarran economic delegation. Miles gets them invitations to a party hosted by Emperor Gregor, hoping to help him to score points with Laisa, but unexpectedly she and Gregor fall in love.

When Illyan suffers a sudden, crippling mental impairment, Miles attempts to investigate, but receives no cooperation from Lucas Haroche, ImpSec's acting chief, so he asks Gregor to assign him an Imperial Auditor, a troubleshooter answerable only to the Emperor. Gregor unexpectedly decides that it would save many steps (and his time) by making Miles himself a temporary Auditor, even if Haroche considers Miles a prime suspect in Illyan's impairment.

Illyan's breakdown was caused by a malfunction in the memory device implanted in his brain when he was a young lieutenant. The device begins dumping random sets of memories into Illyan's mind at an accelerating pace, causing him to believe he is at different points in his life. After consulting with Gregor, Miles orders ImpSec's doctors to remove the device as soon as possible. Then he sets out to find out whether the breakdown was natural or artificial. He recruits "Dr. Waddell", formerly Hugh Canaba, a biotechnology expert he extracted from Jackson's Whole in the story "Labyrinth". Waddell discovers the culprit is a synthetic biological agent specially designed to target Illyan's implant.

While making a thorough inspection of ImpSec headquarters, Miles finds the first clue: a false record that claims he entered ImpSec's storeroom recently. An inventory establishes that the weapon was commissioned by Ser Galen, Duv Galeni's now-deceased Komarran terrorist father. It was seized from his organization and stored, until it was stolen by someone trying to frame Lieutenant Vorkosigan, not Lord Auditor Vorkosigan.

Duv Galeni is arrested for the attack. However, Miles is certain that this is also a frameup. When Haroche offers to reinstate Miles and put him back in charge of the Dendarii Mercenaries, Miles realizes that he has been offered a (nearly irresistible) bribe and that Haroche committed the crime to become head of ImpSec. He maneuvers Haroche into incriminating himself. Gregor consults with the other Auditors and makes Miles' appointment permanent.

Miles makes one final attempt to persuade his second-in-command and lover, Elli Quinn, to marry him, but she cannot bear being planet-bound, so he gives her command of the Dendarii. Gregor and Laisa get married. Illyan and Alys, meanwhile, have become secret lovers, to Ivan's dismay. Duv Galeni becomes engaged to Delia Koudelka.

Miles undergoes surgery to implant a device that can trigger a milder seizure at a time of his choosing as a palliative measure, the underlying condition being incurable.

Miles Vorkosigan wants to woo Ekaterin Vorsoisson, recently widowed during the thwarting of a terrorist plot in Komarr, but fearing that openly courting her would drive her away, he takes an indirect approach: he hires her to design a garden beside Vorkosigan House so he can spend time with her.

His clone brother Mark also has romance problems. He and Kareen Koudelka became lovers at Beta Colony, but the sexual mores of conservative Barrayar are much stricter, and she keeps their relationship a secret from her family. When it finally surfaces, Kareen's parents take it very badly. Miles recommends his brother involve their mother, the formidable Lady Vorkosigan. She persuades Kareen's parents to accept their relationship.

A significant subplot involves Mark's first entrepreneurial venture: an ugly genetically engineered insect called the "butter bug," capable of eating all kinds of waste organic material of Earth origin and regurgitating a nutritious goo that Miles disparagingly calls "bug vomit".

Meanwhile, two seats on the powerful Council of Counts are up for grabs. Count Rene Vorbretten has been found to be part Cetagandan, dating back to the brutal Cetagandan occupation of Barrayar. The vacancy created by the death of Count Pierre Vorrutyer is contested by a distant cousin, Richars, and Pierre's sister, Donna, who undergoes gender reassignment surgery at Beta Colony, becoming a fully functional man and taking the name Dono, in order to seek the title. Miles gets involved on behalf of Count Vorbretten and Dono Vorrutyer after Richars antagonizes him.

Miles cannot stop himself from informing several people close to him about his secret courtship. This proves to be a colossal blunder. He hosts a dinner party to introduce Ekaterin to his friends, at which his secret is inadvertently revealed to all, causing Miles to panic and propose. His political enemies seize the opportunity to spread rumors that he killed or had killed Ekaterin's husband, and because of the top secret nature of the Komarran plot foiled by Miles and Ekaterin in ''Komarr'', he cannot defend himself.

On the eve of the voting for both countships, Richars has his henchmen try to castrate his rival. Unaware that his men have failed, Richars addresses the Council of Counts, making innuendos about Miles' alleged murderous ways. This provokes Ekaterin into publicly proposing to Miles, which he instantly accepts. Then Ivan, Dono and two of the most influential conservative counts arrive. The counts make it clear that they (and their faction) no longer support Richars, not due to his crime but rather his bungling of it. Dono becomes the next Count Vorrutyer and Rene retains his title.

The novel concludes with the wedding of Emperor Gregor of Barrayar.

The narrator, 16-year-old Jeremy Grant, who has been recently orphaned, travels from Australia to Scotland to stay with his scientist uncle, Dr Lachlan McKinnon, at his estate, Inverard. He discovers that the irascible McKinnon and his colleagues, including Swedish Professor Lars Bergman, American engineer Spike Stranahan, science student Janet Campbell, Cockney housekeeper Madge Smith and engineer Kurt Oppenheim, are building an atomic-powered spaceship to travel to '''Hesikos''', the wandering 'lost planet' which is now within a few days' flight of Earth, and which is known to have near-Earth gravity and a breathable atmosphere.

It transpires that Oppenheim is a spy and saboteur working for a rival expedition, led by Professor Hermanoff, from an Eastern European country. Oppenheim is dismissed, and later Hermanoff visits Inverard to try to persuade the two expeditions to join forces, but there is too much suspicion and animosity. Oppenheim's place is taken by Grant.

Their take-off and voyage are trouble-free, but a mechanical fault causes a crash-landing on Hesikos, damaging the radio, and making it almost certain that the ship cannot take off again. Nevertheless, the crew start to explore the area, finding an atmosphere of peace which calms their anxieties and tempers. They gradually realise that much of the planet is covered by deep snow and ice in the winter, making all but plant life impossible and their own survival unlikely.

On one trip they encounter Hermanoff and his assistant, Andrieff, whose spaceship has landed a few miles away. Hermanoff's personality has also mellowed, and he immediately offers to take McKinnon and his colleagues back to Earth before the imminent onset of winter. McKinnon is worried about overloading the spaceship, and at the last minute, unbeknown to the rest, he leaves the ship to return to his own, hoping to survive the cold until a relief expedition can be organised.

Safely back on Earth, Grant and Campbell pick up a Morse code radio message from Hesikos confirming that McKinnon is alive. Within a few days Hermanoff and Stranahan have taken off to rescue him. The sequel ''Return to the Lost Planet'' continues from this point.

In the story, Sybil Fitch (Boland) adopts two orphan boys (O'Connor, Lee). Her husband (Ruggles) is infuriated. However, when the boys catch scarlet fever, he finds that he really does love them.

Nightclub hostess Pat Rogers and her boxer boyfriend Slag Bailey aren't sure what to do after their associate Pins Streaver tries to rob a safe and dies in the act.

They travel together to Pins's home in the country, where 12-year-old Ted Streaver returns from school, unaware that his father is dead. Intending to stay a short while, Pat and Slag pretend to be a married couple and become the boy's foster parents.

Ted grows up to become a football hero in school, but trouble arises when Cash Enright, an unscrupulous boxing promoter, appears and tries to persuade Ted to step into the ring. Slag is socked on the jaw by the kid but ultimately succeeds in convincing him not to fight.

Like its predecessor ''The Infernal City'', the novel ''Lord of Souls'' takes places about 40 years after the events of ''The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion'' and ''The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles'', and some 160 years prior to the events of ''The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim''.

Prince Attrebus carries on with his quest to obtain a magical sword Umbra, which will be able to destroy the invaders from Umbriel. In the Imperial City however, the Penitus Oculatus Agent Colin finds evidence of betrayal in the heart of the Mede Empire. Sul and Attrebus, captured by Malacath, escape and resume the search for Umbra, and are led to a fort where the current wielder of Umbra has been buried alive after the sword drove him immediately insane.

Annaig is again promoted after introducing new ideas and dishes into Umbriel's court, and eventually tricks a rival kitchen into confirmation that she had recreated their secret ingredient, also condemning Slyr, her assistant, to death after Slyr repeatedly tries to poison and murder her. Her mood further darkens after Mere-Glim is caught and killed while attempting to lead the skraws in another raid. Annaig is then forced to become a slave of dark lord of Umbriel, who has an insatiable hunger for souls.

Peter Donay (Philip Dorn) is the not-so-happy owner of the Café Donay, which is a fancy roadside establishment somewhere between Reno and Lake Tahoe in Nevada. His marriage is not what it should be, and he has a gambling addiction.

One day, he meets nightclub waitress Sally Murfin (Gloria Grahame), who is a lot more interested in Peter's money and business than in anything else. Peter’s wife, Delilah (Mary Astor), knows about her husband's love affair and is determined to get rid of Sally by tricking her into believing that there is no money to be had from Peter by telling Sally about the gambling and lying about the business being poor. Her plan does not work, so Delilah tries to split them up by hiring Sally’s beau Freddie Bilson (Marshall Thompson) as a waiter and letting him stay above their garage. Her plan goes to waste when Sally overhears that Peter is the winner of $40,000 in a lottery. Now Sally is more determined to lay her hands on Peter.

Sally's advances on Peter makes Freddie very jealous. Eventually, Freddie pulls a gun on Peter and threatens to shoot him. Peter confesses that he and Sally are in love and going to get married. Delilah asks Peter for a divorce, asking him for the winning lottery ticket as her settlement. Peter refuses at first, but eventually he gives in and gives her the money.

Full of regret, he then tells Sally’s friend Johnny about his mistake, and that he wants his wife back. Sally is outraged when she hears about the settlement and is more interested in Freddie, now that Delilah has bought him a new motorcycle. Sally disappears with Freddie, and Peter begs his wife Delilah for forgiveness, and gets it. It turns out she was bluffing about divorcing and leaving him all along, when her suitcase opens as they kiss and make up, revealing that it is empty.

It presents adventures of young people living in the casual estate. The characters (Smutny, Wiraż, Niedzwiedź, Szopa, Kundzio) like rough music, parties, alcohol and other substances. They are constantly forced to wrestle with violence, boredom, dull hoods and hangovers – everything that today's youth is exposed to.

The film is a semi-biographical story based upon the early life and rise to prominence of Native American dog musher George Attla, Jr. (1933–2015). Attla, known as "the Huslia Hustler," took his nickname from one of his mentors, Jimmy Huntington, who first began winning races during Attla's childhood. In recent generations, this nickname has become associated with Attla far more than with Huntington. Attla was a leading star of the 1960s and 1970s in the sport of sprint dog sled racing. He won the Fur Rendezvous World Championship race, held in Anchorage, Alaska, 10 times between 1958 and 1982. He also won 8 championships in the Open North American Championship race, held in Fairbanks, Alaska. In addition, despite his mushing experience being geared more towards sprint than distance racing, Attla competed in the inaugural Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in 1973, placing fifth. In a 2011 interview, Attla spoke of the popularity of the Iditarod, and how sprint racing "is now a second-class sport" as a result.

The general theme of the story centered around Attla's rivalry with the other leading sprint competitors of the day, fellow Alaska Native Gareth Wright (the brother of political gadfly Don Wright and grandfather of modern-day dog musher Ramy Brooks) and Massachusetts musher Roland "Doc" Lombard, the preparations for an upcoming big race, and his first major race victory.

The movie was shot on location in Fairbanks, Alaska. A number of local actors, including local Alaska Natives, University of Alaska Fairbanks professor Lee Salisbury, and KFAR disc jockey/newscaster Bill Walley, appear in minor roles.

Lord Datchett believes women are vain, trivial and dull. He is irritated when French film star Colette Marly arrives in London and takes the table in a restaurant where he wanted to sit. He is scathing of her claims in the newspaper that she is tired of publicity and of men pursuing her, believing it to be an attempt to get more attention. He predicts that if she were really left alone she would throw herself at the first man she met. After being challenged by a man at his club, Datchett decides to invite her to stay at his house, aiming to stage a "scientific experiment" and prove his theory.

Marly is weary of the demands of her publicity-seeking agent and being besieged by autograph hunters and journalists. When she receives Datchett's invitation to stay at his house, she accepts in the hope of some solitude. Arriving at his country house with her maid Clair, she is greeted by Datchett's butler Jameson and Lord Datchett who pretends to be Henry Dodds, Datchett's estate manager. The other staff have also been informed to help maintain the deception.

Datchett tries to discover more about Marly, but she is initially unforthcoming. Slowly they become friendly, after they go riding and when Datchett contrives for them to get locked in a cellar for several hours and get drunk on brandy. Clair meanwhile flirts with both Jameson and Patrick, the Irish gardener, provoking them into jealousy and rivalry.

When Reverend Meadows arrives at the house with a christening party for whom Datchett had previously agreed to be a godfather, Marly accidentally discovers Datchett's true identity. Her first angry reaction is to prepare to leave, but then she decides to play along with Datchett's pretense, but intending to teach him a lesson. While out boating on a lake, she pretends to be in distress so that he can rescue her, but when he is knocked unconscious, she becomes the rescuer, but makes him believe he did it.

Datchett's elderly mother Lady Datchett arrives, and he persuades her to join in the ploy and she tries, but without much success. Eventually, Datchett admits he is in love with her and Marly triumphantly reveals that she knows who he really is and what she has done. He goes away, crestfallen, but she then realises she is in love with him.

At the suggestion of Clair, Marly stages a drowning for a second time. Datchett, about to return to London after admitting the experiment was a failure, hears her cries for help and goes to rescue her, but once again, she ends up rescuing him. Safely on the bank, they confess their mutual love and embrace.

At the Dunphy house, Claire (Julie Bowen) has spent the night on the couch after having a huge fight with Phil (Ty Burrell), but he has no clue as to what it was about. Meanwhile, Jay (Ed O'Neill) gives Gloria (Sofía Vergara) a karaoke machine as a gift that he ends up regretting because of Gloria's loud and off key singing. Cameron (Eric Stonestreet) is trying to arrange for a very important fundraiser that gives him the chance to upstage his "nemesis" Andrew (Jeremy Scott Johnson).

Jay comes to the Dunphy house to help them fix the microwave oven door which was torn apart during Phil and Claire's fight, but the official version of the disaster in the kitchen is that a raccoon came in through the dog trap door and Claire had to fight it off with a fire extinguisher. Since Jay is unable to fix the oven, Claire asks Phil to take her to the mall to buy a new one but he says that he was on his way to have a hair cut as an excuse to avoid going to the mall with Claire. Gloria volunteers to cut Phil's hair and Jay agrees to take Claire to the mall as an excuse to avoid having to videotape Gloria singing on the karaoke machine.

While having his hair cut, Phil talks with Gloria about the fight and they try to figure out what caused it. He and Gloria come to the conclusion that the fight maybe was about him mistakenly buying broccoli instead of cauliflower. In the mall Jay discovers why Phil declined to come with Claire. While getting a massage, Claire makes all kinds of loud and embarrassing noises. While eating ice cream Claire tells her side of the story and it turns out that Phil went to lunch with a friend and had an amazing salad that he loved which Claire had been telling him about for years but he never tried. She left to walk around the block after having a meltdown and throwing the broccoli at Phil, but as she walked out the door her night gown got caught in the door and she had to get back into the house through the dog trap door, which Phil confused with a raccoon and he was the one to attack her with the fire extinguisher.

Meanwhile Haley (Sarah Hyland) has been "working" as a waitress and getting always just under $60.00 in tips. However Alex (Ariel Winter) figures that Haley is tricking her parents after Manny (Rico Rodriguez) tells her that he has passed by the restaurant and Haley was absent from work, since her parents are matching her tips in order to buy a car and she has been flashing the same $60.00 over and over again. She arranges that the family go for dinner at the restaurant and texts Haley to tell her. Once in the restaurant Haley tells them that there are no tables left but Alex called to make a reservation. Haley "takes" their drink order, as it turns out she has a table of her own and she orders everything on her own tab. Phil is trying to undo everything that might have caused the fight of the night before but when the menus arrive he tells Claire about the salad and she has a new meltdown and storms out of the restaurant. Haley uses this opportunity to "get fired" after her mother's outburst, foiling Alex's plan to expose her as a fake.

Cameron is gloating about the event that he is preparing with a harp duo called "Harp attack", since there have been no cancellations so far, but Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) finds in the back of his car all the invitations that he was supposed to have sent but never did. He tells nothing to Cameron and tries to have as many people come by asking them over the phone, but since there is a similar event on the same evening many are already engaged.

Cameron has hired Luke (Nolan Gould) to help to arrange his musical soirée and he gets a call from his friend Longines, who he asks for a couple of chairs. During that conversation he learns that no invitations were sent. He calls Mitchell over the phone and orders him to fix it. Mitchell calls everyone he knows and manages to bring a few people to the event, which turns out to be double the attendance of Andrew's event the year before.

Meanwhile, Phil shows Claire a photo album of pictures from when they just started dating. He shows that he has changed a lot as a result of her advice and that he does listen to her.

Gloria has learned a new song and is about to try it on the karaoke machine. As Jay is about to tell her that he can no longer take it, Manny runs in and begs his mother to stop it, that the machine will destroy their family and accuses Jay of cowardice.

In the epilogue, Jay tries out the karaoke machine and does a surprisingly good rendition of "Danny Boy", but it suddenly stops when Manny unplugs it and threatens Jay with, "You keep this up, and this won't be the last plug I pull."

Marine Sgt. Brandon Beckett (Collins), the son of the previous ''Sniper'' film’s protagonist Thomas Beckett (Tom Berenger), takes up the mantle set by his father and goes on a mission of his own. While working with the UN Forces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Brandon Beckett receives orders to rescue a European farmer, Jean van Brunt (Rob Fruithoff), in the middle of hostile rebel territory.

When he and his men arrive at the farm, a mysterious sniper ambushes them, wounding Beckett and killing everyone else. With the help of his father’s former protégé, sniper instructor Richard Miller (Billy Zane), and UN Lieutenant Ellen Abramowitz (Annabel Wright) Beckett sets out on a personal mission to avenge the deaths of his team members.

In the resulting climax of the film, Beckett learns the identity of the sniper, ex Marine Vincent “The Italian” Masiello (Justin Strydom) a former student of Miller’s who was acting under the orders of United Nations Colonel Ralf Jäger (Richard Sammel) to cover up an arms dealing conspiracy supplying weapons to both sides of an ongoing civil war. The mysterious sniper is finally killed by Brandon.

Shortly after apprehending Jäger, Beckett is offered the job by Miller for Special Operations.

After a defeat at the hands of the Rogue Crew, Razzid Wearat's seer, Shekra, tells him of Redwall Abbey, a place that he can plunder easily. He sets the course for it, killing all who stand in his way.

Skor Axehound and Rake Nightfur hear about this and they team up to kill off the Wearat and his horde once and for all. Meanwhile, the Wearat wreaks havoc on land, killing otters and Guosim shrews, all the time making his way to Redwall.

Skor Axehound has a young son Swiffo, who doesn't care for weapons and, against his father's will, joins the fortunate Freepaws. The hares that are in the Long Patrol, as well as the otters of the Rogue Crew, try to outdo one another, until Kite the Slayer finds that there are differences between them, but in order to overcome this together, they all need to look past them.

Shekra stumbles across Drogbuk Wiltud. They take him aboard the Greenshroud hoping to get directions to Redwall, until finally, Skor meets up with the Wearat's crew and Drogbuk leaps overboard. Swiffo finds the hedgehog and gives him a good bath, making him lose all of his spikes. Swiffo later gets killed by a vermin fox who has poison darts when they are closer to the Abbey.

When the ''Greenshroud'' is within sight of Redwall, Dibbun babies spot it from the top of a tower, and when their caretaker comes to get them she notices the green-sailed ship on its way. She warns the Abbot, while Skor and Rake find their way there. When they arrive, the Wearat is defeated by Jum Gurdy, the otter cellardog, and Posybud, a young hedgehog. The vermin crew is slain.

Bay Kennish, a teenage girl living in the Kansas City suburb of Mission Hills, Kansas, discovers from a school lab assignment that her blood type is incompatible with that of her parents. Genetic testing confirms Bay is not the Kennishes' biological daughter. It is revealed that the hospital mistakenly switched Bay at birth with Daphne, who has been raised by her single mother Regina and grandmother Adriana in the low-income neighborhood of East Riverside, Missouri. Daphne is deaf, having lost her hearing as a result of contracting meningitis at age three. The Kennishes invite Daphne and Regina to their home, and after learning that Regina is struggling financially, propose that they move into their guest house with Adriana, an offer that Regina accepts.

This arrangement forces the girls, along with both families, to understand their differences and embrace their similarities. The girls sometimes struggle with their identities. Bay discovers that she has inherited her artistic talent from Regina, and Daphne discovers she has inherited John's athletic skill and Kathryn's love of cooking. Both mothers learn to bond with their biological daughters, while often unintentionally angering the ones they raised. John learns to relate to his new-found daughter by coaching her deaf school's basketball team and employing her in the office of one of the local chain of car washes that he owns. Bay is driven by a need to find her biological father, Angelo Sorrento, who left Regina shortly after Daphne went deaf.

The book opens "It's an old, old story: I had a friend and we shared everything, and then she died and so we shared that too.”[https://books.google.com/books?id=rjaedm_VqgAC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false Let's Take the Long Way Home by Gail Caldwell] The connection between these women was charged from the beginning. They were introduced by a dog walker who recognized their many similarities and they began "walking their puppies" together in the woods. "Apart, we had each been frightened drunks and single women and dog lovers; together, we became a small corporation. Finding Caroline was like placing a personal ad for an imaginary friend, then having her show up at your door funnier and better than you could have conceived." The growth of their friendship, the strength of their bond, the tragedy of Caroline's short fight against lung cancer and the grief beyond are all detailed.

Premise

Released just under a month after the launch of ''DC Universe Online'', ''Legends'' ties directly into the gameplay and stories that develop in the online world. ''DC Universe Online'' is set in the present day, but the opening cinematic sequence takes place in a gritty, war-torn future depicting a final battle between the world's greatest heroes and villains.

This battle takes place in the ruins of Metropolis, and features the deaths of several well-known DC Comics characters. The battle culminates with the death of Superman at the hands of Lex Luthor, leaving him and the Joker as the survivors. Luthor stands back to proclaim his victory, only to see Brainiac's war fleet fill the skies. So far, the comic has served to expand upon the events of Brainiac's return to Earth, and has yet to visit the present-day DC Universe.

Synopsis

The comic begins right after Lex Luthor stabs Superman with a kryptonite spear, killing him (as depicted in the opening cinematic). Captain Cold, one of the supervillains at the battle, angrily tells Luthor to get away from Superman, calling him "a traitor to our world" and tries to freeze Superman to revive him later, but Luthor kills him, saying that Superman will not live again.

Just as Luthor thinks that the world will finally be his, Brainiac's fleet descends upon the planet and releases hordes of Exobyte nanites upon every major country in the world, in order to record, collect, and destroy Earth's remaining metahumans. Brainiac contacts Luthor and tells him to activate the Enforcer robots that Luthor created for him to eradicate the rest of the population. Despite promising that Luthor would be made the leader of Earth for his cooperation, Brainiac reveals that he will digitize Luthor's mind, store it into his database, and have the Earth "deleted". Brainiac shuts down the weapon systems of Luthor's armor, and activates the Enforcers himself.

Luthor manages to free himself from Brainiac's control using Black Adam's lightning, and leaves the now-mortal Adam to die at the hands of the Enforcers. He escapes to a LexCorp facility and uses a rocket there to retreat to a bunker in New Mexico. He flashes back to several years ago, when he first met Brainiac. During a board meeting, he was informed there was a security breach at "Laboratory K" in Antarctica: a nanite of extraterrestrial origin infiltrated the lab and downloaded most of the mainframe's data on metahumans before it was isolated and captured. Luthor arrived at the facility, and was contacted by Brainiac (who referred to himself as "Vril Dox of the planet Colu"). Brainiac appealed to Luthor's ego and hatred of Superman, and convinced Luthor to cooperate with him. Within months, Luthor constructed factories for Brainiac on five continents, constantly producing Enforcers for him.

At the New Mexico bunker, Luthor calls heroes and villains alike to join him at the bunker on every communication channel and electronic devices. He successfully recruits Ray Palmer, Power Girl, the Black Canary, the Blue Beetle, Doctor Fate, the August General in Iron, Mr. Freeze, the Cheetah, and Solomon Grundy.

Luthor explains to the group that Brainiac is currently stripping the world of its landmarks and absorbing metahuman powers using Exobytes. But just as he is about to explain his plan of attack, the Blue Beetle questions why Superman is not the leader of the resistance (none of the gathered heroes and villains were present when Superman was killed), while Mr. Freeze states that Luthor's knowledge of Brainiac's plan is suspicious. Just as the rest of the group starts to doubt Luthor, they are interrupted by the August General, who says that their differences mean nothing now and that he would follow the smartest man in the room, whether good or bad. Ray Palmer reluctantly agrees to listen to Luthor's command.

The group splits into three teams to obtain items needed for fighting Brainiac: the August General, the Blue Beetle, and the Black Canary go to Metropolis to obtain a quantum scan of Brainiac's mothership. Mr. Freeze and Doctor Fate head to Keystone City to obtain an active sample of Exobytes, while Ray Palmer, Grundy, and the Cheetah retrieve an item stashed at Luthor's Rocky Mountain production facility.

In the present day, Brainiac contacts Luthor while he was inspecting the Rocky Mountain factory. After making sure the Enforcers are in production, Brainiac requests a "control sample" to calibrate his equipment with, and chooses the ''Daily Planet'' building. Luthor angrily tells him to leave his city alone, but Brainiac simply states that it is too late. The building is enveloped in a massive forcefield, and one of Brainiac's ships lifts it into space. Superman and the rest of the Justice League fail to penetrate the forcefield, and Superman has to watch helplessly as the building - with Lois Lane inside it - disappears before his eyes. Brainiac states that he will begin experimenting on the humans to calibrate the Exobytes to human physiology, Luthor demands Brainiac to leave Lois alone, saying that their partnership is over if she is harmed, and that Brainiac needs him. Back in the future, the three teams obtain the three items Luthor needed, but Luthor's monologue reveals that he did not plan on defeating Brainiac; he only wanted revenge, even if it costs the lives of all remaining heroes and villains.

Felton (Daniel Baldwin) visits Harry Prentice (Wilford Brimley), the elderly and bed-ridden father of his friend Chuckie (Michael Chaban). Ill and miserable, the hard-bitten Harry has decided he wants to die and has hired a suicide doctor. Felton believes this is wrong and convinces Chuckie to call it off, much to Harry's anger. A few days later, however, Harry wears Chuckie down and convinces his son to shoot him to death with a handgun. When Lewis (Clark Johnson) and Crosetti (Jon Polito) investigate, Chuckie claims Harry shot himself, which Lewis does not believe. Felton talks to Chuckie at the police station and Chuckie admits to the assisted suicide, but Felton tells him to stick to the original suicide story. Lewis realizes what happened and confronts Felton, who admits what Chuckie did and suggests it was the right thing to do, but Lewis adamantly disagrees. Since the bullet evidence is inconclusive, Felton asks Lewis to let Chuckie secretly wash his hands so no gunpowder residue will be found in tests. Lewis initially refuses, but he eventually reluctantly agrees, allowing Chuckie to get away with the shooting.

Meanwhile, the homicide department is requiring all the detectives to take sensitivity training with therapist Carry Westin (Jennifer Mendenhall). While most of them have positive experiences with her, Bolander (Ned Beatty) flatly refuses to participate and repeatedly avoids their scheduled sessions. When Gee (Yaphet Kotto) tells Bolander he will be suspended without pay if he does not meet with her, Bolander chooses the suspension, but later reconsiders after his partner Munch (Richard Belzer) harasses him at the bar until he changes his mind. When they finally meet, Bolander explains he does not trust therapists because when going through marriage counseling with his ex-wife, the therapist actively encouraged her to leave Bolander. He feels he was cheated out of $7,000 in therapy bills, but Westin explains his anger is not from the money, but from feelings of betrayal by his ex-wife. Bolander is ultimately impressed by Westin and even decides to ask her on a date, but she strongly hints she is a lesbian.

Pembleton (Andre Braugher) and Bayliss (Kyle Secor) are called to investigate the shooting death of Charles Courtland Cox, a small-time drug peddler shot in the back shortly after a police raid of a crackhouse. When Pembleton suspects a police shooting, Lt. Tyron (Michael S. Kennedy) explains Officer Hellriegel (Jeffrey Mandon) accidentally shot Cox after falling down and discharging his weapon. However, Hellriegel does not recall details and appears nervous by questioning from Pembleton. Gee is angry with Pembleton's inquiries into the police, and becomes even angrier when Colonel Granger (Gerald F. Gough) and Captain Barnfather (Clayton LeBouef) say they will make Hellriegel a scapegoat if the media start suggesting racism or police brutality. Hellriegel is cleared when tests reveal the bullet does not match his gun, but Pembleton requests the firearms of the other officers be tested. Gee refuses to approve the tests, but Pembleton gets Barnfather to order them.

''Peter and Vandy'' is a love story told out of order. Set in Manhattan, the story shifts back and forth in time, juxtaposing Peter and Vandy's romantic beginnings with the twisted, manipulative, regular couple they become.

The protagonist of the series is Kerra Holt, a young female human who has just become a Jedi Knight. The Old Republic has been stretched to the breaking point and much of the galaxy is still controlled by Sith Lords, who are at war with both the Republic and, in many cases, with each other. In the first story arc ''Aflame'' which ran in issues #1-5, Holt is sent behind enemy lines into Sith-controlled space on her very first mission for the Republic.

She soon finds herself on her own, with no support from the Republic, on a world called Chelloa. A group of miners there are being oppressed by a Sith Lord, and she tries to help them. She inadvertently sparks a war between the oppressive Sith Lord and his brother, and the planet is almost destroyed; however, she is able to save it.

The game's story revolves around a race of creatures called Fluzzle's, who hail from a fictional place called Machu Popyu. Evil creatures called Mokes have infected the world and have turned it into an industrial wasteland. A mysterious stranger entices the Fluzzles to leave Machu Popyu and use their magical, shape morphing to resurrect the long dormant, Great Buhmba, and rejuvenate the lands, thus defeating the Mokes. The game features hand drawn cutscenes that guide the player through the game.

North-West Mounted Police Constable Bill Mason and two other Mounties are chasing a murderer who shoots and wounds one of them. When the murderer has entered the United States, Bill Mason goes undercover to get his man and bring him back to Canada for justice. He finds that the murderer, now calling himself Calhoun is leading a group of rustlers. Without knowing his true identity, the locals have Mason elected as the head of a vigilante committee to stop the rustling.

At the behest of their teacher, fourth grade schoolchildren in a small Croatian village found an old-style Slavic ''Zadruga'' and organize a field trip to Zagreb. On their way back, their teacher gets ill and must stay in a hospital. As the children travel back on their own, the train gets blocked by a snowdrift. With the help of the children, the railroad workers manage to clear the way.

Starting with a wordless jewel heist pulled-off by thief Peter Curran and locksmith John Bain, Curran then double-crosses his accomplice, dumps his lover Gianna and escapes with his ill-gotten gains. In the aftermath Gianna teams up with Bain and the two of them decide to even the score with Curran, developing feelings for each other along the way.

Pembleton (Andre Braugher) continues his investigation into the shooting death of small-time drug peddler Charles Courtland Cox, who he suspects was killed by police during a botched crackhouse raid. As the involved police officers turn over their guns for testing, the press reports heavily on the story, which results in pressure from the department heads to solve the case. Pembleton aggressively questions several officers, but none are cooperative. Gee (Yaphet Kotto) is angry with Pembleton's focus on the police and demands civilian suspects be pursued. Howard (Melissa Leo) and Bayliss (Kyle Secor) canvas the neighborhood of the shooting and find most residents do not trust the police, who they feel are responsible for the death of one of their own. However, one woman named Dale (June Thorne) tells Bayliss her grandson, Lane Staley (Isaiah Washington) witnessed the shooting. Staley is brought in to the station for questioning and, while Pembleton plans to question him as an eyewitness, Gee demands he be treated as a suspect.

Frustrated that Gee refuses to consider the possibility of a police shooting, Pembleton assures him he will get a confession out of Staley, whether he did it or not. Pembleton starts the interrogation calm and polite, but gradually becomes angrier, frightening Staley. Pembleton makes him feel responsible for allowing Cox to be at the crackhouse, and uses that guilt to break Staley down and confess, even though he is obviously innocent. Pembleton gives the confession to Gee, who is conflicted, especially when Pembleton compares it to past police practices of white detectives getting confessions from black suspects no matter what the cost. Ultimately, Gee tears up the confession and instead visits Staley at jail. Staley admits to Gee that Lt. Jimmy Tyron (Michael S. Kennedy) shot Cox in the back without warning while Cox was running away. Pembleton and Bayliss arrest Tyron at his home, where they confiscate a gun and bullets that appear to match those used against Cox. The arrest deeply saddens Howard, who had previously had an affair with Tyron. The affair ended because Tyron was married with children, but Howard continues to harbor romantic feelings for him.

Meanwhile, in a B story, Munch (Richard Belzer) repeatedly and loudly declares his love for his girlfriend Felicia, much to the annoyance of his lonely partner Bolander (Ned Beatty). The two confiscate a live tropical fish from the murder scene of a dead drug dealer. Upon learning it will not be used as evidence, Munch decides to give it as a gift to Felicia, who loves fish. However, she breaks up with Munch after the fish, a Jack Dempsey, ends up eating all her other fish. The now lonely Munch turns to Bolander for comfort, but finds the tables have turned and that Bolander has met a local waitress named Linda (Julianna Margulies). The two get along very well and bond over their mutual love of music. The episode ends with Linda and Bolander getting together to play music: Linda plays the violin, while Bolander plays the cello.

Nat Weiss (played by Mason himself in the Broadway production) is a Jewish widower who learns that his son is in love with a black woman. Eventually Nat himself falls in love with the woman's mother. The play's title is not explained in the play itself.

AD 2046, technology has grown all over the world and innovation is leading the way. The way of delivery methods has changed since the creation of the super strong cardboard, which can resist every impact and keeping its contents intact. As the popularity of the material grew, so did its purposes. The super strong cardboard was used as material for special battlefields for LBX's, specialized miniature robots made by Tiny Orbit that were once banned due to their destructive purposes. Their popularity has again risen due to the specialized battlefield, and special models of LBX were made.

Four years after the creation of the super strong cardboard, in AD 2050, Ban Yamano (Van Yamano in the English dub), a male middle school student has been entrusted with the LBX "AX-00" by a mysterious woman, containing a Platinum Capsule. Ban learned from the woman that his father is still alive and knew about a secret conspiracy in the government. Ban himself must protect the LBX and the Platinum Capsule, as its contents could change the world forever.

The episode is set six months after the series six finale, where Jo Portman (Miranda Raison) and Adam Carter were kidnapped by the Redbacks, a mercenary group known for kidnapping intelligence officers and selling them to be tortured. At the end of the episode, Jo appears to have been killed by Adam to spare her from the torture before they could be rescued. However, in a flashback it is revealed Jo played dead before rescue teams arrived, and later beats her kidnapper, Boscard (Gus Gallagher), to death. At first undecided, towards the end of the episode Jo returns to duty. In the meantime, Sir Harry Pearce secures the release of MI5 officer Lucas North, who was imprisoned in Russia for eight years.

In the main plot, British Army Private Andy Sullivan, on leave from Afghanistan, is kidnapped by members of an Al-Qaeda cell while on his way home to see his wife and newborn daughter. From an Internet broadcast, they demand Britain cancel the ceremonies during Remembrance Sunday or Sullivan will be executed. Lucas feels determined to help, much to Harry's reluctance, as he believes Lucas should be properly rested, but eventually allows him to work until they find Sullivan. Malcolm Wynn-Jones (Hugh Simon) voice matches one of the terrorists to Aaqib Faris (Shane Zaza), and learns he works under a Munzir Hatem, a known cell leader. In the middle of the night, Adam and Lucas silently break into Hatem's home and gather intelligence from his mobile phone. On the morning of Remembrance Sunday, the team find that Hatem sends out messages to a man codenamed "Firefly" to relay it to Faris. Ben Kaplan (Alex Lanipekun) follows Firefly to a payphone, and Malcolm traces where he is calling. Adam and Lucas arrive at the house Sullivan is being held and successfully rescues him.

As this transpires, Ros Myers (Hermione Norris) is stationed in Moscow under the codename "Rangefinder". There she finds intelligence on Tranquility, a codename of a Chechen assassin working with Al-Qaeda. After arriving back in London, Ros discovers Sullivan's kidnapping was a diversion; Tranquility is going to bomb a St. Augustus War Memorial ceremony at 11 am. Adam and Lucas arrive at the ceremony; while Lucas follows Tranquility, Adam discovers the bomb in her car that can only be defused by a code. When Tranquility kills herself, Adam must drive the car to an unpopulated zone. Adam makes it, but the car explodes just as he exits, killing him.

Harry realised earlier that FSB head of operations in London Arkady Kachimov purposely withheld the bomb plot when he announces chatter between Chechnya and Al-Qaeda, and plans to commit revenge. Kachimov meanwhile, is on the phone, and asks "is it enroute?" to the person on the other end, and appears pleased to the response. In the next episode, it is revealed to be a Russian submarine planning a cyber attack on a submarine communications cable. In the end, Harry visits Wes Carter, Adam's son, to tell him his father died.

Kim Mathews (Felicity Jones) is introduced by a television presenter (Miquita Oliver) as a former skateboarding champion whose mother was killed in a car accident. Kim gives up skateboarding and begins working in a fast food burger bar to pay household bills to help her father (Bill Bailey).

When she and her father need more money to pay the bills, Kim goes looking for a job with better pay. Her friend recommends a job choice as a chalet girl, working in the Alps for rich clients. As she is turned down, there is a call to say that the current chalet girl broke her leg and Kim is accepted for the job at the last minute. Chalet girl Georgie (Tamsin Egerton) is sent to help Kim out but doesn't seem to like her as she is anything but posh or glamorous and she can't ski or snowboard as she has never been to the Alps. Kim is instantly attracted to Jonny (Ed Westwick) the rich son of Richard (Bill Nighy) and Caroline (Brooke Shields), although he is in a relationship with girlfriend Chloe (Sophia Bush).

As Kim is living next to the mountains she tries to teach herself to snowboard although she finds this difficult. Mikki (Ken Duken), seeing her struggle, helps her out and teaches her to snowboard. He notices that she has a natural talent. He persuades her to try out to win a snowboarding competition to win €25,000.

Georgie begins to become friends with Kim and later finds out it is her birthday. She takes Kim to a club, where they get drunk. She persuades Kim to take the party back to where they are staying, as the family are out. Georgie, Kim, Mikki and Georgie's friend, Jules (Georgia King) are in the hot tub and they are naked. Georgie and Mikki continue to hook up.

When Kim gets out of the tub to shovel snow on herself, the family return home and see her naked. Georgie and Kim then proceed to clean the house and pay back for any damage that was done to the house. Kim continues to work on her snowboarding skills and tries to conquer her fear of the high jumps as it brings back the memory of the car crash.

Kim and Jonny become closer and at the end of a business trip with his father and some potential investors he decides to stay behind, presumably to spend more time with Kim. Jonny pays her to teach him how to snowboard, which brings them closer and after a day in the snow they kiss briefly and end up having sex. Bernhard (Gregor Bloéb) had spotted them earlier and had alerted Caroline. The morning after their one night stand, Caroline catches them and gives away the fact that Jonny is engaged to Chloe. Kim packs her stuff and leaves the house upset and angry that Jonny lied to her and slept with her even though he was engaged.

As she is going to leave for home, her father persuades her to stay and try to win the competition as it would have been what her mother wanted. In London, at his and Chloe's engagement party, Jonny breaks up with Chloe in front of the guests. Chloe, piecing together the facts, asks if he is in love with Kim, which he admits to. After hearing the news of their break up, Kim appears to not care about Jonny anymore.

Mikki and Kim enter the competition. Mikki fails to make the high jump and ends up breaking his arm, which takes him out of the chance of winning. Kim does well on all obstacles until she gets to the high jump; she stops as she remembers the car accident again. Although she doesn't make a place in the top 20 to be in the final, she is the first reserve having come 21st. When the finals come, world champion Tara (Tara Dakides, as herself) pulls out and gives up her chances of winning to Kim.

Kim makes all obstacles and jumps, visualizing her mother cheering her on from the crowd; she lands the jump perfectly and wins. Jonny, having come back after breaking up with Chloe, appears behind Kim and apologises; a playful conversation follows and they kiss. It then shows Richard and Caroline watching the competition on TV and see Jonny and Kim kiss. Caroline, seeing how happy her son is, gives in and agrees to accept Kim.

The show is mainly set in Heaven ruled by Ngọc Hoàng. He has two assistants, god Nam Tào and god Bắc Đẩu (named after the two star constellations Crux and Big Dipper) who helps him manage affairs of the kingdom below. There are a few other characters off-handedly mentioned, but usually only Thiên Lôi (God of Thunder) is on-screen and often has to run Heaven's errands.

Every year, Ngọc Hoàng assembles the Táo Quân(s) (Kitchen God) to Heaven to report the affairs in Vietnam throughout the year to him. Unlike the original legend, there could be multiple Táo(s), each in charge of one aspect of the country's society (such as transportation, economy, education, culture or tourism, but no politics, military or defense). The Táo(s) are typically named after the division they are in charge of, although in 2015 they are named after the Five Elementals (Wu Xing).

Táo(s) report directly to Ngọc Hoàng with the presence of Nam Tào and Bắc Đẩu, who often find faults in their reports and run into arguments. Ngọc Hoàng typically hears the stories and makes comments, but can be sarcastic and show unexpected talents and remarks. Although the majority of reports are done by prose, sometimes the reports can be told by other forms, such as dancing, singing or short plays. The reports highlight the socio-political and economical issues of the past year in Vietnam, often interpreted in a more comedic and light-hearted manner.

At the end of the assembly, all of the Táo(s) gather, and Ngọc Hoàng reads the final remarks. The show ends with all the cast and presenter Thảo Vân (the latter until 2021) wishing audiences a happy new year.

Starting from 2009, in addition to the main plot, the show also includes an accompanying theme and scenario. * In 2009, the Táo Quân(s) presented Hoa Táo, a parody of the beauty competition Miss Vietnam. * In 2011, the show was named Táo Idol with the format based on Vietnam Idol. * In 2013, the show was based on the format of The Voice of Vietnam. In addition, Ngọc Hoàng, Nam Tào and Bắc Đẩu switched bodies by order, unbeknownst to the Táo Quân(s). * In 2014, Ngọc Hoàng had a sore throat and could not attend the assembly. Nam Tào and Bắc Đẩu was forced to find a lookalike, Tèo (also played by Quốc Khánh) and trained him to act as a temporary replacement for Ngọc Hoàng. * In 2015, the later part of the show featured a competition where Ngọc Hoàng requested to find a third sidekick in the zenith for him, alongside Nam Tào and Bắc Đẩu. This part was based on the television game shows ''Ai là triệu phú'' (Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?) and ''Ơn giời cậu đây rồi'' (Thank God You're Here). * In 2016, the later part of the show featured a wheel from ''Chiếc nón kỳ diệu'' (Wheel of Fortune) to find out which Táo is responsible for corruption. * In 2018, the show marked its 15th anniversary, but the reporting part was removed. Instead, this year's show featured a catwalk runway and a competition to win the title of "the first quintessence Táo".

Music and performances

The show frequently features music and dance performances throughout. Although the settings and costumes are based on the imperial era, if necessary, the singers (and even the actors themselves) can change to a more contemporary look. The show also frequently parodies Vietnamese and foreign songs, by rewriting the lyrics for storytelling purposes. Many performances later become Internet memes in Vietnam. The incomplete list includes:

2008 * "Million Roses" (Alla Pugacheva) 2009 * "...Baby One More Time" (Britney Spears) * "Money, Money, Money" (ABBA) * Từ một ngã tư đường phố (Phạm Tuyên) 2010 * "I Have a Dream" (ABBA) * "Daddy Cool" (Boney M.) 2011 * "Un-Break My Heart" (Toni Braxton) * Teen Vọng Cổ (Vĩnh Thuyên Kim) 2013 * "Gangnam Style" (PSY) * Lý kéo chài * Là con gái thật tuyệt (Khởi My) 2014 * Không cảm xúc (Hồ Quang Hiếu) * Con bướm xinh (Hồ Quang Hiếu) 2015 * Nắm lấy tay anh (Tuấn Hưng) * Không phải dạng vừa đâu (Sơn Tùng-MTP) 2016 * Em là hoa hồng nhỏ (Trịnh Công Sơn) * Vợ người ta (Phan Mạnh Quỳnh) * Mình đi đâu thế (Hoàng Bách) 2017 * Mắt nai cha cha (Hồng Ngọc) * Thành Phố Trẻ (Trần Tiến) 2018 Thật bất ngờ (Trúc Nhân) Tàu anh qua núi (Anh Thơ) 2019 * Con đường xưa em đi *Không dám đâu 2021 * Big City Boi (binz) * Có chàng trai viết lên cây (Phan Mạnh Quỳnh) 2022 * ?

Alex and Anna have just moved into a new house in Solsidan since their old house had some mold trouble. Alex has decided to ask Anna to marry him but as problems finding the perfect moment to pop the question. Anna has begun working as a masseuse again and to get some practice she offered Mickan a free massage, but Mickan forgets and Fredde has to take her place, which makes him really uncomfortable. When Alex finally has decided how to propose to Anna, Ove Sundbergs shows up and destroys the moment. Alex planned a romantic picnic by the sea with a choir showing up in the background when he asks Anna. But Ove refuses to leave the spot that Alex has chosen, but at the end Alex doesn't care and proposes to Anna in front of Ove and she says "yes".

Fredde and Mickan get a nanny, Mickan isn't pleased with her because she thinks that Fredde stares at her boobs too much, and she gets a new older lady instead. But it seems like she and Fredde has a lot in common and are getting along a little to well so she firers her as well and hires a third nanny, a homosexual man. Mickan has figured out a way to save money, she buys clothes, furniture and such and then return them after she has used them. It drives Fredde crazy since it's he who has to spend his weekend returning all the stuff.

Fredde's old childhood tormentor, Kristian, is now together with Lussan, Mickan's best friend and is moving back to Solsidan from Géneve, where he has lived until now. Alex tries to calm Fredde down by saying that Fredde at least is the wealthiest man in Solsidan and has a wonderful family. It then shows that Kristian owns around 22 billion Swedish kronor and is among the richest Swedes. Fredde doesn't know what to do, he is no longer the wealthiest man in Solsidan. To get back at Kristian he introduces him to Ove Sundberg, who absolutely wants to become friend with a billionaire.

Alex feels that he and Anna has an unfair way of dividing the households chores and wants to introduce a new currency to be able to buy himself free when you have collected enough money. Anna has a negative feeling about it and it all falls apart when she demands household money for sex.

In Kagoshima, in the final days of World War II, an offer of marriage comes to Etsuko Kamiya, who lives with her brother and his wife. The offer comes from Nagayo, but Etsuko is attracted to his friend, Akashi.

Norma Sherman, is a night-club singer and addict who, upon being released from jail, attempts to win back the love of her husband.

Lieutenant Siriman Keita has returned from a long service in the French Colonial Army (during which he was awarded the Croix de Guerre) to Kouta, a market village near his smaller home village of Kouroula. In Kouta, he at first plots to ascend to the canton chiefdom while avoiding his envious older brother, Faganda. However, his plans are scrapped when he humiliates himself in a horse-riding accident before the village, and he withdraws to his fortress-like "square house." After a time, he adopts a fatherless boy who he had once punished for stealing, and marries Awa, a Senegalese woman of questionable reputation. Disaster strikes the lieutenant again, however, when the French commandant incites him to lead a punitive expedition against the pro-independence village of Woudi. When the expedition fails, the lieutenant is stripped and humiliated before the people of Kouta and, after the commandant denies his own involvement, is sent to jail in the country's capital for disturbing the peace. He returns to find Awa pregnant by a young pro-independence activist, but having changed during his incarceration, the lieutenant forgives her betrayal and adopts the coming child as his own. He reconciles with the imam of the local mosque, formerly a bitter enemy, and eventually becomes the village muezzin, only to die mysteriously following an injection by his envious brother. The imam does him the honor of burying him in the mosque, while the French administrators, concerned by the example of his conversion, hastily and posthumously award him the Legion of Honour.

Drugs baron Harvey Wratten and his unstable nephew, Jay (Rafe Spall), are released from prison on a Royal Pardon (which is a rarity). On the drive from prison Harvey is shot execution-style while seated in the back seat of his car. Corrupt copper Sergeant Foley (David Schofield) and his partner find Wratten's body and alert Joseph Bede (Christopher Eccleston), Wratten’s placid and gentle henchman. Jay has as already shown his true colours by attacking an associate of Bob Harris’s (Robert Pugh) in a lift for suggesting that they earned their freedom by naming names.

Before his arrest Harvey had Joseph set up a legitimate floral business for a clean "line" to smuggle drugs through. After Harvey is murdered, Joseph discovers that Harvey owed a £1,000,000 to a Turkish drugs importer, Bulkat Babur (Stanley Townsend), for the shipment that was seized during his arrest. So Joseph proposes a new deal to the Turk; use his new business to earn enough to cover what is owed plus what he personally invested to start the business and provide care for his rapidly deteriorating wife and then he's out. So Joseph and Babur strike a deal.

The Wratten murder case is given to DI Jonah Gabriel (Chiwetel Ejiofor), who has just returned to work with a bullet lodged in his brain after a bungled undercover job left his partner dead. He has lost all memory of the event. No sooner has the investigation begun than Gabriel finds a case containing hundreds of thousands of pounds hidden in his own home.

Gabriel believes Harvey knew his killer because Wratten had opened the car window. So Gabriel and colleague DS Lia Honey (Kierston Wareing) look for the car driver, petty crook Andy Dixon (Tobi Bakare), to find out what he knows but he is on the run. Jay threatens Andy's mother to find him and then a mysterious man called Gatehouse (Stephen Rea) shows up. His calm, soothing demeanour fools Andy's mother into thinking he can be trusted. After sleeping on the street for a couple of days Andy phones his mother (Sharon D. Clarke) to ask what he should do. She tells him to avoid Jay and the police and she calls Gatehouse. Just as Jay and Gabriel are running toward Andy in the park, Gatehouse calls and instructs him where to go.

Sitting together in his car, Gatehouse persuades Andy Dixon to meet Jay and tell him he "messed up" and that he heard his uncle's killer say "Bob Harris says ‘hello’”. Gatehouse suspects Andy may have seen more and shoots him and his family, making it look as if the young chauffeur has done the deed. Patterson (Richard Lintern), Gabriel's superior, is ready to wrap the case up and call it quits but Gabriel is not convinced the story is legit so Patterson allows him two weeks to solve the case.

During an earlier conversation with another officer, Honey learns that Gabriel didn't register the undercover operation that got him shot and his partner killed. She now has her doubts about Gabriel's reliability and follows him to a house where he is welcomed by a woman who is not his wife (Agni Scott) and a little boy who calls him "Daddy". During that visit the woman repeats her demand that Gabriel tell his pregnant wife, Laura, about her and their son or she will.

Gabriel and Honey stake out Harvey's funeral as a villain named Beatty (Sean Gilder) shows up and expresses his hatred of Harvey to Jay, the only person who came to pay respects. Honey uses this time to confront Gabriel about not registering the operation, which makes it appear as if Gabriel is hiding something; Gabriel can't remember. Just then, the annoying reporter Ross McGovern (Tobias Menzies) shows up and questions why they are there if the case has been closed. Ross, sniffing a story, attempts to chase Beatty on his motorcycle but Gabriel intervenes and breaks the light assembly so he can't pursue. Ironically, Ross soon gets promoted to editor-in-chief and to his dismay, is bluntly told to drop the corruption story and move on. As he rides home to share the good news with his wife, Gatehouse deliberately hits and kills him with his car.

Gabriel gets a surprise visit from Beatty, who turns out to be a customs officer. He tells Gabriel that Harvey earned his pardon for saving his life by alerting police to a car bomb and giving a tip-off about the drug deal. Harvey still has the drugs (hence the rift with Babur, who should have been paid). Beatty also arrests one of Harris's pushers, who names Jay as the informant, which Jay denies.

By studying tube CCTV, Gabriel links the dead Dixon to Gatehouse, who is now in pursuit of Peter Glickman (Antony Sher), a key player in the former drug operation who went into hiding after Harvey's murder. Glickman's son manages to protect his father from Jay and Maurice but after threatening his wife and newborn baby, Gatehouse frightens the son into calling his father. Gatehouse has bugged the son's office and is able to decipher Glickman's phone number and location during the call. Joseph, who is emotionally vulnerable due to his wife's volatile behaviour, has started a brief affair with Petra (Eve Best), Peter Glickman's girlfriend.

Glickman is now living as watch-maker Paul Donnelly in Dublin. Gatehouse arrives at the shop but Glickman is ready for him. During their conversation Glickman detonates a bomb he had installed as a security measure but it fails to kill Gatehouse and both men back off due to the imminent arrival of emergency services. Now back in town, Glickman rings Gabriel and says his dead partner, Delaney, was corrupt; Patterson defends Gabriel's integrity. Glickman meets Joseph and it transpires that Gatehouse had the money for the drugs in the transaction with Babur but Glickman failed to pay up. Harris's boyfriend, Ratallack (Freddie Fox), proposes that he take over the deal with Joseph. Harris is seen as a complication and is assassinated (presumably by Gatehouse).

Glickman meets Gabriel, telling him that Gatehouse will give him the answers he needs but to beware, because Gatehouse will use his "secrets" to hurt him. Gabriel assumes this means his ex-mistress and their son. Glickman also suggests that he visit retired Commander Penney (Nicholas Jones) and ask about "Counterpoint".

Gabriel is soon visited by Gatehouse at Alison's flat. With Gatehouse at the door, in flashbacks, Gabriel remembers that it was Gatehouse who shot Delaney and the bullet that passed through his partner's head lodged into his own. Gatehouse explains that he killed Delaney because he was corrupt and he deliberately spared Gabriel. Gatehouse offers a journal of Delaney's notes as proof (the notebook was blank) but Gabriel astutely observes that Gatehouse is wearing gloves (a sign that an execution was imminent). At that moment Glickman, who has been hiding in the bedroom, jumps out and shoots Gatehouse twice. Unfortunately, Gabriel's son wanders into the crossfire and is struck and killed instantly. In the uproar that follows Glickman leaves without finishing Gatehouse off. Glickman then calls Petra and wants to meet. Inexplicably, she kills him and then attempts to murder Gatehouse in his hospital room but he kills her.

As Gabriel's memory returns he makes inquiries and discovers the money in the briefcase is marked and was actually part of a sting, not a dirty deal. Although Delaney was originally corrupt, Patterson partnered him with Gabriel in hopes that he would stip being dirty (which he did). The operation that night was not logged because corrupt officers (like Foley) might blow the cover. He tells Patterson, who warns him that their superior, Commander Khokar (Ace Bhatti), is not to be trusted. Joseph Bede's henchman, Maurice, tips off Sergeant Foley about Joseph's forthcoming deal with Babur.

Gabriel visits Penney on his boat, who tells him that Counterpoint had originally been set up as a sting to crack down on the laundering of drug money. The operation had been placed under his control, as Commander of the Force and a Secret Service agent named Gatehouse. Money apprehended from the stings was funnelled into the police pension fund. Gatehouse conducted the operation through two underworld bosses named Wratten and Glickman. After Counterpoint's objective had been served Harvey was urged to retire the drug operation but he refused. After relaying all this to Gabriel, Penney, overcome with remorse, kills himself in front of Gabriel. Khokar, who succeeded Penney and Sir Richard Halton (former MI5)want to remove Wratten, Glickman, and Gatehouse. Gatehouse turns the tables and murders Halton at home. When Gabriel and Patterson realise that Khokar sent Petra to kill Glickman and Gatehouse and that he is implicated in the corruption, Khokar is forced to resign.

While in prison Harvey found out about Counterpoint and the true nature of his customer (Gatehouse). He used the information to blackmail the police into enabling him to receive a Royal Pardon. Since such a pardon requires that significant help be given to an official investigation, a scam was devised whereby he appeared to give details leading to a major bust (of his own previously confiscated drugs) and provide information that would save the life of a Customs Officer (from a bomb deliberately placed for that purpose). The pension scheme had since become reliant on this income and the operation was deemed too profitable to close down. Gatehouse killed Wratten to re-start the business with him in charge.

Joseph's wife Julie tries to kill herself by deliberately falling down the stairs. Doctors tell Joseph she will have to go into a home but he refuses. Joseph returns home later to find her gone. She has been hospitalised after slitting her wrists. Joseph visits and tries to comfort her but she pulls away and says, "Let me go". Not meaning, "Let go of my hand". but "Please let me die". Early on, Joseph begins to suspect that Jay would kill him to take over the drug business, so he buys a gun to kill him first. Seeing his wife's blood on the kitchen floor from her suicide attempt makes him realise that he has little to live for now. When Jay comes calling to pick up the money Joseph deliberately leaves the gun and his house keys behind on the table and Jay kills him.

Beatty alerts Gabriel to Joseph's deal with Babur and Ratallack but Gabriel decides to sting the operation with the marked money from the earlier failed sting with Delaney. When Beatty discovers the foil he is furious and beats Sergeant Foley up, as if he is responsible. Soon the phone rings in Gabriel's office and we see him drawing the description of where he is to meet the caller. Gabriel arrives at the remote location to find Khokar hanging by the neck and Gatehouse calmly talking as if nothing has happened. It appears as though he is willing to give Gabriel a chance to walk on the shadow line and ignore what has happened. Gabriel, who has made compromises in his personal life, is unwilling to do so professionally. He has positioned Honey with a rifle above the meeting place so she can kill Gatehouse when he gives the signal. Gatehouse sends a signal and she kills Gabriel instead.

With all the old loose ends tied, Gatehouse is in control of Counterpoint. He tells Jay (now procurement boss) and Ratallack (now sales boss) not to screw up "because you know who you're messing with". They are the (new) threads but he is the rope. Patterson, promoted to Commander, visits Gabriel's widow in the maternity hospital and informs her that Gabriel's newborn son will be well looked after, thanks to a well-funded police pension scheme. The police apparatus, with Honey taking Gabriel's place as Detective Inspector, swallows Gabriel's death and the entire corrupt operation whole, while concocting a Khokar-shot-Gabriel-then-hung-himself narrative for the press and anyone else who asks....

One September morning in 1977 in Ankara, a young man rushes his pregnant wife to the hospital for the impending birth. He crashes into another car, whose driver is another father-to-be. As a result of the accident, the woman in the car they hit gives birth prematurely, resulting in both babies being born on the same day at the same hospital. That accident becomes the first of many coincidences that will connect the fates of Özgür and Deniz, whose lives will continue to intersect throughout the rest of their childhood and teenage years in Ankara. Each time their paths intersect, the cause of the intersection greatly transforms both Özgür and Deniz’s lives. However, their lives never fully intertwine because whatever it is that brings them together manages to build a wall between until their next encounter, some 25 years on, in Istanbul.

A gigolo's career is threatened when the daughter of one of his clients becomes attracted to him.

During take-off for a flight to Europe, Royce Air International Flight 115 (a Boeing 747-200 flying from New York to London) is struck by lightning. Although the flight continues, the lightning strike has killed the flight crew and disabled the radio communications to the ground. Laurie Ann Pickett (Kate Jackson), the senior flight attendant, enlists the aid of passenger Brett Young (Ed Marinaro), and together, they determine that the autopilot can bring the aircraft in for a landing.

The autopilot that they rely on, begins to malfunction, homing in on airfield transponders at random, even airports that are too small to accommodate the large jet-liner. Both Laurie and Brett realize they may have to find a way to land the aircraft by themselves. Veering to a completely new heading, the airliner turns from its flightpath over the Atlantic Ocean to fly to the Pacific Coast of North America. A small sub-plot, though not relevant to the malfunctioning autopilot, is a rottweiler that broke free in the cargo hold and becomes a small menace to the passengers. The dog is eventually befriended and calmed down, as it was only aggravated due to stress.

On the ground, FAA Air Traffic Control officials who have lost radio contact with the 747, start a debate as to when the aircraft should be shot down to prevent a more disastrous crash in a heavily populated area. Tensions begin to come to a head on board the stricken airliner, with a landing at Vancouver, British Columbia, becoming their only option.

A hard-living salesman becomes a quadriplegic after an accident.

''Abel Sánchez'' is a version of the Biblical story of Cain and Abel. The Cain of the novel is named Joaquin. Though they are not brothers, they have grown up together, competing as brothers would. Abel becomes a famous and recognized painter while Joaquin becomes a well-known doctor. Joaquin's goal is to outdo Abel by making medical discoveries, thus competing with Abel's art by excelling at science, which also is an art. Joaquin always has been jealous of Abel and competitive with him, but what bothers him most is that Abel does not feel the same sense of rivalry. Abel marries Helena, Joaquin's cousin, whom Joaquin hoped to wed. To allay his envy and hatred, Joaquin marries Antonia, not out of love but simply to maintain his competitive standing with Abel. Abel and Helena have a son named Abelin, Joaquin and Antonia have a daughter named Joaquina. Joaquin lives out his jealous ambitions through his daughter. As the story of Cain and Abel ends, so does this novel. Reaching the point of utter hatred, Joaquin takes Abel's life. When Joaquin dies, he apologizes to his family. Realizing that his life was consumed by hatred and envy, he says that if only he had loved his wife, Antonia, she could have been his savior.

Replete with biblical comparisons, this book shows what one's life becomes when one is consumed by envy or hatred. Joaquin had no life of his own; his existence was only as the hater of Abel. Even though the protagonist is Joaquin, the book is titled ''Abel Sánchez'' because Joaquin's character is formed wholly from his intense feelings toward Abel.

Main plot

The episode begins immediately after the events of "Chuck Versus the Masquerade", with Vivian McArthur (Lauren Cohan) investigating her father Alexei Volkoff's office at the Volkoff Industries headquarters in Moscow, Russia. After unlocking a secret compartment with the locket her father had given her, Vivian finds a bank account card. The opening of the compartment triggers a silent alarm, and a man (Ray Wise) enters, introducing himself as Riley, her father's lawyer. Riley reads Volkoff's will, revealing that he has given Vivian the entire organization, claiming to have groomed her to become his successor. When Vivian declines her father's legacy, Riley holds her at gunpoint, urging her not to waste the opportunity. She stabs his hand to the desk and smashes a vase across his face before escaping. Later at Castle, General Beckman assigns Chuck Bartowski and Sarah Walker to use Vivian to infiltrate the criminal-funding First Bank of Macau, having learned that Volkoff has left a means for her to enter the bank with the account card.

The bank manager (François Chau) escorts Vivian all the way to the vault. Chuck, disguised as Vivian's bodyguard, is held back at the lobby. Vivian passes a series of tests through lie detectors and even a DNA sample before being able to access her father's deposit. The manager finally gives Vivian her father's safe deposit box, revealing countless newspaper headlines on Vivian's achievements and even photographs of her childhood, shocking Vivian. Meanwhile, Chuck steals a guard's access card, being punched in the stomach in the process, and makes his way through the higher levels of the bank, finding a room storing with high-tech equipment. He flashes on it, learning that they are the servers used to handle all of the bank's fundings, having been stolen from the Chinese Army one year earlier. Chuck is then cornered by two of the bank's security guards just after Vivian leaves the vault. Vivian feigns anger at her bodyguard's betrayal, holding him at gunpoint. The staff simply tells her to handle the situation outside of bank property, and they escort the two back to the lobby, where Sarah is disguised as Vivian's head of security. They then leave and return to Castle, where Chuck tells Vivian that he will arrange for her to meet with her father.

Beckman reveals that the bank has used the servers to become a black market stock exchange, laundering money for criminals, terrorists, and rogue nations. As an account holder, Vivian would be able to enter the bank and manually access the network, giving the government access the priceless intelligence. Beckman agrees to let Vivian see her father in exchange for her help and orders Chuck and Sarah to rob the bank as a diversion.

As Vivian makes a deposit in the upper levels of the bank, Chuck and Sarah enter and tranquilize several guards. The guard assigned to Vivian leaves her to prevent the robbery, allowing her to connect to the bank's network. Suddenly, Riley appears and asks Vivian questions the cause her to question Chuck's sincerity. Although he reveals that Chuck is the one responsible for her father's arrest, Vivian asserts that her father is a criminal. Riley points out Volkoff's love for her, telling her that the CIA has manipulated her and will not allow her to see her father. Riley gives her his business card and tells her to tell him when she is ready to claim the company, returning her locket before leaving the bank. Vivian reunites with Chuck and Sarah, and they burn the money they have stolen from the bank.

Beckman later decides that the security risks are too high for Vivian to see her father, and Chuck is forced to apologize to her. Chuck later calls Vivian, who ignores the call and drives away with Riley, wanting to learn the truth about her father.

Sarah

Sarah and Ellie Woodcomb discuss on what types of flowers she should have for the wedding. Sarah confesses that she is not used to the "girl stuff", and asks Ellie to make the decisions for her completely. Ellie, being a good bridesmaid, contacts Sarah to ensure that all of her decisions are to Sarah's liking.

Ellie later calls Sarah with the epiphany that a wedding should be based around the bride's wedding dress, leading Sarah to try on several dresses in the recently expanded Castle "coatroom", which contains dozens of outfits and a holographic representation of the user wearing said outfit. Sarah finds one to her liking and bursts into tears of joy at the realization that she is getting married. Casey compliments the dress, though he points out that the specific one she is wearing has multiple bullet holes on the back and will have to be replaced. Sarah is nonetheless delighted to tell Chuck she picked out her dress, while they rob a bank.

Sarah later makes several expensive demands of Ellie (including 100 dozen Casablanca lilies, a wedding cake flown in from Paris, and reserving a private island for the ceremony), worrying Chuck about the wedding's expenses. Ellie worries that she's created a monster.

Morgan and Casey

Morgan Grimes searches for a new roommate, while temporarily staying at his mother's house. Morgan complains to Big Mike that he is uncomfortable sleeping every night with the "cat noises" (Big Mike and his mother's engaging in intercourse), but Mike simply expresses that Morgan should not be complaining, as he chose to move in with them.

In his office at the Buy More, Morgan searches for a roommate on the internet, only to be interrupted by Jeff Barnes and Lester Patel. Jeff and Lester offer Morgan the empty "room" in their van in exchange for one week off of work to attend a Renaissance fair and meet women, which Morgan swiftly refuses. He then leaves the manager office to handle the store, with the two still in the office. Lester goes onto Morgan's laptop and sabotages his search for a roommate as revenge. While Morgan's prospective roommates arrive, he discovers that they are all participants of the Renaissance fair Jeff and Lester were referring to.

Morgan accepts the room in their van, only to learn that it has since been filled by the fair's "king". As Morgan goes to sleep on the couch in the Buy More home theater room, he is distracted by sounds of construction in Castle. Two men take the secret elevator to install a TR-476 in the facility. Morgan follows the men to Castle, which is being expanded by the National Clandestine Service. Casey confronts Morgan, who claims not to have seen anything.

Morgan apologizes to Casey, who finally agrees to let him stay in the spare room of his apartment. In exchange, Morgan is to keep quiet about Casey's secret missions, especially to Chuck.

In California, a homeless and mentally ill man, Rex, comes to believe he is a gunfighter from the American Old West, and heads for Los Angeles. While travelling, he begins a murder spree, and his victims include police officers. He becomes fixated on Los Angeles police officer John Shepard, who is in the news after killing a drug dealer in a shootout, and news anchor Maggie Hewitt, who broke the story. He terrorizes Hewitt before arriving in Los Angeles, where he challenges Shepard to a Western-style showdown at high noon.

The sudden death of the young Shun-chi Emperor (Shunzhi) shocked the whole empire. The second prince Fuk-tsuen, was originally the successor for the throne, but Empress Dowager Hao-chong (Xiaozhuang) changed the successor to the third prince Yuen-yip, who subsequently becomes the Hong-hei Emperor (Kangxi). Angry with this, Fuk-tsuen dispatches a spy, Nip Dor-po, and instructs him to gain Hong-hei's trust.

Haesaerts shows opening images of Picasso books, then switches to a series of works by the artist in chronological order. Then the artist paints and sculpts art works.

Steve Banks (Armstrong) is a hard-drinking newspaper reporter. His wife Margaret (Lombard), a reporter for a rival paper, threatens to divorce him if he doesn't quit the drinking that is compromising his career. Steve pursues a story about drug dealers even when his editor fires him. When the editor is murdered, Steve is accused of the killing.

The screenplay concerns a gambler who joins the Texas Rangers in hopes of finding the true perpetrators of the killings in which his brother is implicated.

The story follows the broadly true story of Edith Cavell who went to German-occupied Brussels after the onset of the First World War.

Edith hides the young Frenchman Jean Rappard, but is suspected of this and her hospital is inspected by German troops at regular intervals. Jean is put on a canal barge and despite being searched at the border escapes successfully.

Back in Brussels a firing squad executes a dozen escaped prisoners who were caught in the woods. Edith and albert go to try to find wounded on a battlefield near the woods and bring back four British men including Pt. Bungey of the Buffs. They are hidden in the hospital in a secret room accessed through a wardrobe in the basement boiler room. The Countess goes to the cobbler to organise their safe transportation.

Meanwhile Edith also tends the young dying Germans in the main hospital. A further three Frenchmen are sent to the border by barge with Mme Moulin.

An alleged escaped French PoW arrives at the Countess's mansion. The Countess is suspicious due to his accent and locks him in the kitchen whilst informing the German authorities. The hospital is also being watched. Nevertheless the numbers increase ... but they include Wilhelm Schultz of the German military intelligence. He therefore works out how Edith and the Countess operate. Esch person is given new ID papers and money.

On 5 August 1915 Edith is arrested and placed in the Prison of St Gilles. A campaign begins to release her, but the Germans wish to "set an example" and wish her shot.

In the court she is charged with the far more serious crime of espionage. The very young Francois Rappard is brought into the court (in handcuffs) as the critical non-military witness. The authorities point out that the people who were helped returned to the front and killed Germans. Edith admits to having had helped at least 200 men escape. The three military judges go to decide her sentence. She is read the sentence in her cell by Cpt. Heinrichs: she is to be shot at dawn.

The authorities are evasive when they are asked by the British consul to give the result of the trial. Pleas for clemency are ignored.

Some of the proposed firing squad say they are ill as they do not wish to shoot a woman. But on the allotted morning eight soldiers shoot her dead.

On May 15, 1919 a memorial service is held in Westminster Abbey.

Hal Donovan gets into a fight with ex-heavyweight champion Slug Cassidy at a lumber camp in the north woods. Slug takes a bad beating and he and his trainer, Spider, urge Hal to become a professional boxer. Soon, "Chopper" Hal proves to be a natural and is beating all comers. He meets Kay Conrad, who is struggling to support her father, an ex-fighter invalided for life in the ring, and her young brother Dickie. Kay hates everything connected to the sport, and Hal keeps her ignorant of his profession. But Slug and Spider tell the Conrads of Hal's identity as "Chopper" Hal, and Kay breaks off the engagement while Hal takes to the open road. Hal, now a tramp, picks up odd jobs where he can find them and one of them leads him to a training camp where he meets Slug and Spider with their new fighter Lion Lee. He also meets Kay and learns that her father is in desperate need of money. He accepts Spider's offer to fight Lee, on the condition that he take a dive in the third round. Kay learns of this and begs Hal to fight an honest fight if he is determined to fight. He tells Spider that he'll fight Lee on honest terms and the match is on.

Nora Moran, a young woman with a difficult and tragic past, is sentenced to die for a murder that she did not commit. She could easily reveal the truth and save her own life, if only it would not damage the lives, careers and reputations of those whom she loves.

The title character, Polly Honeycombe, is a young woman who reads many novels from the circulating library. Her expectations for her own future are shaped by the actions and characters in these novels. She tells her nurse that "a novel is the only thing to teach a girl life, and the way of the world." Her father plans to marry her to Ledger, "the rich Jew's wife's nephew," who shares none of Polly's notions of romance. Polly wants, instead to marry Scribble, who is merely an attorney's clerk, but who, like Polly, is self-consciously aware of the ways he follows novelistic conventions of plot and character. When Honeycombe discovers his daughter's intentions, he locks her in her room—an action which Polly recognizes as a typical plot point. Scribble, however, had already been hiding in the room, and the two escape together. Ledger tracks them down and brings them back, only for the family to discover that Polly and Scribble had already begun the process of marrying, according to the 1753 Marriage Act, by pronouncing their bans. The play ends with Honeycombe and Ledger frustrated and Polly and Scribble happily leaving together.

In 1931, the Bondurant brothers — middle brother Forrest, eldest brother Howard, and youngest brother Jack — are running a successful moonshine business in Franklin County, Virginia. The brothers use their gas station and restaurant as a front for dealing with the assistance of Cricket, Jack's mechanically gifted friend who builds and maintains their stills. Jack witnesses rum-runner Floyd Banner shoot dead two federal agents in broad daylight for trying to arrest him.

Forrest hires Maggie, a financially struggling dancer, as a waitress. Shortly afterward, the gas station is visited by newly appointed U.S. Marshal Charley Rakes, accompanied by the sheriff and corrupt state's attorney Mason Wardell. Rakes demands that he and Wardell receive a cut of profits from all bootleggers within the county, including Forrest, in exchange for ignoring their operations. Forrest refuses and implores his fellow bootleggers to unite against Rakes, but they refuse.

Meanwhile, Jack lusts after Bertha, daughter of the local Brethren preacher. He attends their church service drunk, embarrassing himself but piquing her interest. Jack walks in on a visit from Rakes to Cricket's house and is beaten by him as a message to his brothers. Later that night, Forrest throws out two drunk customers who had been harassing and threatening Maggie. After Maggie leaves, Forrest is ambushed by the two men, who slit his throat. Maggie returns looking for Forrest but is beaten and raped by the men. She hides the assault from Forrest, not wanting him to take revenge.

While Forrest recovers at a hospital, Jack, deciding to retire from bootlegging rather than cross Rakes any further, crosses the county line with Cricket to sell their remaining liquor. They get ambushed by Banner and his crew but are spared when Jack reveals he is a Bondurant, whom Banner admires for their stance against Rakes. Banner reveals to Jack the address of his brother's assailants, revealing that both men are former bootleggers now working as deputy marshals for Rakes.

Forrest and Howard find, torture, and kill the men and send one of their testicles to Rakes. Banner becomes a regular client of the brothers, who invest their profits into setting up larger stills deep in the woods. Jack continues to court Bertha. Maggie decides to return to Chicago, but Forrest convinces her to stay and provides her with a spare room; they soon develop a romantic relationship. On a day trip, Jack decides to show Bertha the brothers' secret operation, but they are followed and ambushed by Rakes and his officers. Howard and Jack flee but Cricket and Bertha are caught. The police take Bertha home, while Cricket has his neck snapped by Rakes.

After Cricket's funeral, the sheriff warns the Bondurants that Rakes has set up a blockade at the bridge to trap them while Wardell arranges for Prohibition agents to round up every bootlegger in the county. Jack speeds off in Cricket's car to confront Rakes. Howard and Forrest quickly follow to provide backup, to Maggie's chagrin. She reveals she had delivered him to the hospital after the attack and Forrest realizes that she had been raped.

Jack arrives at the bridge but is wounded by Rakes. Howard and Forrest arrive, and a shootout ensues, during which Forrest and his driver are also wounded, the latter fatally. A convoy of bootleggers arrive and hold the lawmen at gunpoint. Rakes ignores them and attempts to execute Forrest but is shot in the leg by the sheriff in an attempt to halt the bloodshed. Rakes turns to leave the scene, but suddenly turns around and shoots Forrest several times. The convoy opens fire on Rakes, but he runs into a covered bridge. Since he is unable to run far, the badly wounded Jack and Howard follow and plunge a knife into Rakes' back, killing him.

Following the end of Prohibition in 1933, Wardell is arrested on corruption charges while the Bondurants are all married — Jack to Bertha, Forrest to Maggie, and Howard to a Martinsville woman — and working in legitimate occupations. During a festive reunion at Jack's house sometime later, Forrest drunkenly ambles to a frozen lake and falls into the freezing water. Although he drags himself out, he later dies of pneumonia, putting to rest the legend of his invincibility.

Introduction (chapter 1)

When the king of a small European country is murdered by conspirators, his young grandson and heir Prince Michael is spirited away by a faithful retainer, carrying out the orders of the dead king, who had wind of what might be afoot. The diverging fates of Michael and his former country then unfold in parallel, in alternating chapters.

Michael's story (even-numbered chapters, 2-24)

The ship the prince is put aboard is wrecked in a storm and he is injured and swept overboard. Climbing aboard an empty lifeboat, he is rescued by a mad, epileptic old man piloting a tramp steamer. Also aboard is a caged lion. The old man beats the prince and tortures the lion, keeping them prisoner on the craft for years. Michael, his memory gone, makes friends with the lion, which ultimately breaks free and kills their tormentor. The steamer, now adrift, eventually strikes shore on the coast of northern Africa.

The lad and the lion live and hunt together in the wild at the margin of the jungle and desert. Eventually they encounter a band of Arabs, whose flocks they prey on. They rescue Nakhla, daughter of the Arabs' chieftain Sheik Ali-Es-Hadji, from marauders and return her to the band. Afterward she meets with Michael secretly, dissuading him from raiding her people and gradually teaching him how to speak and dress as an Arab, shoot, and ride a horse. As he cannot even remember his own name, she dubs him Aziz. The lion, meanwhile, has taken up with a lioness, giving Michael two lion friends. Eventually the Arab warrior Ben Saada, who desires Nakhla, discovers her meetings with Michael and informs her father. The two proceed to separate the pair, the sheik by forbidding Nakhla to visit him, and Ben Saada by lying to Michael that she has married another and is no longer interested in him.

Afterward Michael encounters two Arabs who have abducted another girl, Marie, daughter of a French officer. He saves her and returns her to the French camp while his lions dispatch her captors. There, as the guest of her father Colonel Joseph Vivier, he learns French and tells his story to his new friends. His past prior to his sojourn on the steamer is still a blank to him. Later, visiting the Arab camp in their company, he meets Nakhla again, but she, seeing him with Marie, will have nothing to do with him. This hardly frees him to court Marie, however. Back with the French he learns that both the colonel and the wife of another officer, who has taken Marie under her wing, disapprove of their friendship. Hurt, he returns to the wild, determined to confront Nakhla; Marie, in parting, has told him she observed the Arab girl was ''not'' married, and reveals that Aziz, the name she had given him, means "beloved."

Followed by his lions, Michael confronts the sheik and demands to see Nakhla. Refused, he claims to be the brother of ''el adrea'' (the lion) and threatens to resume predation on the herds. The sheik then discovers she is missing, kidnapped by Ben Saada, whose hand she has refused. An emissary from Ben Saada arrives, offering to negotiate; the sheik refuses, and swears vengeance should any harm come to his daughter. Michael trails the messenger back to Ben Saada. Meanwhile, Nakhla has escaped, only to be captured in turn by the Arab marauders of Sidi-El-Seghir, who decide to sell her into slavery. Michael now follows her new captors and attempts to free her, only to be taken in turn. His lions prowl about the camp as Nakhla tends the injured Michael's wounds.

Then the marauders are attacked by the French. In the confusion, Sidi-El-Seghir rides off with the captives, only to be set upon by the two lions. Michael kills the bandit. He compares note with Nakhla, and Ben Saada's lies are revealed. The couple reconciles, and the sheik afterward agrees to the match. The lions depart when Michael passes out from his wounds, thinking him dead. When he revives he finds his memory restored, but decides to stay with Nakhla rather than attempt to recover his heritage.

The kingdom's story (odd-numbered chapters, 3-23)

The murdered king's brother Prince Otto, one of the conspirators, succeeds him, but he and his spoiled son Prince Ferdinand are disliked by the people. His accomplice Sarnya has been rewarded by promotion to chief of staff as General Count Sarnya. Three new conspirators, Andresy, Bulvik and Carlyn, emerge in opposition. Bulvik attempts to assassinate Sarnya but fails, and is fatally shot in turn.

Prince Ferdinand becomes enamored of Hilda de Groot, the pretty daughter of the head gardener, but makes an enemy in her brother Hans. Years pass. Andresy and Carlyn plot against the king, while Hans plots against Ferdinand. He reveals the prince's infatuation to King Otto, opening a rift in the royal family. An exile, Count Maximilian Lomsk, who wishes to return and is ambitious for Sarnya's position, is encouraged by Andresy to communicate with Ferdinand. Through their machinations Carlyn is reinstated as a lieutenant in the army, which he hopes to parlay into a position of captain of the guard from which he can strike at the king and prince.

King Otto attempts to shore up the realm's faltering finances and counter Ferdinand's continuing liaison with Hilda by betrothing him to the wealthy Maria, princess of a neighboring country. Ferdinand resists at first, but eventually marries her. They quickly come to hate each other. The conspirators' plan proceeds. Carlyn, who has achieved his post close to the king, accompanies him to inspect a cavalry regiment. William Wesl, a patsy of the conspirators, is sent to the palace with a letter. As he approaches King Otto and Captain Carlyn the latter shoots the king with a gun stolen from Hans and throws it at the feet of Wesl. Doubly implicated as the assassin by the letter he unwitting bears, Wesl is arrested and executed.

Ferdinand, now king, continues to alienate the people. He sacks Sarnya, placing Maximilian Lomsk in his position, and makes Hilda lady in waiting to Queen Maria. The queen, offended, returns to her own country, but by threatening to take her money with her forestalls Ferdinand from divorcing her to marry Hilda. Ferdinand plans war against Maria's country, while Andresy plots a coup against the monarchy together with six army officers. Andresy's intention is to set up a republic with himself as head and the now-aggrieved General Count Sarnya as head of the army. Meanwhile, Wesl's wife, realizing her husband was set up by Captain Carlyn, feigns falling in love with the captain.

All comes to a head on the date set for the coup. The six officers assassinate Ferdinand and Hilda. Hans, hearing of his sister's death, commits suicide. Wesl's wife murders Captain Carlyn.

Conclusion (chapter 25)

At the end of the novel the two plot threads touch briefly. Aziz, formerly Prince Michael, is still living in Africa and now happily wed to Nakhla. He reads that Count Sarnya has seized power in his former country and made himself dictator. He cables the new ruler as follows: "Congratulations! You have my sympathy — Michael."

Csülök, Senki Alfonz and Tuskó Hopkins the three legionaries live at the fortress of Oasis Rakhmar. Legionary Tuskó Hopkins serves by the name of Herman Torze because of a stolen uniform and data. He receives a letter from a young lady named Yvonne Barre addressed to Torze. She is in search for her brother, Francis Barre. The three legionaries find out that Francis is at the worst discipline camp, Igori. They want to help Yvonne, so each of the three commit some transgression to be punished by marching to Igori. There they face a big surprise as the discipline camp resembles to a resort centre. There they meet Yvonne, the dying Francis Barre and their father General Duron. Duron tries to unveil the fraud in a letter. The three legionaries and Yvonne escape from the camp carrying the letter to Marquis De Surenne. Finally the plot is unveiled and Senki Alfonz marries Yvonne.

Category:Hungarian novels Category:French Foreign Legion in popular culture Category:1940 novels

Four middle-aged friends who have known each other since sixth form, Baxter (John Simm), Quinn (Philip Glenister), Rick (Marc Warren) and Woody (Max Beesley), get together for a holiday in Majorca at the villa of Alvo (Ben Chaplin), a mutual friend who became wealthy in the property business. Over time Alvo's behaviour becomes increasingly erratic, and he is later killed by a man in a Tony Blair mask for taking a drug boat the group used earlier. The four clean the boat to remove evidence of their presence, when they are mistaken for drug dealers and paid three million euros. Afterwards, the four learn from María (María Botto), a local detective, that they are caught up in a Serbian mafia drug smuggling operation. Using video camera footage of their holiday, Baxter learns the real perpetrators are corrupt police officers, including María and her superior Dominic (Tim Woodward). Alvo is revealed to be a part of the operation, and was murdered when he no longer wanted to take part in it. María later attempts to kill the four when employing scare tactics to make them part with the cash fails to work, but is shot to death by Quinn. The other three run over Dominic to save Quinn. They leave with the money and accidentally board a ferry to Ibiza (their intention is to go to Barcelona).

The four are being aided by local Ibizan Carmen (Leticia Dolera), who begins a relationship with Baxter. They soon realise they are still being hunted when their rental car explodes. Quinn is kidnapped by Mackenzie (David Warner), an elderly British expatriate who is revealed to be the leader of the drug operation. The four are forced to return the money in exchange for their lives. When they are €100 short from a speeding fine, Mackenzie makes the four produce fake ecstasy for a nightclub, at which point he allows them to return home with five million euros that were paid to them by the nightclub, though Carmen is left behind. Mackenzie tricks them into boarding a ferry for Morocco, where they are arrested and sent to a black site prison in the desert. After another attempt on their lives, they are informed that the drug operation was organised by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), who are using the operation to fund black operations, and as a result of the four's interference a kill contract is out against them. With assistance by the British government, they move to Cape Town, South Africa, to live new lives and identities to avoid CIA detection, though they are no longer allowed to contact each other or their families.

Two years later, Baxter is a self-employed lawyer, Quinn runs a bar, Rick is a drug dealer who is haunted by a Tikoloshe, and Woody buys black market medicine for local hospitals. Baxter learns that Mackenzie was shot to death, indicating that the CIA operation is shut down. Baxter finds Quinn, who is secretly in contact with Woody. After helping Rick escape after his arrest, the four reunite and enter a British Consulate, only to learn the kill order is still active. They later come across the home of Lazaro (Stanley Townsend), a retired CIA agent. He removes their names from the CIA hit list, but later attempts to kill them as revenge for María, who was a CIA agent herself. Mercedes (Jaime Winstone), who they previously met at the black site prison, kills Lazaro, saving them.

After the CIA clears them, they return to England to attend the wedding of Baxter's eldest daughter. Rick reveals he sold Alvo's villa and signed the others' name without permission. Although the others initially resent Rick for this, the four become wealthy as a result. Two months later they return to Cape Town to visit Quinn's villa, where Baxter and Carmen reunite. Meanwhile, a wheelchair-bound Dominic tracks the four down and arrives with his gang, with all members wearing Blair masks. After initially evading the gang, Baxter accidentally kills Carmen, mistaking her for an assassin. The four drive to one of Rick's contacts at a beach, only to be surrounded and executed by the gang upon arrival. In a state of Limbo, their souls leave the beach. Baxter spots one of the assassins, who removes the Blair mask to reveal a sinister version of himself. Their car drives past an unfinished interchange, and it plunges, where the four would meet their end.

The son of a Russian immigrant, protagonist Leonard (Lenny) Abramov, a middle-aged, middle class, otherwise unremarkable man whose mentality is still in the past century, falls madly in love with Eunice Park, a young Korean-American from New Jersey struggling with materialism and the pressures of her traditional Korean family. The chapters alternate between profuse diary entries from the old-fashioned Lenny and Eunice's biting e-mail correspondence on her "GlobalTeens" account.

In the background of what appears to be a love story that oscillates between superficiality and despair, a grim political situation unravels. America is on the brink of economic collapse, threatened by its Chinese creditors. In the twilight nation, the only three industries left are Media, Credit, and Retail. In the meantime, the totalitarian Bipartisan Party government's main mission is to encourage and promote consumerism while eliminating political dissidents, under US President Cortez. Abramov is a member of the Creative Class, who sells long-term life extension to high net worth individuals in Italy. Italy is the only and last country in Europe that has any meaningful dealings with the US. The United States invaded Venezuela at some point. In the story, to describe the change in relative positions, six million Chinese Yuan is equal to 50 million USD. The current USA is fixed in a cult of youth based on the oversaturated "GlobalTeens" social media site, which has the phrase "Less words = more fun!!!". The US is called an "unstable, barely governable country presenting grave risk to the international system of corporate governance and exchange mechanisms" by a member of the Chinese Central Bank.

Abramov, acting as the POV character, explains the future of the US in the wake of the sudden collapse of the Bipartisan government, in a political event called “The Rupture".

Unbeknownst to her mother, a girl is meeting in a roadside cafe with her estranged father who had to abandon the family about 15 years earlier. Her father was an assistant to a crime boss and robbed him to pay for the daughter’s medical treatment. Now, the boss and his thugs have been released from prison and coincidentally meet the girl and her father in the same cafe. They immediately recognize the father and want revenge.

Jonny (Johnny Ferro), an awkward painting student, is “banished” by his instructor to the remote island of Eleuthera, to focus on his work and find his artistic voice. But first he finds Romeo (Stephen Tyrone Williams), a handsome, self-confident guy who shows Jonny the scenic spots, and a bit more. Romeo's got a girlfriend, however, as well as a blustery mother who willfully ignores any clue or hint he drops to set her straight.

Meanwhile, Lena (Margaret Laurena Kemp), a pastor's wife, has also made her way to this distant spot to contemplate her future in relative calm. Tired of her husband spouting high-and-mighty, anti-gay rhetoric at rallies while refusing to own up to the cruelty and contradictions in his private life, Lena has a decision to make.

The phrase "Children of God" is the religious expression used by Christians to refer to human divinity as being all God's Children. Four Bahamian individuals set out on a journey from the frenetic energy of Nassau to the slower-paced and open Eleuthera. The year is 2004, when the Caribbean world is rocked by the emergence of Rosie O'Donnell's gay family cruise ship. Actual documentary footage details the mass hysteria that divides the Caribbean, as some fundamentalists lead widespread rallies.

Jonny, a young, obsessive-compulsive white Bahamian artist, faces losing his scholarship at a local university if he does not live up to the potential his professors believe he has. Jonny escapes from his gritty inner-city life, in Nassau, to the under-populated and dramatic Bahamian island of Eleuthera. Here he decides to paint his 'masterpiece' and then gets killed by a closeted homosexual when Jonny was en route to meet Romeo. It could have had a happy ending. However, in this film, life does not have happy endings for many gays and lesbians.

Lena Mackey is an extremely conservative forty-year-old, anti-gay activist who finds out that her husband is not who he represents himself to be. She believes that the only way to fix problems in her life is to limit the rights of homosexuals. She heads to Eleuthera for the purpose of galvanizing the community to oppose gay rights. When Jonny arrives, his and Lena's paths cross, and together these two embark on a series of physical and emotional adventures that not only inspire Jonny to paint, but also give him a new zest for life.

Thomas Whitman is a 75-year-old former musician who has lapsed into a coma after years of suffering from multi-infarct dementia. As he is clinging to his life while his estranged daughter Gem ponders on signing a do not resuscitate order, Thomas' mind enters a fantasy world where he relives his life as a ten-year-old orphan. After meeting a girl named Ann at the orphanage and acquiring a snow globe containing a dancing figurine named "Arabesque", young Thomas befriends a snowman named "Mr. White", who takes him on a flight to the skies. But while chasing his father Theodore's airplane, Thomas loses his balance and falls into a surreal world bordered by a run-down roller coaster track, which represents his mind and memories. As pieces of the track fall apart, a mechanic, symbolic of Thomas' doctor in the real world, complains about how futile it is to try to repair the track. The doctor looks to a younger Gem for advice who says they should just let it fall apart; this coincides with Gem agreeing to the DNR order in the real world. Thomas meets a younger version of Gem and a 72-year-old Ann, who warn him about Mr. White. He runs to a "dollhouse", where he sees himself and Ann in their 30s, as members of his band Whitman. The elderly Ann once again appears in front of him, warning him that the snowman is evil and is responsible for the loss of his memories.

As he travels to other parts of his past, young Thomas witnesses the simultaneous events of both his father and his older self lamenting the deaths of their wives. Suddenly, Theodore pulls a gun and shoots himself through his head while the older Thomas smashes the Arabesque globe against the wall, resulting in Thomas distancing himself from his daughter. He chases after Gem throughout the dream world as they both age to the present day.

Back in the real world, Gem arrives at Thomas' home, where she encounters Ann. It is revealed that when Thomas and Ann toured together with their band, Thomas' wife was killed in a car accident when Gem was a child. Because Thomas was not around during her childhood, Gem grew up resenting him throughout her life. Ann informs her that the night that Thomas' wife died, Thomas was with her, as he had stopped her from overdosing on drugs at the time, which reminded him too much of his father's suicide. Later, Ann opens a safe in Thomas' study, only to find sheets of paper containing incomprehensible writing. Ann makes Gem realize that in time Thomas grew as bitter as his own father due to their similar pasts. As a result, he pushed her away in order not to hurt her as his father did. Gem realizes that the notes are all of Thomas' memories when he found out about his dementia and that he did care for her after all. She spends the night piecing the sheets together to form a pattern on the floor. When the house experiences a power failure and Gem's cell phone dies, Ann drives Gem to the hospital.

Meanwhile, in his dream world, Thomas rediscovers his memories with Gem and is determined to hold on to them. He confronts Mr. White, who reveals himself as the manifestation of Theodore. During the ensuing roller coaster ride, Thomas relinquishes his grip on his father. In turn, he lets go of his last memories of Theodore, and holds onto those of Gem. He reaches the end of the roller coaster ride and awakens from his coma with Gem and Ann by his bedside. With his last breath, Thomas reconciles with his daughter before passing away.

Gem returns to her father's home to play the grand piano. When she notices a key not playing right, she opens the lid and discovers a brass name plate lodged between the wires, removing it and placing it on the repaired snow globe. The name plate reads "G Em", revealing Gem's name as the keys G and E minor. Thomas mentions throughout the film that the two chords are key to his memories and all he wants is to hear them one last time. He told her that when the chords are played correctly, the Arabesque in the globe will spin. After Gem realizes Thomas really loved her, she plays the chord and the Arabesque spins, symbolizing their reconciliation.

A middle-aged woman develops amnesia after a blow to the head, and can no longer remember anything that happened since age 16, including her husband and teenage daughter. Meagan has a 16-year-old daughter named Lacey, and has been married for 20 years. Her parents divorced and live in separate places. Meagan lives with her husband David, and daughter, and her mother lives with them. Seeking the help of a psychiatrist tries to discover who she was and is. Meagan had an art scholarship in Paris, France; but never attended college and eloped because she was pregnant. She remembers seeking out colleges to attend and wanted to know why she never went to college.

Meagan can not live with her father because they have the same fights they had when she was sixteen: her music is too loud, he is annoyed with her painting, etc. Meagan returns to her psychiatrist Jesse and expresses the desire to live alone, so he tells her about an apartment his friends owns. Meagan lives alone and starts to paint. Meagan takes a class for painting and she goes on a tutorial in Italy. Megan must decide to stay with a family who are strangers or to pursue her love of painting in Europe. Meagan and David go on dates to try to reunite, David is jealous over Jesse and blames him for Meagan moving out on her own. Meagan feels trapped and tells David that she must move forward in order to determine if they can resolve their lives together. David gives her the money to "Go forward" with a ticket to Italy. Meagan remembers her marriage with the picture that she painted. She talked about the wedding and how David gave her the night sky as a wedding gift, and picked roses for her to walk down the isle holding as they eloped. She went to Italy while sitting in the airport David shows up because Meagan had bought him back his car with roses on the hood. She decides to not go to Italy. Meagan and David go out and dance under the open sky, and he proposes to her. They get remarried and she asks her father to give her away. Later while speaking with her mother Meagan learns that she and David lost her son, Douglas while on the way to the hospital they had a wreck. The baby died. Everyone is at the wedding, but Meagan is missing, so David knows that she is at the graveyard looking at Douglas' grave. Meagan has fears of what other memories she may remember. David and Meagan chose the face the unknown together and they skip out on their wedding on the motorcycle and the movies ends.

A chef falls in love, but the object of his affections is already engaged, so he does not pursue a relationship. He is hired to cater the couple's wedding, and is torn between seeing his dream girl marry another and realizing his own happiness.
The movie included Vanessa Carlton's "A Thousand Miles" as a romantic refrain.

An Observer, "August" (Peter Woodward) abducts Christine Hollis (Jennifer Missoni), a 27-year-old art student in Boston. Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) and Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson) learn of the events and realize the assailant matches the description of the Observer. However, after viewing video footage they find that it is not "September" (Michael Cerveris), the Observer known for observing Pattern-related cases and who previously saved Peter and his father Walter (John Noble) in 1985, indicating there is more than one Observer. Olivia is confused as to August's motives, as Observers are known to only observe events and not interfere with them. After questioning Christine's roommate, Olivia learns she was to take a flight to Rome, Italy. Peter finds a picture of Christine from her childhood before her parents were killed in the 1989 San Francisco earthquake, and sees August in the background, indicating he has been observing her entire life. The plane to Rome would later crash, killing everyone on board. Because of this, the team realize August in fact saved her life.

At Massive Dynamic, Brandon (Ryan McDonald) theorizes to the team that Observers are time travelers, as they have been documented during several major events in history. They write in an incomprehensible language, and the number of Observer sightings has increased over the past few months, leaving the team wondering why. Meanwhile, August visits the other Observers, who are not happy that he saved a girl who was supposed to die in the plane crash. To correct his mistake, they send Donald Long (Paul Rae), an assassin affiliated with the Observers to correct August's actions. In an attempt to save Christine, August sends a secret message to Walter. During the meeting, August reveals Christine will die because she is not important; Walter tells August that he has to make her important.

The team are later made aware of Christine's location at a motel outside the city. However, Donald is on the trail also. August attempts to stop him, but Donald shoots him several times, before Peter and Olivia arrive to kill the assassin. September picks up August and while driving, September asks August why he saved Christine. August reveals that he is experiencing 'feelings' and that he loves Christine, and asks if she would be safe. September informs him Christine will stay alive because she is now important; she was responsible for the death of an Observer. August cries before succumbing to his wounds. In the end, Olivia takes a day off to spend time with her niece, Ella, at an amusement park. Two Observers watch the two, and they remark that everything is about to get "so hard" for Olivia.

London architect Martin Kennedy (Cillian Murphy) and his unhappy journalist wife Kate (Thandiwe Newton) often visit a small, remote, uninhabited island off the west coast of Scotland called Blackholme Island for their holiday retreats. The only dwelling on the island, Fairweather Cottage, is seasonally operated by the owner Doug from the mainland and only reachable by ferry. After previously suffering a miscarriage, Kate's relationship with Martin has become tense, and in an effort to rekindle their marriage they decide on a return visit to the island. A few nights into their stay, the generator in the cottage explodes, injuring Martin's arm and leaving them without electricity. They use the CB radio, their only source of communication to the mainland, to call Doug, who ferries out to help them.

Kate spends the next day waiting at the jetty for Doug to arrive, but to no avail. Later a mysterious man in green combat fatigues washes up on the island, bloodied and half-conscious. When he comes round, he identifies himself as a soldier, Private Jack Coleman (Jamie Bell). He tells Martin and Kate that there has been an outbreak of an airborne disease, Argromoto Flu, codenamed R1N16, which started in South America and has spread over the entire world in the time-span of a few weeks. The disease is incurable and highly contagious, attacking the respiratory system and causing the victims to choke on blood with a 100% fatality rate. Jack says that the military have lost control, and are now advising civilians to seal themselves up in their homes and not allow anybody access. With only static now coming from the CB radio, Martin decides to play it safe and help Jack, who aggressively takes command and boards up the door and windows.

Over the next few days, Jack becomes increasingly strange and erratic, and his intimidating behaviour begins to disturb the couple even further. They suspect that the virus may be a lie and that Jack is insane. When Kate asks him if he is married, he tells her his wife died of R1N16 and he becomes aggressive and threatening. Martin and Kate decide to leave the cottage and take their chances outside, but Jack refuses to let them, forcing them into the bedroom at gunpoint and locking them in. Martin sneaks outside through a skylight, finding the bodies of Doug and his wife at the pier, killed by gunshot. Using Doug's hunting shotgun, Martin returns to the cottage and gets the upper hand on Jack. However, just as Kate begins to tie Jack's hands behind his back, Martin suddenly begins coughing up blood; it appears the Argromoto Flu is very real and he is infected. Kate is forced to shoot her husband dead with the shotgun, to spare him a slow and agonising death.

Forced at gunpoint, Jack reveals to Kate that he was experimented on at a military compound and released without anyone having realized he was a carrier of R1N16. Jack had infected his wife, killing her, and fled to Blackholme Island to quarantine himself where the couple found him. Jack reveals that the CB radio worked all along, and he had just changed the settings so that Kate and Martin would not be able to reach anyone. Jack fixes the CB radio, and the military broadcast on it claims that the soldiers have a vaccine against the virus. Jack tells Kate that the military are lying; there is no vaccine, and the military would kill them both if they were discovered. Kate does not believe him and, angered by the possibility that Martin could have been saved, she shoots Jack dead. As she attempts to leave the island in the boat with Martin's body, a military helicopter flies over and she is killed by a sniper who shoots her in the head.

Ron's (Nick Offerman) ex-wife Tammy (Megan Mullally) continues her efforts to sabotage his life, but the normally susceptible Ron easily resists her seductions because he is now in a solid relationship with Tom's (Aziz Ansari) ex-wife Wendy (Jama Williamson), much to Tom's jealousy. Later, however, Wendy and Ron break up after she announces she is moving back to Canada. Meanwhile, Leslie (Amy Poehler) and the parks department throw a party for the Pawnee police department, where they hope to ask them to provide security for the upcoming Harvest Festival. During the party, Ben (Adam Scott) awkwardly fails to get Chief Trumple's (Eric Pierpoint) favor. Tom, unaware of Ron and Wendy's breakup, arrives at the party with Tammy to make him jealous. After bickering loudly, Ron and Tammy both decide to leave the party together to talk and try to make amends. However, a night filled with drunken sex and mayhem ensues, ending with the two getting remarried and ending up in jail.

After getting Ron released, the parks department holds an intervention for him about Tammy, even playing a previously recorded tape of Ron warning himself to stay away from her. Ron ignores the warnings and prepares to take Tammy to his cabin for a sex-filled honeymoon after her bridal shower. Leslie blames Tom for the dilemma and, although he initially claims to be unfazed, Tom later arrives at the bridal shower to stop Ron from going on the honeymoon. He reveals the whole marriage is a ploy by Tammy to once again make him miserable. Tammy attacks and mercilessly beats Tom, prompting Ron to remember what a monster she truly is and dump her. He literally carries Tom away, and the two later make amends. Despite the bad impression he made the day before, Ben asks Trumple for the Harvest Festival favor. The chief unconditionally agrees out of respect for Leslie, who he said always helps everyone, and because Leslie once dated his friend Dave (Louis C.K.). Ben seems relieved Leslie and Dave are no longer together, and he later asks Leslie out to eat.

In the B story, April (Aubrey Plaza) is working as Chris' (Rob Lowe) assistant until he goes back to Indianapolis. April's cynical personality clashes with Chris' relentless optimism and happiness. In an attempt to get fired, April purposely neglects to tell Ann (Rashida Jones) that Chris cannot make a lunch date. When Ann arrives to confront Chris, she quickly realizes April's ploy. Ann reveals she is very happy dating Chris, and would even probably move with him to Indianapolis if asked. Andy (Chris Pratt), who is still trying to win back April's affections, gives Chris an obviously forged letter from the FBI claiming April must immediately return to the parks department. Chris sees through the ruse and tells April she can go back, but that remaining his assistant may provide her career opportunities. He invites her to return with him to Indianapolis and she seems interested, leaving both Ann and Andy stunned and jealous.

A notorious gambler is thrown out of a small town named Spanish Boot, but he quickly returns when he discovers the town is threatened by the Mescalero Apaches led by Chief Victorio.

11-year-old Horrid Henry uses his magnetic yoyo to steal biscuits from Moody Margaret's Secret Club. Before he can eat them, his mother tells him to do his homework. The next morning, Henry searches for his homework, only to find that after he left it on the dining room table, the other members of the household variously spilled milk on it, stepped on it, and squashed it into the couch, leaving it a mess.

He leaves it behind and has his friend Brainy Brian forge a note from his mother saying his cat ate it. His teacher, Miss Battle-Axe, realizes that this note is forged and that Henry did not do it himself, since Brian spelled "homework" correctly, something Henry is incapable of doing. With Henry in detention, his friends join him to practice for a talent contest. Miss Oddbod, the headteacher, and a pair of school inspectors walk in on their rehearsal. She angrily tells them off.

Vic Van Wrinkle, headteacher of the exorbitantly expensive private academy Brick House School, has been bribing the school inspectors to put pressure on Ashton Primary, the school Henry attends, in order to justify closing the school. Van Wrinkle stands to make a fortune from the resulting influx of pupils. Horrid Henry and Moody Margaret's bad behaviour prompts Miss Oddbod to fire Miss Battle-Axe for failing to enforce discipline, and the school inspectors encourage Henry's pranks and even frame him. Miss Lovely ends up getting fired like Miss Battle-Axe for failing to discipline Henry when she gets slimed by him and Margaret after they argue, which was actually because the school inspectors placed the slime in Henry’s bag. After having to fire another teacher because of Henry, Miss Oddbod decides to ban Henry’s band, the Zero Zombies, from entering the Talent Contest.

With Ashton Primary on the brink of closing, Henry's Great Aunt Greta volunteers to pay for Henry to attend an all girls private academy (since she thinks Henry is a girl) and his 9-year-old younger brother Peter to Brick House. Miss Lovely gets a job at Brick House, where she notices the school inspectors. Peter distracts the staff and pupils by performing numerous arrangements of "Frère Jacques" so that Miss Lovely can spy on Van Wrinkle and the inspectors. She is caught by Van Wrinkle, but covertly passes notes about his plan to Peter.

Meanwhile, Henry's new schoolmates immediately realize he is a boy and begin hunting him. Margaret, who has also been transferred to the school, comes to Henry's aid, and the two escape. The traumatic experience motivates them to work together to save Ashton Primary. Henry decides to win the talent contest with his Zero Zombies band, hoping that this will make them famous enough that they won't shut the school down. They sneak in and do compete despite their ban.

After the band wins the contest, Miss Oddbod informs Henry that fame is irrelevant in this case. Henry is later invited to be a Contestant on a game show known as ''2 Cool 4 School'', with the intention of using the prize money to bribe the school inspectors to leave Ashton Primary alone. In the final round of the competition, he is confronted with Miss Battle-Axe, who challenges him to spell "homework." Recalling Miss Battle-Axe's early admonitions and using "Oh Henry, you horrid boy" as a mnemonic device, he correctly spells "homework" with two "o"s for the first time.

Meanwhile, Peter and his friends try to rescue Miss Lovely, but are captured by Van Wrinkle. Miss Lovely tricks him into explaining his plan while Peter has her mobile phone on speaker phone while on a call with Miss Oddbod, who is shocked to hear what is going on. She tricks the school inspectors to go and get her more ink, and then calls the police. Van Wrinkle attempts to escape, but falls over due to Peter tying his shoelaces together. Vic Van Wrinkle and the school inspectors are arrested. Henry returns and offers the cash prize to Miss Oddbod, who declines it and explains that the school has already been saved. At Margaret's suggestion, the money is instead used for a large party.

Warren Jarvis (Wallace Reid) and his manservant Rusty Snow (Walter Hiers) help a beautiful young heiress named Maria Theresa (Lila Lee) to rid her father's mansion of ghosts. The spooks turn out to be fakes however, fabricated by the Duke D'Alba (Arthur Carewe) to scare the young lady away, thus allowing him to steal her father's hidden gold.

As summarized in a film publication, when Mrs. Rolles (Farrington) insists that she will not have Austin Bevans (Reid) as a son-in-law, he insists that she will. But when his aunt dies and leaves Austin a girl's boarding school in her will, Austin gives up his suit of Susie Rolles (Bains) and decides to run the school. Under his aunt's regime the girls studied microbes, etc., but Austin turns it into a charm school where the girls are taught dancing, fencing, and grace in general. Elsie (Lee), one of the students, immediately falls in love with Austin, but he fails to respond. She then tries to vamp him, but when Austin does not fall she tells him directly that she loves him. Elsie's uncle is very interested in the young Austin. When Mrs. Rolles hears of how well he is getting along, she tries to patch things up between Austin and her daughter Susie, and tells Elsie that the two are engaged. While Elsie is brokenhearted, in the end all turns out well for her and Austin.

As described in a film magazine, Buell Arnister Jr. (Reid) is a New York City artist cast off by his father Buell Arnister Sr. (Barrows) who had planned a legal career for him. Facing poverty and dispossessed by an irate landlady (Leighton), he moves his belongings including his dog to the roof of a 68th Street apartment building, and then becomes a squatter in a mansion that had a door to its roof left open. On a nearby roof he sees two young women, Barbara Teller (Lee) and her friend Justine Tate (Short), who similarly have been dispossessed. When a storm collapses the tent that the women were living in, the artist rescues them and takes them to the mansion, where they also become squatters. It develops that the mansion had been the property of Barbara's father. The stepmother (McDowell) has married the foreign Count de Mourney (Geldart) and they return home to discover the squatters, resulting in a series of funny conglomerations. The troubles are settled after finding a letter and will from the deceased father which take care of Barbara in a proper financial manner and everything is resolved in a happy ending, even for the disdainful stepmother.

The film opens in the cold Saint Petersburg with a scene where Anna as a young girl observes through a window young dancers practicing. Although she catches a cold, Anna decides that she does not merely want to be a dancer but that she wants to be one of the best.

It is shown how classical master dancer/ballet teacher Marius Petipa helps Anna on to the path to glory and her rise in the imperial Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. Here she meets the young choreographer Mikhail Fokine with whom she rehearses The Dying Swan – the world-famous solo.

In 1909, Sergei Diaghilev founds the Ballets Russes in Paris for which he recruits the best Russian dancers and choreographers including Anna Pavlova. But after a short time she decides to move to London. Here, she also celebrates major success and her triumph is worldwide; for example she performs in the United States, Mexico and Venezuela. Always present is Victor Dandré – her manager, companion and husband.

Her biggest wish to once again to perform at her native Mariinsky Theatre remained unfulfilled. Anna died from pneumonia at the age of 49 in the year 1931 during her farewell tour in The Hague.

The episode begins with Rich Hardbeck, a metalhead, playing Slayer at a party he and his friend, Alo are attending, causing the two to get thrown out. Alo, fed up that Rich keeps getting in between him and girls, attempts to persuade him to find a girlfriend of his own. Rich, however, is adamant as to what kind of girl he would like to date - a girl like himself, as he believes that most girls he knows are too shallow for him. Alo promises to help him find one he likes.

The next day, Rich meets Alo in the library, and Alo points out a female metalhead who works in the library, whom Alo nicknames "The Angel of Death." Rich attempts to talk to her, but she simply stares at him coldly, and he is too nervous. Alo, seeing that he needs help learning how to interact with girls, asks Franky, the newest member of the gang, if she can help. Franky, however, admits that she doesn't know anything about girls either, so they decide to ask Grace, an avid ballet dancer, for help. Before Grace can answer, they are interrupted by Grace's friend, Mini, who is not impressed to see Grace hanging out with the three, and especially Franky. Grace, however, meets up with Rich later on in the nearby park, and offers to help him, reasoning that, as she is a good actress, she can easily impersonate a metalhead. Rich is reluctant at first, saying that she represents everything he despises in the world, but eventually agrees. He shows her the girl he likes, and then takes her to his local music store, where Rich and the American owner, Toxic Bob, play her some metal music. When he offers her a complimentary CD, Rich is outraged and makes a sharply sexist remark, causing Grace to storm off. Later on, she challenges him for his rudeness to her, causing him to denounce ballet. Later on, at a pub, Grace shows up acting like a metalhead and can easily name some of Rich's favourite groups, which impresses him. In turn, he informs Grace indirectly that she lets people walk all over her, and she has no self-respect, prompting outrage on Grace's part.

At home, the next morning, Rich is given some money to buy his mother a birthday present by his father, Kevin, whom Rich spurns. He then goes to ask out The Angel of Death, but she refuses, and demonstrates herself to be as shallow as the girls Rich despises. Grace, who has developed feelings for Rich herself, then takes the opportunity to ask him out, but he turns her down, prompting her to run off, crying, and Alo remonstrates him for turning down an attractive girl who asked to date him. But Rich, stubborn as ever, refuses to compromise. He then heads to Toxic Bob's music store and buys a £500 record of music that Bob had previously warned was almost deadly. Rich listens to the record, and it renders him deaf. Distraught, he rips up the ticket to the Napalm Death concert he had intended to go to that night. He then goes and watches one of Grace's ballet concerts. The performance brings tears to his eyes, and Grace sees him in the crowd. Relieved, she suggests they go to the Napalm Death concert together, presenting him with two spare tickets she bought. The two go together and enjoy the concert, and Rich's deafness disappears. He is motivated to make amends with his father.

Rich then meets with Grace outside the school with some flowers (which he later reveals are actually for his mother). Grace mentions it was probably good that nothing happened between them, and then she has to leave, because she does not want Mini to see her with Rich, but flashes the horns as she leaves.

Fauxlivia, Olivia Dunham's doppelgänger from the parallel universe, continues to pose as Olivia as part of the Fringe division. The Fringe team is brought in on a case where several people, part of an online group attempting to decode the information sent by a numbers station, have been stricken with amnesia. They discover the station broadcasting the signal, finding its workers killed and a strange box connected to the broadcast equipment. They identify fingerprints on the box of a Joseph Feller, but his current location is unknown. Walter attempts to decipher the workings of the box, while giving hope to some of the affected people that they will get their memories back in time.

Peter discovers that the rare book shopkeeper, Edward Markham (Clark Middleton), was part of the online group but did not listen that night. Edward provides his theory of the numbers stations to Peter and Fauxlivia: that it is a signal left by the "First People", an advanced civilization that existed before a mass extinction event. He provides them with a book about the First People. As they return the book to Walter, Peter notices numbers in the astrological charts in the book are the same as the broadcast numbers. They give the book to Astrid, a skilled decoder, along with copious volumes of data from biotechnology corporation Massive Dynamic about the numbers stations.

Later, the crash of a small commuter aircraft is attributed to a similar signal from a numbers station, and when Fringe division identifies the source, they find a second box. Taking the box to Walter, Peter identifies one of the electronic components as rare, and engages his contacts to find Feller's address from its purchase. Fauxlivia feigns returning to headquarters to instead travel to Feller's apartment, warning him that Fringe is onto him, but he insists on continuing his job. She throws him out the window as the Fringe team arrives, killing him and revealing him to be a shapeshifter. Fauxlivia claims she killed the man in self-defense.

Meanwhile, Astrid has decoded the numbers as a series of geographical coordinates. The closest one is in Milton, Massachusetts, the site of where a mysterious box was found ("The Box"). Teams are quickly sent to the other sites given across the globe, and they discover many more parts of what Walter and Peter believe to be the same doomsday machine that Walternate, Walter's doppelgänger, has already constructed in the parallel universe, and which the First People book claims can destroy or create universes. Fauxlivia later communicates this finding to the parallel universe through the typewriter shop, and is ordered to initiate "phase two".

The episode ends in the parallel universe where Olivia, having broken Walternate's conditioning making her believe herself to be Fauxlivia, is told that no further tests are needed. A vision of Peter warns Olivia that her usefulness to Walternate has ended and her life is in danger.

"The Abducted" takes place in the parallel universe; Olivia (Anna Torv), having broken her conditioning that made her believe she was her doppelgänger Fauxlivia (Torv) from that universe, maintains the pretense that she is still conditioned. She meets with Henry (Andre Royo), the taxi driver who helped her out before, and asks him to help her return to Liberty Island to use the sensory deprivation tank to return herself to her universe.

A child, Max (Michael Strusievici), is kidnapped from his home. The Fringe team investigates and Broyles (Lance Reddick) immediately recognizes this as the work of "The Candyman"; though only appearing once every two years, the Candyman abducts a child and returns him some days later, but whatever the Candyman has done leaves the child physically deprived. Broyles' own son, Christopher (Curtis Harris), was one of the most recent victims, having become blind as a result of the ordeal. Christopher tells Olivia that he believes there were two people involved with his abduction, one old and one young. Combined with other information, Olivia suspects that the Candyman is draining the children of hormones from the pituitary gland, helping the Candyman stay young.

The interview leads Olivia and Broyles to Reverend Marcus (David Nykl), who gave up a career as a physician in order to establish a local church. Working through the congregation list, Olivia talks to one member, Wyatt Toomy (Will Rothhaar), a garbageman. When Olivia spots a child's toy within his apartment, Wyatt realizes he is caught and attempts to escape, but Olivia captures him. She soon finds Max in a hidden room with a not-yet-activated device on the back of his head near the pituitary gland. She frees the boy, accidentally telling him she is an FBI agent.

Believing the case completed, Olivia goes to meet with Henry, where he has gotten use of his cousin's boat. As he talks about having been trained to use it, Olivia contemplates how Wyatt knew about the chemistry to make the serum, and realizes he had a teacher as well - their true culprit, and immediately suspects Reverend Marcus. Broyles and Olivia hurry to his house to protect Christopher from Marcus; Broyles kills Marcus. Olivia accompanies Broyles and his family to the same hospital that Max is being treated. There, Max thanks Olivia personally and asks her about what the "FBI" is. Broyles, having listened to Olivia's conversation, knows that she has broken her conditioning, as the FBI had ceased to exist years earlier in the parallel universe. Because of her efforts to save Christopher, he lets her go.

Olivia rejoins Henry and then leaves him to swim the rest of the way in and make her way to the isolation tank. After injecting herself with the same drugs Walternate (John Noble) had used on her, she enters the tank and soon finds herself back in her own universe. She encounters a cleaning lady, and as Olivia feels herself being dragged back to the parallel universe, she gives the cleaning lady a message to pass along to Peter (Joshua Jackson). Back in the isolation tank, Walternate has had Olivia extracted from the tank and directs his agents to lock her up and sedate her.

Back in the prime universe, Peter and Fauxlivia are in bed together when Peter receives a call from the cleaning lady, who relays the message: that Olivia is trapped in the parallel universe. Peter realizes that he has been sleeping with Olivia's doppelgänger.

A mysterious man involved in a downtown Manhattan collision with a SUV flees the scene to a nearby apartment building. He enters the building and attacks a random man, hooking up equipment to the man's inner mouth, which allows him to adopt his external appearance and shapeshift. The crashed SUV is discovered to be Olivia's (Anna Torv), though she is not inside. Peter (Joshua Jackson) and Walter (John Noble) arrive and investigate the scene while being accosted by a new junior agent, Amy Jessup (Meghan Markle), who wonders what they do for the FBI. After Walter searches through the SUV, he shuts the door and Olivia suddenly ejects through the windshield. She is rushed to the hospital and declared brain dead. Peter and Broyles (Lance Reddick) drink at a bar together in sorrow, and Broyles reveals the Fringe Division is being shut down because of their failure to provide "usable results". Suspicious and curious of Fringe Division, Jessup begins a personal investigation into their past activities.

After talking to Rachel about her sister, Peter visits Olivia, who is scheduled to be taken off life support the following morning. However, Olivia suddenly wakes up, crying the Greek phrase ''Na einai kalytero anthropo apo ton patera tou''. She does not remember getting injured, and incoherently tells Peter there is something they need to do, and their "lives may depend on it," but cannot remember who told her this, or why. Peter tries to enter the FBI building, but is denied until Jessup agrees to accompany him. She questions him about Fringe Division, and they begin investigating the driver who hit Olivia. When they arrive at his apartment, they discover what appears to be the driver's body, but he has been dead longer than when the accident took place.

The shapeshifted man makes contact with his group via typewriter (an allegedly nonexistent model of IBM Selectric, controlled by its image in a mirror), and is told his mission to prevent a "meeting" was unsuccessful, as Olivia is still alive. He is told to interrogate her, and then kill her. Meanwhile, Peter introduces Jessup to their lab at Harvard, and upon performing an autopsy on the man found in the apartment, they find three holes in the roof of his mouth. Walter shows them archived footage of one of his 1970s experiments of a drugged up girl who says she sees shapechanging soldiers from a parallel universe that can "look like any of us".

After being visited by her partner, Agent Charlie Francis (Kirk Acevedo) and given a gun, Olivia is unsuccessfully questioned by the shapeshifter, who has adopted the appearance of a female nurse. The nurse attempts to kill Olivia, but is shot and flees from Jessup. Peter, Charlie, and Jessup follow her into nearby tunnels, but become separated. Peter and Jessup hear gunshots and arrive to see that Charlie has apparently killed the shapeshifter. Peter returns to Olivia, and tells her the Greek phrase means "be a better person than your father," and was told to him every night by his mother.

After being told by a panel of Senators that Fringe Division is not worth the human or fiscal cost, Broyles is given the transformation device by Peter so Broyles can justify Fringe Division remaining active. In a separate scene, Agent Jessup is shown working at a computer, annotating an image of the creature from "The Transformation" with biblical verses, notably from the Book of Revelation. The final scene reveals that Charlie is actually the shapeshifter, who disposes of the real agent's body in a furnace beneath the hospital.

In Lansdale, Pennsylvania, a highway construction worker hears an odd noise in a cornfield, and is pulled down into a tunnel by a mysterious, unidentified creature. Using a lighter for sight, he sees the remains of other creatures, and is then eaten by the creature off screen. Meanwhile, Walter (John Noble) investigates Olivia's (Anna Torv) car crash from the previous episode. He believes she traveled to a parallel universe that is similar to theirs, but she still cannot remember with whom she met with, or why.

Having recovered enough from the events of the previous episode, Olivia is released from the hospital, and is watched by the shapeshifter who has killed Charlie Francis (Kirk Acevedo) and adopted his appearance. Peter (Joshua Jackson) learns of mysterious disappearances taking place in Lansdale, and the Fringe team arrives to investigate. Walter finds a blue, paralytic substance at the scene, which he suspects is from mutated DNA. The investigation leads to a local resident, Andre Hughes (John Savage), who tells them he lost his wife and baby in childbirth. Olivia begins to develop super-hearing as a result of crossing to the parallel universe, and hears someone else in Hughes' house despite his saying he's the only one there. She ventures upstairs to investigate; after failing to find anything, she accidentally fires her weapon, narrowly missing Peter. They bring Hughes in for questioning, and he refuses to give them a blood sample for their investigation.

Nina Sharp (Blair Brown) talks with Olivia, and recommends she see a friend, Sam Weiss (Kevin Corrigan) "who helped put [her] back together" after she was diagnosed with cancer. Agent Amy Jessup (Meghan Markle) and she believes Hughes may have killed his wife and son. When they exhume their bodies, they find the baby's casket is empty. Hughes commits suicide however before they can question him further.

Walter discovers that Hughes' wife had a form of lupus, and was incapable of having children. Hughes genetically altered the baby to enable his survival, and after birth, it developed into a "superbaby" and began feeding on people. Olivia and Peter travel back to Hughes' house, and are attacked by the creature when investigating the basement and its nearby tunnels. The creature attempts to escape by digging out but is killed by a police car parked above ground upon collapsing into the tunnel, thereby crushing the creature.

At Nina's recommendation, Olivia meets with Sam Weiss, who works at a bowling alley. He tells her to expect headaches as one consequence of crossing universes. The final scene shows the shapeshifted Charlie communicating with someone from the parallel universe, who tells him to help make Olivia remember her experience crossing over.

In Philadelphia, an on-duty cop gets a call from a man he calls "Colonel" to pick up a briefcase at Suburban Station. As he does so, a nearby pulse causes electronics to gain static, and his body becomes hardened. He explodes, killing eleven people and injuring others with his hardened body parts. Initially thinking the explosion was caused by a bomb, the Fringe team arrives to investigate, and discover that instead of a bomb, the cop's body parts killed the others. A further autopsy reveals needle marks between the cop's toes, and they realize he was injecting some type of drug every day for at least a year.

While Peter and Olivia interview his wife, Olivia gets sick with flashes of crossing to the parallel universe, and accidentally discovers the drugs the cop was injecting. The cop had served in Iraq a year previously, and was involved in a secret military experiment called "Project Tin Man". Peter tells them they can find the project's doctors, and he and Olivia travel to Iraq. Peter learns from an old acquaintance the identity of one of the Iraqi doctors; he tells them the project was meant to cure soldiers exposed to a fatal chemical, but it failed to work, instead turning remaining survivors into human bombs. An AWOL colonel, Raymond Gordon, was opposed to ending the project; Peter and Olivia suspect he is behind the cop's explosion, and caused the deaths by emitting a radio signal. They find a list of names from the experiment, the victim in the train station being one of them. They return to find the surviving members, and are able to prevent the next subject, Diane Burgess, from exploding after she is contacted by Gordon to take a briefcase at a train station. Peter and Olivia find Gordon (Stephen McHattie) at the station, and bring him into custody; the man suggests the bombs were intended to eliminate agents working for the Observer.

In a side plot, Olivia and Sam Weiss continue to meet at the bowling alley, where he subjects her to seemingly menial tasks like tying her shoes and keeping score during games. Although initially finding their conversations useless, he cures Olivia's inability to walk without a cane by the end of the episode.

A shipment of heads stored in cryogenic storage is hijacked, though one of the hijackers is killed by a guard, and bleeds a mix of blood and mercury, identifying him as a shapeshifter from the parallel universe. The Fringe division discovers an undamaged device they believe is used by the shapeshifters to take another's identity. Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) gives the device to Nina Sharp (Blair Brown) at Massive Dynamic; with the intact device, they can use it to examine the device of the first shapeshifter that tried to kill Olivia in the episode "A New Day in the Old Town". They are unaware that this shapeshifter has taken the form of Olivia's partner, Charlie (Kirk Acevedo), ordered to find out what she learned from William Bell (Leonard Nimoy) when she was temporarily taken to the parallel universe.

Walter (John Noble) remembers that one of his former patients Rebecca Kibner (Theresa Russell), while under a heavy dose of mind-altering drugs, had witnessed events in the parallel universe including the presence of the shapeshifters. To try to learn more, they approach Rebecca and ask for her help, who is happy to participate. After outfitting her with electrodes and injecting her with more drugs, Walter starts the process by clanging a bell; to everyone's surprise, this causes Olivia to pass out.

The bell has caused Olivia to recall her conversation with Bell in the parallel universe. There, Bell warned Olivia of a "great storm" that was coming, and that she must stop a man who is trying to open a gateway between the two universes, providing Olivia with an icon symbol and a hand-written name to remember. Walter and Peter help revive Olivia who immediately demands to see Nina. As Olivia leaves, Walter returns with Rebecca to her home.

Nina, initially doubtful that Olivia met Bell, recognizes the "great storm" phrase, and attempts to help Olivia in any way possible. As Olivia recounts the name of another cryogenics facility from Bell's note, she receives a text message from Charlie warning her that Nina is the shapeshifter. She leaves and regroups with Charlie, but in a side alley, is alerted by her phone that Massive Dynamic's analysis of the first device was completed, and reveals Charlie as the shapeshifter. Too late, Olivia realizes she has told Charlie the location of the cryogenics facility, and Charlie relays this to another agent. After a brief fight for her life, Olivia shoots and kills the shapeshifter. Broyles (Lance Reddick) helps to comfort Olivia that she had to kill the man she thought was Charlie. At the episode's conclusion, the head with Bell's symbol is reattached to the body of a shapeshifter.

In Seattle a man named Greg Leiter (Jim Thorburn) hallucinates that his boss and coworkers are demons, leading Greg to attack and murder the boss. Greg is hospitalized and falls asleep for sixteen hours; when Olivia (Anna Torv) and Peter (Joshua Jackson) interview him in the hospital, he tells them his boss was a demon out of a bad dream before suffering a seizure and having his hair turn white. Walter (John Noble) posits that Greg died from "acute exhaustion". However, believing Seattle to be like the mental institution, Walter desires to go home to Boston and run tests on the corpse from there.

Olivia and Peter learn Greg was being treated for a sleep disorder, and that his dreams had involved demons until they stopped several months ago. Another hallucinating victim turns up in Seattle and dies. The Fringe team discover that both victims had a brain–computer interface chip attached to their thalamus, the part of the brain controlling dreams. Broyles (Lance Reddick) and Nina (Blair Brown) reveal new information leading to the sleep researcher Dr. Nayak (Ravi Kapoor) who implanted the chips. Another victim named Diana (Jovanna Huguet) hallucinates at a restaurant and kills a coworker before similarly dying of exhaustion.

Olivia and Peter first suspect Dr. Nayak's research assistant Zach (Jarrett Knowles) but find him dead. Back in Boston Walter believes the chips lead to mind control and tests this on the FBI agent assigned to him while Peter and Olivia are away. However, during these tests Walter soon changes his theory; the dreams are being stolen from their hosts to cause a "high" in Dr. Nayak, who is receiving them and has two personalities. Peter and Olivia shut down the dream equipment before Nayak kills another victim, but the doctor dies in the process. The final scene shows Peter dreaming about his childhood when Walter kidnaps him, an event Peter normally has no memory of; Peter wakes up confused but still unaware of what his father did.

In a sideplot, Olivia is grieving for her partner Charlie, whom she discovered in previous episode was murdered by a shapeshifter. Sam Weiss (Kevin Corrigan) helps her work through it by giving her a "project" that requires her to collect business cards from people wearing the color red. She is told to grab random letters from the names, that once unscrambled read "you're gonna be fine". There is also mention in Season 2 Episode 5 when Olivia tells Peter how Charlie helped her when she was a rookie to regain her confidence with handling her gun. Charlie told her, "you're gonna be fine".

A Boston man (Joe Towne) is attacked by a shadowy, ghost-like figure; his wife (Michelle Harrison) returns home to find he disintegrates into ash upon being touched. After learning all of the victims had recently visited a hospital before dying, Agent Broyles (Lance Reddick) explains the case is similar to one he had trouble with in the past, in which his obsessive behavior effectively ended his marriage to his wife Diane. The suspect, an Eastern European man, had contacted him four years ago sounding distraught and asked him to figure out a special formula, which Broyles was unable to solve. Walter (John Noble) and Peter (Joshua Jackson) study the victim's remains at their lab and begin studying the formula given to Broyles.

Several more people are attacked and reduced to ash. A search of Eastern European employees leads them to Russian night nurse Tomas (Ravil Isyanov), but he is gone when they search his apartment. Despite being ordered to end the investigation and that the suspect is wanted by the Russian government and the CIA, Broyles tells Olivia (Anna Torv) to continue the case. Walter posits the entity needs radiation, and chooses its victims based on their exposure levels. They learn that Tomas stole his comatose brother, a former cosmonaut, and has been moving him around to both protect him and contain the entity. Fearing capture, Tomas removes his brother from the hospital; Walter speculates that the cosmonaut brought the entity back with him upon returning from space. Walter is finally able to solve the formula, and Broyles sadly tells Tomas over the phone that his brother and the entity cannot be separated. However, during their conversation, the entity escapes his brother's body and kills Tomas. The Fringe team is able to trace the call, and Broyles shoots the host (Tomas' brother) in the head to stop the entity from attacking another victim.

At the end of the episode, a mysterious CIA agent (J. R. Bourne) approaches Broyles and tells him to not report the case. He reveals the cosmonaut resurrected itself, and it is implied to have been sent into space, "wherever it came from".

A seventeen-year-old girl, Lisa Donovan (Alice Kremelberg), is declared brain dead at a hospital and is pulled off life support. While the doctors remove her organs for donation, she suddenly comes back from the dead and yells highly classified naval missile codes. Fringe Division arrives to investigate, along with a naval officer; he tells them the codes are tied to a missing sailor called Andrew Rusk (Chazz Menendez). Lisa is unaware of the numbers or Rusk, but suddenly starts speaking Russian while Olivia (Anna Torv), Peter (Joshua Jackson), and Walter (John Noble) question her. The naval officer informs them that Rusk is fluent in the language.

Olivia asks Lisa's mother Maureen (Amy Carlson) for permission to run more tests on the girl as a means to find Rusk, but Maureen disagrees. Meanwhile, Lisa has a vision of Rusk standing behind her, which leads Maureen to conclude they should end the investigation, as it is causing Lisa to experience these strange occurrences. Walter posits that Lisa's aneurysm tied her to Rusk and gave them a psychic bond. Having continued to suffer visions, Lisa soon calls Olivia and leads her to Rusk's body. It is determined that at the same time Lisa was taken off life support, Rusk was murdered. Walter believes that part of Rusk's consciousness transferred over to Lisa. Walter clashes with the family's priest (Sean Dugan) over her resurrection. Olivia learns that Rusk had recently experienced high levels of radiation; Walter posits that, due to this heavy radiation exposure, Rusk's energy is not completely "expended".

Lisa is transferred to Walter's lab, where he gives her special drugs to extract Rusk's thoughts from her mind. Instead, Rusk gains control of Lisa's body and demands to know where he is. His description of the murderer allows Charlie Francis to identify and pursue another naval officer. This other officer tells them Rusk's physically abused wife Teresa (Annie Parisse) hired him for the murder. Believing that he has left her mind, they learn too late that Rusk is still in control of Lisa; he goes to exact revenge on Teresa, but is stopped by Charlie shooting him with a tranquilizer dart. Lisa is eventually able to purge Rusk from her consciousness. The final scene shows an unrelated car crash victim suddenly waking up, mumbling in Russian: "My Star", the pet name Rusk called his wife, meaning that Rusk is back.

Walter (John Noble) has prepared himself to reveal to Peter (Joshua Jackson) the truth—that he is from the parallel universe—when they are called to a case. Two teenagers were found dead, evidently killed by shapeshifter agents from the parallel universe. Exploring the nearby area, they find a third unformed shapeshifter which Walter takes to the lab to study. At the same time of the teenagers' death, they find a carrier signal in the local television. With biotechnology corporation Massive Dynamic's help, they determine that the signal emanated from the parallel universe during a brief moment that the two universes were in sync, and that the next point of synchronization would occur the next afternoon. Recalling Thomas Jerome Newton's (Sebastian Roché) previous attempt to bring a building from the parallel universe into the prime, the Fringe team believes they must stop this next attempt.

From the unformed shapeshifter, they learn of a name of its potential target, a doctor at a local hospital. They take the man into custody but find that he has yet to be harmed. Based on the need for three shapeshifters, Walter surmises that Newton is trying to use the same technology that he and William Bell had pioneered for crossing the universes, by placing three vibrational sources triangulated around the target. Walter begins to collect equipment to create interference with the vibrations to prevent the crossing. Another corpse is found, that of a bank manager that appears to have been killed by a shapeshifter. Realizing both men would have access to secured areas in their workplaces, they use these locations as two points on Netwon's triangle. From this, they are able to identify two locations where the transfer will occur. Olivia (Anna Torv), using the information Walter has told her in private about his own crossing, identifies a collapsed derelict bridge over the Charles River, where the water would absorb the energy of crossing over.

The Fringe team converges on the bridge, where Newton has already started the process as the time of synchronization nears. As Olivia and the other FBI agent engage the two other shapeshifters in combat, Walter and Peter set up the interference device. Peter warns everyone, including Walter, back as he completes the interference device and the bridge, which still exists in the parallel universe, starts to appear with a man crossing it. The shockwave of its appearance disintegrates an FBI agent on the bridge with Peter but sends Peter flying back and knocks him out.

Peter wakes in the hospital, learning from Olivia that they saw a man safely cross the bridge and taken by Newton. When Walter arrives to see Peter, Peter tells him he has realized the truth: because he, like the man on the bridge, was not affected by the same shockwave that killed the FBI agent, he must be from the parallel universe. Walter is unable to deny Peter's accusations. The next day, Walter is devastated to learn that Peter has discharged himself and has disappeared.

Brian Cheuk is a mainland Chinese security specialist and martial arts teacher. He visits his family in Hong Kong. Shortly after he sends his nephew to school, Charles, a former British marine, takes the students hostage and plants bombs around the school. Charles is unhappy because his son was taken away by his ex-wife and her new husband, who are on their way to America. He demands that his son be brought to him in exchange for the hostages. Cheuk agrees to help Charles and he rushes to the airport with Simna (Charles's brother-in-law) and Hung (a reporter). Even after they find the boy, all is not over yet because their journey back is filled with danger — both the police and the thugs are out to get them as well as a foreign killer for hire..

In Milford, Massachusetts, men in Hazmat suits drop a woman (Maria Dizzia) out of a white van, who then enters a nearby diner. Suffering from memory loss, the woman becomes irritated under a cop's questioning and causes the other patrons' brains to boil and then explode; she dies soon after in the same fashion.

The Fringe team consisting of Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv), Walter Bishop (John Noble), and Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson) arrive, and Agent Phillip Broyles (Lance Reddick) briefs them that the woman, Emily Kramer, disappeared two weeks previously, and that her corpse exhibits three times the radiation as the other victims. Upon further investigation of her body, Walter concludes she was suffering from a rare and incurable disease, "Bellini's lymphocemia," but was mysteriously cured. Further tests reveal Kramer was held against her will, and given nootropic drugs intravenously that makes her brain emit a microwave burst, then set loose by her experimenters as a test.

Another woman with the same disease, Claire Williams (Marjan Neshat), is reported missing soon after. Before her disappearance, Claire's husband tells them she also was recently cured. Her captors are shown, commenting that "the last one was a test, this one counts". While rifling through Emily's house, Olivia and Peter learn Emily and Claire were friends, and that Emily's husband also knew her despite denying it earlier. He tells them they and other victims of the disease undertook private research and discovered a cure with the help of a physician, Dr. Nadim Patel (Alok Tewari). Before committing suicide, the doctor tells them David Esterbrook (Chris Eigeman), the chief scientist of a competitor of Massive Dynamic, is the one responsible. Olivia confronts Esterbrook at a medical conference to discover his motivations, only to be threatened by him; Broyles admonishes her for intimidating such a high-profile individual in a public setting.

To get to the high-profile Esterbrook, Peter makes a deal with Nina Sharp (Blair Brown), who tells him where to find Claire before she can be turned into a radioactive bomb. The FBI storms the building, and Olivia is able to give Claire the cure before her head explodes. Estebrook arrogantly tells Olivia his lawyers will spring him out of any trouble, and she publicly arrests him to ensure the press finds out, causing his company's stock to dramatically decrease in value. After Broyles lectures her, Olivia tells him her emotions (which she had exhibited strongly all episode) make her a better agent.

In a sideplot, Olivia reveals that she shot her abusive stepfather when she was nine years old, but he survived and disappeared soon after. The strong emotions Olivia exhibited in the episode were because the events take place on her birthday, and her stepfather sends her a card every year to let her know "he's still out there". The final scene shows Olivia opening a birthday card from her stepfather.

Following Olivia Dunham's (Anna Torv) kidnapping from the previous episode, "Safe", Fringe Division works to find her location. Unbeknownst to her, one of Olivia's captors is Fringe agent Mitchell Loeb (Chance Kelly). He gives her a spinal tap and returns to help with the investigation. Olivia fights off the remaining men and escapes, taking several medical samples with her. She hides the samples right before being arrested by Sanford Harris (Michael Gaston), a former adversary who was hired to audit Fringe Division. Years before, Olivia exposed and prosecuted Harris for sexually assaulting three female Marine privates, and he now wants revenge. Now recovering in Boston Hospital, Olivia's judgment is questioned by Harris for working with the mentally unstable scientist Walter Bishop (John Noble) and his law-breaking son Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson). Harris tells her she cannot investigate her own abduction.

Back at Fringe Division, Olivia learns that the building she was kept at is empty and contains no traces of her captors. Olivia, along with Walter and Peter, recovers the hidden samples. They soon hear of the murder of epidemiologist Miles Kinberg, who was killed by a chemical which created a giant, slug-like single cell of acute viral nasopharyngitis in his stomach. Olivia learns that Kinberg was about to start a job at the Centers for Disease Control, and that another scientist, Dr. Russell Simon, is also set to begin working there. She connects Kinberg's killers with her own captors based on the similarities of her stolen samples. Fringe Division brings Simon in for protection but he is killed soon after when Loeb gives him the same chemical agent.

Meanwhile, Olivia's sister Rachel (Ari Graynor) and niece Ella (Lily Pilblad) come to visit. Olivia succeeds in connecting the murder to Loeb by recognizing his shoes from when she was a captive. She goes to search his house but accidentally runs into his wife and accomplice, Samantha (Trini Alvarado). Loeb tells his wife to kill Olivia, and after a struggle, Olivia fatally shoots Samantha. Olivia obtains the necessary evidence to capture Loeb and questions him about her abduction. She gets little information until she shows him pictures of his dead wife, as he was unaware she was killed. Loeb angrily tells Olivia about "two sides" and that he was trying to save her.

A newspaper vendor dies by suffocation after receiving a two-dollar bill coated in a chemical substance that causes all his orifices to close up. Walter analyzes the chemical agent and finds that the agent speeds up protein synthesis in scar tissue and accelerates cell growth. Meanwhile, Olivia postulates that the initials "ZFT" may not be of a terrorist organization but of a book, and discovers the German name, "Zerstörung durch Fortschritte der Technologie", roughly "Destruction by Advancement of Technology". Peter takes Olivia to a rare book storekeeper, Edward Markham (Clark Middleton) who gets a copy of the ZFT book from another collector. Peter returns with it to Walter's lab, learning that it is a typewritten manifesto preparing "soldiers" for an upcoming war between two universes.

Concurrently, David Robert Jones (Jared Harris) turns himself in at the FBI headquarters. Suffering from effects of being teleported out of his German prison cell by Walter's technology, he insists on only speaking to Olivia, warning that she is the only one that can stop a bomb from going off in 36 hours. Sanford Harris (Michael Gaston) instead orders Olivia to join other agents in raiding a warehouse which they believe Jones and his men used. Evidence confirms Jones had been there, but an agent dies from suffocation after finding another two-dollar bill.

Olivia convinces Harris to let her see Jones alone, attributing the agent's death to his misfire. In the interrogation room, Olivia discovers that Jones believes she is one of the soldiers in his war, having been a test subject on a Massive Dynamic nootropic drug known as "Cortexiphan" when she was a child. Jones claims that she is special, and instructs her to a remote site with a key in his possession to retrieve a package. Olivia follows his instructions, finding a package full of strange puzzles. The first puzzle is a light box containing a number of lights which Jones' instructions require her to disable with her thoughts only. Olivia, having learned from Nina Sharp that the only Cortexiphan trials were done in Ohio, far from her childhood Jacksonville, Florida home, is confident Jones is mistaken.

As Jones' condition worsens and he is brought to Walter's lab, Peter rigs the lightbox to make the lights go off automatically. Olivia performs the test in front of Jones, and he supplies her the address of the bomb. When Olivia and the FBI arrive, they find that the bomb is set to release the deadly agent across the city but can only be defused if Olivia turns off a similar array of lights as were on the puzzle. Despite faking the earlier test, Olivia is successful at disabling the lights and the bomb with her thoughts.

In the episode's epilogue, Jones, having been transferred to secured hospital, is rescued by his men, leaving a message on the wall telling Olivia she passed. Meanwhile, Walter, who has also started reading the ZFT, recognizes a unique offset letter, and finds that his own lab typewriter produces the same offset. Olivia receives a call from Nina who had further looked into the Cortexiphan trials and discovered a smaller case study that occurred at Jacksonville.

Animal rights activists ransack a laboratory and unwittingly release a creature with a ferocious appetite. As they flee in an SUV, the creature follows and grotesquely mutilates them. The Fringe team consisting of FBI agents Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv), Charlie Francis (Kirk Acevedo), Philip Broyles (Lance Reddick), and civilian consultants Peter (Joshua Jackson) and Walter Bishop (John Noble) arrives, and Walter sees evidence of different creatures' marks on the bodies. Olivia realizes one of them is missing, and after interviewing a student at MIT to try to identify the victims, she realizes they were animal rights activists. While conducting autopsies on the bodies, an animal control team at a different site is killed by the creature after investigating a call.

While investigating the animal control team deaths, Charlie is attacked by the creature, but it fails to kill him after Olivia arrives on the scene. Walter explains he believes the creature is a man-made chimera, which has the best genetic traits of many different creatures, including a lizard, bat, and wasp. He had tried to create the creature years before, but his experiments failed, and concludes that someone else must have taken up his research. Though initially thinking Charlie was healthy after the attack, they realize the chimera's stinger injected him with its larvae, and that he has less than 24 hours to live.

After experimenting with poison fails to kill the larvae in Charlie's body, Walter believes that mixing the chimera's blood with Charlie's will stop the larvae from attacking and bursting out of his body, as they did in the other victims' corpses. Olivia learns one of the victims, Jonathan Swift, was the son of a scientist who tests on animals, and was killed while breaking into his father's lab. They also realize the chimera was created based on work by one of Walter's peers, not Walter himself.

After several sightings, the Fringe team move into some nearby storm drains to bait the chimera with its larvae. Feeling somewhat responsible, Walter locks himself in with the chimera and ingests some poison that will kill him within the hour, believing that if it kills him, the chimera will only be killing itself. He manages to shoot the chimera in time, however, and they use its blood to find a cure for Charlie.

Olivia (Anna Torv) dreams that she pushes a woman in front of a subway train at Grand Central Terminal, but assumes it was just in her head. In the morning however, the news reports that the woman killed herself with the train. Walter (John Noble) puts forth various theories, such as astral projection, while Peter (Joshua Jackson) thinks it was still just a dream. Olivia is unconvinced, and goes with the Fringe team to investigate. An NYPD officer (April Grace) escorts them to the crime scene, and Peter sees a red balloon floating and begins to believe her, as Olivia had described the balloon to him previously.

Olivia worries it will happen again, and though she attempts to ward off sleep, she next dreams that she helps a woman murder her husband at a restaurant. They interview the wife, who tells them she became so convinced her husband was going to leave her that she became angry and stabbed him. The team posits that while no one is actually causing the incidents, they are happening as Olivia has seen them. At the restaurant, the owner tells them a blond man with a scar named Nick Lane (David Call) was sitting in the same place as Olivia was in her dream, and was also seen in the video surveillance from the first crime scene. Walter posits that because she never sees him in her dreams, it was Lane, not Olivia, causing the people's deaths. Olivia and Peter interview doctors at St. Jude's Mental Hospital, who tell them Lane was a voluntary resident, but left after the visit of a mysterious man. The doctor described him as hyperemotive, meaning those near him adopt his emotions. Olivia and Peter soon learn that as a child, Lane was treated with the nootropic drug Cortexiphan in drug trials, and believes himself to be a recruit in the upcoming war between the two universes.

Walter tells Olivia that she may have been in the same drug trials as Lane, and that the bond they share stems from Walter and William Bell (Leonard Nimoy) pairing up the children in the "buddy system". To find Lane, Walter uses this bond, putting Olivia under the effect of drugs so she experiences Lane's emotions. She sees Lane sleep with a stripper, who then is influenced to kill herself in a mirror of Lane's depressed thoughts; afterwards, Olivia discovers where Lane lives. While they explore his apartment, a suicidal Lane walks down a sidewalk, influencing others to mirror his emotions, so that they follow him to the top of a building. Because of her past in the trials, Walter believes Olivia won't be influenced by these suicidal thoughts, and she goes to encounter Lane alone. While Olivia does not remember him, he remembers her and the nickname he gave her: "Olive." Olivia wounds him, breaking his mind-control over the others, and he is placed in a medically-induced longterm coma to control his emotions.

The episode ends with Walter watching a video of Olivia as a child, apparently taken while she was being administered Cortexiphan. Walter's voice is heard on the tape, as is William Bell's. Both are trying to calm little Olivia while she sits, huddled amidst a debris-strewn room of equipment. It becomes clear Olivia has caused this chaos in Walter and Bell's lab, presumably with her Cortexiphan-induced abilities.

Fringe Division investigate the murder of Bob Dunn (Richard Short) in his apartment. He is found with a severed spinal column, and his spinal fluid drained out. While autopsying the body, Walter Bishop (John Noble) finds human teeth marks, and that the killer's saliva contains traces of an extinct strain of syphilis. The team discover that a lab sample of the strain was sold to Lubov Pharmaceutical, which also bought other samples of bacteria. Lubov has ties with ZFT. The investigation leads to the address of Nicholas Boone (Jefferson Mays), the head of the company. Boone admits he works for the bioterrorist group ZFT, and will give them everything he knows on the organization if they save his wife Valerie (Trieste Dunn) from them. After leading Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) to a restaurant, a ZFT hideout, she finds no sign of her, and Boone admits that Valerie is the killer they are looking for; ZFT infected her with a contagion when Boone initially refused to cooperate. The contagion burns spinal fluid faster than her body can replace it. In a vain effort to work on a cure several weeks previous, Boone used some of his own spinal fluid, costing him the use of his legs. Over the course of the episode, two more male bodies are discovered, having died in a similar manner.

Boone is allowed to work with Walter in his laboratory to work on the cure, later finding out they have to make an augmented form of penicillin; the first trial is unsuccessful. Boone realizes that more spinal fluid is needed to complete the process, and sacrifices more of his. Walter realizes that Boone tricked him and asks him why and Boone responds rhetorically about what one is willing to do for those that they love, which seems to strike a chord with Walter. Astrid (Jasika Nicole) finds a link between the three victims; they all visited the same nightclub. Olivia and Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson) enter the club and manage to find Valerie, with the help of a thermal imaging camera, as her infection causes her to have a raised body heat, and subdue her with tranquilizer guns. They return to the lab where Valerie is successfully cured, but Boone dies from the loss of spinal fluid. However, beforehand, Boone managed to have pre-recorded a message for Olivia, informing her that ZFT has been funded by Massive Dynamic founder William Bell.

In the meantime, Olivia's sister Rachel (Ari Graynor) learns that her husband is divorcing her, and demands full custody of daughter Ella, claiming that Rachel is an unfit parent. In response, Olivia asks superior Phillip Broyles (Lance Reddick) for the telephone number of his divorce lawyer.

The film follows the journey of K. Roth Binew, a self-proclaimed genius. After discovering that he has contracted a rare and unnamed terminal disease, he enlists his eccentric rickshaw-riding best and only friend Mills Joaquin (Jesse Eisenberg) to accompany him on his last day to live. Throughout the film, he attempts to find the meaning of life in "a brief, but powerful monologue" that his eccentric father had promised to tell him, but abandoned K. Roth before he could.

K. Roth's final day begins with a confrontation with his neighbor and rival, Reginald, whom he invites to his living wake. With his friend Mills, he attempts to make his funeral arrangements, visits a "liquorsmith", and makes a goat sacrifice in order to appease Greek gods. Believing that love is the meaning of life, K. Roth has a picnic with his former nanny, Marla, whom he describes as his true love. This fails, and after a brief romp with a prostitute (Colombe Jacobsen), whom he also invites to his wake, K. Roth and Mills journey to the public library, where he tries to donate his entire works. When his books are deemed to be unfit for reading, K. Roth visits a psychic in another attempt to find the meaning of life.

With his wake and death looming, K. Roth falls into a depression. He is revived when he chances upon a church, the members of which encourage him to reconnect with his family. His brother, Karl, and mother (Jill Larson) are reluctant to reconcile with him, and do not believe that he is dying. Karl states that K is neither a writer or an inventor except in his own ego and is a delusional man, he calls the family doctor. After having a last drink at a bar, K. Roth and Mills prepare for the wake.

The wake begins, with the entire film's cast in attendance. The wake is made up of dancing by K. Roth, a song performed by Mills called "If I Was Real", and a one-woman play performed by K. Roth called "Remembrance of Dawn". K. Roth's wake is interrupted by the arrival of his mother, Karl, and the family doctor, Dr. Schoenberg. They plead with him to stop the wake, describing it as another of his "episodes". K. Roth refuses, and the wake continues with K. Roth tying up loose ends, including revenge on his neighbor, Reginald, and the giving away of his possessions. Mills recites a poem about K. Roth.

The wake is again interrupted by the arrival of the ghost of Lampert Binew (Jim Gaffigan), K. Roth's father. Though only K. Roth can see him, K. Roth proceeds to confront him in front of the audience about his abandonment. Lampert explains to him that he never abandoned him, and had simply died without leaving any trace. He tells K. Roth that there is no "equation for life", and therefore no monologue, and that the meaning of life was merely to live to your full potential. With his time drawing near, K. Roth has a moment of self-awareness, stating that his life was meaningless, and that he was a "stupid, drunk, scared, dying man". With encouragement from his father, K. Roth concludes his wake with a song and dance. With the last words of the song, K. Roth's disease takes effect, and he collapses into an upright coffin. He is proclaimed dead. The members of the wake pay their final respects. A mourning Mills takes K. Roth's body to a pond, where he sets it ablaze as the film draws to a close.

The game begins with a village in Skylands being ravaged by a massive tornado. A small, bookish fellow named Hugo mentions the destruction of the "Core of Light" and an individual called "Master Eon". A Skylander is sent down to the village by the player and proceeds to save the villagers.

Following the rescue, the player is introduced to the Ruins and some of the game's backstory is explained. The Portal Masters and the Skylanders had protected Skylands from "The Darkness" for as long as anyone could remember. Master Eon, the last good Portal Master in Skylands, and his Skylanders guarded the Core of Light, a great machine that enriched the world and repelling The Darkness, the ultimate force behind all evil. However, Kaos, a Dark Portal Master who attempted to destroy the Core of Light in the past, returned from his banishment in the Outlands to destroy the Core to rule Skylands as its emperor, knowing that Eon has grown weaker with age. The Skylanders fought against Kaos' minions to protect the Core of Light. Just as they were winning the battle, Kaos initiates "Plan Z" by unleashing a mysterious creature that successfully destroyed the Core, allowing The Darkness to take over and causing the Skylanders to be banished from their world. As the Skylanders were drifted farther away from the magic of Skylands, they began to shrink until they reached Earth, where they were turned into toys as a result of that world bearing no magic. Master Eon did survive the destruction of the Core of Light, but in doing so became a spirit without a physical body which means he couldn't fight Kaos and the Darkness. He and the Skylanders then awaited for the arrival of a new Portal Master until one finally arrived: the young player, who finds the Skylands.

To restore the Core of Light, however, the player must collect several mystical objects. They must bring back and The Eternal Source of each of the eight elements, and for every source there is also an artifact which must also be recovered. This is no small task, as Kaos is quick to notice and sends all of his minions out to destroy the new Portal Master and the Skylanders. Despite his best efforts (among them creating dark copies of Skylanders), Kaos fails to stop the player and the Core of Light is restored. Humiliated and weakened, Kaos and his assistant Glumshanks retreat to the Outlands, Skylands' most desolate area. Not wanting to leave anything to chance, the player and the Skylanders journey to Kaos' Fortress, where they engage in a massive battle against the Dark Portal Master, his dark Skylanders and the Hydra, the beast responsible for the Core of Light's destruction and Master Eon's transformation to a spirit.

In the end, Kaos is defeated. While he is unconcerned about being banished again, Eon informs him that he is being banished not to the Outlands, but to Earth. Hugo gladly sends Kaos to Earth, where he becomes a petrified figure similar to the trapped skylanders.

The father of a quirky family, the Wheelers, hires an ex-soldier, Clarence (Reid), as a handyman. Clarence falls for the family's governess, Violet (Ayres).

Mrs. Wheeler (Williams) suspects that Violet and her husband (Martindel) are carrying on, and Mrs. Wheeler begins to develop an attraction to Clarence. Hubert Stem (Menjou), Mr. Wheeler's avaricious private secretary, one day shows Mr. Wheeler an article about Charles Short, an army deserter, and insists that Clarence is in actuality Charles Short.

On an airplane in flight, scientist Marshall Bowman (Neal Huff) gets a nosebleed, and he tries to warn the crew to give him sedatives or use force against him. He transforms into a beast in the bathroom, and bursts out, causing the plane to crash in Scarsdale, New York. The Fringe team arrives on the scene and discover the beast's body. Dr. Walter Bishop (John Noble) concludes that it started out as a human. Agent Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) recognizes Bowman's picture from John Scott's (Mark Valley) memories, realizing that Bowman was flying to meet another man in the memories named Daniel Hicks (Felix Solis). Back at the lab at Harvard, Walter finds a small crystalline disc implanted in the beast's hand similar to one seen inside the woman killed in "The Ghost Network", and thinks Marshall was dosed with a "designer virus".

Hicks is brought in for questioning. After beginning to transform into a beast, he admits that "Conrad" dosed them before Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson) pauses the process by administering a sedative and placing him in an induced coma. Walter develops an antidote, while Olivia finds another small disc in Hicks' hand. Her demand to see Scott's body leads her and Phillip Broyles (Lance Reddick) to Massive Dynamic, where Nina Sharp (Blair Brown) tells her that the information gleaned from Scott's body implicates him in a bioterrorist cell with the other two.

French intelligence states that weapons manufacturer Conrad is involved in a sale, leading to Olivia returning to the sensory deprivation tank in order to find out more from Scott's memories. In a motel room they used to share, Scott talks to Olivia, scaring her into shooting him. Olivia next appears in an alleyway, where she follows Scott into a memory of him almost killing Conrad. He reveals that he, Hicks, and Marshall are all undercover government agents for the NSA, and tells Olivia to ask Hicks where the meeting is going to happen. They awake Hicks, who tells them more about the weapons sale.

Being given details from a secret radio by Hicks, Olivia pretends to be the weapons buyer, and is accompanied by Peter. They successfully make contact, but the sellers become suspicious after Hicks' transformation restarts, depriving Olivia of the necessary information. Conrad makes his appearance and realizes Olivia and Peter are lying; just before he orders them killed, the FBI moves in and arrests the sellers.

The episode ends with Walter telling Olivia her brain waves are going back to normal, and that Scott's memories are fading from her mind. Olivia requests to enter the tank regardless, and she makes a last encounter with Scott, where he tells her he loved her and was going to marry her. She bids farewell to his consciousness, which has finally left her own.

A group of college students fight to regain their freedom after being kidnapped by a white slave trader.

As described in a film publication, Chick Hewes (Lytell) decides to go straight after being released from Sing Sing, and is anxious to keep his younger brother Benny (Hughes) and his young wife from a life of crime. Chick gets a job, but loses it when he is hounded by the police. Jerry (Agnew), the son of District Attorney Brandon (Miltern), while driving with his sister runs over and kills a child in the slum, and the police let him go. Chick vows to see that atonement is made. Intending to crack Brandon's safe, Chick arrives at the residence while a wild party is going on. Brandon's wife travels with a fast set, much to the disgust of their daughter Molly (Compson), recently returned from her convent school. Jimmy Monahan (Prouty), a politician, has eyes for Molly, making dancer Frou Frou (Clifford) jealous. Jerry needs some money so opens his father's safe and Chick sees the youngster pocket cash and gems. Jerry is holding Chick with his gun when Molly appears, and Chick tells her what has happened. Jerry phones for the police, but Chick hides. Chick sees Frou Frou shoot Jimmy in a fit of jealous rage, and Chick holds her until the police arrive. Jerry attempts to frame Chick by placing the loot in his pocket, but Molly sees this and denounces her brother. John Stephens (Ogle), a western lumber man, offers Chick a job. Chick then finds his brother Benny in the next room has been shot. Benny had come to steal. Chick has the gang remove the body. Detective Fogarty (Long) tries to arrest Chick, but Molly explains everything to her father, who orders Chick released. Chick heads west and marries Molly.

In the mild December 1141 Abbot Radulfus heads to Westminster for a second legatine council in one year. Henry, Bishop of Winchester calls all the bishops and major clerics back to reinstate allegiance to the crowned King. King Stephen is free, released by the contender Empress Maud in trade for her main supporter, her half-brother Robert of Gloucester. Abbott Radulfus returns on 10 December with a new priest for the Holy Cross parish in the Foregate. Father Ailnoth, lately clerk to Bishop Henry, comes with a housekeeper, and her unskilled nephew Benet, seeking work near her. Benet does heavy garden work needed before the first frost for Cadfael.

In just eight days Father Ailnoth alienates or directly offends almost everyone in the Holy Cross parish. He refuses confession, absolution, and then communion to Eluned, a local girl who kills herself in despair at the rejection. He hits the children with his staff, especially when he is teaching them to read. He refused to baptise an infant born too sick to live above an hour, then refused the infant burial in blessed ground because it was not baptised. In the market, he accuses the local baker of short-weighting his loaves of bread. On the land, he pays no heed to property lines until he oversteps and is challenged. The provost of the foregate meets with Abbot Radulfus to relay the complaints. The Abbot talks with Ailnoth, who does not understand the change in his role, from bishop's clerk to the cure of souls, nor accept advice. His treatment of the infant and the young woman rankles all, not just their own families.

On Christmas Eve, Brother Cadfael sees Ralph Giffard walking away from town, then he sees Father Ailnoth walking out, staff in hand, sleeves billowing, too distracted to offer a greeting. Both Benet and Sanan Bernière appear for the Christmas Eve services (matins) at the Abbey, while her stepfather Giffard attends at Saint Chad. Benet and Sanan slip out separately to Cadfael's workshop for an uninterrupted chat, the start of their romance.

Christmas morning, the housekeeper Diota Hammet reports Ailnoth missing all night. A search finds his body in the mill pond, hit on the back of the head and drowned. Two days later, Hugh returns from Canterbury formally appointed Sheriff in Shropshire. King Stephen gave Hugh two names to hunt, squires of FitzAlan in Normandy, supporters of the Empress. The names of Torold Blund and Ninian Bachiler are announced to Shrewsbury. Blund has left England already. Giffard reports that Ninian Bachiler is known as Benet in Shrewsbury Abbey, and that Giffard received a note asking to meet the stranger on Christmas Eve, which he passed to Father Ailnoth. The purpose of the righteous Ailnoth marching past Cadfael is now clear: to confront the boy, meeting him in Giffard's stead. Ninian is a murder suspect.

Diota was injured Christmas Eve. Cadfael treated her wounds. Cynric sends Cadfael to aid newborn Winifred, now in the care of her grandmother Nest, mother of the late lovely Eluned. Cadfael confronts Benet with his true name, Ninian. Ninian is in Shrewsbury by the work of his resourceful childhood nurse, Diota Hammet. He plans escape through Wales to Gloucester. Sanan will go with Ninian. He will leave when his name is cleared, and Diota is safe; then he and Sanan will marry. On the day Giffard comes forward, Sanan meets Ninian at Cadfael's workshop. They leave for his hiding place just before Hugh arrives.

Cadfael recalls two items that were not found with Ailnoth's body: a small cap over his tonsure, and his staff. Cadfael retrieved the cap from the boys who found it at the pond early Christmas morning. He finds the staff near where the body was found. The ebony staff, with its band of silver, holds long, greying hairs in it, suggesting its victim was Diota. Cadfael presses Diota for the full story of Christmas Eve. The priest found sin in both his housekeeper and the boy, after he spoke with Giffard. She followed Ailnoth on his way to meet Ninian, begging him not to harm the boy. She clung to him, begging for mercy; Ailnoth beat her on the head with his staff, leaving the wounds Cadfael had tended. Terrified and dazed, she let go of him, and made her way home.

A thaw lets Cynric dig the grave for Ailnoth. The baker Jordan Achard was seen out early Christmas morning, and two will attest he was not at home. Hugh will announce this after the funeral as a way to get the guilty person talking, a scheme Cadfael terms devious. The funeral is well attended. Word that Hugh will charge the murderer draws many to the end of the funeral, including Ninian out of hiding. As the baker loudly protests his innocence of murder and guilt of adultery, Ralph Giffard mistakes Ninian as one to hold his horse. Ninian hides in his country-boy role again.

Cynric is the one witness to Ailnoth's death. Cynric watched the scene between Ailnoth and Diota from the place where Eluned died, seeing what happened after Diota left. When Ailnoth beat Diota, she grabbed the end of the staff to stop him; he pulled it back as she let go and ran away. The priest reeled backwards, his head hitting a dead willow; then he fell into the pond. Cynric walked to see the man's face in the night. Cynric believed the will of God left Ailnoth dead exactly where Eluned died. Hugh's scheme worked in an unexpected way. Abbot Radulfus accepts Cynric's story, as does Hugh. Cadfael's evidence supports the story. Cynric finishes the burial.

Brother Jerome recognises Ninian holding the horse. About to call him out, he sees Giffard come to claim his horse and pay a silver penny to the boy.

On 18 October 1142, Richard Ludel, lord of Eaton manor, dies of wounds taken at the battle of Lincoln in February 1141. Sheriff Hugh Beringar has charge of the manor lands for King Stephen, with the steward John of Longwood to run the manor. Abbot Radulfus is guardian of the son per his father's wish. Brother Paul informs young Richard, 10 years old, that he is orphaned, and lord of Eaton manor. His grandmother, Dame Dionisia Ludel does not believe in such education for a lord. Her goal is to marry the boy to Hiltrude, daughter of Fulke Astley, who will inherit the estates on either side of Eaton manor: Wroxeter and Leighton.

Dame Dionisia gives the hermit Cuthred and his helper Hyacinth a disused hermit's chapel. He and his helper are present at the funeral of Richard's father. Otherwise, Cuthred never leaves his small residence.

In November, Eilmund, forester for the Abbey, reports unusual damage in the Eyton Forest. Cuthred sends Hyacinth to tell the Abbot this is punishment for Richard being kept at the Abbey. Needing a friend, Richard approaches Hyacinth. They form a pact. Returning to the hermitage, Hyacinth saves Eilmund in Eyton Forest. He rolls a fallen willow tree off him. Local men carry Eilmund to his assart. Hyacinth runs ahead to warn Annet, Eilmund's daughter. She asks Hyacinth to fetch Cadfael to set her father's broken leg.

Hugh Beringar shares that the Empress Maud is held under siege in Oxford Castle. The Empress sent a messenger from there to Brian Fitzcount, Lord of Wallingford. The messenger was Renaud Bourchier, whose horse was found, with empty saddlebags, and no sign of the man.

Drogo Bosiet and his groom Warin of Northamptonshire appear at the Abbey, hunting a villein named Brand who fled his manor. Abbot Radulfus is not well inclined to Drogo's goal, so recommends him to the sheriff. After Vespers, Brother Jerome meets with Drogo to tell him that the hermit's helper might be Brand. Richard overhears this threat to Hyacinth, and rides his pony to warn Hyacinth, finding him in the Eyton Forest. Hyacinth goes into hiding, as Richard heads back to the Abbey. That day, Cadfael leaves Eilmund's assart and encounters Drogo's horse, then the body of Drogo Bosiet, killed by a knife in his back. In the morning, Hugh Beringar and Cadfael find that Drogo was stabbed in the back as he walked his horse on the forest path en route to the Abbey. No knife is found. The Abbot adds Brother Jerome's conversation, revealing Drogo's destination to the hermitage.

Cuthred tells Hugh and Cadfael that Drogo visited him the day before, and he has not seen Hyacinth since. Cuthred met Hyacinth, a beggar at the gates of the Cluniac priory in Northampton, at the end of September. Richard has not been seen in the Abbey since the day before at Vespers. Hugh sets a manhunt for both Richard, suspected kidnapped, and Hyacinth, suspected of murder.

Cadfael talks with Rafe of Coventry, of the Earl of Warwick, staying at the Abbey. At the alms box, he sees a coin struck with the image of the Empress, and Rafe comes from Oxford. When Cadfael asks if he seeks the murderer of Bourchier, Rafe says no.

Cadfael finds Hyacinth by following Annet as she meets him. Annet, Eilmund and Hyacinth bring Cadfael in on their secrets. Annet loves Hyacinth and her father approves it. They hide Hyacinth during this manhunt. Hyacinth was with Annet at the time of the murder. Innocence is not sufficient; he is not safe until Drogo and his son are gone. Hyacinth describes his bad treatment at Drogo's hands. Drogo left Hyacinth landless, but wants him for his skill in fine leather work. Hyacinth ran after he beat up the steward when he chanced on him raping a local girl. Cadfael promises to keep Hyacinth's secret, at odds with his promise to Hugh.

Drogo's son Aymer arrives at the Abbey focussed on finding the villein, learning his father is dead. Hyacinth seeks Richard at Leighton. Hearing a young woman travelling with her father Astley on horseback in the darkness, he runs ahead of them to find Richard locked in a room. Learning that the hermit Cuthred will act as the priest, Hyacinth persuades Richard to go along with the ceremony. After the marriage ceremony, Richard gains respect for Hiltrude; he shares why he agreed to the ceremony. She is delighted. They plan Richard's escape. Richard begins his ride after the midday meal. When Astley learns Richard is missing, he is in immediate pursuit.

They arrive simultaneously in the Abbey courtyard, Richard first on his pony. Richard falls off the pony and grabs the Abbot's legs. The courtyard is full. Astley and Abbot Radulfus face off. Astley wants his son-in-law. The Abbot takes control. Before a rapt audience, Richard shouts out why he agreed to the ceremony, that Cuthred is not a priest. At this, Rafe slips away. Abbot Radulfus plans to meet Cuthred the next morning. Hugh Beringar returns from Leighton, and mutes Astley with mention of kidnapping charges. Aymer Bosiet has not left the Abbey, still a threat to Hyacinth.

At the hermitage, Cuthred lies dead at the foot of the altar, his own knife near his hand. A small casket is broken open and empty, and the breviary is missing. Blood shows on the tip of Cuthred's knife. Dame Dionisia arrives, jolted by the sight of the dead man.

Aymer Bosiet recognises the dead hermit. He and his father had met him at Thame one night. He was dressed differently, hair cut in the Norman style, a man who wore weapons, but rode no horse. They played dice and chess with him. This explains the murder of Drogo; the hermit would not risk discovery. Aymer leaves the Abbey. Cadfael brings Hyacinth out of hiding. Hugh calls off the manhunt, as they go to Eilmund's place. When Hyacinth and Cuthred met, Cuthred was well dressed. Hyacinth stole a habit for him at the priory, for his transformation to hermit. Dame Dionisia believed Cuthred was a priest, but it was not true. Hugh tells Hyacinth he is free to seek work in the town. In a year and a day, he will come to ask for Annet as his wife.

Rafe seeks Cadfael to treat his long knife wound. Rafe de Genville, vassal to Brian FitzCount, loyal to the Empress will restore to Brian what is his, recovered in a fair fight between Rafe and the hermit. Rafe found the jewels he sought in the reliquary. A personal letter was hidden in the breviary, already read by the dead man, as the seal is broken.

Cadfael tells Hugh that he let Rafe go. Horse with no man, man with no horse, Cadfael had linked these together. Hugh recoils upon realising the full horror of the first crime that Renaud Bourchier committed, fouler than murder. Hugh is persuaded Rafe acted rightly.

Honour is upheld, the lovers are united, and Richard is safe at school.

The story takes place from 19 to 27 June 1143.

Just across the Channel, so close to home, William of Lythwood dies after a seven-year pilgrimage to the Holy Land. His servant Elave carries his master's body back home to Shrewsbury, straight to the Abbey where the funeral will take place. Elave shares the sad news with William's wool- and vellum-trading household in town, and delivers the dowry gift meant for Fortunata, his foster daughter. Not all the household is happy to see Elave return to town. Aldwin, his insecure replacement for the clerking work, charges Elave with heresy, charges taken all too seriously by a visiting Augustinian canon from the Archbishop of Canterbury. Abbot Radulfus handles this issue with due seriousness, but with a cooler head than the peremptory canon.

Once aware that his job is in no way threatened by Elave, Aldwin leaves to recant his charges at the Abbey. His body is found in the river next morning by Cadfael. Sheriff Hugh Beringar and Madog of the Dead Boat join to hunt for the killer. Elave is surprised by Fortunata, grown beautiful while he was away. Others in the household are taken more by the new dowry unseen in a magnificent box. Fortunata, drawn into the testimony about the supposed heresies, is drawn also to Elave. For his safety from the canon, Elave is held in a solitary cell in the Abbey, now a suspect of both heresy and murder.

Girard of Lythwood returns home, gone just a week to get the local wool clip ready to sell, to learn all the changes at once: his uncle home from his pilgrimage but dead and buried; his clerk murdered; his head shepherd Conan taken by the Sheriff; Elave home and suspected. He opens the box with Fortunata’s dowry, finding 570 silver pennies. Father Elias will not bury Aldwin until he knows he confessed and was absolved. Aldwin confessed to Father Eadmer, replacing Father Boniface on the festival day; this settles his burial in blessed ground, and removes guilt of his murder from Elave due to the time of Aldwin’s encounter with Father Eadmer, during Vespers.

The beautiful old box comes to the Abbey in a failed appeal to use its contents as bail for Elave. Brother Anselm examines the box, noting its likely use to hold a valuable book. Elave and Brother Cadfael have their first chance to hear and hold it since Elave arrived five days earlier, both aware it has changed in sound and weight. Cadfael and Hugh ask Conan more questions about the night before William's funeral before Hugh releases him, free of suspicion of Aldwin's murder. Cadfael seeks a motive for the murder of Aldwin. Fortunata gives her Uncle Jevan the box, in hopes she will learn the original contents. Cadfael and Hugh seek Fortunata, fearing for her safety. Jevan heads to his workshop near Frankwell when he notices the key to it is missing at home. Fortunata is searching his workshop for the missing box, thoroughly but without success.

Jevan faces Fortunata, slowly confessing how he killed Aldwin, believing (wrongly) that Aldwin had seen the contents of the box, as Jevan had, before Girard returned. He covets that ancient book. But he loves his niece; he is frozen in indecision, while Fortunata believes he will not kill her. Hugh and Cadfael arrive. Hugh calls to Jevan, with his good news of Conan. Jevan slips a knife up his sleeve as he grabs Fortunata close to him. Hugh sees it, as does Elave, arriving by foot from the Abbey. With tensions high, all in this scene act as normal, to part Jevan and his niece.

Unseen by the others, Elave sets fire to the workshop to make Jevan free Fortunata. Jevan runs into the blaze to fetch his prize from the thatched roof. On fire himself, he runs to the river, but cannot swim, holding the box with both hands.

Bishop Roger de Clinton arrives at the Abbey to resolve Elave's case. It is heard the next morning. Though not to Canon Gerbert's satisfaction, the Bishop calmly questions Elave, deciding that there is no heretic before him. The canon proceeds on his errand to Earl Ranulf, now home again in Chester.

Hugh arrives to tell them Jevan's body was found, and lays the well-wrapped package on the table in front of Anselm. Fortunata wishes it opened before witnesses. The beautiful box and its contents are unharmed by fire or river. The true dowry for Fortunata is a psalter, a gift from Otto I to his son's wife Theofanu in honour of their marriage in 972, nearly two centuries earlier, a magnificent melding of art styles from the East and the West. Diarmaid, an Irish monk of Saint Gall, inscribed it. In awe of the beauty of its images of King David, illuminations, and colours, all declare it beyond price. Fortunata considers her dowry gift carefully, choosing to give it to her Bishop, Roger de Clinton, for the diocesan library. He says he cannot pay her near its value. She has money for it already, and the best gift that William sent her was Elave.

The Bishop returns to Coventry with his gift. The bereaved family of Girard of Lythwood begins to heal its wounds and start life anew.

The two monasteries are quick to seal the deal once they decide to trade two plots of land at Saint Peter's Fair in August 1143. By early October, the monks of the Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul are in the newly acquired Potter's Field, setting the plough with a huge team of oxen to till the long fallow land. Soon into the work, they stop, having found what they least expect: the bones and long dark hair of a woman in her unblessed and unmarked grave. She has no marks of identity besides her hair, nor wounds to her bones to tell how she died. She held a cross made from twigs, the only sign she had been laid there by someone who wished her well. The civil authority and the monks must learn who she was, and how she came to her death.

The field was a gift from the lord of Longner Manor to the Augustine Priory at Haughmond Abbey, who then traded it to the Shrewsbury Abbey, as it was closer to them. For fifteen years, until fifteen months earlier, it was the home of a potter, Ruald and his wife Generys. Ruald is now a happy man in the monastery, finding his true calling. His wife is no longer in the area, abandoned by her husband's decision, not free to marry again, and not happy about her situation. Sulien Blount, novice monk, reports to Abbot Radulfus of the devastation of Ramsey Abbey, having survived the long walk. Learning of the local mystery, he shares the news that Generys was seen within the last three weeks, having sold her wedding ring to a silversmith in Peterborough as she and her new man flee the devastation of the Fens. Sulien shows the ring, given him for his sentimental attachment. This rules her out as the unfortunate woman now buried in the Abbey's cemetery, and frees Ruald of suspicion of being a murderer.

Geoffrey de Mandeville is destroying towns in the Fens, and ejecting the Benedictine monks from their monastery at Ramsey, in his rebellion against King Stephen. Sheriff Hugh Beringar is on battle alert, if King Stephen calls for support.

Britric of Ruiton, a pedlar of the area, used the empty cottage during Saint Peter's fair soon after it was abandoned. He shared it with Gunnild that year, a lovely woman not seen at this year's fair. He is the next suspect as murderer, and she as victim. Gunnild appears alive at the castle, releasing Britric, leaving the mystery of who is buried in the grave, and why Sulien acted in the release of each suspect.

Hugh's armed force sets off to assist King Stephen on 3 November, against the anarchy in East Anglia. They return at the end of the month, no men lost. In Peterborough, Hugh learns that Sulien lied in part about how he got the ring. Sulien lies a third time to Hugh, Cadfael and Radulfus to save the honour of his family, and is ready to die for that honour. Hugh deftly discerns that Sulien does not know the truth, because he was not party to the death or burial. Cadfael argues that it is time to stop shielding Sulien's mother Donata, by sharing this matter with her now. At Longner manor, Pernel has the same idea, telling Donata of the local mystery; the two were alone after Sulien, no longer a monk, left to see the Abbot.

Donata travels to the Abbey to tell Hugh, Cadfael, and Abbot Radulfus the story of the wager between her and Generys, the story of two identical cups, one with hemlock. Donata had not lain with her husband due to her illness for a few years. Generys sought help from her lord in persuading Ruald not to join the monastery. Generys and her liege lord Eudo Blount have an affair. Neither Donata nor Generys can bear sharing this man. Donata proposes the wager, the two conducting it so neither knows which cup has the poison. It is Generys in the grave, first buried by Eudo Blount, watched from afar by his younger son Sulien. After that, he joined the King's army in Oxford. The frail but steely Donata survives but feels she lost the wager.

Hugh decides this case is closed unsolved for him, but the name of the dead woman must be given out publicly. Donata will tell the whole truth to Pernel and Sulien, but not to her son Eudo or her daughter-in-law. Radulfus can neither condone nor condemn; Donata is her own penance. Ruald accepts the few facts he is told, finally realising how he mistreated his wife in his pursuit of the cloistered life.

Cadfael thinks long about it, saying "God's justice, if it makes no haste, makes no mistakes."

Dr. J. Dockweiler Droop (Robert Woolsey) is a carnival charlatan, scamming local shills out of their hard earned money. He adopted Rosie (Anita Louise) when she was three, and has raised her to become a pretty young woman, who is just as good an operator as her adoptive father is. As they pass through a small town, Rosie falls in love with Billy Lowe (John Darrow), and pleads with Dockweiler to leave the carnival life and settle down. Dockweiler agrees, and the two leave the carnival.

To support them, Dockweiler becomes partners with a jewelry store owner, Al Oberdorf (Alfred James), who is on the verge of bankruptcy. Due to Dockweiler's sales skills, he saves the store from failure. He has also been spending his time convincing the gullible townspeople that he is actually a European noblemen. While Rosie is in love with Billy, she finds out that he is engaged to a snobbish socialite, Madeline Van Dorn (Lita Chevret). Heartbroken, when Billy invites her to his birthday, she agrees to go, along with Dockweiler. While at the party, Dockweiler decides to get back at the townspeople who have heartbroken his daughter, and runs a crooked shell game, bilking the locals of large amounts of cash. When Rosie discovers that Billy has true feelings for her, and intends to marry her, she asks Dockweiler to lose back the money he has won. He agrees, but before the evening is out, the Sheriff (Clifford Dempsey) arrives and asks him to leave town for running a dishonest game.

Before they can leave, however, the jewelry store is robbed, and suspicion falls on Dockweiler who is arrested for the theft. He escapes from the jail, and is leaving town with Rosie, when the Sheriff and Billy track them down to let them know that the real jewel thieves have been apprehended. Dockweiler understands that he will never fit in with the local gentry, so, now assured of Rosie's happiness with Billy, bids them adieu and departs.

Sir Frances finds out that he is in love with Eleanor and decided to marry her after several unfortunate dates Eleanor accept his proposal.

In the parallel universe, Lincoln (Seth Gabel) has been promoted to head of the Fringe Division, while Fauxlivia (Anna Torv) welcomes back Frank (Philip Winchester), her boyfriend who has been working as part of the Centers for Disease Control to deal with an outbreak in North Texas for the last several weeks. The division is alerted to a case where a man has been killed, eaten from the inside by insects. They identify the insects as "skelter beetles", which is surprising as they had been assumed to have become extinct some ten years earlier along with sheep, the only host they can survive in. Frank is brought in to consult on the case at Lincoln's request, and later proposes marriage to Fauxlivia, who happily accepts.

A second case occurs a few days later, another man killed by the beetles, but they find the beetles to be larger and more mature. From the second victim's movements, they identify the likely culprit as Dr. Armand Silva (Alon Abutbul), a former scientist. Dr. Silva was working on a cure for avian flu using the skelter beetle, but his research was terminated with the extinction of the sheep. Fauxlivia and Frank postulate Dr. Silva may be trying to breed the beetles in humans, who share similar biological features with sheep.

Fauxlivia and Lincoln track Dr. Silva's location, an abandoned building, and separate. Dr. Silva locks Lincoln in a cold storage room, while Fauxlivia falls through a weakened floor and passes out. She is woken by Dr. Silva, but finds herself secured to a chair. Dr. Silva explains to Fauxlivia that he wants to see through the end of his research, needing only one more human host for a final gestation cycle to birth the queen beetle from which the beetle species, and his cure, can be sustained. Fauxlivia feels pains in her body when Dr. Silva implies the last cycle has begun, believing herself to be the host.

By then, Lincoln has broken out of the cold locker and called for backup. Frank rushes Fauxlivia to a hospital while Lincoln interrogates Dr. Silva. Dr. Silva reveals he was the last host, and implores Lincoln to remember his name as he extracts the live queen beetle from his body and dies. Meanwhile, Frank discovers Fauxlivia is pregnant; the adrenaline had induced morning sickness symptoms. At the hospital, the fetus is found to be six weeks old. Frank realizes he was away at that time, accuses Fauxlivia of sleeping with another man, and leaves her. Fauxlivia cries to herself, realizing her child's father is Peter (Joshua Jackson) from her time in the prime universe.

In a side plot, Walternate (John Noble) has recovered the portion of the doomsday machine that Fauxlivia has secured from the prime universe, and has discovered the formulation for Cortexiphan from his tests on Olivia, but refuses to allow it to be tested on children. When he hears of Fauxlivia's pregnancy with his grandchild, Walternate comforts her and offers his complete support for her, believing the child to be another way to bring Peter voluntarily back to the parallel universe.

The series revolves around the Ewings, an affluent Dallas family in the oil and cattle-ranching industries. It focuses mainly on Christopher Ewing (Jesse Metcalfe), the adopted son of Bobby (Patrick Duffy) and Pamela Barnes Ewing (Victoria Principal), and John Ross Ewing III (Josh Henderson), the son of J.R. (Larry Hagman) and Sue Ellen Ewing (Linda Gray). Both John Ross and Christopher were born during the original series' run and were featured in it as children (although played by different actors). Now grown up, John Ross has become almost a carbon copy of his father, bent on oil, money, and power. Christopher, meanwhile, has become a lot like Bobby, in that he is more interested in the upkeep of Southfork Ranch. As an additional point of contention, Christopher is also becoming a player in alternative energy (methane clathrate recovery), thereby eschewing the oil business. However, John Ross is determined to resurrect the Ewings' former position in the oil industry. John Ross states in season 1 that he is J.R.'s eldest child, which contradicts the storyline in the original series where J.R.'s first born son James Beaumont appeared in seasons 13–14.

Alongside John Ross and Christopher, original series characters Bobby, J.R. and Sue Ellen return as full cast members for the new series. Additional familiar characters, including J.R.'s and Bobby's niece Lucy Ewing (Charlene Tilton), their half-brother Ray Krebbs (Steve Kanaly), and Ewing family rival Cliff Barnes (Ken Kercheval) appear occasionally as guest stars. Various other actors/characters from the original series also make appearances, including Audrey Landers (Afton Cooper), Cathy Podewell (Cally Harper Ewing) and Deborah Shelton (Mandy Winger). Ted Shackelford and Joan Van Ark, who first appeared on ''Dallas'' in the late 1970s before joining the spin-off series ''Knots Landing'', also return as Gary and Valene Ewing.

New main characters that made their appearances in season 1 included Bobby's third wife, Ann (Brenda Strong); Christopher's new wife, introduced as "Rebecca Sutter" but later revealed to be Pamela Rebecca Barnes (Julie Gonzalo), the daughter of Cliff Barnes and Afton Cooper; and Elena Ramos (Jordana Brewster), the daughter of Ewing family cook Carmen Ramos (Marlene Forte), who is caught in a love triangle with Christopher and John Ross. Harris Ryland (Mitch Pileggi) plays Ann's villainous ex-husband. New main characters that made their appearances in season 2 included Ann and Harris's daughter, Emma Ryland (Emma Bell), and Elena Ramos's brother Drew Ramos (Kuno Becker). In season 2, Judith Brown Ryland (Judith Light) joined the cast as Harris Ryland's controlling mother, while in season 3, Nicolas Treviño (Juan Pablo Di Pace) joined as a childhood friend of Elena and Drew's who returns to help Cliff Barnes take over the Ewing oil company.

Life for citizens on the island of Hawaii takes a turn when a tsunami warning alert is sounded, forcing everyone to evacuate. During this, the team investigates the disappearance of Dr. Norman Russell, the head of the Tsunami Warning Center. Steve later comes to the conclusion that the tsunami was actually a hoax. The team discovers that Sam Hale, a Commander with the Coast Guard, is the one responsible for arranging everything, as Hale was planning on breaking into the empty precinct where the $28 million (first mentioned in "Hana ʻaʻa Makehewa") is held. The team then heads to the precinct and successfully arrest Hale, knowing that their theft of $10 million to save Chin will be noticed when the money is audited. Later, Steve learns from Governor Pat Jameson that all $28 million was recovered, which leaves the team greatly disturbed, because they do not know how the $10 million they stole was returned.

Described as "part-tragedy, part-comedy, part-mystery and part-drunken-memoir", ''Chinaman'' is set in Sri Lanka in 1999, fresh after a world cup victory and in the throes of a civil war that will continue for another decade. Most of the action takes place "on Colombo's streets, at cricket matches, in strange houses and in dodgy bars."

The story's narrator is retired sports journalist WG Karunasena, who has done little with his 64 years, other than drink arrack and watch Sri Lankan cricket. When informed by doctors of his liver problems, WG decides to track down the greatest thing he has ever seen, Pradeep Mathew, left-arm spinner for Sri Lanka during the late 1980s.

In 19th-century China, Jungle Village is home to several warring clans. The village blacksmith creates deadly weapons for the clans, intending to use his payments to purchase the freedom of his lover Lady Silk, and leave the village. The region's governor tasks the Lion Clan's leader, Gold Lion, with protecting a large shipment of gold that must pass through the village. Gold is betrayed by his lieutenants Silver Lion and Bronze Lion, who plan to steal the gold. They use the chaos ensuing from a fight with the Hyena Clan to allow their co-conspirator Poison Dagger—the governor's aide—to assassinate Gold, after which Silver becomes the Lions' leader. Gold's son Zen-Yi learns of his father's murder and sets off to the village to seek revenge.

The Qing Emperor's undercover emissary Jack Knife arrives in the village to monitor the gold and takes up residence in the Pink Blossom, a brothel run by Madam Blossom, Lady Silk's madame. Silver sends members of the Rodent clan to kill Zen-Yi before he can reach the village, but Zen-Yi kills them. The mercenary Brass Body arrives in the village and meets with Silver; he is sent to kill Zen-Yi. The blacksmith meets with Silk in the brothel and delivers the final payment needed to free her. After arriving in the village, Zen-Yi and his men are confronted by Brass and find that they cannot physically harm him because his skin turns to metal on impact. Brass beats Zen-Yi and destroys his blade-laden armor. Zen-Yi's last surviving man sacrifices himself to pull a canopy support beam loose, burying Brass under heavy stone. The blacksmith is watching the fight; he rescues Zen-Yi and helps him recover as penance for crafting the weapon that killed Zen-Yi's father.

Meanwhile, the gold shipment arrives in the village, accompanied by two skilled warriors, the Geminis. The Lions soon confront the Geminis and their men, and in the ensuing fight, Poison Dagger assassinates the Geminis and the Lions capture the gold. Jack later arrives to investigate the incident and learns that the Geminis were poisoned with mercury-tipped weapons, leading him to the blacksmith. The Lions' theft prompts the governor to send his Jackal troops to recover the shipment or destroy the village. Zen-Yi asks the blacksmith to craft him a new suit of weaponized armor. The Lions suspect that the blacksmith is helping Zen-Yi and have him tortured for information. The blacksmith refuses to talk, and Brass cuts off his forearms. Jack, who had been following the blacksmith, saves him from bleeding to death. While the blacksmith recovers, he tells Jack of his past as an emancipated American slave who accidentally killed a white man who refused to let him go. He fled America by boat and went to China, where monks trained him to use his body's energy to perform superhuman feats. Jack with the aid of the blacksmith crafts his greatest weapon: a pair of iron forearms that he can animate using this energy.

Zen-Yi recovers and joins Jack and the blacksmith. Meanwhile, Blossom offers to let Silver hide the gold in a secret tomb beneath the brothel in return for payment. The gold is stored in a coffin which is raised up to the rafters. That night, Blossom has her girls serve the Lions, and Silk serves Brass. At Blossom's signal, the girls use weapons hidden in their mouths to poison many of the Lions, and they join with Blossom as the Black Widows. When Silk tries to poison Brass, his skin protects him, and he beats and almost kills her. Zen-Yi, Jack, and the blacksmith arrive and join with the Black Widows to fight the remaining Lions while Blossom and Bronze fight and kill each other. While fighting Jack, Poison Dagger is crushed to death between large moving gears. Silver and Zen-Yi fight in the tomb; Zen-Yi cuts the coffin free and it crushes Silver, killing him. The blacksmith finds Silk, who dies in his arms. He confronts Brass, and his iron fists prove capable of inflicting damage on Brass' seemingly invincible body. While Brass is in metal form, a powerful punch from the blacksmith shatters him to pieces. Jack runs outside in time to stop the soldiers from decimating the building with Gatling guns.

Ultimately, Jack leaves the village to accompany the gold, and Zen-Yi tells the blacksmith that he has gained a brother. With the clans destroyed and the village safe, the blacksmith vows to keep it that way and destroys the sign pointing to his weapon shop. During the credits, Zen-Yi's pregnant fiancée is kidnapped by a bird clan, prompting Zen-Yi to seek the blacksmith's aid.

Narumi Fujishima is a high-school student who keeps himself uninvolved in school life to the point of not knowing most of his classmates' names. Because of some circumstances, he must participate in his school's "Gardening Committee", with Ayaka Shinozaki. He is also persuaded to join NEET, an amateur detective agency filled with unemployed slackers who take on and solve cases on their own. The NEET agency is led by "Alice", a childish, anti-social extreme shut-in, who never leaves her room full of computer monitors and stuffed animals. However, Alice has proven herself a resourceful hacker and an astounding detective. Throughout the series, Narumi, accompanied by the other members of NEET, solve crimes, including murders, using their limited resources and Alice's genius intellect.

The first book of the "Lorian Legacies Series" "I am Number Four", centers on the conflict between two extraterrestrial species: the ''Loric'' and the ''Mogadorians''. The Loric are classified into two factions: the overseers known as the ''Cepân'' and the guardians known as the ''Garde'', the latter of whom possess unique abilities known as ''Legacies''. The story opens with a prelude that follows ''Hannu'' – the alias used by Number Three, one of nine Garde children hiding on Earth after their homeworld of ''Lorien'' was invaded – residing in Kenya where he is killed by Mogadorian assassins under the command of General Andrakkus Sutekh.

Most of the book is told in the first person by Number Four, who takes the name ''John Smith''. As the story begins, he and his guardian or Cepân, ''Henri'', learn of the death of Number Three and move to Paradise, Ohio, assuming new identities aka John Smith. There, John befriends conspiracy theorist Sam Goode and "adopts" a dog identified by its name tag as "Bernie Kosar". He also meets and is attracted to a fellow student, Sarah Hart, who is working as a photographer. Sarah's ex-boyfriend, football player Mark James, is a bully who torments both John and Sam.

During the Halloween festival Sam mentions that he knows about Mogadorians from a magazine, ''They Walk Among Us'', a revelation that alarms both John and Henri. Mark and his friends organize a nasty surprise during the haunted hayride: Sarah, John and Sam are left stranded in the woods, where Mark plans to beat John up. John uses his "legacies", which are akin to superpowers, to fend off his attackers and rescue Sarah. In the darkness Sarah does not see John use his legacies, and he emphatically warns Mark not to talk (or to let his friends talk) about what happened and that he will punish Mark severely if Mark or any of his friends talk.

Sarah and John's relationship develops. Henri continues training John to use his legacies, now with an increasing sense of urgency. Henri is unsettled, and tells John that it is not safe to stay. He is also concerned as John is late in developing his telekinesis, a power that he will need to fight the Mogadorians. Later, it is revealed that Sam has seen enough to arouse his suspicions, but John allays them by bluffingly 'admitting' to being an alien. He finds out more about the magazine Sam reads by borrowing a copy. Sam speaks of his belief that his father has been abducted by aliens.

Henri discovers where the magazine is printed, and drives the two-hour car trip to Athens, Ohio, to find out more. John attends a Thanksgiving dinner with Sarah's family, but worries about Henri, who does not answer text messages. In his agitated state, John's telekinetic power manifests, though uncontrolled, and he leaves. He calls Sam for help, and they take Sam's father's long-unused truck and head for Athens, where they succeed in rescuing Henri. During the rescue, Sam is made fully aware of John's and Henri's alien secret, and John's legacies develop significantly. On their return, Henri insists they leave Paradise. John refuses, using his newfound powers to express his adamance, and Henri relents.

A few months pass, during which John trains in the use of his legacies. Henri gradually relaxes as John becomes more adept. At a party at Mark's house, a major fire breaks out, trapping Sarah, forcing John to use his powers to save her. He then reveals his secret to Sarah, and they lie to the police and a reporter about what happened. Later on, John also lies to Henri, in order not to reveal how much he has told Sarah.

But John's lies are revealed when a video is released on YouTube. Henri is furious, and demands they leave immediately. John again uses his powers to stop him, and desperately races to the school, knowing that Sarah is in danger. He finds Sarah, but the Mogadorians have already arrived. The Mogadorians have brought an enormous beast called Piken, and smaller, but still deadly, creatures called Krauls. These creatures are sent to track and kill the Loric. John and Sarah are joined by Number Six (who has been looking for them since Three's death) and later by Henri, Mark, and Bernie Kosar ("the dog"). John sends Mark off, exhorting him to protect Sarah. A furious battle ensues, during which Six exhibits powers of invisibility and control of the weather, and Bernie Kosar is revealed to be a Chimæra. Sam arrives partway through the battle.

John kills a soldier, Bernie Kosar battles a Piken, and at key moments John is helped by his human friends, but in the end they are depleted and weakened by numbers and power. Six is wounded and taken to relative safety. John uses an ability he was barely aware of to communicate with a beast brought by the Mogadorians and to turn it against them. Henri is killed, but before dying exhorts John to read a letter he left for him. John survives, though he is very weak, and the Mogadorians are defeated.

Promising to return for Sarah, John leaves Paradise, along with Number Six, Sam, and Bernie Kosar.

Donald O'Connor plays Wilbur McMurtry, a traveling salesman who is captured and held hostage by the local authorities in a small town, who wish to compel him to run in the annual foot-race against a rival town. A highlight of the film is his brilliant dance routine, in a barn, to the Al Jolson song, "Me and My Shadow".

In Los Angeles in 1976, Christopher Isherwood begins writing his memoir. The film flashes back to 1931 as Christopher prepares to leave England for Germany, against the wishes of his mother Kathleen. On the train he meets Gerald Hamilton, an English ne'er-do-well of Irish descent, who suggests that Christopher take a room at the boarding house where he lives. Upon his arrival in Berlin, Christopher meets his friend Wystan Auden, who takes him to the Cosy Corner, a seedy gay club populated by hustlers.

Christopher takes up residence at Gerald's boarding house under landlady Fräulein Thurau. There he becomes fast friends with Jean Ross, an aspiring actress who sings at an underground club. He also begins a tumultuous affair with Caspar, one of the rentboys from the Cosy Corner. Their relationship continues until Caspar abruptly disappears. Christopher does not see him until many months later and is horrified to see that he has joined the Nazis.

To earn a living Christopher offers English lessons. One of his students is Wilfrid Landauer (based on the true person of Wilfrid Israel), the wealthy Jewish owner of a department store. He entreats Christopher to take a political stand against Nazism but Christopher, as an artist, initially demurs. Herr Landauer's home is ransacked by the Nazis and they lead a boycott against his and other Jewish-owned businesses. Christopher last sees Wilfrid when their eyes sorrowfully meet over a bonfire of books the Nazis are burning.

Heinz Neddermayer, a street sweeper whom Christopher spies from a café, enters Christopher's life and they fall in love. Frau Neddermeyer looks kindly upon Christopher but Heinz's brother Gerhardt, a Nazi sympathizer, detests him. When Frau Neddermayer enters a sanatorium for treatment of tuberculosis, Gerhardt angrily advises Heinz that Christopher and Jean are no longer welcome in his home.

Bobby Gilbert, the American steel heir, whom Jean had been courting to take her to Hollywood, departs Berlin suddenly, leaving Jean bereft and pregnant. She pawns her jewellery to pay for an abortion and soon after leaves Berlin as well.

With the Nazis gaining in power, Christopher and Heinz decide to leave Berlin. They travel to England where Christopher tries to secure permanent residency for Heinz. Their hopes are dashed, however, when a passport officer denies Heinz a permit to remain in the country. The couple decides to travel around Europe, avoiding a return to Nazi Germany.

Several years later Jean and Christopher chance upon each other in an outdoor café in England. They reminisce and he tells her that Heinz was eventually arrested and sentenced to prison, followed by a stint in the army. Jean confides that she does not miss Berlin.

The scene shifts to 1952. Christopher has returned to Berlin for the first time since 1934, to write a magazine article. He reunites with Heinz who, following the partition of the city, ended up in East Berlin. He has married and has a son named Christoph. Heinz expresses his wish that Christopher should find a family of his own and suggests that he and his family could move to America and become Christopher's family as well. Christopher refuses to commit to the idea but promises to remain in contact with Heinz. He visits his old boarding house for a joyful reunion with Fräulein Thurau, whose home ended up being in the American sector of the city. She presents him with the dolphin clock that adorned his old room, exhorting him to look at it and remember happy times.

Closing titles convey that the next year, 1953, Christopher met Don Bachardy and the two remained together until Isherwood's death. ''Christopher and His Kind'' was published in 1976 and Heinz, shocked at its frankness, never communicated with Christopher again.

Seven students answer an advertisement to participate in an experiment to explore how the sensation of pain can be eliminated. Arriving at a secluded institute, they are welcomed by mysterious and eccentric scientist JB Divay (Lorielle New). But when students begin to disappear one by one, they begin to question JB's true intentions. In a final showdown, Jason (Stephen Hansen) confronts her and discovers his boyfriend Kyle (Bart Voitila) strapped to a table beneath her final experiment, inches away from the razor's edge.

Claire (Renee Willner) goes to see her family living in a squalid farm after 18 months with her boyfriend Paul (Danny Alder). When Claire arrives, she brings with her a mysterious vase containing specific instructions. Living on the farm are her father Bill (Peter Stratford), her younger sister Jen (Taryn Eva) and her old grandmother Nana (Dawn Klingberg) who is about to die after a long illness. She starts speaking to Claire about a strange woman known as "The Banshee" (Bridget Neval) that will take care of her after the death. At first, Claire thinks that her grandmother is raving, but afterwards she starts hearing piercing screams and a female figure enters in their house, walking towards Nana's room. Claire learns that the Banshee actually exists, and has to fight against this female ghost and her spirits wanting to damn the entire family.

Episode one

The episode begins with Dominic King (Trevor Eve) realizing that he has just failed at a negotiated ransom, having paid a group of kidnappers for a corpse. He returns home to London to his wife Sophie (Natasha Little) who is encouraging him to cut back on his own work in order to be more supportive of her political ambitions, and to his daughter Tess (Laura Greenwood) who is suddenly very interested in religion. Meanwhile, in South Africa, botanist Naomi Shaffer (Fielding) is kidnapped by two men during a violent encounter which results in her taxi driver being killed. Her employer in London, Jane Wickham (Sharon Maughan), calls upon King to negotiate her release. He does so successfully, travelling to South Africa to oversee the exchange of the ransom for Shaffer. All seems to be going well until the very trade-off when a second group of violent kidnappers appears, attacking and killing one member of the first group, stealing Shaffer and her second original kidnapper away, and leaving King where he stands, dumbfounded.

Episode two

Back in London, King's business partner Angela Beddoes (Baxendale) sends his assistant Carrie (Amara Karan) to South Africa to help him figure out what has happened while placating Shaffer's employer. It is revealed that Shaffer is now in the hands of a shadowy figure named Willard (Hannah) and his henchmen, who proceed to beat and then execute the original kidnapper for "getting greedy." After a botched escape attempt, Shaffer is [off camera] raped by one of Willard's henchmen.

Wickham puts Willard in touch with King, who again negotiates her release. He is surprised when he is able to quickly reduce Willard's demands from $2 million to $500,000. However, Shaffer is successfully traded for the ransom money and King delivers her back to her husband Philip (Baladi) and daughter Sally. King remains suspicious of the situation and clashes briefly with Beddoes about keeping an eye on Shaffer.

King visits Shaffer at her home. She is distant but polite and assures him that all is well, and he leaves. In his own family, King's daughter has left the family home to live in a religious compound. After King's visit, Shaffer is contacted directly by a threatening Willard who then proceeds to kidnap Sally from the Shaffer home.

Episode three

Contacting King after the kidnap of her daughter Sally, Shaffer reveals that Willard is now after the work of her husband Philip, who has created an anti-obesity drug that would be very lucrative on the black market. Philip however refuses to give up the formula in exchange for the daughter; King attempts to meet with Willard and trade a bogus formula for Sally but Willard has suspected his ruse and King only finds Sally's finger in a garbage can at the meeting site. Meanwhile, Beddoes realizes that it was Shaffer's boss Wickham that told Willard about the existence of Philip's work during his original phone call and alerts the authorities.

Philip Shaffer is now convinced to give up the actual formula, and King meets Willard in a tense face-to-face, but secures Sally's release in exchange for the formula. After the exchange, King follows Willard a short distance and shoots the man in the hand but allows him to live; Willard is whisked away by his henchmen while King returns Sally to her family and then returns to his office. On the phone with his wife, we see King's daughter in the background of their family home; his wife informs him that the daughter is visiting for dinner, which "is a start."

Episode one

The episode starts with Dominic King disposing of what seems like a body from a small boat in a lake. There is a then a flashback to his travels two weeks earlier to Srinagar in Kashmir in India to negotiate the hostage release of a British family. After the exchange the police interfere which results in a shoot-out, which kills one of the negotiators. The other kidnappers get away and in their panic take a tourist bus hostage.

King is forced to negotiate the tourists' freedom, while persuading the police not to shoot. The UK government initially is unwilling to interfere in Indian hostage negotiations, which is likely to result in a shoot-out with a crack Indian sniper team. However, during negotiations King realises that one of the tourists is the daughter of the British Foreign Secretary, which of course changes the stance of the UK government.

Episode two

Dominic King tries to negotiate the release of the hostages before anyone discovers that the daughter of the British Foreign Secretary is on board, but when a police sniper shoots at the kidnappers, they panic and drive away.

Episode three

The British Foreign Secretary puts pressure on Dominic King to facilitate the release of his daughter. When King discovers who carried out the original kidnapping, he determines not to let them get away.

The film starts with a meteorite crashing into a satellite, causing it to crash down in a little town. A man named Greg Aupolous sees this and takes a piece, not noticing the spreading green goo on it. The goo spreads to his hand, causing his veins to pop on his face and he is killed.

Jake (Kavan Smith) and his younger brother Ethan are working on building an inn. They too saw the falling dish and take it to see Earl. They carefully wrap it up and go, planning to sell it for money to pay off the inn.

Earl is working on another sculpture he calls Iron Golem, protector of ancient towns. Jake and Ethan sell the satellite, but for only $800. On their way from the market, Jake and Ethan see Jake's old high school sweetheart Amanda (Nicole de Boer) and her daughter Claire (Merrit Patterson). Amanda says she and Claire are staying at Amanda's aunt's house, until she can figure out what to do with her divorce. The scene switches to Earl working on his statue when, without his notice, the gooed pieces fly onto the statue, infecting it. This causes the gigantic statue to spring to life, its force knocking Earl unconscious. A nearby trucker's truck stops all of a sudden, and the radio blurs. He steps out his truck to see the problem when the Iron Invader comes and kills him, the same way how Greg was killed.

Amanda, her daughter Claire and her aunt are at the house when the Iron Golem attacks, killing the aunt. Amanda and Claire flee to the town, to find the sheriff. While Jake went to send a finder's fee to Greg Aupolous's house Iron came to the inn and killed Ethan. Jake returns to find Ethan dead and sees Iron walking away. Jake alerts the sheriff, but Earl also hears the report on his CB radio and they drive to the inn. Jake scolds at Earl for thinking Iron is a robot that he created when he arrived. The sheriff calls the town coroner to check on Ethan's body to see how he died and finds that his arteries and veins were infected and swelled. Jake denies the coroner's statement and goes off to hunt Iron.

The sheriff returns to the police station where Amanda and Claire approach him. Soon, lights all around begin to flicker. Inside the local pub, Max, bartender Tony (Chris Gauthier), and Harry see this too along with Earl in his car which suddenly died. Out the window, Tony sees Amanda, Claire and the sheriff, along with Iron coming their way. Claire turns and runs while Iron chases her. Claire falls and gets a bloody forehead. Right before Iron grabs her, Max appears and helps her escape. Jake returns in his car and sees Iron. Jake attempts to ram Iron until his car dies as well, but he managed to break off Iron's leg, causing it to fall apart. The infected pieces are still alive however, and one them grabs the sheriff and kills him. Jake gets Amanda and they and Earl hide in the pub with Tony and Harry.

The kids run into Deputy Jenny (Chelah Horsdal), who doesn't believe the kids, who goes to see and have the kids locked in her car. While crying over the dead sheriff, Jenny is infected and dies. In the inn, the adults examine the goo covering only the blade of an ax and find out that the goo is an alien bacteria that feeds off metal, sucking the metal from human blood (humans have metal/iron in their blood) and killing them. Outside, Iron puts himself back together, and Claire and Max are still locked in Jenny's dead car (it was revealed that Iron causes static electricity and effect electronics which make the car inoperable) as Iron tries to grab Claire. She is touched, but not harmed.

In the inn, they discover that, with blood, they can trick Iron into exploding. Jake and Amanda get gasoline and cover the tank with Amanda's vein blood. They plan to shoot it when Iron is close enough. With the blood, Iron is still worried about Claire. So Amanda unwraps her arm, releasing her scent of blood, attracting Iron. Max then escapes out of the car.

In the inn, the infected metal ax blade puts itself into Tony's leg, killing him. Harry and Earl go through different anti-bacterial things but to no avail. But when Earl goes outside to check on Max and Amanda reenters the pub, a beer bottle spills on it and begins to dissolve. Harry then realizes that the bacteria hates alcohol when he accidentally drops his glass on the axe-head, so he and Amanda run outside with it.

Iron gets close to the gasoline, Jake shoots, and he explodes. Pieces fly everywhere, knocking out Max, Earl, and Jake. A flamed piece lands on the hood of Jenny's car, and Claire barely escapes. Although a big explosion, the Pieces are still alive. Claire runs over to Max and tries to wake him up. Jake puts the beer into a spray container, and begins to spray the Pieces, killing the flames and the bacteria, while the others throw beer bottles. A little car engine makes its way to Max. Before it can infect him, Amanda appears and sprays it down. The mother and daughter are reunited. Max awakens and hugs Claire.

The next morning, Jake, Amanda, and Earl go to the junkyard to crush the pieces. While doing so, Earl releases his special beer, and the three share it. Jake says the government didn't believe the story and they are coming to arrest him. Outside, he and Amanda share a kiss. Earl comes out, just in time to see the metal springing back to life, forcing Earl to break the special bottle in order to stop the last fragment. When Amanda asks if he has any more special beer to douse the yard and ensure the bacteria's destruction, he pauses, then says "Do bears crap in the woods?", a phrase he said early in the film.

The film is divided into three parts, plus an epilogue, but these parts are not explicitly defined within the movie.

Part 1

The film begins with a young woman getting dressed in prostitutes clothing and walking up a long road from her apartment. She crosses paths with a nun asking for alms and gives her some money. The nun continues on her journey and runs across a pimp who confronts the nun's charity work as "useless". The prostitute befriends a woman working a small convenience shack. On her way home, the prostitute comes across the pimp, who tries to lure her to work for him. She refuses saying she can 'take care of herself'. The prostitute has dinner at a small cafe, where a large man seems to recognize her and continually pesters her by referring to her as "Alberta". After leaving the restaurant, the prostitute attempts to please an American client, but starts crying and has to end the sex session before it begins leaving the American man angry and bewildered. The next day the nun continues to ask for money and the prostitute once again meets the pimp, who tries to bring her into his business. Later in the day, the pimp sets up a "live sex show" for some Japanese customers. The prostitute comes across the large man who keeps referring to her as "Alberta". He decides to ask for her services and pays her money. However, once they get to the apartment, the large man only asks the prostitute to take off her clothes and turn around several times. He examines her body and finally decides that she is not "Alberta". He then tells her the story of his childhood friend Renato Munoz, who ended up falling for a rich girl named Alberta and they both joined the Communist rebellion movement in the Philippines and he resents Alberta for taking his friend away from him. He says Alberta was obsessed with finding Renato after he became a Communist guerrilla fighter in the forest. That night the nun undresses in her room, looking depressed. She exits her room and enters the prostitutes room right next door and tells her that she's getting fed up with the therapy. We now realize that the prostitute, whose real name is Alberta Munoz, and the nun, who is really Rina Abad, are patients of a man named Julian Tomas who is having them undergo a role-playing therapy called MELANCHOLIA to help them mentally recover from the past tragedies and losses in their lives. Rina is starting to spiral into a depression and Alberta becomes concerned. The next day, she tries frantically to call Julian (the pimp) to tell him that they need to call the therapy session off. He screams at her that he is "not Julian" and refuses to break character. He instead invites Alberta and Rina to a live sex show he has planned for them. Throughout the duration of the sex show, Alberta and Rina are visibly disturbed by Julian's immersion into his character. The next day, Rina goes missing.

Part 2

Julian engages in a bizarre therapy performance where he paces around a room smoking a cigarette while a patient continually rips pages out of a Bible and chews them until she starts to gag. Julian is at home reviewing texts and a manuscript for a book his friend has given him to publish. He invites the friend over and says he won't publish the manuscript until he gives the money he owes. The friend promises and goes on a lengthy description of what the book is about. Julian and Alberta meet for coffee and Alberta scolds Julian for his complete neglect for Rina's health. Julian admits he was wrong but refuses to admit his Melancholia therapy is an abject failure. Alberta goes to rescue Rina's abandoned daughter Hannah from prostitution and brings her back home. Alberta visits her mother who gives her dinner. Alberta then takes Hannah to the beach to have some fun and explains the friendship that her mother and Alberta shared as kids through their high school and college days. Rina is discovered to be dead and her funeral is proclaimed. Julian attends at which Rina's mother yells at him for being responsible for her daughter's death. Julian spirals into a depression, having serious thoughts about drowning himself. Alberta discovers Julian's book ''Melancholia'' in the book store and breaks down crying after reading a few pages of it.

Part 3

Renato and the Communist rebels trek through the forest trying to avoid Philippine soldiers. The further they go into the forest, the more their situation starts to eat at their sanity. Renato stays sober by writing letters to the love of his life Alberta. One of the soldiers finally loses all hope and screams in the open field near the stream for the Philippine soldiers to shoot him and take him out of his misery. Renato and the other soldier plead him to quiet down. The Philippine forces shoot and kill two of the soldiers, leaving Renato the only one left alive. He writes another letter to Alberta, saying that their sorrow will never end and is inescapable. It is assumed Renato commits suicide after this. The film cuts to a pair of indigenous tribal men carrying Renato's dead body along with the other soldiers, to their village and performing a ritual of dance and chanting.

Epilogue

Julian sits solemnly by the river. Alberta meets one of the live sex show performers from earlier in the film, who has completely immersed his mind and soul into Julian's therapy. Alberta tells him that Julian is a fraud, but the performer is convinced Julian is God. He says that Julian's therapy of role-play treats the world as a stage and every individual as an actor and that since he is a performer, he is only a tool of the world Julian has created, thus making he himself Julian's creation. Alberta meets Julian once again and tells him that he is not God and that his therapy is a failure and he has to get over the death of his wife. Julian only repeats the phrase "I am not Julian" over and over again.

Lily mentions how lonely she is with Marshall still living with his mother Judy in Minnesota, especially as Valentine's Day is nearing; the couple has an odd tradition of watching ''Predator'' every year on Valentine's after Marshall's brothers accidentally taped over a romantic film they rented in college. After admitting to have used a stuffed pillow as a stand-in to Marshall (which she has nicknamed Marshpillow), Lily finally heads to Marshall's home to convince him to return. Marshall, who has essentially reverted to his teenage self, playing his old video games and not even realizing how much Lily misses him, does not wish to leave so soon, but it becomes clear Judy has become annoyed with his presence, though not admitting it to Marshall.

After confessing their feelings for each other, Ted and Zoey are happily dating though they agree to take things slow. Zoey invites Ted to help bake cookies one night; when Ted describes this is as odd to the rest of the gang, they tell him "baking cookies" is essentially code for staying over for the night. Ted arrives at Zoey's apartment with an overnight bag, but she sends him home, saying he was being presumptuous. The day before Valentine's Day, Zoey apologizes and tells Ted she is ready to get serious. However, Ted feels there is added pressure, as Zoey has just separated from her husband, and begins feeling anxious. He soon joins Marshall, claiming to help Marshall deal with his loss though in reality trying to avoid the pressure of committing to a relationship with Zoey.

Lily finally announces that she is heading back home to New York, leaving Marshall saddened. Marshall reveals to Ted the real reason he has stayed in Minnesota is because he feels lost without his dad, and does not wish to return to his life. The two agree to drive back home that night, as flights have been cancelled due to a storm. During the drive, Marshall has trouble seeing the road ahead when the image of his late father appears in his back seat, giving him advice on how he drove in such conditions. Encouraged by his father's words, Marshall makes it back to New York. Lily is later thrilled when Marshall comes home, and the two watch ''Predator'' together. Meanwhile, Zoey greets Ted at his apartment and shows him her own overnight bag. Ted jokingly calls her presumptuous, and the two kiss, thus ending their anxieties about commitment.

Barney claims that single women will find themselves desperate and easy to hook up with on Desperation Day, the eve of Valentine's Day. Robin decides to prove him wrong and hangs out with her female colleagues that night. Barney hits on women until he takes interest in one of Robin's colleagues, Nora, who had just arrived. Nora privately tells Barney that unlike Robin and her other colleagues, she actually loves Valentine's Day. Barney hints that the fact she tries to appear romantic comes across as desperate, and instead begins explaining how to play laser tag. The two return to Robin to find her friends have left, as they had gone home with two other guys. Nora soon leaves as well, to Barney's disappointment, and Robin points out it is after midnight, and Barney had failed to hook up with a woman on Desperation Day. She also claims Barney is beginning to like Nora; though he denies it, Robin later invites Nora to play laser tag with Barney. Future Ted states it was the first time Barney had been on a date on Valentine's Day.

As the Canadian Pacific Railway makes its way through the western frontier of Canada in the early 1880s, railroad workers and settlers come under frequent attack by Indians who resent the white man's encroachment on their land. One such attack on a wagon train leaves only one survivor, a young girl named Susannah Sheldon who is found by a mounted patrol in the command of Inspector Angus "Monty" Montague. Susannah is taken to the post where she is cared for by Monty and his friend, Pat O'Hannegan. They do their best to help her overcome her ordeal.

Some time later, Vicky Standing arrives from Toronto to visit her father, the Superintendent. Monty is immediately enchanted by the beautiful woman. The blossoming romance sparks a rivalry in Susannah and Harlan Chambers, the head of the railroad camp. The Indian attacks resume when renegades steal horses from the railroad camp. One of the friendly Indians, Chief Big Eagle, promises to track down the renegades and deliver them to the camp. As a show of good faith, the Chief leaves his son, Little Chief, at the post.

Little Chief teaches Susannah Indian ways. While the two are out riding, they run into a renegade, Wolf Pelt, attempting to sell his stolen horses to Chambers. The two argue and Chambers threatens the Indians with extinction. Wolf Pelt returns to his tribe and uses Chambers' threats to demand that the tribe go to war against the Europeans. That night, Wolf Pelt raids the post to retrieve Little Chief and kidnaps Monty. Soon after, Big Eagle sends a message demanding that the railroad abandon the area or they will kill Monty.

Susannah searches for Monty; she approaches the Indian camp, she is taken prisoner. As the tribe prepares to burn Monty at the stake, Susannah escapes the teepee and appeals to Big Chief, accusing Wolf Pelt of inciting Chambers by stealing his horses. Wolf Pelt denies the charges. To determine who is telling the truth, Big Chief uses the stick of truth that will point to the liar. When the stick drops towards Wolf Pelt, Big Chief frees Monty and offers him and Susannah his peace pipe.

Since the Great Sundering, the world has been divided into two parts : the land of fire, a vast desert inhabited by the people of the Pyross, and the land of water, inhabited by the Hydross. The Pyross have red skin, and stocky, muscular features; water burns their flesh and rain is lethal to them. They use sunstones (shining crystals) as both money and energy source. During the rainy season, they stay locked in their city of stone and cannot get out; they protect themselves from the rain and from the wild water dragons who wander into Pyross territory during the rainy season. The Hydross, on the other hand, have curvy features and blue or turquoise skin, and water is vital to them. In summer, the Hydross turn into stone statues and are thus vulnerable, while the Pyross can get out and venture into Hydross territory to destroy as many Hydross statues as they can before the rainy season starts again. The two people know very little about one another, and they cannot even touch one another, as the contact of Hydross skin burns the Pyross, and vice versa.

Peace between Hydross and Pyross seems impossible, but two young people, a Pyross named Skan and a young Hydross, Kallisto, meet one another in improbable circumstances and try desperately to stop the eternal war.

Background

''Charmed'' initially focused on the three Halliwell sisters, Prue (Shannen Doherty), Piper (Holly Marie Combs) and Phoebe (Alyssa Milano), who are known as the most powerful good witches of all time in the supernatural community. They live their everyday lives battling demons and warlocks in modern-day San Francisco, while still trying to have a normal life.

"Charmed Again (Part 1)" carries on from the previous season three finale episode "All Hell Breaks Loose", where Prue and Piper unwittingly exposed themselves as witches to the world after being caught on camera by a local news crew fighting with the demon Shax (Michael Bailey Smith), the personal assassin of The Source of All Evil. Meanwhile, Phoebe ventured into The Underworld to save her demon boyfriend Cole Turner (Julian McMahon) from his dark side. In the aftermath of the exposure, Piper was shot and killed by a crazed Wiccan fanatic who wanted to join the sisters' coven. In order to save Piper's life, Prue ordered Leo Wyatt (Brian Krause) to find Phoebe and pass on a deal to The Source to turn back time. The Source agreed, knowing that he had planned to double cross her in the end as Phoebe would be immune to the time reset while in The Underworld. Time was reversed to the sisters' first encounter with Shax, however Phoebe no longer answered when Prue called for help, as she was never sent back. The season three finale then ended on a cliffhanger with Piper and Prue left for dead after losing in the fight against Shax. Meanwhile, Phoebe remained trapped in The Underworld.

In "Charmed Again (Part 1)", it is revealed that Phoebe was rescued from The Underworld by Leo and Cole. However, because of this they arrived too late and were only able to heal Piper of her injuries from the season three finale cliffhanger. Prue's injuries from Shax were too severe and she was unable to be saved.

Part 1

Piper, who is distraught at losing Prue, is seen in the attic casting numerous spells to resurrect her, but to no avail. After Phoebe convinces Piper to leave the attic to get some rest before Prue's funeral, the triquetra on the Book of Shadows glows red, and the book opens to the last spell Piper tried, "To Call a Lost Witch". The spell calls a young woman named Paige Matthews (Rose McGowan), who is first shown working as an assistant at South Bay Social Services. While at work, Paige notices that a candle at her desk mysteriously blows out. Suddenly, lights swirl around her head, and a newspaper magically drops out of thin air behind her. Paige is shocked to read that the newspaper article is Prue's obituary, and leaves work to attend her funeral. Meanwhile, in the Underworld, The Source (Ben Guillory) consults his Oracle (Krista Allen), who looks into her crystal ball and tells The Source she sees another possible Charmed One. At the end of the funeral, Paige approaches Phoebe and they meet for the first time, both unaware they are sisters. After shaking hands, Phoebe falls over from getting a premonition of Paige being attacked by Shax. Paige quickly leaves, and soon after several demonic bounty hunters turn up and attack Cole. Although he and Phoebe manage to fight them off, Piper is furious and yells at everyone to stop fighting so they can bury Prue in peace.

Back at The Manor, Phoebe and Cole agree to try and protect Paige from Shax, despite the fact that they cannot go up against him without the Power of Three. Meanwhile, Piper tries to summon Prue with another spell, but the spell summons her grandmother Penny (Jennifer Rhodes) instead. Penny reveals to Piper that Prue is still struggling to adjust to being in the afterlife, and that she and their mother Patty (Finola Hughes) are helping Prue to process her actual death. Penny also reveals that Prue cannot be summoned back to Earth because seeing Prue would not allow the sisters to grieve and move on to continue their destiny. In the Underworld, The Source again consults the Oracle, who looks into her crystal ball and tells him that Paige's life appears to be short-lived.

Whilst on a date with a man named Shane, Paige explains her life story, saying that she was adopted and is a reformed alcoholic who thought that she was related to the Halliwell sisters, but had dismissed it due to Patty dying young. Paige and Shane venture to a roof top where they are attacked by Shax. Cole and Phoebe who had been waiting for the attack to save Paige and are able to wound Shax. Leo and Cole do some investigating after Phoebe reports back that they saw her orb and Cole states that the Source thinks that Paige may be their sister - hence why he sent Shax after her. Piper then calls Grams to get her to explain, but as the truth is revealed they are exposed. Inspector Darryl Morris arrives with Inspector Cortez the man in charge of Prue's murder investigation. Cortez threatens to expose them before Morris knocks him out. The four witches send Cortez to Timbuktu and Cole goes to find him to take him home. Paige arrives at the house and the three realise that they are sisters when Shax attacks. The reformed Charmed Ones are able to finally vanquish Shax, but a scared and confused Paige runs out of the house.

Part 2

Shax died in his attempt on Paige's life, but the Oracle tells the Source that she hasn't solidified her bond with Piper and Phoebe yet. He thus still has a chance to shatter the Power of Three. The Oracle says that it was agreed years ago that every newly minted witch should have 48 hours to decide whether to use her powers for good or evil, the so-called "Window of Opportunity." She suggests that the Source seduce Paige into turning evil. This would be an even greater victory than killing her; not only will the Power of Three be permanently shattered, but he'd have a powerful evil witch on his side. To that end, the Source goes to Shane, still in the hospital recovering from Shax' attack, and possesses him. Paige comes to visit him, still badly shaken. They embrace, and Shane's eyes turn black.

Darryl comes to the manor, asking after Inspector Cortez. Cole shimmers in, and after blasting a couple of bounty hunters, tells that he found Cortez. He also says that he heard gargoyles stirring; he thinks they may be trying to ward off the Source. Leo thinks that if they can find Paige, they should be able to ward him off. However, he still can't sense her. "Shane" goes to Paige's apartment. Her parakeet, Oscar, seems oddly agitated. "Shane" mentions the case that Paige is working on. Jake Grisanti is suspected of abusing his young son; abusive parents are one of Paige's pet peeves. As Paige turns to leave, "Shane" sends Oscar up in flames. Cole and Leo find Cortez about to fall into a lava pit. Cole put him there to make sure he doesn't expose the sisters. Cole is unwilling to bring him back, but Leo insists that they let him go. Leo demands that Cortez keep quiet about the Halliwells, and then orbs him back to San Francisco. Jake arrives at South Bay Social Services with his wife, Carol, and their son. Jake goes to the bathroom, where the Source leaves Shane's body and possesses him. Meanwhile, Paige is asking after the church she was placed, and argues with her boss, Bob Cowan. She is worried about the boy. Piper walks into Prue's room to find Phoebe standing at the window, crying bitterly. It's the first time she's really broken down since Prue's death; she's held it together for both of them. Cowan hasn't made a final decision yet on the Grisantis, much to Paige's frustration. "Jake" briefly argues with Paige. Paige heads out for the church. "Jake" goes back to the bathroom, where a custodian is bending over an unconscious Shane. The Source sends the man up in flames and repossesses Shane.

Paige finds Sister Agnes, who placed her for adoption. Sister Agnes tells Paige of her birth parents; they came to her in a swirl of blue lights. Sister Agnes shows Paige her blanket in which she was wrapped, showing the letter P. Her mother had requested that her name begin with P. Piper has also found the church where Paige was left. She and Phoebe find Paige there and Piper freezes Sister Agnes. Paige walks away angrily, but Piper and Phoebe tell her that she has a power, and needs to learn how to use it to protect herself. Piper tells Paige that in all likelihood, she's a telekinetic like Prue. Paige tries to practice on a candle, but can't move it by waving her hand or squinting her eyes (the ways Prue channeled her power). Paige grumbles that she must be of little account as a witch if she can't move a candle. Just then, the candle disappears in a swirl of orbs and reappears in a shocked Paige's hand. Piper and Phoebe think Paige's telekinesis works differently due to her being half-Whitelighter. The Source has again possessed Shane and tries to enter the church, but a gargoyle repels him. He falls down in front of the door, but Paige goes to him and they leave. "Shane" blasts Phoebe and Piper as he and Paige walk away. Cortez is still determined to expose the sisters, despite threats from Cole and Darryl. He calls a surveillance team.

Piper and Phoebe realize the Source was at the church, but don't know why he didn't try to kill Paige. Cole doesn't understand either. Leo speculates that the Source isn't trying to kill her anymore, but instead turn her evil. Cole remembers the window of opportunity, which has less than 24 hours to run. "Shane" is back at Paige's apartment and is comforting her. Paige is still confused by all that's happening. Piper and Phoebe search the ''Book of Shadows'' to help find Paige; Phoebe calls for "a little help" and the Book opens to a spell that can reveal evil. They don't know where to find the Source, but Leo thinks Cole can find him. Phoebe doesn't understand how that's possible. Cole points out that all demons can sense the Source's presence; it's how he reminds them of his power. He thinks that if he can focus on the Source's aura, they'll be able to find him. Phoebe and Piper cast the spell on a pair of sunglasses. Phoebe puts the shades on and they reveal Cole as Belthazor, startling her. Phoebe thanks Grams for helping them, but Piper thinks "somebody else" may have actually flipped the page. "Shane" tries to persuade Paige to use her powers for her own desires. He suggests that she use her power to kill Jake. She ends up smashing a mirror. Later that day, Jake and Carol storm out of Cowan's office. Paige follows them, with "Shane" looking on. As they head outside, Paige holds out her hand and calls for Jake's heart. Jake doubles over in pain. Phoebe, Piper, Cole and Leo pull up; Cole sensed the Source was there. Phoebe puts on the sunglasses and sees a black aura around Paige. They rush to Paige and try to snap her back to herself. Paige won't back down, but Piper knocks her hand down and Leo orbs her away. Jake recovers, and it turns out that Carol is the one beating their child.

Piper and Phoebe head home while Cole stays behind to hold off the Source. "Shane" comes up behind Cole, but flames away before Cole spots him. Cole shimmers after him, but before he can make a move "Shane" runs him through with a sword. Piper and Phoebe find Paige and Leo at the manor. Leo is trying to convince Paige she isn't evil, but Paige is pitching a fit and orbing things at him while trying to escape. Piper tackles Paige to immobilize her, and Phoebe and Leo take her place holding Paige down. Just as Piper is about to check the Book, "Shane" flames in and flings Piper through the banister. "Shane" throws an energy ball at Phoebe, but Phoebe levitates out of the way. While still in the air, she tries to kick "Shane," but he disappears and Phoebe crashes into the grandfather clock. "Shane" reappears, and Piper blasts him. Just as "Shane" reconstitutes, Phoebe puts on the sunglasses and sees the Source. Paige gets back to her feet. The Source tries again to sway Paige, changing in rapid succession into Cowan, then Carol, then the little boy. Phoebe cries out, and the "boy" blasts Phoebe with electricity. Paige shoves the "boy" down just as the clock chimes; the window of opportunity has closed. The Source implies that he attacked Cole. Just then, he spots Cortez with a camcorder, blasts him with an plasma ball and flames away. Leo immediately heals Cortez, replying to Paige's wonder at how he did that by stating that whitelighters heal good people. Both Paige and Cortez realize fully who the good guys are. The sisters, with Paige, and Leo find Cole. Leo can only heal his human half, but Paige offers to use her power as well. Together, the two heal Cole. Cortez goes to Darryl and wordlessly hands over the tape from the camcorder, ending his pursuit of the sisters. The sisters meet at P3, Paige now joining them. Phoebe curiously asks why she attended Prue's funeral. She explains that a part of her felt like she'd lost her too, and somehow felt drawn all three of them. Piper and Phoebe take her to the attic and cast the summoning spell; Paige and Patty meet for the first time.

A boy who lived in a house with a garden did not appreciate nature; he trampled on flowers and carved his initials into trees. The fairies that lived in the forest decided to stop him from destroying everything by trapping him inside the large oak tree in the garden. His parent searched and searched, but eventually gave up on finding him and moved away. After several years, a new family moved into the house. They spoke of cutting down the oak tree, which angered the fairies. They choose to try to steal the little girl, but the boy forces her back through the portal between the fairy and human worlds. This kindness allows the boy to break the spell that trapped him.

Five years after the events of the previous film, Curt Reynolds steals his father's security key card, and he and his girlfriend, Julie Walker, explore the military base where his father works. They observe Curt's father, Colonel John Reynolds, Col. Peck and Lt. Col. Sinclair overseeing an experiment with a deceased body.

The corpse is exposed to 2-4-5 Trioxin gas, which re-animates the corpse into a zombie. The military hopes to use zombies in combat. However, they are impossible to control as their hunger for human brains causes them to constantly attack.

To deter the zombies' vicious nature, Sinclair suggests permanently attaching the zombies to exoskeletons that will immobilize them when they are not in battle. Reynolds prefers a method referred to as "paretic infusion", which involves firing a chemical projectile into the forehead of the zombie. This causes an endothermic reaction, freezing the zombie's brain and temporarily immobilizing it.

When the paretic infusion method is tested on the zombie in the lab, it is only successful for a few moments, wearing off much faster than expected; the zombie breaks free and attacks a scientist, biting his fingers off before bashing his head against a wall, killing him. Infected by the zombie's bite, the scientist re-animates and attacks another technician. The initial zombie and the reanimated scientist are paralyzed with bullets and the survivors in the room are quarantined. Reynolds is removed from the project and reassigned to Oklahoma City, while Sinclair is promoted to head of the project.

Reynolds informs Curt that they will be moving, something they have done multiple times, but Curt refuses. He rides off on his motorcycle with Julie. While they are speeding down the road, Julie playfully grabs Curt's crotch, causing him to lose control of the motorcycle. Julie is thrown from the bike into a telephone pole; the impact kills her.

Curt brings Julie's corpse to the military base. Using his father's key card, he accesses the Trioxin gas to reanimate her. This leads to Julie and Curt dealing with the effects of Julie being dead - not feeling pain and having no desire to eat normal food - and what they are to do about her condition.

Julie becomes hungry and Curt drives them to a store. A gang talk about her as she is eating snacks on the floor. Curt becomes angry and accidentally hits one of them. During the ensuing brawl one of the gang shoots the shopkeeper. Julie bites the shooter. The alarm goes off and the gang flees. While Curt and Julie are in a van with the wounded shopkeeper, Julie is overcome by her hunger for brains and attacks him, eating some of his brains before Curt stops her.

The gang chases Julie and Curt through the city, not realizing what is happening to their infected friend. Julie and Curt hide from the gang in the sewers, where they encounter Riverman, a vagrant who shelters them. Julie discovers that extreme pain seems to temporarily make the cravings to feed on humans go away. She mutilates her flesh with various items of junk found around Riverman's lair, until she is adorned with spikes, nails, and shards of glass sticking out of her flesh.

The gang tracks Julie and Curt down. Julie seduces the gang leader, then kills him and uses her new decorations to kill the rest of the gang. Julie's body becomes accustomed to the pain, and she turns on Riverman, infecting and killing him. The gang re-animates before the military arrive and neutralizes all of the zombies.

When the zombies are captured, Curt realizes Julie is going to be used as a weapon and goes into a rage, freeing the zombies which then kill the soldiers. In the commotion the base is set on fire and Curt is bitten. Curt's father tries to get Curt to leave but he realizes that he would be abandoning Julie, and also knows he is infected. Curt brings Julie to the furnace; when she asks where they are, Curt says "where we belong", and they kiss one last time before dying by immolation.

Sonja, a young, red-haired woman, is raped and left for dead by the soldiers of Queen Gedren, a despot who murdered Sonja's parents and brother after she rejected the queen's sexual advances and scarred her face. Answering her cry for revenge, the red goddess, Scáthach, appears to her and gives her heightened strength, stamina, agility and fighting skills on the condition that she never lie with a man unless he defeats her in fair combat. She trains under a sword master called "The Grand Master" and is distrustful of all men besides him. At a nearby temple, Varna, Sonja's sister, is a member of an order of priestesses who are preparing to banish a mystical light-powered relic, the Talisman, that created the world and all living things. The Talisman can only be used and touched by women – men vanish if they touch it – and has become too powerful to control. However, Gedren's army and her aide-de-camp Ikol intervene and slaughter most of the priestesses and shield maidens before they can imprison the Talisman in permanent darkness.

Varna watches Gedren steal the Talisman and imprison the surviving priestesses in the vault that contained it before escaping, but is mortally wounded. She is discovered by Kalidor, the Lord of Hyrkania, who goes to find Sonja and bring her back to Varna. Before dying, Varna tells Sonja to find the Talisman and send it into darkness before it ravages the world with storms and earthquakes. Kalidor asks to accompany her, but she rejects the offer. After witnessing the Talisman in use, Sonja arrives to the now-ruined kingdom of Hablock. She meets the young, pig-headed Prince Tarn and his servant/bodyguard Falkon, who say that Gedren used the Talisman to completely decimate Hablock when Tarn refused to surrender. Tarn, demanding vengeance, announces that he will crush Gedren and invites Sonja to work for him as a cook. She politely declines before being told that Gedren is based in Berkubane, the land of Perpetual Night.

Arriving at the mountain gate, Sonja fights Lord Brytag after he refuses her passage for not paying him a 'tender tribute'. When she kills him and takes his key, his troops surround her; Kalidor, who has secretly been following her, attacks their rear, allowing Sonja to escape. Sonja comes across Tarn again, being tortured by bandits. She frees Tarn and kills the bandits with Falkon. They decide to stay together and travel onward toward Berkubane, and Tarn takes Sonja's advice and utilises some good manners over sword practice. Gedren's wizard uses a large magic dish to show the approaching party; Gedren recognizes Sonja and orders that she be brought to the fortress unharmed. Using the Talisman to conjure up a storm, she forces Sonja's group to take shelter in a watery cavern in Ictyan where Gedran's “Killing Machine" is unleashed upon them. Kalidor appears and helps Sonja blind the mechanical beast so they can escape.

Sonja accepts Kalidor's company after learning he is descended from the lords who entrusted the Talisman to the priestess temple. He flirts with her, so she warns him that "no man can have her" unless he can defeat her in a sword fight. Kalidor challenges her and they fight to a draw, despite Tarn trying to knobble Kalidor to tip the duel into Sonja's favour. The party arrives at Castle Berkubane and, to protect Tarn, they convince him to stay behind and guard the front entrance. Ikol, realizing Gedren is insane when she refuses his pleas to stop utilizing the unstable relic, plans to escape the castle with bags of Hablock's gold. Sonja confronts Gedren in her council chamber while Kalidor and Falkon deal with her guards in the castle's dining hall. Ikol is stopped by Tarn at the entrance and is crushed to death by the door.

Overpowered by Sonja, Gedren flees to the Chamber of Lights where the Talisman is stored. Now powerful beyond control, the Talisman causes the floor to split open and reveal a chasm of molten lava beneath the castle. Sonja and Gedren duel in the Chamber; Sonja runs Gedren through with her sword, sending the evil ruler plunging into the lava below. Sonja throws the Talisman in after her, destroying it and starting a chain reaction that tears Castle Berkubane apart. The heroes manage to escape as the rising volcano consumes the castle. Sonja and Kalidor kiss after Kalidor won against her in a sword fight while Tarn and Falkon head back to Hablock to have it rebuilt.

Miura Haruma takes on the role of Koji, a college student aiming to become a professional photographer. One day, he receives an unusual request to shadow the client's girlfriend and take pictures of her; this assignment leads to subtle changes in his relationships with the women around him. Nana Eikura plays the ex-girlfriend of Koji's childhood friend, while Manami Konishi plays Koji's sister after one of her parents remarries, and Haruka Igawa plays the woman that Koji is photographing.

The video's main theme is a romantic fantasy narrative. It begins with a montage of pencil drawings in a comic-book style representing motorcycle sidecar racing, in which the hero (Morten Harket) is pursued by two opponents (Philip Jackson and Alfie Curtis). It then cuts to a scene in a cafe, in which a young woman (Bunty Bailey) is reading the comic book. As the woman reads, the waitress brings her coffee and the bill. The comic's hero, after winning the race, seemingly winks at the woman from the page. His pencil-drawn hand suddenly reaches out of the comic book, inviting the woman into it. Once inside, she, too, appears in the pencil-drawn form as he sings to her and introduces her to his black-and-white world which features a sort of looking-glass portal where people and objects look real on one side and pencil-drawn on the other.

Back in the cafe, the waitress returns to find the woman missing. Believing the customer left without paying the bill, she angrily crumples and throws the woman's comic book into a bin. This causes the hero's two opposing racers to reappear as villains, one of them armed with a large pipe wrench. The racers smash the looking glass with the pipe wrench, trapping the woman in the comic book. The hero punches one of the thugs aside and retreats with the woman into a maze of paper. Arriving at a dead end, he tears a hole in the paper wall so that the woman can escape as the menacing opposing racers close in on him and they raise their pipe wrench to his face. The woman, now back in the real world and found lying beside the bin to the surprise of cafe guests and staff, retrieves the comic from the bin and runs home where she attempts to smooth out the creases to learn what happens next.

The next panel shows the hero, lying seemingly lifeless, and the woman begins to cry. However, he then wakes up and tries to break out of his comic-book frames. At the same time, his image appears in the woman's hallway, seemingly torn between real and comic form, hurling himself repeatedly left-and-right against the walls as he attempts to shatter his two-dimensional barrier. (This scene is largely patterned after a climactic scene in the 1980 film ''Altered States''.) He escapes from the comic book by becoming human and stands up. Smiling, the woman runs towards him.

The story is concluded in the opening of "The Sun Always Shines on T.V." music video.

Nhagruul the Foul was an evil sorcerer who spread despair throughout his mortal life. As he neared his end, he sold his soul to the demon lords of the Abyss. His skin was turned into pages, his bones into a cover, his blood became ink for the pages, and the Book of Vile Darkness was born. Anyone who looked into the Book became evil. The kingdom of Karkoth was consumed by evil until a group of warriors called the Knights of the New Sun arose and saved the people using amulets given to them by the God of light, Pelor. Using the amulet, they channeled the God's power and light overcame darkness. Such power could be wielded, owing to the purity of their hearts. The ink was destroyed by the Knights but the pages and the covers could not be recovered as the followers of Nhagruul had them hidden. As people began to forget that Nhagruul existed, the power of the Knights dimmed.

2000 years later, a new Paladin named Grayson is recruited into the Knight order, but like all Knights through the centuries, the power of the amulet is not granted to him by the God Pelor. However, while speaking to his father about this failure, all the Knights are killed and his father is abducted. Grayson is able to follow the barbarians who killed the Knights into town, and equips himself with the help of one of the locals sympathetic to Pelor. Against his will, he becomes part of an evil crew looking for the horn that will lead them to the cover of the Book. The crew comprises Akordia, a Shadar-kai sorceress; Seith, a human assassin; Vimak, a Goliath barbarian; and Bezz, a human Vermin Lord.

The horn is guarded by a wyvern that is slain by Grayson, saving Akordia, who falls in love with him. The group returns to the town attacked by the wyvern, where they are hailed as heroes. As Grayson and Akordia spend the night together, Seith takes all of the treasure given to the town, previously held by the wyvern. The town's mayor discovers this, and blocks the group from leaving; Grayson manages to compromise with him by letting the town keep half the treasure, but Bezz kills the mayor, resulting in the town being wiped out. At night, after the group makes camp, Grayson poisons Vimak with a vial he purchased, then places his body and the treasure in a bag of holding and throws it into the nearby lake. Seith then takes Grayson hostage, as he has nothing to trade for the horn to Akordia, but is killed by Bezz.

The horn leads the remaining three to encounter an undead child called a Slaymate, where they are forced to let it feed on their negative energy in order to prove themselves free of decency and thus worthy of obtaining the Book's cover; the Slaymate hungrily feeds from the morally bankrupt Bezz; Grayson's unlawful deeds are enough to pacify the creature; but when Akordia's turn comes, her burgeoning feelings for Grayson poison the creature and she fails the test. The Slaymate summons a Helmed Horror to kill them before disappearing. Bezz is stabbed through the chest as it appears, with Akordia and Grayson fighting the Helmed Horror. Disposing of the construct, the two finally retrieve the cover of the Book.

Akordia makes contact with the evil Lord Shathrax, who has the pages of the Book within his stronghold in the Shadowfell and plans to extract the ink from the pain of the purest Knight: Grayson's father. Grayson is able to rescue his father, but soon discovers the stronghold is a collection of floating islands. Despite his father's pleas, Grayson refuses to kill his father and reminds him that they must be the last beacon of hope, being granted the power of Pelor momentarily, before being disabled by Bezz, who reveals he is in league with Shathrax and intends to use Grayson's pain to complete the book. With Akordia's help, Grayson manages to stop Shathrax and his followers before he can complete the book by using Pelor's power to annihilate them. Akordia and Grayson, despite their relationship, part ways at the end because of their different natures, with Bezz escaping as a cloud of insects.

Abbas Ali lives in Delhi with his sister Sania. When their ancestral property is taken from them by deception, Abbas loses his job. Their father's family friend, Shastri, convinces them to move to his village, Ranakpur, where he assures Abbas that he will get him a job at his boss Prithviraj Raghuvanshi's place. Prithviraj is a powerful and kindhearted man who hates liars and punishes them harshly. Abbas and Sania arrive at Ranakpur and meet Abbas's friend and Shastri's son Ravi who runs a drama company with his friends. Abbas learns that there is a temple at the border of Ranakpur and Kherwada, the village where Prithviraj's cousin Vikrant Raghuvanshi hold sway. The two cousins are archenemies. The temple, being at the border of the two villages, is a disputed property and has been locked up for years.

The plot begins when a child falls into the well of the temple and Abbas breaks the temple's lock to save the child. When Prithviraj arrives at the scene, Ravi tells him that Abbas's name as Abhishek Bachchan to avoid any religious tensions that might result from the fact that a Muslim broke into a Hindu temple. Prithviraj hires Abhishek Bachchan (Abbas) and becomes very happy with his work. Soon, Ravi and his friends have to come up with a new plan when Prithviraj spots Abbas celebrating Eid and wearing the traditional garb of a Muslim. Abbas and the others convince Prithviraj that the one celebrating Eid was actually Abhishek's twin brother, from another mother, 'Abbas', an effeminate man and classical Kathak dancer. Things get worse for Abbas and Ravi when Prithviraj kindly hires Abbas for teaching Kathak to his sister Radhika. Abbas tells Radhika the truth. And she keeps it as a secret. Prithviraj's sidekick Maakhan suspects Abbas watching Gol Maal because the movie has many similarities with the drama Abbas is playing. But due to his teams sudden actions, they are saved. Prithviraj notices that Abbas (the dancer) is in love with Radhika. Prithviraj teams with Abhishek (unknowing that he is also Abbas) to find Abbas when Radhika is missing. But she was kidnapped by Vikrant and the duo saves her. Impressed by Abhishek, Prithviraj fixes his marriage with Radhika and Prithviraj's marriage with Sania. But at last when Abbas decides to reveal the truth, Prithviraj knows the truth. In a madly chase, Prithviraj gets in the edge of a mountain and Abbas saves his life. At last, Abbas explains his situation and promises never to lie again.

Stories about a small police station in the Strašnice district of Prague.

The player controls Popolon and Aphrodite, entering the evil priest Galious' castle to free their yet-to-be-born son Pampas from the priest's evil clutches. Being able to control Popolon and Aphrodite means the player can switch between two characters that have slightly different abilities. For example, Popolon can push stones and open heavy doors. On the other hand, Aphrodite survives longer under water and she can shoot more projectiles. Should either character die, the other can visit a shrine and pay for resurrection. Unlike typical platform games, both characters can survive some damage as they have hit point bars.

Amid a strict Muslim rearing and a social life he has never had, Tariq Mahdi (Evan Ross) enters college confused.

New peers, family and mentors help him find his place, but the 9/11 attacks force him to face his past and make the biggest decisions of his life.

The film is set in Florence (Republic of Florence) during the Black Death. As in the ''Decameron'', ten young Florentines take refuge from the plague. But instead of telling stories, they have lusty adventures, bawdy exchanges, romance and swordplay. There are randy nuns, Saracen pirates, and a sexy cow.

Pampinea is the daughter of a wealthy merchant who has died moments before the start of the movie. Lorenzo is a young man in town who is exceptionally good at gambling and is charmed by her beauty. Gerbino De Ratta is the head of the local thugs who robs anyone or steals anything that he sees stealable. Count Dzerzhinsky, from the city of Novgorod in Novgorod Republic now in modern Russia, is Pampinea's fiancé who she has never met. Their fate intertwines after Pampinea's father died and Gerbino robs Pampinea of her fortune, saying her father was in debt. The only way for the merchant's daughter to save her life was to marry him, according to Gerbino himself.

Lorenzo was being chased by Gerbino after he bested him at a gambling table, then took refuge in a convent by posing as a "deaf and dumb" gardener. At this convent, he has sex with all of the horny nuns, but only until Pampinea's arrival. Pampinea—trying to escape from Gerbino's grasp—ran to the convent for shelter. There she witnesses Lorenzo, whom she'd long had feelings for, having sex with the nuns and get jealous. She blindfolds Lorenzo and kisses him passionately out of love. But then, out of jealousy, she informs the convent's abbess of his deception, that he is actually neither deaf nor dumb.

The Count arrives in Florence only to be ambushed by Gerbino's men. All of his companions are killed, but he survives. Receiving a message from Pampinea's servant, Count Dzerzhinsky rides to Pampinea's father's mansion for the wedding, for he has been promised her hand in marriage. On the way, the young Count meets a skinny dipping Elissa—Pampinea's best friend, who is on her way to attend the wedding—and the two subsequently fall in love. The Count is led to believe Elissa is Pampinea.

Chased out of the convent, Lorenzo follows Pampinea to her father's mansion. There he confesses to her that he's fallen in love with the nun who kissed him whilst blindfolded, the woman whose face he never got to see. Later, Gerbino and his men arrive at the mansion and imprison Lorenzo. Pampinea agrees to marry Gerbino right that day to save Lorenzo, and thus Lorenzo is banished to the woods. There he meets Dzerzhinsky who is on his way to the mansion to be married to 'Pampinea' (actually Elissa) and the two team up to take out Gerbino's men. Gerbino himself dies falling into a large deep well inside the mansion.

Pampinea, in love with Lorenzo, refuses to marry Count Dzerzhinsky, only to realise moments later that the Count himself is actually in love with Elissa who has been posing as her. She happily then runs after Lorenzo and kisses him. Lorenzo realises that she is in fact the nun he's in love with and they hold their wedding that very day, with all of their friends attending.

The biblical portion of the play, a retelling of the Visitation of the Shepherds, comes only after a longer, invented story that mirrors it, in which the shepherds, before visiting the holy baby outside in a manger, must first rescue one of their sheep that has been hidden in a cradle indoors by a comically evil sheep-stealing couple. Once they have discovered and punished the thieves, the storyline switches to the familiar one of the three shepherds being told of the birth of Christ by an angel, and going to Bethlehem to offer the true Child gifts.

At the start of the play, Coll, the first shepherd ("primus pastor") arrives in a field, invoking God in anachronistic terms (referring, as the shepherds will do throughout the play, to the life and death of Christ even though at this point of the play Christ has not yet been born) complaining about the (typically English) cold weather and about his poverty and the arrogance of local gentry. He begins by saying, "Lord, what these weathers are cold! And I am ill happed" which translates as "Lord [God], the weather is cold and I am ill prepared/clothed." Gib, the second shepherd, arrives without seeing Coll and complains first about the weather and then about the plight of married men, himself included, with bawdy speculation about the lives of men with more than one wife and advice to "young men of wooing" to "Be well ware of wedding" (wary of marriage). He paints a portrait of his wife as a loud, heavy-drinking, alternately abusive and sentimentally pious, whale-sized woman. "By him that died for us all, I would I had run til I had lost her!" at which point he is startled by Coll. They confer about where Daw, a third, young, lazy and mischievous, shepherd, has gotten to, at which point Daw arrives complaining about employers, hunger, and about recent floods which he compares to Noah's flood.

Mak, a local good-for-nothing and well-known thief, arrives and pretends to be a yeoman from a lord. Although they recognize him from the start, he insults and threatens them by saying that he will have them flogged. When they threaten him, he pretends not to have known who they were. Mak tries to gain sympathy from the shepherds by explaining how his wife is a lazy drunk who gives birth to too many children. Invoking Christ and Pontius Pilate, Mak agrees to camp with the shepherds, and feigns to lie down among them. However, once they have fallen asleep he casts a spell to make sure they will not wake up and then sneaks off to steal one of their sheep. He heads back to his cottage and trades insults with Gill, his wife, who firmly believes that Mak will be hanged for the theft and comes up with a plan for hiding the sheep – she will put it in an empty cradle and pretend that it is her newborn child, and that she is loudly, painfully in labor with its twin, so that the shepherds will quickly give up any search.

Mak sneaks back among the shepherds and pretends to awaken along with them. They head off to take account of their sheep while Mak heads home to prepare. With despair at their catastrophic ill fortune, the shepherds realize a sheep is missing and go to search Mak's house. They are initially fooled by Mak and Gill's ruse despite Gill going so far as to say that if she's lying she'll eat the child in her cradle (as she indeed plans to). The shepherds leave defeated, but realize that they have failed to bring any gifts to the "baby", and go back. When they remove the swaddling clothes they recognize their sheep, but decide not to kill Mak but instead roll him in canvas and throw him up and down, punishing him until they are exhausted.

When they have left Mak's cottage, the biblical story proper begins – the Angel appears and tells them to go to "Bedlam" (Bethlehem) to see the Christ child. They wonder at the event, chastising each other for their collective delay, and then go to the manger where Mary (Mother of Jesus) welcomes them and receives their praise for her mildness. They each address the Child in turn, beginning by praising His authority and His creation of all things in tones of reverence and awe, but each comically shifting mid-speech to cooing, gushing baby talk, since they are addressing an adorable baby, whom Coll, Gib, and Daw respectively give "a bob of cherries," a bird, and a ball ("Have and play thee withal, and go to the tennis!") The shepherds rejoice at their salvation, all thoughts of hardship and complaint vanished, and leave singing in unison.

Mary Katherine "Merricat" Blackwood lives with her elder sister Constance and their ailing Uncle Julian in a large house on extensive grounds, in isolation from the nearby village. Constance has not left their home in six years, going no farther than her large garden. Uncle Julian, who uses a wheelchair, obsessively writes and re-writes notes for his memoirs, while Constance takes care of him.

Six years prior to the story, Constance and Merricat's parents John and Ellen, their aunt Dorothy, and their younger brother Thomas died after being poisoned with arsenic, which was mixed into the family's sugar bowl and sprinkled onto blackberries at dinner. Julian was also poisoned, but survived; Merricat was not present at the time as she had been sent to bed without dinner as punishment. Constance, the only member of the family who didn't put sugar on her berries, was arrested and charged with murder, but ultimately the verdict has proved her as not guilty. The people of the village believe that Constance got away with murder, leading them to exclude the family. The three remaining Blackwoods have since grown accustomed to their isolation, leading a quiet, happy existence. Merricat is the family's sole contact with the outside world, walking into the village twice a week and carrying home groceries and library books; on these trips, she is faced directly with the hostility of the villagers, and often taunted by groups of children with an accusing rhyme.

Merricat is protective of her sister and practices sympathetic magic that maintains borders around the house. She feels that a dangerous change is approaching, but before she can warn Constance, their estranged cousin Charles appears for a visit.

Charles quickly begins to have a close relationship with Constance and fully gains her confidence. Charles is aware of Merricat's hostility and is increasingly rude to her and impatient of Julian's weaknesses. He makes many references to the money the sisters keep locked in their father's safe, and gradually forms something of an alliance with Constance. Merricat perceives Charles as a threat and tries various magical and otherwise disruptive means to drive him from the house. Uncle Julian is increasingly disgusted by Charles and suspects that Charles came there for the Blackwoods' fortune.

One night before dinner, when Constance sends Merricat upstairs to wash her hands, Merricat—in a fit of anger-pushes Charles' smoking pipe into a wastebasket filled with newspapers, causing a massive fire that consumes the family home. When the villagers arrive to help put out the fire, they finally unleash their long-repressed anger at the Blackwoods by vandalizing and ransacking their house once the fire has been extinguished. Driven outdoors, Merricat and Constance flee into the woods after being threatened by the villagers, while Julian dies of an apparent heart failure during the fire, and Charles attempts to take the family safe. While Merricat and Constance shelter for the night under a tree Merricat has made into a hideaway, Constance confesses that she always knew that Merricat was the one who poisoned the family. Merricat readily admits to the deed, saying that she put the poison in the sugar bowl because she knew that Constance would not take sugar.

Upon returning to their ruined home, Constance and Merricat proceed to salvage what is left of their belongings, close off those rooms too damaged to use, and start their lives anew in the little space left to them. The house, now without a roof, resembles a castle "turreted and open to the sky." Constance and Merricant spend much of their time watching the outside world through peepholes hidden by vines that grow to cover the house. The villagers, feeling remorse at their actions, begin to leave food on their doorstep, while developing stories about them akin to folklore. Charles returns once to try to renew his acquaintance with Constance, but she ignores him. The sisters choose to remain alone and unseen by the rest of the world.

As the ''Snowball 9'' approaches Eden, something goes wrong. A crew member murders her shipmates, destroys the communication system and sets the ship on a collision course with the sun. The robots, being little more than automata, continue their everyday operations oblivious to the danger but the ship's computer, capable of thinking, awakens Kim Kimberley before the deranged crew member destroys it. She exits her modified stasis chamber with the goal of finding a way to reach the control room and avert disaster.

With the ''Snowball 9'' orbiting Eden, the surviving crew members put Kim on trial. The only evidence against her is the "mempak" from the control room, which shows her as the hijacker rather than the saviour. Despite the fact that the recording is damaged and thus is unreliable, they sentence her to death. About to be thrown into space, Kim manages to escape aboard a "stratoglider" and an hour later, lands on Eden. At this point the game starts.

The first thing the player must do is find a shelter for Kim, because a few moves into the game the ''Snowball 9'' crew use the ship's engine to try to burn her down. The native robots take this as proof that the ''Snowball 9'' is not the ship they were expecting but a hostile alien craft they must destroy. The objective is to contact the robots before time ends for the ''Snowball 9'' and everyone aboard it.

Andy and Emmett are two sailors who finally return home to propose to their fiancées. Andy uses a radio to perform his marriage proposal, which his fiancée Nan (Esther Howard) accepts, but soon the two hapless men find out that married life is no piece of cake.

However, when a fire burns down their apartment, they are forced to live in a small home in the suburbs. Andy and Emmett agree to clean the place up, with their new son, Junior, while the wives go shopping for the day, but it's no easy task. Andy has trouble putting a bed together upstairs, and downstairs, Emmett has trouble with a dresser. Emmett eventually brings the dresser upstairs via a movable cart; when he tries to flip it over, it ends up crashing and breaking.

Later, they paint the kitchen, but Junior accidentally dumps out fireplace soot and it soon covers the kitchen. The wives return, outraged. They both plan to knock out Andy and Emmett with boards, but they duck and the women knock themselves out.

They decide to return to their ship that is still in port at the dockyard. But they do not make it in time and they fall into the water.

In a laboratory, humanoids emerge from tanks after having been created by the scientist Dr. Collie whose employer, Mr. Jaguar, plans to use these humanoids to expose the "world's greatest fraud", and laughs madly as a muscular, nude man with a tail lays dormant in another tank.

Android 18 harasses Mr. Satan as he has yet to pay her for purposely losing to him in the World Martial Arts Tournament final while Krillin, Trunks, Goten and Marron wait outside. A businessman named Men-Men arrives and speaks with Mr. Satan, telling him that Mr. Jaguar, who was Mr. Satan's rival at summer camp, has requested his presence on his island laboratory to have him fight his special fighters, and threatens to expose Mr. Satan as a bed wetter if he refuses. Mr. Satan reluctantly accepts with Android 18 accompanying them to make sure Mr. Satan keeps good on his promise for payment. Trunks and Goten stow away, hoping to find a challenging fight.

On the island, a tournament is organized to pit Jaguar's bio-warriors against Mr. Satan. Android 18, Goten and Trunks ask to take part by posing as his pupils. Goten and Trunks easily defeat the bio-warriors and they observe the excommunicated shaman from the village they encountered during their fight with Broly. Trunks and Goten explore the lab and find a tank which appears to house Broly who is supposed to be dead. They confront the shaman who tells them that after Broly was killed, he found a sample of the Legendary Super Saiyan's blood and took it to Jaguar, who used it to have a clone created. Goten and Trunks attempt to destroy the clone but he breaks out of the tank and attacks them. The ensuing struggle causes a major leak of a dangerous bio-fluid that instantly devours matter. The Broly clone is drenched in the bio-fluid and becomes deformed. Jaguar orders ''Bio-Broly'' to kill Mr. Satan but Android 18 saves him and is subsequently defeated. Goten and Trunks battle Bio-Broly while the bio-fluid kills all of the bio-warriors, scientists, and the shaman.

Bio-Broly pummels Goten, Trunks, and Android 18. Krillin saves Android 18 but is also defeated. Trunks lures Bio-Broly beneath a bio-fluid tank and destroys it, showering Bio-Broly in more of the fluid which appears to damage him. They attempt to evacuate the island but Dr. Collie tells them that the bio-fluid will continue to spread until it covers the entire Earth. However, they discover that the fluid turns to stone upon contact with seawater so Goten, Trunks and Krillin each fire a ''Kamehameha'' wave at the base of the island, causing a massive wave of seawater to flood the island and turn the fluid to stone. A colossal sized Bio-Broly suddenly emerges from the sea but before he is able to attack, he too becomes solidified. Goten, Trunks, and Krillin blast him with a combined Kamehameha wave which destroys him.

In the Other World, Goku receives orders from King Kai to help stop Broly who is rampaging in Hell.

The storyline of ''Rizelmine'' centers on Tomonori Iwaki, a 15-year-old student who likes older women, including high school girls, college girls, and even female instructors. Having just discovered that his teacher (upon whom he has nursed a massive crush) is engaged to be married, he comes home to find, much to his dismay, that he has been forced by "Power Of The State" to marry a 12-year-old girl named Rizel, who is the government's first creation in its experiments to genetically engineer a human. Whatever resistance Iwaki's parents might put forth is immediately dissolved by promises of free HVAC, promotion, and government paid home loans, all instituted by "Power Of The State". Despite Tomonori's protests, Rizel and her three secret service guardians known only as Papa A, Papa B, and Papa C move briskly into Tomonori's house, and the stage is set.

Rizel's tears contain the same make up as nitroglycerin and as such are explosives which creates a need for constant repair in their house. A running gag is that at the end of each episode, Tomonori calls Rizel an idiot, causing her to cry and thus cause an explosion. Rizel, with the help of her Papas, tries as hard as she can to win Tomonori's love. However, Tomonori is still in love with his teacher. Other characters creating an ever-tangled love web are Ryunosuke Hououin, who is in love with Rizel, and Kyoko Yachigusa, who is in love with Tomonori. Both try their best to prevent Rizel and Tomonori from getting close to each other. Later on Tomonori finds out that Rizel is the older woman he fell in love with when he was young but she was unable to grow after they met because she fell for him too, and she needed more than just the love from her "papas". When he learns this, Tomonori realizes that Rizel is his older woman.

In 2130, Earth has attained a clean, safe and anaesthetised future. Dominick is a time traveller whose job is to observe transport systems on the 'flipside' – the era before the Time Barrier was broken. Dominick's 'Circuit' (the period in time and space he must observe) is London 1980, where he believes he may have an ancestor – his great-great-grandfather, also named Dominick Hide. Breaking the rules, Dominick lands on the flipside to search for his great-great-grandfather.

London of 1980 is a different place to London of 2130 and Dominick is unprepared for the amazing culture shock of Portobello Road. He has no money and almost no idea how to behave. He concocts a story about finding a 'distant relative' and to avoid suspicion, calls himself Gilbey, after a brand of Gin. While he is on the flipside, he relies on the kindness of strangers, including the owner of a clothes shop, Jane Winters.

After an unsuccessful visit to the flipside, Dominick returns to 2130 determined to try again. Dominick tells his wife, Ava, that he plans to visit the flipside. She is upset and confused and asks him not to go. Despite the risks involved and the promise of trouble from his superior, Caleb Line, Dominick visits the flipside again. While he is there and against all sense, Dominick begins a relationship with Jane.

Still Dominick has not found his great-great-grandfather but now his visits seem to be more concerned with seeing Jane than with finding the elusive 1980 Dominick. They spend a weekend together at a guest house in Herne Bay where his flying saucer has been taken. As a result, Jane becomes pregnant. When Dominick learns this, he goes to Caleb Line to own up.

Caleb reveals that he was aware, all the time, of what Dominick was doing. He sanctioned it because Dominick Hide is the victim of a "genetic time-slip" – he is his ancestor. The child Jane is carrying will be Dominick's great-grandfather.

Caleb tells Dominick that further landings on the flipside will not be permitted, ''officially'', implying that he trusts Dominick enough to turn a blind eye to further landings. Having narrowly avoided causing a fatal accident on a previous landing, Dominick realises the danger involved, and decides to visit the flipside once more, where he provides for Jane and his son by fetching them the following week's newspaper, from which Jane can use the soccer results to win the football pools. He explains that this will be the last time he can visit the flipside and says a sad farewell to his great-great-grandmother. Jane watches Dominick take off in his flying saucer, convinced at last that his story is true. The closing scenes show Jane recording her son Dominick at Herne Bay in 1988 and Dominick and Ava walking and laughing in the surf at the Herne Bay of 2130 with their own baby.

Moscow, 1921. A mysterious wireless message is received by various stations: its text is 'Anta Odeli Uta'. Someone facetiously suggests it has come from Mars, in order to tease Los (Nikolai Tseretelli), an engineer who is obsessed with the idea of going to Mars. This inspires him to daydream about Mars and a strange civilization there. We see Aelita (Yuliya Solntseva), the queen; Tuskub (Konstantin Eggert), the actual ruler; and Ikhoshka (Aleksandra Peregonets), Aelita's mischievous maid. They live in a society where aristocrats rule over slaves who are confined underground and put into cold storage when not required.

Los's wife Natasha (Valentina Kuindzhi) is pestered by Erlikh (Pavel Pol), a bourgeois playboy before the revolution who is now a dishonest minor official. He uses his connections to steal a large amount of sugar with the intention of selling it on the black market. Los, who has seen Erlikh making up to Natasha but has not seen her rejecting him, becomes jealous.

Los continues to daydream: he imagines that Aelita has access to a telescope by which she can see people on Earth and has become attracted to him.

Spiridonov (Nikolai Tseretelli again), an intellectual engineer and friend of Los's, is being quietly swindled by Erlikh. He disappears; a would-be detective, Kratsov (Igor Ilyinsky) (who has been rejected by the police) suspects Spiridonov to be guilty of the theft of the sugar, because of his disappearance.

Los's jealousy gets out of control and he shoots Natasha: disguising himself as Spiridonov with a wig, false beard and glasses, he goes into hiding and makes plan to escape to Mars in a rocketship he has been constructing. A friend of his, Gusev (Nikolai Batalov), an ex-soldier, agrees to go with him. They take off, not knowing at first that Kratsov has stowed away (thinking he has been following Spiridonov and not realizing he's on a spaceship). Los confuses Kratsov by removing the disguise.

They land on Mars. Tuskub orders them killed, ignoring Aelita's pleas for their safety. Kratsov is taken before Tuskub and demands that the soldiers arrest the other two: he is promptly arrested. The chief astronomer comes to Aeilta and tells her where Los's ship has landed; she instructs her maid to kill him. The maid is arrested and sent to the slaves' caves - Gusev, who has taken a fancy to her, follows.

Aelita and Los meet and fall in love, though Los occasionally sees her as Natasha (so do we). They are arrested and sent to the caves.

Gusev tells the slaves of his own country's revolution and foments a revolt, which Aelita takes command of. Tuskub is overthrown and the army sides with Aelita - she commands them to fire on the workers and herd them back to the caves - she intends to rule Mars herself. Disgusted, Los kills Aelita (seeing her as Natasha as he does so).

Suddenly back on Earth, it's clear that all this is a daydream. Erlikh is arrested for theft. A poster on a wall advertises a maker of tires - 'Anta Odeli Uta': the wireless message had been an advertisement. Los had not injured or killed Natasha and they make up: he burns his spaceship plans and promises to stop daydreaming.

When Captain Bailey informs Mainwaring that he can make up another lance corporal, Frazer is chosen. Jones and Frazer both try desperately to impress Mainwaring into making them a corporal, and Frazer issues many charge sheets. The episode ends with Frazer breaking into Mainwaring's office with a boat-hook.

A group of half-demon children on Hōrai Island watch as a Kikyō look-alike comes to life in a green orb at the Cauldron of Resonance. Four scars, the mark of the Four War Gods Ryūra, Jūra, Kyōra, and Gōra, appear on all of the children's backs except for the youngest one, Ai. Asagi, the oldest, tells Ai to leave the island, and she is rescued by half-demon Inuyasha, schoolgirl Kagome Higurashi, monk Miroku, demon slayer Sango, fox demon Shippo, and Sango's nekomata companion Kirara. After Ai asks for Inuyasha to save the others, Inuyasha explains to his friends the myth of Hōrai Island, a place that appears once every fifty years. He remembers when he and Kikyō arrived on the island fifty years ago, they were ambushed by the Four War Gods, with Gōra extracting Kikyō's blood (used to make her doppelganger) and Ryūra marking Inuyasha's back with the four scars.

Following the island's reappearance, Kikyō learns of it and embarks to investigate, while Sesshomaru breaks off from his group - Jaken and Rin - to face Kyōra, who gave him the four scars in the past. As Inuyasha and company approach at the island, Jūra appears and fires his Thunder Cannon at them. Miroku and Sango fly away on Kirara to deter the attack, while Inuyasha, Kagome and Ai escape to the island shore where they meet Ryūra. When Ryūra nearly kills Inuyasha, Kagome interferes the battle, allowing Ryūra to escape.

Ai brings the group to a village where they meet the children and learn that Asagi will sacrifice herself to the Cauldron of Resonance, arguing that her death will allow the others to live a little longer. They all follow Asagi to the Cauldron, which Inuyasha and Asagi are pulled into after he attempts to destroy it. On the outside, the rest of the gang and the children try to open the doors while Inuyasha meets Lady Kanade, a priestess who fought the War Gods 50 years ago. She explains how she attempted to destroy them by taking their power spheres with her into the Cauldron at the cost of her life, only for the Gods to resort to sacrificing half-demons to the Cauldron so they could slowly regain their power. She gives Inuyasha a box containing the four power spheres and her remaining strength in exchange for her destroying the Cauldron and saving the children.

Inuyasha and Asagi free themselves and destroy the Cauldron, the damage of which breaks Kagome's bow and arrow set. Inuyasha is then attacked by the Kikyō look-alike after it exits the orb, stealing the power spheres and releasing them to the Four War Gods. The group then splits up; Inuyasha faces off against Kikyō's doppelgänger, Miroku and Sango fly on Kirara to battle Jūra and Gōra, and Kagome, Shippo, and the children attempt to make a raft for everyone to escape the island, only to be confronted by Ryūra. Meanwhile, Sesshomaru defeats Kyōra, leaving the others to deal with the remaining War Gods. Inuyasha is saved by the real Kikyō after she destroys her doppelgänger, and she leaves behind her bow and arrow.

Inuyasha returns to the shore to kill Ryūra. After Miroku, Sango and Kirara destroy Jūra, they help Inuyasha defeat Gōra. However, back on shore, the power spheres combine to form a new War God, with the only way to defeat it being a combination of Kagome's sacred arrow and Inuyasha's Backlash Wave attack. After one of the children, Shion, is guided to find Kikyō's arrow by the island's fireflies containing the spirits of those who were sacrificed, Kagome and Inuyasha use their powers to destroy the final War God once and for all, removing the four scars from those who were marked with them. They all escape the island's destruction on the raft, putting its myth to rest. The children, after residing temporarily at Kaede's village, bid farewell to Inuyasha and his friends to pursue their freedom.

The objective of the IMF team is to solve a kidnapping case, as a terrorist group by the name of ''the Sinister 7'' has kidnapped both a well-known scientist and Shannon Reed, another IMF operative. The chase will take place through the canals of Venice to the Swiss Alps, and the team is to infiltrate a number of hostile multiple-floor installations in pursuit of the hostages.

The book begins in 2180. Commercialism is still rife, and most of Earth's natural resources have been depleted. Most of the solid planets and moons in the solar system have been colonised. Having ended up in a supply port on Saturn's orbiting moon Mimas after celebrating his 24th birthday by binge drinking on a Monopoly Pub Crawl in London, Dave Lister is trying to earn enough money for a shuttle ticket home by stealing taxis and picking up fares while sleeping in a bus station locker. But since he always ends up losing the money, either by getting mugged or by getting drunk, it's obvious he won't be getting home any time soon.

One night Lister picks up a Space Corps officer calling himself 'Christopher Todhunter' (who is obviously wearing a fake moustache) asking to be taken to a plasti-droid brothel, only for the droid to malfunction and nearly rip off his private parts. This gives Lister an inspiration, and he quickly signs up with the Jupiter Mining Corporation, intending to get himself signed to a ship and going AWOL once it reaches Earth. Despite his lack of qualifications and the admissions officer deciding he had an attitude problem Lister told him that he wanted to sign up to ''"explore strange new worlds, seek out new life and new civilizations and to boldly go where no person has gone before"'' Lister is quickly assigned to the mining ship ''Red Dwarf'' as the lowest ranking crew member. On board he meets the drunken Petersen, who informs Lister that ''Red Dwarf'' will indeed be returning to Earth... after a four-and-a-half year round trip, much to Lister's dismay. Lister is assigned to Z-Shift as a technician, with duties that the service droids are considered too good for, and is introduced to his supervisor and roommate Arnold Rimmer, who Lister recognises as the Space Corps officer with the fake moustache. Unfortunately, Rimmer is also highly neurotic and pretentious, and he and Lister develop a mutual dislike.

Five months later, having settled into the dull, monotonous routine of life aboard ''Red Dwarf'', Lister he finds himself falling in love with senior officer Kristine Kochanski. The two embark on a passionate five-week love affair before Kochanski dumps him and returns to her boyfriend, whose name Lister can't remember. Meanwhile, Rimmer has been spending his time constantly trying and failing to pass the Astro-Navigation exam despite his best cheating efforts, as well as using the ship's stasis units (which freeze time for the person inside) to constantly de-age himself.

Lister, who has had enough of life on ''Red Dwarf'' since being dumped, realises that the stasis units could be his key to an instant arrival back on Earth. After studying the ship's regulations, he finds that smuggling an unquarantined animal aboard the ship is the least serious offence which carries a statutory sentence of time in stasis. On his next planet leave he brings a pregnant cat back to ''Red Dwarf'' (after having her fully inoculated to ensure she won't actually present a danger to the ship) and ensures that he gets caught with her. After being hauled before the captain (an American woman with the unfortunate surname of Kirk), Lister lies and tells her that the cat was ill when he found her and refuses to reveal where he has hidden her. As a result, Lister gets his wish and is sentenced to stasis for the rest of the trip. He enters the unit fully expecting to exit and find himself back home.

Upon learning of Lister's sentence, Rimmer is furious that his nemesis is going to have all this time in stasis without getting older, and prepares to work on an immediate appeal. He never gets the chance, as one of the ship's nuclear reactors fails, letting loose a wave that kills everyone except Lister. Just before he dies, Rimmer (who was literally a few seconds away from the safety of the stasis booth where he planned to spend the evening) finds himself thinking of gazpacho. In the hold, Lister's cat and her kittens are safe from the radiation too.

Upon Lister's release from stasis, the ship's super-computer Holly explains to him that he (Holly) piloted ''Red Dwarf'' out of the Solar System to prevent radiation contamination. Holly could not release Lister until the radiation had reached a safe background level. However, because the leaked cadmium II had such a long half-life, Lister was kept in stasis for three million years. During this time, Holly has gone a little computer senile.

Lister is then told that not only is he all alone on the ship and millions of years away from Earth, but he is also likely the last human left alive. Lister promptly falls apart, walking around the ship naked and nearly drinking himself to death before he collapses. Lister wakes up in the medical unit to find Rimmer, whom Holly has selected as the person most likely to keep Lister sane and generated as a hologram. Lister instructs Holly to chart a course for Earth. The crew discovers another life on board, an intelligent humanoid who comes to be known simply as The Cat, a member of a race of cats evolved from Lister's cat Frankenstein and her kittens after having survived the radiation blast deep in the ship's enormous cargo hold.

Due to three million years of constant acceleration, ''Red Dwarf'' breaks the light barrier, complicating things aboard as the crew begin to experience 'future echoes', brief glimpses of events that have yet to happen. Lister is worried when Rimmer tells him that one of the echoes shows him being blown up when attempting to fix the ship's navicomp (navigational computer). He tries everything to avoid it, but eventually he accepts his fate when the device fails and he has to fix it. However, the repair operation succeeds, and an aged Lister appears as part of a future echo informing his younger self that it was his grandson he saw blown apart. Lister also learns that at some point in the future he will have twin sons.

Eventually the ship slows and Holly succeeds in turning around and heading for earth. En route the crew retrieves the ''Nova 5'', a ship which had been on a mission to advertise a popular soft drink when its mechanoid service robot, Kryten, caused it to crash by trying to wash the computer. After looking after the survivors of the crash for many, many years (the fact they were long dead notwithstanding), Kryten shuts down when he realises the truth, and Lister has to work hard to reactivate him. When he succeeds, he learns that the Nova 5 had a duality drive that could get him back to Earth within months. Lister, Kryten and an unwilling-to-work Cat use ''Red Dwarf'' mining equipment to procure the fuel they need. Despite the Cat only putting in minutes of work each day and Kryten only helping by constantly serving tea and sandwiches, eventually Lister gets what he needs.

Meanwhile, Rimmer has found a hologram generator aboard the ''Nova 5'', meaning that another hologram can be created aboard ''Red Dwarf''. After finding all the ''Nova 5'' crew discs corrupted beyond repair, Rimmer suddenly gets an idea: who better as a companion for him than himself? At first the two Rimmers get along great, moving in together and keeping each other motivated while supervising the repair of the ''Nova 5''. However, the two begin to get on each other's nerves, trying to one-up each other. The original hologram-Rimmer despairs when his counterpart forces him to exercise and only allowed him minutes of sleep a night. Things come to a head, and the two demand that Lister switch one of them off. Lister chooses the original, but asks about Rimmer's obsession with gazpacho. Rimmer tells his most painful memory: at a formal dinner with the captain, he complained that his soup was cold, unaware that the Spanish dish is traditionally served cold (on top of being conned and stood-up by a fake escort who was meant to pose as his date, and awkwardly botching a joke). Lister assures Rimmer that anyone could have made that mistake, then admits that the duplicate Rimmer has already been turned off (having lied to hear the gazpacho story). He promises never to mention the conversation again, but can't resist a little joke at the end.

The crew soon repair the ''Nova 5'''s duality drive and return to Earth as heroes. Lister starts living in a replica of Bedford Falls from ''It's a Wonderful Life'' with a descendant of Kochanski, who looks and acts exactly like her ancestor and is even called Kristine; Rimmer marries a supermodel and becomes a successful businessman (with his company developing a solidgram body for Rimmer and a time machine to allow him to socialise with the greatest figures in history); and the Cat lives in Denmark in a palace surrounded by a moat of milk. It gradually becomes clear, however, that they're each living out their own improbable fantasies, and Lister, Rimmer and The Cat must accept the fact that they've not returned to Earth, but are trapped within an addictive virtual reality called ''Better Than Life'', a game which is killing them, but is incredibly difficult to escape.

One night, in Indiana, RJ the raccoon tries to steal snack food that Vincent, a bear, stockpiled for his hibernation. Vincent wakes up and catches RJ, and the food is destroyed in the ensuing confrontation. Vincent says he will hunt down and eat RJ if the food is not replaced by the time his hibernation ends a week later.

A family of woodland animals consisting of ornate box turtle and leader Verne, hyperactive American red squirrel Hammy, striped skunk Stella, North American porcupine parents Lou and Penny and children Spike, Bucky and Quillo, and Virginia opossum father and daughter Ozzie and Heather, awaken from their hibernation on the first day of spring. They find that much of the forest they lived in has been turned into a housing development, which is separated from the little forest remaining by a giant hedge. The animals wonder how they will forage enough food for the next winter. RJ meets them and encourages them to traverse the hedge and steal food from the humans. Despite Verne's concerns, the animals join RJ in stealing and stockpiling human food, not knowing he intends to give it to Vincent. Gladys Sharp, the neighborhood Home Owners Association president, takes notice of the animal problem and hires exterminator Dwayne LaFontant to get rid of them.

Verne tries to return the food to avoid Dwayne, and when RJ tries to stop him, the food ends up destroyed due to an encounter with the excitable dog Nugent. Verne tries to convince the family to not listen to RJ, but inadvertently insults their intelligence in the process, causing them to leave him in favor of RJ. That night, Gladys has Dwayne cover her yard in animal traps, including an illegal contraband device called the De-Pelter Turbo which turns the entire yard into a death trap when activated.

Verne apologizes to RJ for his actions and reconciles with the other animals. On the night before Vincent's hibernation ends, RJ sees that Gladys has bought a massive stockpile of food and enlists the help of the animals to invade her home and steal it. Hammy successfully disables the De-Pelter Turbo while Stella steals the collar of Gladys' Persian cat Tiger, which enables entry into the house's pet door, by posing as a cat and seducing him. The animals stockpile another wagon full of food, but right as they are about to leave at sunrise, RJ sees a can of chips called Spuddies and becomes determined to get them as Vincent specifically requested them. While trying to justify his effort to get the chips, RJ lets slip his true intention for the food. Gladys comes downstairs and finds the animals, and RJ manages to escape with the food. The others are caught by Dwayne, who takes them away in his truck to euthanize them.

RJ gives the food to Vincent as promised, but as he sees the exterminator truck driving off, he realizes that the family he found in the woodland animals is the most valuable thing in his life. RJ sends the food wagon careening into the truck, knocking out Dwayne and freeing the animals, but enraging Vincent. Spike, Bucky and Quillo take control of the truck and drive it back home, and RJ rejoins the family after Verne convinces the others to forgive him for his trickery. They crash the truck into Gladys' home and return to the hedge, but are attacked from both sides of it by Vincent, Gladys and Dwayne. RJ gives Hammy an energy drink, making the squirrel hyperactive enough to move at warp speed which he uses to go and reactivate the De-Pelter Turbo. RJ lures Vincent into leaping over the hedge to get him, but puts on Verne's shell which protects him from Vincent's jaws and allows Verne to pull him out with a fishing line. Vincent, Gladys and Dwayne are caught in the De-Pelter Turbo, resulting in them being blasted with radiation and trapped in a cage left in the ensuing crater.

Vincent is captured by animal control and shipped off to the Rocky Mountains, while Gladys is arrested for possessing the Turbo and Dwayne is chased by Nugent. RJ joins the woodland creatures' family permanently as well as Tiger, who remains in love with Stella even after learning she is a skunk, as he cannot smell. The animals' food storage is quickly replenished by Hammy, who finally found the nuts he stored before the previous winter.

The camera switches off. Spike, Bucky and Quillo, Lou and Penny's three baby porcupines with filming RJ who holds a piece of cardboard which has the words, "RJ's Wild World of Nature", a made-up nature show. Their subject is Hammy when he discovers a boomerang. RJ and the kids hide in the hedge and watch Hammy as he first sees the boomerang and "calls dibs." He tries to eat it but hates the taste and throws it away. The boomerang hits him in this order:

• Hammy is first hit and hisses like a cat at the boomerang (the kids giggle during this time but RJ dismisses it) before throwing it away again.
• Hammy throws it again and barely dodges it but stands up and laughs triumphantly, to be hit again.
• Hammy continuously dodges it and starts throwing the boomerang without stopping but soon realizes he is actually throwing a cookie, a cupcake, and an ice cream cone which prove distractive as he is hit again.
• He scurries up a tree but the boomerang freezes next to him. He shouts "Begone! I don't believe in you!" but the boomerang keeps spinning around the tree, forcing him to shout "All right, I believe in you!" He then buries the boomerang in a deep hole and proceeds to cover it up.
• He is hit again and finally chops it into pieces with an axe, puts it in a trunk, devilishly burns it with a cigarette lighter then stomps on the hot ashes but then steps off before he is continuously hit again, until an annoyed Hammy cries "Aww c'mon!"

RJ then asks the audience if they should tell him that the kids actually had a lot of boomerangs in a box. Verne then appears and figures out what they are doing and throws the camera away and informs them that humans do the same thing. Hammy finds the camera in the meantime and claims it. RJ and the kids then inform Verne they will not do it again.

The crew (joined by Hammy) later perform another so-called "Unrated Version" episode which shows Verne bathing without his shell on. He then finds out what they are doing and chases RJ away through the hedge. The screaming Hammy calls dibs on Verne's shell before one of the baby porcupines shortly runs and switches off the camera.

The year is 2007, two years after the Gutsy Galaxy Guard twarted the invasion of the Zonders and Mamoru's departure to the Tri-Solar System with Galeon. The organization is tracking down mysterious black machines called Q-Parts which possesses high regenerative properties. The criminal group known as BioNet stole one of the machines that were being researched at CERN. Gai, who is now working with Renais-Kardif Shishioh and the biologist Papillon Noir to take back one of the Q-Parts from BioNet using GGG's newest trump card: the '''GaoFighGar'''. However, beyond the GGG's concern over the Q-Parts, a familiar figure reappears and along with it, an upcoming calamity that would destroy the universe. Thus, the King of Braves is again dragged into a new conflict...

Padudu is a girl who travels to Sweetland from her own land, Sea Heaven. Once there, she competes with many others, in challenges ranging from simple contests to fights. These earn her Hanamaru, which are simple flower-shaped stamps. When enough are collected, the collector gets the right to become a Magical Girl on earth.

In 1973, a young boy named Kousuke evacuates his home in the picturesque seaside city of Shima, Mie, which is under attack by a trio of bat-like Gyaos monsters, until a benign kaiju resembling a turtle, named Gamera intervenes to buy time for the evacuation. Unable to kill off all of the Gyaos, Gamera sacrifices itself in a self-destruct ability to end the threat of the Gyaos for good as Kousuke watches from the shores. The tale picks up 33 years later in 2006, with Kousuke as a grown man and widower with his son, Toru. Toru has friends, but has a fear of being left alone because he is plagued by memories of his late mother and Kousuke having to work so much to support the family. Toru's fears are intensified when he finds his friend and neighbor, Mai, has to undergo dangerous heart surgery. When his other friends, Katsuya and Ishimaru, take him out exploring to try and cheer him up, Toru discovers an unusual egg atop a red stone in the same place Gamera self-destructed decades ago. The egg hatches into a small tortoise Toru nicknames Toto, after what his mother used to call him. Toto begins to display remarkable abilities such as high intelligence, levitation, and breathing small bursts of fire; while growing at a rapid rate. The turtle quickly outgrows the house and is relocated by Toru and his friends to maintain secrecy. Toru also gives Mai the red stone he found Toto's egg on as a good luck charm for her heart surgery. However, after a storm, Toru finds Toto has left his hideaway and gone missing.

Concurrently, many shipping disasters occur in the area, the cause of which is the kaiju Zedus (ジーダス), a monstrous man-eating reptile which soon thereafter rampages through the city. It corners Toru, Kousuke, and Toru's friends, but the boy's former pet, now significantly larger, intercedes. The turtle is now clearly a young Gamera, Toto is wounded in the fight and captured by government officials. Privy to Gamera being benevolent creatures and knowing Zedus would return, the government has scientists who studied the previous Gamera work to help heal the wounded Toto. Keeping him in a warehouse, they bandage the unconscious young kaiju and hook the creature up to a machine which infuses it with liquid derived from mysterious red stones found in the vicinity of the past Gamera's self-destruction, which the scientists theorize give the Gamera their power. Mai's surgery is successful and her mother calls Kousuke and Toru to give the good news, but she also states Mai keeps muttering in her sleep that Toto needs the glowing stone.

Zedus attacks again and the now near fully grown Toto, now larger, goes out to battle him to save fleeing citizens. Toru and his friends determine that the still-immature Gamera must consume the red stone which Toru had found with the egg, a much larger and more concentrated form of the red beads the scientists had used, in order to gain its full power. Kousuke, having seen the damage a kaiju brawl can have first hand and not wanting to lose his son as he did his wife, initially opposes their efforts to get close to Toto; but comes around to help them after ensuring Katsuya and Ishimaru get to safety. Mai tries to reach them or Toto to deliver the red stone, but her post-surgery weakness inhibits her. The red stone however seems to connect to various children, whom come to Mai's aid and relay the stone across the city to Toru and his friends. Zedus, firmly having the upper-hand in the battle, hurls Toto into a skyscraper. Kousuke holds up debris to help Toru get into the building and Toru, after begging Toto not to die to save the day like his predecessor did, throws the red stone into Gamera's mouth during the battle. Gamera's power of jet-propelled flight manifests itself and it defeats Zedus by firing a charged-up fireball attack down Zedus' throat. The kaiju escapes further government investigation with Toru, Kousuke, and the other children's assistance. Watching his former pet fly off into the sky, Toru finally calls Toto by his true name and whispers, "Farewell, Gamera..."

Queen Taramis of Khauran awakens one day to find her identical twin sister, Salome, staring her in the face. As an infant, Salome was deemed a witch due to a crescent-shaped birthmark on her chest. This birthmark was believed to be a sign of evil, so she was left in the desert to die. However, a magician from Khitai (China) found Salome, brought her up, and instructed her in the art of sorcery.

Salome has conspired with a voivode named Constantius, also known as "The Falcon", the Kothic leader for an army of Shemitish mercenaries, to take over the city of Khauran. Queen Taramis is sent to the palace dungeon, with the implications of torture and rape. Salome assumes Taramis' identity as the queen of Khauran and names Constantius her royal consort. The Khaurani army is disbanded and replaced by Constantius' Shemitish mercenaries, an event which turns violent when the captain of the queen's guard, Conan the Cimmerian, refuses to obey Salome's order.

After putting his back against a wall while killing a number of Constantius' warriors, Conan is finally captured and crucified for his defiance. Olgerd Vladislav, the Zaporoskan leader of a band of Zuagir desert raiders, is riding by with his scouting party and discovers a crucified Conan a mile outside the city walls. Vladislav doesn't entirely help Conan. He has the base of the cross cut, leaving it to fate and Conan's hardiness that he isn't crushed by the heavy wood. Vladislav then refuses to give Conan any water, claiming the Cimmerian must wait until after a ten-mile trek towards their outlaw camp to prove himself worthy of his band.

In Khauran, Salome's reign as "Taramis" has plunged the city into ruin. Citizens are killed, tortured, or sold as slaves; heavy taxes are imposed; and women are frequently debauched by the Shemites. Salome desecrates the temple of Ishtar in the center of her city and summons a demon, Thaug, to live inside it. Soon, the citizens of Khauran are routinely sacrificed to Thaug.

Conan has been expanding the numbers of Zuagirs as Vladislav's lieutenant, while also secretly establishing communication with some Khaurani Knights who had become refugees. When he has a sufficient force, Conan deposes Vladislav's leadership of the Zuagirs, but doesn't kill him in repayment for Vladislav having saved his life from the cross. Soon, Conan fakes the construction of siege engines with palm trees and painted silk. Constantius is fooled by this as his scouts cannot get close enough to see them properly and Conan is known for his experience in all manner of warfare. The Shemitish mercenaries ride out of their city for an open-field battle, with Constantius expecting only the lightly armed Zuagirs, but are taken by surprise by the Khaurani cavalry hidden amongst them. Conan's forces are victorious, ruthlessly taking no prisoners. The Zuagirs, Shemite nomads, are hereditary enemies of the Western Shemite city dwellers from whom Constantius' mercenaries were drawn, while the Khaurani exiles are full of bitterness over the Shemites' oppression of their city; neither are inclined to be merciful to their defeated enemies.

Meanwhile, Valerius, a former member of the Khaurani army, has discovered the secret of Salome's masquerade, and the fact that Salome is holding the real Taramis within her dungeon. With Conan's forces approaching Khauran, Valerius plans to rescue Taramis and reveal the conspiracy to his people or to escape with the true queen. Conan's victory is not certain to the Khauranis and they are nervous about his intentions if he does take Khauran. When it becomes apparent that Conan has defeated Constantius' Shemites, Salome decides to kill Taramis before his army can reclaim the city. She thwarts Valerius' rescue attempt and takes Taramis to the former temple of Ishtar to sacrifice her to Thaug. Valerius saves Taramis and kills Salome, but not before she unleashes Thaug. Conan arrives with his Khaurani allies and some Zuagir warriors, who kill the demon with two flights of arrows.

Soon, Taramis offers to make Conan her royal councillor and captain. However, he declines the queen's offer and nominates Valerius instead. Conan, as chief of the Zuagirs, drives away the remaining Shemites (capturing Constantius in the process) and leaves to raid the nearby kingdom of Turan. Before leaving Khauran, he crucifies Constantius at the site where he'd been crucified, commenting with irony to a crucified Constantius the difference between their respective situations: "I hung there on a cross as you are hanging, and I lived, thanks to circumstances and a stamina peculiar to barbarians. But you civilized men are soft; your lives are not nailed to your spines as are ours. Your fortitude consists mainly in inflicting torment, not in enduring it. You will be dead before sundown. And so, Falcon, I leave you to the companionship of another bird of the desert."

Salome's words at the beginning - "'Every century a witch shall be born.' So ran the ancient curse. And so it has come to pass. Each was named Salome. I too am Salome. It was always Salome, the witch. It will always be Salome, the witch, even when the mountains of ice have roared down from the pole and ground the civilizations to ruin, and a new world has risen from the ashes and dust—even then there shall be Salomes to walk the earth, to trap men's hearts by their sorcery, to dance before the kings of the world, and see the heads of the wise men fall at their pleasure" - clearly imply that the witch Salome of this story is an earlier incarnation of the notorious Salome of the New Testament, who instigated the beheading of John the Baptist.

On his way back to his quarters, Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) steps off a turbolift and instead of finding himself in a corridor onboard the ''Enterprise'', ends up on board a shuttlecraft with Q (John de Lancie) at the controls. Picard demands to be returned to the ''Enterprise''; Q calls him "an impossibly stubborn human" and refuses to take him back until he agrees to at least hear Q's requests. Q then transports them to Ten Forward, where Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg), who recognizes him, warns Picard not to trust him. Q reveals that he wants to join the crew to assist them as they push further into unexplored regions of the galaxy, asserting they are not ready for the threats they will encounter. Picard chooses to make their own way into the unknown, and rejects Q's offer. Irritated by Picard's arrogance, Q instantaneously sends the ''Enterprise'' thousands of light years across the galaxy, then disappears. Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner) reports that the nearest starbase is over two years away at maximum warp. A fearful Guinan warns Picard to set course for home immediately, but Picard is curious to explore.

The crew discover a nearby planet that shows signs of a previous civilization but has been stripped of all industrial and mechanical elements, similar to destruction found several months ago to Federation outposts bordering the Romulan Neutral Zone. Moments later, they detect and are then met by a large, cube-shaped vessel which does not answer their hails. Guinan warns Picard that the ship belongs to the Borg, a powerful, cyborg-like race that nearly wiped out her people, scattering the survivors across the galaxy, and again urges Picard to leave immediately or face certain destruction. Though Picard orders the ''Enterprise'' shields raised, a single, speechless Borg transports into Engineering and begins to probe the ''Enterprise'' s computer systems. Lt. Worf (Michael Dorn) initially attempts to incapacitate the intruder with his phaser set on stun, which has no effect. Worf is forced to use the kill setting in order to neutralize the Borg. Immediately afterwards, a second Borg appears and continues probing the computer, now proving to be completely immune to phaser fire. Completing its mission, it strips several components from the dead Borg, then transports itself and the dead Borg away. The Borg ship contacts the ''Enterprise'' and demands their surrender. The Borg then immobilizes the ''Enterprise'' with a tractor beam, disables the shields, and uses a cutting beam to slice into the saucer section to remove a cross-section of the ship, killing eighteen people.

Picard orders return fire, and the ''Enterprise'' apparently disables the Borg ship. Against Guinan's advice, Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frakes) takes an away team to the immense Borg cube where they find mostly dormant Borg drones and a Borg nursery. Data discovers that the Borg ship is regenerating and repairing the damage made by the '' Enterprise''. The away team is beamed directly to the bridge, and Picard orders that they depart at maximum warp. The Borg ship suddenly reactivates and begins pursuit, gaining on the ''Enterprise''. Q appears on the bridge and warns Picard that the Borg will never stop chasing them, and cannot be defeated. Picard attempts to fight back against the Borg to no avail, and finally admits he needs Q's help. Q obliges, safely returning the ''Enterprise'' to its last position in Federation space. Picard, though thankful for Q's lesson, blames Q for the deaths of his crew. Q disappears, but not before reminding them again of their ill-preparedness. Guinan warns Picard that now that the Borg are aware of the Federation's presence, they will be coming. Picard reflects that perhaps Q did the right thing for the wrong reasons by bringing forward their encounter with the Borg, as it has informed the Federation what lies ahead of them as they continue to explore.

The plot begins with Bella in church. As she leaves, Charlie pushes a note into her hand. She reads that it says he will be in their old meeting place at eight o' clock. She meets him in a garden. After some playful conversation, Charlie introduces her to her first sexual experience. Father Ambrose, who had been hiding in the shrubs, surprises them afterward, scolding both of them for their behaviour and threatening to reveal what they have been doing to their guardians. Bella pleads for mercy. Father Ambrose, appearing to relent, tells Bella to meet him in the sacristy at two o'clock the next day and Charlie to meet him at the same time the day after that. Ambrose instructs Bella into a way she may be absolved of her sins and blackmails her into sex with him, lest he tell her guardian what she was up to. Then Ambrose's colleagues, the Fr Superior & Fr Clement, catch them in the act, and they demand equal rights to Bella's favours. And so Bella is introduced to serving the Holy community in a special way.

Despite his promises, Ambrose goes to see Bella's uncle, Monsieur Verbouc and tells of her lewd behaviour. This leads to her uncle, who has long entertained lustful thoughts of his niece, attempting to force himself on Bella. The narrator then intervenes, biting him to put a damper on his ardour.

Next, Father Clement, looking for Bella's room, climbs into the window of Bella's aunt, the pious Madame Verbouc, who had mistaken him for her husband. M. Verbouc then bursts in and his wife realises she's actually been making love to the randy priest.

Bella's friend, Julia Delmont, becomes Ambrose's next target. By now completely corrupted and happy to go along with whatever Ambrose suggests, Bella readily agrees to the Father's next scheme: She will offer herself to Monsieur Delmont, on condition that her face is covered. The trick is that it will not be Bella who lies there, but Delmont's own daughter. Father Ambrose seduces her and says he will come to her by night and make love to her, but she must hide her face.

When the act is consummated, Bella appears and pretends that it was all a big mistake. But since Delmont has now potentially impregnated his daughter, the only way to be sure his incest cannot be discovered is to have all make love to her as well. In case she is pregnant, nobody can claim that her own father is the father.

Bella and Julia eventually become nuns, and the book ends as they participate in an orgy with 14 priests.

An evil criminal organisation called Sigma kidnap prominent business leaders to harvest their DNA and only Karate-Robo Zaborgar can save them.

Setting

''Wild Arms'' takes place in the world of Filgaia (''"Fargaia"'' in the original Japanese version), a fantasy world modeled closely after medieval Europe, though the technology is comparable to that of the early Industrial Revolution, with advancements such as motors first coming into use. Destructive technology such as guns and firearms are seen as dangerous and therefore forbidden technology that is feared by the general populace. Since most of the world's most advanced technology existed centuries before the start of the game, archaeologists and engineers are essentially one and the same; rediscovering old technology as they find new applications for it.

Characters

In addition to several supporting characters and villains, ''Wild Arms'' features three playable characters: '''Rudy Roughnight''' (ロディ・ラグナイト Rodi Ragunaito "Rody Roughnight"in the Japanese version and "Rudy Roughknight" in subsequent English translations) is a 15-year-old boy from a remote village who was orphaned several years before the beginning of the game when his grandfather died. Under the care of the town's mayor, Rudy worked as a farmhand for his neighbor. Rudy finds and rescues a local boy lost in a cave just outside town, yet inadvertently frees a zombie sealed within the cavern. He defeats the zombie and saves the village, but alerts the villagers to his forbidden ARM weapon in the process, causing him to be cast out of the village, returning to the life of an adventurer and drifter. After severing his own arm (by sword in ''Wild Arms'', and by gun in ''Wild Arms Alter Code: F''), Rudy is discovered to be a Holmcross, an artificial being designed to be a weapon that shares the basic physiology of the Metal Demons, which were terminated since they were labeled as extremely violent and dangerous. Rudy's "grandfather", Zepet, gave Rudy a heart and the capacity to care and love, steering him away from being a weapon of mass destruction like his brethren. Rudy is a silent protagonist, though he does have one line in the game. '''Cecilia Lynn Adlehyde''' (セシリア・レイン・アーデルハイド Seshiria Rein Aderuhaido "Cecilia Raynne Adlehyde" in the Japanese version) is a young princess who has spent most of her life studying at the Curan Abbey magic school. Her 17th birthday at the beginning of the game marks her official ascension into the Adlehyde royal family and departure from the school. Before she leaves, however, she is contacted by a mysterious voice who beckons her to a hidden library deep within the abbey. There she confronts and defeats a demon using her fledgling magic skills, and frees a powerful entity known as a "Guardian" from a sealed book. The Guardian informs Cecilia that her royal blood allows her to be a medium between the real world and the spirit dimension occupied by the avatars of all the world's elemental forces, and that she will be instrumental in securing the future and reconstruction of the barren planet. Throughout her life she has disliked being just a figurehead. One of her reasons for joining Rudy and Jack was so she would not be lonely. *'''Jack Van Burace''' (ザック・ヴァン・ブレイス Zakku Van Bureisu "Zakk Vam Brace" in the Japanese version) is a treasure hunter and swordsman-for-hire who is searching the world for the "ultimate power" that will allow him to confront his troubled past. Upon the discovery of an ancient holographic device within the Memory Temple, Jack learns of the long lost race of the Elw who had developed several forms of advanced technology. He sets off to the town of Adlehyde to find more information that will point him in the direction of his goal. Jack is accompanied by 'Hanpan', a "wind mouse" who speaks and understands the language of humans, and often acts as Jack's moral compass. It is discovered that in his youth he was a Fenril Knight of Arctica, the "Gauntlet-Knight" named Garret Stampede.

Story

A thousand years before the events of ''Wild Arms'', a war raged between the inhabitants of Filgaia and the Metal Demons seeking to turn the planet into their new home. After a fierce struggle, the humans captured the demon's leader, "Mother", and sealed her within a castle in the tundra of Arctica. Unable to destroy her constantly regenerating body, the people of Arctica removed her heart and tore it into three pieces, imprisoned her within a cocoon, and sealed the pieces of her heart inside three stone statues which they spread across the world. With their leader gone, a majority of the demons disappeared, with only a few remaining in seclusion over the next few centuries, eventually launching an attack on the castle to reclaim the incapacitated body of Mother.

Succeeding in their mission, a small band of demon warriors known as the Quarter Knights kept watch over the body of Mother in their fortress protected behind a powerful force field, and began gathering information as to the whereabouts of the guardian statues with the hope of one day reviving her and claiming Filgaia as their own. As time passed, talk of the ancient invasion began to dwindle, though stories of demonic weaponry such as "ARMs" and robotic soldiers still persisted in the minds of many. When a mysterious child named Rudy drifted into the small town of Surf, he came with an ARM at his side. Though he is able to hide it for a time his ARM makes him into a pariah after he is involved with a disastrous earthquake.

Making his way to the city of Adlehyde, Rudy meets Cecilia, a magician-in-training and successor to the Adlehyde royal family, and Jack, a headstrong treasure hunter. The trio team up to help a local engineer named Emma, who is researching ancient technology in a nearby tomb and believes a remnant of the Demon Wars may be inside, but came across the monsters inside the tomb. Upon discovering the object, a deactivated robotic creature called a "golem", the three adventurers escort Emma and their discovery back to Adlehyde to exhibit it at the town's Ruin Festival. During the event, where several other golem creatures are on display, a small army of demons led by Belselk of the Quarter Knights proceed to burn the town, steal the golems, and mortally wound Cecilia's father, the king. In order to spare the remaining people of Adlehyde, Cecilia gives Belselk her family heirloom, a pendant called the Tear Drop that has magical properties which the demons believe can be used as a catalyst for reviving their leader. When the invaders recall from the town, Rudy and his friends make a pact to stop the Knights from taking control of Filgaia, and to restore balance to the weakening elemental forces of the world that have been in decline since the demons' initial invasion.

Traveling across Filgaia, the heroes make their way to the long-abandoned Guardian Temple to gain the alliance of the mystical guardians who maintain the forces of nature across the planet. There they are tested individually. After each of them fails their personal tests of character, the Guardians reluctantly agree to aid them. The Guardians tell Rudy and his companions that the demons have already begun to revive their leader, and have only to lift the seal on her cocoon-like prison by destroying the three scattered statues that lie across Filgaia. Utilizing ancient Elw technology in the form of teleportation devices, the group travels the world to stop the Quarter Knights from destroying the statues, but they fail in each attempt. The consequent resurrection of Mother occurs, yet the demons are informed by their leader that it is her intention to eradicate Filgaia rather than subjugate it and tells her followers that their own deaths will follow soon after.

Realizing that the only way to defeat the demons is to confront them in their stronghold, the Photosphere, Rudy, Jack, and Cecilia gather the necessary materials to enter the tomb of the last remaining golem, the Earth Golem, Asgard. Convincing him to aid them in their struggle, Asgard neutralizes the protective seal around the Photosphere, granting Rudy, Jack, and Cecilia access. With the aid of a blue-hooded figure, the heroes are able to re-acquire Cecilia's Tear Drop, previously acting as the power source to the entire fortress, and confront a weakened Mother directly, destroying her body just as the Photosphere sinks into the ocean. Thinking the worst to be over, the trio depart for Adlehyde when they are confronted by the Quarter Knights, who inform them of their plan to take over Filgaia in their maniacal leader's absence, and the blue-hooded character who assisted them was Ziekfried, the leader of the Quarter Knights who betrayed Mother.

The demons attempt to destroy the ''Ray Line'' underneath Filgaia. It was the last resort of the Guardians to connect their remaining strength together and maintain the planet. These plans are temporarily thwarted at the last moment, with Zeikfried being thrown through a dimensional rift in space when the three confront him. Finding himself transported to the underwater wreckage of the Photosphere, Zeikfred is met by a deformed visage of Mother, who devours him. However, the remaining Demons find another way to disrupt the Ray line by creating their own tear drop designed to destroy rather than create life and using the Elw teleportation system distribute it all over Filgaia, throwing the forces of nature into chaos. It is also revealed that one of the Quarter Knights was not originally a demon, but Jack's lost love Elmina, which fueled his lust for vengeance.

Later, the demons learn of a giant structure on one of the moons orbiting the planet, Malduke, that was designed to be a space station for residential and military purposes, possessing a powerful weapon that could destroy Filgaia. Inside the demons' newly-arisen tower Ka Dingel that connects with Malduke, Rudy, Jack, and Cecilia confront what remains of their adversaries before reaching the teleportation device to take them to Malduke. Within Malduke's deepest sanctum, they confront Zeikfried, who transforms into a revived Mother. This new being, Motherfried, confronts the heroes with the intent of using Malduke's primary weapon to destroy Filgaia, but is defeated.

Even after defeating the last of the Demons, it seems too late to stop Malduke's weapon from destroying Filgaia, but the Guardians are able to pool their strength and revive the world. Rudy, Jack, and Cecilia board the teleportation device to be transported back to Filgaia, only to be stopped in mid-voyage by what is left of Zeikfried's body and his spear. The weakened Zeikfried launches a last desperate assault on the heroes, and, though defeated in the end, the energy released in the battle destabilizes the portal. Narrowly escaping through the portal to Filgaia, the trio arrives at Ka Dingel just as it collapses, with Asgard arriving to shield them from the falling debris, but the sheer strain causes great damage to the Earth Golem and so, is later allowed to sleep once more beneath the earth with Cecilia's help. With the demons defeated and nature beginning to recover, Jack and Rudy set off on a new journey while Cecilia remains in Adlehyde to fulfill her duties as ruler. In a letter she writes to Jack and Rudy, she tells them that she will send them the item they forgot to help them on their future adventures and shows up shortly after to join them on a new quest.

Buffy's unexpectedly high SAT score makes her start to think about the college opportunities open to her. That night, Spike returns to Sunnydale.

At school the next day, Giles prepares to leave for a Watchers' retreat and wants Buffy go to an out of state college if she wants. Besides they have Faith to fill in for her while she was away at college. He warns Buffy about seeing Angel and she promises that nothing will happen between them. Xander tells Willow that he wishes that they could just get rid of their mutual attraction.

Willow goes to a local magic shop looking for ingredients to an anti-love spell. Spike, who is hiding at the back of the shop, decides that a spell to make Drusilla love him again would be a good idea. He kills the shopkeeper.

At school Willow works on her anti-love spell while arguing with Xander. Spike knocks Xander unconscious, before taking them both back to the factory to help with his love spell. When Willow tells Spike that she does not have enough ingredients, he goes to collect what she needs.

At the library, Buffy is working out when her mom calls to discuss her college plans. Buffy hears Spike's voice in the background and immediately runs home, thinking her mom is in danger. Angel sees Joyce and Spike talking in the kitchen and attempts to attack Spike, but cannot enter the house because he is not invited. Joyce, thinking Angel is still evil, backs away while Angel begs her to invite him in. Buffy arrives, pins Spike to the table and invites Angel in. Spike tells them he has got her friends and the three of them leave to get the supplies that Willow needs.

As Oz and Cordelia are driving to find Giles, Oz's werewolf enhanced sense of smell catches Willow's scent and can tell that she is afraid. Willow and Xander, believing themselves about to die, kiss just as Oz and Cordelia arrive to rescue them. Cordelia is horrified and runs up the stairs, but the stairs collapses and she is impaled on a piece of rebar.

As they leave with the supplies, Buffy, Angel and Spike are attacked by a welcoming committee of vampires sent by the mayor. Spike, exhilarated by the thrill of the fight, realizes that the way to get Drusilla back is not via a love spell, but to become the demon he once was, whom she loved.

Willow tells Buffy that Cordelia survived the fall, but is in the hospital, having lost a lot of blood. When Xander takes her flowers, Cordelia tells him to stay away from her. Buffy tells Angel that the only way they can continue to see each other is if he tells her that he does not love her, something he cannot do. A happy and confident Spike is seen driving out of Sunnydale on his way to find Drusilla.

The show focuses on the families of three brothers in fictional Poland, New Hampshire, one the police chief, one the mayor, and one out of work. Local heroes in their youth, they are now tackling grown-up problems such as the economy, their children's educations, and their families. As in most families, the brothers know they'll always have each other to help weather the storms of their changing lives. The show has been compared to ''Picket Fences'', another show by creator David E. Kelley.

Celeste Blodgett is a somewhat unkempt young woman who moves from her small hometown to Manhattan with aspirations of becoming a journalist. Her romantic ideas about New York are quickly shattered when she discovers her new apartment is small, dirty and rat-infested. Luckily, her neighbor Kyle is an interior designer and helps her fix up the place. She obtains a job as a lowly fact checker at a newspaper called the New York Examiner and feels discouraged about her career prospects.

Celeste reconnects with her cousin Dana, who has come out as gay since moving to the city. Since Celeste looks and feels out of place, Dana and his friends give her a makeover. This helps her out romantically and in her career. She gets the chance to be a journalist and is ecstatic.

Kyle has been harboring feelings for Celeste, which she doesn't realize because she's under the false impression that he's gay due to his profession. Trying to be helpful, she sets Kyle up with Dana on a date. Kyle expresses confusion and Dana quickly figures out what happened.

Celeste eventually realizes that her boss, Mitch, was only treating her well because he was sexually attracted to her. She stands up to him and calls him on his behavior. Celeste learns that Kyle is straight and they begin a relationship.

Introductory paragraph

The story follows the Passover and the seven days of unleavened bread exactly. The slaughtering and roasting of the Paschal lamb begins in the evening (near Easter), as does The Chymical Wedding. The Chymical Wedding begins in the evening with Rosenkreutz sitting at a table with both the Paschal Lamb and the unleavened bread. This would seem to indicate that he was Jewish. However, the words "Father of Lights" are curiously in the first paragraph. This phrase, "Father of Lights" appears only once in the King James Bible and it is in the book of James (Jas 1:17). Below is the opening paragraph of The Chymical Wedding;

The nine Lords

The nine Lords are nine books of the New Testament, I Peter, II Peter, James, Jude, I John, II John, III John, the Gospel of John, and the Revelation. Rosenkreutz believed that the Gospel of John is the only gospel that is historically plausible, and that it is the unleavened bread and its relationship to the Passover that truly divides John's gospel from the synoptic Gospels. The nine lords were bound together with the rest that were at the table (27 total) and Rosenkreutz cried.

The four paths

In the second chapter Rosenkreutz sits down to rest under three tall cedars. There is a tablet fastened to one of them which tells of four paths. An important point is that it's the Bridegroom (Bible) that is offering these paths. It reads as follows:

The first path leads to rocky places and this is reminiscent of Peter, "the rock" as he's portrayed in the synoptic gospels. The second path in the text is the path taught in John's gospel, as Rosenkreutz is told not to turn to the left or right on this path and John's is the only account not to mention two men crucified to the right and to the left of Jesus while on the cross as thieves (John 20:18). The third path would be the general letters of Peter, James, Jude, and John. In the letter of James we find reference to the royal way or royal law (Jas 2:8). In the second letter of Peter we find the only reference to one in a thousand (II Pet 3:8). The fourth path is the letters of Paul. This is where one finds the teaching of the dead raised incorruptible (I Cor 15:52), and the only place that the word "consuming" appears in the New Testament (Heb 12:29).

The story then continues, ''Whereupon I presently drew out my bread and cut a slice of it''. It shouldn't go unnoticed that, after reading this tablet, Rosenkreutz cuts the bread. Symbol XXIV of the symbols of Pythagoras indicates "Never break the bread". Bread is broken in the gospels of Mark, Luke, and Matthew; however bread is never broken in John's gospel. Bread is also broken in the letters of Paul and the Book of Acts; however bread is never broken in the general letters of Peter, James, Jude and John.

As the story proceeds it's evident that CRC took the second path with the following words, ''yet I still proceeded with my compass, and would not budge one step from the Meridian Line''. Meaning that Rosenkreutz didn't turn to the left or right. It's also noteworthy that CRC says, "I patiently took up my cross, got up onto my feet". Only in John's gospel did Jesus bear the cross. It was Simon of Cyrene who bore the cross for Jesus in Mark, Luke and Matthew's gospels. But at the same time in Mark's gospel Jesus offered a man "take up the cross, and follow me"(Mark 10:21).

The game follows the adventures of a young vampire, the title character Spike McFang, who is set to battle with the evil zombie general Von Hesler, who attempts to invade his parents' and his friend Camelia's kingdoms.

Popular wrestler Jushin Thunder Liger is having fits of dizziness and headaches, as he recalls childhood memories of being chased by demons. Helping him is a woman photographer named Miki Aizawa (Reiko Kataoka).

Liger's fears will be realized when a match is announced that will have him in a three-way bout against an evil gaijin wrestler named Bounty Viper (played by bodybuilder Muscle Kitamura) and another wrestler named Riot Orff (played by wrestler Shinjiro Otani). Viper, in particular, has plans for Liger...

While Liger copes with his childhood fears, he gets ready for the three-way wrestling match. When the big fight begins on that night, the fight seems tough for Liger as he realizes that there's something very peculiar about Bounty Viper. He has demonic powers, similar to the demons that persecuted him as a child. In the course of the fight, Viper displays his wickedness by violently maiming Riot Orff. Liger eventually becomes violent, and when he and Viper tear into each other, both wrestlers begin to pulsate and glow with energy. In light speed, they dash out of the ring into a deserted street where they transform into demonic versions of themselves (Liger, of course, resembling his costumed self, and Viper superficially resembling a blue version of the Predator) and a savage fight to the finish ensues.

Lara Croft is searching for the Dagger of Xian, a magical weapon once used by an ancient Emperor of China to command his army; by plunging the weapon into its owner's heart, the weapon has the power to turn its bearer into a dragon. Having tracked the Dagger's chamber to beneath the Great Wall of China, Lara is accosted by a member of the Fiamma Nera, an Italian cult obsessed with the Dagger. Before killing himself, the cultist reveals that his master Marco Bartoli seeks the Dagger, and she tracks the Fiamma Nera to an abandoned opera house in Venice. Stowing away aboard a plane leaving Venice with Marco on board, Lara overhears Marco discussing the Seraph, an object key to retrieving the key to the Dagger's chamber that was with his father Gianni when his luxury liner ''Maria Doria'' was bombed and sunk.

Lara is found on the plane and captured, being imprisoned in a repurposed oil rig above the ''Maria Doria'' ship. Lara escapes and encounters a monk of the Barkhang Monastery in Tibet, who originally defeated the Emperor and sealed the Dagger away. The monk was there to prevent Marco from salvaging the Seraph. Marco kills the monk, and Lara narrowly escapes and dives alongside a submersible to discover the shipwreck, and searching throughout the remains she eventually retrieves the Seraph. Using the plane, she heads for Tibet and reaches the Barkhang Monastery, which is under siege from the Fiamma Nera. Using the Seraph, she opens the way to retrieve the key to the Dagger's chamber, killing its monstrous guardian in the process. Escaping the Fiamma Nera, she unlocks the Dagger's chamber, but is plunged into the catacombs beneath before she can reach it.

Making her way back, she witnesses Bartoli stabbing himself with the Dagger and being carried through a portal by his cultists. Following them through, Lara navigates a magical space of jade islands and animated statues, finally confronting Bartoli as he transforms into a dragon. Lara renders the dragon unconscious and pulls the dagger from Bartoli's heart, killing him and escaping back into the real world just as the area starts to collapse, causing part of the Wall to explode in the process. The Fiamma Nera launch a final unsuccessful attack against Lara at Croft Manor; the final scene is Lara about to disrobe for a shower, then breaking the fourth wall as she shoots at the camera.

The drama centers on Cora Flood, the wife of traveling salesman Rubin Flood. After she learns that her husband might be having a romantic relationship with another woman, she plans to leave the marriage and move in with her sister. Meanwhile, their shy daughter prepares for her first dance and their pre-teen son takes refuge from bullies in a scrapbook of movie stars. Rubin, who has lost his job, returns, and Cora must decide whether to stand by her man.

As the album opens, a young King and his mother and sister are welcoming King's grandmother home from a mental asylum. That night, King investigates strange voices and discovers his grandmother having a tea party seemingly alone, though with the teacups and kettles floating in the air. King is invited into the room, to sit in his grandmother's chair. King is sent back to bed, but only after staring into his grandmother's eyes, whereupon she instructed him to forget what he saw.

One day, Grandma awakens King and tells him that she will teach him about the house of “Amon”, over a cup of tea. “Amon” being the tea pot, “Their” item of power and importance that seemed to require a blood sacrifice. Through the blood they commutate or take control of those who drink it. Grandma cuts King's sleeping mother's hand and adds her blood to the teapot. After drinking the “tea” the voices haunting the house ("Them") begin to affect King with a drug-like effect. King's sister Missy tries to convince King that they should do something to help their mother, who is unconscious and weak due to "their" control and possible blood loss, but his judgment is clouded due to his altered state. He refuses to call for help and cuts the phone line. At tea, Missy interrupts and furiously expresses concern about her mother's state, Missy being deemed a problem is attacked by Grandma and in spiteful retaliation, Missy breaks "Amon" the teapot. "They", in furious response to the breaking of "their" beloved teapot "Amon", chop Missy into bits with an axe and throw the remains into the fireplace in the kitchen. "Their" focus no longer on King, he snapped out of his "spell," and he stumbles outside and pieces together the events that transpired.

After fainting and regaining consciousness, he decides to attack his grandmother. He notices that "their" power is weakened outside the house, so he lures his grandmother outside and kills her. The voices of Amon continue to haunt the boy as he is questioned by police and incarcerated in an asylum. Years later, he is released and returns home to find his grandmother and the voices of Amon are still very much alive.

Following from where the previous game left off, the Tasmanian Tiger Ty manages to defeat his Cassowary nemesis Boss Cass using his father's Doomerang given to him by his reformed brother Sly, destroying Cass's Neo Fluffy X mech and retrieving the last missing talisman. After Ty returns the talisman to Rainbow Cliffs, his parents who were trapped in the alternate realm of "The Dreaming" during an earlier battle with Boss Cass return to the real world. Ty and his parents embrace and Rainbow Cliffs is saved. Boss Cass is later detained by police as a result of the incident.

Some time later, Cass' henchmen lead an spontaneous attack on the town of Currawong. Ty, his girfriend Shazza the Dingo, Ranger Ken the Tasmanian Devil, and Duke the Kiwi arrive to assist Maurie the Cockatoo, Sly, and the local police in containing the situation. Together with Sly and Shazza, Ty manages to fight his way into the city and halt the advancing dropships and giant Daemon Fluffy mechs using his own bipedal Battle Bunyip power suit. Cass's thorny devil henchwoman Fluffy arrives in her own Bunyip mech and makes her way towards Currawong Jail. Ty and Shazza realize that the attack on Currawong was a diversion so that Cass's henchmen could break him out of prison, and Ty gives chase. Ty manages to catch up with Fluffy, and despite being supported by several genetically-enhanced Frill Lizard henchmen, she is overpowered by Ty's Battle Bunyip. Ranger Ken and Duke arrive by helicopter to Ty's aid, but are subsequently shot down by Fluffy. Ty breaks off the fight to rescue his friends in the crashing helicopter, giving Fluffy the time to successfully break Boss Cass out of prison. After taunting Ty's efforts, Cass and Fluffy escape via a passing dropship. Frustrated by the turn of events, Ty vows to be ready for Cass when they meet again.

Two months later, Ty and his friends preside over a special inaugural ceremony, where Dennis the green tree frog announces the formation of "Bush Rescue", a peacekeeping organization based in Burramudgee dedicated to the protection of Southern Rivers. Ty and Shazza are then informed by Dennis that Boss Cass has founded his own country called "Cassopolis", and now possesses diplomatic immunity as a result of his leader status. Waiting for an opportunity to recapture Cass, Ty and the rest of Bush Rescue go on a number of missions around the Southern Rivers such as transporting valuable items and rescuing civilians. On one mission in Steele Springs, Ty has a run-in with Fluffy who sends Patchy the Cybersaur (an Ankylosaurus with robotic enhancements on its head, tail, and back) to eliminate him. Later on, while trying to stop a fire on the Wuli Wuli Oil Rig, Fluffy forces Ty to fight Buster (a giant robotic monster formed from hundreds of yellow nanobots joined together), which Ty also manages to defeat. During the battle, Fluffy manages to steal an interface device known as a Shadow Drive from the rig and delivers it to Boss Cass. Back in Cassopolis, Cass then uses the drive to power a device which combines the warm blood of a kidnapped koala worker with one of his Frill Lizard henchmen to create an "Uber Frill", a genetically-modified bioweapon (prototype Uber Frills had previously been used to break him out of prison).

During his rematch against Fluffy on her coastal fortress, Ty manages to steal a data module known as a Data N.U.T. and gives it to Julius for analysis. Upon analysis of the N.U.T., Cass's evil plan to capture the people of Buramudgee and use them for the mass production of Uber Frills is unveiled to Bush Rescue. Just as they learn of the plot, Cass's minions attack Bush Rescue HQ and Ty battles a group of Uber Frills; while Ty is distracted during the battle, Cass manages to kidnap most of Burramudgee's mammal population. Out of options, Ty, Sly, Shazza and Duke fly to Cass's lair to stop him, with Shazza commandeering a standard Battle Bunyip, Sly using his custom-made Missile Bunyip, and Ty using the newly-constructed Shadow Bunyip. After eliminating most of Cass's henchmen, including a rematch with Patchy and Buster, Sly and Shazza go to free the residents of Burramudgee while Ty goes to defeat Boss Cass. Just before he leaves, Ty kisses Shazza and says he'll be alright.

Ty jumps down into a hole and encounters Cass in the heart of the island's volcano. He then summons a large number of green nanobots which join together to form a long-armed robot (known as Armstrong in the GBA game) to fight Ty. After a long and difficult battle, Ty manages to destroy Armstrong and defeats Boss Cass once and for all. When they return to Buramudgee, Ty, Sly and Shazza receive medals for their bravery from Dennis and Bush Rescue, while Boss Cass is sent back to prison to carry out lunch duty for all of his imprisoned henchmen. If the player achieves 100% completion, the bunyip elder Nandu Gili appears before Ty and Shazza through astral projection, and requests that the two teleport with him to The Dreaming (called "The Dream Time" in-game) for them to see something. When Ty passes through the portal, he is immediately spotted by three unknown creatures.

The story of the Game Boy Advance version remains mostly the same, with certain sequences such as the opening battle with Fluffy being altered. A boss fight against a malfunctioning Cy the Cybernetic Tiger which was teased during the previous game's post-credits scene is also added, although it bears little relevance to the overall plot.

Young widow Carrie Lewellyn has a successful cookies business and four kids: Andrew, Moira, little Nathan and little Daisy. Widower Jim Barber, a furniture maker, also has four: Andrew, Jeff, Lily and Sandy, plus a dog, Java. On their first weekend trip to Vegas together, they get married in the casino church. When they get back both their kids find out by magazines and TV. To try to merge the families before they move into one house, the families meet for a picnic. They both realize how hard everything will be now. Jim's family has a dog but Carrie's son Andrew is allergic. Jim's house is too small, and if they move into Carrie's they will be outsiders, but if they all move into a new house everyone would be uprooted. Moving day is a challenge as the Barbers move into Carrie's house, with Jim's eldest daughter, Sandy, being cold to Carrie. Andrew B. and Moira surprise everyone when they are found kissing in the back yard. To try to bring them together they have a hooky day. They go bowling, boys vs. girls. The girls win thanks to Carrie distracting Jim. When they do not fight, the kids try to play the parents against each other, which puts their marriage under pressure.

''Based on the English version. The original Korean version is considered partly lost.''

In South Korea, a family gathers for the wedding of an astronaut, but the astronaut is called back to duty to monitor a nuclear test in the Middle East. The test triggers an earthquake that shifts the epicenter to the heart of Korea. The authorities initially withhold this information from the public until they are sure the earthquake will strike, but once it reaches the Hwanghae province, the authorities impose martial law in the area. The quake strikes Panmunjom, where a photographer takes pictures of the ground splitting, which reveals a giant creature moving inside. The photographer manages to get away, but crashes his car due to the quake. The photographer manages to reach the authorities and deliver the photographs of the creature before succumbing to his injuries. The authorities name the creature "Yongary", based on an old Korean fable about a monster connected to earthquakes.

While South Korea is being evacuated, the South Korean Army is dispatched to the Inwang area to attack Yongary, but with no success. Il-Woo, a young scientist, decides to go to Seoul to find a weakness in Yongary. His girlfriend, Soona, opposes this, but he goes anyway. Soona and her younger brother, Icho, pursue Il-Woo to try to stop him. Yongary eventually reaches Seoul and causes complete destruction. During the rampage, Il-Woo and Soona lose Icho and walk around trying to find him. The military suggests using guided missiles against Yongary, but the authorities fear the missiles might do more damage than the monster and may destroy the landmarks of old Korea. However, the authorities decide that Korea's future is more important and agree to use the guided missiles. Icho manages to escape through the city's sewers and reaches an oil refinery, where he finds Yongary drinking oil and gasoline. Icho turns off the main valve, which causes Yongary to go berserk and destroy a tank that triggers a chemical reaction that makes Yongary itch and scratch.

Icho then returns to Il-Woo's house to tell him what happened at the refinery. Il-Woo then reveals this discovery to the authorities and urges them to not use the guided missiles because they will give him more energy, but his claims are brushed off and they proceed with the missile plan regardless. Il-Woo then goes to work on a chemical to defeat Yongary using a precipitate of ammonia. Yongary is then struck with Il-Woo's ammonia and missiles, which is enough to put him temporarily to sleep; however, Il-Woo believes the ammonia needs more work. Icho takes a light device from Il-Woo's lab and shines it on an immobile Yongary, which triggers him to wake up. To Icho's amusement, Yongary then begins dancing, but then returns to his rampage. Il-Woo loads the finalized ammonia onto a helicopter and dumps it on Yongary in the Han River, where Yongary collapses and dies. The following morning, Il-Woo is commended for his role in defeating Yongary; however, he cites Icho as the real hero for providing him with the information of Yongary's eating habits. In the end, Icho opines that Yongary was not evil by nature, but rather simply looking for food.

Four individuals live in a secluded manor house in the English countryside, where they engage in an elaborate role-playing fantasy called ''The Game.'' In The Game, each individual assumes the role of a member in a "happy" family, completely subsuming his or her individual personality to the point that each individual is known only by the identity he or she is playing: Mumsy (the mother, Ursula Howells), Nanny (the nanny, Pat Heywood), Sonny (the son, played by Howard Trevor), and Girly (the daughter, Vanessa Howard). The Game is built around a set of strictly enforced yet ill-defined rules, the principal one of which is "Rule No. 1: Play the Game."

As a part of The Game, the teenaged Sonny and Girly regularly venture to more populated areas, where the pair use Girly to lure men back to the manor house. Once there, the men are dressed like schoolboys and forcibly indoctrinated into The Game, assuming the roles of "New Friends." Those who refuse are "sent to the Angels"—a euphemism for being ritualistically murdered in scenarios built around playground games, which Sonny routinely records on a 16mm movie camera so that the family can later enjoy the resultant snuff film.

One night, Girly and Sonny stake out a swinging London party, where they encounter a male prostitute (Michael Bryant) and his latest client (Imogen Hassall). An instant attraction develops between Girly and the man, who convinces his client to accompany the siblings for a night of carousing. Girly and Sonny take the couple to a playground, where they murder the woman by throwing her from a large slide. The next morning, Sonny and Girly convince the hungover man that he murdered the woman after a night of heavy drinking, and convince him to return to the manor with them. The prostitute—rechristened "New Friend"—is outfitted in schoolboy clothes and subjected to an indeterminate period of torment "playing the game," during which he is repeatedly presented with his client's body as a reminder that the family has incriminating information about him.

After Mumsy makes sexual overtures to New Friend one evening, he gets the idea to turn the family against itself. New Friend's plot succeeds, as he creates sexual jealousy between the women after first sleeping with Mumsy and then Girly. Sonny, left out of the sexual politics, petitions to have New Friend "sent to the angels;" in a moment of panic, Girly bludgeons him to death with an antique mirror. Chastising Girly for creating a mess, Mumsy dismisses Sonny as "naughty" and orders a visibly shaken New Friend to bury Sonny beneath a drained fountain on the manor grounds, which is already populated by makeshift gravestones bearing the numerical identities assigned to dispatched "friends."

Nanny, jealous that she is the only female member of the household left out of New Friend's attentions, attempts to murder Mumsy with acid-tipped needles, but the attempt fails when it is inadvertently interrupted by New Friend. Girly, realising that Nanny has set her sights on New Friend, hacks Nanny to death with an axe and cooks her head for use in baked goods.

Rather than turn on one another, Mumsy and Girly declare a truce, deciding to "share" New Friend by alternating which days of the week each woman will be permitted to have sex with him. The two women agree, though ponder what will happen should either of them ever become bored with New Friend, with Girly declaring it as an inevitability. Overhearing the women's conversation, New Friend retrieves—and hides—Nanny's acid tipped needles before settling into Mumsy's room, smiling.

Four soldiers (Shinobu Fujiwara, Sara Yuki, Masato Shikibu and Ryo Shiba) pilot the mecha Dancouga and fight to liberate portions of Earth from alien invaders known as the Muge Zorbados Empire. Dancouga is an example of the combining type of Super Robot. Unlike the traditional "component machines struggle against the monster of the week before combining and easily dispatching the monster" format, Dancouga does not combine until midway through the series and the Cyber Beast Machines were capable of effectively fighting their enemies. The main components of the Cyber Beast mecha were able to follow the emulation of evolution. The mecha began as four vehicles which could transform into animals (an eagle, cougar, tiger and mammoth, respectively) and humanoid robots before combining to form Dancouga.

Many of the ''Dancouga'' story elements revolve around religion (primarily Christianity, although the series also borrows from Taoist philosophy) and music. The theme of gods is present in most episodes.

On a public holiday, a young boy watches a travelling fair arrive in his village of Sainte-Sévère-sur-Indre. Among the locals is François, the amiable and bumbling mailman, who everybody likes but nobody takes seriously. Marcel and Roger, the two men running the fair, make him their butt and get him drunk. In the cinema tent, people watch a spoof documentary that contrasts the unbelievable efficiency of the US post office with the antiquated French post office. They decide that François must get up to date and, although he only has a bicycle, must start using transatlantic dash in his delivery. In the end, exhausted by his frantic efforts, he stops to help a family pitchfork their new-mown hay into a horse-drawn cart, while the boy from the opening scene completes the deliveries on François's route.

An optimistic couple from Iowa are living in New York City with an elderly aunt while trying to make it as actors. When the aunt dies, the couple hide her death in order to continue living in her rent-controlled apartment.

Story

The story begins in Castle Daventry with King Graham and his minister talking about the every day affairs of running the country, when the Magic Mirror activates in front of them showing them a bad omen. They witness Lucreto the archarchon of the Realm of the Sun destroy the Mask of Eternity and releasing a wave of energy. The mirror goes on to show the kingdom's only hope, the lowly peasant and knight, Connor of Daventry from a nearby village. He is shown chatting with his neighbor Sarah, when a storm arises and a piece of the mask falls at his feet. He picks it up, and turns around to find Sarah had been turned to stone. The unleashed magic energy turned all mortals in the world to stone, including King Graham with the Mask piece apparently shielding Connor from sharing this fate. With that the Mirror ends its vision.

Early on in the game, the half-stone wizard that Connor encounters tells him about the Mask of Eternity, Connor's destiny, and conjures for him a magic map that shows all explored areas and allows Connor to teleport between lands once the teleportation sites in each land (except for the Realm of the Sun) have been discovered. With knowledge of his Quest, Connor made his way to Castle Daventry to check on his liege and the royal family, finding Graham and the rest of the inhabitants of the castle turned to stone. He vowed that he would save King Graham and Queen Valanice, their family, and the rest of the inhabitants of Daventry, or die trying.

Connor escapes Daventry through the Realm of Death, where he learns about the resting place of the Mask of Eternity, the realm of the sun. He journeys across several realms, helping its denizens against the forces of darkness, vanquishing several powerful beasts such as the Swamp Witch, the Dragon Wyrm, and even a Two-Headed Dragon. While recovering a mask piece from the barrens, he learns the name of Lucreto from one of his henchmen. Eventually, Connor reaches Paradise Lost and transports into the Realm of the Sun. From there, he fights his way to the Mask's altar room, and confronts the fallen archarchon. He defeats Lucreto by putting the mask pieces together and pushing him into the void portal.

The game ends with Connor rising to the top of the Realm of the Sun with the restored Mask. A beam of blue light shines on the Mask, seeming to restore its power and it sends out a wave of energy that restores everything including the Kingdom of Daventry to life. Sarah is restored. King Graham newly restored looks on proudly at his hero in the Magic Mirror. The game ends with the Archons being released from their stone prisons and joining Connor who triumphantly lifts his sword into the air.

Characters

Connor: A lowly tanner, painter and knight of Daventry (much like the young Sir Graham in ''King's Quest I: Quest for the Crown)''. Though not of noble birth, he rises above his lowly status to save his kingdom and the world, becoming a great hero. Connor is the subject of several ancient prophecies concerning saving the world. Over the course of the adventure he earns many titles based on his fulfillment of prophecy and/or deeds. Connor begins his adventure wearing a short brown tunic, green pants, a belt, and high boots. He quickly upgrades to various suits of armor, until he obtains the Armor of Light (inspired by the biblical Armor of God). The armor, along with the Sword and Shield of Truth, and immortality given by the Chalice of Order (inspired by the Holy Grail), Connor is able to overcome the powers of the evil Lucreto, and banish him to the Abyss. Lucreto: Before his decline into evil he was the head of the Archons, charged with protecting the Mask of Eternity, the Global Icon of Truth, Light and Order. Through use of dark and powerful magics, he shattered the Mask. Its pieces were scattered throughout different parts of the world of Daventry. As a result, Chaos reigned, and creatures of darkness were allowed to roam free in the world. Lucreto was defeated in battle with the hero Connor, whom the Mask had deemed its Champion Eternal, and was plunged into a magic portal. It was stated in the game, because he was an immortal Archon, that Lucreto could not be killed, but that pushing him through the portal to the black Abyss would be the only way to vanquish him forever. Lucreto is given several titles based on his role in the prophecy. For example, he is "The Father" of demons and abominations. Lucreto's character and backstory is inspired by the story of Lucifer. *Graham: The king of Daventry, and one of its great heroes in past years (and past games). He is now older, and is concerned with the Kingdom's day-to-day affairs such as making sure there is a surplus of grain in the silos. He and his minister witness the cataclysm through the Magic Mirror and their only hope Connor, but are quickly turned to stone by the release of magic. Connor later enters Castle Daventry to check on his king. While there he finds a painting of King Graham wearing his classic adventurer's cap, and moving further into the castle he finds the king and his minister's stone forms. Connor vows to rescue his king. The result of Connor's adventure involves Graham being restored along with the Kingdom of Daventry, witnessing the young hero standing triumphantly in the Temple of the Sun from the mirror.

Rainbow Parakeet is a genius as an actor, and a thief at the same time. As he is not a full-time , he is usually hired as a replacement. During the performance, he steals from the wealthiest members of the audience or even actors, depriving them of the contents of their purses or their jewelry. True to his alias name "Rainbow Parakeet", he can assume the role of almost any part and change into any costume, and his repertoire is immense.

His methods are a mystery, even to the detectives charged with apprehending him: Police Inspector Senri and his daughter, Police Detective Mariko Senri.

A police department in Prague, Czech Republic solves crimes of passion and premeditated murders.

Cadet Brian Moreland meets privately with Bunker Hill Military Academy commander General Harlan Bache, who promotes him to Cadet Major, the highest cadet rank. The next day Bache announces that the school's board of trustees will sell the school to real estate developers but that they will remain open for one more year to allow the seniors to graduate and the remaining cadets to find other schools. This gives many cadets hope that the school can be saved.

A dance is held at the academy after commencement. Local teenagers outside the gates harass some cadets and a brawl breaks out. When Bache attempts to end the fight, his service pistol is seized by one of the local boys and the weapon discharges, killing one of the local boys. Although the magazine was removed, a round was still in the chamber. Bache is held responsible and after he is arrested has a heart attack which leaves him in critical condition at the hospital. The board decides to close the school immediately.

Moreland meets with his officers and they unanimously decide to take control of the campus. When the Dean of Students arrives with the local Sheriff to empty the armory they find that the weapons are already gone. They are confronted by an armed cadre of cadets led by Major Moreland, who demand to meet with Bache and negotiate with the board of trustees to keep the school open. The Dean and Sheriff are escorted off the academy and armed cadets secure the perimeter.

Meanwhile another group of cadets have been sent to a local food supply warehouse to restock their provisions but one of their trucks breaks down on the way back. As Cadet Captain Dwyer attempts to fix the engine a group of local boys threaten them and surround the truck until hotheaded Cadet Captain David Shawn opens fire with his M16, shooting several bursts into the air. The locals scatter and the cadets abandon the stalled truck, fleeing the scene in the second truck and ramming a police car in the process.

The police surround the campus and a delegation of parents led by Moreland's father arrives but does not change the cadets' minds. To demonstrate to the police and parents that none of the boys are being held against their will, Moreland assembles the cadets and offers them a chance to walk out. All of them choose to stay. The siege grows more tense when the National Guard arrives. The commander, Colonel Kerby, negotiates with Moreland without success.

At the next morning muster the officers report that some cadets have fled the campus. Moreland assembles the entire battalion and again offers cadets the opportunity to leave. Led by Moreland’s friend, Lieutenant Edward West, at least half of the remaining cadets drop their weapons and leave. After the electricity and water are turned off, one of the cadets is severely burned as they attempt to restart the school's old gasoline powered generator. They permit an ambulance to enter and take the injured boy to a hospital and, afterwards, Moreland offers to stand down if the order comes from General Bache. Kerby replies that Bache had died the previous night. The cadets, deeply hurt by Bache's death, hold a military memorial service in his honor.

The next night an M48 Patton tank rolls up to the main gate. One of the younger cadets, on sentry duty, panics and runs out to surrender. He drops his weapon which fires upon hitting the ground. The National Guard return fire and kill another cadet.

The boy's death weakens Moreland’s resolve considerably and he decides to end the occupation. He calls all the cadets to muster and orders them to surrender. But the rebellious David Shawn starts shooting and the campus is overrun by the authorities as a firefight ensues. Moreland runs to Shawn's room to stop him, but both young men are killed by suppressing fire and the siege ends abruptly. A montage of scenes from the Academy's proud past flash across the screen in the aftermath.

The novel starts at the end of 1999, when Kristin, a teenage drop-out, answers a sexual ad written by a man who calls himself the Occupant. Behind the poetic language of the ad, it is clear that the Occupant is looking for a sexual slave, yet Kristin accepts the pact and goes to live in his house in Los Angeles.

The Occupant's job is unclear: he defines himself as an apocalyptologist, and is busy drawing a calendar on the walls of his bedroom, on which he maps all the irrational events following May 1968, which, according to him, define the end-of-the-century in which the novel is set.

Their relationship evolves, until, after a climactic moment, the girl understands that she has replaced the Occupant's partner, who disappeared. After this crisis, the Occupant begins to tell his story.

His story is set mostly in Paris, where he met Angie, who will become his partner. Next we hear the story of Angie, whose real name is Saki, the daughter of a Japanese physicist working for a US defense project. She has gone to New York to work as a lap dancer. Her involvement with pornographic films ultimately leads her to be hired by Mitch, who produces snuff films.

Angie is saved by Louise, Mitch's wife, and after this event (which takes place immediately before Angie flies to Paris, where she will meet Carl) the novel tells the story of Louise and Mitch, then back to Carl.

The stories ultimately reconnect in the ending of the novel.

Category:1999 American novels Category:Metafictional novels Category:American fantasy novels Category:Novels by Steve Erickson Category:Novels set in Los Angeles

Rancher Cole Hillman seeks the help of college president Elgin Clark to combat thousands of rabbits that have invaded the area after their natural predators, coyotes, were killed off. Elgin asks for the assistance of researchers Roy and Gerry Bennett because they respect Cole's wish to avoid using cyanide to poison the rabbits. Roy proposes using hormones to disrupt the rabbits' breeding cycle and takes some rabbits for experimentation. One is injected with a new serum believed to cause birth defects. However, the Bennetts' daughter Amanda loves the injected rabbit, so she switches it with one from the control group. Amanda is then given the injected rabbit as a pet, but it soon escapes.

While inspecting the rabbits' old burrowing areas, Cole and the Bennetts find a large, unusual animal track. Meanwhile, Cole's son Jackie and Amanda go to a gold mine to visit Jackie's friend Billy, but find him missing. Jackie finds more of the animal tracks in Billy's shed, while Amanda goes into the mine and runs into an enormous rabbit with blood on its face. Screaming in terror, she runs from the mine.

Mutilated bodies begin to crop up around town, including those of Billy, a truck driver, and a family of four. Elgin, the Bennetts, Cole, and Cole's two ranch hands Frank and Jud go to the mine to try to kill the rabbits with explosives. As Elgin and Frank set charges on top of the mine, Roy and Cole enter the shaft to get pictorial evidence. Outside, a rabbit surfaces and attacks Jud before Gerry can shoot it. Roy and Cole escape the rabbits in the mine and run outside as the explosives are detonated.

The explosives fail to kill the rabbits, and that night they attack Cole's ranch, killing Jud while Cole, Frank, Jackie, and Cole's housekeeper Dorothy escape into the storm shelter. The rabbits make their way to the general store, killing shopkeeper Mildred and eating and killing everyone else they find in the small town of Galanos before taking refuge in the buildings for the day. In the morning, Gerry and Amanda leave to avoid the coming press, but get stuck along a sandy stretch of road. Roy and Elgin update Sheriff Cody on the situation and, after realizing the rabbits have escaped the mine, call in the National Guard. As night falls, the rabbits leave Galanos to continue their rampage, making their way to the main town of Ajo and eating and killing everyone in their path. Cole proposes using a half-mile wide stretch of electrified railroad track as a fence to contain and kill the rabbits. They recruit a large group of people at a drive-in theater to help herd the rabbits with their car lights, with assistance from the machine gun fire of the National Guard.

Thousands of rabbits make their way into the trap, where they are shot and electrocuted. At the film's ending, Cole tells Roy that normal rabbits, as well as coyotes, have returned to the ranch.

February 1945, Germany. Max Otto von Stierlitz, a respected SS-Standartenführer in the Ausland-SD, is in fact Soviet spy Maxim Isaev, who has infiltrated the German establishment many years ago. Though Adolf Hitler is determined to continue the Second World War, Walter Schellenberg convinces Heinrich Himmler to conduct secret negotiations with the Americans, hoping to reach a separate peace deal which would allow the Germans to concentrate all their forces on the Eastern Front. In the meantime, Ernst Kaltenbrunner becomes suspicious of Stierlitz, and orders Heinrich Müller to launch a covert investigation on him.

Stierlitz is ordered by Moscow to ascertain whether the Americans and the Germans have a backdoor channel and, if so, to foil any possible agreement. His mission is complicated when the house of his assistants, radio operators Erwin and Katherin Kinn, is bombed. Erwin is killed, and his pregnant wife is taken to a hospital, threatening to compromise Stierlitz. He recruits two new aides—Professor Pleischner, a former member of the German Resistance, and Pastor Schlag, a clergyman who disapproves of the regime. All the while, Stierlitz has to engage in a battle of wits with Müller, who seeks to expose him as an enemy agent. He must also maneuver between the opposing factions inside the Main Security Office, as different high-ranking officials vie for power.

After realizing Himmler and Schellenberg have sent Karl Wolff to negotiate with Allen Dulles in neutral Switzerland, Stierlitz—playing on the rivalries between the Nazi plenipotentiaries—succeeds in leaking the details of the negotiations, conducted under the code name Operation Crossword, both to Hitler and to Stalin. The Soviets, now possessing evidence, demand to end those contacts and President Roosevelt must oblige them. Himmler narrowly convinces Hitler it was all merely an attempt to sow distrust between the Allies. On 24 March 1945, Stierlitz, who managed to clear all suspicions against him, returns to his duties. The Red Army is steadily approaching Berlin.

While covering the launch of John Jameson's one-man mission to Counter-Earth (another Earth located on the far side of the Sun), Spider-Man attempts to stop his two symbiote adversaries Venom and Carnage from boarding the shuttlecraft. Blamed for losing contact with Jameson by J. Jonah Jameson of the Daily Bugle, Spider-Man becomes a target of persecution by the media and the public at large, with a bounty placed on his head. After John Jameson had made contact with Earth through a distress signal, Spider-Man borrows nanotechnology from Reed Richards to design a new suit that incorporates built in webshooters, stealth technology and anti-symbiote sonic weaponry. Making his way to Counter-Earth after persuading an attacking Nick Fury to let him rescue Jameson, Spider-Man learns that Jameson has fallen in with a band of freedom fighters opposed to the High Evolutionary whose Beastials, hybrids of animal and humanoid attributes, are the dominant species whilst humans are the second-class minority.

With Jameson reluctant to return until all of the Beastials are defeated, Spider-Man elects to remain on Counter-Earth, blending in as best as he can as Peter Parker, taking up residence in the apartment of a doctor, Naoko Yamada-Jones and her son Shane and fighting the High Evolutionary, his Knights of Wundagore, and his Machine Men alongside the rebels as Spider-Man. It is soon discovered that Venom and Carnage are also on Counter-Earth, and are following orders from the Synoptic, a hive-minded legion of Counter-Earth symbiotes.

This series also shows the animated version of John Jameson's Man-Wolf form, superhero versions of mainstream villains Green Goblin and Vulture, and Counter-Earth's counterparts of Kraven the Hunter and Electro.

The storyline differs slightly depending on whether the player chooses X or Zero. ''Mega Man X4'' takes place in an ambiguous year in the 22nd century (21XX), where humans coexist with intelligent androids called "Reploids". Following the third defeat of Sigma, a second Maverick Hunting group has arisen. The army, called the "Repliforce", is a military regime led by the giant Reploid General and his second-in-command, Colonel. Behind the scenes, Sigma has been trying to convince General that the Hunters are dangerous, and will turn on him. General dismisses Sigma, unwilling to betray the humans. Zero, meanwhile, is plagued by a recurring nightmare: a mysterious figure awakens him, calls him a "masterpiece", then orders him to destroy an unknown target.

The Sky Lagoon, a massive floating city, is sent crashing down onto the city below it, killing countless humans and Reploids. Either X or Zero is dispatched to investigate possible causes of the disaster, only to become entangled in a struggle to save the world. At the crash site, X and Zero encounter Colonel, and attempt to bring him back to Maverick Hunter HQ for investigation. Colonel denies Repliforce's involvement in the Sky Lagoon destruction, and refuses to disarm out of pride. Zero also rescues Iris, Colonel's kind-hearted sister, who was caught in the mayhem but is unharmed, and sends her to headquarters. The Repliforce thus begins a movement to claim independence from the human government and create a nation for Reploids only.

Back at headquarters, X is greeted by a rookie Hunter named Double, while Zero rendezvouses with Iris. Double and Iris outline the locations of the Reploid leaders who have sworn their loyalty to Repliforce, as well as Mavericks unaffiliated with Repliforce that are spreading chaos. Once four of the eight Mavericks are defeated, Colonel issues a challenge to X and Zero, which he either escapes from after defeat (X) or is stopped by the intervention of Iris (Zero). Once all eight Mavericks are beaten, X and Zero are sent to a space port where Colonel guards Repliforce's launch into outer space; Colonel dies after an ensuing battle. X and Zero infiltrate the Repliforce's space station, known as the Final Weapon, which is capable of destroying all human life on Earth. X must fight Double, who is revealed to be a double agent sent to gain information from the Hunters. Zero is forced to battle Iris, who is torn between the ideals of her brother and her feelings for Zero. Zero kills Iris in the confrontation, which causes him to break down in an existential crisis, as he questions his ideals and motives. Once Double, Iris, and General are defeated, Sigma reveals he caused the Sky Lagoon crash in order to instigate the conflict between the Maverick Hunters and Repliforce, and announces his intention to wipe out humanity. Additionally in Zero's scenario, Sigma reminds Zero of the time that Sigma led the Maverick Hunters, and of a vicious battle between the two that ended with Zero's apprehension as a Maverick. In the end, Sigma is destroyed, but reveals he already activated the Final Weapon. General then appears and sacrifices himself to destroy the Final Weapon, allowing X and Zero to escape and return to Earth.

In X's ending, he thinks back to the battles he had endured. Zero contacts X and tells him to return to Earth to rest. X begs Zero to promise to take care of him, should he become a Maverick himself. Zero tells X not to have such thoughts. In Zero's ending, he is wrought with pain and guilt for being unable to save any of the Repliforce members, and becomes heartbroken over the death of Iris. He then wonders to himself if all Reploids are destined to become Mavericks.

In the world of ''The Dresden Files'', magic is real—as well as vampires, demons, spirits, faeries, werewolves, ''outsiders'' and other monsters—and while the supernatural is still widely discredited, it is practiced by some members of society. Additionally, large portions of the globe (such as much of Central and South America) are mentioned as being largely under the control of supernatural factions. The White Council is an organization of human wizards, noted to wield significant economic power in the world, along with their supernatural power. Each species in the series (humans, faeries, vampires, etc.) has its own political and societal rules and organizations. The human wizards depend on the White Council, while faeries mostly belong to either of two Faerie Courts, or none at all (Wyldfae). Vampires belong to any of the four mentioned vampire courts. Other non-human creatures from a range of mythology make appearances.

Harry Dresden works as the world's only "consulting wizard", accepting supernatural cases from both human and nonhuman clients, as well as the Chicago PD's Special Investigation unit. As the series progresses, Dresden takes on an increasingly important role in the supernatural world at large, as he works to protect the general public, making getting by as a working wizard and private investigator difficult for him. He finds himself facing off against an increasing variety of creatures (including other wizards), while facing the realization that his various cases may all be tied together behind the scenes and that his role might be even greater than he is willing to admit.

Main characters

• '''Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden''' is a detective and wizard. He works as a supernatural private investigator in Chicago, dealing with paranormal crimes and consulting for the Chicago Police Department.
• '''Bob''' is a "spirit of intellect" who inhabits a skull perched on a shelf in Harry Dresden's secret lab. He is bound to the skull and its owner's wishes. He is free to leave the skull if given permission by his owner, but he will die if exposed to significant sunlight without a host body. His usual vessel is Harry's cat, Mister, who does not seem to mind Bob's presence.
• '''Karrin Murphy''' is a Chicago Police Department officer who leads the Special Investigations (SI) division, which handles cases in which something unexplainable or supernatural is involved.

59-year-old Nathan Glass returns to Park Slope in Brooklyn, New York after his wife has left him. He is recovering from lung cancer and is looking for "a quiet place to die". In Brooklyn, he meets his nephew, Tom, whom he has not seen in several years. Tom has seemingly given up on life and has resigned himself to a string of meaningless jobs as he waits for his life to change. They develop a close friendship, entertaining each other in their misery, as they both try to avoid taking part in life.

When Lucy, Tom's young niece who initially refuses to speak, comes into their lives, there is suddenly a bridge between their past and their future that offers both Tom and Nathan some form of redemption.

''The Brooklyn Follies'' contains the classic elements of a Paul Auster novel. The main character is a lonely man, who has suffered an unfortunate reversal. The narrative is based on sudden and randomly happening events and coincidences. "It is a book about survival" as Paul Auster says.

The novel was published in Danish in May 2005, under the name ''Brooklyn Dårskab''. It was published in English in November 2005. The Traditional Chinese version appeared in October 2006 with the title slightly altered as ''Mr. Nathan in Brooklyn''.

Set against the background of political turbulence in Macedonia and contemporary London, three love stories intertwine to create a powerful portrait of modern Europe in Milcho Manchevski’s Before The Rain.

When a mysterious incident in the fabled Macedonian mountains blows out of proportion, it threatens to start a civil war, and brings together a silent young monk, a London picture editor, and a disillusioned war photographer in this tragic tale of fated lovers. Told in three parts, and linked by characters and events, Before The Rain explores the uncompromising nature of war as it ravages the lives of  the unsuspecting, and forces the innocent to take sides.

Story notes

Upon watching the film, the viewer sees that the sequence of sections could have been any of three (Words, Faces, Pictures; Faces, Pictures, Words; or Pictures, Words, Faces). An intended inconsistency becomes apparent. The end of ''Words'' shows Zamira gunned down and killed by her family when she tries to escape them. Still photos of the scene are shown in ''Faces''. Suddenly the reappearance of Zamira's photo and Kiril's voice (in a telephone call) in ''Pictures,'' coupled with the ending, which returns to the beginning, could temporarily hoodwink the viewer that this is the first part of the film. But a close observation of the man lying dead near the beginning of ''Words'' shows he is Aleksandar Kirkov, while Zamira is hiding in Kirill's after having killed one of the Macedonians. ''Faces,'' set in London, has a living Aleksandar Kirkov, whose close friend Anne is developing black-and-white pictures of a dead Zamira. The motto of the film is, "The Circle is not Round." The message is written as graffiti on a wall shown in ''Pictures'' and is repeated in the other two parts by Father Marko. The director suggests that in life, people and places may change, but overshadowing scenarios (such as conflicts) go backward and forward in a cycle.

Porky Pig (voiced by Mel Blanc) attempts to learn the Pledge of Allegiance but becomes bored and falls asleep. In his dream, Uncle Sam (voiced by John Deering) comes to life and teaches Porky about history from Colonial America through the midnight ride of Paul Revere (voiced by Tedd Pierce) and the American Revolutionary War to the expansion of the American Old West, briefly alluding to Abraham Lincoln. Upon awakening, Porky snaps into a salute and recites the pledge as the Flag of the United States waves overhead.

Buddy Clark and his father, Terry, go to see live rock 'n' roll at a hotel. Terry meets Des King in the car park who pays him to keep a briefcase in his car which Buddy is sure was stolen. Buddy's mother, Carol, arrives; then Buddy attempts to get his estranged parents to talk. Buddy moves the briefcase of jewellery back into Des's Jaguar, then tells Terry when he mentions he is going to move his Vauxhall. Terry fears the police are going to look in Des's car first so he gets the briefcase, but the police catch him in the act and he goes to prison.

Buddy spends his free time practising the guitar and polishing his father's car. Des King visits and offers Carol an envelope of cash but she refuses to take it. Buddy visits his father in prison after his mother convinces him. Whilst talking to his friend Julius, Buddy notices his mother is seeing her boss Adrian Mandell a lot. Buddy records a tape of himself playing the guitar for his father, and he suggests going into music but Carol wants Buddy to concentrate on his school work. Terry is released on parole two weeks later and Des King gives them a lift home. They see that Des has Terry's house redecorated where he gives Terry the cash Carol refused. Terry gets Carol to move back in, but rows later arise between them. Terry gets an electric guitar and an amplifier along with a keyboard for Buddy and a camcorder for himself, which gives him the idea of advertising in the local newspaper to film weddings.

Terry resigns from his job at the bookmaker and starts working for Des King at his breakers yard. Terry then arranges to have Buddy play with a band of middle-aged men called the Hi-Tones who recently lost their singer. They perform gigs at the wedding receptions Terry films. Terry goes to a party at Carol's office where he meets her boss. This leads to Buddy's parents having a row at home. When Terry tries to help Carol after she drops a milk bottle, she says she does not need him and he leaves.

Terry moves into the caravan at the breakers yard where Buddy visits him. Meanwhile, Julius finds a band called the Hurt and Buddy plays with them at the milk depot. Buddy joins Glenn the milkman, along with Mike and Jason, and Julius becomes their manager and tambourine player. Buddy goes to a Teddy boy pub to perform with the Hi-Tones where Terry meets a young woman named Dawn; then a fight breaks out after Terry unplugs the jukebox. Terry and the band, along with Dawn, leave in the van. In the morning, Buddy is angered to find Dawn in the caravan with Terry and walks off. Terry catches up with him, where they argue and Buddy tells him he is now in his own band. The Hurt perform at youth clubs. After seeing them perform, Terry meets with the band backstage. He advises them to make him the manager to help them get to the top, fearing that no record company will do a deal with someone of Jules' age. The band agree.

On their first gig with Terry as their manager, they perform at the Manhattan Club where the sound system fails. Terry gets them a studio session and arranges a tour where they perform fourteen gigs in fourteen days. As they discuss it, Terry tells Buddy that he does like Dawn a lot but does not love her. On the tour the band discover that Terry has changed the name to the Wild Ones, as he never liked the Hurt. When they get back, Buddy goes to see his girlfriend Elaine, but is disgusted to find Glenn alone in the house with her. At band practice, Glenn apologises and Buddy forgives him, though he does not want Elaine back.

At the breakers yard Terry films a music video for the band's song ''Nothing Serious'' and hands the tape to the video editor Donald to be dubbed and cut. Terry finds a note on the caravan door that reads 'Get stuffed' from Dawn then hears a howl of pain from the office. Terry finds two men attacking Des and manages to shift them off him but he gets stabbed. Buddy telephones his mother and she joins him at the hospital to see Terry. At band practice Julius who temporarily replaces Terry gets Kelly, who Buddy fancied, to help get the single of "Nothing Serious" in the shops and radio stations and request it on the radio.

When Terry gets out of hospital, he gets in touch with Bobby Rosen at Mammoth Records. He likes the record and the music video so they go to the studio. After a recording session, Bobby speaks to the band in private in the booth but Terry hears on the speakers. Bobby tells them they will have to change the name of the band and they will have to go without Terry because he is inexperienced and has a criminal record. Buddy catches up with his father who advises him to go back and sign with them. The rest of the band comes along, and Terry tells them he is going to concentrate on the videos with Donald. Julius tells Terry that if he had them under a contract when he took over management he would have screwed money out of him for compensation. This gives Terry the idea of getting money for a new video studio called Video King.

At the opening ceremony of Video King, Buddy invites his parents to a meal for his birthday. Carol suggests a new Italian restaurant, and they go with Kelly. The film ends with Terry arriving at the restaurant in style.

A huge corporation rules the world by making thousands of TV channels and shows for people to watch. Everyone becomes addicted, starting the destruction of human intelligence. The player has to put up a transmitter to stop the satellite signals and end the corporation's rule.

One year after bonding with the Guyver unit and destroying the Cronos Corporation, the company responsible for the Guyver and the creatures called the Zoanoids, in Los Angeles, Sean Barker has been using his powers to fight crime. Unfortunately, the Guyver unit’s desire to kill has left Sean emotionally exhausted. Learning of cave drawings that resemble the images he has been seeing in his dreams discovered in the mountains of Utah, Sean makes his way to the archeological dig taking place there. Along the way, he encounters Cori Edwards, daughter of Marcus Edwards, the lead archeologist at the site.

Upon arrival, Sean discovers a skull resembling Lisker's, a Zoanoid that he fought a year ago. Later that night, Sean battles a Zoanoid called Volker, which has been terrorizing the archeological dig. When their battle is cut short by the arrival of Cori and her team (which enables Volker to escape), Sean is questioned by a suspicious Commander Atkins, who reveals that the Guyver only destroyed the Los Angeles branch of the Cronos Corporation and that another branch of Cronos is behind the Zoanoid attacks in the mountains.

The very next day, the team of archaeologists unearths an extraterrestrial ship. After several unsuccessful attempts to breach it, the ship mysteriously opens up a hatch for the archaeologists to enter. Inside, Sean communicates with the ship and demands that it removes the Guyver unit from within him. Meanwhile, Cori discovers a damaged Guyver unit, but Arlen Crane confiscates it from her. Attempting to confront Crane, Cori instead learns that Arlen Crane actually works for the Cronos Corporation and plans to terminate all non-Cronos personnel at the site. She is captured by Volker eavesdropping and is escorted in a jeep. The jeep is attacked by Marcus, revealed to be a Zoanoid, who battles both Monk and Volker Zoanoids but is eventually overwhelmed. At the camp, Crane reveals himself as a Zoanoid to Sean, who rejects his offer of an alliance to activate the ship and turn himself and the Zoanoids back to normal. Crane has his chief of security, Brandi Harris, sedate and bind Sean. Atkins frees Sean who rushes to save Cori as the Guyver. After killing both Monk and Volker Zoanoids, the Guyver spares Marcus and reveals his identity to Cori.

At the camp, Atkins and his commandos prevent Crane from executing the archaeological team and safely evacuate them. However, Atkins is captured and his commandos are brutally murdered by one of the escaping Zoanoids.

Sean reveals to Cori that he plans to destroy the ship. Whilst Sean communicates with the ship, seeing images of prehistoric times with the creation of Zoanoids and the Guyver units, Cori plants dynamites in the dig site but is captured by Crane and his Zoanoids. With Cori as a hostage, Crane demands Sean to deactivate the Guyver unit and surrender. Marcus intervenes and a battle ensues: Marcus battles Crane but is killed in the process, Atkins manage to kill Brandi, a Zoanoid as well, after electrocuting and finally shooting her dead. Sean kills the remaining Zoanoids and confronts Crane, who reveals he had merged with the damaged Guyver unit and transforms into a Guyver-Zoanoid. Faster and stronger, he overwhelms Sean, stabbing him in the chest, but Cori shoots Crane’s Control Medal. Sean removes the damaged Control Medal - which causes the Guyver suit to consume Crane - and uses his Mega Smasher to put Crane out of his misery.

Following the events, Sean reveals to Cori that the Guyvers were a failed experiment: in prehistoric times, aliens had attempted to turn primitive humans into Guyvers to fight their wars, but the humans rebelled, forcing the aliens to leave Earth. Using his Control Medal, Sean instructs the ship to return to its home planet. With the battle won, Atkins attempts to recruit Sean to aid the government in fighting an underground war against the Cronos Corporation, but Sean refuses and drives off with Cori instead.

Tiffany Valentine, a former lover and accomplice of serial killer Charles Lee Ray, bribes a police officer into giving her the dismembered parts of a children's doll—which Ray's soul inhabited—from an evidence locker before murdering him. Believing that Ray's soul still inhabits the doll, Tiffany stitches and staples Chucky back together and reenacts the voodoo ritual which had instilled Ray's soul inside the doll ten years prior.

Though her incantations appear to fail, Chucky comes alive and smothers Tiffany's goth admirer Damien to death with a pillow as Tiffany watches in excitement. Tiffany presents Chucky with a ring he had left behind the night he was killed, which she believed to be an engagement ring. When Chucky explains he never intended on marrying Tiffany, she locks him in a playpen and taunts him with a bride doll. Chucky escapes the playpen and murders Tiffany by electrocuting her in a bathtub.

He then transports her soul into the bride doll, and says they must retrieve a magical amulet that was buried with his human body in order to transfer their souls into the bodies of Tiffany's neighbor Jesse and his girlfriend Jade. Tiffany calls Jesse and asks him to take the two dolls to Hackensack, New Jersey, where Ray's body is buried, in exchange for money. Eager to elope with Jade, Jesse accepts the offer. Jade's strict uncle, police chief Warren Kincaid, plants a bag of marijuana in Jesse's van to frame him. Chucky and Tiffany rig a trap which embeds several nails into Warren's face, then hide his body within the van. Jesse and Jade begin their trip. The two are pulled over by Officer Norton, who finds the marijuana in Jesse's van. After Norton returns to his patrol car to report it, Chucky stuffs a shirt into the car's gas tank and lights it on fire. The car explodes with Norton inside, and Jesse and Jade flee the scene.

They both begin to suspect that one of them might have caused the incident and begin to distrust each other. Despite their issues, Jesse and Jade get married. While at a hotel, another couple steals Jesse's money. As the couple have sex in their room, Tiffany murders them by causing them to be impaled by glass shards. Seeing this, Chucky proposes to Tiffany and the two have sex. The following morning, Jesse and Jade flee with their friend David, who came to the hotel after they both called him separately the previous night, worried the other might be the killer. David informs Jesse and Jade that they are the prime suspects for the deaths, but says he believes them to both be innocent. Upon finding Warren's dead body, David holds them at gunpoint and alerts a police officer. The dolls come alive, causing David to back onto the highway, where he is run over. Jesse and Jade drive away with the dolls, who reveal their plan.

They steal an RV to evade the police, where Jesse and Jade instigate a fight between Chucky and Tiffany; in the commotion, Jade locks Tiffany into an oven, Jesse pushes Chucky out the window, and the RV crashes into a ditch. Chucky forces Jade to take him to his gravesite while Jesse follows with Tiffany. Obeying Chucky's orders, Jade retrieves the amulet from the casket. Jesse then appears with Tiffany and they trade hostages, but Chucky throws a knife into Jesse's back and ties up the couple for the ritual. As Chucky begins the incantation, Tiffany kisses him and stabs him with his knife. A battle ensues, and Tiffany collapses after being stabbed in the heart by Chucky. Jesse knocks Chucky into his own grave with a shovel. Private investigator Lt. Preston arrives and sees Chucky, walking and talking in the grave. Jade grabs Preston's gun and shoots Chucky several times in the chest, killing him.

After contacting the police and declaring the teens innocent, Preston sends the couple on their way home. As he inspects Tiffany's body, she springs awake and starts screaming, giving birth to a baby doll which attacks Preston.

Imbued with the spirit of the left-wing political movement, the Popular Front, which would have a major political victory that year, the film chronicles the story of M. Lange (René Lefèvre), a mild-mannered writer at a publishing company who writes Western stories for it. Batala (Jules Berry), the salacious owner of the company, flees his creditors; when the train he is on crashes, he takes the opportunity to fake his own death. The abandoned workers, with the help of an eccentric creditor, decide to form a cooperative. They have great success with Lange's stories about the cowboy, Arizona Jim, whose stories parallel the real-life experiences of the cooperative. At the same time, Lange and his neighbor, Valentine (Florelle), an old flame of Batala, fall in love.

When Batala returns from the "dead", intending to reclaim the publishing company, Lange shoots and kills him (the "crime" of the title) to protect the cooperative. Lange and Valentine flee to escape the country, stopping at an inn near the Belgian frontier. Here, Valentine tells Lange's story to a group of the inn's patrons, who had recognized Lange as the "murderer on the run" and threatened to turn him in to the police. After they hear the story, the men sympathize with Lange and decide to allow him and Valentine to escape across the border to freedom.

Six years after the previous film, Glen, the benevolent living-doll son of Chucky and Tiffany, has a nightmare in which he murders a little girl's parents. In reality, he is living as a dummy for an abusive ventriloquist called "Psychs" in England. Glen sees a preview of Jennifer Tilly's new horror film ''Chucky Goes Psycho'' on television, which features Chucky and Tiffany dolls rebuilt from their original remains; Glen realizes that he is their son.

Desperate to know his parents, Glen escapes Psychs and tracks the Chucky and Tiffany dolls to a prop room in Hollywood. Glen uses the Heart of Damballa, a voodoo amulet, to bring them back to life. Chucky faints upon learning he has a son, but Tiffany is overjoyed. When a special effects technician starts taking Tiffany apart, she and Chucky decapitate him with a wire. Jennifer finds the beheaded body and calls the police. Chucky, Tiffany, and Glen sneak a ride to her home in her limousine.

Having witnessed his parents murder the technician, Glen asks them why they kill, as he feels violence is bad. Chucky replies that it helps them to relax. On the other hand, Tiffany, feeling parental responsibility, agrees with Glen and forces Chucky to agree to stop killing for the sake of their son; Chucky falsely promises to do so. Jennifer tries to get a role as the Virgin Mary in Redman's directorial debut. After he tells her she is not right for the part, Jennifer invites him to her home, intending to seduce him for the role.

Chucky and Tiffany make plans to transfer their souls into Redman and Jennifer. Tiffany knocks them out and uses a turkey baster to inseminate Jennifer with Chucky's semen. Chucky takes Glen on a car ride during which they drive Britney's car off the road to photographer Pete Peters' darkroom. Peters had taken pictures of Tilly kissing Redman and of Chucky masturbating. Glen tries to warn Peters that Chucky is about to attack, but Peters bumps into a shelf and causes a jar of sulphuric acid to fall into his head, accidentally killing him. Chucky is overjoyed, believing Glen did this on purpose, and takes a picture to celebrate, much to the dismay of both Glen and Tiffany.

Jennifer awakens the following morning, realizes that she is pregnant, and claims Redman is responsible. Redman denies this and reveals that he previously had a vasectomy, leaving Jennifer confused. Tiffany eviscerates Redman in anger. The next day, Jennifer wakes up to find herself with a full pregnant belly, a consequence of the voodoo magic. Chucky captures Jennifer and her chauffeur Stan to take Redman's place. Jennifer's assistant Joan tries to help her, but she is killed by Glen's murderous twin sister, Glenda, whose soul shares Glen's body and has taken over. Tiffany smacks Glenda to bring back Glen, who is horrified at what has happened.

Jennifer gives birth to twins, a boy and a girl, and Tiffany realizes that both Glen and Glenda can inhabit the two children. Chucky has an epiphany: he has finally accepted his circumstances as a living doll and no longer wishes to become human. Disgusted, Tiffany rejects Chucky and decides to take Glen with her. Enraged, Chucky throws a knife at Jennifer to stop Tiffany from leaving him, but Stan jumps in the way to save her. The police arrive, forcing the dolls to flee.

Jennifer is rushed to the hospital. Tiffany drugs Jennifer and begins to possess her, but Chucky breaks in and kills Tiffany with an axe. Devastated, Glen snaps and attacks Chucky, striking him with the axe. Chucky assumes it's Glenda again, but Glen reveals it is actually him, finally able to kill in revenge for his mother's death. Glen shouts at his father, asking if he is finally proud of him, as he dismembers Chucky, who praises Glen for his actions, before being decapitated. Realizing what he has done, Glen suffers an emotional breakdown as Jennifer comforts him.

Five years later, at a birthday party for Jennifer's children, a nanny quits her job because Jennifer's daughter Glenda scares her. Jennifer beats her to death, revealing that Tiffany was successful in transferring her soul into Jennifer's body. Meanwhile, Glen opens a birthday present to see Chucky's severed arm, which springs up to grab him.

The first half of the film is set at Benedict Boys Home. Jesse Tucker (Jamie Walters) and his four friends live and toil with other guys under strict guidance of Eugene who has a lovely daughter Sara (Heather Graham). They have a music teacher Jack Cabe (John Travolta) who is into rock and roll and teaches them the same, much to the irritation of Eugene who wants to fire him but let him after a warning, Jack then tells them to somehow arrange a radio and listen to the show Midnight Rider. Jesse bets with the guys that he would have sex with Sara, but instead falls in love with her.

They go to the club where they see people enjoying rock n roll to the hilt and Jesse gets inspired and gives an impressive performance on stage. Jack Cabe gets into an altercation with the town sheriff, who is miffed with the wayward ways of his and decides to find the truth about his past.

At school Jesse and his friends come in touch with the girls while attending a lecture on the polluting effects of modern music and television. One of the guys who is attracted to Sara tells her about the bet. After her initial anger she is won over by Jesse by his honest demeanor and truth.

Jack Cabe is discovered to be a murderer on the run and flees on seeing cops at his place. Jesse steals Eugene's car and goes to Jack where he confides about an accidental murder that happened defending his colored friend in a club where they were invited to give Rock 'N' Roll performance. Jesse asks him to stop running, but Jack asks him to shut up and turns him away.

Jesse returns to the boys home. He does all he can to survive there, including Sara to keep himself out of trouble with her dad.

At a fair where Benedict's Boys band was asked to play, they begin with usual music, but on seeing Jack surrendering, Jesse mans up and starts playing rock n roll much to the delight of young people who respond immediately and dance while inviting disapproving gestures from elders. The last scene where Eugene is shown unsuccessfully trying to stop the band while his daughter rises up with joy ready to resume her relationship with Jesse.

The series centers on Tennessee Tuxedo, a penguin, and his friend Chumley, a walrus. They live in the Megapolis Zoo along with friends Yakkety Yak and Baldy the Eagle. The Megapolis Zoo is run by the ill-tempered zoo director Stanley Livingston and his zookeeper assistant Flunky. In different episodes, Stanley has often threatened to skin Tennessee and Chumley alive. Four episodes featured Howler, a dog that Tennessee got from his Uncle Admiration. In addition, Tennessee competes against his rival Jerboa Jump and his later henchman Tiger Tornado.

Tennessee and Chumley regularly escape from the zoo only to find trouble outside. One recurring issue involves the gangster Rocky Maninoff who often orders Tennessee and Chumley to do his will at the point of a machine gun. Rocky is also served by a dimwitted minion named Pretzel. Whenever Tennessee proposes a hare-brained scheme, Chumley is skeptical. Typically, Tennessee assures the dim-witted Chumley that his superior intelligence will carry the day, often with his catch phrase, "Tennessee Tuxedo will not fail!" (though he more often than not does). Chumley then responds with his own phrase, "Duh, okay Tennessee!"

When faced with more trouble than they can bear, the pair turns to their friend Phineas J. Whoopee, the “Man with All the Answers". The latter knows about everything, and he often lectures the pair on diverse topics, from the physics behind the hot air balloon to how musicians become popular. His lectures are illustrated and animated on his Three-Dimensional Blackboard, which he pulls from an avalanche of junk that falls out of his overstuffed hallway closet when he opens the door. At the end of a Mr. Whoopee lecture, Tennessee praises his mentor with the line, “Phineas J. Whoopee, you’re the greatest!” Tennessee and Chumley occasionally must consult Mr. Whoopee again when they fail their first attempt to solve any problem as Mr. Whoopee snorts "But I've tried to warn you...". In a couple of episodes, Whoopee makes the pair promise him not to fool around with electricity and television, explaining the dangers involved in those fields.

In the series, Tennessee and Chumley have to overcome a personal problem that children can relate to, such as operating a camera when they are hired to photograph the Mayor of Megapolis to Chumley's requiring treatment for a toothache but fearing the dentist.

The pair attempt to use their newly gained knowledge to get out of the mischief they created, but they frequently end up in more trouble with Stanley Livingston (mostly due to Chumley's screw-ups) who punishes them in different ways from having the police arrest them to scrubbing pots and pans in the cafeteria for six months. Episodes sometimes end with Stanley chasing Tennessee and Chumley around the zoo. There are some cases where the duo never caused trouble at all, such as performing in the music show, stopping Tiger Tornado from bullying the zoo animals, training for the Zoolympics without causing any damage or trouble (and winning), and successfully trimming the Christmas tree.

Dr. Drakken has been developing a new and elaborate master plan to take over the world. Among the plan's stages are the procurement of a new toy design stolen from Japanese developer Nakasumi, the creation of synthodrone androids, and a bizarre research project investigating the lifestyle of teenage girls.

Meanwhile, Kim Possible realizes that her crime-fighting career has left her with only Ron Stoppable as a potential date for the junior prom, much to her distress. Ron introduces Kim to Eric, a new student, and they soon become a couple, causing a jealous Ron to find himself edged out of Kim's life. Ron also begins to notice numerous annoying changes at Bueno Nacho, his favorite fast-food chain.

Drakken kidnaps Kim's father, who possesses the most advanced cybertronic technology in existence, which can fix, modify, or enlarge any machine. Kim and Ron rescue Dr. Possible, unaware that Drakken has already obtained his knowledge in cybertronics by tapping his brain. Bueno Nacho introduces their first kiddie meals, which come with toy robot figures called "Lil' Diablos" (based on Nakasumi's design) that become vastly popular worldwide. Kim realizes Ron's growing unhappiness and talks with him, promising that her new relationship with Eric will not affect their friendship. While Kim and Eric attend prom together, Ron, depressed and conflicted by his changing feelings for Kim, becomes upset again by Bueno Nacho and makes a call complaining to the new owner, who is revealed to be Drakken. Lars, Bueno Nacho's new manager and one of Drakken's goons, activates the Diablo army of toys which pursue Ron and his pet mole-rat Rufus.

Escaping the Diablos, Ron bursts into the prom to warn Kim about the toys. Kim contacts her assistant Wade, who confirms that the Diablos are made from Dr. Possible's technology. In retaliation, Drakken attacks Middleton, transforming the toys into large, deadly robots with a command signal at Bueno Nacho. With help from the Possible family, Kim and Ron destroy the command signal, disabling the Diablos. Drakken shows Kim that his sidekick Shego has kidnapped Eric after she left the prom dance, and demands her surrender in exchange for Eric's safety.

Kim dons a new experimental battle suit and heads with Ron and Rufus to Bueno Nacho headquarters, where Drakken and his forces are operating from. Kim fights and defeats Shego before reuniting with Eric, who is revealed to be a synthodrone made by Drakken to distract her from his plans; he shocks Kim unconscious and she is captured along with Ron. At midnight, Drakken launches a worldwide attack with the giant Diablo robots. Embarrassed and distressed by Eric's betrayal, Kim admits defeat and gives up, but Ron encourages her by finally confessing his feelings for her, which she accepts.

Rufus helps Kim and Ron escape and they head to Bueno Nacho's roof to destroy the tower controlling the Diablos with an EMP. Shego and Eric intervene, but Kim fires the EMP at the tower. Eric catches it just in time, but Rufus destroys him by puncturing his foot, draining all his cyber liquid and making him drop the EMP on the tower, shutting down all the robots and returning them to their normal sizes. Drakken and his henchmen are arrested and Kim and Ron are hailed as heroes for saving the world once again. They return to prom holding hands, where students (except for Bonnie Rockwaller) cheer them as they dance and share their first real kiss.

In the early 1990s, Yuuta Kobayashi is a Japanese boy who plays the game ''Mega Man 5'', but forgets to turn off his console when going to bed. Mega Man along with his friends and foes manage to exit the video "game world' to Japan in the "real world". Dr. Wily quickly attempts to conquer the real world, and Mega Man teams up with the Kobayashi family to search for Dr. Wily. Yuuta's father takes Mega Man to Tokyo to search for Dr. Wily and finds him in an amusement park. Dr. Wily orders all the robots in a giant machine called Samurai Man. Mega Man is able to defeat it by Charge Kicking a football, but Dr. Wily escapes. Yuuta summons Eddie to replenish the energy of Mega Man. Rush flies with Mega Man and Yuuta across Japan to search for Dr. Wily. Meanwhile they learn about Japanese culture and customs such as Japanese New Years, Setsubun, Hinamatsuri, and Children's Day. Eventually, they discover that Dr. Wily built a secret base inside Mount Fuji and uses the volcanic energy to create Lava Man. Yuuta's sister Akane summons Proto Man and Beat to help Mega Man. While Proto Man and Beat take care of the lava robots, Mega Man breaks into Wily's lab to beat all eight of Wily's Robot Masters. Wily makes his escape in a rocket, but Proto Man diverts his rocket to go back into Yuuta's video game. After celebrating Wily's defeat, the game characters return to the game world.

Mega Man and Roll get pulled out of the game world by Yuuta and Akane and are taken to the Obon matsuri. Mega Man and Yuuta carry the mikoshi in a parade, Roll learns about yukatas and makes a promise with Akane that she will wear a kimono on Shichi-Go-San, Mega Man learns about cotton candy, Roll plays Whac-A-Mole, and the kids watch the fireworks. During the time everyone is gone, Dr. Wily escapes the game world with his updated Skulker and kidnaps Proto Man. Dr. Light repairs the time machine and Mega Man and Roll use it to jump ahead one year in time only to discover that Wily has conquered Japan and raised the entire city of Tokyo high above the surface. Mega Man and Roll jump back to the past and discover that a typhoon is responsible for this. But, this is not an ordinary typhoon... this is the work of Dr. Wily and his new Typhoon Robot! Can Mega Man save Proto Man, and save the city from certain doom? Along the way, Mega Man learns about Tsukimi (and its yummy dango!) and Sports Day.

The novels revolve around Boojum "Boo" Bark, a werewolf puppy from the town of Sleepy Whiskers - a town within a world of werewolves. He attends the School for Heroes, located within a volcano and run by the retired heroes from the Rest in Pieces retirement home.

Category:2009 children's books Category:2010 children's books Category:Series of children's books Category:Fantasy books by series Category:Children's fantasy novels Category:Australian children's novels Category:Australian fantasy novels Category:Australian adventure novels Category:HarperCollins books

A brown belt girl who desperately wants to get a black belt and believes she can qualify for it by facing a group of black belt holders.

The tale relates the story of two sisters, daughters of an Anglican vicar, who return from finishing school overseas to a drab, lifeless rectory in the East Midlands, not long after the World War I. Their mother has run off with another man, a scandal that is not talked about by the family, especially the girls' father, who was deeply humiliated and only remembers his wife as she was when they first met many years before.

Their new home is dominated by a blind and selfish grandmother called "Mater" and her mean-spirited, poisonous daughter Aunt Cissie; there is also Uncle Fred, who lives a solitary life. The two girls, Yvette and Lucille, risk being suffocated by the life they now lead at the rectory. In particular, Yvette's desperation is compounded by the fact that she has "borrowed" a little money from a charity fund that her family manages. Her relationship with both her father and aunt suffer: She sees her father as a mean-spirited and cowardly person for the first time when he reacts savagely to her petty crime.

But even so, the girls try their utmost every day to bring colour and fun into their lives. They go on outings with the Framleys, their neighbourhood friends. On one such outing, Yvette encounters a gipsy man and his family. She and the other girls have their fortunes told by the gipsy man's wife, a magnetic and strong woman who seems to see easily through them. The gipsy man also sees deeply into Yvette and the impression he makes on her this first time is unforgettable. This first meeting reinforces her disenchantment with the oppressive domesticity of the rectory. It also awakens in her a sexual curiosity she has not felt or thought much about before despite her having admirers.

While on a second visit to the gipsy family, she befriends a married Jewish woman who has left her husband and who is now living with her paramour, impatiently waiting for her divorce to come through. Yvette does not pass judgment on anyone new she meets, neither the gipsy nor the Jewish woman, because she is young and modern-minded. But when her father finds out about this friendship, he threatens her with "the asylum", and Yvette realizes that, at his heart, her father too is mean-spirited, bigoted, provincial and shallow. Apparently, her father believes that one cannot associate with a wealthy divorced woman who is merely marrying a handsome man, who happens to be a war hero, as an excuse to dump her first and older husband.

The novel has a surprise twist at the end. A huge flood surges through the vale, coming from a burst dam at a nearby reservoir. It just so happens that the gipsy man is approaching the rectory house. Nobody is at home but Yvette and her blind grandmother. In the nick of time, the brave gipsy man rescues Yvette despite the fact that the surprise flood washes most of the rectory away, drowning the grandmother.

A moving scene ensues as the gipsy hero breathes life and warmth back into the virginal Yvette, who feels the powerful attraction of his manhood and strength. She falls asleep and the gipsy disappears. Her family returns home to find her safe, and they adulate the gipsy as her savior.

One day she receives a brief note from the gipsy, "hoping to see her again" and it is only here that both reader and Yvette learn his name is Joe Boswell.

The reader knows that Yvette's feeling and understanding for life is changed forever.

Homer and Marge hire Ashley Grant, a feminist graduate student, to babysit Bart, Lisa and Maggie while they attend a candy convention. Homer outfits Marge with an oversized trench coat, hoping to smuggle out as much candy as possible, including a rare gummy ''Venus de Milo''. When caught stealing the gummy Venus, Homer makes a makeshift bomb with Pop Rocks and soda to blow up the convention center as he and Marge escape.

That night, Homer frantically searches for the lost gummy Venus until Marge reminds him to drive Ashley home. When she exits Homer's car, he sees the gummy Venus stuck to the seat of her pants. As Homer grabs the candy, Ashley turns around to see him drooling at it. Mistaking this for a sexual advance, she runs off screaming as Homer eats the candy.

The next morning, an angry mob of college students marches onto the Simpsons' lawn and claims that Homer sexually harassed Ashley. They refuse to believe Homer's explanation and stalk him. The tabloid news show ''Rock Bottom'' airs an interview with Homer that is selectively (and poorly) edited and presented out of context to make him look like a pervert. The resulting media circus monitors the Simpsons' home and movements around the clock. Homer's reputation is tarnished further after Dennis Franz portrays him as an unrepentant sexual predator in a made-for-television film.

Lisa and Marge suggest that Homer videotape his side of the story for a public-access cable TV channel, but since it airs during a graveyard timeslot, few viewers see it and it only succeeds in angering an old-time bicyclist. Groundskeeper Willie, who enjoys shooting and watching amateur videos, views Homer's tape. He shows the Simpsons his videotape of what really happened the night Homer drove Ashley home. After watching it, Ashley and the media apologize for labeling Homer a monster. Homer promises the television to “never fight again” and goes on to lambast Willie, whose videotaping exploits make him the target of the next media frenzy.

The film can be divided into five sections: a prologue, three main phases and an epilogue.

The Valastros are family of working class fishermen in Aci Trezza, a small fishing village on the east coast of Sicily. The first phase tells us about the fishermen's attempt to improve their economic circumstances. In setting the scene, a pig is slaughtered on-camera near the outset. The fishermen demand a better price for their fish, urged by the eldest son 'Ntoni, to throw the wholesalers' scales into the ocean. The fishermen end up in jail. The wholesalers realize it is more profitable to have 'Ntoni and his friends fishing, so they have the fishermen released. 'Ntoni, who lived on the mainland for a time, had brought some new, open-minded ideas back to Sicily, and he tries to form a cooperative, but no one joins him. In deciding to do it on his own, he convinces his family to mortgage their house to buy a boat and starts his new life. A festive mood is present in this sequence, with all the village joining the Valastro family salting fish in laughter and joy.

The second part shows the Valastros' vulnerability. They realize that the price of being owners is high; they not only have to buy the salt but also work hard and not stop even in the hardest storm, risking their lives to be able to feed so many mouths at home. When they go out in a particularly bad storm, their new boat is severely damaged, and the Valastros have no money to get it repaired. At this point in the film, we see the other fishermen and the wholesalers mocking them already, convinced of the immutability of the prevailing social order.

The third phase of the film affirms the Valastros' vulnerability and traces their decline. The social and psychological consequences of the Valastros' attempt to change things are gradually revealed. They go out of work, no one wants to give them any opportunities, and the wholesalers are able to set the price for their fish. In the scene showing the wholesalers increasing the prices yet again, we can see the faces of the children registering amazement at the cruelty of the adults. This was quite a common feature in neorealist films, and one almost sees this as an awakening of consciousness.

The family unit, so strong in the beginning of the film, breaks down. Now they have no family, no house, the grandfather dies, 'Ntoni's brother Cola leaves for the mainland to seek new opportunities, their sister Lucia loses her reputation, yielding to the seduction of Marshal Don Salvatore, and 'Ntoni starts drinking. Only the elder sister Mara remains strong, although she loses all hope of ever getting married because her family is now poorer than before.

In the epilogue, 'Ntoni finally overcomes his pride, recognizing the true cause of the problems of his kind and his class, and sees the need for collective action by going back with his two young brothers, Vanni and Alessio, to work as a day laborer for the wholesalers, who have bought new boats.

The entire mood of the film becomes oppressive since the camera never leaves Aci Trezza, except in the scenes at sea at the beginning and end of the film. The outside world appears only indirectly when 'Ntoni goes to prison, when the family goes to sign a contract with the bank, when a stranger offering American cigarettes appears to tempt the youngsters to move to the mainland, and when the old baroness honors the inauguration of the wholesalers' new boats with her presence. Some allusions to modern Italian history are also there. On the wall of the restaurant we can see an image of a hammer and sickle. One of the wholesalers suddenly says: "The country is full of communism!", and his colleague answers: "Raimondo is always right," in a parody of the Fascist slogan, "Il Duce is always right." At the end of the film, a faded text can be seen behind Raimondo: :Go with determination toward people. ~ Benito Mussolini.

After his young sister is brutally raped by white loggers, Native American student Charles Hobuhet abducts the 13-year-old son of a high-level US politician. As Katsuk, "the avenger", Charles plans to use young David as a sacrifice in an ancient ritual of vengeance. A complicated bond begins to form as they journey across the Pacific Northwest, pursued by hunters.

A young assassin named Machika swears to kill the one bounty her grandfather could not get: the immortal Methuselah. But when she goes after him, she finds a clumsy, kind man named Rain who has lost more than he can bear in his unnatural lifetime. Unwilling to admit at first that she likes him, Machika willingly follows him as he waits for the one who made him immortal, still swearing to take his life one day. Their love for each other grows as they battle bounty hunters, a mysterious organization, and monstrous "angels" in order to save Rain and perhaps even humanity.

The Duke cousins must help Hazzard County's local foster home to pay off its debt in order to remain operational. Boss Hogg has raised the mortgage price for the foster home and is having the interest compounded hourly. He's doing this to fund the building of a statue of himself to be located in the town square and to build a local water reservoir on the site of the foster home's location with the help of Rosco. The player must help the Dukes complete a series of tasks in order to save the foster home before it gets shut down completely. There is a free roam feature which allows the player to drive across all of Hazzard County and enjoy the freedom of ramping the General Lee on various objects in order to unlock hidden objects in this game.