In 35,000 B.C. during the Ice Age, in what will become North Texas, two cavemen hunters encounter a large extraterrestrial life form in a cave, which kills one and infects the other with a black oil-like substance. In 1998, in the same area, a boy falls into a hole and is also infected by a black substance which seeps from the ground. Firefighters who enter the hole to rescue him do not come out. A team of men wearing hazmat suits arrive and extract the bodies of the boy and the firefighters. Meanwhile, FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, while investigating a bomb threat against a federal building in Dallas, discover the bomb in a building across the street. As the building is evacuated, Special Agent in Charge Darius Michaud remains, ostensibly to disarm the bomb. However, he simply waits for the bomb to detonate.

Mulder and Scully are later chastised because, in addition to Michaud, four other people were in the building during the bombing. That evening Mulder is accosted by a paranoid doctor, Alvin Kurtzweil, who explains that the "victims" were already dead, and that the bombing was staged to cover up how they died. At the hospital morgue, Scully is able to examine one of the victims, finding evidence of an alien virus. Meanwhile, the Cigarette Smoking Man goes to Texas, where Dr. Ben Bronschweig shows him one of the lost firefighters, who has an alien organism residing inside his body. He orders Bronschweig to administer a vaccine to it, but to burn the body if it fails. Later, the alien organism unexpectedly gestates and kills Bronschweig.

Mulder and Scully travel to the crime scene in Texas, where they find the site has been hastily turned into a new playground and encounter the boys whose friend fell into the hole. Driving in the direction indicated by the boys, the pair encounters a train with some white gasoline tankers and follow it to a large cornfield surrounding two glowing domes. Inside the domes, grates in the floor open and swarms of bees fly out, attacking the agents. They flee through an adjacent cornfield, chased by black helicopters, but manage to escape when the helicopters suddenly disappear.

Upon returning to Washington, D.C., Scully attends a performance hearing; at the same time, Mulder meets with Kurtzwell in an attempt to get more information. Scully arrives at Mulder's apartment to tell him she's been transferred to Salt Lake City. Mulder is devastated to lose his partner. The two are about to share a kiss when Scully is stung by a bee that had lodged itself under her shirt collar. She quickly falls unconscious while Mulder calls paramedics, but the ambulance driver shoots Mulder and whisks Scully away. She is seen later in an isolation unit being loaded onto a plane. An unconscious Mulder is picked up by another ambulance. Not severely injured, he slips out of hospital with the help of The Lone Gunmen and FBI Assistant Director Walter Skinner. He then meets a former adversary, the Well-Manicured Man, who gives him Scully's location, along with a vaccine against the virus that has infected her. As Mulder leaves, the Well-Manicured Man kills himself in a car bomb, before his betrayal of The Syndicate is discovered.

In Antarctica 48 hours later, Mulder finds Scully in a large underground facility containing many humans suspended in ice-like enclosures. He breaks Scully's confinement and uses the vaccine to revive her, but this disrupts the facility and cocooned aliens begin trying to escape. After Mulder and Scully escape to the surface, a huge alien vessel emerges from beneath the ice and travels into the sky. Mulder watches it disappear into the distance as Scully regains full consciousness.

Later at another hearing, Scully's testimony is disregarded and evidence in Texas is destroyed. To the hearing moderator, she hands over the only remaining proof of their ordeal—the bee that stung her—noting that the FBI is not currently capable of investigating this evidence. Outside, Mulder reads an article that has covered up the domes and crop field in Texas. Scully informs Mulder that she is willing to continue working with him: "If I quit now, they win."

At another crop outpost in Tunisia, the Cigarette Smoking Man warns Conrad Strughold that Mulder remains a threat, as he explains what Mulder has found out about the virus. He then hands him a telegram revealing that the X-files unit has been re-opened.

A middle-aged farm woman walks through her village and gazes down a country road. A voiceover reveals that her son was killed in the war and buried in a foreign land.

On the Eastern Front, nineteen-year-old Private Alyosha Skvortsov (Vladimir Ivashov) single-handedly destroys two attacking German tanks, more out of self-preservation than bravery. His commanding general wants to give him a decoration, but Alyosha asks instead for a leave to see his mother and to repair the leaking roof of their home. He is given six days.

During his journey, he sees the devastation the war has wrought on the country and meets various people. When the jeep Alyosha is riding gets stuck in the mud, Private Pavlov helps push it out. As Alyosha will be passing through his home city, Pavlov persuades him to take a present to Pavlov's wife. Pavlov's sergeant reluctantly parts with two bars of soap, the entire supply for their platoon.

At the train station, Alyosha helpfully carries the suitcase of Vasya, a soldier discharged because he has lost a leg. Vasya does not want to go home, as he would be a burden to his wife, and their relationship had already been troubled. However, he changes his mind and is welcomed with open arms by the loving woman.

When he attempts to board a freight car of an army supply train, Alyosha is stopped by Gavrilkin, a sentry. However, a bribe of a can of beef eases Gavrilkin's fear of his lieutenant, a "beast". Shura (Zhanna Prokhorenko) later sneaks aboard as well, but when she sees him, she becomes frightened and tries to jump off the speeding train. Alyosha stops her from risking her life. She tells him she is going to see her fiancé, a pilot who is recuperating in a hospital. As the days pass, she loses her fear and mistrust of him. Gavrilkin spots the civilian stowaway, forcing Alyosha to bribe him anew. When the lieutenant discovers the unauthorized passengers, he lets them remain aboard and even makes Gavrilkin return the bribe.

At one stop, Alyosha gets out to fetch some water, but the train leaves without him. Frantic, he gets a lift to the next station from an old woman truck driver. He is too late; the train has already departed. However, Shura got off and is waiting for him. The couple then go to see Pavlov's wife. They discover that she is living with another man and leave. Alyosha returns, takes back the soap he had given her, and gives it instead to Pavlov's invalid father.

When they finally part, Shura confesses she lied; there was no fiancé, only an aunt. Alyosha realizes too late, after his train departs, that when Shura said she had no one, she was telling him that she loves him. His train is stopped by a blown-up bridge and set on fire by German bombers. With time running out, Alyosha rafts across the river and persuades another truck driver to give him a ride to his rural village, Sosnovka. He gets to see his mother only for a few minutes before having to make his way back to his unit. His mother vows to wait for him. The voiceover tells us that while he could have gone far in life if he had lived, he will always be remembered simply as a Russian soldier.

The U.S. President decides to replace his Secretary of State to promote rapprochement with the Soviet Union. Nominee Robert Leffingwell, a darling of liberals, is viewed by many conservative senators as an appeaser. Others, including the pivotal character of Senator Seabright (Seab) Cooley of South Carolina, have serious doubts about Leffingwell's character. The book tells the story of an up-and-down nomination process that most people fully expect to result in a quick approval of the controversial nominee.

But Cooley is not so easily defeated. He uncovers a minor bureaucrat named Gelman who testifies that twenty years earlier then-University of Chicago instructor Leffingwell invited Gelman to join a small Communist cell that included a fellow traveler who went by the pseudonym James Morton. After outright lies under oath by the nominee and vigorous cross examination by Leffingwell, Gelman is thoroughly discredited and deemed an unfit witness by the subcommittee and its charismatic chairman Utah Senator Brig Anderson. The subcommittee is ready to approve the nominee.

At this crucial moment in the story, the tenacious Senator Cooley dissects Gelman's testimony and discovers a way to identify James Morton. Cooley maneuvers Morton into confessing the truth of Gelman's assertions to Senator Anderson who subsequently re-opens the subcommittee's hearings, thus enraging the President. When the President's attempts to buy Anderson's cooperation fail he places enormous pressure on Majority Leader Robert Munson to entice Anderson into compliance. In a moment of great weakness that Munson will regret the rest of his life, Munson provides the President a photograph, acquired quite innocently by Munson, that betrays Anderson's brief wartime homosexual liaison.

Armed with the blackmail instrument he needs, the president ignores Anderson's proof of Leffingwell's treachery and plots to use the photo to gain Anderson's silence. The president plants the photo with leftist Senator Fred Van Ackerman, thinking he will never need to use it. But the President has underestimated Van Ackerman's treachery and misjudged Anderson's reaction should the truth come out. After a series of circumstances involving Anderson's secret being revealed to his wife, the Washington press corps, and several senators, Anderson kills himself. Anderson's death turns the majority of the Senate against the president and the majority leader. Anderson's suicide and the exposure of the truth about Leffingwell's lies regarding his communist past set in motion a chain reaction that ends several careers and ultimately rejects Leffingwell as a nominee to become Secretary of State.

The final one hundred pages of the book contain several "teases" by the author making it clear there is a sequel to come (Drury wrote five more books in his series), but ''Advise and Consent'' effectively ends with the overwhelming vote to reject Leffingwell. The segue to the next book in the series is the death of the president (heart attack) and the elevation of Vice President Harley Hudson.

Nineteen-year-old Tomek (Olaf Lubaszenko) is living in an apartment complex in Warsaw with his godmother (Stefania Iwinska) - staying in her son's room while he's away. Raised in an orphanage, the shy Tomek has few friends and works as a postal clerk. Tomek has been spying on a beautiful older woman, Magda (Grażyna Szapolowska), who lives in an adjacent apartment complex. Using a telescope, he watches her every night performing mundane tasks, working on her artwork, and entertaining men. To get closer to her, he slips fake postal notices in her mailbox for a nonexistent money order at his post office. He also calls her anonymously to hear her voice. Tomek's obsession is focused more on her everyday activities rather than her sex life; when he sees her becoming sexual with men, he trains the telescope away and does not watch.

Tomek learns there is a problem with the milk deliveries for Magda's apartment complex, so he takes the delivery job to be closer to her. One night he sees her return home after breaking up with her latest boyfriend, spilling a bottle of milk, and then weeping over another failed relationship. Later, Tomek asks his godmother, "Why do people cry?" After receiving another fake postal notice, Magda has a confrontation with the postmistress who accuses her of extortion. When Magda walks away upset, Tomek follows her and admits that he has been leaving the fake postal notices, that he saw her crying, and that he's been watching her. That night, Magda arranges her bed so that Tomek can see her with another boyfriend. When they're in bed, she tells him that they're being watched by someone across the way. The boyfriend rushes down to the street, calls out to Tomek who comes downstairs, and then punches him in the face for peeping.

The next day, while delivering milk to Magda, Tomek admits that he loves her and that he expects nothing in return. Overwhelmed by his feelings, Tomek rushes up to the roof of the building, and then returns to Magda's apartment and asks her for a date—and she accepts. An elated Tomek races through the courtyard with his milk cart. During their date at a cafe, Magda learns that Tomek has been watching her for a year and that he stole letters mailed to her by an old boyfriend. At first, she's upset, but then she dismisses it saying, "What does it matter." In response to his earlier declaration of love, she tells him that love doesn't exist—only sex. She shows him how to caress her hands the way lovers do.

Later that night at her apartment, after she showers and changes into a short bathrobe, he gives her a small gift, but she says she's not a good person and doesn't deserve gifts. Crouching in front of him, she guides his hands onto her thighs and he has an orgasm. Magda says, "Love ... that's all it is." After Tomek rushes out of her apartment embarrassed and upset, Magda feels guilty and tries to communicate to him at her window—gesturing for him to call her and holding up a sign that reads, "Come back. Sorry." But there is no response. Back in his apartment, Tomek cuts his wrists with a razor blade. Later, Magda comes to Tomek's apartment to return the coat he left behind and learns from his godmother that he tried to kill himself and was taken to hospital. Magda tells her, "I think I hurt him." Tomek's godmother shows her Tomek's room and his telescope and tells her, "He's fallen in love with you." When asked if he's "fallen for the wrong woman," Magda responds, "Yes."

In the coming days, Magda is unable to find Tomek—she is clearly worried and concerned about his wellbeing. One night, she receives a phone call, and thinking it is Tomek, she acknowledges that he was right about love (the call is actually from someone with phone trouble). After days of waiting and watching Tomek's window with her small binoculars, she finally sees he's returned. Magda goes to Tomek's apartment and his godmother shows her to his room where she sees Tomek sleeping, his wrists still bandaged. The godmother prevents her from getting too close to him—even preventing her from touching his bandaged wrist. Noticing the telescope, Magda looks through it toward her own apartment and imagines what Tomek must have seen that night, watching her come home, spilling the milk, and weeping over another failed relationship. Then she closes her eyes and imagines Tomek in her apartment with her, reaching out to comfort her—and she smiles.

''Cowards Bend the Knee'' is set in a vague time period that is stated in the published script and on the DVD commentary as the 1930s, although certain of the film's events (e.g., the Winnipeg Maroons winning the Allan Cup) did not occur until the 1960s. Guy Maddin (played by Darcy Fehr), star hockey player for the Winnipeg Maroons, is told by his father Maddin Sr (Victor Cowie), the team's announcer, to visit his mother in the hospital since she is gravely ill. Maddin instead takes his girlfriend Veronica (Amy Stewart) to get an illegal abortion at the home/beauty salon/bordello of Liliom (Tara Birtwistle). During the operation, Guy more or less forgets about Veronica and ends up leaving with Liliom's alluring daughter Meta (Melissa Dionisio). Veronica dies as a result of the botched abortion and perhaps despair at her abandonment.

Meta reveals that her father, Chas, was murdered by Liliom with help from the police captain Shaky, who also plays hockey with Guy. Chas' hands, stained blue from hair dye, were severed during the murder and Meta keeps them with her in a jar. She rejects Guy's sexual advances, saying that she won't be his until he murders Liliom and Shaky to revenge Chas. The hockey team's doctor, Dr. Fusi (Louis Negin) agrees to sever Guy's hands and suture Chas' hands in their place.

However, while Guy is sedated and Meta is gone, Dr. Fusi just throws the hands away and paints Guy's own hands blue. Believing himself possessed by Chas' murderous hands, Guy sets out to kill Liliom but instead ends up trying to seduce her and eventually "fists" her in the beauty salon. Veronica's ghost has meanwhile risen and takes a job at the beauty salon, as does Guy. Guy becomes infatuated with Veronica's ghost, not recognizing her as the girlfriend he abandoned to die on the operating table (he has forgotten Veronica completely by this point).

Tormented, Guy discovers a wax museum that has been hidden and forgotten in the rafters of the Winnipeg hockey arena. The museum features wax sculptures of famous Winnipeg Maroons, including Chas. Meta continues to coerce Guy to carry out her revenge plans. Guy ends up murdering Shaky during a hockey game and, feeling guilty, attempts to confess his crime to the policeman Mo, but Mo refuses to arrest Guy and tries to get him to stop confessing. Guy then strangles Mo to death in the middle of the police station but none of the other officers notice.

Veronica's ghost has meanwhile begun dating Guy's father, Maddin Sr. after Guy's mother dies, unvisited. Guy is now involved with both Meta and Liliom (who he's promised Meta he will kill) while in love with the ghost of his ex-girlfriend Veronica, whose death he is somewhat responsible for and who is now involved with his own father. The pressure of the situation, in addition to the delusion that he is possessed by the murderous hands of Chas, drives Guy to finally strangle Liliom when she tries to stop Veronica's ghost from having a second abortion of unknown origin (presumably his father's child and thus his sibling, or perhaps his child needing to be aborted a second time). Meta by this time has soured on Guy and demands that Fusi returns her father's hands to her. Dr. Fusi then chloroforms Guy again and amputates his blue-painted hands.

Handless, Guy heads to the hockey arena and suits up for the big game, taping his hockey gloves over his fresh stumps. Guy heads to the urinal pre-game, but finds peeing a difficult tasks with no hands. At the urinal, he encounters his father, Maddin Sr., and sees that his father's penis is exceptionally large (much larger than his own). During the game, Maddin Sr. announces while stroking a block of ice carved into the shape of a woman's breast. Veronica's ghost, aroused by this, walks across the catwalk over the arena's ice towards the radio booth. Guy also climbs to the top of the arena and heads into the wax museum, where tarot cards predict "a mysterious apocalypse." Maddin Sr. and Veronica's ghost enter to announce that Guy's old girlfriend will be his new mother. The anguished Guy invokes the wax heroes of hockey old to aid him, and they in fact do awaken, having revealed themselves not to be wax heroes at all but cowards who have chosen immobility as an escape from life.

Guy and the hockey immortals pursue Maddin Sr. and Veronica's ghost out of the room and onto the catwalk. Meta sees her father Chas among the wax immortals and rushes to meet him. She attempts to reenact the childhood game that Chas and Meta used to play — she swooned and he caught her — but since Chas no longer has hands, he cannot catch her and she falls to her death. Guy then joins the wax immortals in the museum, in cowardly retreat.

''EverQuest II'' is set five hundred years after the events of The Planes of Power storyline of the original ''EverQuest'' game in an alternate universe.

According to ''The book of Zebuxoruk'' during the events ''The Planes of Power'' many gods were killed. In an effort to undo this, Druzzil Ro cast a spell to reverse time to stop their deaths and prevent the freeing of Zebuxoruk. What happened instead was a new universe was created. In one universe Druzzil Ro succeeded and the events of plane of time never happened. In the Everquest 2 universe, the spell failed. This meant the death of many of the gods along with the freeing of Zebuxoruk remained. Zebuxoruk himself, although free in this universe was not fully separated from his counterpart in the other universe and was left in a confused and dazed state as he was aware of both universes and in both at the same time.

The gods withdrew from the world due to the deaths of too many gods at the end of the plane of time left all of them weak. The gods would need time to recover at the cost of much their planes. (Some, such as the Plane of Sky, became fragmented and separated into different areas such as Barren Sky) The gods also needed to stop the organized mortal incursions into their planes. To do this, the gods created Avatars and then retreated to their planes removing their direct influence on Norrath after setting in motion several events.

On Norrath itself, Dark Elves and the Orcs destroyed much of Faydwer; while the Ogres, Goblins, Orcs, and Giants ravaged Antonica. Transport and communication to the moon Luclin was cut off. The storyline says that 100 years ago, the continent of Antonica was ripped apart into smaller islands, which are now called the ''Shattered Lands''. The oceans became impassible, preventing contact between the continents of Norrath. Fifteen years ago, the moon Luclin exploded, and parts of the shattered moon remain in the sky.

''EverQuest II'' is set in what is called the "Age of Destiny" on the world of Norrath, 500 years later than the setting of the original ''EverQuest''. The game world has been drastically affected by several cataclysms (see Story, above) since the original ''EverQuest''. The planes temporarily closed and their respective gods no where to be seen, and the moon Luclin has been destroyed. Remnants from the original ''EverQuest'' s Norrath can be found throughout the Shattered Lands. Players can ride trained griffons on predetermined routes over the Shattered Lands, or acquire a horse, flying carpet, warg, rhino or a floating disk so that they can travel more swiftly throughout much of the game world.

Three siblings, Ben, Tom, and Melinda Potter (better known as Lindy), meet Professor Savant while visiting the zoo one rainy day. On Halloween, Lindy gets dared by her brother to knock on the spookiest house on the block for a quarter, which happens to belong to the Professor, and the three become more acquainted with him. After a second meeting, they begin spending time at the Professor's house, where he introduces them to games of concentration and observation. He reveals that there is a magic land called Whangdoodleland that can only be reached through the imagination, and that he is training them to accompany him there.

Whangdoodleland is the home of the last Whangdoodle that lived in the world. Once the Whangdoodle, and other creatures that are now considered imaginary, lived in our world. However, fearing that people were losing their imaginations in the pursuit of power and greed, the Whangdoodle created a magic and peaceful world over which he reigns. The professor and the children explore this world.

Each time the children return, they venture farther and farther into Whangdoodleland, intending to reach the palace where the Last Whangdoodle resides. However, the Whangdoodle's Prime Minister, the "Oily Prock", does not want them to disturb His Highness, and sets up a number of traps, both in Whangdoodleland and the real world to prevent this meeting. He enlists the marvelous and funny creatures of the land in his effort, including the High Behind Splintercat, the Sidewinders, the Oinck, the Gazooks, the Tree Squeaks, and the Swamp Gaboons. The children use their imaginations, intelligence, and the friendship of another denizen, the Whiffle Bird, to outwit the traps.

The kids at last meet the last Whangdoodle. It turns out he wants a female Whangdoodle to be his queen, so he won't be lonely, and Professor Savant's knowledge and talents have the ability to grant the Whangdoodle just that. That is, if the Professor can figure out exactly how to do it.

The story is divided into three parts:

Part one

On 26 March, the barber Ivan Yakovlevich finds out that his wife has made bread. During breakfast, he cuts a loaf in half and finds a nose in his bread. With horror, he recognizes this nose as that of one of his regular customers, Collegiate Assessor Kovalyov (known as 'Major Kovalyov'). Ivan's wife demands that Ivan remove the nose from her home, so he wraps it up in cloth and attempts to throw it off a bridge. He tries to get rid of the nose by throwing it into the Neva River, but he is caught by a police officer. Ivan attempts to bribe the police officer, but the officer refuses.

Part two

Major Kovalyov awakens to discover that his nose is missing. He grabs a mirror to see his face, and there is only a smooth, flat patch of skin in its place. He leaves his home to report the incident to the chief of police. On his way to the chief of police, Major Kovalyov sees his nose dressed in the uniform of a high-ranking official. His nose is already pretending to be a human being. He chases his nose, who refuses to return to his face. Kovalyov becomes distracted by a pretty girl, and while he is not watching, the nose escapes. Kovalyov attempts to contact the chief of police, but he is not home. So he visits the newspaper office to place an ad about the loss of his nose, but is refused. He then speaks to a police inspector who also refuses to help. Finally, Kovalyov returns home. Kovalyov returns to his flat, where the police officer who caught Ivan returns the nose (which was apprehended at a coach station, trying to flee the city). Kovalyov's joy is cut short when he finds out that he is unable to re-attach the nose, even with the help of a doctor. The next day, Kovalyov writes a letter to Madame Alexandra Grigorievna Podtochina, a woman who wants him to marry her daughter, and accuses her of stealing his nose; he believes that she has placed a curse on him for his fickleness toward her daughter. He writes to ask her to undo the spell, but she is confused by his letter, and reiterates her desire to have him marry her daughter. Her reply convinces him that she is innocent. In the city, rumours of the nose's activities have spread, and crowds gather in search of it.

Part three

On 7 April, Kovalyov wakes up with his nose reattached. He is carefully shaved by the barber and returns to his old habits of shopping and flirting with girls.

In 1983, Ezekiel "Zeke" Stone (Peter Horton) was a New York City Police detective whose wife, Rosalyn, was raped. He tracked down and arrested the offender, Gilbert Jax, who was cleared of the charges. Furious, Stone then murdered Jax. Two months later, Stone was killed in an unrelated incident and went to Hell for murdering Jax. Later in the show it was revealed that it was not the killing itself that condemned Stone to Hell, but the fact he took pleasure in it. Stone died the most decorated cop in NYC history.

Fifteen years later, a breakout from Hell occurs, led by a 4000-year-old Canaanite priestess named Ashur Badaktu (Teri Polo). The Devil explains that, over the centuries, a few souls have escaped (and presumably been returned to) Hell, but nothing of this magnitude, which includes 113 souls. Because the Devil is largely powerless on Earth, he makes a deal with Stone: Stone will be returned to Earth to track down these 113 escapees, and if he can return all of them to Hell (before one of them kills him), he will earn a second chance at life on Earth (and thus, possibly, Heaven). The Devil seems to hinder Stone's work almost as much as he helps it, however, divulging some information but withholding crucial facts or giving only cryptic clues to where Stone will find an escapee, apparently delighting in watching him become more irritable with his interference. It was suggested by an angel (in the episode "It's a Helluva Life", played by John Glover in a dual role) that Stone served God's purpose as well as the Devil's in his former life when he killed his wife's rapist.

Powers and equipment

Both Stone and his quarry have superhuman powers related to the amount of time each individual had spent in Hell. Being deceased, immortal souls, both Stone and the escapees he chases do not display many of the same physical limitations and weaknesses as the living. Throughout the series, they are shown to be unharmed by traditionally fatal encounters with fire or falling from great heights. They do not bleed, nor do they have a heartbeat. The souls cannot be killed, and injuries can only be inflicted to their eyes (it is shown the Devil can alter this rule somewhat, as he did in the episode "Encore"), by the living or dead. Even with the relatively restricted ways in which a soul can be harmed, as told by the Devil, they can only feel pain if it is inflicted by another escaped damned soul.

Each morning the souls (including Stone) wake up in the clothing they were wearing at their time of death. Any material items they had in their pockets when they died continuously regenerate each morning. In Stone's case, this means he awakens to find his badge, his fully loaded service pistol, and $36.27 - the amount of money he was carrying when he was murdered - on his person. This is a not-so-subtle biblical reference. Ezekiel 36:27 says "And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws" which is a succinct summation of Stones's new role. Normally Stone's items (gun, badge, etc.) retain no damage from day to day, even if they are hit by bullets. However this rule is inconsistently applied, as he takes his coat to a tailor in "Repentance", attempting to have it mended on a different day than when the damage occurred.

Fighting villains

The Devil informs Stone that because the eyes "are windows to the soul", Stone must pierce the eyes of an escapee to return them to Hell. This rule also applies to Stone himself; however, this was modified by the Devil in a special case when Stone had to return the man who raped his wife. To kill him, Stone had to employ the same rage as he did when he killed the rapist before. If Stone is returned, his mission would be considered a failure; therefore, he would remain in Hell and another person would be chosen to return the fugitive souls. The Devil has taunted Stone by reminding him of this and suggesting that certain escapees would be good replacements. However, in "It's a Helluva Life", an angel hints that the reason Stone was selected is because he was the only soul in Hell suitable for the task and for a second chance at life.

Some escapees have other preternatural powers, such as the ability to control the elements or turn invisible. The Devil explains that the longer one spends in Hell, the more Hell becomes a part of them. Even though Stone himself describes them, literally (in the opening narration) as "the most vile creatures", some of the escapees seem to be no more evil than Stone himself. He wears the name and pictographs of these 113 souls as tattoos over his body. As each soul is sent back, their corresponding tattoo disappears in a burning fashion, causing Stone considerable pain.

Other characters

Among Stone's allies are Maxine (Lori Petty), the woman who owns the hotel where he stays, and Father Cletus Horn (Albert Hall), a blind priest who eventually learns of Stone's mission. Stone occasionally worked with police detectives Ash (Teri Polo) and Fraker (Scott Lawrence). Much of the series' internal conflict was generated by Stone's inability to stay away from his wife, Rosalyn (Stacy Haiduk), who was still alive. Near the end of the season/series, Ash was revealed to be the priestess who engineered the escape from Hell by using her implied romance with the Devil, though he insisted he never loved anyone but God. She also became infatuated with Stone.

The USS ''Enterprise'', under the command of Captain Kirk, orbits the apparently lifeless planet Pyris VII. Contact has been lost with the landing party, consisting of Chief Engineer Scott, Lt. Sulu, and Crewman Jackson. Jackson calls for transport back to the ship, but falls from the platform dead. His open mouth emits an eerie voice, telling Captain Kirk that ''Enterprise'' is cursed and must leave the planet immediately, or death will follow.

Kirk beams down with First Officer Spock and Chief Medical Officer Dr. McCoy to search for the missing crewmen, leaving Assistant Chief Engineer DeSalle in charge of ''Enterprise''. The landing party comes upon three apparitions that appear as witches, who warn the landing team not to proceed any further. The team ignores the warnings and discovers what appears to be a medieval castle.

Entering the castle, the landing party comes upon a black cat wearing a diamond pendant. As they follow the cat, the floor collapses, and the fall knocks them unconscious. When they awaken, they find themselves held in a dungeon. Scott and Sulu soon appear, walking as if in a trance, and unlock their restraints.

Kirk and the others attempt to overpower them but suddenly find themselves in another part of the castle, with a robed man, Korob, and the black cat, whom he appears to consult for advice. Spock remarks that no life is known to exist on the planet, and Korob admits that he is not a native. The cat leaves the room, and Korob's beautiful colleague Sylvia enters, wearing a pendant identical to the cat's. As a demonstration of her power, by which she claims to have killed Jackson, Sylvia dangles a miniature model of ''Enterprise'' over a lit candle, after which the crew of the real ''Enterprise'' reports a rapid rise in hull temperature.

Kirk reluctantly surrenders and offers to cooperate. Korob then surrounds the model of the ship with a crystal prism, informing them that ''Enterprise'' has been encased in an impenetrable force field. Kirk and Spock are then led back to the dungeon.

After a while McCoy appears, in a trance, and leads Kirk back to Sylvia. Sylvia wants to experience human sensations, and appears in various feminine forms to stimulate Kirk's interest. Kirk plays along as he tries to get information. Sylvia tells Kirk that she and Korob are explorers from another galaxy, who wield their power through a device called a transmuter, which gives them control over matter. Sylvia then realizes Kirk is using her, and angrily sends him back to the dungeon. Korob comes to free Kirk and Spock, telling them that he has released their ship, and urges them to leave immediately, as he can no longer keep Sylvia under control. Sylvia, in the form of a giant cat, attacks him. Korob releases his scepter and Kirk picks it up, guessing it to be the transmuter.

Kirk tells Sylvia that he has the transmuter. He destroys it when she threatens him with a phaser. The castle disappears and Sulu, Scotty, and McCoy return to normal. Looking down, Kirk sees two tiny blue and yellow creatures, apparently Korob's and Sylvia's true forms. Unable to survive without the transmuter, the two creatures die and disintegrate.

Far from the water world where John Crichton and Aeryn Sun have been crystallized in the series-ending cliffhanger, a Peacekeeper fleet under the command of Scorpius and a Scarran fleet under Emperor Staleek engage in battle. The war that has now begun between the Peacekeepers and Scarrans as a result of Scorpius's unauthorized actions will be intensified over the prize to be won: John Crichton, whose mind contains the knowledge to make wormholes into weapons of mass destruction. In the meantime, Crichton and Aeryn are reformed by the race that had "crystallized" them previously, thanks to Rygel's careful retrieval of their crystallized components from the ocean floor two months after the events of "Bad Timing". Scorpius senses Crichton's revival, and with Sikozu journeys to the water planet with his command carrier, withdrawing from the battle.

The water world itself turns out to be the last outpost of the Eidelons, a race who once used their empathic abilities to encourage peace. Since their homeworld of Arnessk was made uninhabitable 12,000 years (or "cycles") before, the surviving Eidelon have forgotten how to use their abilities. Ka D'Argo reveals that the crew of Moya, their living Leviathan spaceship, discovered and revived the Eidelon on Arnessk. Two Eidelons, one a soldier, are selected to contact the revived Eidelon, and they board Moya as Scorpius arrives in orbit. Noranti remains on the water world to educate the Eidelon descendants on their lost culture. Due to the ongoing war between the Peacekeepers and the Scarrans, Scorpius and Sikozu accompany the crew with the passcodes they will need to get out of Peacekeeper territory.

Aeryn was pregnant with Crichton's child, but when she was reconstituted there was no sign of the baby. It is soon very apparent that when Rygel ingested their crystallized particles, the particles comprising the unborn child remained inside him, and the fetus is now growing inside him. At the edge of Peacekeeper space, Moya is harpooned and boarded by Tragan bounty hunters hired by the Peacekeepers to search ships leaving their territory. After a firefight, the Tragans are repelled just before Moya starbursts to Arnessk.

On the planet, they enter the Eidelon temple in the company of their former crewmate Jool; however, the Hierarch is not encouraged to help their efforts until he meets his descendant first hand. The Hierarch reveals that Aeryn's race, the Sebaceans, were early humans taken from Earth and genetically engineered 27,000 cycles before to act as Peacekeepers after the Eidelons had departed from an area. When the Eidelons entered suspended animation, without their moderating influence, the Peacekeepers became a militaristic expansionist empire.

After the Hierarch has boarded the ship and met his descendants in the company of the former Banik slave Stark, Staleek's Scarran Decimator arrives and destroys the temple and all in it, including Jool. Moya is threatened with destruction unless everyone except Pilot leaves her. D'Argo and Chiana take his ship, ''Lo'La'' (which has a cloaking device) to seek help while the others divert the Scarrans' attention by going over to their ship. On board ''Lo'La'', Chiana and D'Argo examine the Decimator and discover points of weakness in the structure. However, before they can take advantage of this knowledge, the Scarrans detect Chiana and D'Argo and ''Lo'La'' is destroyed while the others are taken prisoner by the Scarrans. Floating in space, Chiana and D'Argo are rescued by his estranged son Jothee, who has arrived with a ship of Luxan warriors. D'Argo shares what he has discovered about the Decimator with his son.

Under a Scarran heat probe, Crichton protests that he is unable to give Staleek the wormhole weapon knowledge he seeks. To prove it, he takes Staleek on board ''Farscape One'' through a wormhole to meet the alien known as Einstein, a member of the Ancients, the race that implanted the knowledge in Crichton's mind. There, Staleek is convinced that Crichton's knowledge does not extend to the creation of weapons, and Crichton warns him that such use of this knowledge would have disastrous consequences for the universe.

By the time Staleek and Crichton return to the Scarran Decimator, he appears convinced and even receptive, under the subtle influence of the Eidelon Hierarch, to seeking an end to war with the Peacekeepers. However, War Minister Akhna shoots the Hierarch and clears Staleek's mind. He leaves in fury and has a preservative gas released into the chamber just after Stark uses his essence-absorbing ability to store the Hierarch's power in himself and Rygel suffers a seizure, forcing Crichton to transfer the fetus back to Aeryn.

Crichton helps Sikozu adhere to the ceiling above the gas so she can pyrokinetically release a burst of flame that ignites it, blasting their prison open while the Luxans attack at the same time. They escape from the Scarrans, re-board Moya, and starburst away. On board Moya, Scorpius tries to persuade Crichton to yield the wormhole knowledge to the Peacekeepers. Crichton rages that he does not want to give the knowledge to the Peacekeepers, the Scarrans, or anyone. His only concern is for Aeryn and their soon-to-be-born child, but in order to live in a safe galaxy, he may have to take desperate measures. He flies ''Farscape One'' back to see Einstein, who unlocks the knowledge Crichton needs. Moya returns to the water world so that Stark can transfer the Hierarch's knowledge to the Eidelons there.

The water world becomes a battleground between the Peacekeepers and the Scarrans, and Moya is caught in the crossfire. Moya seeks the most immediate refuge within range — the bottom of the sea. Moya's internal sensors are damaged and she begins to take on water as a search is undertaken for Stark and the knowledge he has. After they find him terrified and awed by the personality he has assimilated on the Scarran ship, the crew of Moya takes a transport pod to the surface.

They find the Eidelon city under siege, and only a handful of survivors. During the siege, Scorpius discovers Sikozu has been relaying their position to the Scarrans in exchange for a promise for them to free her people from servitude. Scorpius leaves her behind while Moya's crew, together with what remains of Scorpius's Peacekeeper forces, fight their way out through the Scarrans.

In the middle of battle, Aeryn goes into labour and gives birth to a baby boy. Meanwhile, Jothee and Noranti have been rescuing Eidelon survivors from the burnt-out city. Stark manages to transfer the Hierarch's knowledge to the Eidelon high priestess, Muoma. It is hoped that with that knowledge, the surviving Eidelons can bring peace, but as they make their way back to Moya, they are ambushed by Ahkna's forces. Aeryn manages to shoot Ahkna before she can kill Crichton, but D'Argo is mortally wounded by a Scarran spear. He stays behind to cover their retreat as the living ship retrieves the others in her docking web.

Commandant Mele-On Grayza, now in charge of the Peacekeeper fleet since she poisoned her lover Maryk, the Grand Chancellor, squares off against the Scarran fleet above the water planet. With Rygel's and Scorpius's admonitions ringing in his ears, Crichton seats himself in a mental projection chair and uses his unlocked wormhole knowledge to show the opposing forces what they have been demanding: the wormhole weapon.

High above the water planet, a small wormhole appears. Everyone is initially unimpressed, but the wormhole begins to expand exponentially, dragging in and destroying several Scarran and Peacekeeper ships, then the nearby planet.

Caught in the gravitational pull of the wormhole, Crichton broadcasts to all sides that this is what wormhole weapons represent — not peace, not even war, but utter destruction. He informs the increasingly stunned and horrified onlookers that this single wormhole weapon will continue doubling in size until it destroys not only the solar system and then the entire rest of the galaxy, but the entire universe. As Moya's crew objects, he sardonically reminds them that even they have continuously asked for this. Weapons don't make peace, he reminds them, people make peace. He offers the two enemy fleets a choice: come to terms, or he will allow the wormhole to run its course and consume everything in existence. Commandant Grayza and a much reluctant Emperor Staleek finally agree to stand down and accept Eidelon mediation. Crichton shuts down the wormhole just as Einstein removes all the wormhole weapon's knowledge (Harvey states this from his death bed) from his mind, but then falls into a catatonic stupor.

While the peace treaty is signed, Aeryn keeps vigil over Crichton's body. Chiana decides to go with Rygel to Hyneria, where Rygel will retake his throne, to overcome her grief at D'Argo's death. Stark kneels at Crichton's bedside in thanks, removes his half-face mask for the last time as he has finally achieved peace within himself – (that side of his face now healed to merely scar-tissue). Harvey the neural clone "dies" finally; because Einstein removed all of the wormhole weapon's knowledge from Crichton's brain, he has no more reason to exist. With the wormhole knowledge out of Crichton's brain, Scorpius no longer has any need to keep chasing him, so says his goodbyes then lets himself go. Aeryn, unwilling to accept her son if it means losing Crichton, places their infant son beside Crichton (in the hopes that might revive him), and he soon "awakens" and moves to proudly hug his son, as Aeryn is moved to tears at the sight. With a vast starscape in front of them on Moya, Crichton and Aeryn announce that they have chosen for their son a name that represents strength and courage: D'Argo Sun-Crichton. They show their son the vast starfield, hopeful that their son will never have to experience war, as Crichton proclaims that "This is your playground".

The film is about two orphans - Mac Ramsey (Ivan Sergei) and Li Ann Tsei (Sandrine Holt) who have spent their life living with the Tang family - a ruthless Chinese organized crime syndicate. Mac and Li Ann were taken in by the Tang Godfather (Robert Ito) and have formed a close friendship with his son Michael (Michael Wong).

When they grow up, Li Ann is betrothed to Michael, but falls in love with Mac so the two scheme to steal money from the Tang family and run off to start a new life. During the heist, Mac is arrested and Li Ann flees to Canada. 18 months later, Mac is released into the charge of a menacing woman known only as the Director (Jennifer Dale) who takes him to Canada to work for her crime-fighting team. He soon realizes he will be working with Li Ann and her former cop boyfriend Victor (Nicholas Lea).

Superman has been missing for five years, since traveling to the location where astronomers believed they had discovered the remains of Krypton. During his absence, Superman's nemesis Lex Luthor was released from prison and married a rich widow to obtain her fortune upon her death. Superman, having failed in his quest to find surviving Kryptonians, returns to Earth and, as Clark Kent, resumes his job at the ''Daily Planet'' in Metropolis. He subsequently learns that Lois Lane has won the Pulitzer Prize for her article "Why the World Doesn't Need Superman." Meanwhile, Luthor travels to the Fortress of Solitude and steals Kryptonian crystals, which he uses for an experiment that causes a power outage on the East Coast. The power loss interferes with the flight test of a Space Shuttle to be launched into space from its piggy-back mounting on an airliner, occupied by Lois Lane, who is covering the shuttle story. Clark flies into action as Superman and stops the plane from crashing onto a baseball stadium.

The world rejoices at Superman's return, but he has difficulty coping with Lois' fiancé, Richard White, nephew of ''Daily Planet'' editor-in-chief Perry White, and their 5-year-old son, Jason. With Superman distracted by an out-of-control vehicle (a diversion involving Luthor's henchwoman, Kitty Kowalski), Luthor steals Kryptonite from the Metropolis Museum of Natural History. Perry then assigns Lois to interview Superman while Clark investigates the blackout. Lois and Jason inadvertently board Luthor's yacht and are captured after Lois decides to hold interest in the blackout story, which she connects to Luthor's experiment. He reveals to them his grand scheme of using one of the stolen Kryptonian crystals, which he has combined with the Kryptonite, to grow a new continental landmass in the Northern Atlantic Ocean that will supplant the continental United States and kill millions of innocent people.

Seeing Jason seemingly have a slight reaction to Kryptonite, Luthor asks who Jason's father really is; Lois asserts that the father is Richard. The crystal begins to create Luthor's new landmass, while Lois attempts to escape but is attacked by a henchman. Jason throws a piano at the henchman, killing him and showing that he is actually Superman's son. Meanwhile, Superman is attempting to minimize the destruction in Metropolis caused by the new landmass' growth when Richard arrives in a sea plane to rescue Lois and Jason. Superman soon arrives to help and then flies off to find Luthor.

Meeting Luthor, Superman discovers the landmass is filled with Kryptonite, which weakens him to the point that Luthor and his henchmen are able to brutalize and torture him. Superman is stabbed by Luthor with a shard of Kryptonite before he falls into the ocean and is left to drown. Lois makes Richard turn back to rescue Superman, whereupon she removes the Kryptonite from his back. Superman, after regaining his strength from the sun, lifts the landmass after putting layers of earth between him and the Kryptonite. Luthor and Kitty escape in their helicopter; Kitty, unwilling to let millions of people die, tosses away the crystals that Lex stole from the Fortress of Solitude. She and Luthor are stranded on a desert island when their helicopter runs out of fuel. Superman pushes the landmass into space with the crystals trapped on the landmass, but is weakened by the Kryptonite and crashes back to Earth. Doctors remove more Kryptonite from Superman's wound, but after it is removed they cannot penetrate his skin with their surgical tools. While Superman remains in a coma, Lois and Jason visit him at the hospital where Lois whispers a secret into Superman's ear and then kisses him. Superman later awakens and flies to visit Jason, reciting his father Jor-El's last speech to Jason as he sleeps. Lois starts writing another article, titled "Why the World Needs Superman". Superman reassures her that he is now back to stay, and flies off to low orbit, where he gazes down at the world once again.

''School Rumble'' is a romantic ''shōnen'' comedy revolving around the daily lives of the students of Class 2-C at the fictional Yagami High School, along with their friends and families. The main female protagonist is Tenma Tsukamoto, an unremarkable second-year high school student who secretly admires her eccentric, enigmatic, nice-guy classmate, Oji Karasuma. Tenma struggles to confess her feelings to Karasuma. He remains oblivious to her interest, instead seeking fulfillment by indulging in curry. The main male protagonist, delinquent Kenji Harima, similarly yearns for Tenma, attending school solely to be near her. Like Tenma, Harima has difficulty declaring his love, and whenever he summons the courage to do so, circumstances conspire against him.

Harima complicates the love triangle through constant bumbling, and misunderstandings among the students aggravate the situation. Harima becomes involved with Tenma's close friend, Eri Sawachika, after the pair are thrown together in mutually embarrassing situations. Later in the series, he develops a friendship with Tenma's younger sister, Yakumo Tsukamoto, who becomes Harima's assistant on a manga he writes. The plots of Harima's stories portray a Harima-like hero fighting to save a Tenma-like damsel in various historical or fantastical situations, usually in battle against an obvious facsimile of Karasuma. After the hero saves the heroine, she always falls in love with him. Yakumo's relationship with Harima causes problems with Class 2-C's student representative, Haruki Hanai, who has a crush on Yakumo, with the sisters' shared surname causing Harima and Hanai to misinterpret the object of each others' respective infatuations.Japanese often address each other by their surname unless they are in a close relationship, such as with a long time friend, relative, or spouse. Although Harima manages to engineer romantic encounters with Tenma, her relationship with Karasuma nevertheless progresses, and Harima's bonds with Eri and Yakumo grow stronger. Eventually Tenma musters the courage to confess her love, but shortly after Karasuma loses his memory. His amnesia gives a purpose to Tenma's life; she concentrates on her studies to become a doctor and help Karasuma.

Although ''School Rumble'' focuses on Harima and Tenma, the series explores a number of supporting characters. These include Tenma's friends Mikoto Suo, who runs a kenpo dojo where her childhood friend, Hanai, trains, and Akira Takano, a mysterious and uncannily perceptive girl. As the story progresses, more major characters are introduced into the relationship web.

''School Rumble Z'', the "parallel comedy", ends with Class 2-C's graduation ceremony. At this point most of the plot-lines are settled, but there is no clear resolution for the main protagonists. Karasuma still suffers from memory loss, and although Harima attends the ceremony with Eri, their relationship status remains the same. There is a scene in the last chapter which could either be an imagination from Max or a flashforward, which shows Harima and Eri visiting Karasuma and the Tsukamoto sisters together, with Eri carrying a child in her arms.

A university professor named Dr. Robert Bolton and his partner Dr. Luther Paradigm create a machine known as the "gene-slammer" which is capable of changing aquatic animals into anthropomorphic hybrids by combining their DNA. In his attempt to prevent Paradigm from using this machine for personal power, Bolton is transformed into an unseen monstrosity, but escapes. Later, Paradigm gives Bolton's four sons John, Bobby, Coop, and Clint the likeness of four different sharks. When Dr. Paradigm captures their friend Bends, the resulting "Street Sharks" rescue him and the resulting battle causes Paradigm to be combined with piranha DNA (for which he is often nicknamed "Dr. Piranoid" by other characters). In subsequent episodes, Dr. Paradigm creates a variety of mutant animals to destroy the Street Sharks while attempting to persuade the inhabitants of their native metropolis of Fission City to imprison them. Of these mutant animals, a few sided with the Sharks themselves: namely Rox, Moby Lick, Mantaman, and El Swordo.

The final few episodes introduced the Dino Vengers: a group of extraterrestrial dinosaurs allied with the Street Sharks against their own rivals in the Raptor Gang. When Dr. Paradigm wanted to get a sample of the Raptors' DNA to improve himself, they trick him by giving him iguana DNA which transforms him into "Dr. Iguanazoid" leading to him working with the Raptors where they will reward him by correcting the DNA mistake they gave him. In the end, Paradigm is captured and imprisoned while the Raptor Gang leaves Earth.

The Dino Vengers later had their own series called ''Extreme Dinosaurs'' where they and the Raptors had different backgrounds.

Setting

''Diamond'' and ''Pearl'' are set in the fictional region of Sinnoh, an island based on the Japanese island of Hokkaidō. Sinnoh is not directly connected to any other Pokémon region. It is characterized by large, snow-covered mountains; Mt. Coronet, a part of a mountain range, divides Sinnoh in half. Unlike previous regions, Sinnoh has a "northern" feel to it because it is the first region with snow-covered routes. Sinnoh is also characterized by its waterways with three main lakes, Verity, Acuity, and Valor, that form a triangle. Unlike the Hoenn region, however, which is mostly water routes, only 30 percent of Sinnoh's landscape comprises waterways. Underneath Sinnoh's surface is the Sinnoh Underground, which is a large maze of caves and tunnels.

Locations in Sinnoh include Oreburgh City (クロガネシティ Kurogane City), Eterna City (ハクタイシティ Hakutai City), Veilstone City (トバリシティ Tobari City), Pastoria City (ノモセシティ Nomose City), Hearthome City (ヨスガシティ Yosuga City), Canalave City (ミオシティ Mio City), Snowpoint City (キッサキシティ Kissaki City), and Sunyshore City (ナギサシティ Nagisa City).

Story

The games chronicle the adventures of a new Pokémon trainer who strives to become the Pokémon League Champion by collecting and training Pokémon. Like most games in the series, ''Diamond'' and ''Pearl'' feature eight Pokémon Gyms led by Gym Leaders, professional trainers whose expertise lies in a particular Pokémon type. Gym Leaders serve as bosses and reward skilled trainers with Gym Badges, key to the advancement of the plot. As with all core games, the protagonist must also thwart the schemes of a crime syndicate, in this case, Team Galactic, who plan to use Pokémon to create a new universe just for themselves, while destroying the current one.

As with all other ''Pokémon'' role-playing games, ''Diamond'' and ''Pearl'' begin in the protagonist's hometown. After viewing a television report about a media-conducted search for a red Gyarados, which was spotted at a faraway lake, the protagonist and their best friend, Barry by default, travel together to check the local lake for a Pokémon like it. They spot Professor Rowan, a Pokémon evolution researcher, and his assistant, the playable character not selected in the game: Lucas (boy) or Dawn (girl). After a short discussion, the professor and his assistant leave the lake, leaving a briefcase behind. When they are attacked by a wild Starly each, the protagonist and their rival decide to examine the briefcase. They are then given a choice of one of three Pokémon found within—the Grass-type Turtwig, the Fire-type Chimchar, or the Water-type Piplup—and proceed to battle the attacking Pokémon. After defeating the Starly, Lucas or Dawn retrieves and returns the briefcase to the professor. Noticing that a bond has been forged between the young protagonist and his or her chosen Pokémon, Rowan offers it to them, asking that they embark on a journey and fill their Pokédex.

The protagonist encounters the antagonistic group, Team Galactic, early in the game, when he or she must save Professor Rowan from some of their thugs; however, their motives are unclear until later. The player encounters Team Galactic again when they take over a wind farm and when they set up a base in Eterna City, before eventually taking over Sinnoh's three lakes in an attempt to capture the Mirage Pokémon Uxie, Azelf, and Mesprit. Shortly after the player earns their seventh Gym Badge, Team Galactic captures the Mirage Pokémon and imprisons them inside the science laboratory of the Team Galactic Headquarters Building, where its members extract crystals from the Pokémon to create the Red Chain, an object that can control the legendary Pokémon Palkia in ''Pearl'', or Dialga in ''Diamond''. After releasing the trio, the protagonist is able to access Spear Pillar, an ancient ruin atop Mt. Coronet, where the leader of Team Galactic summons Dialga or Palkia. The legendary Pokémon's powers begin to overwhelm Sinnoh, causing the newly free Uxie, Azelf, and Mesprit to attempt to stop it. The player then battles Palkia or Dialga, and after defeating or capturing the Pokémon, Sinnoh returns to normal. Afterwards, the player continues their journey, eventually making it to the Sinnoh region Pokémon League's Elite Four. After defeating all four members, they then battle the Sinnoh League Champion, a woman named Cynthia, who had appeared before in the game. After the protagonist defeats Cynthia, they become the new Sinnoh League Champion, finishing the main story. In the post-game, there is a new island to explore that contains Pokémon not seen in the main game, and has some new stores and a tournament center. The protagonist's old friend, who challenged them to battles multiple times before, will also be waiting for them here and will challenge them to one more battle.

Set in Paris, the play revolves around three friends—Serge, Marc and Yvan—who find their previously solid 15-year friendship on shaky ground when Serge buys an expensive painting. The canvas is white, with several fine white lines.

Marc, appalled to hear that Serge had paid two hundred thousand francs, scornfully describes it as "a piece of white shit". Serge argues that the painting, created by a reputable artist, is worth its hefty price, but Marc remains unconvinced.

Serge and Marc confide in Yvan about their disagreement. Yvan, who is engaged but conflicted over his forthcoming wedding, remains neutral and attempts to smooth things over. To Serge, Yvan comments politely on the painting but admits that he does not grasp the essence of it. To Marc, Yvan laughs at the painting's price but suggests that the work is not quite meaningless. Yvan's vacillations only fuel the disagreement as his friends criticize his timid neutrality.

Several nights later the three meet for dinner, and an all-out argument rapidly develops with each using the painting as an excuse to criticise the others over perceived failures. Marc attacks Yvan for never expressing any substantial opinions, and for being an "arse-licker" in the ongoing conflict between his fiancée, his in-laws, and his mother. Marc and Serge argue that Yvan should call off the marriage, to which Yvan responds with lame excuses. Serge criticizes Marc's unwillingness to accept that his friends’ opinions differ from his own; and he reveals that he has for some time despised Marc's girlfriend.

Marc finally admits that his true resentment is not the painting itself but the uncharacteristic independence of thought that the purchase reveals in Serge. He recalls that Serge used to share his own views on arts and culture, and he feels abandoned now that Serge has developed his own, modern taste. Marc says that friends must always influence each other, but Serge finds that view to be possessive and controlling. Yvan, at last defending himself, sobbingly explains that he tries to be tolerant and agreeable because he values companionship over dominance: their friendship is his only sanctuary in his burdensome life.

After Yvan's outburst, the friends calm down. The argument wordlessly settles as Serge allows Marc to deface the painting using a blue felt-tip pen. Marc draws a person skiing along one of the white lines on the painting. Serge and Marc agree to attempt to rebuild their friendship, and they begin by washing the pen marks off the painting. Marc asks Serge whether he had known that the ink was washable; Serge replies that he had not. But he had indeed known that, and feels troubled about his lie. Marc concludes by describing his own interpretation of the painting: it is of a man who moves across the canvas and disappears.

The titular Mindhunters are a group of young FBI students who are undergoing training as profilers. Their instructor, experienced profiler Jake Harris, employs a highly realistic training approach by assigning the group variants of real investigations, including elaborate sets, props, and FBI actors to play out each scenario.

The students include Bobby, a young man with a talent for fixing things; Vince, a wheelchair-bound ex-cop who goes nowhere without his gun; Nicole, a smoker who is attempting to quit; Sara, a talented but insecure profiler who is terrified of drowning; Rafe, a very intelligent, caffeine-powered British investigator; Lucas, a supposedly fearless man whose parents were killed when he was a child; and J.D., their leader and Nicole's lover. Nearing the end of their training, the group's overall morale is high, though Vince discovers that neither he, nor Sara, will make the rank of "Profiler" after secretly reading their training evaluations.

The group travels with their instructor to a small island off the coast of North Carolina to complete their final training exercise. At the last minute, they are joined by Gabe, an outside observer who has requested to see Harris's teaching methods in action. The island, used by the Navy to train for hostage rescue and outbreak scenarios, has an existing "''population''" of target dummies, vehicles on mechanical rails, and small town storefronts. Similar to their earlier training scenarios, Harris plans on using the town for their final exam, tracking a serial killer calling himself, "''the puppeteer''". The team settles down for the evening and practice their profiling skills on each other and Gabe, who reveals that he is also a skilled profiler in his own right. Sara and Lucas briefly bond over losses in their families; Sara reveals that her sister was murdered and drowned, creating her persistent fear of water, while Lucas shares that his parents died when he was 10. The two resolve to use the scenario to confront their personal fears.

The following morning, during the initial investigation of the "''puppeteer''" scenario, J.D. dies after triggering a clock mechanism that causes a tank of liquid nitrogen (mislabeled as helium) to freeze him instantly. Convinced that J.D.'s death is neither accidental nor part of the training simulation, the group heads to the dock to leave the island, but the boat explodes when Lucas triggers a laser tripwire. After returning to base, the group realizes that broken watches and clocks found at each scene point to the fact that there's a real serial killer on the island, who has co-opted the training exercise and is now hunting them down. The killer's M.O. indicates that he or she plans to kill someone at a time designated by the broken clocks. After a thorough search of the island reveals no other personnel, the group concludes that the killer is one of them.

At first, suspicions seem to point to Gabe, as Lucas found maps and documents of the island; however, before the group finishes confronting him, they each pass out, realizing that their coffee was drugged. They awaken to discover that the killer murdered Rafe while they were unconscious, draining his blood and leaving his severed head on an upper shelf, and suspicions again return to Gabe. He temporarily deflects these suspicions when he saves Vince from another trap involving broken water pipes and lights electrocuting the water. However, Bobby is killed by a secondary trap when he goes to turn off the water, just after discussing the engineering expertise needed to set this up. Sara, meanwhile, deduces that the traps are based on their strengths, talents, and weaknesses; the remaining profilers elect to stick together, to keep an eye on each other. After more clues are discovered, suspicion shifts to Sara, who insists that she's being framed. Nicole, suspicious that the killer is among the group, leaves to be alone, but she becomes the next to die after she smokes a cigarette laced with acid.

Unexpectedly, the island's speakers begin to broadcast a taunting message from Harris, making them realize that he did not leave the island, though he led the profilers to believe that he had; convinced that Harris has been the killer all along, the remaining profilers search for him. Vince refuses to join the search party and stays behind at the lab. Sara, Gabe and Lucas find Harris and two other FBI agents next to him, all dead; Harris has been strung up to wires from the ceiling as a sort of marionette, just like the fake "''puppeteer''" crime scene that they were to investigate. The three turn on each other after triggering another trap, and Lucas is shot during the ensuing gun battle. Vince finds himself trapped in a freezer after he tries to reload his empty gun, but he escapes and then dies when his gun backfires on him in the elevator.

Sara finds Vince's body, but she is ambushed by Gabe, and the two struggle physically and mentally to profile the other, each believing the other person is the killer. Gabe manages to overpower Sara but is then attacked by Lucas, and the two of them get into a protracted fight. Sara eventually recovers and hits Gabe over the head with a fire extinguisher. Lucas reveals that he had been wearing a bulletproof vest, allowing him to survive getting shot on the street. With Gabe subdued, he expresses doubt that there's enough evidence to prove that Gabe was the killer. Sara, however, reveals she found a way to get one step ahead of the killer. Knowing that the killer was relying on timed mechanisms and remotes, as well as enjoying watching their anxiety under pressure, she changed one of the clocks to appear slow by fifteen minutes, and covered it in a powder that glows phosphorescently under blacklight; reasoning that the killer wouldn't be able to resist setting the clock to the correct time, she grabs a black light to scan Gabe's hands and reveal him as the killer only to find the marking powder on Lucas' hands instead. Lucas confesses that his parents did not die in an accident, but that he killed them. Struggling ever since to find more thrilling targets to kill, he joined the FBI and planned to kill his brilliant fellow profilers, the only people he thought would be "''worthy prey''". Lucas tries to drown Sara, but she manages to kick him into the water. The two both manage to recover their weapons underwater, but Sara manages to shoot Lucas first.

Lucas recovers and begins to taunt her about the evidence he planted blaming her, but Gabe comes to her rescue. In a last desperate effort, Lucas attempts to regain his weapon, forcing Sara to kill him, shooting him in the head. The following day, Gabe and Sara flag down a U.S. Navy helicopter to leave the island, determining that they've sufficiently secured the scene.

The single player campaign game revolves around a fictional war between NATO and China that takes place in Kazakhstan. The media on both sides air propaganda that accuses the other of war crimes while the player fights for each nation back and forth. When the player eventually chooses a side to lead to victory, it is revealed that a terrorist organization called Burning Flag is responsible for misleading both NATO and China into starting the war. Various war crimes each side believes the other committed during the fighting were in fact arranged by Burning Flag, which also sabotaged the only known attempt at negotiations. The winning side must then stop Burning Flag's leader, Commander 31, from launching 3 nuclear ICBMs at the United States, Europe, and China; failure would mean neither side would have anything left to fight for or live for. During the course of an intense battle, the ICBM launches are halted and Commander 31 killed, with the player being hailed as the hero who made China's- or NATO's- victory possible.

The story starts with Prince Charles entertaining some bored children at Balmoral. He tells them about an old man who, in search of peace and quiet (and a hot spring bath), has made his way to a remote cave at Lochnagar. He comes across a cave and, dragging a bathtub inside, claims the place as his own. The old man makes a lot of noise and mentions that his neighbours used to complain about the banging and noise coming from his home late at night. He chats to an animal he names Maudie, the original occupant of the cave, while setting up the apparatus for running his long-awaited bath.

Finally, all is ready and the Old Man appears in his tartan dressing gown, ready to step into the bath. But, as he jumps in, he realises that the water is freezing and his squeals echo round the loch. He tells Maudie that he will have to wait for a bath until he has found a way of heating the water, and pulls the plug on his full bath.

Unknown to the Old Man, his cave is near the underground home of the Gorm, a clan of Scottish pixies, who are responsible for pushing up the spring flowers in Scotland. The Gorm King is an inventor, and has created a curious device (which looks and sounds like a set of bagpipes) which reduces full grown flowers back to seeds. The seed will turn back into a flower when it gets wet and the Gorm Queen and Princess declare that the King has changed the way everyone will work from now on. However, as they are discussing this, a flood pours down unexpectedly from above. When the Old Man emptied his bath, the water followed his complicated arrangements of pipes and into the Gorm's underground workshops, ruining the flowers and flooding out the workers. The Princess and her younger brother end up being washed away from their parents and come out of a tree stump alone and wet. They look up to find a 'giant', tending to a huge pot over a roaring fire and the young Prince fears that they will be made into soup.

In fact the 'giant' is the Old Man, who has found a way to heat his bath by lighting a huge fire underneath it. As he waits, still in his tartan dressing gown, he is suddenly hit by the Gorm King's device, which has been picked up by the young Princess. He immediately shrinks to the size of a pixie and is taken away by the Prince and Princess, to see what his bathwater has done to their home. At first, he thinks he is having a strange dream, and so he appears callously unconcerned at the devastation, stating only that "I've never dreamed in colour before". This delusion lasts until he falls down a hole, hitting his head. As he exclaims at the pain in his head, it dawns on the Old Man that since you can't feel pain in a dream, what he's seen must be real and the damage is his fault.

The Prince and Princess take the Old Man back outside but, to their shock, the whole world seems to be on fire. The fire underneath the Old Man's bath has spread and is threatening the countryside. The Old Man offers to help, but he needs to be bigger before he can do anything. The Princess is reluctant to help the Old Man, but she relents and tells him that he needs to 'get watered'. With the help of Maudie, the Old Man is catapulted into his bath and returns to normal size. He pulls the plug again, flooding the area and putting out the fire, while protecting the pixies' underground home from further damage.

The Old Man has learned that his actions affect others and that he must think of the consequences. The story ends with the Gorm sharing a huge bath with the Old Man, complete with water wheels and boats. When he is finished, the Old Man drains his bath using more of his special plumbing skills to reuse the water to reactivate the magic seeds and causing flowers to pop up all around.

The story closes on the Old Man of Lochnagar and returns to Balmoral and Prince Charles. The children tell him that it was a good story, but that's all, just a story. Charles replies that you never really know, and lifts a set of bagpipes from his desk and begins to play. After a few notes, the Prince is affected in the same way as the Old Man, shrinking to a tiny size and suggesting that his story was inspired by true events. The children he has been entertaining then race off through the house to find the bathtub, to restore the Prince to his rightful size.

American socialite Catherine West arrives in Italy from New York to a flurry of journalists following the car accident death of her husband Robert, a Texas oil baron who left her his $200 million estate. She retreats to an Italian villa rented by her austere lawyer, Brian Sanders. Catherine soon meets Peter Donovan, a young American man from Boston whose car has broken down nearby. Peter manages to manipulate his way into staying with Catherine, who is initially icy toward his romantic advances. However, Peter swiftly manages to seduce her, and the two engage in a passionate affair.

Catherine travels to London to visit with her late husband's relatives to discuss property she is bequeathing to them, but finds them to be abrasive and angry with her, believing she married Robert solely for his money. Late one night, Catherine senses someone has broken into the house, but the housekeeper Teresa attributes Catherine's paranoia to her abuse of alcohol and prescription drugs. When Catherine invites Peter to stay with her for a week, his sister Eva arrives at the villa unexpectedly. Catherine enjoys the siblings' companionship and youthful vivaciousness.

During a dinner meeting with Brian, Catherine admits she is suffering from liver failure due to her alcoholism. Upon returning to the villa, Catherine finds Peter and Eva in bed together nude. She presumes the two have engaged in incest, but Peter informs Catherine that he and Eva are not blood-related, and are in fact only stepsiblings. Eva confesses that she is sexually attracted to Catherine, and the three soon engage in a series of nightly debaucherous threesomes fueled by Peter and Eva's indulging of Catherine in liquor and stimulant drugs.

One night, Catherine, disgusted with herself and in a drunken rage, orders Peter and Eva to leave the villa. They oblige, but soon return, and begin physically abusing Catherine and taking control of the house, subduing Catherine by forcing her to drink. Finding herself held hostage by the siblings, Catherine becomes increasingly desperate to escape Peter and Eva. She manages to produce a gun, with which she shoots Peter. Catherine loses consciousness due to a sedative fed to her by Eva, and awakens to find that the gun was loaded with blanks by the siblings, and that Peter was unharmed. The two bind and gag Catherine, tying her to a bed. When Brian visits the villa, Peter tells him that Catherine has descended into a depression, and has threatened to commit suicide.

Locked in her upstairs bedroom, Catherine is further tormented by the siblings, who on one occasion serve her a live toad for dinner. The two later bring her whiskey and a large number of barbiturates, along with a falsified letter stating Brian has died in a plane crash, with the hope that Catherine will voluntarily kill herself by overdosing. Catherine manages to escape her bedroom and flees to the attic, accessing the roof of the villa. Brian arrives, and witnesses Catherine collapse over the edge of the roof, falling to the veranda below and fracturing her skull. Brian picks the injured Catherine up in his arms. The two briefly make eye contact before he ruthlessly throws her over the veranda onto the driveway below, killing her. Brian, who has conspired with the siblings to steal Catherine's fortune, produces two forged suicide notes, and orders Peter to alert authorities to Catherine's staged suicide. It is revealed that Brian is in fact Peter and Eva's uncle, and had Catherine unknowingly sign documents that bequeathed her estate to the trio.

After the reading of Catherine's last will and testament, Brian is met by a detective who notifies him that New York police discovered that the brakes in Robert's car were tampered with, causing his fatal road accident. Brian momentarily fears their plot has been discovered, until the detective states that police believe Catherine caused the accident, as Robert had planned to divorce her. Based on this conclusion, Catherine is not legally entitled to her husband's estate, which Brian is informed will instead go to his aunt. Meanwhile, as Peter and Eva gleefully drive through the city in their convertible, they are killed in a head-on collision with a truck.

The novel is set in Britain in three parts, taking place in 1983, 1986 and 1987. The story surrounds the young gay protagonist, Nick Guest. Nick is middle-class and from the fictional market town of Barwick in Northamptonshire; he has graduated from Worcester College, Oxford with a First in English and is to begin postgraduate studies at University College London. Many of the significant characters in the novel are Nick's male contemporaries from Oxford.

The book explores the tension between Nick's intimate relationship with the Fedden family, in whose parties and holidays he participates, and the realities of his sexuality and gay life, which the Feddens accept only to the extent of never mentioning it. It explores themes of hypocrisy, privilege, drugs, and homosexuality, with the emerging AIDS crisis forming a backdrop to the book's conclusion.

"The Love Chord" (1983)

The novel begins in the summer of 1983, shortly after Margaret Thatcher's second victory in the general election. Nick moves into the luxurious Notting Hill home of the Fedden family. The Feddens' son, Toby, is Nick's Oxford University classmate on whom he has a secret crush. Nick's stay is meant to last for a short time while Toby and his parents—Rachel, the daughter of an extremely wealthy Rothschild-like Jewish family, and Gerald, a successful businessman and just-elected Conservative MP for Barwick—are at their holiday home in France. Left at home with Nick is the Feddens' daughter Catherine whom the Feddens are reluctant to leave on her own because of her history of self-harming. Nick helps Cat through a crisis when she considers cutting herself, and when her parents return they suggest he stay on indefinitely, since Cat has become attached to him and Toby is moving into his own place.

Nick dates Leo Charles, a black man from Willesden in his late 20s, whom he meets through a lonely hearts column. As Leo lives with his religious mother and Nick feels restricted in the Fedden household, the two conduct their sexual affair almost entirely outside in public parks and side streets.

Leo also introduces Nick to Pete, his middle-aged former lover who runs an antiques shop, like Nick's father, and who is sickly.

"To Whom Do You Beautifully Belong?" (1986)

Having never moved out, Nick is now a permanent member of the Fedden household. He spends most of his time with Wani Ouradi, one of his Oxford contemporaries, the son of a rich Lebanese businessman. Despite the fact that Nick is openly gay, Wani appears to have a female fiancée and remains closeted, so their relationship is kept secret. Though Nick is finishing his doctorate on Henry James, he spends most of his time living a decadent lifestyle of drugs and sex with Wani who lavishes him with money and expensive gifts. To cover their relationship Wani pretends Nick is helping him write a screenplay of ''The Spoils of Poynton'' as well as helping him establish ''Ogee'', a luxury magazine Wani wants to create.

Nick discovers by accident that Gerald is having an affair with his assistant, Penny, which disturbs his view of the Feddens.

Catherine has now been diagnosed as being bipolar and is on lithium, which helps to control her mood swings. She realizes that Nick is having an affair with Wani when the two of them spend time at the Feddens' French country home.

A party is thrown for Rachel and Gerald's 25th wedding anniversary. Nick meets Margaret Thatcher for the first time and, high on coke, asks her to dance, which she accepts.

"The End of the Street" (1987)

In 1987 on election day Nick goes to vote and does not vote for the Conservative candidate but a member of the Green party. He is visited by Leo's sister at the Ogee office where he learns that Leo died a few weeks before of AIDS and his sister is trying to warn all his former lovers. Nick spends election night at home alone with Catherine. Nick watches as his former gay university friend Polly is elected an MP at 28 and Gerald barely scrapes back in his seat.

He later has a working lunch with two possible gay film investors. Wani arrives late. He has AIDS and is wasting away. Wani offers to leave Nick some property that he owns as it will ensure Nick's financial security for the rest of his life. He also warns Nick that a scandal over improperly managed funds will soon be breaking around Gerald.

Going home Nick finds that the scandal has already broken. A boisterous Cat, now overly energetic thanks to her medication, has Nick drive her to a location where they find Penny and Gerald together. Cat exposes their affair, which forces Gerald to resign as an MP and causes resentment between Rachel and Nick, where Rachel blames Nick for her own lack of responsibility regarding Cat, and contends Nick never truly understood that his role was to take care of Catherine, not indulge her.

Shortly after, the press (who have been camped outside the Feddens' home), publish a story on Wani and Nick, causing greater scandal. Gerald uses Nick as a scapegoat and accuses him of attaching himself to the family and then wrecking them because of his homosexuality.

Nick goes to live with Wani and views the first and final issue of ''Ogee''. He goes back to the Feddens' house to collect his things, knowing they are absent for a wedding, and runs into Penny, who reveals that she is going to continue her affair with Gerald. Nick leaves the Feddens' house for the final time, and muses on the HIV test he is having done the next day, which he imagines will be positive.

This book takes place about fifteen years after the end of the original story, when survivors of the Dalton-Quinn tree, a few Carther States jungle dwellers, and two London Tree Citizens have settled on a new tree. This 'Citizen's Tree' has become a stable community which some believe may be too small to survive in the long run.

Kendy, the recorded personality of a citizen of "The State" who exists in the computer of the original space-ship that colonized the Smoke Ring, has become impatient. He decides to re-establish contact with Citizen's Tree. Kendy manipulates a group into making contact with "The Admiralty", a neighboring civilization at Gold's L4 Lagrange Point (which they refer to as "the Clump"). The group explores this more advanced civilization with a mixture of wonder and trepidation.

Although much of the story is a sort of "travelogue" exploring the Smoke Ring and the technology used in the unique environment, ''The Smoke Ring'' does spend more time on story and character development than ''The Integral Trees''. One of the drivers for the story follows the latest operator of "the silver suit", the Citizen's Tree's working spacesuit. Few are capable of operating the suit due to its size; due to the lack of gravity, most humans in the Smoke Ring grow too tall to fit into it. The job goes to the occasionally born "dwarves" who tend to develop into humans of Earth-normal height and build. A major sub-plot develops around the latest silver suit operator's attempts to infiltrate The Admiralty to gain information, and The Admiralty's near obsession with capturing the Citizen's Tree's spacesuit.

This focuses on the story of Kendy and the original mission. The chain of events that led to the colonization of the Smoke Ring through a "mutiny" on the ship is explored. After retrieving the crew's own records of the events, Kendy realizes that the crew had not mutinied at all, and that he had forced them off the ship, believing this to be in keeping with his orders from Earth. This was apparently blocked from his memory, and he suffers a form of breakdown when he learns (or re-learns) the truth.

The film follows the adventures of Murat (Arkın) and Ali (Akkaya), whose spaceships crash on an alien desert planet following a battle, shown by using footage from ''Star Wars'' as well as Soviet and American space program newsreel clips. While hiking across the desert, they speculate that the planet is inhabited only by women. Ali does his wolf-whistle, which he uses on attractive women. However, he blows the wrong whistle and they are attacked by skeletons on horseback, which they defeat in hand-to-hand combat.

The main villain soon shows up and captures the heroes, bringing them to his gladiatorial arena so they can fight. The villain tells them he is actually from Earth and is a 1,000-year-old wizard. He tried to defeat Earth, but was always repelled by a "shield of concentrated human brain molecules" (really footage of the Death Star). The only way he can bypass this impenetrable defense is to use a human brain against it.

The heroes escape and hide in a cave full of refugees who already fled the villain's tyrannical rule. Murat develops a romantic connection with the only woman there (Uçar), who looks after the children. (The implied romance is shown through many long eye contacts and smiles from the girl, but nothing more.) Zombies of the dark lord attack the cave and turn several of the children into zombies, their blood used to renew the evil wizard's immortality. The three then flee the cave and find a local bar, lifted directly from ''Star Wars'' (the Mos Eisley cantina). The two men quickly get into a bar brawl, but the villain suddenly appears and captures them again.

The wizard separates the men and tries to convince them to join him. He sends his queen to seduce Ali, while he orders Murat to be brought before him. He offers Murat the chance to rule over the earth and stars if he joins him. He possesses the power of Earth's ancestry in the form of a golden brain, and all he needs to conquer Earth is a real human brain. After Murat declines, the wizard shows that he has the woman and child in captivity. Enraged, Murat fights the wizard's monsters and skeleton guardians. Meanwhile, monsters attack Ali when he is about to kiss the queen. He defeats the monsters and joins Murat's fight. They are both disabled by laser-armed guards and then unsuccessfully tortured by the wizard. Finally, the wizard pits Murat against a giant monster in the arena. Murat defeats the monster and flees, taking the woman and the child with him. Ali is left in captivity.

Murat finds out about a sword made by "the 13th clan," who melted a mountain thousands of "space years" ago. Murat later finds this sword, shaped like a lightning bolt, in a cave defended by two golden ninjas. He takes the sword after dispatching the guards in an uncharacteristically short fight. Renewed by the sword's power, Murat goes to free his friend from the sorcerer's dungeon. However, Ali becomes envious of the sword, knocks out Murat, and takes both the sword and the golden brain. The wizard then uses trickery and deceit to make Ali hand over the artifacts. Having touched these items, the wizard now has increased powers and traps Murat, Ali, the woman, and the child. Ali is killed in a foolish attempt to escape.

Grief-stricken, Murat decides to melt down the golden sword and the golden human brain and forge them into a pair of gauntlets and boots. Equipped with magical gloves and super-jumping boots, he searches for the sorcerer to avenge his friend's death. After fighting numerous monsters and skeletons, he comes face-to-face with his nemesis and karate chops him in half. He then leaves the planet for Earth in a ship that is actually some stolen footage of the ''Millennium Falcon''.

Setting

The novel takes place in a distant future in which diverse human societies have developed on some 6,000 planets. Many of these worlds are shared with intelligent nonhumans, although only one alien species (the mysterious Xlv) also possesses faster-than-light travel. In an attempt to find a stable defense against the phenomenon known as Cultural Fugue (a process where "socioeconomic pressures [reach] a point of technological recomplication and perturbation where the population completely destroys all life across the planetary surface"), many human worlds have aligned themselves with one of two broad factions: the Sygn, which promotes and celebrates social diversity, and the Family, which promotes adherence to an idealized norm of human relations modeled on the nuclear family.

Prologue

The novel opens with a prologue set on the planet Rhyonon. Korga, a tall, "ugly", misfit youth, undergoes the Radical Anxiety Termination, or RAT, procedure, a form of psychosurgery, after which he "will be a slave" "but [he] will be happy". From then on he will be known as Rat Korga.

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After he has lived under a number of masters, Rat Korga's world is destroyed by a conflagration. It is left up to debate whether Rat's world was destroyed by "Cultural Fugue" or by the mysterious Xlv spacecraft who were present in the Rhyonon system when the disaster occurred. At the time of the disaster, Rat Korga was deep inside a mineshaft, allowing him to survive (though badly injured), and making him the only known being to survive his world's destruction, and possibly Cultural Fugue. According to Reid-Pharr, Rat Korga represents the remnants of disaster. Thus, he serves as a reminder of the possibility of Cultural Fugue and the destruction of a planet, which is part of what makes him so appealing to the inhabitants of Velm.

The action then moves to Velm, a Sygn-aligned world that humanity shares with its native three-sexed intelligent species, the evelm, and where sexual relationships take many forms — monogamous, promiscuous, anonymous, and interspecies. Resident Marq Dyeth, an "industrial diplomat" who helps manage the transfer of technology between different societies, is informed that Rat Korga is her perfect sexual match by an associate in the powerful and mysterious Web, an organization that manages information flows between worlds. Equipping him with a prosthesis (the rings of Vondramach Okk, a tyrant who once ruled ten planets and employed of one of Marq's ancestors) that restores the initiative he lost due to the RAT procedure, the Web sends Rat Korga to Velm under the pretext that he is a student, and he and Marq begin a romantic and sexual affair.

During their time together, Korga and Marq go dragon hunting, a process which initially Korga mistakes to involve catching and killing dragons. However, when he hits a dragon with his bow, Korga can see through the dragon's eyes and experience what the dragon is experiencing, prompting Rat to announce "I was a dragon!", and the realisation that no dragons are going to be killed. As they return to the city of Morgre, in which Dyethsome, Marq's ancestral home presides, they notice a large gathering of people. They seek shelter from the crowd, who appear to be gathering to see Rat Korga, with acquaintances of Marq's friend Santine. One of the people they are with called JoBonnot informs them that Marq's sister Black Lars' planned "informal supper" has been cancelled. However, later Marq discovers that the gathering was not cancelled but changed to a "formal supper".

They return to Dyethshome where they attend the dinner party which involves everyone participating in hand-feeding one another. The dinner is held in the honour of the Thants, a family from the ice planet Zetzor. The Thants are considering moving to Nepiy in order to become a "Focus Unit", through which they will act as representatives of the values held by The Family. The dinner soon becomes chaotic due to the disruptive presence of the Thants and the ever-growing group gathering outside to show their interest in Rat Korga. Marq overhears the Thants making derogatory comments toward the evelmi, and calling the people of the South of Velm "lizard-loving perverts". Soon after, Rat Korga is forced to leave Velm and be permanently separated from Marq. According to Avilez, Rat represents the hidden secret of what happened to Rhyanon, a fact which has caused an upheaval of society and poses a threat to the web.

Epilogue

Marq contemplates her loss of Rat Korga. She learns from Japril, a friend of hers in the web who set up her initial meeting with Korga, that their "experiment didn't work" and that it was "too dangerous" to leave Korga on Velm, due to the threat of Cultural Fugue. The reader learns more about the nuances of Marq's sexual attraction and her desire for Korga. According to Avilez, Marq's desire for Korga disrupts the power held by the web.

Joey, now earning substantial money after landing a role on ''Days of Our Lives'', gives Chandler a gaudy gold bracelet as thanks for paying for head shots and food in the past. Chandler mocks it when it scares off a potential date, upsetting Joey when he overhears. Chandler promises to never take it off again but discovers it slipped off his wrist at some point and is now missing. He buys a replacement, but the original is found shortly afterwards at Central Perk. He gives one to Joey, repairing their friendship.

Monica struggles to find a job after being fired. After a disastrous restaurant interview where the manager has a food play fetish, she relents to Ross' prodding to ask for money from their parents Jack and Judy, who have visited the apartment to bring boxes of her possessions. Though Judy is disappointed she was fired, Jack encourages her to use her savings from her bank account and assures her that they will be there to lend money to her whenever she needs it. Despite this encouragement, Ross ends up writing her a check.

Ross continues to seek forgiveness from Rachel after insulting her, but she tells him that they as a couple will never happen. Whilst looking through the box her parents brought, Monica finds a video of her and Rachel getting ready for their senior prom. The friends decide to watch the video, although Ross objects to everyone seeing the tape. On the video, Rachel's date, Chip Matthews, has not arrived, and Monica refuses to go to the prom without her. Judy convinces Ross to wear Jack's tuxedo and take Rachel to the prom himself. Ross reluctantly agrees, but by the time he is dressed and ready to go, Chip has arrived and the girls leave. The video ends with Ross looking disappointed and dejected. Rachel, touched by Ross' gesture, gets up and passionately kisses him, forgiving him for what happened between them.

Monica later watches the video alone which features her and Jack dancing before the prom. It suddenly cuts to Jack and Judy making love in bed, which disgusts her.

The novel is set in central Ireland c. 1914–16. Garradrimna is a tiny village where everyone is interested in everyone else's business and wishes them to fail. Twenty years before the events of the book, Nan Byrne has a relationship with a local man, Henry Shannon, hoping to marry him for his wealth. She falls pregnant but Henry refuses to marry her. After a miscarriage, the baby is buried at the bottom of the garden. Henry marries another woman and later dies, while Nan emigrates to England and marries Ned Brennan. They later move back to Garradrimna, where the villagers rejoice in telling Ned about his wife's past.

Ned is now an alcoholic, brought low by the humiliation of his wife's past promiscuity. He makes a little as a labourer, whereas Nan works every day at sewing to support their only child, John, studying in England to become a Catholic priest. However, she has become as cruel, petty and jealous as the rest of Garradrimna, and connives with the postmistress to sabotage Myles Shannon's chance at romance with an English girl, to get revenge on the Shannon family for rejecting her.

John returns to Garradrimna for a holiday, where he befriends Ulick Shannon (son of Henry) and falls for Rebecca Kerr, a schoolteacher. Ulick and Rebecca have a relationship, however, and when Rebecca becomes pregnant she is disgraced and expelled from the village. Ulick abandons her and John murders him, weighting the body with lead and hiding it in the lake. Rebecca leaves for Dublin and an uncertain future. An old gossip informs Nan and John that she was there the night Nan gave birth to Henry's child — in reality, the child was born alive and was given to Henry and his wife — who they raised as their son, Ulick Shannon.

Wealthy Londoner Tony, who says he is part of a plan to build cities in Brazil, moves into his new house, and hires Hugo Barrett as his manservant. Barrett appears to take easily to his new job, and he and Tony form a quiet bond, retaining their social roles. Relationships begin shifting, however, when Tony's girlfriend Susan meets Barrett. She is suspicious of Barrett and asks Tony to dismiss him, but he refuses.

To bring his lover, Vera, into his world, Barrett convinces Tony that the house also needs a maid. When Tony finally agrees, Barrett hires Vera on the pretext that she is his sister. Barrett encourages Vera to seduce Tony. Later, when Tony and Susan return early from a vacation, they find Barrett and Vera sleeping together. Believing that the two are siblings, he flies into a rage at Barrett, who then reveals that they are not related and she is his fiancée. He and Vera then make it clear that Tony was sleeping with her, to Susan's dismay. After Tony dismisses them, Susan departs silently.

At this point, Tony has become reliant on Barrett and Vera. He becomes a drunkard, which is exacerbated by Susan's refusal to answer his calls. Eventually, Tony encounters Barrett in a pub, who spins a tale about Vera having made fools of them both. He begs Tony to re-engage him as his manservant, and he agrees.

Gradually the two reverse roles, with Barrett taking more control and Tony retreating into infantilism. Barrett also insinuates Vera back into the house. Susan arrives and attempts to convince Tony to come back to her. She finds him totally dependent on Barrett who keeps him supplied with alcohol and prostitutes. She walks through the sordid scene, and suddenly kisses Barrett, who forcefully returns her attentions. As he grows more brutal, Susan struggles to free herself from his embrace, and Tony, rising from his drunken stupor, attempts to intervene. However, he trips and falls onto the floor, causing all the prostitutes to laugh at him. Tony then has an outburst and Barrett orders everyone to leave. Before departing, Susan slaps Barrett with the jeweled collar of her coat. Barrett is shocked, but quickly recovers and places her coat on her shoulder as she leaves. He then walks upstairs where Vera is waiting for him, passing Tony, who is slumped on the ground and clutching a drink.

Architect Leo Waters' life is in trouble, and in order to have some sense of control, he attempts to lord over the other members of his family. His career appears to be going nowhere; his wife Julia is a bored housewife who spends her time tending to the luxurious modern house he has designed for them, their son Martin drops out of college and has no interest in taking up his father's dream of also becoming an architect, and their daughter Christina has entered her mid-teens and her father has started staring at her maturing body in an unfatherly way.

Tonya Neely is a black community organizer who lives in the high-rise public housing Leo designed several years before. Her own son committed suicide and her eldest daughter just sits at home all day, while her youngest daughter has managed to get a scholarship at a fancy school in a middle-class neighborhood where she lives with a wealthy black family, and feels ashamed of her background and even her own mother. Many of the residents in the housing block want the projects razed, but the local gangs are content to control the blocks where they sell drugs. One day, Tonya turns up at one of the lectures Leo gives at the local university's school of architecture – where he comes across as a jaded teacher – to confront him over his work and to ask him to sign her petition calling for their demolition. He initially defends his own work, but later comes up with his own idea of how to improve the housing blocks by the addition of glass and artwork. Tonya arrives at his house to see the scheme but is appalled at his approach, especially as he has not even bothered to visit the area to see how it has failed. His wife turns to support Tonya.

Martin had been sitting in the lecture hall when Tonya confronted his father and becomes intrigued enough to visit the area, and begins a friendship with a black boy, Shawn, who turns out to be a gay prostitute and who initially thinks Martin has come to the area to pick up men. They end up having sex, anyway. In the meantime, Christina has realized that her own father has started looking at her maturing body too closely: she wishes to escape his overbearing control yet also seek affirmation of her own maturity, for which she puts herself at risk by going to a bar, getting picked up first by a young student but then ditching him for a truck driver with whom she offers to have sex, which he refuses. Shawn had committed suicide by jumping off one of the buildings, which leaves Martin devastated. Things come to a head when Julia announces that she is leaving Leo. He goes to the housing block and meets Tonya. He agrees to sign her petition, but she informs him that the authorities have already agreed to demolish them. Martin walks to the roof of the block where he unexpectedly bumps into his own father, which brings tears to his eyes.

One day in Tokyo, a yellow Labrador Retriever puppy is born among a litter of five. This puppy is unique, wherein he has a bird-shaped mark on his left side. Following a simple communication test, he is selected to become a guide dog; hence his first parting. After being picked up by dog trainer Satoru Tawada, the puppy is flown to Kyoto to live with Isamu and Mitsuko Nii - a married couple who are "puppy walkers", people who raise guide dogs for a year. There, the couple name him "Quill", after discovering the word in an English-Japanese dictionary. As soon as Quill reaches the age of one, he is handed back to Tawada to undergo guide dog training; this becomes his second parting. At first, Quill has difficulty learning the basic skills, but one day, while tending to another dog, Tawada notices that Quill is excellent in waiting - an important trait in a guide dog.

During training, Quill is introduced to Mitsuru Watanabe, a blind journalist who has relied on a white cane since losing his eyesight. Watanabe, at first, is skeptical about using a guide dog, but after walking with Quill for the first time, he realizes that he can travel faster and safer with the dog. Watanabe then undergoes training to work with Quill; most of the training involves learning English-language commands, so as to not confuse Quill when other people around him are talking in Japanese. He fails the final examination after not listening to Quill's warnings on obstacles, but they begin to work more cohesively for Watanabe to obtain his guide dog owner license. Quill moves in with Watanabe's family and works with his master for two years. Then one day, Watanabe is confined to the hospital when his diabetes takes its turn for the worse, resulting in kidney failure. Quill is returned to the training center, where he works as a demonstration dog for two years before finally reuniting with Watanabe. Their walk, however, is their final one, as Watanabe dies a few days later. Quill's third parting occurs after visiting Watanabe's funeral.

Quill no longer works as a guide dog; instead, he becomes the center's demonstration dog for seven years before he is reunited with the Nii family. He lives a happy and peaceful life for a year, but one day, while playing at the backyard, he falls off a step and breaks several bones. As they look over a dying Quill throughout the night, the couple thank him and tell him to tell those in heaven who he is. Quill passes away at the age of 12 years, 25 days.

To the confusion of Leela and K9, the Fourth Doctor has a covert meeting with aliens before taking his companions to the Citadel at Gallifrey. Once there, he lays claim to the vacant Presidency as his right by Time Lord law—he is the only candidate, as established in the story ''The Deadly Assassin''. While reviewing the presidential suite, he orders it lined with lead. During his induction ceremony, the Crown of Rassilon seems to reject him, and he's injured. Leela is accused of having attacked him, when in fact she tried to help him, and she's banished from the Citadel. Later, in front of the gathered Time Lords, the Doctor greets three figures that materialise within the Citadel, the Vardans, whom he had met before coming to Gallifrey, and addresses them as the Time Lords' new masters. Amid the confusion, the compliant Castellan Kelner kowtows to the Vardans and assists them in taking over, issuing arrests and ordering banishment for any Time Lords that he sees as disloyal. The Doctor confides in Chancellor Borusa, once they're in his lead-lined suite, that the Vardans can read their thoughts but lead blocks this. The Doctor plans to lock the Vardans in a time lock on their home planet as they are a dangerous race, but needed to keep up this facade in order to determine the location of their homeworld, and banished Leela for her own safety. The Doctor later explains the same to the Citadel guard commander Andred, using a force field from the TARDIS to shield his thoughts, to gain his help.

Meanwhile, Leela has faith that the Doctor's actions are towards a larger goal, and along with the banished Time Lady Rodan, travel across the wastelands of Gallifrey. They meet a group of outsiders that have abandoned Time Lord ways, led by Nesbin. Leela explains the situation at the Citadel, and Nesbin agrees to help, assembling a resistance force to help take the Citadel back.

When Kelner and the Vardans accuse the Doctor of being untrustworthy, he offers to show his commitment by dismantling the quantum forcefield that surrounds Gallifrey, which would allow the Vardans' full invasion force to arrive. However, the Doctor tricks them, and only creates a small hole in the forcefield, large enough for K9 to trace the Vardans to their home planet and engage the time lock, causing the Vardans to disappear. The situation seems resolved but moments later, a squad of Sontaran warriors transport into the Citadel. Their leader, Commander Stor, explains they had used the Vardans to help disable the forcefield, and seizes control of the Citadel. While Kelner quickly aligns with the Sontarans, the Doctor, Borusa, and their allies escape, regrouping with Leela, Rodan, Nesbin, and the other outsiders. Leela joins Andred to help defend the Citadel with the combined resistance group and Citadel guards, while Rodan repairs the hole in the forcefield. The Doctor wants the Great Key of Rassilon, but there is no record of it. He deduces that Rassilon gave the key to the first chancellor and that its location has been handed down from chancellor to chancellor ever since. He convinces Borusa to give it to him, which he plans to use to power a Demat Gun, a weapon that erases its target from all of time. Stor learns of this and orders a squad of Sontarans to give chase in the Doctor's TARDIS with assistance from Kelner. The Doctor is able to elude them within the labyrinthine corridors of the TARDIS, and with Rodan and K9's help, constructs the Demat Gun. He goes out into the Citadel to find Stor, who is attempting to destroy the entire galaxy, including Stor and the Sontaran fleet, with a bomb. The Doctor fires the Demat Gun, and the Sontaran invaders disappear, ending the threat. When he awakes, the Doctor remembers nothing of the events, and Borusa calls it the "wisdom of Rassilon", as he can return the key to its hiding place. He then has Kelner arrested for treason and starts the process of rebuilding the Citadel.

As the Doctor prepares to leave, Leela announces she plans to stay behind with Andred, as they have found a romantic interest in each other, and K9 also insists he must stay to help Leela. After saying his goodbyes, the Doctor enters the TARDIS, pulls out a large crate labelled "K9 MII", and breaks the fourth wall and grins at the audience.

With Darken Rahl defeated, Richard and Kahlan head back to the Mud People to be married. As they wait for their wedding day to approach, they discover three Sisters of Light are pursuing Richard, intending to take him back to the Old World to be trained as a Wizard. Additionally, unbeknownst to Richard and Kahlan, the veil has been torn and the Stone of Tears has entered the world. According to prophecy, the only person who has a chance at closing the veil is the one bonded to the blade, the one born true.

After the death of Darken Rahl and planning his wedding to Kahlan, Richard is afflicted by a series of painful headaches. He also learns from Shota that he is the bastard son of Darken Rahl and the grandson (on his mother's side) of Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander.

Richard gets a visit from three Sisters of the Light (Sisters Grace, Elizabeth and Verna), who inform him that his headaches are caused by the awakening of the gift within him and are fatal and unstoppable, unless he receives magical training. The Sisters tell him that he must go with them and wear a Rada'Han, a magical collar, in order to control his headaches and the gift. They also explain that they will offer him their help three times, and, if he refuses each time, they will not be able to help him ever again. Richard refuses twice, and each time a Sister commits suicide.

Seeking guidance on how to repair the veil, Richard and Kahlan request another "gathering"; this involves turning to the "ancestors' spirits" for help. But instead of being able to speak to the spirits, Richard and Kahlan are sent down to the underworld and are placed face-to-face with Darken Rahl. Rahl touches Richard with the Keeper's mark, making him unconscious and lets Kahlan know that Richard is only minutes away from death.

As Kahlan desperately tries to save Richard, a glowing spirit emerges, Denna, who tells Kahlan that she has to force Richard into wearing the collar; if he does not, the headaches will kill him and everything will be lost. Denna then takes Richard's mark, and is sent down to the underworld and the Keeper. As the third and final Sister returns, Kahlan tells Richard that he has to put on the collar. When he tries to explain his reluctance, Kahlan makes him believe that the only way to prove his love for her is to wear it. Richard reluctantly agrees to wear the collar and the sister reveals to them that the third reason for wearing the collar is to inflict pain on the wearer. He leaves, telling her merely to find Zedd. Devastated, Richard submits to the remaining Sister, and leaves with her to go to the Palace of Prophets.

Richard travels with Sister Verna to the Palace of the Prophets, which is located in the Old World. Along the way, they pass between the Barrier, and Richard is drawn to one of the black towers, and is compelled to collect some of the black sand he finds. Later, he is instructed to execute a captive woman as tribute to pass through tribal land, but refuses and chooses to free the woman instead, who promises to take them through the Baku Ban Mana lands. Despite a promise of safe passage, she forces Richard into a battle with thirty Baka Ban Mana blademasters as their oath dictates. Richard slaughters them by tapping in the Sword of Truth's collective knowledge of blade fighting. Killing them all, he is bound to marry the priestess, and Richard gives her his magic whistle of the Bird Man to attack the neighboring tribes' crops and force a peace between them.

Arriving at the Palace of the Prophets, Richard threatens to kill anyone who prevents him from leaving, stating he is a prisoner, not a guest or a student. However, Richard is treated lavishly, and given absurd amounts of gold, which are symbols of his status as a novice wizard, designed to make him not see value in personal wealth. Rather, he uses the money to bribe the entire staff of the Palace to his service, even hiring a brothel on retainer to service the guards. He discovers he is a war wizard: one who has the gift of both additive and subtractive magic. Later, he learns from Nathan Rahl, another wizard in the Palace of the Prophets and Richard's ancient ancestor, that he is the first to be born with such power in three thousand years. It is revealed that the Prelate brought Richard to the Palace to flush out the Sisters of the Dark, a secret society within the Sisters of the Light dedicated to the task of unleashing the Keeper into the world of the living.

Kahlan embarks on a long trek back to her home of Aydindril along with three mud people. Along the way, they come across a sacked city, Ebinissia, with the inhabitants' corpses filling the streets and the surrounding countryside. Kahlan and the three mud people race to catch up with a band of some five thousand troops that are trailing the enemy which sacked Ebinissia. She is shocked to realize that these soldiers are all teenagers and entirely undertrained and unprepared to attack the seasoned, well organized and vastly superior enemy forces. She assumes command of the army and organizes a series of guerilla attacks on what she now knows to be The Imperial Order. Victorious, Kahlan returns to Ayndindril, where she stumbles across Zedd and the sorceress Adie, both of whom had their memories deleted earlier. She returns his memory by telling him that Richard is with the Sisters of the Light. Enraged, Zedd tells Kahlan he will have her beheaded for what she has done, and that she has condemned Richard to a thousand years of his literal nightmares.

After months at the Palace, Richard escapes after killing several Sisters of the Dark. Knowing he must save the world first, he travels to D'hara. At the Peoples Palace, Richard destroys a spell from a Sister of the Dark by using the black sorcerer's sand to corrupt the spell. He then avoids making a last moment mistake by placing the Stone of Tears on Darken Rahl. Richard returns the Stone of Tears to the underworld and once again defeats the Keeper, he rushes to Aydindril to find Kahlan. Upon finding Kahlan has already been executed, Richard kills all the councillors who sentenced her to death. Finding Kahlan's grave, he realizes that Zedd has cast a death spell to make all believe that Kahlan is dead. Denna's spirit visited the both of them and they were reunited in a place between worlds.

In a remote underwater facility, doctors Susan McCallister and Jim Whitlock are conducting research on mako sharks to help in the re-activation of dormant human brain cells like those found in Alzheimer's disease patients. After one of the sharks escapes the facility and attempts to attack a boat full of young adults, financial backers send corporate executive Russell Franklin to investigate the facility.

Susan and Jim prove their research is working by testing a certain protein complex that was removed from the brain tissue of their largest shark, which bites off Jim's right arm upon awakening in the laboratory. Brenda Kerns, the tower's operator, calls a helicopter that braves heavy rain and strong winds to evacuate Jim, but as he is being lifted, the cable jams, dropping Jim and his stretcher into the shark pen. The largest shark grabs the stretcher and pulls the helicopter into the tower, killing Brenda and the pilots, as well as causing massive explosions that severely damage the facility.

In the laboratory, Susan, Russell, wrangler Carter Blake, marine biologist Janice Higgins, and engineer Tom Scoggins witness the shark smash the stretcher against the laboratory's main window, which then shatters, drowning Jim and flooding the facility. The group goes to the facility's wet entry, where they plan to take a submersible to escape. Susan confesses to the others that she and Jim genetically engineered the sharks to increase their brain size, as they were not large enough to harvest sufficient amounts of the protein complex; this had the side effect of making them smarter and more deadly. When the group reaches the wet entry, they discover that the submersible has been damaged. While delivering a monologue emphasizing the need for group unity, Russell is dragged into the submersible pool by one of the sharks and devoured.

The remaining crew opt to climb up the elevator shaft at the risk of destabilizing the pool. As they climb, explosive tremors cause the ladder to break, and Janice loses her grip and falls into the shark-infested water. Despite Carter's attempt to save her, one of the two remaining sharks drags Janice under, killing and devouring her. In the facility's kitchen, which has been partially flooded, cook Sherman "Preacher" Dudley, whose parrot is devoured in the process, manages to kill the first shark with an explosion. He then makes his way to the elevator shaft, where he encounters Carter, Tom, and Susan. Carter and Tom go to the flooded laboratory to activate a control panel that drains a stairway to the surface, while Susan heads to her room to collect her research material. Carter and Tom reach the control panel, but the largest shark storms in, killing and ripping Tom apart, and sabotaging the controls. In the other room, Susan encounters another shark, and electrocutes it with a power cable, destroying her research in the process.

After regrouping, Carter, Susan, and Preacher go to a decompression chamber and swim to the surface. Preacher is grabbed by the last shark, but is released when he stabs the shark in the eye with his crucifix, though he escapes with injuries to his leg. Carter realizes that the sharks made them flood the facility, so they could escape through the weaker mesh fences at the surface. In an effort to distract the shark from escaping to the open sea, Susan deliberately cuts her hand and dives into the water. Although she manages to distract the shark with her blood, she is unable to get out of the water, and is devoured, despite Carter's efforts to save her. While Carter is grabbing hold of the shark's dorsal fin, Preacher shoots the shark with a harpoon, but also pierces Carter's thigh. As the shark breaks through the fence, Carter orders Preacher to connect the trailing wire to a battery, sending an electric current through the wire and to an explosive charge in the harpoon, killing the shark. In the end, Carter reveals that he had managed to free himself in time, and joins Preacher to see a worker's boat en route on the horizon.

The Minish (also referred to as the Picori by Hylians) are a race of tiny creatures that bestowed a young boy with a green garment, a sword, and a shining golden light to drive back the "darkness" many years before the game is set. The quest begins when Link is chosen by the king of Hyrule to seek the help of the Picori after Vaati, searching for the Light Force, had destroyed the Picori Blade acting as the seal to the Bound Chest, releasing evil monsters into Hyrule, and turning Princess Zelda into stone. Link learns he was chosen because only children can see the Picori.

Soon into the voyage, Link finds and rescues Ezlo, a living green cap with a bird-like head. Ezlo joins Link by riding on his head as a cap. It will later be revealed that Ezlo and Vaati are actually Minish. Ezlo explains to Link that he is a renowned sage and craftsman and Vaati was his apprentice, but Vaati became corrupted by the madness and hatred of men and took a magic hat that Ezlo had made for the people in Hyrule. The hat grants any wish made by the wearer, and Vaati had wished to become a demon. Vaati then turned Ezlo into his cap form.

With the help of Ezlo, Link retrieves the four elemental artifacts and brings them to the Elemental Sanctuary, which is a gateway between Hyrule and the Picori homeland. There, he uses the elemental artifacts to turn the Picori Blade, restored by the Picori, into the Four Sword, capable of defeating Vaati. During Link's quest, Vaati teleports into Hyrule Castle and assumes the form of the king of Hyrule, ordering his soldiers to search for the "Light Force."

After Link restores the Four Sword, Vaati turns Hyrule Castle into Dark Hyrule Castle. Link fights Vaati just before he can drain Zelda of all of the Light Force hidden within her, which would have killed her in the process. Link defeats Vaati, who shapeshifts into different monsters. When Link and Zelda flee from the collapsing castle to the Elemental Sanctuary, they are once again confronted by Vaati, who changes form one last time.

After Vaati is defeated, Ezlo returns to his original form. He takes the recovered cap of wishes that he created and gives it to Zelda. She combines the cap with the Light Force energy and wishes for all who have been cursed by Vaati to be cured, Hyrule Castle to be turned back to normal, and the monsters in Hyrule to no longer exist. The cap disappears after granting this wish, and Ezlo gives Link a new hat before returning to the land of the Minish.

Terisa Morgan opens the series living a vacant life, supported by her father from afar and volunteering at a mission for lack of anything more purposeful to do with her time. She fills her apartment with mirrors so as to see her reflection, and thus be constantly reassured of her existence. Geraden, an apprentice Imager (magician) from a land called Mordant appears in her apartment, searching for aid against a powerful enemy who has been plaguing Mordant with monsters ''translated'' from other worlds. As mirrors are inextricably linked with magic in Mordant, Terisa's home decor convinces him that he has stumbled into the lair of a powerful sorceress. He persuades her to accompany him back to the Castle Orison, where she finds herself embroiled in a morass of intrigue and danger from both the political plotting of a corrupt court and from the frightening magical creatures that appear without warning and can't seem to be defended against. As she soon finds out, the mirrors of this world show ''anything but'' what is in front of them; in fact, mirrors are gateways to other worlds (or to a different point in the same world) and could be manipulated in a variety of ways to effect what amounts to magic.

Terisa is suddenly the center of attention, a position that she has never before held, which is not easy because Geraden is held in little regard at the castle; so court opinion naturally is divided on whether she should be taken seriously as a potentially powerful ally, threat, or treated as an object of ridicule and proof of Geraden's perceived incompetence. She must deal with the ever-earnest Geraden, the (seemingly) senile King Joyse and his headstrong daughters, the mad Adept Havelock, the inimical Castellan Lebbick, Geraden's mostly-well-meaning brothers, the lascivious Master Eremis and the rest of the disorganized group of Imager masters Geraden belongs to known collectively as the Congery.

Unsurprisingly, the story twists and turns, very little is as it seems in Orison and various groups plot to depose King Joyse and take over Mordant. The mysterious rogue Imager is still sending magical creatures to cause destruction seemingly without rhyme or reason; the High King's Monomach, the best swordsmen in the land, appears in Orison by seemingly impossible translations; and Geraden remains firmly convinced that he has not made a mistake and that Terisa definitely is to be Mordant's champion and salvation despite her own doubts, protests, and debilitating passivity.

There are four overall areas the player (as Lt. William Holt) is sent to France, North Africa, the Soviet Union and Belgium. Each area has a set of missions for the player to complete. While some objectives will be detailed from the start, exploration of the area will cause Holt to discover more missions. Each mission consists of five elements: a primary objective, secondary objectives, killing a German officer (Nemesis battle in the game), obtaining documents from the officer and escaping. If all are completed, a gold medallion will be given. Missing one or two will gain a silver or bronze.

Most missions involve Holt fighting alongside allied non-player characters and working towards a common objective, often based on historical events during World War II. However, as a member of the OSS, Holt also has secondary objectives for each level, including finding documents and eliminating important German officers, such as henchmen belonging to the antagonist Graf Von Schrader.

St. Nazaire, France

In the beginning of the game, in a wholly fictionalized storyline based on Operation Chariot (as no Americans took part in the original raid), Holt and the British force are heading to the vital submarine pens at German-held St. Nazaire. They approach the port aboard . However, the ship begins to take fire and soon raises the British Union Jack after they lose their cover. Upon landing, Holt is told to meet an officer that has the only radio after their radio officer is killed, at another side of the dock, which is denoted by a green flare. Upon meeting the officer, Holt has to head back to the ship to take cover from the airstrike the officer called, thus finishing the first mission. Then Holt goes with the British commandos on the St. Nazaire Raid, where he destroys a fuel tank and eliminates a German officer named Klaus Mueller. Holt also has the option to destroy a Flakvierling AA gun, and a shore gun. Holt later travels through the docks in order to destroy an electric power plant and a U-boat, shutting off power to the city and eliminating another German officer by the name of Horst Brenner. Early the next morning, Holt and his British comrades receive word that no reinforcements will be coming, forcing them to fight their way through two German Panzers. They must battle officer Erich Koster and his forces throughout the city to escape into the French countryside.

North Africa

Mission 1 in North Africa is to destroy Tiger tank prototypes. One of Holt's optional targets is a Nazi officer named Adabold Brecht. Optional objectives include blowing up a radar dish and taking out a panzer inside a destroyed village. After initial fighting, Holt makes his way inside a German compound and attempts to rescue captured SAS commandos and kill another of Von Schrader's men, Hans Schneider. With their help, Holt manages to get his hands on film which was recorded by Von Schrader, and ends up destroying a prototype V-2 rocket.

Soviet Union

There are 2 missions in the Soviet Union. The first mission is On the Road to Stalingrad. Holt's main objective is to destroy a rail gun on the other side of a river that runs through a small town. Holt also has an option to destroy 3 Panzers. The final part of the mission is to secure and then defend a fortified Church on the edge of town, and eliminate Walter Neumann. The second, and final, Soviet mission is Climbing Mamayev Hill. Holt, along with his squad and a Soviet battalion, lead a charge through a small village, driving the Germans back across a river. Holt must then follow them across the river and signal a rocket strike to clear the path. Once the area is secure, Holt's allies set themselves up around the entrance to a fort, on top of the hill. Once Holt blows the doors open, there is a fierce firefight. After destroying three artillery guns, Holt must eliminate Franz Greubner, and then Transmit Virus House Intel to the OSS (the Main Objective), before finally destroying the documents.

Belgium

The final mission of the game involves the Battle of the Bulge. Holt is sent in with the 101st Airborne Division, surrounded within the Ardennes forest in Belgium and participates in the battle to liberate the Bastogne Pocket. The Mission starts with an intense German offensive. Holt, with the help of paratroopers from the 101st Airborne manages to stop the initial assault by killing Folker Kappelhorf and blows up a strategically important bridge. Then Holt is sent to a Belgian farm to rescue Manon Batiste, a female OSS operative and the main character of ''Medal of Honor: Underground'' (although renamed to Manon Du Champs in ''European Assault''), who was captured by Von Schrader's most loyal man, Freder Engel. After defeating Engel, he has to defend a farmhouse from a massive German assault until reinforcements arrive. Holt frees the operative. In the final mission, Holt, accompanied with a platoon of US soldiers, makes the critical assault on Von Schrader's Virus House. With one final suicide battle, Holt eliminates Von Schrader and destroys the dirty bomb by dropping it into the underground bunker at the last moment and escaping with some minor wounds.

Don Diego Vega (Tyrone Power) is urgently called home by his father. To all outward appearances, he is the foppish son of wealthy ranchero and former Alcalde Don Alejandro Vega (Montagu Love), having returned to Alta California after his military education in Spain.

Don Diego is horrified at the way the common people are now mistreated by the corrupt Alcalde, Luis Quintero (J. Edward Bromberg), who had forced his father from the position of Alcalde. Don Diego adopts the guise of El Zorro ("The Fox"), a masked outlaw dressed entirely in black, who becomes the defender of the common people and a champion for justice against Quintero and his garrison of soldiers.

In the meantime he romances the Alcalde's beautiful and innocent niece, Lolita (Linda Darnell), whom he grows to love. As part of his plan, Don Diego simultaneously flirts with the Alcalde's wife Inez (Gale Sondergaard), filling her head with tales of Madrid fashion and culture and raising her desire to move there with her corrupt husband, Luis.

In both his guises Don Diego must always contend with the governor's ablest henchman, the malevolent and deadly Captain Esteban Pasquale (Basil Rathbone). He eventually dispatches the Captain during a fast-moving rapier duel-to-the-death, as the Alcalde looks on in astonishment. This action leads to a forced regime change with the help of the people of Los Angeles, the other landowners, and his father. This became Don Diego's long-range plan from the time he arrived back in California and saw just how bad things had become in Los Angeles during his absence.

''The Mark of Zorro'' tells the story of Don Diego Vega, the outwardly foppish son of a wealthy ranchero Don Alejandro in the old Spanish California of the early 19th century. Seeing the mistreatment of the peons by rich landowners and the oppressive colonial government, Don Diego, who is not as effete as he pretends, has taken the identity of the masked Robin Hood-like rogue Señor Zorro ("Mr. Fox"), champion of the people, who appears out of nowhere to protect them from the corrupt administration of Governor Alvarado, his henchman the villainous Captain Juan Ramon and the brutish Sergeant Pedro Gonzales (Noah Beery, Wallace Beery's older half-brother). With his sword flashing and an athletic sense of humor, Zorro scars the faces of evildoers with his mark, "Z".

When not in the disguise of Zorro, dueling and rescuing peons, Don Diego courts the beautiful Lolita Pulido with bad magic tricks and worse manners. She cannot stand him. Lolita is also courted by Captain Ramon; and by the dashing Zorro, whom she likes.

In the end, when Lolita's family is jailed, Don Diego throws off his masquerade, whips out his sword, wins over the soldiers to his side, forces Governor Alvarado to abdicate, and wins the hand of Lolita, who is delighted to discover that her effeminate suitor, Diego, is actually the dashing hero.

The series stars Patrick Duffy as an amnesiac man given the name of Mark Harris, believed to be the only surviving citizen of the lost civilization of Atlantis. He possesses exceptional abilities, including the ability to breathe underwater and withstand extreme depth pressures, and superhuman strength. His hands and feet are webbed, his eyes are unusually sensitive to light, and he swims using his arms and legs in a fashion suggestive of an underwater butterfly stroke or dolphin kick. Following his discovery, he is recruited by the '''Foundation for Oceanic Research''', a governmental agency that conducts top secret research and explores the depths of the ocean in a sophisticated submarine called the ''Cetacean''.

The supporting cast includes Belinda J. Montgomery as Dr. Elizabeth Merrill (who had nursed Mark Harris back to health) and Alan Fudge as C. W. Crawford, Jr., both of the Foundation for Oceanic Research. Victor Buono played the villainous Mr. Schubert in the pilot and several episodes of the series. Kenneth Tigar appeared in the second, third, and fourth movies as Dr. Miller Simon, M.D., also of the Foundation for Oceanic Research. The series added an ensemble cast as "The Crew of the ''Cetacean''", consisting of Richard Laurance Williams, J. Victor Lopez, Jean Marie Hon (who had also been seen in ''Ark II''), and Anson Downes. In the 12th episode, a new female lead character replaced Elizabeth Merrill, Dr. Jenny Reynolds, played by actress Lisa Blake Richards. (Belinda Montgomery had managed to get out of her contract with the help of lawyers.) The last episode did not feature any female lead character.

14-year-old Meg Murry is worried about her brother Charles Wallace, a 6-year-old genius bullied at school by the other children. The new principal of the elementary school is the former high school principal, Mr. Jenkins, who often disciplined Meg, and Meg is sure has a grudge against her whole family. Meg tries to enlist Jenkins's help in protecting her brother but is unsuccessful. Later, Meg discovers that Charles Wallace has a progressive disease that is leaving him short of breath. Their mother, a microbiologist, suspects it may be a disorder of his mitochondria and his mitochondria's farandolae. (The farandolae are micro-organelles inside mitochondria that exist in the Time Quintet fantasy universe.)

One afternoon, Charles Wallace tells Meg of a "drive of dragons" in their backyard, where he and Meg thereupon discover a pile of unusual feathers. Later, Meg has a frightening encounter with a monstrous facsimile of Mr. Jenkins. That night, Meg, Charles Wallace, and their friend, 16-year-old Calvin O'Keefe discover that Charles Wallace's "drive of dragons" is an extraterrestrial "cherubim" named Proginoskes (nicknamed 'Progo' by Meg), under the tutelage of the immense humanoid Blajeny, who recruits the three children to counteract the Echthroi.

Meg's first task, on the next day, is to distinguish the real Mr. Jenkins from two Echthroi doubles, by identification of the (potential) goodness in him despite her personal grudge. The protagonists then learn that Echthroi are destroying Charles Wallace's farandolae, and travel inside one of his mitochondria, to persuade a larval farandola, named Sporos, to accept its role as a mature fara, against the urgings of an Echthros. In the process, Meg is nearly annihilated, and Mr. Jenkins is invaded by his Echthros doubles; whereafter Proginoskes sacrifices himself to "fill in" the emptiness of the Echthroi, and Charles Wallace is saved.

Paul Bland is a balding wine snob who works at a cheap wine shop. His attractive wife Mary is a nurse who is routinely groped by hospital patients. When Paul is fired, they are left with barely enough money to survive and fear that they will never realize their dream of opening a restaurant. Paul and Mary sleep in separate twin beds since they are prudes who disapprove of sex. They live in an apartment building which regularly hosts swingers parties, which they despise.

When a drunk swinger wanders into their apartment and tries to rape Mary, Paul hits him on the head with a cast-iron frying pan, unintentionally killing him. Thinking that no one will miss him, they take his money and put his body in the trash compactor. After they kill another swinger the same way, they realize they can make money by killing "rich perverts".

Doris the Dominatrix, a regular at the swingers parties, advises Paul and Mary to place an ad in the ''Hollywood Press'', which caters to men seeking kinky sex scenes. Mary lures men to the apartment by promising to satisfy their sexual fetishes; when they try to have sex with her, Paul grows alarmed enough to kill them with the frying pan. The Blands are surprised at how lucrative their scheme is.

The Blands have new locks installed in their apartment to protect Paul's wine collection. The locksmith is Raoul Mendoza, whose service is a ruse which allows him to rob his customers' homes. He sneaks into the Blands' apartment the next night and stumbles across the corpse of their latest victim. Paul confronts Raoul and both men realize they are in a compromising position. They strike a deal: neither will report the other to the police, Paul and Mary will pocket their victims' cash, and Raoul will keep their other possessions — splitting any proceeds with them — and dispose of the bodies.

When a client of Mary's fails to show one night, Paul leaves to buy groceries and a new frying pan, since Mary is squeamish about cooking in the one they use to kill people. While Mary is alone, the client arrives late and tries to rape her. Raoul drops by and strangles the client to death. He offers Mary a joint and they have sex. After Paul grows suspicious, he follows Raoul and discovers he has been selling the victims' bodies to a dog food company, selling their expensive cars and secretly keeping the money.

Raoul tries to persuade Mary to run away with him after they have sex again. He nearly runs down Paul with a car, so Paul hires Doris the Dominatrix to use her costuming and role-playing skills to get rid of him. She poses as an immigration agent threatening Raoul, a Mexican immigrant, with deportation. She pretends to be a public health worker who diagnoses him with venereal disease. The pills she promises will cure him are actually saltpeter tablets which render him impotent. These schemes fail to deter Raoul's interest in Mary.

The Blands fear they will lose the property they wish to buy for the restaurant to another buyer. To quickly earn more cash, they attend a swingers party in search of victims. Mr. Leech, a bank lender who earlier refused to loan Mary money after she rejected his sexual advances, sees her at the party and propositions her. Mary kills him with a rattail comb and throws his body from a window. While Paul and Mary try to retrieve Mr. Leech's possessions, the party's host demands they join the nude guests in the hot tub or leave. Paul loses his temper and hurls an electric space heater into the hot tub, killing the partygoers and enabling him and Mary to take their money and sell their cars.

A drunken Raoul breaks into the Blands' apartment and threatens to kill Paul for not sharing the money earned from the swingers' cars. He announces that he intends to wed Mary and tells her to kill Paul with the frying pan. Instead, Mary lures Raoul into the kitchen and murders him.

Mary confesses her affair with Raoul to Paul, who tells her that he already knows. The Blands suddenly remember that James, the real estate agent who is helping them buy the property for the restaurant, will arrive for dinner soon. With no meat in the house and no time to go grocery shopping, they cook Raoul and serve him for dinner, describing the dish as "Spanish". The Blands buy the building for their new restaurant, Paul and Mary's Country Kitchen.

Tamello De Fformelo Tussock (or Tammo), a young hare who lives at Camp Tussock, longs to be part of the Long Patrol at Salamandastron. However, his father, Cornspurrey De Fformelo Tussock, will not hear of it. He believes that his son is too young to join up.

Against her husband's wishes, Tammo's mother, Mem Divinia, prepares for him to leave during the night with Russa Nodrey, a wandering squirrel who is a friend of the family. The two then set off to find the Long Patrol. Along the way, they encounter the ferrets Skulka and Gromal. They do eventually meet up with the Long Patrol, but Russa is killed saving a baby badger, who is named Russano by one of the hares, Rockjaw Grang, in Russa's honour.

Meanwhile, Gormad Tunn, the rat leader of the Rapscallion army has been dying from mortal wounds. The Rapscallions are in fear of Cregga Rose Eyes, the ruler of Salamandastron. Tunn's two sons, Byral Fleetclaw and Damug Warfang, fight to the death to determine who will be the new commander of the Rapscallions. Damug kills Byral through treachery and takes over control of the army, which he commands to move inland.

At Redwall Abbey, the inhabitants discover that the south wall is mysteriously sinking into the ground. Foremole Diggum and his crew believe the best thing to do is to knock the wall down and re-build it. During the night, a storm brings a tree down on the wall, making the moles' job easier but also leaving the Abbey open to attack. The broken wall reveals a well, which turns out to be part of the ancient castle Kotir. Abbess Tansy, Friar Butty, Shad the Gatekeeper, Giygas, and Craklyn the Recorder investigate below. After a harrowing journey, they find the treasure of Verdauga Greeneyes, the long-dead lord of Kotir.

The Long Patrol goes to Redwall, hoping to inform the denizens about the threat posed by Damug. At the abbey, the spirit of Martin the Warrior appears to Tammo, instructing him to go in the company of the hare Midge Manycoats to Damug's camp. Disguised as a vermin seer, Midge advises Damug not to attack the vulnerable abbey directly, but suggests an alternate place and time instead, buying the defenders precious time to prepare themselves.

When the hare Rockjaw Grang is killed by the Rapscallions, Cregga's dreams direct her to the ridge where Midge has directed the battle to occur. Meanwhile, the Redwallers have gathered all the allies they can find, and with the Long Patrol, they battle a losing effort against the rat hordes. At a crucial point in the battle when it seems Damug has won, Lady Cregga Rose Eyes appears with the rest of the Salamandastron hares. She seizes Damug and strangles him, but he hacks at her face, blinding her in the process. The hares and Redwallers are eventually victorious, and the treasure brought back from Kotir by the Friar Butty is melted down into medals for the creatures that fought in battle. The ridge is named The Ridge of a Thousand after the vermin horde that lost all thousand of their number.

In the end, Tammo marries the beautiful Pasque Valerian, the healer of the Long Patrol, and travels to Salamandastron. Cregga remains at Redwall Abbey as the new Badger Mother, and Russano, later on, journeys to Salamandastron, with Russa's hardwood stick as his weapon. He will turn out to be one of the only Badger Lords never to be possessed by the Bloodwrath (the berserker rage Cregga and others suffered from).

''Netherland'' opens on protagonist Hans van den Broek, a Dutch financial analyst living in London with his English wife Rachel, but quickly flashes back to the years Hans spent in New York City before and in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. At the beginning of the novel, Hans is preparing to return to Manhattan for the funeral of estranged friend Chuck Ramkissoon, who becomes the central figure of the novel. Chuck, a Trinidadian immigrant, guides Hans into and through the world of The Staten Island Cricket Club, most of whose members are also of West Indian or South Asian descent. Chuck is a charismatic idealist, running multiple (occasionally illegitimate) businesses, and making big, optimistic plans for the future. While Hans is swept along by Chuck’s magnetic ardor for the American dream, Rachel moves back to London under the pretense of safety for their young son and ideological indignation over the American fixation on economic oppression. Though Rachel is a markedly less likeable character than Chuck, Hans eventually, inevitably follows her back to London. He loses touch with his Trinidadian friend who is discovered, years later, simply a body, handcuffed and disposed of in the Gowanus Canal.

''The Battle of Olympus'' takes place in an ancient Greece which is being terrorized by Hades, the dark ruler of the underworld.

Helene, the girlfriend of Orpheus, is kidnapped by Hades who is holding her captive. A top-down map of Greece shows various dungeons and ancient Greek city-states for the player to visit on their journey. Swords, shields, and crystals help to provide offensive power and defensive strength for the player. Three fragments of love are there to remind Orpheus of his girlfriend Helene. Hades rules his dominion in Tartarus, where his strongest minions live alongside him.

During his adventure, Orpheus needs to meet the Greek gods and gain their favor, starting with Zeus, the leader of the Olympian gods, who encourages the other gods to grant Orpheus powers. These powers are in the form of a weapon, a shield, and other special equipment, among them a harp, which summons Pegasus to carry Orpheus to far locations. As the game progresses, players are exposed to various forms of upgraded weaponry. The player starts off with a basic wooden club. The player later obtains items such as the Staff of Fennel (also known as a thyrsus, which is able to project a fireball), Nymph's Sword, and the Divine Sword (able to project a lightning bolt).

The game features encounters with mythological creatures such as the Taurus, Lamia, cyclops, centaur, Talos, Minotaur, Graeae, Cerberus, Stymphalian birds, Nemean lion, and also a Siren. Players must fight their way deep into the underworld, fight and defeat Hades, and finally save Helene. Several items depicted in the Greek mythology are acquired, such as the Harp of Apollo, the Sword of Hephaestus, the Staff of Prometheus, and the Sandals of Hermes.

Mr Neville (Anthony Higgins), a young and conceited artist, is contracted by Mrs Virginia Herbert (Janet Suzman) to produce a series of twelve landscape drawings of her country house, its outbuildings and gardens, as a gift for her cold and neglectful husband, who is currently away on business.

Part of the contract is that Mrs Herbert agrees to comply with Mr Neville’s sexual demands. Several sexual encounters between them follow, each indicating reluctance or distress on the part of Mrs Herbert, and sexual aggression or insensitivity on the part of Mr Neville. During his stay, Mr Neville becomes disliked by several of the estate's inhabitants and visitors, especially by Mrs Herbert's son-in-law, Mr Talmann (Hugh Fraser).

Eventually Mrs Herbert, wearied by Mr Neville’s excessive sexual appetite, tries to terminate the contract before the drawings are completed. But Neville refuses and their encounters continue as before. Then Mrs Herbert's married but childless daughter, Mrs Talmann (Anne-Louise Lambert), frustrated by her husband’s lack of interest in sex, blackmails Neville into a second contract, in which he agrees to comply with her sexual demands, rather than she with his. Mrs Talman wishes to become pregnant, and knows this is unlikely to happen with her husband.

Mr Herbert does not return when expected, and his dead body is eventually discovered in the moat. Mr Neville completes his drawings and leaves, but returns to make an unlucky thirteenth drawing. During his visit, he is surprised when Mrs Herbert propositions him for sex, and they make love. Mrs Herbert also indicates that her daughter’s plan to conceive a child by Mr Neville has been successful.

In the evening, while Mr Neville is apparently finishing the final sketch, he is approached by a masked man, obviously Mr Talmann in disguise, who is then joined by the estate manager and Mrs Herbert's former fiancé, Mr Noyes, her neighbour Mr Seymour, and the Poulenc twins, eccentric local landowners.

The party accuses Mr Neville of the murder of Mr Herbert, for the drawings can be interpreted to suggest more than one illegal act and to implicate more than one person. They also accuse him of the sexual violation of Mrs Herbert, as evidenced by his sexual congress with her that afternoon.

Neville realises, too late, that he has been entrapped by Mrs Herbert. Despite his protests, the group of men blind him and beat him to death, finally casting his body into the moat at the place where Mr Herbert's corpse was found.

Pan Tau makes his first appearance helping a young boy, who is reluctantly attending piano lessons, to overcome his boredom.

Pan Tau meets dysfunctional family Urban and decides to bring back Alfonz, Father Urban's brother (and a dead lookalike of Pan Tau), from a lonely island Alfonz has fled to in his adventurous youth for a Robinson-like life.

When Joseph Mason of Groby Park, Yorkshire, died, he left his estate to his family. A codicil to his will, however, left Orley Farm (near London) to his much younger second wife and infant son. The will and the codicil were in her handwriting, and there were three witnesses, one of whom was no longer alive. A bitterly fought court case confirmed the codicil.

Twenty years pass. Lady Mason lives at Orley Farm with her adult son, Lucius. Samuel Dockwrath, a tenant, is asked to leave by Lucius, who wants to try new intensive farming methods. Aggrieved, and knowing of the original case (John Kenneby, one of the codicil witnesses, had been an unsuccessful suitor of his wife Miriam Usbech), Dockwrath investigates and finds a second deed signed by the same witnesses on the same date, though they can remember signing only one. He travels to Groby Park in Yorkshire, where Joseph Mason the younger lives with his comically parsimonious wife, and persuades Mason to have Lady Mason prosecuted for perjury. The prosecution fails, but Lady Mason later confesses privately that she committed the forgery, and is prompted by conscience to give up the estate.

There are various subplots. The main one deals with a slowly unfolding romance between Felix Graham (a young and relatively poor barrister without family) and Madeline Staveley, daughter of Judge Stavely of Noningsby. Graham has a long-standing engagement to the penniless Mary Snow, whom he supports and educates while she is being "moulded" to be his wife.

Between the Staveleys at Alston and Orley Farm at Hamworth lies the Cleve, where Sir Peregrine Orme lives with his daughter-in-law, Mrs. Orme, and grandson, Peregrine. Sir Peregrine falls in love with Lady Mason and is briefly engaged to her, but she confesses her crime to Sir Peregine, and they call off the match.

Meanwhile, Mr. Furnival, another barrister, befriends Lady Mason, arousing the jealousy of his wife. His daughter, Sophia, has a brief relationship with Augustus Stavely and a brief engagement to Lucius Mason. Eventually Furnival and his wife are reconciled, and Sophia's engagement is dropped. Sophia is portrayed as an intelligent woman who writes comically skilful letters.

The storyline features members of one of two factions, both capable of time travel, engaged in a long-term conflict called "The Change War". Their method of battle involves changing the outcomes of events throughout history (temporal war). The two opposing groups are nicknamed the ''Spiders'' and the ''Snakes'' after their respective sponsors. The true forms or identities of the Spiders and the Snakes, how those nicknames were chosen, or whether they are in any way descriptive are all unknown.

The narrator of the novel is Greta, a young human female employed at a Recuperation Station where soldiers recover from battles. Greta is an Entertainer: part prostitute, part nurse, part psychotherapist. However, other characters narrate parts of the story in lengthy monologues about their experiences and opinions as they visit the spider-staffed facility.

New soldiers, entertainers, and medical staff are recruited by existing Change War participants from various places and times; characters include: Cretan Amazons, Roman legionnaires, eight-tentacled Lunans (natives of a civilization that thrived on Earth's Moon a billion years ago), Hussars, Wehrmacht Landsers, Venusian satyrs (recruited from Venus a billion years in the future), American GIs, and Space Commandos. Soldiers from the armies of Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, Napoleon, and Stalin may find themselves fighting side-by-side or on opposing sides. Likewise, medical staff and entertainers are inducted into the temporal war to provide medical treatment, rest, and relaxation for injured and weary combatants.

Within the context of the story, the Universe as we know it runs on the Little Time. The Change War combatants and their facilities (places such as Field Hospitals, Express Rooms, Recuperation Stations, and Entertainment Spots), located within artificially-created bubbles of spacetime outside of the Universe, run on the Big Time. The Big Time is described metaphorically by the narrator as a train traveling through the Little Time's countryside. Combat operations occur when soldiers venture into a time and place in the Little Time on orders from their superiors.

Adding to the atmosphere of cynicism about the war's aims and causes is the revelation that one of its effects was to change history and cause an Axis victory in World War II. However devastating this development is to 20th century humanity, now doomed to live under the worldwide oppressive and genocidal rule of Nazi Germany, in the context of the overall Spider-Snake cosmic conflict, this change was incidental and of only marginal importance.

The first few chapters establish the backstory, setting, amazing futuristic technology and characters. The main plot of the novel involves the discovery of a time bomb in the Recuperation Station, and the attempts to defuse the bomb and identify the saboteur, essentially a locked room mystery within a science fiction context.

Sculptor Eric Vonk wakes up recalling disturbing dreams where he murders characters still unknown to the audience. He eventually cleans up his dingy studio, but only to trawl the streets of Amsterdam in search of random women whom he takes back home for sex. This combination of violent fantasies, promiscuity and occasional misogyny is not intrinsic to him, but rather the outcome of a distressing memory: his failed relationship with Olga Stapels. The film then flashes back two years to the time they first met.

Olga picks Eric up when he is hitchhiking, and they immediately have sex in her car. This first tryst is followed by a traffic accident, and Eric is initially prevented from seeing Olga again by her middle-class mother, who strongly dislikes him and blames him for the crash. However, the two lovers reconnect and start a passionate affair which, while opposed by her mother, is seen sympathetically by her easy-going father. They eventually get married, and Olga's mother and closest circle of friends grudgingly accept Eric.

Some time later, Eric lands a 5000-guilder commission to prepare a sculpture for the garden of the hospital where his friend Paul works. Olga models for the statue, which is unveiled by the Dutch queen. The unveiling ceremony is successful for the hospital, but the artist and model are prevented from attending on the front line by the queen's security detail because of Olga's revealing dress. Out of frustration, Eric and Olga throw the maquettes into the canals of Amsterdam.

Olga's father's dies from illness shortly thereafter. Instead of taking care of the Stapels family business, Eric then takes Olga back to Amsterdam where he continues his artistic career and she takes a job in a production line. This infuriates her mother, who feels that a Bohemian sculptor earning little from occasional commissions is an unsuitable husband.

Their life together, while initially happy, is marred by bouts of strange behavior on Olga's behalf, including unexplainable reveries and rampant impulsivity. This tendency reaches a pitch of conflict in a family gathering in a Chinese restaurant. Eric finds himself insidiously baited into following Olga to the party, where he witnesses her flirting openly with a family friend, with the overt complicity of the rest of the diners. This prompts Eric to vomit over the attendants and slap Olga. She then leaves Eric, who proceeds to trash his studio, destroying anything that reminded him of her. This brings the movie to the point where it opened, ending the flashback.

Eric is still obsessed with Olga. Her family refuses to let him visit her, until he says he has come to arrange a divorce. His short stay sours when Olga's mother walks in on them having rough sex, and he is banished from her life permanently. Olga later becomes engaged to a wealthy American and visits Eric to pick up the remainder of her things before leaving for the United States. Eric comes to terms with her departure, and his closure is symbolized by a minor subplot in which he rescues a wounded seagull and sets if free once its wing heals.

Some time later, Eric walks into a commercial center and spots Olga, flamboyantly dressed and acting oddly. She reveals that her American experience was a disaster and that she is living with her mother again. She suddenly collapses and Eric takes her to Paul's hospital, where she is diagnosed as having a brain tumor. Surgical intervention to remove the entire tumor is not entirely successful, and her death becomes an inevitable matter of course. Eric brings her a wig and Turkish delight, which is the only thing she will eat, as she fears harder food will break a loose tooth. Soon after, she has a seizure and dies. Eric walks outside, past his sculpture of Olga, and solemnly dumps her wig in a trash disposal.

''Feel the Magic: XY/XX'' follows the events of a man who meets a girl and instantly falls in love; however, she is not nearly as receptive, and the protagonist attempts to win her over, ranging from romantic gestures to protecting her from a stampede of bulls. As he attempts this, he is assisted and cheered on by a group of men with rabbit ears; however, he is also pursued by a romantic rival vying for the girl's affection, using his incredible intelligence and technology to steal her from him.

The opening has the dashing Earl of Huntingdon besting his bitter enemy, Sir Guy of Gisbourne, in a joust. Huntingdon then joins King Richard the Lion-Hearted, who is going off to fight in the Crusades and has left his brother, Prince John, as regent. The prince soon emerges as a cruel, treacherous tyrant. Goaded on by Sir Guy, he usurps Richard's throne. When Huntingdon receives a message from Lady Marian Fitzwalter, his love interest, telling him of all that has transpired, he requests permission to return to England. King Richard assumes that the Earl has turned coward and denies him permission. The Earl seeks to leave in spite of this, but is ambushed by Sir Guy and imprisoned as a deserter. Upon escaping from his confines, he returns to England, endangering his life and honor, to oppose Prince John and restore King Richard's throne. He finds himself and his friends outlawed and Marian apparently dead.

Huntingdon returns to Nottingham and adopts the name of Robin Hood, acrobatic champion of the oppressed. Leading a band that steals from the rich to give to the poor, including Friar Tuck, Little John, Will Scarlet, and Allan-a-Dale, he labors to set things right through swashbuckling feats and makes life miserable for Prince John and his cohort, the High Sheriff of Nottingham. After rescuing Marian from Prince John's prison and defeating Sir Guy in a final conflict, Robin is captured. The timely reappearance of King Richard returns him to Marian and foils the efforts of Prince John.

The film starts with a group of babies in a daycare center. Archie, the cousin of Sly and Whit from the first film, tells his friends, Finkleman, Alex, and Rosita, a story about Kahuna, his distant relative; according to Archie, Kahuna is a super baby with super strength and seemingly doesn't age, and he once rescued a group of children from an evil orphanage at the Berlin Wall run by a villainous overseer Adolf Hitler.

Back in the present day, Archie's father Stan Bobbins, Dan Bobbins' brother, who runs the daycare and a chain just like them, allows his center to be used as a filming location by the now TV mogul Biscane/Kane, who is starting up his own TV channel. Archie and the other babies sneak into Stan's office and decide to research Biscane but are caught. Archie overhears Biscane's helpers talking about their plan, accidentally attracting their attention, but he is rescued by Kahuna. Kylie the babysitter takes them all out to the children's museum, but Biscane's helpers accidentally knock their disc into the stroller. After a pursuit, Kahuna rescues them all; he then takes them all to his base. Kahuna transforms the babies into "superbabies": Archie is Baby Courageous, Alex is Bouncing Boy, Rosita is Cupid Girl, and Finkleman is Brain Boy.

Later, Archie eavesdrops on Kylie and Zach, Kahuna's helper; Zack tells her that Kahuna's father was a scientist and developed a formula for a potion. Kahuna enters the lab, and a mysterious person tries to drink the potion but accidentally chucks it when a storm breaks through the window. It lands and Kahuna drinks it, transforming him into a super baby. Kahuna's brother became jealous and annoyed at his brother, whom his friends call a freak. When the father died, Kahuna was put into an orphanage; after escaping, he set out to rescue babies and children everywhere.

The next day, Zack and Kylie find the disc that fell in the stroller earlier. The disc contains a clip of the program that is to be aired on Biscane's TV channel, followed by seemingly random code; they realize that Biscane is up to no good. The group spies on Biscane as he prepares to launch his channel, but Kahuna figures out that Biscane plans to take over the world through his TV channel by hypnotizing kids to never go outside, so he attacks the broadcast satellites, which causes him to disappear.

The babies decide to become their super alter egos to save Kahuna. With Stan, Archie's mom, Kylie, and Zack with them, they return to Kahuna's hideout and become Bounce Boy, Cupid Girl, Brain Boy, and Courageous Boy. After having escaped his prison, Kahuna arrives, followed by Biscane and his goons. Biscane manages to get the disc he needs and begins to air the hypnotic clip on TV. Biscane then reveals the truth that he is actually Kahuna's jealous older brother, and is revealed to be the person who tried to drink the potion. The babies then knock Biscane into Kahuna's machine which unlocks a person's true self with the push of a button. However, upon activating it he is surprisingly turned into a baby, much to his despair, and argues with his assistant over who gets to change his diapers. Kahuna reverses Biscane's TV clip and all the children decide to run and play outside. Kahuna tells Archie that he must go and though they'll always be friends. Kahuna leaves in his flying vehicle, waving at him and saying he'll always be a hero.

A new generation of nerd students now rule on campus at Adams College. The Alpha Betas are respectful of the nerds' prominence. Everything changes when a successful but reprehensible businessman, Orrin Price, becomes a member of the Adams College Board of Regents. A new generation of jocks has also come to Adams, including Orrin's nerd-hating son. Former Alpha Beta Stan Gable, now a motorcycle police officer, is installed as the new Dean of Students by Orrin Price.

Lewis, who chairs Adams' Computer Science Department, has been distancing himself from his nerd past by growing a ponytail and asking people to call him "Lew" rather than Lewis. His nephew Harold, now a student at Adams, is surprised at his uncle's behavior, pointing out that in his day Lewis was the "George Washington of nerds". Betty, now married to Lewis and also an art professor at Adams College, tries to remind him that she fell in love with him because he had the courage to be himself. But Lewis is more interested in becoming friends with the new dean, not noticing that Stan Gable hopes to break up his marriage and win back Betty. Meanwhile, Harold and his friend pledge Lambda Lambda Lambda, whose group now includes an obese kilt-wearing English inductee and a Korean Elvis impersonator, who emphasizes that he is ''South'' Korean when asked about his dixie accent. Harold successfully makes it through the Tri-Lamb's "rush week". However, a barbeque celebrating the new members is disrupted by Alpha Betas in ski masks. More harassment comes, and the Tri-Lambs look for legal help, but have a hard time finding a suitable alumni due to most of them getting technical jobs. However, one alumni is an attorney, Dudley "Booger" Dawson. Booger warns Lewis about the harassment, but leaves in disgust when he sees Betty and Lewis socializing with Stan, calling Lewis a "self hater".

Lewis reaches out to Stan to help defend the Tri-Lambs, but Stan says no. Lewis angrily reminds Stan that he was forgiving of their rocky past and even defended him when others were telling him Stan was worthless. But Stan says that he is not Lewis' friend and that Lewis will always be a nerd. This betrayal spurs Lewis to once again embrace his nerd self. He arranges bail for the arrested Tri-Lambs by putting up his house as collateral. He then calls upon all nerds, those on campus and in the city, who are sympathetic to their cause to participate in a massive nerd strike. Many of the city's basic utilities and services become crippled. To end the strike, Price frames Lewis for embezzling college funds and harvesting marijuana in the basement of the Tri-Lamb house. Stan thinks Orrin Price has gone too far, yet does not object to Price's actions. The strike is called off after Lewis is arrested. Betty confronts Stan about getting Lewis released, even offering herself to sleep with him. Stan becomes deeply ashamed and declines her offer.

Many of Lewis' old Tri-Lamb friends as well as his father return to support him. At the trial, the judge denies all of Booger's arguments and says that Lewis is guilty. Stan has a change of heart and testifies against Price, admitting that he has proof that Price framed Lewis for the theft and also planted the marijuana. Stan also admits that he is a nerd and has always wanted to read books and learn as much as possible, but his family always discouraged it. Price is arrested, and the charges against Lewis are dismissed. The Tri-Lambs are cleared, and the Alpha Betas are defeated once again, this time losing their Adams fraternity charter. Stan feels it best that he resign as dean of students, but Lewis convinces Stan to stay on. The nerds accept Stan as one of their own, once again guaranteeing nerd freedom at Adams College.

Dudley "Booger" Dawson (Curtis Armstrong) is marrying his Omega Mu girlfriend Jeannie (Corinne Bohrer), but her wealthy father Aaron tries to stop them, as his desire to maintain his conservative, nouveau riche standing clashes with his daughter's common interests with and love for the nerdy Booger. Jeannie's father works with his loathsome son-in-law Chip (the husband of Jeannie's older sister Gaylord) to find a way to discredit Booger and cause Jeannie to call off the wedding. Lewis Skolnick and the other nerds discover the conspiracy and work to save Booger's wedding ceremony from being ruined. In a subplot, Lewis' wife Betty is pregnant with their first child and is in her third trimester as the wedding date approaches.

Booger fights an accusation that he fathered an illegitimate child, Heidi, who is introduced as "Heidi Dawson" by Chip. Jeannie's mother tells her husband that she will leave him if he does not support his daughter's wedding to Booger, and Chip's accusations fall apart when the little girl reveals she was taken from an orphanage to play the illegitimate child role. Chip's wife decides to divorce him and throw him out of their lives forever, leaving Chip to swear his own revenge against the nerds (while Gaylord declares to cheers that her next husband will be a nerd). Aaron apologizes to Booger and gives his daughter his blessing, stating as well that he is proud to be nouveau riche and the California GOP will have to accept him that way or else. Booger and Jeannie are married, Betty gives birth to a healthy baby boy, and the newly married couple tell Heidi they would like to adopt her.

The Player assumes the role of a cargo pilot whose plane is shot down by a mysterious force while flying over a remote valley in Romania. A helpful village girl named Deirdre Kristoverikh rescues the Player from the crash and takes the Player to her father Kiril, who informs them that their arrival via plane crash marks them as the chosen one who is prophesied to destroy Kairn.

Kairn is the local vampire lord who long ago murdered his father and brothers so he could inherit control of the valley. Becoming a vampire, he's used his powers to cut off contact with the outside world. The valley rests in perpetual darkness or as the game's title suggests a “veil of darkness” and the Player moves about the map, learning of new locations from the populace as you assist in various quests.

As Kairn has cut off all ways out of the valley, the only way the Player is going to leave is by fulfilling the Prophecy, an ancient curse put upon Kairn by his original source of power, a tome known as the Agrippa. The Player uses the Prophecy scroll as a guide and after bringing aid to many in the village, finally confronts Kairn at his fortress.

The Player defeats Kairn by performing a number of tasks that weaken the vampire to the point that a stake in the heart will kill him. Upon the destruction of Kairn, the Player and Deidre head for America via steamer ship.

The play consists of five acts in rhyming couplets. There are two prologues, two epilogues and a short final speech. The play begins with Bolloxinion, King of Sodom, authorising same-sex sodomy as an acceptable sexual practice within the realm. General Buggeranthos reports that this policy is welcomed by the soldiers, who spend less on prostitutes as a consequence, but has deleterious effects on women of the kingdom who have recourse to "dildoes and dogs". Prince Pricket and Princess Swivia commit incest with one another. With the court and country reduced to erotic madness, the court physician counsels: "Fuck women, and let Bugg'ry be no more". The king himself, however is unconvinced, while the Queen dies of venereal disease. Amid the appearance of demons, fire, and brimstone, Bolloxinion declares his intention to retire to a cavern and die in the act of sodomising his favourite – Pockenello.

In 1970, a 23-year-old college dropout named Willie Traynor realizes that his dreams of becoming a Pulitzer-winning journalist will never come true. He moves to Clanton, Mississippi for an internship at the local newspaper, ''The Ford County Times''. However, the aging editor, Wilson Caudle, drives the newspaper into bankruptcy through years of neglect and mismanagement. Willie spontaneously decides to buy the paper for $50,000, using money borrowed from his wealthy grandmother, and becomes the editor and owner of the ''Times''.

Soon afterwards, Danny Padgitt, a member of a notorious local family, brutally rapes and murders a young widow, Rhoda Kassellaw. When Traynor publishes a front-page photo of the blood-spattered Padgitt being led into jail, readership increases. However, Willie is accused of yellow journalism and pre-judging Padgitt. Later, Willie runs a human interest story about Callie Ruffin, a local black woman whose seven children (among eight) all gained doctorates and teaching positions in various universities. In the process of researching the story, Willie becomes a close friend of Callie and her family.

In the process of jury selection for Padgitt's trial, Callie becomes the first black person to serve on a Ford County jury. Though far from enthusiastic about the prospect of having to pass a death sentence, Callie - who had been active of the Civil Rights Movement - does not shirk her civic duty. In court, Padgitt openly threatens to kill each of the jurors if he's convicted. But though the jury convicts Padgitt, they are divided on whether to sentence him to death row, so he is sentenced to life imprisonment at the Mississippi State Penitentiary. Unconfirmed rumors persist that Hank Hooten, the deputy prosecutor in the case, had been the lover of the victim - which, if true, would constitute a conflict of interest.

In the ensuing years, as the ''Times'' becomes highly successful and steadily increases circulation, Willie keeps an eye on Padgitt. He campaigns against the extremely favorable conditions which his family procured for him in prison. However, Padgitt is paroled after nine years. Immediately after his return to Clanton, two of the former jurors are killed by a sniper rifle and fear spreads through the county. Callie's children and neighbors organize to guard her day and night. The Padgitt family offers alibis as to Danny's whereabouts during the murders. This is taken with great skepticism, but with no tangible proof to the contrary, the authorities hesitate to take action.

Callie reveals that the victims were jurors who voted against sentencing Padgitt to death. A third juror - who also opposed a death sentence - narrowly escapes a bomb sent through the mail. The resulting public uproar forces the authorities' hands, and a warrant is issued for Padgitt's arrest. Against expectations, Padgitt surrenders to police. During his bail hearing, however, Padgitt is shot and killed by Hooten, who is hiding in the ceiling. Hooten barricades himself in the courthouse tower and, after a short standoff, commits suicide. It is revealed that Padgitt - though guilty of his original crime - was innocent of the murders. Willie discovers that Hooten has indeed been involved with Rhoda Kassellaw, and sought revenge against Padgitt and the three jurors who voted against his death sentence.

A big newspaper chain, extending operations throughout the South, becomes interested in purchasing the ''Times''. Willie sells the paper for $1.5 million, but his satisfaction is marred when Callie dies of a heart attack. The book ends with Willie writing her obituary.

Setting

The setting begins immediately after the events of ''Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance''. The Deadly Alliance (Shang Tsung and Quan Chi) were successful in their plan. Raiden's warriors, who were meant to protect the six fictional universes (named "realms"), were killed during their tournament. It served as the perfect distraction to defeat their enemies while they simultaneously claimed enough souls to resurrect the Invincible Army. As a single survivor, Raiden attempts to fight both sorcerers but is ultimately defeated. The Deadly Alliance quickly dissolves as the two sorcerers turn on each other for Shinnok's amulet, which allows them to control the army. Quan Chi has no time to enjoy his victory before he sees that the Dragon King Onaga, the former emperor of the realm of Outworld, has been resurrected too. Quan Chi, Shang Tsung and Raiden join forces to stop Onaga, though Raiden ultimately unleashes all his powers in a colossal explosion that, apart from destroying both members of the Deadly Alliance, the surrounding palace and himself, has little effect on Onaga.

Onaga now seeks to use six artifacts called the Kamidogu (literally "Tool of God" or "divine clay"), which are able to destroy the realms. Those fighters who survive the battle against the Deadly Alliance now stand against Onaga and his supporters. The latter include the forces of Edenia, now led by Mileena in the titular theme of deception as she masquerades as her sister, Princess Kitana. Other enemies include the former defenders from the realms, who were resurrected by Onaga and are under his control.

Konquest

A young man named Shujinko is deceived into spending his entire life collecting the Kamidogu for Onaga, who uses the guise of an emissary of the Elder Gods, the beings who created the realms, named Damashi. Onaga reveals his identity and intentions after Shujinko has gathered all the Kamidogu. Shujinko, led to believe he was working for the greater good, decides to continue training to defeat Onaga.

On Christmas Eve 1860, in London, Ebenezer Scrooge, a surly money-lender, does not share the merriment of Christmas. He declines his nephew Harry's invitation for Christmas dinner and reluctantly gives his loyal employee Bob Cratchit Christmas Day off. Cratchit and his children go shopping and prepare for the holiday at home ("Christmas Children"). As Scrooge leaves his office, he declines two gentlemen's offer to collect money for charity and visits some of his clients including Tom Jenkins ("I Hate People"). As he makes his way home, he is accosted and mocked by street urchins ("Father Christmas").

In his house, Scrooge encounters the ghost of his deceased business partner Jacob Marley, who warns him to repent his wicked ways or he will be condemned in the afterlife as he was, carrying a heavy chain forged by his own selfishness and greed ("See the Phantoms"). Before leaving, Marley informs him that three spirits will visit him.

At one o'clock, Scrooge is visited by the Victorian Ghost of Christmas Past, who takes him back in time to his childhood and early adult life. They visit his lonely school days, and then his time as an employee under Mr. Fezziwig. Attending a Christmas party held by Fezziwig ("December the 25th"), Scrooge falls in love with Fezziwig's daughter, Isabel ("Happiness"). However, the spirit shows Scrooge how Isabel left him when he chose money over her ("You..."). He dismisses the spirit as he finds himself back in his bed.

At two o'clock, Scrooge is visited by the Ghost of Christmas Present, a jolly giant who shows him the joys and wonder of Christmas Day ("I Like Life"). Scrooge and the spirit visit Bob's house, learning his family is surprisingly content with their small dinner, while Scrooge takes pity on Bob's ill son Tiny Tim. The spirit comments that Tiny Tim might not survive until next Christmas unless the course of events changes. They next visit Harry's Christmas party, where Harry defends his uncle from his guests' snide remarks. Before the spirit vanishes, Scrooge is warned that life is too short and to do as much as he can in what little time he has.

At three o'clock, Scrooge is visited by the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, a silent, cloaked figure who shows him the next Christmas with Tom and the other citizens rejoicing at the death of Scrooge ("Thank You Very Much"), with Scrooge unaware of the reason they are celebrating. The spirit transports Scrooge to Bob's house, where he discovers that Tiny Tim has died. The spirit escorts Scrooge to a cemetery, where the spirit shows Bob mourning at Tim’s grave, then points out Scrooge’s own grave. A horrified Scrooge promises to change his ways before the spirit takes on a Grim Reaper-esque appearance and causes him to fall through his grave into the caverns of Hell. Scrooge is met there once again by Marley, who shows him to his ice-cold "office" to serve as Lucifer's personal clerk. Scrooge is adorned with an enormous chain made from his lifetime of past sins by four masked demons before finding himself back in his bedroom.

Finding it's Christmas Day, a gleeful Scrooge decides to bring happiness to the citizens of London ("I'll Begin Again"). He goes on a shopping spree, buying food and presents. He runs into Harry and his wife and gives them some overdue presents as well. They invite Scrooge to Christmas lunch, which he gladly accepts. Dressed as "Father Christmas," Scrooge then delivers a giant turkey, presents and toys to the Cratchits, and after making his identity known, gives Bob a raise and promises that they will work to find the best doctors to make Tiny Tim better. Scrooge then frees all his clients from their debts, much to their delight ("Thank You Very Much (Reprise)"). Scrooge returns home to get ready for lunch with his family and thanks Marley for helping him at a second chance at life.

Taking place mainly in Bogotá, Colombia, ''Betty La Fea'' is essentially a Cinderella comedy about the rise of poor, ugly 'Betty' Pinzón and the fall of rich, handsome Armando Mendoza. Armando is a very incompetent playboy with a scheme to turn a huge profit as the new president of Eco Moda, a famous clothing manufacturing company. But his scheme is doomed for his faulty mathematics. Because Betty, his secretary (and economics wizard), is in love with him, she helps Armando deceive the board of directors as he loses money and brings the company to ruin. The story has three movements: 1) Armando's foolish destruction of Eco Moda, 2) Betty's flight from the disgrace and her vacation in Cartagena where she undergoes an emotional and physical transformation, and 3) Betty's return to Eco Moda, where she is installed as new president.

Morgon of Hed and Raederle of An set out to discover who are the shape changers who pursue them, and where is the High One, the source of the land law binding the realm together. Along the way they are helped by the wizards of the realm, recently released from the bonds in which Ghisteslwchlohm had held them by Morgon, and by the land heirs/rulers. After confronting Ghisteslwchlohm in the city of Lungold, where the wizard once had ruled, Morgon is imprisoned by the shape changers within Erlenstar Mountain, as they do not want to kill him. They, the exiled Earth Masters, need him to reach the High One, who prevents them from exercising full power. He escapes with the help of Raederle and someone who is later revealed to be the High One in disguise. Seeking refuge in the far north, he begins to learn the land law of each kingdom. Once he has partially learned all of the land law does Morgon discover that the High One had journeyed with him as Deth and the wizard Yrth; the High One tells Morgon at the top of Wind Plain that he (Morgon) is the High One's land heir. When the High One is killed by Ghisteslwchlohm, now possessed by the shape changers, with Morgon's three-starred sword, Morgon learns to shape and/or bind the winds to overcome the Earth Masters and bring peace to the land; he truly is the High One's heir.

The short story deals with a vague and mild-mannered man who drives into Waterbury, Connecticut, with his wife for their regular weekly shopping and his wife's visit to the beauty parlor. During this time he has five heroic daydream episodes. The first is as a pilot of a U.S. Navy flying boat in a storm, then he is a magnificent surgeon performing a one-of-a-kind surgery, then as a deadly assassin testifying in a courtroom, and then as a Royal Air Force pilot volunteering for a daring, secret suicide mission to bomb an ammunition dump. As the story ends, Mitty imagines himself facing a firing squad, "inscrutable to the last." Each of the fantasies is inspired by some detail of Mitty's mundane surroundings: * The powering up of the "Navy hydroplane" in the opening scene is followed by Mrs. Mitty's complaint that Mitty is "driving too fast". * Mitty's turn as a brilliant surgeon immediately follows his taking off and putting on his gloves as a surgeon dons surgical gloves, and driving past a hospital. * The courtroom drama cliché "Perhaps this will refresh your memory", which begins the third fantasy, follows Mitty's attempt to remember what his wife told him to buy, when he hears a newsboy shouting about "the Waterbury Trial" Mitty's fourth daydream comes as he waits for his wife and picks up an old copy of ''Liberty'', reading "Can Germany Conquer the World Through the Air?", and envisions himself fighting Germany while volunteering to pilot a plane normally piloted by two people. The closing firing-squad scene comes when Mitty is standing against a wall, smoking.

While an undergraduate at Harvard, John Lang becomes friends with an Islandian fellow-student named Dorn, and decides to learn the Islandian language (of which there are very few speakers outside Islandia). Once he has graduated, his uncle, a prominent businessman, arranges his appointment as American consul to Islandia, based primarily on his ability to speak the language. Gradually John Lang learns that his tacit mission as American consul is to do whatever is necessary to increase American trade opportunities in Islandia. He does not begin this mission right away, preferring to get to know the country and the people first.

John Lang meets and becomes infatuated with Dorn's sister, Dorna. They spend some time together alone, which John finds unnerving at first, since they are not chaperoned. When Dorna comes to understand John's feelings, she tells him that she does not love him in return in that way (though he wonders whether she means "cannot", or "will not"). She accepts the marriage proposal of the King instead, a handsome young man who has been courting her for some time.

One of the culminations of the plot is the decision by the people of Islandia to reject the demands of the Great Powers for unrestricted trade and immigration, choosing instead to maintain their tradition of isolation. As this political struggle intensifies, John Lang sympathizes with the Islandians, to the great disappointment of many American businessmen who desire new lucrative trade opportunities, including John Lang's uncle.

Near the end of the novel, John Lang is allowed to become a citizen of Islandia as a reward for heroism during an attack by a neighboring group. By this point he has fallen in love with an American friend with whom he has maintained steady correspondence. They decide to marry, and when she arrives in Islandia she, too, is granted citizenship.

Prologue

The novel opens in the 96th year of the Malazan Empire, during the final year of the rule of Emperor Kellanved. Ganoes Paran, age 12, witnesses the sacking of the Mouse Quarter of Malaz City. Paran wants to be a soldier when he grows older, though the veteran soldier Whiskeyjack disapproves.

Genabackis

Seven years later, the Emperor and his ally, Dancer, have been assassinated and supplanted by the chief of the assassin corps. Empress Laseen now rules with the aid of the Claw, the imperial assassins. The story opens several years into a series of wars by the Malazan Empire to conquer the continent of Genabackis.

Under High Fist Dujek, The Malazan 2nd Army has been besieging the city of Pale, one of only two Free Cities left in the Malazans' path in Genabackis, for several years. Pale is holding out thanks to an alliance with the powerful Anomander Rake, Lord of Moon's Spawn (a floating fortress), leader of the non-human Tiste Andii. Pale finally falls when Rake withdraws his fortress following a fierce battle. Even then, the Empire suffers severe losses, including the near total destruction of a legendary infantry unit in its 2nd army, the Bridgeburners. Several characters speculate that someone higher up within the Empire may be engineering the elimination of various people who were loyal to the late Emperor.

The Empire then turns its attention to the last remaining Free City, Darujhistan. A handful of surviving members of the Bridgeburners, led by Sergeant Whiskeyjack, now severely reduced in rank after Laseen's seizure of power, are sent to try to undermine the city from within. Once there, they attempt fruitlessly to contact the city's assassins' guild, in the hope of paying them to betray their city, but Rake has already driven the guild underground. Adjunct Lorn, second-in-command to the Empress, is sent to uncover something in the hills east of Darujhistan. She is accompanied by Tool, a T'lan Imass, an undead race that once dominated the world before humans. Meanwhile, Tattersail, one of the few mages to survive the Siege of Pale, and Paran, now a captain and the Bridgeburners' nominal commander, head toward the city to determine the reason for the increased involvement of several gods and other magical forces in the campaign.

A group of con-artists and underworld figures within Darujhistan work to oppose members of the civic government who are considering capitulating to the Empire. Meanwhile Anomander Rake offers his alliance to the true rulers of Darujhistan, a secretive cabal of mages. The plots collide when Adjunct Lorn releases a Jaghut Tyrant, a powerful ancient being, with the aim of either damaging Anomander Rake seriously or forcing him to withdraw from the city. The Tyrant is eventually imprisoned inside an Azath House after a fierce battle with Rake's people, while Rake himself defeats a demon lord that Lorn releases inside the city.

A substantial subplot involves a young Bridgeburner named Sorry. She is known as a cold-blooded killer but is in fact possessed by Cotillion, also known as the Rope, a deity and patron of assassins. When Cotillion's partner Shadowthrone and Rake negotiate the Rope's withdrawal from the events of war, Sorry is freed and falls in with Crokus, a young Daru thief. Crokus has earned the patronage of Oponn, the twin Gods of Chance, who continue to meddle in the conflict for their own purposes. As the novel ends, Crokus, a Bridgeburner sapper named Fiddler, and the Bridgeburner assassin Kalam volunteer to take Sorry (now called Apsalar) back to her homeland of Itko Kan (their story continues in ''Deadhouse Gates'').

Meanwhile, Dujek and Whiskeyjack lead the 2nd Army into rebellion against Laseen's increasingly tyrannical rule. Dujek now seeks an alliance with Rake and other enemies of Malazan against a holy war called by the Pannion Seer, whose empire is advancing from the south-east of Genabackis. Elsewhere, it is confirmed that the continent of Seven Cities has begun a mass uprising against the Empire. These and other plot developments are continued in the third novel, ''Memories of Ice''.

Dr. Friedrich von Kammacher (Olaf Fønss), a surgeon, is devastated after his wife develops a brain disorder and is institutionalized. On the advice of his parents, von Kammacher leaves Denmark to gain some respite from his wife's illness. Von Kammacher travels to Berlin, where he meets a young dancer named Ingigerd Hahlstrom (Ida Orloff) and the doctor becomes fond of her and very interested in her. However she has a large number of admirers and thus Von Kammacher gives up on her. However, while in Paris he sees an advertisement in the paper that she is going to New York with her father and decides to follow her. Von Kammacher buys a first ticket on the same liner as Ingigerd, the ''SS Roland''.

Aboard the ship, von Kammacher learns Ingigerd has a boyfriend with her and thus he backs down. Shortly after, he is called to treat a young Russian-Jewish woman with seasickness and they nearly get romantically involved but class stops this from happening.

Halfway across the sea the ''Roland'' strikes an unseen object which causes massive flooding and dooms the ship. The passengers panic as the ship sinks into the Atlantic. Von Kammacher finds Ingigerd passed out in her cabin from shock and carries her to a lifeboat. He goes back and searches in vain for her father but when he can't find him, von Kammacher returns to the lifeboat and holds Ingigerds hand as the lifeboat pulls away. The liner sinks so rapidly that many of the lifeboats are never launched and several passengers are swept into the sea and drowned. By morning, von Kammacher's lifeboat is still floating and ten souls still alive. They are spotted by a cargo liner ''Hjortholm'' and saved.

Survivors arrive in New York, von Kammacher tries to tell her that he loves her and wants a life with her in New York but she refuses to be tied down by one man. He gives up on her and they go their separate ways. Von Kammacher is impressed by an art gallery and takes an interest in fine art. Through the artistic community, he is introduced to a kind and pleasant sculptor Miss Eva Burns, and they develop a friendship. Dr. Schmidt, who is a friend of von Kammacher, offers him the use of a mountain cabin near Handon, where it is hoped that Friedrich will find some peace and solace. While he is in the mountains, a telegram from Denmark arrives with information that von Kammacher's wife has died. Upon hearing the news, Friedrich falls critically ill. Eva takes it upon herself to tend to him in the mountain cabin. As she nurses him back to health, their relationship blossoms. Happiness returns to Friedrich's life as he realizes Eva will be a good mother for his children.

After the decline in Atlantean culture following the sinking, Kida (Cree Summer), now Queen consort and married to Milo Thatch now king regent (James Arnold Taylor), who she passed the crown and throne to, is using the heart of Atlantis to restore her city's former glory. Suddenly, Milo's comrades and Mr. Whitmore (John Mahoney) arrive in Atlantis; while their arrival is unexpected, the Atlanteans welcome their old friends. Unfortunately, they have come to inform them of a mysterious creature causing trouble on the surface. Kida suspects that the creature might be Atlantean, stirring mixed feelings about her father's decision to keep the Crystal hidden.

They arrive in Trondheim, Norway and discover that the mysterious problem is actually the creature known as the Kraken, which had been attacking shipping freighters and taking their cargo to a cliffside village. At first they presume it to be an ancient Atlantean war machine gone rogue (like the Leviathan from the previous film), but they discover that the town magistrate, Edgar Volgud (Clancy Brown), seems to be controlling the Kraken. They soon learn, though, that the Kraken itself is the master, having made a deal with Volgud to preserve the life of the town and Edgar's lifespan in exchange for their souls. When they blow up the Kraken, Volgud's immortality ceases and he disintegrates, while the spirit of the village is restored.

All the while, Kida is learning about the outside world and is adapting well. However, she still feels guilty, as there could still be other Atlantean war machines in the world causing problems, like the Leviathan. Their next mystery is in the Southwestern United States, involving coyote spirits opposing them. They later find a hidden city in Arizona that contains a statue that greatly resembles Atlantean architecture. Unfortunately, a very sly shop owner, Ashton Carnaby (Thomas F. Wilson), intends to pillage the place for its valuables, but the spirits then turn him into one of them. A mysterious man named Chakashi (Floyd Red Crow Westerman), who is a Native American wind spirit, trusts them with the knowledge of their sanctuary and informs Kida that she can choose Atlantis' destiny.

Returning home, the adventurers discover that one of Whitmore's old competitors, Erik Hellstrom (W. Morgan Sheppard), who, after the stock market crash sank his company, went insane believing he was Odin, the Norse king of the gods, broke in at night and stole one of Whitmore's possessions, an ancient spear called the Gungnir, an artifact of Atlantean origin. When they track him down in the frigid Nordic Mountains, he presumes Milo to be the God of Mischief, Loki, and Kida to be his long lost daughter, Brünnhilde. Then, "Odin" uses the spear to cast Milo, Mole, Vinny and Audrey out of "Asgard" before kidnapping Kida and dressing her in Norse clothing. He explains that his intentions are to end the world in Ragnarok, the prophesied apocalypse told in Norse mythology. He creates a lava beast and an ice beast to destroy the world, but well-placed explosives used by Vinny distract the monsters long enough for Kida to retrieve the spear and vanquish the beasts. During these escapades, Kida comes into a greater understanding of just how powerful the Atlantean Crystal is, and that she must choose between hiding it and sharing it with the rest of mankind.

Having retrieved the spear, Kida realizes her father was wrong to hide the Crystal from mankind. She combines the Spear with the Heart Crystal and lifts Atlantis above water. Fishermen are shocked at seeing the entire city rise before them. With Atlantis above the water for the first time in over 8,000 years, Mr. Whitmore narrates that from then on, the world was a better place.

Ramu Gupta (Jimi Mistry), a dance teacher, leaves his native city Delhi, India, to seek his fortune in the United States. He is lured by the exaggerations of his cousin, Vijay, who has already moved to NYC.

Seeking work as an actor, the naïve Ramu unknowingly lands a role in a pornographic film. That evening he accompanies Vijay and his roommates on a catering job at a society birthday party. When the Indian swami hired to address the party falls into drunken oblivion, Ramu takes his place. Lacking a real philosophy, he improvises by repeating advice he had been given by Sharonna (Heather Graham), an adult film actress he met earlier. Lexi (Marisa Tomei), the birthday girl, is so impressed that she promotes him as a New Age sex guru to her friends.

Ramu hires Sharonna, ostensibly for advice on how to be an actor in adult films, though what he really wants is more ideas he could use in his new role as the guru of sex. A personal relationship develops between them, though Sharonna is engaged to a firefighter who thinks she's a substitute school teacher.

Ramu becomes an overnight celebrity, widely known as a spiritual leader - the Guru of Sex. The fame comes at a price, however, and he must choose between his newfound fame and his feelings for Sharonna.

Ramu has a national television appearance where he admits to being a fraud, but passes the torch to Lexi, then hurries across town to stop Sharonna's wedding. At the door to the church Ramu coincides with her fiancé's secret gay lover Randy (Bobby Cannavale). They both object to the wedding, being in love with the bride and groom. The film ends with a Bollywood dance number.

The introductory cut scene of the game details the game's plot. It begins with the Turtles watching a TV newscast on a Sunday evening, with April O'Neil reporting from Liberty Island. Suddenly, Krang flies in using a giant exosuit (seen occasionally in the animated series) and steals the Statue of Liberty, moments before Shredder hijacks the airwaves to laugh at the Turtles.

The Turtles jump into action in downtown New York and pursue the Foot to the streets and the city sewers (then to the Technodrome in the SNES version), where Shredder sends them through a time warp. The Turtles must fight Shredder's army in both the past and the future in order to get home. They defeat Shredder and the Statue of Liberty is returned to its place.[http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=11319&tab=overview%7C%7C%7C%7C14867 Allgame] Anthony Baize, review of ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time''. URL retrieved 15 August 2014.

April O'Neil is reporting from Liberty Island when, in a sudden flash of light, her audience and herself witness Manhattan Island suddenly starting to shrink. Shredder then hijacks the airwaves and announces to the world that this was only a demonstration of the power of the Hyperstone, the treasure of Dimension X. With the Hyperstone in his possession, he now has the power to take over the world. The Turtles have no choice but to go after Shredder and stop him.

Alexander Meyerheim hires veteran playboy screenwriter Richard Benson to write a screenplay. Overly immersed in his playboy lifestyle, Benson procrastinates writing the script until two days before the due date. Gabrielle Simpson, a temp secretary Benson hired to type the script, arrives at Richard's hotel room, only to discover that little has been written. Richard tells her that Alexander will be in Paris by Sunday morning, in two days' time, and that they have that long to write a 138-page script.

Richard and Gabrielle then begin to weave a script together, and Richard is awakened and inspired by the beautiful Gabrielle. They imagine various scenarios for his screenplay, ''The Girl Who Stole the Eiffel Tower'', which is based on their unfolding romance as Gabrielle goes back and forth between thinking Richard is a good man and her budding attraction to him, and her hesitancy when considering he described himself as a "liar and a thief" for taking Meyerheim's money and not delivering the script earlier. The screenplay, with small but inspired and comedic roles for Noël Coward, Tony Curtis, and other famous stars of the era, spoofs the movie industry, actors, studio heads, and itself, and is rife with allusions to the earlier film roles of Hepburn and Holden.

Alfie Elkins (Jude Law) is a Cockney limo driver in Manhattan. A sex addict, he regularly beds women on one-night stands. In addition, he maintains a casual relationship with single mother Julie (Marisa Tomei), his "semi-regular-quasi-sort-of-girlfriend thing", and unhappily married Dorie (Jane Krakowski). Once Dorie wants more than casual sex, he stops calling.

Alfie and his coworker and best friend Marlon (Omar Epps) want to open a company together, but Marlon needs to get back with his ex, Lonette (Nia Long). When Alfie goes to put in a good word for him, he finds her at her bar. But after getting drunk, they have sex. Alfie meets Marlon the next day, terrified he knows about it, but is relieved when Marlon says he and Lonette got back together and are getting married.

When Alfie goes to Julie's for a booty call, she throws him out, confronting him as she had discovered Dorie's panties in her rubbish bin-- he had discarded them after finding them in his pocket. Intending to reconcile with her at her son's birthday, Alfie sees Julie has returned to her estranged husband. He later discovers Lonette is pregnant with his child, and (without telling Marlon) they go to a clinic for an abortion. Soon afterward, Marlon and Lonette unexpectedly move upstate, without saying goodbye.

Following repeated failures to achieve an erection, Alfie sees a doctor, who tells him he is perfectly healthy, and his impotence is due to stress. However, he finds a lump on Alfie's penis. They immediately run a test at the clinic and he spends a few anxious days awaiting the results. On a trip to the hospital, Alfie meets Joe (Dick Latessa), a widower, in the bathroom. Joe gives life advice to the depressed Alfie: "Find somebody to love, and live every day like it's your last". Soon afterward, Alfie finds out he's cancer-free.

Believing he's been given a second chance, Alfie decides to "aim higher" in his love life. He meets Nikki (Sienna Miller), a beautiful but unstable woman, and they quickly embark on a passionate, turbulent relationship. Moving in together, Alfie finds it hard to put up with her mood swings, especially after she goes off her medication. Distancing himself, he focuses on an older woman, Liz (Susan Sarandon). A sultry cosmetics mogul, she inspires him to "aim higher". He becomes infatuated, but she wants to keep it strictly sexual. Alfie then ends it with Nikki.

Running into Julie in a coffee shop, Alfie realizes he has feelings for her; however, she's now with someone else. On a trip upstate to visit Marlon and his now-wife, Lonette, she reveals she never had the abortion, and, Marlon knows Alfie is the father, but nonetheless decided to stay. Upon seeing Marlon with hurt in his eyes, Alfie visits Joe, who tells him to get his life together. Alfie turns to Liz for comfort but is crushed that she has an even younger man in her life.

Alfie has a chance meeting with Dorie late one night. As he tries to get back into her life, she wants no part of him. Apologizing for not calling, he admits he has trouble expressing himself, running from relationships when they become too serious. She wishes him luck. The film ends with Alfie talking about genuinely changing his ways.

Third-generation Korean, Sugihara, is a student at a Japanese high school after graduating from a North Korean junior high school in Japan. His father runs a back-alley shop that specializes in exchanging pachinko-earned goods for cash, which is stereotypically a "common" Zainichi occupation. His father had long supported North Korea, but he obtained South Korean nationality to go sightseeing in Hawaii, which required a South Korean passport.

Sugihara's school days are filled with fights that always result in his victory; he and his delinquent peers fill the rest of their time with all kinds of mischief. His best friend, Jong-Il is a Korean high-school student who had been his classmate in junior high. When Sugihara decided to leave Korean schools for a Japanese high school, their classroom teacher called him a traitor to their homeland. However, Jong-Il supported Sugihara by saying: “We never have had what you call homeland.”

One day, Sugihara attends the birthday party of one of his friends and meets a mysterious Japanese girl whose family name is Sakurai (she is reluctant to use her first name). He takes her out on a couple of dates and they gradually become intimate. However, tragedy strikes when Jong-Il is stabbed to death by a Japanese youth at a railway station. Jong-Il mistakenly thought that the youth was about to attack a female Korean student at the station. The boy, who is carrying a knife, attacks and kills Jong-Il. Sakurai comforts Sugihara, and that night they attempt to make love. She freezes in bed, however, when Sugihara confesses that he is Korean. She declares that she is afraid of a non-Japanese male entering her, and Sugihara leaves.

In the meantime, Sugihara's father has been depressed by the news that his younger brother died in North Korea. In an attempt to provoke him, Sugihara blames his father, stating that the second generation of Zainichi, with its sentimentality and powerlessness, has caused the Zainichi much grief and difficulty. They fistfight, and the result is Sugihara's complete defeat. In the wake of the fight, Sugihara finds out that the true reason for his father's adopting South Korean nationality was that he wanted to make his son's life easier.

Six months later, on Christmas Eve, Sugihara is studying hard in preparation for the college entrance examinations. He is trying to fulfill the wishes of the deceased Jong-Il, who always wanted him to go to a (presumably Japanese) university. Sakurai calls him after a long period of silence between them and asks him to come to the place where they had their first date. In this last scene, they recover mutual affection and leave for some unknown place together in a light snowfall.

The main character, Abelard Lindsay, is born in the ancient lunar colony ''Mare Serenitatis Circumlunar Corporate Republic'', into a family of aristocratic Mechanists, but after being sent to the Shaper's Ring Council, he receives specialized and experimental diplomatic training and gives his loyalty to the Shapers' cause. He, his best friend and fellow Shaper protégé Philip Constantine, and the beautiful and passionate Preservationist Vera Kelland lead an insurgency against the rulers of the republic, who use Mechanist technology to prolong their lives. The three of them influence the younger generation towards the Shapers' cause in their pursuit of Preservationism, a movement devoted to the preservation of Earth-bound human culture. Kelland and Lindsay agree to kill themselves as a political statement, but Lindsay reneges on his suicide pact after Kelland is dead. Constantine attempts to kill Lindsay but instead kills a Mechanist, creating a scandal.

Constantine is allowed to remain in the Republic because his knowledge is needed to keep the Republic's environment from self-destructing, but Lindsay is exiled to the ''Mare Tranquilitatis Circumlunar People's Zaibatsu''. This lunar colony, which collapsed due to an environmental crisis, has become a refuge for "sundogs", criminals, dissidents and wanderers. There he meets Kitsune, a woman modified by the Shapers to be an ideal prostitute. Apparently a servant of the ''Geisha Bank'', a powerful money center, she in fact rules the bank through the remotely operated body of her now brain-dead predecessor. In his months on the Zaibatsu, Lindsay uses his diplomatic talents to organize a complex fraud involving a fictitious theatrical event and befriends an old Mechanist, Fyodor Ryumin. However, eventually the fraud takes on a life of its own, and the new-formed ''Kabuki Intrasolar'' becomes a legitimate artistic and business venture. Lindsay cannot remain to enjoy the profits, though: Constantine has in the meantime overthrown the Corporate Republic's government. Constantine has abandoned Preservationism to become a Shaper militant, and sends an assassin to present a stark choice: become Constantine's pawn or be killed by the assassin. Lindsay manages to escape with a group of Mechanist pirates, in the process aiding Kitsune to take power of the Geisha Bank openly.

Lindsay joins a ship called the ''Red Consensus'', which doubles as the nation-state of the ''Fortuna Miners' Democracy'', after the failure of the previously independent asteroid mining Mechanist cartel. The FMD, financed by more wealthy Mechanists cartels, annexes the asteroid ''Esairs XII'', home to the Mavrides family, a small shaper clan. Lindsay meets Nora Mavrides, a fellow diplomat. Nora informs Abelard that the subjects of the diplomatic training are in disgrace due to the high incidence of treason and defection from their ranks. The two of them work to promote peaceful coexistence between the Shaper militants and the Mechanist pirates, but after several months of conflict, espionage, murders and sabotages, open fighting breaks out. Mavrides and Lindsay, now lovers, eventually murder their companions to save one another. Before the asteroid's life-support systems shut down after the battle, the alien ''Investors'' arrive.

Peace finally comes to the Schismatrix after the aliens arrive. The alien Investors are obsessed with trade and wealth, and at first encourage humanity to focus on business instead of war. Trade flourishes and the Shapers and Mechanists put their differences aside. Lindsay and Mavrides become powerful Shaper leaders, thanks to their early contact with the Investors. The ''Investor Peace'' does not last forever, though, and tensions between Shapers and Mechanists eventually start to rise when the Investors play the factions against one another. Ultimately Philip Constantine rises to power and takes control of the Ring Council, ousting Mavride's and Lindsay's pro-détente faction. Lindsay runs away from what he sees as a hopeless battle, but Nora decides to stay in the Rings, where they had built their lives and family, to fight Constantine and his militant government.

Lindsay escapes to the Mechanist cartels in the asteroid belt, where Kitsune has again secretly taken power. There Lindsay works ceaselessly for decades to bring about the détente he believes will reunite him with Mavrides. Using a recording of an Investor's ship queen involved in some taboo activities to blackmail the alien, Lindsay contributes to the creation of Czarina-Kluster, neither Shaper nor Mechanist, which quickly becomes one of the richest and most powerful states in the solar system. Lindsay's partner, Wellspring, plans to use the colony to promote his post-humanist ideology, while Lindsay himself seeks to bring Nora to the new colony. However, Constantine discovers Mavride's plan to defect and forces her to kill herself. Consumed with hatred, Lindsay for the first time confronts his former friend directly, arranging a duel with him using an ancient alien artifact called the Arena. While Lindsay wins, the Arena leaves both him and Constantine catatonic.

Years after the duel, Lindsay wakes up on his old home, now renamed the ''Neotenic Cultural Republic''. Constantine's militant Shaperism has been replaced by a Preservationist government, dedicated to remaining a cultural preserve where normal, unmodified human life is preserved. As part of the treatment that restored Lindsay's mind, his original Shaper diplomatic training has been removed. Having returned to a Preservationist world, and now restored to a fully human state, Lindsay decides to break with his past and embrace new dreams. He becomes a post-humanist and returns to Czarina-Kluster to work with Wellspring's 'Lifesiders' clique.

In the years during Lindsays' catatonia, the expansion of settlements throughout the Solar System has seen an economy in huge surplus; with abundant wealth, expensive and prolonged terraforming efforts are first being considered. While Wellspring seeks to terraform Mars, Lindsay attempts to create an abyssal ecology on Europa. Constantine's Shaper family has been disgraced by Constantine's defeat, and Lindsay manages to convert them to his cause, even Constantine's "daughter" Vera (created from DNA taken from Vera Kelland decades before). As time goes on, eventually Czarina-Kluster, in its turn, faces social collapse. With his Lifesiders faction's research still in its infancy, Lindsay and Vera Constantine secretly break the Interdict and bring back samples of Earth's abyssal life, providing the breakthroughs that make the Europa project a success.

As the Lifesiders transform themselves into fish-like forms capable of survival in Europa's oceans, Lindsay visits the now-cured Philip Constantine. Constantine believes that Lindsay will never see Europa, that he will leave in the end rather than see his cause through to fruition, just as he always had. He also reveals that Vera Constantine's DNA comes as much from Lindsay as Vera Kelland. Philip reconciles with Abelard, then commits suicide.

When Lindsay returns to Europa, he finds that Philip is right: he cannot bring himself to undergo the transformation. At that moment, an alien Presence, who had followed Vera Constantine since her mission in an alien embassy, reveals itself. The being explains that it has been devoted to exploring and exulting in the variety of experiences of the universe, and invites Lindsay to join it. Lindsay accepts and is transformed into a bodiless form, to explore the infinite mysteries of the universe for eternity.

Prophecy

Oddr was the son of Grímr Loðinkinni and the grandson of Ketill Hængr (both of whom have their own sagas) of Hålogaland. When he was an infant, a völva predicted that he would be killed by his own horse Faxi, at the place where he was born, at the age of three hundred (which may very well signify 360, as a ''hundred'' by the time was a unit of numbers denoting 120, not 100 - which have been called a petty hundred).

In order to undo the prediction, he killed his horse, buried it deep in the ground and left his home intending never to return again. As he was leaving, his father gave him some magic arrows (''Gusisnautar'') which soon earned him the cognomen ''arrow''. After a voyage to Finnmark, Bjarmaland, Holmgård, Constantinople and Jotunheim, he fought successfully against several Vikings.

Hjalmar and Angantyr

However, when he encountered the Swedish champion Hjalmar, he met his match. The fight was even and the two warriors not only became friends, but entered sworn brotherhood.

The two heroes fought many battles together (for more see Hjalmar), until after the famous battle of Samsø against the sons of Arngrim, Örvar-Oddr had to bring the dead Hjalmar (killed by Angantyr) to Uppsala and his betrothed Ingeborg, the daughter of the Swedish king.

Örvar-Oddr travelled in the South fighting against the corsairs of the Mediterranean, he was baptised in Sicily, was shipwrecked and arrived alone in the Holy Land.

Ögmundr Flóki

Oddr sought vengeance against Ögmundr Flóki ("Ogmund Tussock" or Ögmundr 'tuft'; aka Ögmundr Eyþjófsbani or "Eythjof's-killer") for the murder of his blood-brother Þórðr stafnglamr (Thord Prow-Gleam). He and his crew headed toward a fjord in Helluland ("Slabland"), where Ögmundr was to be found, according to Oddr's half-giant son, Vignir. During their voyage, they encounter two huge sea-creatures that resembled islands:

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There had been five men sent to disembark on what they thought was an island, but the Heather-Back (''lyngbakr'') plunged into sea, and those men perished. However, the group had safely sailed through the jaws of the Sea-Reek (''hafgufa''), the other monster that Ögmundr had sent by magic to intercept the party.

Barkman

Oddr becomes Barkman (''naefrmaðr'', 'birch bark man'), a sort of wildman dressed in bark. He arrived in Hunaland and meets King Herrauðr, where his true identity was soon revealed due to his heroic actions. After defeating the king of Bjalkaland ("pelt country"), who used to pay tribute to the king of Hunaland, he married the Herrauðr' daughter Silkisif and became the next king.

Death

After all this, Oddr became homesick and went back home. Walking over the grave of Faxi, he mocked the old prophecy, but tripped over the skull of a horse from which a snake appeared. The snake bit him and he died.

Father Logan (Montgomery Clift) is a devout Catholic priest in Ste. Marie's Church in Quebec City. He employs German immigrants Otto Keller (O.E. Hasse) and his wife Alma (Dolly Haas) as caretaker and housekeeper. Keller also works part-time as a gardener for a shady lawyer called Villette (Ovila Légaré).

The film begins late one evening as a man wearing a cassock walks away from Villette's house where Villette lies dead on the floor. Shortly afterward, in the church confessional, Keller confesses to Father Logan that he accidentally killed Villette while trying to rob him. Keller tells his wife about his deed and assures her that the priest will not say anything because he is forbidden from revealing information acquired through confessions.

The next morning, Keller goes to Villette's house at his regularly scheduled gardening time and reports Villette's death to the police. Father Logan also goes to the crime scene after hearing Mrs. Keller mention that her husband is there and finds the police there. Logan is interviewed by Inspector Larrue (Karl Malden), who witnesses Logan talking to a woman after he leaves.

At the police station, two young girls tell Inspector Larrue they saw a priest leaving Villette's house. This prompts Larrue to call Father Logan in for more questioning, but Logan refuses to provide any information about the murder. Foolishly and prematurely suspecting Logan, Larrue orders a detective to follow Logan and contacts Crown Prosecutor Robertson (Brian Aherne), who is attending a party hosted by Ruth Grandfort (Anne Baxter), the woman Logan talked to outside of Villette's house, and her husband Pierre (Roger Dann), a member of the Quebec legislature. Ruth overhears Robertson discussing Logan, and Larrue's detective discovers her identity by following her home the next day after she meets with Logan to warn him that he is a suspect.

Suspecting everyone the active Pastor speaks to as a suspect, Larrue calls Ruth and Logan in for questioning, and Ruth blurts out the truth, narrating a series of flashbacks: She and Logan fell in love when they were childhood friends, but he went to fight in World War II with the Regina Rifle Regiment and eventually stopped writing to her. She eventually married Pierre, for whom she had been working as secretary. The day after Logan returned from the war, he and Ruth spent the day on a nearby island. A storm forced them to shelter for the night in a gazebo, and Villette found them there in the morning, recognizing Ruth as Mrs. Grandfort. The next time Ruth saw Logan was several years later when he was ordained as a priest.

Villette had recently asked Ruth to persuade her husband to help him escape a tax scandal, with the condition that if she refused, he would publicize the night she spent with Logan. She met with Logan on the night of the murder, and Logan agreed to intercede with Villette.

Ruth's meeting with Father Logan occurred between 9 and 11 pm on the night of the murder, but Larrue shows Robinson Villette's autopsy report that indicates that Villette couldn't have died before 11:30 pm. The fact that Ruth and Logan concluded their meeting at 11 pm leaves Logan without an alibi. He also had a solid motive for killing Villette in that Villette was blackmailing Ruth.

Knowing he will be arrested, Logan turns himself in the next day at Larrue's office. Keller has planted the bloody cassock among Logan's belongings, and when Logan is tried in court, Keller testifies that he saw Logan enter the church after the murder, acting suspiciously.

The jury concludes that Father Logan is not guilty, due to insufficient evidence, but the crowd outside the courthouse mobs Logan as he leaves the court. This upsets Keller's wife to such an extent that she starts to shout that Logan was innocent. Keller, realizing that he's about to be revealed as the murderer, shoots Alma, resulting in her death. He then runs away but is pursued by police officers.

Larrue finally realizes that Keller is the murderer, corners him in the grand ballroom of the Château Frontenac, and tricks him into confessing the murder. Keller, suspecting that Father Logan had betrayed him to the police, threatens to shoot Logan. However, Logan prefers peace over violence, and advances into the ballroom to talk with Keller.

Immediately followed by police officers, Logan talks with Keller, his main intention being to prevent a ballroom gunfight; but Keller shoots at Logan.

A police sharpshooter shoots Keller when Keller tries to shoot Logan; and Keller calls to Father Logan ''in extremis'' and dies immediately after asking Logan for forgiveness.

Taking place in a medieval European-like fairy tale setting, ''Princess Knight'' is the story of Sapphire who must pretend to be a male prince so she can inherit the throne of Silverland as women are not eligible to do so. As she is born, her father, the King, announces his baby is a boy instead of a girl. The reason for this is that the next-in-line to the throne, Duke Duralumin is an evil man who would repress the people if his son, Plastic, were to become king. Duralumin and his henchman Baron Nylon often scheme to take over the kingdom and attempts to prove that Sapphire is really a girl. Sapphire can keep the façade because, when she was born, she received the blue heart of a boy as well as the pink heart of a girl. Because of this, God sent Tink, a young angel-in-training, down to Earth to retrieve Sapphire's extra heart. Sapphire would not let Tink remove her boy's heart, however.

Sapphire and Tink experience a variety of adventures, including encounters with Satan, a warlock who wants to steal Sapphire's special two-hearted soul and take over the kingdom. However, he is always frustrated by Tink and his fear of angels, and by his own daughter, Hecate, a demonic-shapeshifting witch who at first she appears to be evil like her father, but who covertly helps Sapphire foil her father's plans. Sapphire also dons a Zorro-style mask at night, fighting crime as the Phantom Knight, and gets involved with Franz Charming, the young prince of neighboring Goldland. Their relationship is multi-faceted; Franz is familiar with Sapphire as three entirely different people and has different feelings toward each. He is good friends with Prince Sapphire, in love with the unnamed princess, and despises the Phantom Knight, whom he believes is a rival for the Princess's affection.

As the story progresses, Duralumin stages a coup d'état to conquer Silverland, following the orders of Mr. X, a large man clad entirely in boxy red armor and the ruler of the X-Union, a neighboring, proto-fascist federation of nations that wants to conquer the three kingdoms (Silverland, Goldland, and Charcoal-land). The King and Queen are captured, but help Sapphire to flee. Duralumin is about to proclaim his son king and himself as regent when he is assassinated by Nylon, who has been driven near-insane by the Duke's constant abuse. The mentally deranged Nylon proclaims himself and welcomes Mr. X and his armies in Silverland. Mr. X, though, soon makes it clear that he has no intention of letting Nylon rule, even as a puppet monarch, and merely keeps him around as a churlish buffoon.

Sapphire and Franz try to prevent the King and Queen from being executed, but they are too late and the King and Queen are dropped in the sea. This culminates in the final battle, as Sapphire heads off to Silverland castle to confront Mr. X with the aid of three magic balls. Given to Sapphire by her parents, the balls represent the three kingdoms and are supposed to save Silverland: they are used at first to ring the kingdom's bells, magically giving to the people the will to fight the invaders.

Sapphire has the balls melted to form a magic ax which she uses to rout Mr. X's troops, break up the castle's walls, and confront X himself. Sapphire ends up dueling Mr. X, with the help of Franz, and manages to wound him. Just as the enraged Mr. X is about to chop Sapphire and Franz in half, Tink calls on God for help, and a lightning bolt strikes X. As Sapphire seems to triumph, Mr. X rises from his apparent death and begins smashing the castle with his bare hands, eventually causing it to collapse onto himself. Nylon, who was swaying through the halls like a raving madman, is also crushed to death. Sapphire escapes the collapsing castle and stands triumphant in the sunlight. Tink has been mortally wounded by the castle's breakdown and tells God that he is ready to sacrifice his life should Sapphire's parents be brought back from the dead. God then accepts to bring back the King and Queen to life, as Tink dies.

Sapphire and Franz end up getting married. Tink's spirit returns to heaven where he has finally earned his wings.

As Earth is being ravaged by a series of apocalyptic events known as the Disaster, a coalition of architects, scientists, and doctors (called the Builders) create an underground city named Ember, with an initial population of 200 citizens (100 elderly adults, 100 babies), to ensure humanity survives, with the intention that future generations of the city will not know about the outside world or that they live underground. They build the city to last for two centuries, after which the citizens of Ember will evacuate and return to the surface world. The Builders give the first mayor of the city a box with a timed lock set to open after 200 years, containing instructions explaining how to leave Ember; the box is passed successfully from mayor to mayor, until the seventh mayor, who, thinking the box might contain a cure for the deadly cough disease plaguing the city, takes the box home and tries multiple times to break it open, but fails. He then dies before he can return the box to its rightful place or inform the next mayor of its importance.

Approximately two hundred and forty-one years after Ember is established, the city′s supplies are in danger of exhaustion and its hydroelectric generator is in decay, causing the power to go out intermittently. At their graduation ceremony, young people are assigned jobs by lottery: Lina Mayfleet is assigned the job of "Pipeworks Laborer" and Doon Harrow is given the job of "Messenger". However, both are displeased with their assigned jobs so they exchange their assignments and begin work in their respective positions. It is revealed that the seventh mayor was Lina's great-great grandfather and the box with the timed lock is in the closet in their house. By now the timer has finished counting down and the lock has clicked open. When searching the closet, Lina's grandmother finds the box but tosses it aside, not realizing its importance. The opened box is found by Lina's baby sister, Poppy. When Lina comes home, she finds Poppy with torn pieces of paper in her hands and mouth; Poppy has all but destroyed the instructions. Lina saves the scraps of paper, thinking they must be an important message from the Builders of the city, since the message is typed and no one in Ember can write like that. The writing on the message resembles the writing on labels and books left by the builders in the city. Using some glue, Lina reassembles the message as best she can. There are many gaps and some words make no sense like "boat" since no one in Ember has seen or heard of boats. Thanks to side character Clary, friend of Lina’s father, she discovers that the title of the document is "Instructions for Egress" or instructions for exit. Lina realizes that the document is instructions on how to leave their dying city. One of the words on the instructions is clearly "Pipeworks", so Lina enlists the help of Doon who is now working at the Pipeworks. The Pipeworks are underneath the city and a large and fast underground river runs through it that provides the hydroelectric power that Ember runs on. After much trial and error, she and Doon decipher the instructions from the builders. The instructions lead to a hidden room built on the side of the river that contains hundreds of boats as well as matches and candles to create portable light, something unknown in the city of Ember. The builders meant for the citizens of Ember to board these boats and be carried down the river into the outside world.

Lina's grandmother dies shortly after their discovery, and Lina and Poppy move in with a neighbor, Mrs. Murdo. At work, Doon discovers that the mayor of Ember and a storeroom worker named Looper have been stealing supplies, and he and Lina report the crime to the guards, who unknown to them are also corrupt. Upon following the instructions given in the note, they find the room with boats and candles meant for use in the exodus. On their return to Ember, they learn that the mayor has declared them criminals and there are notices everywhere with their names. Doon and Lina plan to escape Ember in the boats and agree to meet at the Pipeworks at a certain time, but just before, Lina is arrested and taken to the mayor, who plans to throw her in jail. Suddenly, a blackout occurs and allows her to escape without being seen; she meets Doon at the Pipeworks with her sister Poppy in tow. Lina, Doon, and Poppy escape in a boat through the river, its current carrying them forward. When the boat stops, they learn the origin of Ember from a diary left by one of its original colonists. Shortly after they are faced with a very steep climb and emerge onto the surface where they see their city from above and realize for the first time that Ember is underground. They throw a rock with instructions tied to it down to the city in hope that the people of Ember will escape. Ultimately, Mrs. Murdo finds the message on the street next to Harken Square barely missing her.

The film is largely plotless; a series of vignettes linked together by interstitial pieces featuring Mr. Mike discussing how upsetting and odd the sequences are. He introduces some of the pieces via voiceover, and some open with no introduction.

Sequences include: * Aykroyd displaying his webbed toes which he prodded with a screwdriver to prove they were not make-up. * A church that worships Jack Lord as the one true god (also featuring Dan Aykroyd). * A French restaurant that prides itself on how poorly it treats American patrons. * A sequence where the movie's "guide" takes viewers on a tour of an Amsterdam-based school that teaches cats how to swim, so they won't drown in the city's many canals. * Several of the regular SNL female cast members at the time, including Jane Curtin and Gilda Radner, listing a wide variety of disgusting things men can do that would turn them on, including having "a full, firm colostomy bag". * "Dream Sequence" — a series of surreal film pieces bracketed by large light-up signs reading "Dream Sequence" and "End Dream Sequence" that track towards and away from the camera. One of these is merely performance footage of Klaus Nomi, while another features home movie footage shot by Emily Prager intercut with stop-motion animation. * Jo Jo, The Human Hot Plate — a quick cutaway to performance artist Robert Delford Brown, smiling, undulating and dressed only in a pair of briefs while holding canned spaghetti in his cupped hands. * The presentation of a classified government weapons project, "Laserbra 2000". This piece is the last of a triptych of sequences that chronicle attempts to obtain the classified footage. In the first, the film (secreted in a violin case) is in fact someone's home movies; in the second, the violin case contains a violin. ''National Lampoon'' writer Brian McConnachie appears in the footage as a scientist. *Short films made by other directors: ** "Cleavage" by Mitchell Kriegman — closeup of a hand working its way out from (what is implied to be) between a large pair of breasts, feeling around gently, realizing where it was, and working its way back in. ** "Crowd Scene Take One", by Andy Aaron and Ernie Fosselius — purports to be a director guiding background actors for a disaster movie scene. ** "Uncle Si and the Sirens" — anonymously-directed silent-era "nudie-cutie" short found by ''SNL'' alumnus Tom Schiller.

Assistant Federation Commissioner Nancy Hedford is being ferried by shuttlecraft to the USS ''Enterprise'' to be treated for Sukaro's disease - a potentially fatal condition - before resuming a peacemaking mission. A glowing energy field appears in the shuttlecraft's path, and pulls it down to a nearby planetoid with an Earth-type atmosphere. All communications are blocked, and the shuttlecraft is totally inoperable.

Soon afterward, a young man calling himself Cochrane appears. He tells the party that he has been marooned on the planet for years and that a damping field is preventing their systems from working. Cochrane takes them to a shelter built from material salvaged from his crashed ship. In the course of their visit, Kirk and Spock and Dr. McCoy notice a glowing mass resembling the phenomenon that brought them to the planetoid. Cochrane calls this entity "the Companion", and explains that as an old man, he took one last flight, intending to die in space, but his crippled ship was intercepted and rescued by the entity, which restored him to youth and has been keeping him alive since. The Starfleet officers are stunned to discover that he is Zefram Cochrane, the inventor of warp drive. Cochrane then reveals why they were brought to the planetoid: he had told the Companion that he would die without the company of his own kind, believing it would release him. Instead, the Companion hijacked the shuttle.

When the Companion attacks Spock as he works on the shuttle, Spock deduces that the entity is largely composed of electrical energy. Kirk and Spock attempt to disable the Companion with an improvised electrical disruptor, but the Companion retaliates violently, and only Cochrane's intervention saves Kirk and Spock from being killed.

With Hedford's condition rapidly deteriorating, Spock modifies the shuttle's universal translator to communicate with the energy force. Kirk discovers it has a female personality and is in love with Cochrane. The Companion declares that it has stopped all of them from aging, and will keep them there forever as company for Cochrane. Cochrane, for his part, is disgusted by the idea of an intimate relationship with an alien, rejecting the idea of the Companion's love and affection for him. The dying Hedford, on the other hand, expresses her yearning to love and be loved before dying.

Cochrane summons the Companion again, and Kirk explains that it and Cochrane are too different for true love. The Companion hypothesizes about being human and disappears. Moments later, Hedford appears outside the shelter, completely restored to health, and they realize that the Companion has merged with Hedford within Hedford's body, which would otherwise have died within moments. In this way both Hedford and the Companion can experience love. Cochrane excitedly talks about his plans for traveling the galaxy, but the Companion/Hedford reveals that its life-force is bound to the planetoid; it cannot leave for more than a few days, so Cochrane chooses to remain with her out of love for her and gratitude, declaring that they will “have many years“ together. Cochran then requests that Kirk and his crew refrain from informing anyone about his presence on the asteroid so that he and the Companion/Hedford can be left in peace. When McCoy asks who will complete Nancy Hedford's mission, Kirk shrugs and says, "I'm sure the Federation can find another woman, somewhere, who'll stop that war."

David (Luke Wilson) is a stoner living in Portland, Oregon. After having previously sold marijuana to a woman named Jennifer (Amy Locane), he is introduced to her friend, the tempestuous Serena (Alicia Witt), who is immediately disliked by his friends, Robert (Jeremy Sisto) and Tony (Andy Dick), a gay couple.

Serena develops a liking to David after seeing the artwork he does in his spare time, and encourages him to make a career for himself. After moving into his house, she introduces him to Mary Weiss (Brittany Murphy), the daughter of a local gallery owner who falsely claims to be an art curator.

Serena becomes frustrated with David's lack of ambition, and decides to move to New York City with Tommy (Jamie Kennedy), a punk rocker and paranoid heroin addict. Before she leaves, she and David get into a fight, which ends in her burning down his house.

In New York, Serena becomes increasingly frustrated with Tommy's paranoid antics. She meets Bobby (Scott Caan) one afternoon in a diner, and he invites her to move in with him in his apartment, which she discovers is actually a squat in the East Village.

In Portland, David begins a romance with Mary, and moves in with Robert, Tony, and Jennifer. While hiking with Mary, David runs into his friend Devlin (Jack Black), who is running a spiritual retreat in the woods, where they partake in LSD. While Mary marches through the woods with Devlin, David has a hallucination in which his deceased mother brings him lunch.

In New York, Serena and Jennifer attend a party, where Serena is date raped. The following day, she confesses to Jennifer she wants to return to Portland. They return the next day, but Serena is disheartened soon after when she discovers David and Jennifer having sex.

Several days later, David attends a 1980s-themed party with Jennifer, Robert, and Tony, which is busted by police. He flees to the rooftop, where he finds Serena sitting alone. She confronts him about him having sex with Jennifer, and he asks her if she's planning on staying in Portland. She tells him she isn't sure, and that she doesn't want to become too comfortable there again. She apologizes for the fire she set at David's house. They kiss, and then witness a UFO floating above them in the sky.

Jerry Morgan (Kaye) is a ventriloquist who is having trouble with love: just when his relationship with a woman gets around to marriage, his dummy turns jealous and spoils everything. Jerry's manager Marty threatens to quit unless Jerry sees a psychiatrist, Ilse Nordstrom (Zetterling), who tries to discover the source of his problem. The two of them eventually fall in love.

At the same time, Jerry becomes unwittingly intertwined with spies and has to run from the police. In his escape, he finds himself impersonating a British car salesman, trying to demonstrate a new convertible with loads of bells and whistles. Later on, he finds himself on stage in the middle of the performance of an exotic ballet.

Major Charles 'Copper' Carrington (David Niven), who has a distinguished Second World War record and was awarded the Victoria Cross, is arrested for embezzling £125 from his unit's safe. Other charges include leaving the base and entertaining a woman officer in his room, this being forbidden by the battalion commander Colonel Henniker (Allan Cuthbertson).

Appearing in his own defence, Carrington's case at his court-martial is that he took the money openly because of back pay owed him. The Army Paymaster had failed to pay him for expenses during postings in the Far East and his wife Valerie (Margaret Leighton) was pressuring him for money. She lives in another part of the country, and has become ill and suicidal as a result of financial worries.

Carrington claims he told his superior, Colonel Henniker, about his decision to remove the money. He transferred £100 of it to his wife's account to give her relief from her financial problems. He then left the base to compete in a major horse race in which he bet the rest of the money on himself, hoping to be able to pay back the cash taken. When he fell from his horse, his friend Captain Alison Graham (Noelle Middleton) tried to return the money, but was denied access to the safe.

As for the incident in his room, it is established that Carrington was bed-ridden from his fall and that Graham was visiting him to discuss the embezzlement. She was fully dressed and sitting on a chair when Colonel Henniker stormed in, reminding them that it was against regulations for male and female officers to be together in private quarters. Henniker admits waiting for some time between seeing Graham go to Carrington's room and then entering himself.

Henniker is in fact Carrington's enemy, resenting his war record, achievements and popularity at the base. There is an element of sympathy for Carrington's actions and it is pointed out that the Major could be cleared if established that Henniker had forewarned knowledge of his intentions. He thus perjures himself at the court-martial by denying being told by Carrington of his decision to take the money from the safe. Much of Carrington's debts were due anyway to Henniker's constant delays in pursuing the Paymaster to give Carrington the money owed him.

Due to her ill-health, Carrington did not intend to call his wife Valerie as a witness, but decided that he will have to when the case goes against him following Henniker's "evidence". She resents the idea of washing their dirty linen in public but finally agrees to turn up.

Things go wrong when Valerie becomes suspicious of Carrington's relationship with Captain Graham. Under pressure, Graham admits to Valerie that she had a one-night stand with Carrington when they became stranded in a pub in the middle of a storm. But Carrington then insisted that a full affair would not be fair to anyone, and ended it. He and Graham are now just friends.

In her evidence, Valerie also perjures herself, denying her husband ever mentioned telling Colonel Henniker he planned to take the money. Carrington produces a letter she wrote to him in which she does mention his argument with Henniker. Carrington intends to only read the parts relevant to his defence, since the letter also contains embarrassing matters about the couple and Valerie's health. But when the judge insists that he and the other officials read it before it is submitted into evidence, Carrington tears it up.

The officers who are to determine his fate have seen through the lies told in court and sympathise with Carrington. But the law finds Carrington guilty on all counts, which means dismissal from the service.

All the regular soldiers at the base are near-unanimous that it is an unfair decision. One of them, Owen (Victor Maddern), was a sergeant demoted when loyalty to Carrington resulted in his failure to co-operate with the investigation. His defiance in and out of court on the subject results in his demotion again to a mere private.

Having made his grievances public, Carrington has decided not to appeal the verdict. His marriage is also over, but, with an attitude typical of him, he puts it down to the fact that Valerie is still in love with her late husband, killed during the war, and the father of her sons.

However, in the course of gossiping about the case, a telephonist at the exchange admits overhearing Carrington's phone call with his wife and what was really said. The telephonist's testimony (if heard at the court-martial) would have provided evidence that Valerie was lying under oath.

Without Carrington knowing, as he exits the court-martial building, the other soldiers rally around and display their support for him. Moved, he decides to go along with the appeal; and there is the strong possibility that when the telephonist's evidence is heard, the verdict will be quashed and Carrington acquitted.

The USS ''Enterprise'', under the command of Captain Kirk, arrives at Capella IV to negotiate a mining contract for a valuable mineral. The Capellans are violent and warlike, but scrupulously honest. Kirk beams down to the planet with Dr. McCoy, First Officer Spock and a security officer; they find that Kras, a Klingon emissary, is already present. The Capellans order Kirk and his party to hand over their weapons as the Klingon has done, and despite killing Kirk's security escort for drawing a weapon on the Klingon, treat the party as honored guests.

The Capellans' leader, Akaar, favors the Federation's offer over that of the Klingons. However, another Capellan named Maab challenges his leadership. Fighting breaks out among the Capellans and Maab kills Akaar, winning the title of Teer (leader) for himself. He orders the death of Eleen, Akaar's pregnant wife, because her unborn child represents competition to Maab's rule. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy manage to escape with Eleen into some nearby hills. While a party of Capellans pursue them, McCoy is determined to assist with Eleen's pregnancy, despite her culture's prohibition against physical contact with a Teer's wife. He succeeds in winning her cooperation, but she cannot reconcile herself to bearing the child, who in her culture would belong to no one. McCoy tells her to repeat the words "the child is mine", but she misinterprets this, thinking McCoy is claiming the child as his own. The delivery is successful, but Kirk is unable to reach ''Enterprise'' using their communicators because the starship has been drawn away by a false distress call.

The Capellans arrive and Eleen escapes to surrender to Maab, claiming that she killed the humans. When Kras questions her story, he pulls out a Federation phaser that he had retrieved earlier and threatens everyone. Maab sacrifices himself to draw Kras's fire, and a Capellan warrior kills the Klingon. A team from ''Enterprise'' appears and prevents further violence. Back on ''Enterprise'', it is revealed that Eleen, acting as her son's regent, has authorized the mining agreement with the Federation and that the child has been named Leonard James Akaar. Because of this, Spock predicts that Kirk and McCoy will be "insufferably pleased" with themselves "for at least a month".

Pamela and Cesareo's respective spouses are having an affair. When they discover this, they meet. The initially priggish English lady is slowly seduced by the vibrant Italian. Unfortunately, his joie-de-vivre is mainly due to alcohol and she too becomes dependent on it, initiating a decline and fall.

''The Grudge'' describes a curse that is born when someone dies in the grip of extreme rage or sorrow, created where the person died. Those who encounter the curse die, and the curse is reborn repeatedly, passing from victim to victim in an endless, growing chain of horror. The following events are explained in their actual order, however, the film is presented in a nonlinear narrative.

In 2001, Kayako Saeki, a housewife living in suburban Tokyo, is in love with college professor Peter Kirk, obsessively writing about him in a diary. Her husband Takeo becomes jealous as he discovers the diary and believes that Kayako is having an affair with another man. Takeo brutally murders her, and their young son Toshio for walking in on the murder, and the pet cat Mar in a fit of rage. After Takeo hides the bodies in the house, Kayako's ghost hangs him with her hair.

After receiving a letter from Kayako, Peter visits the Saeki house only to find both her and Takeo's corpses along with Toshio's ghost. Shocked, he flees the scene and commits suicide the next day. The remainder of the Saeki family rise again as ghosts due to the curse, notably Kayako, who appears as an ''onryō''.

In 2004, the Williams family from America move into the Saeki house. While Matt is thrilled with the house, his wife Jennifer and dementia-ridden mother Emma feel uncomfortable. Matt and Jennifer are quickly consumed by the curse. Yoko, a care worker, arrives at the house to find Emma alone before she encounters Kayako, who drags her up into the attic.

Concerned about Yoko's disappearance, her employer Alex sends another care worker, Karen Davis, to take over the care of Emma. At the house, Karen discovers Toshio sealed up in a wardrobe and later on witnesses Kayako's spirit descending from the ceilings to claim Emma.

Alex arrives at the house shortly after and finds Emma dead and Karen in a state of shock. Alex calls the police, with the presence of Detective Nakagawa. In the attic, Nakagawa and his partner Igarashi find Matt and Jennifer's bodies, along with a human's lower jaw. Meanwhile, Matt's sister, Susan, is pursued by Kayako around her office building. At home, Kayako attacks her and she vanishes. While leaving work, Alex is killed by Yoko's jawless corpse.

Kayako begins haunting Karen, who informs her boyfriend Doug of the situation. Karen researches the house, eventually confronting Nakagawa, who explains that three of his colleagues investigating the Saeki deaths were all consumed by the curse. That night, Nakagawa carries gasoline into the house in an attempt to burn it down, but is killed by Takeo. After learning that Doug has ventured to the Saeki house to look for her, Karen races there. She finds Doug paralyzed and attempts to flee with him. Kayako crawls down the stairs and latches onto Doug, who dies of shock. As Kayako closes in, Karen sees the gasoline and ignites it.

Karen survives and in the hospital, she learns that the house also survived the fire. Visiting Doug's body, Karen realizes that she is still haunted by Kayako.

In the present, a girl calls her friend to tell her about how she watched the cursed videotape. She also recounts about how she experienced a nightmare, where she witnessed Sadako being murdered by Dr. Ikuma.

Thirty years prior, Akiko Miyaji, the fiancé of a fellow reporter who was killed during Shizuko's infamous ESP demonstration, interviews Sadako's former elementary school teacher Sudo about Sadako's nensha powers. Sudo recounts how Sadako was withdrawn as a child and predicted her classmates drowning in the ocean during a field trip. Meanwhile, a 19-year-old Sadako joins an acting troupe as an understudy as a therapy to her nightmares suggested by her doctor. Sadako has natural beauty and charisma for the play, infuriating her senior, Aiko Hazuki, whose relationship with the troupe director, Yusaku Shigemori, sours due to the latter's newfound favor for the young trainee. Aiko is later found murdered by a figure in white, thus Sadako takes her place for the upcoming play as the lead character. Sadako attracts and reciprocates the attention of the troupe sound director, Hiroshi Toyama, much to the disappointment of costume designer and Toyama's girlfriend, Etsuko Tachihara. While praised by Shigemori and Toyama, other troupe members grow to distrust and fear Sadako, as they suspect that she is the one who caused Aiko's death and other supernatural occurrences, including strange dreams pertaining to a well and an apparition of a girl in white with long hair very similar to Sadako.

Meanwhile, Akiko is told by Sudo that though initially pleasant, Shizuko descended to madness before her suicide ever since her moving to live with Dr. Heihachiro Ikuma, and that Sudo heard strange childlike noises in the attic. Etsuko, wanting to discover Sadako's origins, contacts Sadako's psychiatrist, but he refuses to answer and throws away Sadako's résumé; the résumé is taken by Akiko's assistant, allowing him and Akiko to locate Sadako in the troupe. When they start to photograph her, she telekinetically breaks the camera; the two later discover that all photographs contain ghostly faces and a girl with long hair, confirming Akiko's suspicion of the existence of "two" Sadakos. Shigemori, having been obsessed with Sadako, says that he knows of her dark past and tells that he will kill her if she tries to kill him so they could be together. Toyama interrupts the process and Shigemori is killed through a cut that also wounds Toyama. However, Sadako manages to heal him just by touching him and later is able to make a disabled man regain his ability to walk. The two confess their love for each other and promise to leave the troupe and live together after finishing their last play.

The play is a disaster as Sadako, influenced by recordings of her mother's demonstration played by Etsuko, sees visions of her mother and other reporters during the demonstration and kills her psychiatrist. The troupe members, except Toyama, beat her to death, though is informed by Akiko that their job is not yet done. They visit Ikuma who tells them that Sadako, once a single individual, split into two beings resembling each of her parents; the malevolent one who resembled her unknown father is kept from growing by Ikuma in the attic. Before they can kill it, both Sadakos merge with each other and escape with Toyama. In her merged form, Sadako kills all the troupe members, including Toyama. Akiko and Etsuko manage to flee and hide in Ikuma's house but Sadako corners them. Rather than face her wrath, Akiko shoots Etsuko and then herself in the head.

Sadako is found by Ikuma, recovered and tearfully mourning her own actions. They return home, where Ikuma drugs her and chases her outside to a nearby well. Despite her pleas, he brains her with an axe and throws her down the well before breaking down in tears. Sadako briefly has a dream of meeting with Toyama again before she realizes she is still trapped in the well. She looks up and screams as the well stone is slid to its place, trapping her inside.

Plump little Phoebe Olcott is a timid but helpful 15-year-old girl, admired by her father's students for her quiet temperament and stubbornness. After her father, a schoolteacher, is killed in action while fighting as an American Patriot (commonly known as Rebels) in the quick revolution, she ends up living with her aunt's family, who happen to be Loyalist.

Phoebe continues to hide in the shadows of her cousins Gideon and Anne Robinson until Gideon becomes a British soldier. When he is suddenly found hanged, Phoebe discovers that Gideon was actually a spy and finds a list of names that was entrusted to Gideon and must be delivered to Fort Ticonderoga.

She arrives at Fort Ticonderoga too late; the post has been abandoned. Instead, she finds a bear and a cat and meets Jem Morrissay, whose family happens to be one of the names on the list entrusted to Gideon. Phoebe and Jem form an uneasy relationship and she is reunited with her family and several other Loyalist families fleeing to Upper Canada to avoid persecution by the Patriots.

During the flight of the Loyalists, they capture Japhet Oram, a Loyalist soldier, and are uncertain if he is a deserter or a rebel spy. The leader of the group insists that the soldier be taken to Canada and hanged. When Phoebe's own convictions, background, and morals clash with the more radical of the Loyalists, she soon finds herself isolated from the rest of the group. She secretly cuts Japhet loose and runs away, but is pursued by Jem.

Despite their growing attraction to one another, Phoebe refuses to return to the other Loyalists with Jem. Forced to continue alone, Phoebe begins her dangerous journey to Canada in order to escape the revolution and fulfil Gideon's final mission.

The film opens with a Star Wars opening crawl, which explains the film's premise: ''In year 80 AM (Anno Mickey Mouse), the mice of Planet X are threatened by humiliation and total apocalypse. The well-organized, fully equipped gangs of evil cats are aiming for the total obliteration of mice, not caring for the old conventions between mice and cats. But in the last moment, when the mouse leaders are beginning to consider leaving the planet, a new hope rises...''

The film is a parody of several famous feature films, mainly the James Bond series. It tells the story of a special agent who is sent to the city of "Pokyo" to obtain the secret plans of a machine which could save mouse society. Of course, the cats don't want this to happen, and send some rat gangsters to stop him, who don't always prove as efficient as they initially seem.

A huge energy field in the shape of a glowing green hand appears and grabs the USS ''Enterprise'', halting its movement. Captain James T. Kirk tries to shake the ship free, but fails. A humanoid apparition appears on the bridge viewscreen and addresses the ship's crew. Kirk demands that the ship be set free, but the being responds by tightening its grip, threatening to crush the ship until Kirk agrees to the being's demand that the ship's crew be beamed down to the planet below.

Kirk leads a landing party that includes Lieutenant Carolyn Palamas (Leslie Parrish), whose specialties include Greek mythology. The team arrives at what appears to be an ancient Greek temple, where they encounter the humanoid who identifies himself as the god Apollo (Michael Forest). He informs the party that he will not allow them to leave, and renders their communicators and transporter nonfunctional. He indicates that he expects the crew of the ''Enterprise'' to worship him as their ancestors did, and in return promises to provide for all their needs and desires. Kirk refuses.

Apollo's attention shifts to Carolyn, angering Mr. Scott, who steps forward to defend her against Apollo's advances. Apollo destroys his phaser and announces he will take Carolyn as his consort. After displaying his power, Apollo appears tired, and vanishes along with Carolyn.

Kirk and McCoy speculate that their captor was one of a group of powerful aliens that visited Earth millennia ago and became objects of worship to the ancient Greeks. Chekov having noticed Apollo's fatigue, Kirk provokes Apollo to test the limits of his power and allow the landing party to overcome him. Meanwhile, Carolyn learns that Apollo belonged to a group of travelers who subsist on love and worship. He is the last of their kind, the others had died.

Kirk's plan to provoke Apollo is frustrated when Carolyn intervenes to protect the landing party. Apollo instructs Kirk to begin making arrangements for the remaining crew to come down to the planet. Kirk takes Carolyn aside and tells her that she must reject Apollo to save them all from slavery. She reluctantly agrees.

Meanwhile, Mr. Spock locates the power source for the force field holding the ''Enterprise'', and finds a way to communicate and fire phasers through it. Putting her responsibilities first, Carolyn tells Apollo her interest in him is purely scientific, likening him to a new strain of bacteria. Hurt, Apollo invokes thunder and lightning while Kirk orders Spock to fire on and destroy the power source.

Defeated, Apollo addresses his fellow gods, admitting that he was wrong, and begging to join them. He fades away. Carolyn is distraught. Kirk notes that humans owe their moral code to the Greek civilisation and mythology, and (along with McCoy) regrets having to destroy Apollo.

Exposition

Harry Van, an American World War I veteran, tries to reenter show business and ends up in a faltering mentalist show with an inept, aging alcoholic, Madame Zuleika. While giving performances in Omaha, Nebraska, he is courted by Irene, a trapeze artist, who claims to come from Russia and hopes both to replace Harry's drunken partner in the show and be his lover. They have a romantic night, but he is suspicious of Irene's overstated flights of fancy. Harry, keeping Zuleika, and Irene's troupe board trains going in the opposite directions the next day.

Action

Twenty years later, after a number of jobs, Harry is the impresario and co-performer with Les Blondes, a dance group of six women on a trip through Europe. While taking a train from Romania to Switzerland, they are stranded at an Alpine hotel in an unnamed, belligerent country, when borders are suddenly closed as war becomes imminent. The passengers watch through the hotel lounge's large windows as dozens of bombers take off from an air field at the bottom of the picturesque valley and fly away in formation.

Among the passengers lingering in the lounge, Harry meets Irene, a glamorous platinum blonde with an exaggerated Russian accent, who is traveling as the mistress of a rich armaments entrepreneur, Achille Weber. Although she claims never to have been to Omaha, Harry's casual innuendoes show he is convinced that she is the acrobat he knew there, and he believes that she recognizes him, too. An agitated pacifist rants to his fellow travelers about Weber's guns, which he says are behind the war that just started, and describes for them how the planes they saw disappear over the spectacular snowy mountains will be killing thousands of people in other countries. The pacifist is hauled away and shot by the border police, commanded by the friendly and impeccable Captain Kirvline, who mingles with the travelers while they wait at the hotel.

In their hotel suite, an upset Irene explodes and tells Weber "the truth [she has] always wanted to tell." She blames him for the likely deaths of untold numbers of people in the war, whose victims – in her vivid accusations – might include the newlywed English couple, the Cherrys, they met at the hotel, all killed with the weapons that Weber sells.

The Swiss border opens again the next day, and the people at the hotel are able to continue on their journeys. They learn they had better be off as soon as possible because foreign countries are likely to retaliate today for yesterday's air raid and bomb the air field near the hotel, which could be hit by mistake. As everyone rushes to leave, Irene finds out that Weber has decided to dump her when he refuses to vouch for her flimsy League of Nations passport to Capt. Kirvline, who tells Irene she must stay at the hotel.

Having escorted his Les Blondes to the Swiss border, Harry returns to stay with Irene. She admits she is the woman he met in Omaha 20 years ago, and she still loves him. Harry talks about her future, performing with him and the blondes. They hear approaching planes and are told to run to the shelter, but Irene declares she does not want to die in a cellar. As Harry tries to take her there anyway, a bomb partly destroys the hotel and blocks their escape from the lounge.

Two endings

The print that has aired on TCM since 1999 shows the international ending and briefly displays The End followed by a title card that reads: “You have just seen the original ‘International’ 1939 ending of MGM’s ‘Idiots (sic) Delight’ which is spiritual and optimistic in tone. We now present the original ‘domestic’ theatrical ending that seems to ignore the fact that the rest of the world is at war.” However, the second ending does include Irene’s line, “The whole world has gone to war!” Dramatic music plays while this card is displayed.

Domestic

The ending shown to the domestic (U.S., Canadian) audience replaced the hymn from the play with Harry and Irene talking about their plans for the future in hopes of diverting their minds from the bombs exploding outside the lobby windows. Harry rehearses with her the secret code Irene watched him use with his "mind-reader" partner in Omaha. As the bombing stops and the Alpine valley turns serene once more, Irene excitedly describes their future act together while Harry begins to play the damaged piano. The film's ending does not go as far as the original in sounding the knell of destruction, it takes a lighter and more romantic course in dealing with the menaces of bombings.

International

In the ending intended for international audiences, Harry plays the piano as together they sing a hymn ("Abide with Me") from Harry's youth in hopes of distracting their minds from the bombs exploding outside the hotel windows. They embrace after the Alpine valley turns serene once more. The studio's marketing goal with the more solemn bombing sequence failed. After the trouble to which the producers went to make this palatable for the totalitarian states, it seems all the more futile that it was banned in those nations despite the hazy geographical location and the scrupulous use of Esperanto.

The Port Ruppert Mundys of New Jersey lease their stadium to the United States Department of War at the beginning of the 1943 season—to be used as a soldiers' embarkation point—which forces the athletes to play as the league's first permanent road team. The novel's narrator is "Word" Smith, a retired sports columnist who spends 1943 traveling with the Mundys.

Taking place ten years after the events of ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'', ''Yu-Gi-Oh! GX'' follows a new generation of duelists including a young boy named Jaden Yuki (Judai Yuki) who attends Duel Academy, a school founded by Seto Kaiba, where aspiring duelists train in the field of Duel Monsters. The academy has an internal ranking system based on the "Egyptian God" cards from Battle City. Obelisk Blue is the highest dorm and is filled with only the best duelists or those who come from elite families. Ra Yellow is the second-highest dorm and is made up of duelists who score and perform well in school and have the potential to be the best. Slifer Red is the lowest dorm and consists of those who do not perform well and need much help to improve. Students are able to graduate to the next dorm if they show improvement. In the universe of ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'', this series focuses on the type of summoning called "Fusion Summon", which the protagonist and many characters perform.

For the first year at Duel Academy, Jaden befriends many students such as Syrus Truesdale (Sho Marufuji), Jaden's roommate with low self esteem and Zane's brother, Alexis Rhodes (Asuka Tenjoin), one of the top female duelists and Jaden's love interest, Bastion Misawa (Daichi Misawa), an excellent duelist with an extremely high intellect, Chazz Princeton (Jun Manjoime), one of Jaden's rivals with an elitist personality, and Zane Truesdale (Ryo Marufuji), Jaden's other rival and the best duelist in the school. Together the main cast faced major threats including the Shadow Riders (Seven Stars), who intended to revive the Sacred Beasts, powerful cards that could destroy the world. This group was led by Kagemaru and consisted of Nightshroud (Alexis's brother Atticus possessed by darkness), Camula (a vampire), Tania (an Amazon Warrior), Don Zaloog (a duel spirit), Abydos (an Egyptian pharaoh), Titan (an illusionist) and Amnael (an alchemist who posed as the Slifer Red's dorm advisor, Professor Banner). After the Shadow Riders are defeated, Zane chooses Jaden to duel him in his graduation match which ends in the only draw of the series, after which he passes on the title of top duelist in the school to Jaden.

In the second year, Jaden meets Aster Phoenix (Edo Phoenix), a duelling prodigy, and Tyranno Hassleberry, a duelist with a love for the army and dinosaurs. The main cast then face off against the Society of Light, a cult-like organization who infiltrated Duel Academy. They are led by Sartorius, Aster's manager, and intend to brainwash humanity with the powerful "Light of Destruction", a light in space that has the ability to corrupt. It is revealed that when you duel someone from the Society of Light, you also become brainwashed and become one of their members. This caused many of Jaden's friends, namely Chazz, Alexis, and Bastion, to become Jaden's enemy. Jaden learns that he has the ability to talk to Duel Spirits (similar to Yugi Mutou) due to his ability to use the "Gentle Darkness", a force created to balance out the Light of Destruction. He use this to beat Sartorious and free everyone from the influence.

In the third year, Duel Academy is transported to another dimension, a desert plane with three suns and resident Duel Monster spirits, ruled by Yubel, a duel monster who was corrupted by the light. Upon returning home, Jaden and a select group of his partners dive back into the alternate dimension to recover their missing companions. After seeing his friends sacrificed, Jaden falls into despair and becomes possessed by the Supreme King, a ruthless and merciless ruler and the original wielder of the Gentle Darkness, which granted him immense power. During his time as the Supreme King, Jaden commits many crimes such as burning down villages, enslaving civilians, and sometimes even executing others. He is later freed of the influence by his friends in a duel, but is left with an immense amount of guilt. It is later revealed that Jaden in fact is the reincarnation of the Supreme King, and the Supreme King's power is a part of him. Jaden faces off against Yubel and learns that Yubel actually was the guardian of the Supreme King who was sworn to always be with him and protect him. Yubel was driven insane by the Light of Destruction and wishes to fuse all dimensions together so she could always be with Jaden. Seeing that Yubel was just trying to fulfil her promise, Jaden decides to use "Super Polymerization" and fuse himself with Yubel to help fulfil that promise and cleanse her of her corruption.

In the fourth year, Jaden returns to Duel Academy for his final year. Since he fused himself with Yubel, he has gained her powers as well as her bi-chromatic eyes when he uses her powers. However, since he came back from the alternate dimension, he has become more solitary and distant from his friends as he does not wish to cause trouble for anyone anymore. He also lost his happy-go-lucky personality and his love for duelling; having endured such horrors over the past three years at Duel Academy, his belief that one duels for fun and enjoy yourself has been sapped out of him, and he only duels for survival. Despite this, Jaden is confronted by Nightshroud, the same spirit that possessed Atticus back in his first year, who tells Jaden that he will engulf this world in darkness by feeding off the negative emotions of humanity. Jaden originally fights off his minions until he comes face to face with Nightshroud himself. He duels him and successfully defeats him, freeing everyone of their darkness. Over the year, Jaden had slowly grown closer to his friends once again and began to reclaim his love for duelling, but on his final night, Jaden is going to leave the academy without saying goodbye. He is then stopped by an adult Yugi Mutou who transports him back in time for his 'graduation match' against Yugi Mutou from the past. During this duel, Jaden reflects on his time at Duel Academy and the great friendships he has made along the way. He expresses his gratitude towards Yugi and officially reclaims his old personality and, spurred on by the opportunity to battle one of Yugi's Egyptian God cards (in this case, Slifer the Sky Dragon), his love of duelling once again.

In 1928 Hollywood, director Leo Andreyev (William Powell) looks through photographs for actors for his next movie. When he comes to the picture of an aged Sergius Alexander (Emil Jannings), he pauses, then tells his assistant (Jack Raymond) to cast the man. Sergius shows up at the Eureka Studio with a horde of other extras and is issued a general's uniform. As he is dressing, another actor complains that his continual head twitching is distracting. Sergius apologizes and explains that it is the result of a great shock he once experienced.

The film then flashes back ten years to Czarist Russia, which is in the midst of the Revolution. Grand Duke Sergius Alexander, the Czar's cousin and commander of all his armies, is informed by his adjutant that two actors entertaining the troops have been identified as dangerous "revolutionists" during a routine passport check. He decides to toy with them for his amusement. When one of them, Leo Andreyev, becomes insolent, Sergius whips him across the face and has him jailed.

Leo's companion, the beautiful Natalie Dabrova (Evelyn Brent), is an entirely different matter. She intrigues Sergius. Despite the danger she poses, he takes her along with him. After a week, he gives her a pearl necklace as a token of his feelings for her. She comes to realize that he is at heart a man of great honor who loves Russia as deeply as she does. When she invites him to her room, he spots a partially hidden pistol, but deliberately turns his back to her. She draws the weapon, but cannot fire. Despite their political differences, she has fallen in love with him.

When the Bolsheviks capture the train on which they are traveling, she pretends to despise him. Instead of having him shot out of hand like his officers, she suggests they have him stoke coal into the locomotive all the way to Petrograd, where he will be publicly hanged. This however is a ruse to keep him alive and, when everyone on board is drunk, she helps him escape, giving him back the pearl necklace to finance his way out of the country. Sergius jumps from the train, then watches in horror as it tumbles off a nearby bridge into the icy river below, taking Natalie with it. This moment is when Sergius develops his head twitch.

Ten years later, Sergius is reduced to poverty, eking out a living as a Hollywood extra. When he and the director finally meet, Sergius recognizes him. Leo, in an ironic act calculated to humiliate him, casts him as a Russian general in a battle scene. He is directed to give a speech to a group of actors playing his dispirited men. When one soldier tries to incite a mutiny, telling the general that "you've given your last command", he whips the man in the face as instructed, just as he had once struck Leo. Losing his grip on reality, he imagines himself genuinely on the battlefield, besieged by enemies, and passionately urges his men to fight for Russia. Overstraining himself, he dies, inquiring with his last words if they have won. Moved, Leo tells him they have. The assistant remarks, "That guy was a great actor." Leo replies, "He was more than a great actor - he was a great man."

The story opens with the children's grandfather, D.J. Mulrooney (Walter Brennan), a well-known executive officer of a timber-trading company. D.J. is going to Seattle to sell 50,000 acres of timberland and takes his customized 1930 Rolls-Royce Phantom II on the trip. In a brief conversation with his company's head of security, Ralph Yarby (Richard Deacon), we learn that the car was purchased after D.J. earned his first million dollars. His first stop is the airport, where he picks up his grandchildren 10-year-old Elizabeth (Karen Dotrice) and 8-year-old Rodney (Matthew Garber), who are to accompany D.J. on his trip to Seattle.

Traveling north from San Francisco, the trio detour through what later became Redwood National Park where D.J. has endowed a grove of Redwood trees, entitled "Mulrooney Grove". There they encounter a gnome called Jasper (Tom Lowell), who has "a terrible problem". They also are introduced to Jasper's 943-year-old grandfather Knobby (also played by Brennan) who, like D.J., is passionate and short-tempered. Jasper's "terrible problem" is that Knobby is suffering from a sickness called "fading", or becoming semi-transparent. D.J. diagnoses this as Knobby losing the will to live. The reason for this "fading" is that Knobby fears that he and Jasper are the last two of their Gnome kind, and Knobby wants Jasper to find a bride before Knobby dies. Knobby harbors immense hatred for humans because of the human's logging damage to the forests and the livelihood of gnomes. D.J. Mulrooney is startled when Knobby exclaims that the worst loggers were "Mulrooney's Marauders", but the gnomes agree to go along with the trio and seek other gnomes. As they leave together, the children rename the Rolls-Royce "the Gnome-Mobile".

Jasper and his grandfather are kidnapped by Horatio Quaxton (Sean McClory), a freak show owner, while D.J. is committed to an asylum by Yarby, who has heard about the gnomes and deems his boss insane. Rodney and Elizabeth rescue D.J. from the asylum, rescue Jasper from Quaxton, and then set out to find Knobby, who had managed to escape earlier.

They arrive in the woods to find Knobby delighted with the presence of a thriving community of gnomes. Jasper is recognized by Rufus the Gnome King (Ed Wynn) as "the eligible gnome" to a large number of young females of his race, who compete in a contest to determine which one will marry him. He is smitten with one timid, lovely girl gnome named Shy Violet (Cami Sebring), who is very clumsy and very innocent, even though she is hated by all of the other girl gnomes. Jasper tries to get Violet to catch him, but she keeps getting pushed to the side and run over by the other very aggressive girl gnomes. However, after a very wild chase, Violet manages to win the race and she and Jasper get married.

D.J. gives as a wedding present the rights to the 50,000 acres of forest that were to be sold for logging, which become a haven for the gnomes.

In the Middle Ages, the bandit Irongron and his aide Bloodaxe, together with their rabble of criminals, find the crashed spaceship of a Sontaran warrior named Linx. The alien claims Earth for his Empire, then sets about repairing his ship, offering Irongron “magic weapons” that will make him a king in return for shelter. Linx sends himself forward to the 20th century and kidnaps scientists from a top secret scientific research complex, then hypnotises them into making repairs on his ship.

The Third Doctor and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart are investigating the disappearance of the scientists. The Doctor meets an eccentric scientist called Rubeish and journalist Sarah Jane Smith. Later that evening Rubeish disappears and the Doctor uses the data he has gathered to pilot the TARDIS back to the Middle Ages, not realising that Sarah has stowed away on board.

Sarah is captured and brought before Irongron, along with an archer, Hal, who has been sent to kill Irongron. The Doctor sets Hal and Sarah free and they head for Wessex Castle.

The next morning Irongron and his troops assault the castle using rifles supplied by Linx, but the attack is repelled by the Doctor's cunning. The failure further sours the relationship between Linx and Irongron.

The Doctor decides to lead an attack on Irongron's castle. He makes contact with Rubeish and finds the human scientists in a state of extreme exhaustion. Linx catches the Doctor in the laboratory once more, but this time is rendered immobile when a lucky strike from Rubeish hits his probic vent – a Sontaran refuelling point on the back of their necks which is also their main weakness. Rubeish and the Doctor send the scientists back to the 20th century. Sarah now invites herself into Irongron's kitchen, using the opportunity to drug the food, thereby knocking out Irongron's men.

Linx determines his ship is repaired enough to effect a departure. A crazed and half drugged Irongron arrives and accuses Linx of betraying him; the Sontaran responds by killing him and is in turn shot by Hal. Linx falls dead over his controls, triggering the launch mechanism. Knowing the place is about to explode when the shuttle takes off, Hal awakes Bloodaxe, who rouses the remaining men and tells them to flee, while the Doctor hurries the last of his allies out of the castle. It explodes moments before the Doctor and Sarah depart in the TARDIS.

Following on from ''The Ark in Space'', the Fourth Doctor, Sarah Jane Smith, and Harry Sullivan teleport down from the Nerva space station to Earth, ostensibly uninhabited. However, the system is not functioning well, and the Doctor begins repairing it. The other two explore the surrounding area, but Harry falls down a crevasse and Sarah goes to seek the Doctor's help. He is nowhere in sight.

Roth, an astronaut, finds Sarah. He is obviously distressed, and explains that he has been tortured by an alien that lives in the rocks, together with its patrolling robot. He takes Sarah towards the astronauts' campsite, but refuses to approach it, suspecting the astronaut Vural of collusion with the alien.

Three of the astronauts have captured the Doctor. They believe Nerva to be a legend, and tell him in turn that they had picked up a distress signal from Earth. They came to investigate, but their ship was vapourised when they emerged, leaving nine of them stranded. Then they began to vanish one by one. They blame the Doctor for this. Roth appears and the astronauts chase him, while Sarah frees the Doctor. Roth loses the others and meets up with Sarah and the Doctor. The Doctor also falls down a crevasse, and the robot returns, capturing Roth and Sarah and bringing them to the alien's spacecraft. The alien is Field Major Styre of the Sontaran G3 Military Assessment Survey, who has been experimenting on, and killing, the astronauts. Roth tries to escape but is shot dead by Styre.

Styre reports back to his Marshal via a video link. The Marshal is impatient for the intelligence report (without which an invasion of Earth cannot take place), but Styre admits that he has been delayed in his experiments.

Styre subjects Sarah to a series of terrifying hallucinations. The Doctor, free from the hole, has reached her and rips off a hallucinogenic device from her forehead, but she falls unconscious. The Doctor, enraged, attacks Styre, but the Sontaran easily fends him off. Styre shoots him unconscious (believing it to be fatal) when he runs away.

The robot, having captured the three remaining spacemen, brings them to Styre's ship, where it is revealed that Vural had tried to make a deal with Styre in exchange for his own life. However, Styre intends to experiment on Vural anyway. The Doctor recovers, disables the robot, and meets Sarah and Harry. He confronts Styre, goading him into a hand-to-hand combat. While they fight, Sarah and Harry free the astronauts, and then Harry climbs towards Styre's ship to sabotage it. Styre almost wins the fight, but Vural attacks him, saving the Doctor at the cost of his own life. Styre, now low on energy, heads back towards his ship to recharge, but the sabotage causes it to kill him.

The Doctor informs the Marshal that not only has Styre's mission failed, but that the invasion plans are in human hands. This is enough to ward off the invasion, and the three can return to Nerva, or so they think.

Paige Morgan is an ambitious pre-medical student at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, Denmark's Crown Prince Edvard prefers to live the life of a playboy, and when with his family often ignores or marginalizes his royal responsibilities.

Inspired by a television commercial showing Wisconsin co-eds flashing their breasts, Edvard meets with his parents, King Haraald and Queen Rosalind, and announces his intention to attend college in America—specifically, Wisconsin, and to do so anonymously. The Queen then dispatches Edvard's majordomo, Søren, to chaperone the trip. Arriving at the university, Edvard orders Søren to keep his identity a secret and to call him 'Eddie'.

Later at a bar, Eddie sees Paige serving and asks her to take off her shirt, like on television. Paige angrily drenches Eddie with the drink hose and bouncers escort Eddie from the bar. Eddie later apologizes to Paige, but she is annoyed when they are assigned as lab partners for an organic chemistry class. Since the class is important for Paige's medical school ambitions, she warns Eddie to not get in her way and reprimands him after he sleeps in through one of their lab experiments. Running out of money, Eddie gets a job in the deli section of the bar. Paige reluctantly helps him during his first day, and the two start to mend fences. Paige does well in science, but she struggles in an English literature class. Eddie uses his earlier education to help Paige gain a better understanding of William Shakespeare, and Paige instructs Edvard in common household chores like laundry.

Since Eddie is away from his family and unfamiliar with American holidays, Paige invites him to her parents’ dairy farm for Thanksgiving. Paige's father explains how he struggles to keep the small farm afloat, and Eddie uses his mechanical skills to fine-tune a riding mower for a race, which he wins. Keith Kopetsky, a rival racer reveals to be a sore loser and punches Eddie. After the fight that follows, Paige treats his grazes and they kiss for the first time.

Back at school, Eddie and Paige study for final exams. They sneak off to the library stacks to pursue a romantic encounter, where they kiss and take off his jacket and shirt. They are shortly ambushed by members of the Danish tabloid press. Once away from the mayhem, Paige learns his real identity and walks away from him through the rain. Just then, Eddie is notified by his mother that his father is very ill and she asks him to return home. While Paige is questioned at a viva voce panel about Shakespeare, she realizes that she loves Edvard and runs to find him, but his roommate Scotty tells her that he has already left for Denmark. She follows him there and while being driven round Copenhagen is delayed by a royal parade. Paige leaves her taxi and is recognized from the papers by the crowd, who call Edvard’s attention to her. He mounts her behind him on his horse, hurriedly opens a parliamentary session and takes her to the castle.

The queen objects to Edvard's choice, but the king tells him that if he loves Paige, he should marry her. Edvard proposes and Paige accepts. After witnessing him reconcile workers and employers in a parliamentary committee, the queen realizes that Paige has helped him grow up at last and will make a good queen. However, during Eddie's coronation ball, Paige remembers that she is betraying her ambition to become a doctor working in Third World countries, breaks off her engagement and returns home.

King Haraald abdicates and the newly crowned Edvard realizes that he too has responsibilities to shoulder. However, he arrives after Paige’s graduation and tells her that she is his choice and he is willing to wait for however long it takes to achieve her dreams.

The story begins with Beck recovered after his injury sustained at the end of the previous book and now returning to the National Police Bureau; he discovers that the police force still is amateurish and unprofessional for the most part, which he was accustomed to previously. Patrolmen have found a highly decomposed corpse (as it turns out later, a murdered man--found in a locked from inside apartment. An incompetent detective, Bo Zachrisson, had the case shelved as suicide. No one was much disturbed by the fact that the weapon had not been found in the apartment.

The novel now has two storylines: the locked room investigation and the bank robbery specialists.

The latter take by accident the petty criminal Mauritzon, a mate of Malmström and Mohrén, and accuse him of a bank robbery in which a bank customer was shot. At the same time Martin Beck solves the locked room mystery- the gun was shot from outside by Maurtizon, when the window was open. The window had fallen so that the latch had closed by itself.

Since the evidence collected by Martin Beck is insufficient, Mauritzon is acquitted of murder; but for the bank robbery, of which he is innocent, but whose evidence he cannot refute, he is sentenced to manslaughter with lifetime imprisonment.

The bank robbers pursued by Attorney Olsson manage to fool the police (the robbery does not occur in Stockholm, but in Malmö instead).

During the investigation, Beck, in a depressive phase of his life, meets a woman named Rhea Nielsen and he finds new courage which in the following novels plays an important role.

Singer's girlfriend helps him adapt to the new trend of rock'n'roll music.

The ''Castaways of the Flying Dutchman'' trilogy is based on the legend of the ''Flying Dutchman''. It tells of how a young boy and his dog managed to escape the fate that befell the ship and its crew. Instead, they were given eternal life, the ability to speak in any tongue, and the ability to talk to each other with their thoughts. Ben, the boy, and Ned, the dog, are sent on a mission to help those in need.

In ''The Angel's Command'', they meet up with a French buccaneer and try to help him fulfill his dream of returning home. Ben and Ned are beset by challenges, and the last one causes the death of their dear friend. Afterwards, they meet up with two other young people, Dominic and Karay. They help an old count find his lost nephew, Adamo, who is captive to the Razan, a clan of robbers living in the Pyrenees, led by an old witch. Ned, Ben, Karay, and Dominic manage to rescue Adamo. Nevertheless, the boy and his dog must move on, and their story continues. The novel was followed by a sequel in 2006 titled ''Voyage of Slaves''.

A fourteen-year-old nameless boy, who at the beginning has no parents and is a mute. He is apparently running away from his life as an abused orphan, and accidentally slips on the ''Flying Dutchman'' as a stowaway. He is found, and made to work with the cook, Petros, an antagonistic character who abuses him. Petros names the boy Neb, which is short for Nebuchadnezzar. One day, while the crew is off drinking in the port town of Esbjerg, a dog wanders onto the ship and is befriended by Neb. He names the dog Denmark, after the country he found the dog in. They strike up an immediate friendship. Den hides under sacks until it is safe to come out. The cruel, wild, and fearsome Captain Vanderdecken steers his ship on a long voyage to get emeralds from a dealer across the ocean, supposedly in Asia. The ship sails to the tip of South America, the treacherous Cape Horn, and unsuccessfully attempts to pass three times. After the third attempt, Captain Vanderdecken curses the Lord for smiting him, and an angel descends from heaven and curses the ship to sail the seas for eternity.

The angel, however, realizes Nebuchadnezzar and Denmark are pure of heart and not part of the motley, now undead, crew, and has them swept overboard by a great wave. The angel blesses them, telling them to walk the earth forever, wise and forever young, to give kindness and guidance wherever they go. They later wash up on shore and discover that they are able to communicate by thought. They are found and taken in by a kind-hearted shepherd named Luis who grows fond of them, but does not ask about their past. After spending three years with him, Luis dies in a storm trying to save an ewe. The angel appears in a dream telling them that they must move on at the sound of a bell, which they hear jingling on the neck of a sheep walking by. Neb and Den, young but ageless, must leave.

The story picks up many years later. Both characters have changed their names (by reversing them); Neb is now Ben and Den is Ned. It is apparent that they have lived with each other for several centuries. One day, they get on a train without knowing where they are going, and end up getting off at the village of Chapelvale. They meet a lady named Mrs. Winn as well as a boy named Alex and a girl named Amy. The children warn them about the Grange Gang, a group of local bullies. The gang leader, Wilf, takes an immediate disliking to Ben.

Together, Ben, Ned, Amy, Alex, and Mrs. Winn go on a treasure hunt to save the town, which is about to be converted into a limestone quarry and cement factory. They team up with an old ship's carpenter named Jon (who is at first believed to be a madman), a milkman named Will, and Will's family. They follow a series of clues written by Mrs. Winn's ancestor, who was believed to have been given the deeds to the town. One clue leads to a treasure (which is a Byzantine artifact) and another clue and continues that way until three treasures and clues have been found. The last clue, of course, is the hardest and is the last thing that may show them the location of the deeds to Chapelvale.

The deeds to the village are found and Mrs. Winn is able to claim Chapelvale as her property so that it can be saved. However, the angel appears once again and informs Ben and Ned that they must leave Chapelvale and their friends at the sound of a bell. Jon finds a bell in the Almshouse and becomes excited about the discovery. He and Will decide to try the bell out. Ben and Ned run as fast as they can, hoping that if they cannot hear the bell they will not have to leave, but they cannot get away in time. However, they must move on.

The first character introduced is a man called Paul Jonas, apparently an infantryman on the Western Front of the First World War. In what he at first believes to be a dream or hallucination, he meets a woman with wings, who gives him a feather. He wakes from the experience to find himself back in the trenches, but realizes the experience was not a dream when he discovers the feather. Two of his comrades, Finch and Mullet, begin to express doubts about his sanity. Eventually, Paul runs off into no-man's land. There, he finds the bird-woman but Finch and Mullet have pursued him, and they have been transformed into monstrous shapes: Mullet is grossly fat and Finch has no eyes. Paul flees in terror and falls through a hole in space. He discovers himself in a place similar to the chess-land in Lewis Carroll's ''Through the Looking-Glass'', where he is caught in the battle between the red and the white, as well as hunted by Finch and Mullet. He escapes with a young boy he met at an inn, whose name is Gally. They find themselves on Mars, which is inhabited by creatures who demand a sacrifice of a princess from the planet Venus each year. He recognizes the chosen woman as the winged woman he met earlier, but he cannot remember when he met her. His memory does not even extend to his time in the chess-land. With the help of other men from Earth, he rescues the princess, then flees from the angry Martians. He sees Mullet and Finch again, however, and tries to escape in a hijacked airship. He loses control of the airship and finds himself in a conservatory with a harp, which shrinks to the size of his palm. Mullet and Finch confront him, demanding that he give them the harp, but he refuses and appears again on the airship, which is hurtling toward the ground. Transported to yet another world, he is rescued from a frozen river by a group of Neanderthals, and a voice comes from the harp, telling him that friends will search for him on the river.

The story moves to the late 21st century. The most significant technological change is the wide availability of virtual reality interfaces among all parts of society. The internet has been replaced by "the Net," a vast network of online VR environments. In Durban, a VR programming instructor named Irene "Renie" Sulaweyo is teaching a Kalahari San named !Xabbu how to create such environments, while providing for her family. Her family is made up by her alcoholic father Long Joseph and her ten-year-old brother Stephen. Stephen spends much of his time online and frequently joins his friends in escapades to forbidden areas of the net. When he somehow ends up in a coma after visiting a forbidden club, she and !Xabbu decide to investigate. Inside the club, they discover a number of very unsavoury entertainments, and are very nearly trapped by the managers. Their most bizarre and horrifying discovery is a very powerful hypnotic entity, which Renie nearly dies trying to escape from. Convinced that the club is set up to damage the minds of children, as it has done to Stephen, she resolves to stop the people responsible. She finds an unusual and large piece of code, in the form of a golden diamond, on her machine, and consults her friend and mentor, Dr. Susan van Bleeck, about it. As they examine it, it erupts into an image of a golden city, then disappears. Renie's difficulties multiply, as it becomes clear that her investigations have earned her powerful enemies: she is stood down from her job and unknown persons set fire to her family's apartment complex. Finally, van Bleeck is brutally assaulted and dies after leaving Renie and !Xabbu with three names: Martine Desroubins, Blue Dog Anchorite, and Bolivar Atasco. The first two are hackers that agree to help them find the golden city, which is in a mysterious network called "Otherland", while the third is an anthropologist and archaeologist whose expertise is pre-Columbian Latin America. Blue Dog Anchorite reveals himself to be Murat Sagar Singh, a retired programmer who worked on the security system for Otherland, and whose colleagues on the same project have been dying in unusual circumstances. He also reveals that Otherland was commissioned by a secret organisation called "The Grail Brotherhood", and that Atasco, who oversaw the security project for Otherland, was an important member of that organisation. Renie, !Xabbu, Martine, and Singh plan to break into Otherland; Renie and !Xabbu, along with Long Joseph and van Bleeck's assistant Jeremiah Dako, travel to Wasps' Nest, a mothballed military base in the Drakensberg mountains, where there is equipment allowing Renie and !Xabbu to stay connected to the Net for extended periods. Preparations completed, they hack into Otherland, but Singh is confronted and killed by the security system. He is later found dead in his room from a heart attack. Renie, !Xabbu, and Martine manage to enter Otherland and make their way to the golden city, which is called Temilún. There, they meet the God-King, who reveals himself to be Atasco.

In suburban California, a terminally-ill teenager named Orlando Gardiner has become the most celebrated warrior in Middle Country, an online VR MMORPG based on swords-and-sorcery. However, while playing the game, he is distracted by a vision of a golden city and killed by a low-level monster. With the help of his friend, Sam Fredericks, he begins to investigate. Their investigations lead to TreeHouse, an online fringe community, and to Melchior, a code name used by Singh and others. Following the trail, they are mysteriously taken to a beach on a river. Across the river, they can see the golden city. They build a raft to cross the river, but are stopped by the police and taken to the palace of the God-King.

On an army base in North Carolina, the young girl Christabel Sorensen becomes friends with Mr. Sellars, a mysterious old man living on the base. She is unaware that he is under house arrest, and her father, a senior military security officer, is in charge of guarding him. She helps him to escape from his house into a network of tunnels lying underneath the base.

The Grail Brotherhood emerges as a small number of the world's wealthiest and most powerful people who have formed an exclusive society. Otherland is their private network, where many of them own numerous simulation worlds (others being leased out for very large sums), and they intend to use it for even more mysterious purposes. They meet in a simulation based on ancient Egypt, where their leader, Felix Jongleur, appears as Osiris and obliges other members to present themselves as various Egyptian deities. Jongleur commissions an employee, John Dread, to carry out a task referred to as the "Sky God Project." Dread promises to accomplish his mission, although it is not stated what exactly he must do.

Renie, !Xabbu, Martine, Orlando, Fredericks, and four other people in similar situations find themselves imprisoned in a virtual reality world so complex that it rivals reality. There, they meet Atasco and his wife, and learn that Atasco, though formerly a member of the Grail Brotherhood, has been uninvolved for some time (though he has been permitted to retain his simulation world), and is now secretly opposing the Brotherhood's plans. They meet the enigmatic Mr. Sellars, who tells them that the network is somehow built from the minds of catatonic children worldwide, and he calls upon the small group of adventurers to stop the Grail Brotherhood.

Before they can get their questions answered, however, the meeting descends into chaos. Unknown to any of those gathered, Dread and a team of expert assassins have attacked the Atascos' island home in Colombia, and Bolivar and his wife are suddenly murdered. Sellars gives the adventurers some brief instructions: they are to search along the river for Paul Jonas, who is at large within Otherland's many simulation worlds, then he too vanishes. Even as the adventurers flee Temilún, Dread, with the help of criminal hacker Dulcie Anwin, hijacks the simulation body of one of their party. The group sails down the river, hoping to find the answers that will enable them to free the children from Otherland's hold.

''Lord Valentine's Castle'' is a novel that details the saga of a hero who reestablishes a legitimate government and saves the planet Majipoor from tyranny.

The stories involving a young man reviewing memory records of other people, as a framing device.

''Valentine Pontifex'' is a novel in which the Metamorphs try to drive people from their native world Majipoor by spreading ecological problems.

Carthoris is madly in love with Thuvia. This love was foreshadowed at the end of the previous novel. Unfortunately Thuvia is promised to Kulan Tith, Jeddak of Kaol. On Barsoom nothing can break an engagement between a man and woman except death, although the new suitor may not cause that death. Thus it is that Thuvia will have none of him. This situation leaves Carthoris in a predicament.

As Thuvia suffers the common Burroughsian heroine's fate of being kidnapped and in need of rescue, Carthoris' goal is abetted by circumstances. Thus he sets out to find the love of his life. His craft is sabotaged and he finds himself deep in the undiscovered south of Barsoom, in the ruins of ancient Aanthor. Thuvia's kidnappers, the Dusar, have taken her there as well, and Carthoris is just in time to spot Thuvia and her kidnappers under assault by a green man of the hordes of Torquas. Carthoris leaps to her rescue in the style of his father.

The rescue takes Carthoris and his love to ancient Lothar, home of an ancient fair-skinned human race gifted with the ability to create lifelike phantasms from pure thought. They habitually use large numbers of phantom bowmen paired with real and phantom (Barsoomian lions) to defend themselves from the hordes of Torquas.

The kidnapping of Thuvia is done in such a way that Carthoris is blamed. This ignites a war between the red nations of Barsoom. Carthoris must try to be back in time with Thuvia to stop the war from breaking loose. Carthoris wonders if his love will ever be requited by the promised Thuvia.

Setting

''Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories'' is set immediately after the events of the first game. It is set in Castle Oblivion, a mysterious castle kept by Lord Marluxia. Sora and his teammates are told that the castle causes visitors to lose their memories upon entering. The lobby and areas between floors are white with flower-themed decorations, but each floor can be transformed into a different world from the first ''Kingdom Hearts'' game using "world cards" created from Sora's memories. Like before, many of the worlds of Disney and Square Enix reappear.

Unlike the previous game, the worlds are created from Sora's memories. As such, many of the events experienced in ''Kingdom Hearts'' are relived in this game, Sora encounters memory-based versions of Disney characters that he has met before (except Deep Jungle in ''Tarzan''). The individual plotlines differ from those in the original game and revolve around the theme of memory. Just as ''Kingdom Hearts'' had several worlds created specifically for that game, ''Chain of Memories'' introduces Twilight Town as a world created from memories on "the other side of [Sora's] heart", in addition to the original worlds of ''Kingdom Hearts''.

Characters

Sora returns as the game's protagonist. Donald Duck and Goofy are less involved in the gameplay and story. Like the first game, ''Chain of Memories'' features numerous characters from both the ''Final Fantasy'' series and the Disney animated features canon. Being a direct sequel, many of the characters from the first ''Kingdom Hearts'' reappear in this game. As each world and the related characters are recreated from Sora's memories, they interact with Sora as if they had never met before. The game also introduces a handful of new characters. Several are members of the enigmatic Organization. Other new characters include Naminé, a young girl capable of manipulating memories, and DiZ, a mysterious man concealed by red robes and bandages. Riku appears as a playable character in the second story mode. After being sealed in the realm of darkness, Riku heads to the basement of Castle Oblivion, aided by King Mickey Mouse and DiZ.

Six members of the Organization serve as antagonists; four appear in Sora's story mode, and the other two in Riku's. Among the four Sora encounters are Marluxia, the lord of Castle Oblivion; Larxene, Marluxia's assistant; Axel, a double agent with hidden loyalty; and Vexen, Marluxia's unwilling collaborator. Conversely, Riku battles Zexion and Lexaeus, Vexen's allies. Ansem also appears in Riku's story as an entity that attempts to control Riku. Many of the Disney villains return via memory-based recreations like the rest of the Disney characters.

Story

Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy Cricket walk down a winding path in search of Riku and King Mickey. A man dressed in a black, hooded coat appears and directs Sora towards a massive fortress called Castle Oblivion. Upon entering, the travelers realize that they have forgotten all their abilities. The hooded man explains that the deeper they go into the castle, the more memories they will lose, but they will also uncover new memories in the process. He creates a deck of cards made from Sora's and his friends' memories, and tells them that everything they encounter in this castle will be based on their memories.

Sora ascends the castle, facing off against other hooded figures who form a group called "the Organization" along the way. As Sora loses his memories, he gradually appears to remember a girl named Naminé as an old friend of his, and learns from Organization member Larxene that she is being held prisoner in the castle. He also clashes with a replica of Riku created and controlled by another Organization member, Vexen, and believed by both Sora and the replica himself to be the real Riku. Axel, an Organization double agent, releases Naminé and allows her to meet Sora in person. Sora discovers Naminé to be the one manipulating his memories, having been forced to do so by Marluxia, the lord of Castle Oblivion and the figure who lured Sora there, as part of his plan to overthrow the rest of the Organization with Larxene. Sora climbs to the highest floor and defeats Marluxia, after which Naminé puts Sora and his friends into pod-like machines to help them regain the memories they have lost, even though they will forget the events that transpired in the castle. Before they are put to sleep, Sora and Naminé promise to meet again as real friends once he reawakens, Sora firmly believing that his memories of her and the castle will remain in his heart despite being forgotten.

In ''Reverse/Rebirth'', which occurs congruently with the game's main story, Riku is transported from the realm of darkness to Castle Oblivion's deepest basement, and he fights figments of previous enemies to combat his inner darkness as he climbs upwards. Vexen fights Riku to obtain his data and creates his replica to counter Marluxia's plan. Ansem, still possessing Riku's body, tries to regain control of Riku, but Mickey's power keeps Ansem at bay. On the way, Riku battles and defeats Lexaeus, a member of Vexen's circle, only to be dragged into the realm of darkness. However, he is saved by Mickey when Ansem nearly succeeds in taking Riku's body as his own. With Marluxia eliminated by this time, another of Vexen's allies, Zexion, attempts to dispose of Riku by drowning him in light. Riku is saved by Naminé disguised as Kairi, who helps him to control his darkness, allowing him to defeat Zexion. Riku later meets DiZ, an enigmatic individual interested in Riku who sends him to find Naminé. Riku's replica, who has since learned of his altered memories, seeks to justify his existence by killing Riku, only to be destroyed by him. Riku chooses to face Ansem upon learning from Naminé that Ansem lives in his heart, and defeats him after DiZ summons him for Riku to fight. Riku then sets out on a journey to utilize both his darkness and his light with Mickey as his companion.

The Muppets have graduated from Danhurst College and entertain their fellow graduates with their theatrical production of ''Manhattan Melodies''. Upon the suggestion of taking the show to Broadway, the Muppets proceed with the idea, certain they will become stars instantly. Arriving in Manhattan, the group meet producer Martin Price (Dabney Coleman), but the police arrive and reveal he is a wanted con artist named Murray Plotsky. Plotsky tries to flee, taking Gonzo and Camila hostage, but is taken down by an enraged Animal, and is arrested, leaving the Muppets' hopes dashed. They try other theatrical producers to no avail, leading to their morale and finances taking a nosedive.

Thinking they are becoming a burden to Kermit the Frog when he snaps at them, the rest of the Muppets agree to go their separate ways for new occupations, though Miss Piggy secretly remains in Manhattan to keep an eye on Kermit. Though disappointed by the development, Kermit vows to make the show a hit and enlists the assistance of diner owner Pete (Louis Zorich), his daughter Jenny (Juliana Donald) who is an aspiring fashion designer, and the diner's staff of rats led by Rizzo.

Attempting to promote the show, Kermit first poses as an eccentric producer bragging about the musical's quality but the producer he meets (John Landis) discards the script after Kermit makes his exit.

Kermit then poses as a famous playwright, having the rats insert a caricature picture at Sardi's restaurant by replacing Liza Minnelli's picture with it. When Minnelli comes in and notices it missing, she asks Vincent Sardi Jr. if she did something wrong to get it removed. When the rats are exposed, Sardi discovers Liza's picture near Kermit. This causes Kermit and the rats to get thrown out of the restaurant.

Kermit learns from letters that Scooter got a job as a house manager at a movie theater in Cleveland, Ohio, where he finds The Swedish Chef as the popcorn server and Lew Zealand as a dedicated viewer of a 3-D movie; Fozzie Bear joins some other bears in hibernating within the forests of Maine where he has a hard time sleeping; Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem have a gig in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, performing in a retirement home; The Great Gonzo and Camilla the Chicken are trying to make a successful water skiing act in Michigan; and Rowlf the Dog is working at a dog kennel in Delaware. While in Central Park, Jenny comforts Kermit about his losses, while an envious Miss Piggy watches. When a thief steals her purse, Miss Piggy borrows a pair of roller skates and furiously chases the punk down, but reunites with Kermit in the process and they make up. Piggy takes a job at Pete's diner.

Kermit then receives a letter from producer Bernard Crawford (Art Carney) who is interested in the musical. However, the letter was actually written by his son, Ronnie Crawford (Lonny Price), who is struggling to prove himself as a producer and believes that "Manhattan Melodies" is good. Bernard himself is hesitant but agrees to fund the show. A thrilled Kermit heads back to the diner but is so distracted that he walks into oncoming traffic and is struck by a passing car.

The rest of the Muppets are summoned back to New York, only to discover that Kermit has disappeared. At the hospital, Kermit's doctor discovers that he has lost memory of his life. He makes his way to Madison Avenue where he meets a trio of frogs, Bill, Gill, and Jill, who work in advertising and offer him a job when he comes up with a slogan. He takes the job and begins going by "Phil." The rest of the Muppets search for Kermit, with Gonzo at one point trying to persuade Mayor Edward I. Koch to assist.

Bill, Gill, Jill, and Kermit end up visiting Pete's diner where Kermit's friends recognize him when he plays the show's opening number with spoons and glasses of water. At the Biltmore Theatre on opening night, the Muppets try to help Kermit remember. When Kermit laughs at the idea of being in love with Miss Piggy, she karate chops him, restoring his memory. As the Muppets are about to get in place for the show’s opening number, the Muppets ask Kermit if their new friends can watch from backstage. Kermit, realizing the show needs more Muppets, suggests that the Madison Avenue frogs, the dogs, the bears, the chickens, and others become supernumerary actors.

The show is a success, culminating in what is intended to be a staged wedding between Kermit and Miss Piggy's characters, only for a real minister (instead of Gonzo as originally intended) to appear. With all of the Muppets, the ''Sesame Street'' Muppets, and Uncle Traveling Matt from ''Fraggle Rock'' present, the show climaxes as is.

East German dissident Alex Holbeck (Martin Sheen), living in Paris, hosts a radio program aimed at Iron Curtain countries. Bodley (Michael Lonsdale), a CIA agent, recruits Alex to take on a dangerous assignment.

Alex is sent to East Berlin on a mission to steal an Enigma code scrambler. This is part of an attempt to stop the Russian assassination of five Soviet dissidents planned for Christmas Day. What Alex does not know is that the CIA already has a code scrambler. By stealing the scrambler in Berlin, they are trying to convince the Russians that they do not have a copy.

On arrival in Berlin, Alex finds that the East German police and KGB knows that he is there. Alex must use numerous disguises and escape from a number of capture attempts. He seeks shelter with his former lover, Karen Reinhardt (Brigitte Fossey), before moving on, as it is too dangerous for her. Karen and a number of Alex's other old friends are arrested and tortured by the police in an attempt to gain information about Alex's whereabouts.

As he gets more desperate, Alex enlists Karen's help again; she seduces Dimitri Vasilikov (Sam Neill), the KGB man in charge of the hunt for Alex, to obtain information. In the end, Dimitri catches Alex and Karen and finds the scrambler hidden in an exhibition artifact. As he is in love with Karen, he lets them go, but keeps the scrambler, which was in fact not needed. On Christmas Day, the assassination attempt is successfully thwarted.

Setting

Like the other ''Dragon Quest'' games in the series, the setting of ''Dragon Quest VI'' is medieval, complete with castles, knights, and magic. The main world is divided into the "Real World" and "Dream World", each with a separate, but similar map. To get from one world to the other, the party uses special warps (such as in wells), by ascending/descending stairs on the world map or falling through holes in the "Dream World" to the "Real World". If something cannot be found in the "Real World", it may appear in the "Dream World", such as with Spiegelspire, at the middle of the game.

Story

''Dragon Quest VI'' opens as the Hero and his party of a mysterious woman and a bulky man approach Murdaw, the demon king's castle. After the woman uses an ocarina to summon a dragon, the party enters the castle and comes face to face with Murdaw (Mudo "魔王ムドー" in Japanese version). Overpowering the trio, the demon king appears to destroy each member of the party, but suddenly, the Hero wakes up in the mountain town Weaver's Peak. Tania, a young woman from Weaver's Peak, insists that he was having a bad dream and introduces herself as his sister.

After getting out of bed, the town elder tasks the Hero to get a crown in preparation for the annual Mountain Spirit festival, which takes him to Haggleton. The hero finds out the man who is supposed to make the crown has gone out somewhere to the northwest of town and never came back. The Hero heads in that direction and finds a large hole with the crown maker just barely hanging on. The hero attempts to rescue him and succeeds, but in the process, slips and falls to the world below. In this mysterious world, the Hero finds a nearby town in which the townspeople cannot see him. The Hero receives tip from one of the townspeople: There is a special well to the north from which people who enter never come back; the Hero heads in that direction, enters the well, and returns to his world.

After receiving the ceremonial crown from the crown maker for no charge after saving his life, the Hero heads back to Weaver's Peak just in time for the festival to begin. During the festival, the Hero receives a mysterious vision that a great evil will take over the world; the elder asks him to leave the village in preparation for this disaster. The next day, the Hero finds out that the world that he stumbled onto was called the "Phantom World" and is given a pass by the elder that allows him entry into Somnia, where he can meet the king.

At Somnia, the Hero meets Carver, who does not seem to remember the Hero. The Hero then meets Captain Blade, leader of Somnia's military, who gives the potential soldier candidates a task to find a special item in a tower. The Hero manages to find this item successfully and formally becomes a soldier of Somnia. After a task, the Hero and Carver work together to obtain a horse for an old man. Carver also becomes a soldier of Somnia. The Hero and Carver speak to the king, who informs them that to defeat Murdaw, they need the Mirror of Ra. The Hero and Carver discover another portal similar to the one near Haggleton, which eventually leads them to Port Haven, another town where they can not be seen. Milly, also appearing to have lost her memory, sees them and helps them become visible via Madame Luca's help.

The party discovers a Somnia Castle in the “Phantom World” and learns that the prince—who looks like the Hero—is missing. They also meet Captain Rusty, who bears a striking resemblance to Captain Blade. Gaining entrance to the Moonmirror Tower, the party meets Ashlynn, a woman who was invisible in the “Phantom World” at first, too, and together they find the Mirror of Ra.

The party travels to Murdaw's castle in the original world. After defeating Murdaw, the Hero uses the Mirror on him. Murdaw then turns into the King of Somnia, confused and unaware of what happened. The king reveals that the original world is in fact the Dream World and the Phantom World is the Real World. Upon traveling back to the Real World, the King of Somnia thanks the party for defeating Murdaw in his dreams, but the real Murdaw lives and that the party must travel to Ghent to retrieve a boat to get to Murdaw's lair. In Ghent, Nevan, a healer, joins the party and allows them to use the Ghent Clan's ship. During the fight with the real Murdaw, the Hero is again sent back to Weaver's Peak. With the Mirror of Ra, however, the Hero warps back into the battle and defeats Murdaw.

The Queen of Somnia tells the Hero to discover who he really is. This quest leads the party to Arkbolt, where a terrible monster is blocking a nearby cave. The reward for defeating the monster is the famed Sunderbolt Blade, but before the party can strike the final blow, a warrior by the name of Terry kills the monster, winning the sword. After traveling both worlds, the party learns that Murdaw was not the only evil in the world, having fought several other monsters that all seem to be connected.

In Sorceria, the party learns that this is Ashlynn's home. The elders tell Ashlynn that the Demon Lord is watching her and give her the powerful spell Magic Burst to fight him. The party also learns that the only way to get to the Demon Lord is through Zenith Tower, but to activate the tower, they need to collect the sword, armor, shield, and helmet of legend. While doing so, the Hero meets his double in Real Weaver's Peak, who gets spooked, and speaks 'Y-You. Y-You're m-m-me!', and says that he must prove himself to be faithful to his family if he is to join powers. Returning to Real Somnia, the King and Queen tell the Hero that he is indeed the prince. When he fused with his clone, the Hero gained his memory back, much like Ashlynn and Carver previously.

The party reaches Cloudsgate Citadel and meets Dhuran (デュラン), who claims to have taken over the castle. He summons Terry to fight the party and then fights the party himself. Dhuran then reveals that all the enemies the party has faced were just pawns of Mortamor, the Archfiend. Milly reveals that Terry is her brother and Terry decides to join the party and fight against Mortamor.

Once Cloudsgate Citadel returns to normal, the party speaks to King Zenith who informs them of Mortamor's doings and how to reach the Dread Realm. Mortamor plans on merging both worlds. The party's horse fuses with Pegasus, allowing the party to fly to the Dread Realm. Several challenges await in the Dread Realm, including the party's strength suddenly and unexpectedly plummeting. With the help of two Supreme Sage brothers, Benjamin and Isaac, the party enters Mortamor's Castle. After solving many puzzles, they come face to face with Mortamor and defeat him. Isaac reveals that the Dread Realm is falling apart and Pegasus helps them escape. After returning to the Real World, everyone parts ways, with Ashlynn having to return to the Dream World since her Real World self no longer exists. With Mortamor's link between the Real World and the Dream World severed, the Dream World vanishes, with only Cloudgate Castle remaining visible in the Real World. Ashlynn is then shown in the castle, taking care of the newly hatched Zenithian Dragon.

The game starts in January 1967 in Saigon, South Vietnam. A CH-47 Chinook containing Caleb "Cal" Walker, the game's protagonist, and other G.I.s, lands at Tan Son Nhut Air Base in southern Saigon. Walker, along with his squad mate, Private "Psycho" Kowalski, are chosen by Colonel Salter, the CO, to participate in an air assault on a Viet Cong encampment within Kon Tum province. Walker and Kowalski are put under the command of Lieutenant O'Brien along with another G.I. nicknamed "Short Timer". As Caleb and his squad proceed through the area, a friendly fire incident, involving flawed mortar coordinates, forces another G.I. named Tompkins, to join the squad. Along with the help of a special operations squad made up of Sergeant Ramirez, "Tick Tock" and "Eyeball", they help Walker and the others clear out the VC encampment. The encampment is soon after converted to a fire base, which serves as a headquarters for Walker and his unit.

Soon after, Walker's squad is tasked with investigating VC activity in a nearby village. The squad is also charged with finding a journalist who had recently gone missing in the village. After learning about the dangers of booby traps, the squad proceeds to the village. However, when the squad is ambushed in the rice paddies just outside the village, it becomes very clear that the villagers are aiding the VC. After clearing out the VC, Walker begins the task of searching for weapon caches within the village. After finding numerous hidden weapons and supplies, the squad begins searching for the missing journalist, and shortly thereafter find him being held hostage by several VC.

They jump to the next task of seizing an old French fort being used as a POW camp. After fighting through the valley entrance, and clearing out multiple bunkers after an ineffective napalm strike, they assault the fort. Walker explores the basement and finds the POWs; after freeing them from their cells, he discovers one tied to chair with obvious signs of torture. He tells Walker that the NVA has planted explosives in the basement in an attempt to demolish the fort. He escapes with seconds to spare. The squad is then given orders to defend the fort from NVA and VC attacks. Later that night, The enemy attacks. Tompkins is sniped at the start of the attack and O'Brien is hacked to death with machetes in full view of Walker's squad. The attackers are finally repelled after Special Forces arrive.

The next morning, Walker is told to report to Sergeant Ramirez and joins Special Forces. They take on subversive, rescue, and assault missions. Walker's final mission is to defeat General Diem, the game's main antagonist. He succeeds and delivers Diem's severed head to the base. Afterwards, Walker's chopper is shot down en route to China Lake. Walker escapes from NVA captivity and helps fend off a massive attack on base camp by both NVA and VC forces. Finally, an air strike is called in, leaving Walker and Monty, a friendly South Vietnamese soldier, as the only survivors.

Captain Kirk, Chief Medical Officer Dr. McCoy, and Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott of the Federation starship USS ''Enterprise'' are enjoying therapeutic shore leave at a night club on planet Argelius II. Mr. Scott ("Scotty") is introduced to Kara, a dancer at the club, and leaves with her. As Kirk and McCoy make their way through an evening fog to another private club, they hear a scream, and find the dancer dead on the ground with Scotty standing against a nearby wall, clutching a bloody knife.

Scott is detained and interrogated by Mr. Hengist, an administrator from Rigel IV and head of Argelius's police operations. Jaris, the Prefect of the planet, appears and bids his wife, Sybo, employ the Argelian empathic contact to determine the truth. While she prepares for the ritual, Lieutenant Karen Tracy, an ''Enterprise'' medical specialist, beams down with a psycho-tricorder, interviews Scott, and is murdered. The evidence again points to Scott.

Sybo proceeds with the empathic contact ritual. The participants hold hands as in a seance, and Sybo begins to speak of a "monstrous, terrible evil", "a hunger that never dies", which has been named "Kesla", "Beratis", "Redjac." The altar fire goes out, and Sybo screams. When the lights come on, Scott is holding Sybo's dead body.

The Prefect, over Hengist's objections, agrees to continue the investigation aboard the ''Enterprise''. Both Scott and Kara's fiancé Morla are questioned under "accuracy scan" by the computer, which confirms the testimony of both. Scott also speaks of a cold, evil presence during Sybo's ceremony, and the computer again verifies the accuracy of the statement.

Kirk queries the computer on the names spoken by Sybo, including "Redjac". The computer responds with "Red Jack", a name given to the serial killer better known as Jack the Ripper. That, and Sybo's mention of a "hunger that never dies", suggests to Kirk that an immortal, non-corporeal entity might be involved. "Beratis" is found to be the name of a serial killer on Rigel IV. Suspicion falls on Hengist, not least because the murder weapon was made on Rigel IV. Hengist attempts to flee, but Kirk punches him and apparently kills him. Maniacal laughter is then heard from the computer. Apparently, the entity has jumped from Hengist's body to the computer, from which it can control the ship.

The entity begins to threaten the crew to generate the fear it feeds on. Kirk orders Doctor McCoy to administer fast-acting tranquilizers to all hands, and Spock ties up the computer by ordering it to compute the value of to its last decimal place. After attempting to possess Jaris, the entity returns to the body of Hengist, which is immediately tranquilized. Kirk carries Hengist to the Transporter Room, where he is beamed into space at "maximum dispersion". Spock notes that the entity will survive only as separate bits of energy before perishing. He then suggests that the tranquilized crew resume their shore leave.

The novel follows the stories of victims of a fictional school shooting in North Vancouver in 1988. Coupland has expressed his concern that the killers of the Columbine High School massacre received more focus than the victims; this is his story about the victims of tragedy.Didcock, Barry. "Prophet & Loss". "The Sunday Herald", September 14, 2003. The novel is told in four parts, each with a different narrator and focus.

1988: Cheryl

Cheryl Anway, the seventeen year old victim of a shooting massacre at her high school at Delbrook Senior Secondary recounts her life from a liminal state where she is dead but can still hear the prayers and curses of those who are alive.

Cheryl was pregnant having recently consummated her relationship with her long term boyfriend after they impulsively went to Las Vegas to be married using fake I.D.s as they are still under the age of consent. Both Cheryl and her boyfriend Jason are members of Youth Alive! a group of young Christians.

During the shooting, Cheryl is trapped under a table at the centre of the cafeteria. While the killers are making their way through the crowd, one of them decides that he has had enough with the killing, and wants to stop. The other killers decide that he has become weak, and kill him. They then turn their attention to Cheryl and her friends, and Cheryl becomes the final casualty. Before Cheryl is murdered she witnesses Jason killing one of the gunman with a rock, distracting the other for long enough that the other students are able to subdue and murder the final gunman.

1999: Jason

Eleven years after the massacre Jason struggles to cope with life. He pens a letter to his twin nephews, born after his older brother, Kent, dies in a car accident.

Jason details his current life circumstances working as a carpenter with no true friends and frequently drinking and occasionally blacking out. He reveals that he killed one of the shooters at Delbrook his father was angry with him for being a murderer causing his alcoholic mother to finally leave his abusive and controlling father, Reg, for good. In part because of his father's reaction Jason spends the two weeks after the shooting being investigated by the police and is devastated when his Youth Alive! friends and Cheryl's family turn against him. He is eventually cleared and his mother takes him to New Brunswick to recuperate.

During one of his present day drinking binges Jason blacks out and comes to in an isolated location aware that he is about to be murdered by Yorgos, a friend of his boss. Jason defends himself and is able to escape from Yorgos but rather than kill him, Jason leaves him injured and even sends help to him.

At the end of his letter Jason reveals to his nephews that after Kent died his widow Barb asked Jason to impregnate her so that she could pass the child off as Kent's. Jason agreed under the condition that Barb marry him causing he and Barb to go to Las Vegas mimicking the conditions under which he married Cheryl. During their trip to Vegas they are spotted by an acquaintance who Barb later murders to protect her secret. Nine months later the twins are born.

2002: Heather

A court reporter named Heather is in distress after her boyfriend, Jason goes missing. Jason and Heather's relationship began in a Toys "R" Us, with Jason purchasing toys for his nephews and the two bantering over a small toy giraffe and making a world for him.

After some time Heather receives a call from a woman named Allison claiming to be a fake psychic who has had a real vision. Allison uses catchphrases and words from the secret toy world that Heather and Jason built together causing Heather to believe that Jason is trying to contact her.

Despite claiming to not want money Allison begins to extort money from Heather to pass on her messages. After a conversation with Reg, Heather decides to try to track down Allison and learns she is a woman named Cecilia. She sees Cecilia with a young woman she assumes is her daughter and believes that Jason and the young woman had been having an affair. When Heather confronts the woman she reveals she is Cecilia's daughter but her mother came to know of the language because Jason came to her with detailed notes wanting to pass along the information if he ever went missing.

Heather is left wondering about Jason's past, unaware that his decision was prompted by a chance meeting with Yorgos.

2003: Reg

Reg writes an open letter to his son, lamenting that he was a harsh and abusive father under the guise of being a Christian for most of Jason's childhood.

Reg repents of the way he treated both Jason and Kent and regrets that he destroyed his relationship with a woman named Ruth because he would not divorce Jason's mother. He reveals that though Jason is still missing the RCMP located a shirt of his in the woods and Reg plans to post copies of his letter to trees hoping that somehow Jason will be able to read it.

In Kansas, Mary Henry is riding in a car with two other young women when two men challenge them to a road race. During the race, the women's car is nudged by the boy's and plunges off a bridge into a muddy river. Three hours after the police start dredging the water to look for them, Mary miraculously surfaces on the river bank, but cannot remember how she survived.

Mary moves to Salt Lake City, where she has been hired as a church organist. While driving through the desert, Mary's radio starts playing nothing but strange organ music, and she has visions of a ghoulish, pasty-faced figure (simply called "The Man" in dialogue). She also sees a large, abandoned pavilion on the shores of the Great Salt Lake. A gas station attendant tells her the pavilion was first a bathhouse, then a dance hall, and finally a carnival before it closed.

In town, Mary rents a room. She meets the proprietor, who informs her that there is another lodger staying there. Mary unpacks her suitcase and goes to the church where she will be playing the organ. At the church she meets the minister and is invited to play the organ for the first time. At the minister's offer, Mary takes a ride out to the pavilion at the lake. She is stopped from entering by the minister who warns her that it is prohibited to enter.

When she returns to her lodgings Mary meets a creepy man, John, the only other lodger, who wants to become better acquainted. Mary however, retreats as she is not interested. That night, she becomes upset when she sees The Man downstairs and retreats to her room. John brings her coffee and a bottle of whiskey at breakfast time before she goes shopping. Mary begins experiencing terrifying interludes when she becomes invisible and inaudible to the rest of the world, as if she simply were not there. When The Man appears briefly in front of her in a park, she flees, into the nearby arms of a Dr. Samuels. He tries to help her in his nearby office, acknowledging he is not a psychiatrist.

Mary's new employer, the minister, is put off when she declines a reception to meet the congregation. When she practices for the first time, she finds herself shifting from a hymn to eerie music. In a trance, she sees The Man and other ghouls dancing at the pavilion. The minister, hearing the strange music, denounces it as sacrilege and insists upon her resignation.

Mary had agreed to meet John after church and they go to a bar. Terrified of being alone with her nightmares, Mary says she wants John's company. When they return home, he is invited to her bedroom door. John tries to convince Mary to let him stay the night, but she walks away, apparently uninterested. Nevertheless, he follows her to her bedroom, where she sees The Man in the mirror. Frightened, she tells John what has been happening to her. He leaves, believing she is losing her mind.

After going back to Samuels' office, Mary believes she has to go to the pavilion. However, Mary is confronted by The Man and his fellow ghouls. She tries frantically to escape, boarding a bus to leave town, only to find that all the passengers are ghouls.

It is just a nightmare; she awakes in her car. In the end, she is drawn back to the pavilion, where she finds her tormentors dancing, a pale version of herself paired with The Man. When she runs away, the ghouls chase her onto the beach. She collapses as they close in.

The following day, Samuels, the minister, and police go to the pavilion to look for Mary. They find her footprints in the sand and they end abruptly in a complex group of prints. Back in Kansas, the girls' car is pulled from the river. Mary's body is in the front seat alongside the other two women. She was apparently dead all along.

At the Central Park Zoo, Samson the lion tells his preteen son Ryan stories of his adventures in the Wilds of Africa. Ryan wants to go to the wild too to learn how to roar like his father, but Samson disapproves of the idea. When the zoo closes, all the animals are free to roam. Samson and his friends, Benny the squirrel, Bridget the giraffe whom Benny has a crush on, Larry the dim-witted anaconda, and Nigel the unlucky but popular koala compete in a turtle curling championship. Ryan and his own friends accidentally causes a stampede which heads to the game and endangers the animals. Samson and Ryan have a falling-out and Ryan runs off before Samson can apologize. He later sneaks into a green Intermodal container which is rumored to be heading to the wild. Just as he regrets his decision, Ryan suddenly gets locked inside the container, which is then loaded onto a freight truck, shipping him away.

With the help of a pigeon, Hamir, Samson and his friends go after Ryan, hiding in a garbage disposal truck, but Benny falls overboard. After passing through Times Square and nearly being crushed in the truck, the group encounters a pack of rabid stray dogs. Samson escapes through the sewer rather than fighting as his friends expect for him to do. There, they take directions to the docks from two streetwise alligator brothers, Stan and Carmine. The next morning, they steal a tugboat during a hectic escape from the harbor. After reuniting with Benny, who has followed them with a flock of Canada geese, Samson manages to drive the boat with Larry's help and the geese lead them to the right directions toward Ryan's ship.

A few days later the boat runs aground in Africa, where all the animals in the area are being evacuated by the carriers, as a nearby volcano is about to erupt. They witness Ryan run into the jungle, but Samson is unable to find him. After failing to eat a crude hyrax, his friends questions if he has ever been in the wild before, to which he forlornly confirms. The rest of the group heads back to the ship, but Samson continues to search for his son. While walking, he sees plants and rocks changing colors, which he attributes as his instincts working. Nigel is abducted by a herd of wildebeests who reside in the volcano and their leader Kazar, pronounces him "The Great Him," based on an "omen" he received when he was young: about to be devoured by lions, a toy koala fell from a plane and scared the lions away, saving his life. This experience made Kazar to believe that "The Great Him" will help him and his kind create a change in the food chain that will allow prey to become predator and vice versa. In order to that, he thinks the wildebeests have to eat a lion. Bridget and Larry are also get captured and planned to be eaten as well.

Ryan hides up an old tree, but a gang of vultures attack him under Kazar's orders. The branch breaks and traps his paw. Samson hears Ryan's cries and runs to save him, scaring off the vultures. The two reunite but are interrupted by the wildebeests. Ryan is shocked when Samson tells him to run. They retreat to a tree where Samson reveals the truth about his past: he was born in a circus and was unable to roar just like Ryan. Samson's rude, selfish, hateful, arrogant, judgmental, and possibly abusive father disowned him and allowed him to be sent to the zoo, where he lied about his origins to avoid humiliation. The wildebeests discover them and push the tree over the cliff, with Samson still hanging on. Ryan is captured and taken to the volcano.

After a run-in with a group of female German dung beetles, Benny finds Samson and gives him the confidence to be himself, even if he is not from the wild. They soon find out that Samson's "instincts" were actually two chameleons named Cloak and Camo, who have been leading Samson to the volcano, so he would help them defeat Kazar's army. Samson uses the chameleons' camouflage abilities to sneak into the volcano, but when his disguise blows off due to the intense heat of the mountain, Kazar orders his army to attack. Seeing Samson in danger, Ryan climbs onto a catapulting device and launches himself at Kazar, finally letting out a roar. With Kazar distracted, Samson easily overpowers him. Ryan tells Samson that he is happy to have him as a father. The other wildebeests are touched by this and refuse to serve Kazar any further, having grown fed up with his delusions. Samson then gains the courage and roars powerfully enough to push back a charging Kazar. The group and the wildebeests flee, except for Kazar, who is trapped in the erupting volcano, in which he gets crushed to death by a falling rock. They manage to escape on the boat and travel back to the Central Park Zoo in their New York home.

In the ''Discworld'' story the wizards learn that, once again, the history of Roundworld has changed, resulting in humans failing to leave Earth before the extinction event shown in the earlier books. They discover that the difference from established history was that Charles Darwin wrote a book called ''Theology of Species'', which described how evolution must be controlled by a Creator. This was generally accepted by both religious figures and conservative scientists, and led to a certain stagnation of thought, preventing the eventual invention of the space elevator. When the wizards try to correct this, the potential futures of Roundworld go mad. The possibility of Darwin ever writing the book becomes near zero, with most futures featuring his death or failure to write a book in seemingly improbable—and sometimes downright ridiculous—ways.

The wizards eventually deduce that Roundworld has caught the attention of the Auditors of Reality, who approve of a universe which runs on unthinking rules, and disapprove of humans, who try to make it more like the Discworld. Unlike the elven invasion in ''The Globe'', which suppressed our creativity unthinkingly, this is a deliberate attempt to prevent humans escaping Earth.

While attempting to maintain a timeline where ''The Origin'' was written, the wizards inadvertently take Darwin to the Discworld. There they discover that his line of thought was disrupted by an Auditor-advised visit from the Disc's God of Evolution, leading to ''Theology''. After defeating the Auditors the wizards manage to correct this, by explaining the situation to Darwin. Since Darwin then wishes to forget the whole thing, they are ethically able to grant his request after showing him the culmination of his legacy—the Natural History Museum in London.

Sixteen years after Caroline Crale was convicted for the murder of her husband Amyas, her daughter Carla Lemarchant approaches Hercule Poirot, asking him to investigate the case. When Carla was 21 she was given a letter from her late mother claiming she was innocent, and Carla believes this to be true. She fears that her fiancé will leave her if the truth behind the murder is not uncovered. Poirot agrees to her request. On the day of the murder at the Crales' home there were five other people present, whom Poirot dubs "the five little pigs" – stockbroker Philip Blake, amateur chemist Meredith Blake (Philip's brother), Caroline's young half-sister Angela Warren, Angela's governess Cecilia Williams, and Amyas's painting model Elsa Greer. The police found that Amyas was poisoned by coniine, found in a glass from which he had drunk. Caroline confessed to stealing the poison from Meredith's lab, intending to use it to commit suicide. She had brought a cold bottle of beer to Amyas and the police believed she had poisoned it. Amyas was having an affair with his model Elsa, which was believed to be Caroline's motive.

Poirot interviews the five other suspects and notes that none has an obvious motive. Caroline's half-sister Angela is the only one who believes Caroline was innocent. He assembles them, along with Carla and her fiancé, and reveals that Caroline was innocent but chose not to defend herself because she believed Angela had committed the murder. Although Angela had handled the beer bottle she had added nothing to it before her sister took it to Amyas. Caroline later assumed that her sister had added something to the beer as a prank, causing Amyas's death. When the police charged Caroline with the murder she did not defend herself, believing that she was protecting Angela. When they were much younger, Caroline had thrown a paperweight at Angela, disfiguring her face, and saw this as a way to atone for that incident.

Poirot states that the murderer was Elsa Greer. She had taken Amyas' promise to marry her seriously, unaware that he only wanted her to continue as his model until the painting was done. She overheard Amyas reassure his wife that he was not leaving her, felt betrayed and wanted revenge. She had seen Caroline take the poison from Meredith's lab, so she took it from Caroline's room and put it in a glass of warm beer that she gave Amyas. When Caroline later brought him a cold bottle of beer, he commented that "everything tastes foul today", and drank the cold beer from the bottle. This indicated to Poirot that the poison had been in the glass Elsa had given him. Poirot's explanation solves the case to the satisfaction of Carla and her fiancé. Although the chances of getting a pardon for Caroline or a conviction of Elsa are slim with circumstantial evidence, Poirot plans to present his findings to the police.

The play features an elderly Athenian citizen, Chremylos, and his slave Cario or Carion. Chremylos presents himself and his family as virtuous but poor, and has accordingly gone to seek advice from an oracle. The play begins as he returns to Athens from Delphi, having been instructed by Apollo to follow the first man he meets and persuade him to come home with him. That man turns out to be the god Plutus — who is, contrary to all expectations, a blind beggar. After much argument, Plutus is convinced to enter Chremylos's house, where he will have his vision restored, meaning that "wealth" will now go only to those who deserve it in one way or another.

The first part of the play examines the idea that wealth is not distributed to the virtuous, or necessarily to the non-virtuous, but instead it is distributed randomly. Chremylos is convinced that if Plutus's eyesight can be restored, these wrongs can be righted, making the world a better place.

The second part introduces the goddess Penia (Poverty). She counters Chremylos's arguments that it is better to be rich by arguing that without poverty there would be no slaves (as every slave would buy his freedom) and no fine goods or luxury foods (as nobody would work if everyone were rich).

After Plutus's eyesight is restored at the Temple of Asclepius, he formally becomes a member of Chremylos's household. At the same time, the entire world is turned upside-down economically and socially. Unsurprisingly, this gives rise to rancorous comments and claims of unfairness from those who have been deprived of their riches.

In the end, the messenger god Hermes arrives to inform Chremylos and his family of the gods' anger. As in Aristophanes's ''The Birds'', the gods have been starved of sacrifices, since human beings have all directed their attention to Plutus, and they no longer pay homage to the traditional Olympian gods. Hermes, worried about his own predicament, actually offers to work for the mortals and enters Chremylos's house as a servant on those conditions.

In April 1994, tensions between the Hutu controlled government and Tutsi rebels led to genocide in Rwanda, where corruption and bribes between politicians were routine. Paul Rusesabagina, manager of the Belgian-owned Hôtel des Mille Collines, is Hutu, but his wife Tatiana is Tutsi. Their marriage is a source of friction with Hutu extremists, including Georges Rutaganda, a goods supplier to the hotel who is also the local leader of Interahamwe, a brutal Hutu militia. Paul carries favor with Rwandan Army general Augustin Bizimungu, who favors the Hutu. Following the assassination of the president, a Hutu, Paul and his family observe neighbors being killed, initiating the early stages of the genocide. When civil war erupts and a Rwandan Army Captain threatens Paul and his neighbors, Paul barely negotiates their safety and brings them to the hotel. Upon returning with them, he finds his insolent receptionist Gregoire occupying the presidential suite and threatening to expose the Tutsi refugees, including Paul's wife, if he is made to work. The UN peacekeeping forces, led by Canadian Colonel Oliver, are forbidden to intervene in the conflict and prevent the genocide. The foreign nationals are evacuated, but the Rwandans are left behind. More evacuees arrive at the hotel from the overburdened United Nations refugee camp, the Red Cross, and various orphanages, totaling 800, both Tutsi and Hutu. Tatiana desperately searches for her brother, sister-in-law, and two nieces. As the situation becomes more violent, Paul must divert the Hutu soldiers, care for the refugees, protect his family, and maintain the appearance of a functioning 4-star hotel. Paul forces Gregoire to work with the help of General Bizimungu.

Low on supplies, Paul and Gregoire drive to collect hotel supplies from Georges Rutaganda and witness the Interahamwe militia raping Tutsi hostages. Georges explains to Paul that the "rich cockroaches'" money will become worthless since all of the Tutsis will be killed. Paul expresses disbelief that the Hutu extremists will wipe out all of the Tutsis, but Georges replies: "Why not? We are halfway there already." They return to the hotel through the dark, thick fog, of the riverside road recommended by Georges, only to find it is carpeted with dead bodies.

When the UN forces attempt to evacuate a group of refugees, including Paul's family, Gregoire betrays them to the Interahamwe, who use radio broadcasts to accost them. After giving General Bizimungu the remaining valuables & Scotch in his office safe to protect the refugees, Paul then admonishes Bizimungu for genocide apathy and promises to testify on his behalf for his help. Soon afterward, Paul's family and the hotel refugees are finally able to leave the besieged hotel in a UN convoy. They travel through retreating masses of refugees and militia to reach safety behind Tutsi rebel lines and are reunited with their nieces.

The end title cards explain that Paul saved at least 1,200 Tutsi and Hutu refugees. He and his family, who adopted the two nieces, moved to Belgium, but Tatiana's brother Thomas and his wife were never found. The genocide came to an end in July 1994 when the Tutsi rebels drove the Hutu and the Interahamwe militia across the border into the Congo. At least 491,000 people died in the genocide. Georges and Bizimungu were tried and sentenced for war crimes, with Georges receiving a life sentence.

Joe has planned an afternoon in the English countryside with his partner, Claire. As they prepare to open a bottle of champagne, a hot air balloon drifts into the field. The pilot catches his leg in the anchor rope, while the only passenger, a boy, is too scared to jump down. Joe and three other men rush to secure the basket. Just as they grab on, wind rushes into the field, and at once the rescuers are airborne. Joe manages to drop to the ground, as do the others, except for one who is lifted into the sky. They watch as the man falls to his death. Recalling the events at dinner with his friends Robin, Rachel, and Claire, Joe reveals the impact the incident has had on his battered psyche. The balloon eventually landed safely, the boy unscathed. Joe later goes to retrieve the body of the fallen man with fellow rescuer Jed Parry. Jed feels an instant connection with Joe—one that, as the weeks go by, becomes ever more intense.

Days later, Joe, feeling guilty, spends time trying to map out ways that could have saved the man. One day, he receives a phone call from Jed, telling him to come outside so that they can talk about what happened. Joe looks out of the window and sees Jed standing across the road from his house staring up at Joe's window. Joe is reluctant but Jed promises that he will leave Joe alone if he comes outside and talks to him. After Jed makes some comments that make Joe uneasy, he decides to leave, telling Jed to leave him alone. Not too long after this, Joe visits a local bookshop and Jed makes an appearance, appearing to have followed Joe. Joe is confused and angered by this and tells Jed that he does not want to see him at all. Jed is hurt by this and continues to tell Joe to "be brave" and admit what passed between them at the field.

Joe then visits the wife of the man who had died and she tells him that she believes that he was having an affair after the police returned a picnic basket for two that was found in his car, along with an unknown woman's scarf. After hearing this, he decides to work out who was with the man on the day he died.

The next morning, Claire comes down the stairs and tells Joe that it is over between them. Joe, angry, pays a visit to Jed and they argue. Joe then gets drunk before going to Robin and Rachel's house where he stays the night. When he wakes up, his friend tells him that Claire just called and that Claire had told him to come over as Jed was in their house. Joe races to his house and enters the living room to find Jed and Claire sitting next to each other on the sofa. Jed looks as if he has been beaten up and falsely blames Joe. Claire appears to believe Jed's story. Joe loses his temper and then out of the blue, Jed stabs Claire with a kitchen knife and she falls to the floor, bleeding profusely. Joe then pretends to accept Jed into his life and they kiss. As they kiss, Joe grabs hold of the knife from Jed and stabs him. Jed falls to the floor, while Joe rushes to Claire's aid and phones an ambulance.

Joe returns to the field where it all started, with the wife and daughter of the man who died. They are joined by a couple who explain that the woman's husband had not cheated on her but was giving the couple a lift in his car. The picnic basket and scarf were theirs, and they were too embarrassed to intercede, as ''they'' were having an affair. The wife is happy to discover the truth and said that she had believed her husband was cheating. Joe then tells the man's daughter her father was very brave.

Mid-way through the credits, there is a scene in a psychiatric hospital, where it is revealed that Jed survived the stabbing and is sat at a desk writing ominously, turning to smile at the camera.

''Darwinia'' was created as a digital theme world for artificially intelligent polygons by Dr. Sepulveda. Housed in a massive network of surplus Protologic 68000 machines from the 1980s, Darwinia is a world where the single-poly Darwinians, with their simple, but growing AI, can grow and evolve. Darwinia is also where the world can visit to see them frolicking in their natural, fractal habitat. A Darwinian lives a life working and growing, until the eventual death of the Darwinian, which releases their digital soul to later be reincarnated.

However, the player arrives in the midst of an emergency. Darwinia has been infected by a computer virus, and Sepulveda is in near panic, watching decades of research being corrupted and being used up. Sepulveda enlists the player, a curious hacker who stumbled across Darwinia by accident, to aid him in rescuing the Darwinians and drive off the computer virus. The player is given access to the combat programs, simple tools that originally began as mini-games. These are now the only means of attack against the virus. As the player progresses, it soon becomes clear this is not enough, and that triggers the third aspect of the gameplay, which is evolution.

The first two levels of the video game act as an introduction and allow the player to familiarize themselves with the controls. After that, Dr. Sepulveda begins assigning tasks that span several levels to achieve a long-term objective. The first task involves clearing the virus population from and reactivating the Mines and Power Generator to provide resources for the Construction Yard. Once done, the Yard begins producing armored units, allowing the player to move on. The next task involves the reincarnation of Darwinians: the Soul Repository in the center of Darwinia collects the floating souls, and sends them down to the Receiver, where the Darwinians gather them and send them to the Pattern Buffer to be reprogrammed with the main Darwinian blueprint code, where they are sent to the Biosphere to be reborn. The player must clear the Viruses from all the facilities and reactivate them.

In the final level of the game, Sepulveda traces the Viral infection back to its source, which is e-mail spam. After Sepulveda had accidentally flashed an image of his face across the skies of Darwinia, The Darwinians had assumed him to be God. They then re-aligned a portal inside Darwinia in an attempt to communicate with God. The Darwinians managed to access Sepulveda's computer, downloading several files and eventually downloading the Spam. The e-mails were infected with a very nasty strain of internet virus which corrupted the Darwinians. The player is tasked to destroying the few remaining e-mails.

Davey Gordon is a middleweight boxer near the end of the line. He's set to fight a top upcoming talent, with the winner in line for a title shot, but that's not going to be Gordon. He sits alone in his meager apartment, one step up from a flop-house, brooding away the time till he meets Kid Rodriguez. Across the courtyard, Gloria, an attractive but world-weary taxi dancer, is getting ready for work. Each steals stealthy glances at the other, but their eyes never meet. Walking out of the building, they run into each other but say nothing. Gloria is picked up by her boss Vincent.

As Davey is being dropped by one knockdown after another, Gloria is fending off her boss Vincent's persistent pawing. That evening, after losing the fight and deep in a disturbing dream, Davey is awakened by a scream coming from Gloria's apartment. He rushes to the window and sees that Gloria is being attacked by Vincent. Before he can scamper across the rooftop to her room Vincent hears him coming and makes his getaway. Davey comforts Gloria and offers to stay with her as she drifts off to sleep, silently but curiously inspecting her keepsakes and hanging lingerie before leaving.

The couple reunites for breakfast at Gloria's, where they share their life stories. With nothing holding either to New York they decided to go together to Davey's Aunt and Uncle's ranch near Seattle, a caring pair who appear to be his only surviving kin who have repeatedly invited him to return.

While Gloria is up at the dance hall quitting and seeking her last week's pay, Davey has a rendezvous planned with his manager to collect his share of the fight's purse. When Vincent hears she is leaving, he balks and tries to wheedle her plans from her. She stonewalls him and is told to get out. Waiting for Davey she stands outside the entrance next to a man she doesn't know. Still furious over the previous night and taking Gloria away from him, Vincent sends two goons out to rough Davey up, but they mistake the man near her for him. Chasing him into an alley they go too far and kill his manager instead.

Vincent kidnaps Gloria and he and his two goons hold her in a run- down hideout in a brick wasteland. Davey returns to Gloria's apartment and sees police searching his room. They assume he robbed and killed his manager. Davey leaves to rescue Gloria, but he is captured and restrained as well, leading to a chase and confrontation in an abandoned warehouse full of mannequins. During the struggle, Davey kills Vincent, then returns with the police to free Gloria. Davey is cleared of all charges, and buys a train ticket back to the West Coast. At the train station, Davey assumes she will not join him, but at the last minute, Gloria rushes in, and they kiss.

Scientists invent a brain–computer interface enabling sensations to be recorded from a person's brain and converted to tape for others to experience. The team includes estranged husband and wife Michael and Karen, as well as Michael's colleague Lillian. At CEO Alex's instruction, the team demonstrates the device to investors to gain financing.

Karen dons the recorder while working with Michael and Lillian. When Michael plays the tape back, the group realizes that emotional experiences are also recorded. Michael tapes his memories of times with Karen, which he shares with her, leading to their reconciliation.

Lillian is pressured by backers to admit Landon to the team, whom she sees as part of the military-industrial complex. She disagrees with their plan to have the invention developed for military use.

One team member, Gordy, has sexual intercourse while wearing the recorder, and shares the tape with colleagues, including Hal. Hal splices one section of the tape into a continuous orgasm, which results in sensory overload, leading to his forced retirement. Tensions increase as the possibilities for abuse become clear.

Suffering from heart problems and a constant cigarette smoker, Lillian suffers a heart attack while working alone. Realizing she is about to die, Lillian records her experience.

Michael later decides to experience Lillian's recording, but nearly dies when his body simulates a heart attack. Michael modifies his console to filter the physical output and replays the tape. He sees "memory bubbles"—moments from Lillian's life. Michael experiences Lillian's memories of a humorous exchange with Michael as he plays with an industrial robot, a surprise birthday party, and being devastated when Alex tells her that an earlier project is canceled.

Scientists wanting to discover the machine's military capabilities are monitoring the equipment as Michael plays Lillian's tape. They have Gordy experience the tape, but Landon ignores the advice of the monitoring staff that Michael made modifications to his terminal. Gordy dies from experiencing Lillian's heart attack.

Michael's playback is cut short by Hal, but having witnessed the near-death experience makes Michael curious to see the entire tape. Alex has the recording locked away and tells Michael he will not be allowed to view it. When he returns to work, Michael walks in on Landon and outside technicians going through his research records. Alex responds to his protests by firing Michael and Karen.

Michael attempts to hack into the lab's computers. Hal advises him to look under "Project Brainstorm", a program the military created to use their invention for torture and brainwashing. Michael accesses a tape from his den and quickly stops viewing it because of its disturbing nature. Michael and Karen's son Chris inadvertently views the tape, causing him to have a psychotic experience that results in his hospitalization. Alex visits and Michael confronts him about Project Brainstorm, blaming Alex for his son's condition. Alex denies any knowledge of the project, then informs Michael of Gordy's death.

Michael vows to destroy his work and enlists the help of Karen and Hal. Michael and Karen head to the Pinehurst Resort and, realizing they are under surveillance, stage a fight that results in Karen leaving for Hal's house. As the two feign reconciliation over the phone, Michael accesses the Brainstorm computer via another phone line while Karen hacks into the system, sabotaging the robots that manufacture the interface terminals.

Karen shuts down the security system, locking the staff outside and enabling Michael to load Lillian's tape and experience it uninterrupted. With the plant in chaos, Robert orders Michael's arrest.

Karen leaves the house to meet with Michael. Hal and his wife, Wendy, send the last of Karen's commands to the company computers, shutting down the plant.

Karen meets with Michael while the tape is playing. Michael bears witness to the afterlife, experiencing a vision of hell before traveling away from Earth and through the universe, even after the tape ends. He ultimately has visions of angels and departed souls flying into a great cosmic Light. Michael then collapses. Karen sobs, believing him dead. She pleads for Michael to stay alive. Awakening from the experience, he weeps with joy and embraces Karen.

Alvin's family is migrating west. When they try to cross the Hatrack River, an unknown force known as the Unmaker tries to stop the as-yet-unborn Alvin from being born - since Alvin would be the seventh son of a seventh son, therefore possessing incredible powers as a Maker. The force sends a tree down the river to crush the wagon the pregnant Mrs. Miller is riding in. Her eldest son Vigor diverts the tree, but is mortally wounded in the act. Because a seventh son must be born while the other six are alive, Vigor desperately clings to life until Alvin is born. Help is dispatched at the insistence of five-year-old "torch" (a person who, among other things, can see the life forces of people and under certain conditions, their myriad alternate futures) Peggy Guester, who sees Alvin and Alvin's possible future as a Maker.

As the years pass, Alvin avoids numerous attempts of an unknown force trying to kill him, often helped by the intervention of a mysterious protector. Alvin's father, a non-believer in God, believes that a water spirit is trying to kill Alvin. When Alvin is seven, a new Reverend, named Thrower, arrives in town, trying to build a church. Alvin's father refuses to help, but Mrs. Miller has all of her sons work on building the church. When the ridgebeam is being placed onto the church in construction, it shivers and breaks, seemingly about to fall on Alvin. However, mid-air, it breaks in two, and misses Alvin - yet another example of Alvin's near-death experiences. When Alvin goes home, he provokes one of his sisters by poking her, so they get revenge on Alvin by putting needles into his night gown. Alvin avenges himself by using his knack to send cockroaches after his sisters. The plan works, Alvin winning a victory over his sisters. However, afterwards, he has a vision he dubs Shining Man, who makes him promise only to use his knack for good.

When Alvin is ten, "Taleswapper" (William Blake), a traveling storyteller, arrives in the town Alvin's parents have founded. After stopping by Alvin's brother-in-law's house (who directs Taleswapper to the Miller house), he visits the church, where he notices that the altar has been touched upon by an evil entity. Reverend Thrower kicks him out, and Taleswapper goes to the Millers' place, where his timely intervention stops Mr. Miller from killing Alvin. Taleswapper is welcomed in. Taleswapper helps to put a name to the unknown force that tries to stop Alvin from realizing his true powers as a Maker: the Unmaker. Meanwhile, the Reverend Philadelphia Thrower becomes a tool of the Unmaker - the evil force that touched the altar.

Soon the Miller family goes to a quarry to cut out a millstone. Here one of Alvin's knacks is revealed - single-handedly he cuts the millstone through hard rock. During the night, Taleswapper and Mr. Miller guard the millstone. Mr. Miller tells Taleswapper a story about how a force is trying to use him to kill Alvin. Taleswapper advises Mr. Miller to send Alvin away to someplace where he may be safe. The next day, the millstone is taken home. The Unmaker finally manages to injure Alvin, by making a millstone fall on him. Taleswapper encourages him to heal himself. Alvin does so, but finds that a part of his bone he cannot heal alone. He realizes that he might need outside help to heal himself. Reverend Thrower (acting as a surgeon) attempts to kill him, but finds himself blocked by a mysterious force. Alvin heals himself (with the aid of his brother Measure, who performs the surgery). Alvin is contracted as an apprentice to a blacksmith in the town on the Hatrack River where he was born.

Taleswapper meets Peggy. It is revealed that she, using her torch powers and Alvin's birth caul, had protected Alvin all these years, and the Unmaker was only able to hurt Alvin with the millstone because Alvin himself overrode her powers.

The book's sequel, second in the tales of Alvin's life, is ''Red Prophet''.

In 1985, police officer Norman Daniels brutally beats his wife Rosie while she is four months pregnant, resulting in a miscarriage. Rosie considers leaving Norman, but dismisses the idea because Norman specializes in finding missing persons. The short-tempered Norman has recently been accused of assaulting and raping a black woman named Wendy Yarrow, and the subsequent lawsuit and internal affairs investigation has made him even more volatile. Nine years later, Rosie still lives with and takes abuse from her husband. One day, she notices a drop of blood on their bedsheet and realizes that her continued life with Norman could eventually kill her. Taking Norman's credit card, Rosie departs on a bus to an unfamiliar city in the Midwest, with no clear plan of action. At the bus station, she meets a good-natured man named Peter Slowik, who guides her to a local women's shelter. She quickly makes new friends, including the headmistress Anna Stevenson, and finds a small apartment and job as a hotel maid. A few weeks later, Rosie decides to pawn her engagement ring, but finds that the ring's "diamond" is fake. In the pawn shop, her attention is drawn to a painting which depicts a woman in a rose madder gown. Fascinated, she trades her ring for the painting.

On the street, Rosie is stopped by a man named Rob Lefferts, a customer at the pawn shop, who asks her to read an excerpt from a book. Rob likes Rosie's voice and offers her a job recording audiobooks. Some time later, Bill Steiner, the pawn shop owner, asks Rosie out on a date. Rosie believes that her life is improving, and gradually notices that the painting is changing and expanding. Eventually she is able to travel through it. On the other side, she is met by Dorcas, who resembles Wendy Yarrow. She also sees the lady in the painting, whom she calls "Rose Madder" because of her dress and her apparent insanity. Rose Madder asks Rosie to rescue her baby from an underground labyrinth guarded by the blind, one-eyed bull Erinyes, who orients by smell. Dorcas leads Rosie to the temple grounds and warns her of the dangers and trials that await. Dorcas cannot enter the labyrinth due to a mysterious illness that she and her mistress are afflicted with. Rosie ventures into the temple alone, and she ponders the reality of her situation. Rosie manages to save the child, whom she names Carolina, and Rose Madder promises to repay her. Waking up the next morning, Rosie decides that everything that had happened was a dream.

Meanwhile, Norman conducts a search for Rosie, having resolved to kill her. He tracks down the city Rosie is residing in and gradually loses his self-control; he begins killing people who have some connection to Rosie, including Peter and Anna. When Norman catches Rosie returning from a walk with Bill, she flees from him into her apartment and lures him into the painting, where Rose Madder kills him. Rose gives Rosie some seeds and makes her promise to "remember the tree". Rosie exits Rose's world and burns the painting. Several years later, Rosie is married to Bill, with whom she has a daughter. However, she experiences outbursts of rage characteristic of Rose Madder. Rosie recalls her promise and plants a seed near a lake, and the tree that grows from it helps restrain Rosie's aggression.

In 1769 Vienna, Empress Maria Theresa of Austria tells her daughter Maria Antonia she is to marry the Dauphin Louis-Auguste. Marie is excited to become the future Queen of France but grows dismayed upon learning her husband is a shy man more at home with locksmithing than attending parties. After countless attempts to please him, Louis reveals he cannot produce heirs, prompting Marie to associate with the power-hungry Duc d'Orleans.

On her second wedding anniversary, Madame du Barry, King Louis XV's mistress, gifts Marie with an empty cradle and a poem critical of her inability to produce an heir. Despite Marie's outrage, Louis proves to be too weak to stand up to his grandfather. Sometime later, Marie meets Swedish Count Axel Fersen at a costume ball, during which she wagers and loses an expensive necklace. Count Mercy, the Austrian ambassador, scolds her for her wanton behaviour, but she pays him little mind.

Marie then hosts a ball in an attempt to make amends with du Barry and please Count Mercy. However, the attempt fails when du Barry draws attention to Louis's absence, and Marie responds with reference to du Barry's past. The King decides to annul the marriage, prompting Louis to defend Marie. Meanwhile, Marie flees to Count Mercy's residence after learning she is to be sent back to Austria. While there, she reunites with Fersen, who professes his love for her.

Realising she too has fallen in love with Fersen, Marie goes to tell Louis but learns she cannot leave him as the King is dying of smallpox and Louis himself is still fond of her. She agrees to remain, and they ascend to the throne following the King's death. Despite Marie's attempts to continue their relationship, Fersen refuses to risk ruining her reputation and tells her to fulfill her duties as France's Queen. She goes on to give birth to daughter Marie Thérèse and son Louis Charles.

Years later, when the Dauphin has grown into a young boy, peasants throw stones at Marie's carriage while taking her children for a drive. She is shocked at the intense dislike displayed by the people of France. She blames d'Orleans for inciting them. Marie later rejects a jeweller's expensive and elaborate necklace. Still, she is framed by court insiders plotting to acquire the necklace for themselves, and the Affair of the Diamond Necklace erupts. Marie is outraged, but d'Orleans tells the royal couple to abdicate the throne in favour of the Dauphin under the regency of d'Orleans.

The French Revolution comes, and the royal family is taken prisoner. Fersen returns with a plan of escape, but when the Dauphin tells a guard that his father is a locksmith, the King is recognised and arrested after a former priest at Versailles identifies him. The King is put on trial and sentenced to death and spends his last night with his family, his children not realising this is the last night they will spend with their father. Marie is heartbroken but is then separated from her children, put on trial, and condemned to death. The Dauphin, too young to understand what is going on around him, is forced to testify against his mother. The night before she is executed, Fersen goes to the prison and pledges their love to each other, with Marie telling him that she will never say goodbye. The next morning she goes bravely to her execution, which Fersen witnesses from a distance.

''Tono-Bungay'' is narrated by George Ponderevo, who is persuaded to help develop the business of selling Tono-Bungay, a patent medicine created by his uncle Edward. George devotes seven years to organising the production and manufacture of the product, even though he believes it is "a damned swindle". He then quits day-to-day involvement with the enterprise in favour of aeronautics, but he remains associated with his uncle, who becomes a financier of the first order and is on the verge of achieving social as well as economic dominance when his business empire collapses. George tries to rescue his uncle's failing finances by stealing quantities of a radioactive compound called "quap" from an island off the coast of West Africa, but the expedition is unsuccessful. George then engineers his uncle's escape from England in an experimental aircraft he has built, but the ruined entrepreneur turned financier catches pneumonia on the flight and dies in a village near Bordeaux, despite George's efforts to save him. The novel ends with George finding a new occupation: designing destroyers for the highest bidder.

Sean and Anna are a married couple living in New York City. While scenes of Central Park are shown on screen, Sean is heard lecturing to an unseen audience, explaining that he does not believe in reincarnation. After the lecture he goes jogging, collapses, and dies. Ten years later, Anna has accepted a marriage proposal from her boyfriend, Joseph.

When Clifford, Sean's brother, arrives at Anna's engagement party, his wife Clara excuses herself, saying she forgot to wrap Anna's gift. Instead, she buys a replacement after hurriedly burying the original gift while a young boy secretly looks on.

At a party for Anna's mother, the boy, who has followed Clara, claims to be Anna's deceased husband, Sean, and warns her not to marry Joseph. At first Anna dismisses the boy's claim. When Anna receives a letter from him the next day warning her not to marry Joseph she realizes the boy truly believes he is her reincarnated husband.

That night Anna and Joseph discuss the letter. Since the building watchman seems to know the boy and that his name is Sean, Joseph calls to get more information. When Sean answers the phone, Joseph rushes downstairs to confront him. He takes him to Sean's father and the three of them order Sean to leave Anna alone. Sean refuses to recant his story and Anna watches Sean collapse in his father's arms.

Sean leaves a message on Anna's answering machine, which her mother overhears. That day at lunch, Anna's mother mentions that Sean wants to meet Anna in the park and that she will know whereabouts. Anna hurries to Central Park and finds Sean waiting in the spot where her husband died. He offers to submit to questioning.

Anna's brother-in-law Bob, a doctor, talks to Sean, recording his responses on tape. Sean answers all the questions, even giving intimate details of Anna and Sean's sex life. Sean is brought to Anna's by his mother and he is able to identify parts of the apartment. Everyone except Anna remains doubtful. Anna's family become worried, particularly her sister Laura, who treats Sean with contempt.

When Anna misses an appointment with her fiancé to spend time with Sean, Joseph begins feeling worried, not merely about the boy but about Anna's odd behavior. His jealousy is made plain when he physically attacks Sean. When Sean runs out, Anna follows him and Sean kisses her on the lips.

Anna seems convinced by the boy's story and asks Clara and Clifford to meet him. Clara encounters Sean at the door and asks him to visit her later. When he visits he brings a backpack full of Anna's love letters to Sean. This package was Clara's spiteful engagement gift, which the boy had secretly unearthed and read the night of the party. Clara had been Sean's lover before his death, and he gave the letters to her unopened as proof of his love. Clara had been jealous that Sean would not leave Anna, but at the last moment abandoned her plan to give Anna the letters. When Clara points out to Sean that if he were really a reincarnation he would have come to her first, Sean runs out, confused.

When Anna finds Sean, she suggests they run away and marry when he is of legal age. He tells Anna that since he loves her he can not be the reincarnated Sean.

Anna apologizes to Joseph, and they are married at the beach. Sean writes a long letter apologizing to Anna, wondering why he had the delusion of being her husband. Anna wades into the sea in anguish after the ceremony. Joseph gradually pulls her back to the shore and whispers into her ear.

Set around the capture and escape of Geronimo, a prominent Native American leader of the Chiricahua Apache, the film is a period drama involving a love affair between Lieutenant Parker and Pauline, Major Wilkins’ daughter, and the jealous Captain Gray. Gray secretly releases Geronimo held prisoner at Fort Sill and Parker is dispatched to find Geromino. After succeeding in throwing the blame on Parker, Gray receives orders from Major Wilkins to take both Parker and Geronimo prisoners. Pauline learns of the ruse, however, and while attempting to warn Parker, is captured by Geronimo who also takes Parker prisoner. Parker and Pauline manage to escape. Subduing Captain Gray and his men, Geronimo prepares to execute them. Rescued by Lieutenant Parker, Gray nonetheless has him jailed to face a court-martial but Pauline finally clears Parker of the charges against him.

In a dystopian version of 1996, an alliance of corrupt government and corporate military forces have taken control of the world in the guise of the "New Order Nation" (NON). The NON, with their vampish commander Head Mistress Helga (portrayed by Kerri Hoskins) ), have declared war on youth culture (anyone aged from 13 to 30) and have banned all forms of music, television, magazines, and video games. The player travels to "Club X" in Los Angeles to see Aerosmith perform live, but the band is captured by NON troops and hustled off the stage in the middle of their show. After escaping from the club, the player steals a helicopter and flies across the city to find the band's car. From here, the player must destroy three NON installations in the Middle East, Amazon Jungle, and Pacific Rim, then travel to London to defeat Helga and her remaining forces at Wembley Stadium.

Professor Alfred Kinsey is interviewed about his sexual history. Interspersed with the interview are flashbacks from his childhood and young-adulthood. The young child years show his father, a lay minister of the Methodist church, denouncing modern inventions as leading to sexual sin, then in early adolescence, humiliating Kinsey in a store by denouncing its keeper for showing him cigarettes, while his adolescence shows his experiences as a Boy Scout and a late teenage scene shows Kinsey disappointing his father by his chosen vocational intentions. The adult Kinsey teaches at Indiana University as a professor of biology lecturing on gall wasps.

Kinsey falls in love with a student in his class, whom he calls Mac, and marries her. Consummation of their marriage is difficult at first, because of a medical problem Mac has that is fixed easily with minor surgery. At the university, Professor Kinsey, who is affectionately called "Prok" by his graduate students, meets with them after hours to offer individual sexual advice.

At a book party celebrating Kinsey's latest publication on gall wasps, Kinsey approaches the dean of students about an open-forum sex education course as opposed to the anti-sex propaganda taught in a general health education class. It is approved, but on the grounds that it is open only to teachers, graduate or senior students, and married students. Kinsey begins teaching the sex course to a packed auditorium.

Kinsey continues answering students' questions in personal meetings but his answers are severely limited by the paucity of scientific data about human sexual behavior. This leads Kinsey to pass out questionnaires in his sexual education class from which he learns of the enormous disparity between what society had assumed people do and what their actual practices are. After securing financial support from the Rockefeller Foundation, Kinsey and his research assistants, including his closest assistant, Clyde Martin, travel the country, interviewing subjects about their sexual histories.

As time progresses Kinsey realizes that sexuality within humans, including himself, is a lot more varied than was originally thought. The range of expression he creates becomes known as the Kinsey scale, which ranks overall sexuality from completely heterosexual to completely homosexual.

The first sexological book Kinsey publishes, which is on the sexual habits of the male, is a large-scale success and a best seller. Kinsey turns his research to women and is met with more controversy. With the release of the volume on female sexual behavior, support for his work declines in a time when Senator Joseph McCarthy's witch hunts against Communists and homosexuals (the latter known as the Lavender Scare) lead the Rockefeller Foundation to withdraw its financial support, fearing that it be labeled "Communist" for backing the subversion of traditional American values.

Kinsey feels he has failed everyone who has ever been a victim of sexual ignorance. A customs officer is tipped off to an importation of some of Kinsey's research material, which only exacerbates the financial hardship of Kinsey's research organization. Kinsey suffers a heart attack, and is found to have developed an addiction to barbiturates. Meeting with other philanthropists fails to garner the support needed. Still, Kinsey continues his taking of sex histories.

Returning to the initial interview, Kinsey is asked about love and whether he will ever conduct research on it. He responds that love is impossible to measure and impossible to quantify, but that it is important. Kinsey and Mac pull over to the side of the road for a nature walk. She remarks about a tree that has been there for a thousand years. Kinsey replies that the tree seems to display a strong love in the way its roots grip the earth. The two walk off together, Kinsey remarking "there's a lot of work to do".

The novel is set in the 10th century. The Caliph of Baghdad, Al-Muqtadir, sends his ambassador, Ahmad ibn Fadlan, on a mission to assist the king of the Volga Bulgars. Ahmad ibn Fadlan never arrives, as he is conscripted by a group of Vikings, led by their chieftain Buliwyf, to take part in a hero's quest to the north; he is taken along as the 13th member of their group to comply with a soothsayer's requirement for success. They travel to Hurot Hall, the home of King Rothgar, to defend it from the 'mist-monsters', or 'wendol', a tribe of vicious savages (suggested by the narrator to have been possibly relict Neanderthals) who go to battle wearing bearskins. After two devastating battles, Ibn Fadlan and the remaining Northmen decide to attack the Wendol village, which is located in a network of sea caves. They infiltrate the sea caves, assassinate the head of the Wendol tribe, and return to Hurot Hall. Buliwyf, however, is mortally wounded in the attempt. At Hurot, they encounter the Wendol in battle for a final time, defeating them. Ibn Fadlan is then allowed to continue on his journey.

''Eaters of the Dead'' is narrated as a scientific commentary on an old manuscript. The narrator describes the story as a composite of extant commentaries and translations of the original storyteller's manuscript. The narration makes several references to a possible change or mistranslation of the original story by later copiers. The story is told by several different voices: the editor/narrator, the translators of the script, and the original author, Ahmad ibn Fadlan, who also relates stories told by others. A sense of authenticity is supported by occasional explanatory footnotes with references to a mixture of factual and fictitious sources.

In ''The Lyre of Orpheus'', the executors of the will of Francis Cornish (the subject of ''What's Bred in the Bone'') find themselves at the head of the "Cornish Foundation". The directors of the Foundation, who are the three remaining Frank Cornish's estate executors, being Professor the Reverend Simon Darcourt, Arthur Cornish, and Maria Cornish, plus Professor Clement Hollier and Stratford, Ontario actor Geraint Powell, are called upon to decide what projects deserve funding. They decide that an unfinished opera by E. T. A. Hoffmann will be finished and staged at Stratford; to this end, they hire a brilliant young composition student, Hulda Schnakenburg ("Schnak"), to complete the opera as her PhD. dissertation, while Darcourt is charged with the completion of the libretto, which James Planché had attempted to write.

The opera to be completed is ''King Arthur or the Magnanimous Cuckold''. The storyline follows the writing and then production of the opera, and the plot parallels the legend of King Arthur, and in particular the triangle of King Arthur, his queen, Guenevere, and Lancelot. Geraint Powell, using deception, fathers a child by Maria Cornish, forcing Arthur Cornish to choose between a generous or vindictive response. ''The Lyre of Orpheus'' not only explores the world of early eighteenth century opera, but also follows Darcourt's research into the life of the benefactor and artist Francis Cornish. Darcourt discovers that a painting of ''The Wedding at Cana'', previously attributed to an unknown sixteenth century painter known only as "The Alchemical Master", was in fact the work of Francis Cornish himself, as described in the second book of the trilogy, ''What's Bred in the Bone''. A further plotline involves the sexual and artistic flowering of Hulda Schnakenburg under the hand of Gunilla Dahl-Soot, a distinguished Swedish musicologist who serves as Schnak's academic advisor and becomes her lover.

The book explores a number of themes, including the pursuit of life beyond the ordinary or comfortable routine, which is exemplified in the artistic quest to produce the opera and in Darcourt's quest to uncover the truth behind the painting of ''The Wedding at Cana.'' The theme of marriage is examined through the relationship between Arthur and Maria Cornish, a relationship tested by infidelity. And the modern approach to relationships is mocked in the dysfunctional common-law situation of two minor characters, Al and Mabel, who present themselves in Toronto to monitor and record the production of the opera from start to finish.

As often happens in Davies' novels, all is not simple; for example, the ghost of Hoffman, trapped in Limbo as a result of the unsatisfactory state of his artistic work, attends and comments on the proceedings. Nor is all peaceful among the characters, as they react to Powell's seduction of Maria Cornish, Dahl-Soot's seduction of Schnak, and the tensions created by the effort to mount an operatic production.

A five-year-old girl, Ayla, who readers come to understand is Cro-Magnon, is orphaned and left homeless by an earthquake that destroys her family's camp. She wanders aimlessly, naked and unable to feed herself, for several days. Having been attacked and nearly killed by a cave lion and suffering from starvation, exhaustion, and infection of her wounds, she collapses, on the verge of death.

The narrative switches to a group of people who call themselves "Clan" and who the reader comes to understand are Neanderthal. Their cave was destroyed in the earthquake and they are searching for a new home. The medicine woman of the group, Iza, discovers the ailing girl and asks permission from her brother Brun, the Clan leader, to help her, despite the child being clearly a member of "the Others," the distrusted antagonists of the Clan. The child is adopted by Iza and her eldest brother Creb. Creb is the group's "Mog-ur" or shaman, despite being deformed as a result of a difficult birth caused by his abnormally large head, and the later loss of an arm and eye after being attacked by a cave bear. The Clan worships spiritual representations of Earthly animals, called "totems", that they believe can influence their lives by sending good or bad luck, and for whom Mog-ur acts as an intermediary. Brun allows Iza to treat the dying child and agrees to adopt her providing Creb can discover her personal totem spirit.

Through meditation, Creb comes to believe that the child may be protected by the spirit of the cave lion, a powerful totem never given to a woman and only to very few men. He cites the cave lion attack the girl experienced shortly before being discovered as proof that its spirit marked her so that she could be adopted into the Clan. The people call her Ayla, the closest they can come to pronouncing her birth name. After traveling with them for a while and starting to heal, Ayla wanders away from the group when they stop to discuss what they should do since they haven't found a new home, and discovers a huge, beautiful cave, perfect for their needs. Many of the people begin to regard Ayla as lucky, especially since good fortune continues to come their way as she lives among them.

In Auel's books, Neanderthals possess only limited vocal apparatus and rarely speak, but have a highly developed sign language. They do not laugh or even smile, and they do not cry; when Ayla weeps, Iza thinks she has an eye disease.

Ayla's different thought processes lead her to break important Clan customs, particularly the taboo against females handling weapons. She is self-willed and spirited, but tries hard to fit in with the Neanderthals, although she has to learn everything first-hand; she does not possess the ancestral memories of the Clan that enable them to do certain tasks after being shown only once.

Iza is concerned that when Ayla grows up nobody will want her as their mate, making her a burden to the group. She therefore trains Ayla as a medicine woman of her line, the most prestigious line of medicine women of the entire Clan. This will give Ayla her own status, independent of whether or not she is mated. It takes Iza much longer to train Ayla than it will her own daughter, Uba, since Ayla does not possess the memories of the Clan.

Ayla's main antagonist in the novel is Broud, son of the leader Brun, who feels that she takes credit and attention away from him. As the two mature, the hatred in Broud's heart festers. When they are young adults, he brutally rapes Ayla in a bid to demonstrate his total control over her, and he continues to assault her multiple times a day. She sinks into a depression that leaves her despondent and disinterested, and quickly becomes pregnant. Iza explains to Ayla that her unattractive appearance compared to a Clan woman will likely preclude her from obtaining a mate before she gives birth - a circumstance Iza's people believe will bring the group bad luck. Having dreamed of being a mother for most of her life and convinced that this may be her only chance due to her powerful totem, Ayla refuses Iza's suggestion that she take medicine to lose the child. Following a difficult pregnancy and a near-fatal labor, Ayla rejoices in the birth of a son but because he has a number of Cro-Magnon features, he is classified by the Clan as deformed and is almost taken away from her.

The book ends with Creb's death, Broud's succession to the leadership and his banishment of Ayla, who sets off to find other people of her own kind. Her son Durc remains with the tribe.

In the movie:

Ayla was banished twice but on the second time, she left her son to be with the tribe. The first time she was banished was because she held a weapon. Second time was because she stood against Broud. But Broud's father has acknowledged that Ayla is stronger than his son. Iza died first and Creb didn't die in the movie. It appears that Broud's leadership was taken away from since he lost in the fight with Ayla and his father mentioned that Broud was fighting with a "spirit" and that he lost. Ayla reminded his son that she and Durc has the same spirit forever, setting up on a journey on her own. Leaving Durc to lead the clan in the future.

In March 2006, the United States has established a military presence in the newly-independent country of East Timor to train the East Timorese military in their fight against anti-separatist Indonesian guerrilla militias. Foremost among these militias is the Darah Dan Doa ( ), led by the charismatic Suhadi Sadono.

Sadono, once trained by the CIA to help fight communism in the region, has grown resentful of U.S. support of East Timor and its supposed interference with Indonesian sovereignty. Sadono orchestrates a suicide bombing and follow-up attack on the U.S. embassy in Dili, capturing a number of U.S. military and diplomatic personnel including Douglas Shetland, an old friend and comrade of Sam Fisher.

Meanwhile, Fisher is sent to infiltrate the embassy and gather intelligence on the Darah Dan Doa. Fisher succeeds in his mission, and the embassy is retaken by the U.S. Army's Delta Force. Sadono escapes, and the United States launches a military campaign in Indonesian territory in an attempt to hunt him down, much to the protests of the Indonesian government who is seeking to protect Sadono.

Fisher learns that Sadono has masterminded a scheme known as "Pandora Tomorrow", by placing a series of ND133 biological bombs, equipped with the smallpox virus, on U.S. soil. Every 24 hours, Sadono makes encrypted phone calls to each of the bomb carriers to delay the release of the virus. If he is killed or detained, the virus is released and millions of Americans will die. Because Sadono is fighting on the front lines in the conflict, the U.S. cannot risk killing him outright, and is forced to withdraw its forces.

To prevent Sadono from taking advantage of the situation, Fisher is sent to infiltrate Darah Dan Doa strongholds in order to learn the location of the smallpox bombs so Sadono can be captured. He is assisted in this endeavor by Shetland and his private military company, Displace International. Fisher learns the location of the bombs, and Shadownet spies are sent in to neutralize them. After the bombs are disarmed, NSA's Third Echelon decides to capture Sadono alive instead of assassinating him, due to the problems created when Fisher assassinated former Georgian president Kombayn Nikoladze in late 2004.

Although Fisher manages to capture Sadono, Third Echelon learns that a rogue CIA operative Sam met earlier on board a train, Norman Soth, has acquired the last smallpox-armed ND133 and intends to detonate it inside Los Angeles International Airport. Soth is motivated not by Indonesia, but by a perceived betrayal which resulted in the loss of a leg years prior, and intends to exact revenge on the United States. Fisher infiltrates the airport, kills Soth and his group of terrorists (disguised as airport workers and security guards), and prevents the detonation of the last smallpox-armed ND133 by disguising himself as a maintenance worker and setting the ND133 down behind two policemen, who notice the device almost immediately, and subsequently have the airport evacuated. The Los Angeles Police Department's bomb squad is then called in to perform a controlled explosion of the device, which is done by an automated vehicle armored with reinforced steel.

In June 2007, tensions are running high between China, North Korea, South Korea, and Japan, due to Japan's formation of an Information Self Defense Force (I-SDF). Considering this to be a violation of Article 9 of the post-World War II Constitution, and blaming the I-SDF for information warfare attacks against their countries, Chinese and North Korean forces establish a blockade in the Yellow Sea against Japanese shipping. As Japan is an ally of the United States, and by extension the NSA's Third Echelon, the US Navy dispatches an advanced warship, the USS ''Clarence E. Walsh'' (CG-80), to the Yellow Sea, with hopes that China and North Korea will back down.

Sam Fisher is dispatched to a lighthouse on the Talara, Peru coastline, to locate Bruce Morgenholt, an American computer programmer who has been captured by a Peruvian separatist group, led by Salvadoran revolutionary, Hugo Lacerda. Morgenholt was working on deciphering Phillip Masse's highly advanced weaponized algorithms, the "Masse Kernels", who had been assassinated by Fisher in 2005; Fisher is tasked with making sure the Kernels do not fall into the wrong hands. He arrives too late to prevent Morgenholt's death and the release of the Masse Kernels. Fisher boards Lacerda's ship and assassinates him. Unknown parties use the algorithms to blackout Japan and the Eastern Seaboard. Admiral Otomo of the I-SDF warns Third Echelon that North Korea and China are likely responsible.

Following a lead discovered in Panama, Fisher travels to New York to investigate Abrahim Zherkezhi, a man who worked with Morgenholt. He finds that Displace International, a US-based private military corporation owned by his old friend Douglas Shetland, is protecting Zherkezhi. Fisher breaks into the Displace offices and learns of Milan Nedich, a Bosnian arms supplier and war criminal, who has relocated Zherkezhi to Hokkaido. There, Fisher meets with Shetland, who claims that Nedich is clean. Fisher infiltrates the hideout that Zherkezhi is being held in, kills Nedich, and witnesses Shetland murdering Zherkezhi. Shetland escapes and goes underground.

The US show of force backfires when the ''Clarence E. Walsh'' is sunk by a North Korean anti-ship missile on July 4, 2007, bringing North Korea, South Korea, and the United States to the brink of war. Since North Korea claims the missile was launched unintentionally, Fisher is sent to the missile battery that fired it to determine the cause. Fisher discovers that North Korea was telling the truth, but the country suddenly launches a full-scale invasion of South Korea. Fisher heads to Seoul and learns that Displace International orchestrated the war. Displace used the Masse Kernels gained from Zherkezhi to hijack North Korea's missile systems and sink the ''Clarence E. Walsh'' to draw the United States into a war from which Shetland could profit. Third Echelon sends Fisher to a bathhouse in Tokyo to spy on a meeting between Shetland and his unknown accomplices, who turn out to be the I-SDF. At the meeting, the I-SDF betray Shetland, and a firefight breaks out between Shetland's soldiers and I-SDF troops; amidst the chaos, Fisher pursues Shetland to the roof. After a standoff in which Shetland tests their friendship against fealty to the US, Fisher kills Shetland.

Following Shetland's death, and having acquired a copy of the Masse Kernels from him, Otomo attempts to return Japan to Imperial rule; he blackmails Japanese government officials and senior JSDF officers by threatening to use the algorithms to launch a North Korean nuclear missile against a Japanese city. As China would support North Korea, and the United States would support Japan, the incident would likely spark World War III. Although Otomo's loyalist I-SDF soldiers manage to repel attacking JSDF soldiers, Fisher infiltrates the lowest levels of the I-SDF headquarters and stops Otomo's plans. Otomo attempts to commit seppuku, but Fisher saves his life and captures him. Otomo stands trial at the United Nations and takes full responsibility for the entire Korean crisis, returning stability to the region.

Much of ''The Ill-Made Knight'' takes place mainly in Camelot, and tells of the adventures, perils and mistakes of Sir Lancelot. Despite being the bravest of the knights, Lancelot is ugly and ape-like, and calls himself the ''Chevalier mal fet'', "The Ill-Made Knight". As a boy Lancelot loved King Arthur and trained to be a knight of the Round Table. When he arrives and becomes one of Arthur's knights he also becomes the king's close friend. This causes some tension, as he is jealous of Arthur's new wife, Guinevere. In order to please her husband Guinevere tries to befriend Lancelot and the two eventually fall in love. T.H. White's version of the tale elaborates on the passionate love of Lancelot and Guinevere. Suspense is provided by the tension between Lancelot's friendship for King Arthur and his love affair with the queen. This affair leads inevitably to the breaking of the Round Table and sets up the tragedy that is to follow in the concluding book of the tetralogy, ''The Candle in the Wind''.

Lancelot leaves Camelot to aid people in need. Along the way he meets a woman who begs him to climb a tree and rescue her husband's escaped falcon. After he removes his armour and does so the husband appears and reveals that he wanted Lancelot to remove his armour so that he can kill the knight. Despite being at a disadvantage, Lancelot manages to kill the man and tells the wife: "Stop crying. Your husband was a fool and you are a bore. I'm not sorry" (though he reflects that he is). Later he comes across a man attempting to murder his wife for adultery. Lancelot attempts to protect the woman, who denies the charge, by riding in between the two, but the man manages to cut off his wife's head. The man then throws himself at Lancelot's feet and asks for mercy. It is revealed later that the man is punished by being charged to take his wife's head to the Pope and ask for forgiveness. Finally, Lancelot comes to a town where the inhabitants beg him to rescue a young woman named Elaine, who is trapped in a tower. The tower is full of steam and she is forced to sit in a tub of boiling water. He manages to save her and her father has him spend the night. The servants and Elaine devise a plan in which the servants get Lancelot drunk and trick him into thinking that Guinevere is in the house. When he awakens in the morning he discovers that he has slept with Elaine. Furious at the loss of his virginity, which he believes has also cost him the ability to work miracles, and frightened at the thought that Elaine might have a baby, he leaves. He confesses the affair to Guinevere, who forgives him. They later discover that Elaine has a baby, which she names Galahad (Lancelot's real name). She brings the baby to Camelot to show to Lancelot and together they spend time with Galahad. Guinevere is furious at this and Lancelot goes mad and runs from the castle. Two years later he is found by Elaine's father, who does not recognise him, and is kept as a fool until Elaine recognises him. He lives with Elaine for some time, but then returns to Camelot. When Galahad grows older he is brought to Camelot to be knighted.

''The Ill-Made Knight'' also deals with the quest for the Holy Grail. Arthur notices that the drop in crime has caused the Knights of the Round Table to fall back into their old habits, especially Gawaine, Agravaine, and Mordred, who find their mother in bed with one of Sir Pellinore's sons and murder both of them. In order to give the Knights a new goal Arthur sends them to find the Holy Grail. The quest ends when Sir Galahad, Sir Percival, Sir Bors, and Sir Pellinore's daughter find the Grail. Sir Lancelot sees the four in a room, with the Grail, an old man, and several other knights, but he is unable to enter the room himself. One of the knights returns with the news that the Grail could not be brought to England and as a result Sir Galahad and the other knight brought it to Babylon (and neither of them could return to England as well). Sir Pellinore's daughter died when she allowed her blood to be taken to cure a dying princess.

Elaine commits suicide after Lancelot tells her that he will not return to stay with her permanently. The book ends with Lancelot performing a miracle, even though he is not a virgin, which is the usual requirement for being able to do so.

Rob Salinger (Dudley Moore) is an overworked television reporter. He is happily married to Micki (Ann Reinking), a lawyer who is a candidate to become a judge. Rob wants a child badly, but Micki is reluctant due to a previous miscarriage and wanting to focus on her career. On an assignment, Rob interviews a young cellist, Maude Guillory (Amy Irving). He is smitten with her and begins a relationship with her. When she becomes pregnant, the two decide to get married, with Maude and her father, professional wrestler Barkhas Guillory (Hard Boiled Haggerty) planning the wedding.

Rob prepares to confess to Micki and get a divorce. But before he can reveal his affair with Maude, Micki stuns him by announcing that she, too, is pregnant. She confesses that she initially planned on having an abortion as pregnancy would interfere with her career and not tell him, but realized how much she wants to have a family with him. However, she cannot exert or stress herself too much as it would endanger her and the baby. Rob becomes a bigamist. With his television boss and best friend Leo (Richard Mulligan) covering for him, he sees one wife during the daytime and the other at night, using work as an excuse. He gets away with it until the fates collide: Micki and Maude going into labor at the same time, in the same hospital, on the same floor.

The two women end up becoming friends, but realizing that Rob had been dishonest with them, they ban Rob from their lives and the lives of the children. Rob follows them around, spying on both families from a distance. Eventually, Rob reconciles with both Micki and Maude, though it is not clear if the two women are aware he has reconciled with the other. The film ends with the women pursuing their careers: Micki as a judge presiding in a courtroom, Maude playing cello in a symphony orchestra. The film closes with a shot of Rob in a park years later, with two babies and his six other children he has had over the years with Micki and Maude.

After a random attack by "The Scullions," a gang led by Zed McGlunk (Bobcat Goldthwait), Chief Henry Hurst (George R. Robertson) goes to the 16th precinct, telling Captain Pete Lassard (Howard Hesseman) the precinct is the worst in the city. Lassard protests as his officers are understaffed and old, and can no longer get the job done.

Hurst gives him 30 days to turn the precinct around or he is out. Before he leaves, Lieutenant Mauser (Art Metrano) asks for promotion to Captain if Lassard fails. Capt. Lassard calls his brother Eric (George Gaynes) at the Police Academy, asking him for six recruits. Mauser is seen talking with his dim-witted partner, Sgt. Proctor (Lance Kinsey), as he attempts to take control of the precinct.

The Commandant's top graduates Carey Mahoney (Steve Guttenberg), Larvell Jones (Michael Winslow), Eugene Tackleberry (David Graf), Moses Hightower (Bubba Smith), Laverne Hooks (Marion Ramsey), and Douglas Fackler (Bruce Mahler) arrive from the police academy and join the 16th precinct with some of them assigned to a veteran officer partner. Fackler is assigned to Dooley (Ed Herlihy), Jones to Sistrunk (Sandy Ward), Mahoney to Vinnie Schtulman (Peter Van Norden), and Tackleberry to Sgt. Kathleen Kirkland (Colleen Camp). Tackleberry later confides to Mahoney that he may have fallen in love with Kirkland.

Mauser undermines them, especially Mahoney. On patrol, Mahoney and Schtulman spot a robbery, but the robbers escape as confusion is caused in part by other responding officers. Mauser is about to suspend them, but Mahoney's passionate plea convinces Lassard to give them another chance. Simultaneously, Zed and his gang go "shopping" in a supermarket, causing havoc and chaos.

Mahoney is reassigned by Mauser to patrol a tunnel, resulting in him and his partner being covered with soot. In revenge he switches Mauser's shampoo with epoxy from a helmet repair kit, gluing Mauser's hands to his hair. He embarrasses himself in front of the station and has to wear a wig throughout the remainder of the film. Capt. Lassard spots some of Zed's men and tries to deal with them, but is over-powered and spray-painted. This humiliation emboldens him to allow the precinct to use "whatever means possible" to contain the gang. Progress is made and most of the gang is captured at The Blue Oyster Bar, but most of the charges are dropped due to excessive force and procedure violations. Mahoney realises Mauser did this on purpose so, in revenge, he requests a body cavity search for him.

Later, Tackleberry goes dancing with Kirkland. They profess their love for each other and make love (after removing their numerous concealed weapons). Captain Lassard goes to see his brother Eric, who comes up with the idea to hold a fair. However, Zed's men trash it, so Lassard is out of a job the next day and Mauser is promoted to captain. His first act is to remove Mahoney, and then Schtulman when he objects to Mahoney's dismissal.

Mahoney, Schtulman, and Lassard get together in a last-ditch attempt to stop the gang. Mahoney goes undercover to infiltrate the gang. Lassard and Schtulman wire him with a Mr. Microphone. As "Jughead," formerly of the gang "The Archies", he infiltrates the gang, finding out both their hiding spot (the abandoned Griffith Park Zoo) and the name of their leader. However, his cover is blown when the microphone cuts into a radio ad, leading to Captain Lassard calling every man to the location. The officers arrive, but are stopped by Mauser.

Mauser attempts to conduct a raid, but Fackler bumps him into an air duct, leading to his capture by Zed and his gang. The officers stage their own raid, overpowering and arresting the gang. Zed attempts to escape with Mahoney, but Lassard blocks him, preparing to shoot Zed. However, Mahoney punches Zed down stairs, where Hooks arrests him. Lassard's gun was not loaded, as he "hasn't carried live ammo since '73". He is later reinstated as captain, as are Mahoney and Schtulman on the force, while Mauser is demoted back to lieutenant.

The officers (including the re-instated Lassard) attend Tackleberry and Kirkland's wedding. They drive off in the monster truck Bigfoot.

After his dojo's loss in the 1984 All-Valley Karate Tournament, a furious John Kreese attacks his student Johnny Lawrence in the parking lot. Miyagi intervenes and passively immobilizes Kreese. He threatens a deadly blow but instead comically tweaks Kreese's nose and walks away. Johnny and his friends leave a humiliated Kreese and Cobra Kai behind.

Six months later, in June 1985, Daniel and Ali have broken up, and Daniel is staying with Miyagi after his mother accepts a job in Fresno. Miyagi receives a letter notifying him that his father is dying, prompting him to return to his home village on Okinawa Island. He tells Daniel that many years ago, he fell in love with a woman named Yukie. She was arranged to marry his best friend Sato, son of the richest man in the village and fellow karate student of his father. Upon announcing his intentions to marry Yukie, Sato challenged him to a fight to the death. Rather than fight, however, Miyagi left the country. Daniel decides to accompany him back to Okinawa.

Upon arrival, Miyagi and Daniel are greeted by Chozen Toguchi, who drives Miyagi and Daniel to one of Sato's warehouses and reveals he is Sato's nephew. Sato appears and demands to fight Miyagi, who adamantly refuses. Arriving at the village, Miyagi and Daniel are welcomed by Yukie and her niece Kumiko. They discover that Sato has become a rich industrialist whose supertrawlers have destroyed the local fish population, impoverishing the other villagers. They are forced to rent property from Sato, who owns the village's land title. Yukie reveals that she never married Sato because of her love for Miyagi.

Miyagi's father dies, and Sato gives him three days to mourn out of respect before their fight. Miyagi shows Daniel the secret to his family's karate – a handheld drum that twists back and forth illustrating the "drum technique", a counter-striking karate move that Daniel begins to practice. Daniel and Kumiko begin to develop a romance.

Daniel unintentionally exposes corruption in Chozen's grocery business during an encounter in the village. Chozen accuses Daniel of insulting his honor, and they have a series of confrontations. The feud escalates when Chozen and his cronies attack Daniel and vandalize Miyagi's family property, but Miyagi fends them off. He and Daniel plan to return home before the situation gets worse, but Sato threatens to destroy the village if Miyagi refuses to fight. Miyagi finally agrees on the condition that Sato signs the village's land title over to the villagers regardless of the fight's outcome. Sato reluctantly concedes.

On the day of the fight, a typhoon strikes the village forcing everyone to take shelter. Sato's dojo collapses, leaving him trapped in the wreckage. Miyagi and Daniel rush to rescue him, and Daniel ventures back out to rescue a child trapped in a nearby bell tower. Sato orders Chozen to help, but when he refuses, Sato rushes to assist Daniel himself. He publicly shames his nephew and disowns him. An enraged Chozen runs off into the storm in disgrace.

The next day, Sato returns asking for Miyagi's forgiveness. He vows to help rebuild the village and relinquish the title to the villagers. He also agrees to host the O-bon festival in a nearby ceremonial castle, inviting Daniel to join. During the celebration, a vengeful Chozen ziplines into the presentation and takes Kumiko hostage, demanding to fight Daniel to the death. Daniel fights bravely but is eventually overwhelmed by Chozen. Miyagi, Sato, and the crowd respond by twisting handheld drums in unison, inspiring Daniel to utilize the drum technique to defeat Chozen. Daniel grabs the vanquished Chozen and threatens to end his life saying, "Live or die, man?!" Chozen chooses death, but remembering the way Miyagi handled Kreese earlier, Daniel instead playfully tweaks Chozen's nose and drops him to the ground. The onlookers cheer as Daniel and Kumiko embrace.

Robert Smith, an African-American insurance agent, jumps off a roof while trying to fly as a crowd of people gather to watch. The appearance of Smith on the roof causes a woman named Ruth Dead to go into labor. In the chaos that follows, the hospital admits her and she delivers her son, Macon Dead III—the first African-American child born in the hospital. Macon Dead III grows up stifled, alienated, and disinterested in his home life in Southside. Even at age four, Ruth still breastfeeds him. One of her husband's employees witnesses this and nicknames the boy "Milkman".

Milkman's relationship with his family is strained, particularly towards his father. As Milkman enters his teens, his aunt Pilate, a bootlegger and conjure woman, becomes a central figure in his life. For Milkman, Pilate becomes the first glimpse into his family's past. When they were younger, Pilate and Macon Jr. found a cave filled with bags of gold, but did not take it for fear of reprisals. Milkman forms a sexual connection with his cousin Hagar, but later spurns her. Hagar becomes obsessed with him, attempting to kill him once a month, but never following through.

Milkman mentions to his father, Macon, the heavy bag that hangs from the ceiling of Pilate's modest home. Pilate mentions that the bag contains her "inheritance." Thinking it must be one of the bags of gold from the cave, Macon sends Milkman and his friend Guitar to steal the bag from Pilate. Milkman and Guitar succeed, but are arrested by the police after they discover the bag contains human bones. Macon and Pilate go to the police station to free the two young men.

Milkman makes a journey south to Pennsylvania in search of the gold. After talking to several people, Milkman deduces that Pilate must have retrieved the gold and taken it to Virginia. Milkman stumbles across Shalimar, Virginia, by accident. While out hunting with older men from Shalimar, Milkman is attacked by Guitar, who has followed him to Virginia. Guitar is under the impression that Milkman has taken the gold, and thus wants revenge. Struggling, Milkman discharges his gun, scaring away Guitar.

Milkman sees the children of the town playing and singing the "Song of Solomon." Milkman remembers that Pilate sang a similar song, and realizes that the song is about his family. He heads back to Michigan to find Pilate.

While Milkman is gone in Virginia, Hagar has sunk into a terrible depression from him having spurned her. Thinking that Milkman would want her if she fixes herself up, Hagar buys dresses, makeup, and a haircut. The effort amounts to little, and Hagar succumbs to her grief. A collection is taken up by the community to bury Hagar, and Pilate sings a mournful song at her granddaughter's funeral.

Milkman thinks it only appropriate that Macon Dead Sr. be laid to rest in his ancestral home in Shalimar. Milkman finds Pilate at her home, and she knocks him unconscious for the grief that caused her granddaughter to die. When he comes to, Milkman convinces her to travel with him to Virginia and bury her father. They make the journey and bury Macon Dead Sr. overlooking the ravine. After placing the bones in the grave, Pilate is killed by a gunshot from Guitar, intended for Milkman. The novel ends with Milkman leaping toward Guitar, thus learning to "fly".

Sylvia Chang plays a director who intends to make a romance film and begins to wonder about the role fate plays in relationships. She ends up re-examining her own first love in a completely different light. The story is set in two different periods of time, one in the 1970s where Gigi plays the teenage Xiao-rou, and the other in the 1990s where Sylvia plays the older Xiao-rou.

Takeshi Kaneshiro plays the role of a shy teenager, Ho-jun, who falls in love with Xiao-rou (played by Gigi Leung). Their relationship turns intimate but faces fierce objections from their parents. Karen Mok plays Chen-li, Xiao-rou's best friend, whom Xiao-rou confides in.

This teenage love soon fizzles out owing to misunderstandings and Ho-jun, after many years, turns to marry Chen-li. One day, Chen-li reveals that she is a lesbian and that they both love the same girl - Xiao-rou.

Ho-jun meets Xiao-rou on a trip to Japan and upon knowing that Ho-jun is already married, Xiao-rou returns home and gets herself engaged. Ho-jun manages a last attempt to reunite with Xiao-rou by flying to Hong Kong and telling her that he is already a divorcee, but it is to no avail.

Years later, Xiao-rou finds out that Ho-jun's wife was actually Chen-li. She discovers this only after Chen-li has died. Chen-li leaves a message for Xiao-rou asking her for forgiveness. As Xiao rou prepares to fly back to Hong Kong from Japan, she receives a present from Ho-jun. In the box were photographs, taken when Ho-jun was thinking about Xiao-rou and of their brief moments of happiness.

It is only at the end of the film when it is tactfully revealed that the director Sylvia Chang was actually re-enacting her own teenage romance.

Representative Jack Tanner of Michigan (Michael Murphy) is an obscure liberal Democratic politician who struggles to find a voice in the early 1988 Democratic primaries. His campaign manager, T.J. Cavanaugh (Pamela Reed), uses an unscripted, impassioned hotel-room speech caught on camera as part of an advertising campaign focusing on Tanner's authenticity and integrity. Using the slogan "For Real", Tanner emerges from a wide field of contenders to battle for the nomination against two high-profile and better-funded candidates: Jesse Jackson and eventual nominee Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis.

With Tanner are his college-aged daughter Alexandra (Cynthia Nixon), whose illness was why he earlier left politics and who has left college for the duration of the campaign, and his girlfriend Joanna Buckley (Wendy Crewson), Dukakis' deputy campaign manager. Others who appear on camera are Emile Berkoff (Jim Fyfe), a compulsive statistician with a crush on Alexandra; Deke Conners (Matt Malloy), an East Village filmmaker hired to produce Tanner campaign ads; and Andrea Spinelli (Ilana Levine), T.J.'s innocent and ditzy but well-meaning assistant. The candidate's father, General John Tanner (E.G. Marshall), who has a contentious relationship with his son, also occasionally appears.

Although Tanner does not win the nomination, he does run a serious and credible race. The series ends on a cliffhanger after Dukakis officially becomes the Democratic candidate and Tanner considers a third party run.

Cabinet

Several members of Tanner's prospective cabinet are mentioned, with several making statements to the press accepting the appointment should he become president. Those mentioned include:Episode 9: "Something Borrowed, Something New"

• Lee H. Hamilton, prospective Secretary of State (on screen cameo)
• Lee Iacocca, prospective Secretary of Defense
• Ralph Nader, prospective Attorney General (on screen cameo)
• Robert Redford, prospective Secretary of the Interior
• Jim Hightower, prospective Secretary of Agriculture
• Studs Terkel, prospective Secretary of Labor (on screen cameo)
• Gloria Steinem, prospective Secretary of Health and Human Services (on screen cameo)
• Joan Claybrook, prospective Secretary of Transportation
• Nicholas von Hoffman, prospective Chairman of the Federal Reserve
• Barbara Jordan, prospective Ambassador to the United Nations
• Art Buchwald, prospective Ambassador to France (on screen cameo)

The primary character in the play is Agnes, a daughter of the Vedic god Indra. She descends to Earth to bear witness to problems of human beings. She meets about 40 characters, some of them having a clearly symbolical value (such as four deans representing theology, philosophy, medicine, and law) and is herself enmeshed in a wrenching marriage. After experiencing all sorts of human suffering (for example poverty, cruelty, and the routine of family life), the daughter of gods realizes that human beings are to be pitied. Only the Poet, who has created the dream, seems unaffected by human suffering. Finally, she returns to Heaven and this moment corresponds to the awakening from a dream-like sequence of events.

In a dark room, a large illuminated balanced-arm desk lamp named Luxo Sr. sees a small yellow ball with a blue stripe and a red star on the front roll-up to him. He eyes the ball curiously and pushes it away, but the ball comes back to him. He pushes it away again, but it rolls past him as Luxo Jr., his happy and excited son, hops over and plays with the ball. Luxo Jr. then balances himself on top of the ball and bounces on it excessively, causing it to deflate. Luxo Jr. flips the deflated ball onto its side and looks up at Luxo Sr., who gently admonishes his son. Luxo Jr. then hops offscreen in shame but is later seen playing with a beach ball. Luxo Sr. looks at the camera, then shakes his head in embarrassment.

Setting and characters

''Harmony of Dissonance'' takes place in 1748, fifty years after Simon Belmont ended Dracula's curse. A result of his battle against Dracula was that the villagers changed their opinion of him and the Belmont family. Producer Koji Igarashi explained: "Simon was regarded as a life-saver, and people started to look upon him as a hero; little by little, the people started to gather around them. A village, therefore, was formed around Belmonts. Juste Belmont grew up in this environment with his childhood friends Maxim Kischine and Lydie Erlanger."

The protagonist and primary player character is Juste Belmont, the grandson of Simon Belmont and descendant of Sypha Belnades, who at the age of sixteen, gained the Vampire Killer whip. Together with his amnesiac and injured best friend Maxim Kischine, he sets off to rescue his kidnapped childhood friend, Lydie Erlanger. While exploring the castle, he encounters a merchant who stumbled upon the castle and Death, Dracula's servant.

Story

Juste meets Maxim at a castle where Lydie is being held captive; after a brief talk, he leaves Maxim outside and begins to explore the castle. Within the castle, Juste encounters Death, who confirms that the castle is Dracula's. He meets up with a dazed Maxim, whose memory is slowly returning to him, and they split up to cover more ground. While trekking through the castle, Juste notices that the castle sometimes has different atmospheres. He continues to encounter Maxim, but is baffled by how his friend seems to change personalities periodically. In one of their meetings, Maxim reveals that he went on a journey to find and destroy the remains of Dracula, something Simon Belmont had previously done, but when he collected all six, his memory went blank.

Juste encounters Death again, who explains that the castle has been split in two "layers" to accommodate the two spirits living in Maxim's body: his original spirit and an evil one created from Dracula's remains and his suppressed jealousy of Juste. Maxim later confirms this and admits to being Lydie's kidnapper. Juste meets his friend again in the other layer of the castle where he reveals that he lost his memory to protect Lydie. He gives Juste his bracelet to help him locate her in the castle. However, when Juste finds her, Death kidnaps her to use her blood as a means to unite the two castles by destroying Maxim's spirit. Juste defeats Death, and proceeds to search for Maxim. Along the way, he accumulates Dracula's remains, which are scattered throughout the castle. In the center of the castle, he finds Maxim with an unconscious Lydie.

There are three endings to the game. In the first, Maxim, possessed, has already bitten Lydie. With Maxim's defeat, Juste escapes the collapsing castle alone and curses his inability to save either friend. In the second, Maxim struggles against the possession and urges Juste to kill him. In his final moments, he thanks Juste for killing him and reveals that he had wished to save him from his fate as a Belmont. Outside the castle, Lydie awakens, unharmed, and tells Juste not to blame himself for Maxim's death. The third ending begins the same as the first, except that, during the fight, Maxim notices that Juste wore his bracelet and resists the possession. Dracula flees into a weakened form using the gathered remains and fights Juste, planning to use his blood to return himself to full power. Vanquishing him, Juste escapes the castle together with Maxim and Lydie, whose bite marks disappear by the time she regains consciousness. Outside the castle, the three resolve to return home.

Sam Deeds is the sheriff of Rio County in Frontera, Texas. A native of Frontera, Sam returned two years ago and was elected sheriff. Sam's late father had been the legendary Sheriff Buddy Deeds, who is beloved by the town, remembered as a unique individual with a great sense of fairness and justice. As a teenager Sam had problems with his father and the pair routinely argued and fought.

Sam is particularly disapproving of efforts by local business leader Mercedes Cruz and Buddy's former chief deputy, Mayor Hollis Pogue, to enlarge and rename the local courthouse in Buddy's honor; he considers it an unneeded waste of taxpayers' money. As a teenager, Sam had been in love with Mercedes's daughter Pilar, but the courtship was strongly opposed by Buddy and Mercedes. After a chance meeting, Sam and the widowed Pilar, now a local teacher, slowly resume their relationship.

Colonel Delmore Payne has recently arrived in town as the commander of the local U.S. Army base. Delmore is the son of Otis "Big O" Payne, a local nightclub owner and leading figure in the African-American community. The two are estranged because of Otis's serial womanizing and abandonment of Delmore's mother when Delmore was a child. Two off-duty sergeants from the base discover a human skeleton on an old shooting range on the base along with a Masonic ring, a Rio County sheriff's badge, and later, an expended pistol bullet, very unusual on a rifle range. Sam brings in Texas Ranger Ben Wetzel to help with the case. Wetzel tells Sam that forensics identify the skeleton as that of Charlie Wade, the infamously corrupt and cruel sheriff who preceded Buddy. Wade mysteriously disappeared in 1957, taking $10,000 in county funds, after which Buddy became sheriff.

Sam investigates the events leading up to Wade's murder. He learns that Wade terrorized the local African-American and Mexican communities, including extorting money from local business owners on a monthly basis and numerous murders where he asks his innocent victims to show him any weapon they might have, to then justify shooting them for "resisting arrest". Wade used this method to murder, in front of Deputy Hollis, Mercedes' husband, Eladio, having discovered he was running an illegal smuggling operation in Rio County without bribing Wade.

Sam also uncovers secrets about his father's nearly 30-year term as sheriff that reveal Buddy's own corruption. He visits Wesley Birdsong, a Native American and a roadside tourist stand owner, who reveals that Buddy was a wild young adult after his service in the Korean War but settled down after becoming a deputy sheriff and marrying Sam's mother; but he reveals that Buddy did have a mistress, whose name Wesley claims to have forgotten. Sam travels to San Antonio, where he visits his marginally mentally ill ex-wife Bunny and searches through his father's things, where he discovers love letters from Buddy's mistress. Otis tells Sam that Buddy's focus was on the county political machine while Wade's focus was on money. The janitor at the sheriff's office reveals to Sam that he worked on Buddy's home while incarcerated in the local jail. A local reporter uncovers that Buddy forcibly evicted residents of a small community to make a lake that made Frontera a popular tourist destination with Buddy and Hollis receiving lakefront property.

Sam confronts Hollis and Otis about Wade's murder. Wade discovered Otis was running an illegal gambling operation at the nightclub, after he had previously warned Otis against running numbers in the club. A furious Wade violently attacked Otis, ordered him to hand over the monthly extortion money, and then was about to use his "resisting arrest" setup to kill Otis. Buddy arrived just as Hollis shot Wade to prevent Otis's murder. The three buried the body and took the $10,000 from the county and gave it to Mercedes—who was destitute after Eladio's recent death—to buy her restaurant. Hollis reveals that Buddy and Mercedes did not take up until some time later. Sam decides to drop the issue, saying it will remain an unsolved mystery. Hollis voices concern that, when the skeleton is revealed to be Wade, people will assume Buddy killed him to take his job, to which Sam states that Buddy's legend can handle it.

Pilar meets Sam at an old drive-in theater where Sam shows her an old photo of Buddy and Mercedes and tells her Eladio died 18 months, rather than "a couple months", before she was born, revealing Buddy is Pilar's father. Both are hurt over the deception but decide that, since she cannot have any more children, they will continue their romantic relationship, despite the knowledge that they are half-siblings.

Paul Javal, a young French playwright who has found commercial success in Rome, accepts an offer from vulgar American producer Jeremy Prokosch to rework the script for German director Fritz Lang's screen adaptation of the ''Odyssey''.

Paul's wife, Camille Javal, joins him on the first day of the project at Cinecittà. As the first discussions are completed, Prokosch invites the crew to join him at his villa, offering Camille a ride in his two-seat sportscar. Camille looks to Paul to decline the offer, but he submissively withdraws to follow by taxi, leaving Camille and Prokosch alone. Paul does not catch up with them until 30 minutes later, explaining that he was delayed by a traffic accident. Camille grows uneasy, secretly doubting his honesty and suspecting that he is using her to cement his ties with Prokosch. Her misgivings are heightened when she sees Paul grope Prokosch's secretary, Francesca. Back at their apartment, Paul and Camille discuss the subtle uneasiness that has come between them in the first few hours of the project, and Camille suddenly announces to her bewildered husband that she no longer loves him.

Hoping to rekindle Camille's love, Paul convinces her to accept Prokosch's invitation to join them for filming in Capri. Prokosch and Lang are locked in a conflict over the correct interpretation of Homer's work, an impasse exacerbated by the difficulty of communication between the German director, French script writer, and American producer. Francesca acts as interpreter, mediating all conversations. When Paul sides with Prokosch against Lang by suggesting that Odysseus actually left home because of his wife's infidelity, Camille's suspicions of her husband's servility are confirmed. She deliberately allows him to find her in Prokosch's embrace, and in the ensuing confrontation she declares that her respect for him has turned to contempt because he has bartered her to Prokosch. He denies this accusation, offering to sever his connection with the film and leave Capri; but she will not recant and leaves for Rome with the producer. After an auto crash in which Camille and Prokosch are killed, Paul prepares to leave Capri and return to the theater. Lang continues to work on the film.

The Second Doctor and Jamie McCrimmon land the TARDIS on board Space Station Camera in the Third Zone on a mission for the Time Lords, who have also installed a teleport control on the TARDIS. The Doctor explains that the station is a research facility and that they have to talk to Dastari, the Head of Projects. The Androgum cook Shockeye drugs the meals of the station's scientists. The Doctor tells Dastari that the Time Lords want the time experiments of Kartz and Reimer stopped. The Doctor warns that the distortions from the experiments are on the verge of threatening the fabric of time, but Dastari refuses to order them to cease, accusing the Time Lords of not wanting another race to discover the secrets of time travel. Dastari and the others collapse from the drugged meals. Chessene, an Androgum technologically augmented to mega-genius levels, lowers the station's defences to allow the Sontarans to attack. Jamie sees the Doctor appear to die by the Sontarans before fleeing.

In the TARDIS, the Sixth Doctor has a vision of his second incarnation being put to death. Since he is still alive, he is concerned that he may have died in the past and only exists now as a temporal anomaly. He decides to consult his old friend Dastari to see if he can help. The Doctor and Peri arrive on the station and find no signs of life. The station computer demands that the Doctor leave and, when he refuses, tries to kill him and Peri by depressurising the passageway. The Doctor opens a hatch and drags his unconscious companion through to another section. The Doctor discovers Dastari's day journal and the Time Lords' objections to the Kartz-Reimer experiments.

In Spain, Chessene, Shockeye and a Sontaran, Major Varl, take possession of a hacienda by killing its owner, Doña Arana. Dastari and the Sontaran Group Marshal Stike carry an unconscious Second Doctor towards the hacienda.

Peri is attacked by a humanoid in rags. The Sixth Doctor and Peri find that Peri's attacker was Jamie, who has been hiding all the while. Under hypnosis, Jamie tells the Sixth Doctor that the Sontarans killed the Second Doctor. The Sixth Doctor explains to Jamie and Peri that what Jamie saw was an illusion designed to make people believe the Doctor was dead and not investigate further. He theorises that the Sontarans also kidnapped Dastari as he is the only biogeneticist in the galaxy who could isolate the symbiotic nuclei that gives Time Lords the molecular stability to travel through time. The Sixth Doctor puts himself into a telepathic trance to determine where his past incarnation is being held. He narrows it down to the Seville area, where the Sontaran spaceship landed.

Dastari reveals his plan to dissect the Second Doctor's cell structure to isolate his symbiotic nuclei and give them to Chessene. The Second Doctor protests that her barbaric Androgum nature, coupled with the ability to time travel, will mean that there will be no limit to her evil. Finding the hacienda, Peri interrupts the operation. Sneaking into the cellar, the Sixth Doctor examines the Kartz-Reimer module, a prototype time machine modelled on Time Lord technology, explaining to Jamie how it works. The Sontarans overhear him. Outside, Shockeye knocks Peri out and brings her to the hacienda kitchen. Stike threatens to kill Jamie unless the Sixth Doctor gets into the module and primes it with his symbiotic print, and the Doctor does so, after which, he and Jamie escape the Sontarans.

Chessene has a contingency plan after discovering the involvement of two Time Lords. She asks Dastari to implant the Second Doctor with some of Shockeye's genetic material, turning the Doctor into an Androgum. They also intend to eliminate the Sontarans.

Chessene interrupts Shockeye when he attempts to cook an unconscious Peri, and stuns him so that Dastari can remove his genetic material. The Sixth Doctor revives Peri, and tells Jamie and her that what he revealed to the Sontarans was not true — he had lied because he had heard Stike approaching. The machine worked for the Doctor, but will not for them because the Doctor has taken the nebuliser. Before they can release the Second Doctor and escape the hacienda, Shockeye shows up with Peri.

Dastari has implanted the Second Doctor with a 50 percent Androgum inheritance, and when Shockeye wakes in a rage, he finds a kindred spirit in the transformed Doctor. They decide to go into the town to sample the local cuisine. Dastari lures the Sontarans into the cellar, where Chessene attacks them. Varl is killed, but Stike manages to escape. He tries to use the module, but without the nebuliser, it severely burns him. Stike staggers towards his battlecraft, forgetting about the self-destruct Varl had set. The ship explodes.

The Sixth Doctor, Peri, and Jamie follow the Second Doctor into Seville, hoping to cure him before the change becomes complete. Dastari and Chessene are also looking for them, knowing that unless the Second Doctor undergoes a stabilising operation, he will eventually reject the Androgum transfusion. The Second Doctor and Shockeye go to Las Cadenas restaurant ordering gargantuan amounts of food. When the restaurant's owner Oscar demands that they pay, Shockeye fatally stabs Oscar, just as the Sixth Doctor and the others arrive. Shockeye leaves the Second Doctor, who slowly reverts to normal. As they leave the restaurant, Chessene and Dastari appear, taking them back to the hacienda at gunpoint.

Chessene and Dastari find the nebuliser on the module missing, and the Sixth Doctor tells them how he primed the machine for Stike. To test the truth of the Doctor's claim, they replace the nebuliser and send Peri on a trip with the module. The Sixth Doctor, however, confirms to the Second Doctor that the nebuliser is sabotaged, with a thin interface layer so it would work once, for Peri. The Sixth Doctor frees himself, and goes to save Jamie from being eaten by Shockeye in the kitchen. He encounters Shockeye in the kitchen, and the Androgum wounds him with a knife. Shockeye pursues him through the grounds. The Doctor ambushes Shockeye, covering his head with Oscar's butterfly net and pressing the cyanide-soaked cotton wool to his face, killing him.

Chessene sees the Doctor's blood and starts licking it. Dastari realises that no matter how augmented she may be, Chessene is still an Androgum, and decides to free the Second Doctor, Peri, and Jamie. When Chessene sees this, she shoots and kills Dastari. She tries to shoot the Second Doctor and Peri, but Jamie throws a knife at her wrist, making her drop the gun. Chessene goes into the module, hoping to escape, but the sabotaged module explodes, killing her.

The Second Doctor uses a Stattenheim remote control to summon his TARDIS. As the Sixth Doctor and Peri make their way back to their own TARDIS, the Doctor tells her that from now on, it will be a healthy vegetarian diet for both of them.

The play is set in "the present" (i.e. 1893).

Act I

;The Terrace at Hunstanton Chase alt=dandyish middle-aged white man, with dapper moustache in elegant summer suit The play opens with a party on a terrace in Lady Hunstanton's estate. The upper class guests spend the better part of Act I exchanging social gossip and small talk. Lady Caroline Pontefract patronises an American visitor, Hester Worsley, and proceeds to give her own opinion of everyone in the room (and her surrounding life). Lady Caroline also denounces Hester's enthusiasm for Gerald Arbuthnot until Gerald himself enters to proclaim that Lord Illingworth, a powerful, flirtatious male political figure, intends to take him under his wing as secretary. This is great news for Gerald, as being Lord Illingworth's secretary would be the young man's first step to a life of financial/political success. The guests then discuss the rumours surrounding Lord Illingworth's aim for being a foreign ambassador, while Lady Hunstanton sends a letter through her footman to Gerald's mother, inviting her to the party.

Gerald offers to take Hester for a walk, leaving the remaining guests to gossip further about their social lives. Lady Hunstanton and Lady Stutfield comment on the yet unseen Lord Illingworth's amoral qualities towards women when the man himself enters the terrace. He declines their thanks for his hiring of Gerald Arbuthnot and says that he hired him out of personal interest. Lord Illingworth remains near Mrs Allonby during the entire exchange until the two of them leave for the conservatory together, following a discussion of Hester's background and wealthy father. A footman enters with a letter from Mrs Arbuthnot, stating that she will come to the party after dinner. When Illingworth and Mrs Allonby return, the remaining guests have already moved to have tea in another room. The two characters have a witty conversation involving marriage and women and men until Gerald and Hester enter the room. They have some short small talk, and Lord Illingworth and Mrs Allonby are again left alone. Their discussion turns toward Hester when Mrs Allonby reprehends the young American for her casual talk of being eighteen and a Puritan. Lord Illingworth expresses that he rather admires Hester's beauty and actually uses the conversation to assert his flirtations toward Mrs Allonby, claiming that he has never met a woman so puritanical as Hester that she would steadfastly resist all and any advances. Mrs Allonby asserts that Hester is sincere in her desire to be left alone, but Illingworth interprets her remarks as a playful challenge. Lord Illingworth notices Mrs Arbuthnot's letter lying on a table and remarks that the handwriting on the envelope seems familiar. When Mrs Allonby asks who the handwriting reminds him of, he carelessly mentions "a woman of no importance."

Act II

;Drawing room at Hunstanton

Gerald's mother arrives at the end of an argument between Hester and the upper-class women. Lord Illingworth enters shortly after, and Gerald uses the opportunity to introduce him to Mrs Arbuthnot. The three share an uncomfortable exchange, as Mrs Arbuthnot (to Gerald's dismay) can only partially express her disapproval of Illingworth's offer. Lord Illingworth excuses himself, and Lady Hunstanton calls everyone into her music-room soon after. Illingworth, however, asks to remain behind to speak with Mrs Arbuthnot.

What follows is the revelation that Gerald is the illegitimate child of Mrs Arbuthnot and Lord Illingworth, once known as George Harford. Years ago, Mrs Arbuthnot and George Harford conceived a child, yet Harford refused to marry Arbuthnot. Harford had offered to provide financial security through his mother, but according to Mrs Arbuthnot, it was his refusal to marry that forced her to leave him and live an arduous life as a scandalous single mother. Mrs Arbuthnot retains a strong bitterness toward Illingworth, yet also begs him to leave her son alone, expressing that after twenty years of being a mother, Gerald is all she has. She refuses to allow Gerald to stay with his father, but Illingworth questions how she will force Gerald to do what she wants. He tells Mrs Arbuthnot that Gerald should be able to choose his own future. Gerald then enters, and Lord Illingworth assures him and his mother that Gerald has the highest qualities that the man had hoped for in a secretary. Illingworth demands any other reason for Mrs Arbuthnot to protest against Gerald's opportunity. Unwilling to reveal her son's true heritage, Mrs Arbuthnot says that she has no other reason.

Act III

;The Hall at Hunstanton Chase

Act III opens with Gerald and Lord Illingworth talking about Mrs Arbuthnot. Gerald speaks of his admiration and protective attitude toward his mother, expressing that she is a great woman and wondering why she has never told him of his father. Lord Illingworth agrees that his mother is a great woman, but he further explains that great women have certain limitations that inhibit the desires of young men. Leading the conversation into a cynical talk about society and marriage, Lord Illingworth says that he has never been married and that Gerald will have a new life under his wing. Soon the other guests enter, and Lord Illingworth entertains them with his invigorating views on a variety of subjects, such as comedy and tragedy, savages, and world society. Everything Lord Illingworth has to say opposes the norm and excites his company, leaving Mrs Arbuthnot room to say that she would be sorry to hold his views. During a discussion of sinful women, she also opposes Lady Hunstanton's later opinion by saying that ruining a woman's life is unforgivable. When Lady Hunstanton's company finally breaks up, Lord Illingworth and Mrs Allonby leave to look at the moon. Gerald attempts to follow, but his mother protests and ask him to take her home. Gerald says that he must first say goodbye to Lord Illingworth and also reveals that he will be going to India with him at the end of the month.

Mrs Arbuthnot is then left alone with Hester, and they resume the previous conversation about women. Mrs Arbuthnot is disgusted by Hester's view that the sins of parents are suffered by their children. Recognising that Mrs Arbuthnot is waiting for her son to return, Hester decides to fetch Gerald. Gerald soon returns alone, however, and he becomes frustrated with his mother's continued disapproval for what he sees as an opportunity to earn his mother's respect and the love of Hester. Remembering Hester's views, Mrs Arbuthnot decides to tell her son the truth about his origin and her past life with Lord Illingworth, but she does so in the third person, being sure to describe the despair that betrayed women face. Gerald remains unmoved, however, so Mrs Arbuthnot withdraws her objections. Hester then enters the room in anguish and flings herself into Gerald's arms, exclaiming that Lord Illingworth has "horribly insulted" her. He has apparently tried to kiss her. Gerald almost attacks Illingworth in a rage when his mother stops him the only way she knows how: by telling him that Lord Illingworth is his father. With this revelation, Gerald takes his mother home, and Hester leaves on her own.

Act IV

;Sitting room in Mrs Arbuthnot's House at Wrockley

Act IV opens with Gerald writing a letter in his mother's sitting room, the contents of which will ask his father to marry Mrs Arbuthnot. Lady Hunstanton and Mrs Allonby are shown in, intending to visit Mrs Arbuthnot. The two comment on her apparent good taste and soon leave when the maid tells them that Mrs Arbuthnot has a headache and will not be able to see anyone. Gerald says that he has given up on being his father's secretary, and he has sent for Lord Illingworth to come to his mother's estate at 4 o'clock to ask for her hand in marriage. When Mrs Arbuthnot enters, Gerald tells her all that he has done and that he will not be his father's secretary. Mrs Arbuthnot exclaims that his father must not enter her house, and the two argue over her marrying Gerald's father. Gerald claims that the marriage is her duty, while Mrs Arbuthnot retains her integrity, saying that she will not make a mockery of marriage by marrying a man she despises. She also tells of how she devoted herself to the dishonour of being a single mother and has given her life to take care of her son. Hester overhears this conversation and runs to Mrs Arbuthnot. Hester says she has realised that the law of God is love and offers to use her wealth to take care of the man she loves and the mother she never had. After ensuring that Mrs Arbuthnot must live with them, Gerald and Hester leave to sit in the garden.

The maid announces the arrival of Lord Illingworth, who forces himself past the doorway and into the house. He approaches Mrs Arbuthnot, telling her that he has resolved to provide financial security and some property for Gerald. Mrs Arbuthnot merely shows him Gerald and Hester in the garden and tells Lord Illingworth that she no longer needs help from anyone but her son and his lover. Illingworth then sees Gerald's unsealed letter and reads it. Lord Illingworth claims that while it would mean giving up his dream as a foreign ambassador, he is willing to marry Mrs Arbuthnot to be with his son. Mrs Arbuthnot refuses to marry him and tells Lord Illingworth that she hates him, adding that her hate for Illingworth and love for Gerald sharpen each other. She also assures Lord Illingworth that it was Hester who made Gerald despise him. Lord Illingworth then admits his defeat with the cold notion that Mrs Arbuthnot was merely his plaything for an affair, calling her his mistress. Mrs Arbuthnot then slaps him with his own glove before he can call Gerald his bastard.

Lord Illingworth, dazed and insulted, gathers himself and leaves after a final glance at his son. Mrs Arbuthnot falls onto the sofa sobbing. When Gerald and Hester enter, she cries out for Gerald, calling him her boy, and then asks Hester if she would have her as a mother. Hester assures her that she would. Gerald sees his father's glove on the floor, and, when he asks who has visited, Mrs Arbuthnot replies, "A man of no importance."

In October 1957, news of the Soviet Union's launch of ''Sputnik 1'' reaches the town of Coalwood, West Virginia, where most male residents work in the coal mines. As the townspeople gather outside to see the satellite orbit across the sky, Homer Hickam is inspired to build his own rockets to escape the tedium of Coalwood. His family and classmates do not respond kindly, especially his father John, the mine superintendent, who wants Homer to join him in the mines.

Homer teams up with math geek Quentin Wilson, who shares an interest in aerospace engineering; with the support of friends Roy Lee Cooke and Sherman O'Dell, and their science teacher at Big Creek High School, Miss Freida J. Riley, the four construct small rockets. While their first launches fail, they experiment with new fuels and designs and eventually succeed. Though the local paper runs a story about the boys, they are accused of starting a wildfire with a stray rocket and are arrested. After John picks up Homer, Roy Lee is beaten by his abusive stepfather, Vernon. John intervenes and rescues Roy Lee, warning Vernon that he will protect Roy Lee as Roy Lee's late father would have.

In the aftermath of the arrest, the boys are dejected and abandon rocketry, destroying their launch site. In a mining accident, John is injured rescuing others, and Ike Bykovsky (a mine worker who let Homer use the machine shop for fabricating rocket components, and later transferred underground for better pay) is killed. Homer drops out of high school to work in the mine and provide for his family while his father recovers.

Later, Homer is inspired by Miss Riley to read a book on applied rocket science, learning to calculate the trajectory of a rocket. Using this, he and Quentin locate their missing rocket and prove it could not have caused the fire. The boys present their findings to Miss Riley and the school principal, Mr. Turner, who determines the cause was a flare from a nearby airfield. Homer returns to school by special invitation; the boys return to rocketry and win the school science fair. When the opportunity arises for one of them to participate in the National Science Fair in Indianapolis, they elect Homer.

The miner's union goes on strike against the coal company, angering John. While the family eats dinner, Vernon shoots into the kitchen but misses John, who dismisses his family's fears, leading to a heated argument with Homer. With the mines set to close and resenting his father's pressures, Homer storms out of the house, vowing never to return.

At the national science fair, Homer's display is well-received, and he enjoys popularity and some sightseeing. Overnight, someone steals his machined rocket part model – the de Laval nozzle – and his autographed picture of Dr. Wernher von Braun. Homer makes an urgent phone call home to his mother Elsie, who implores John to end the ongoing strike so that Mr. Bolden, Bykovsky's replacement, can use the machine shop to build a replacement nozzle. John relents when Elsie, fed up with his lack of support for their son, threatens to leave him. With the town's support and replacement parts quickly sent to Indianapolis by bus, the boys win the top prize and Homer is bombarded with college scholarship offers. He is also congratulated by Von Braun himself, though not realizing his idol's identity.

Homer returns to Coalwood as a hero and visits Miss Riley, who is dying of Hodgkin's lymphoma. At the launch of their largest rocket yet – the ''Miss Riley'' – John, who never attended any of the launchings, shows up at the last moment and is given the honor of pushing the launch button. The ''Miss Riley'' reaches an altitude of – higher than the summit of Mount Everest. As the town looks up to the skies, John slowly puts his hand on Homer's shoulder and smiles, finally showing Homer that he is proud of him.

An epilogue, using home movie footage, reveals the real life outcomes of the main characters' lives.

''Shining in the Darkness'' is set in the Kingdom of Thornwood. The king's daughter and the main character's father have vanished, while the evil sorcerer Dark Sol (not to be confused with his father, ''Shining Force'' villain Darksol) has appeared to threaten the kingdom. The main character is charged to find the Arms of Light, rescue the princess and his own father, and stop Dark Sol.

In ''Shining Force Gaiden: Final Conflict'', it was revealed Dark Sol is the son of Darksol and Mishaela, the villains of ''Shining Force: The Legacy of Great Intention''. After the final defeat of Darksol, the child Dark Sol was whisked away by Oddeye, the foremost Greater Devil of Darksol's archenemy, Zeon. Therefore, Dark Sol's role in ''Shining in the Darkness'' places its entry in the timeline sometime following the events of ''Shining Force II''. This revelation also supported by a possible reference to Darksol, when Theos mentions "a Dark Wizard" who once wielded the same Dragonbreath spell as Dark Sol.

''Phantasy Star IV'' takes place 1,000 years after the events of ''Phantasy Star II'' and 1,000 years before the era of ''Phantasy Star III''. After an event called the Great Collapse, much of the once-thriving planet Motavia has reverted to its original desert-state as the climate and biosphere-controlling devices installed over a thousand years previously begin to fail, and life has become progressively more difficult for the planet's inhabitants. To make matters worse, there has been a marked increase in the numbers of the "biomonsters," a catch-all term for the strange and violent aberrations of Motavia's flora and fauna. Keeping these creatures under control is the job of "hunters."

Hired by Piata Academy on Motavia, hunters Alys Brangwin and her young apprentice Chaz Ashley begin their investigation into the relationship between the biomonster problem and the planet's ecological crisis. Joined by others along the way, they connect the world's troubles to a cult leader called Zio, "The Black Magician," whose aims appear to be total annihilation of not only Motavia but of the whole Algol solar system. During their initial confrontation, Zio summons Dark Force - the same antagonist of previous games - and mortally wounds Alys with its Dark Energy Wave. Taking the lead upon her passing, Chaz is joined by Alys’s wizard acquaintance Rune Walsh who helps break the barrier on Zio’s tower and eliminate the wizard to restore the computer systems maintaining Motavia. With no change in Algo’s abnormal conditions, the party turns their attention to a malfunctioning satellite space station found to be contaminated by Dark Force, which they are forced to engage and purge. However, Algo’s disasters remain unabated and the party is further baffled as they encounter multiple incarnations of Dark Force along the way.

Traveling to Rykros, an unknown fourth planet of the Algo solar system, Chaz and his companions learn of the Profound Darkness: a powerful entity banished behind a planetary seal billions of years ago that is able to manifest its hatred in physical form as Dark Force every thousand years due to fluctuations in the seal. With the seal now severely weakened by the planet Parma’s destruction during the Great Collapse, Chaz and his party enter the Profound Darkness’s dimension and eliminate it before it is able to break completely free and destroy the galaxy. With the evil banished for good and the party going their separate ways, Rika - a numan girl in the group - chooses to stay behind with Chaz as they bid everyone farewell, remembering the sacrifice of those who have defended Algo through the ages and awaiting the next one to come.

During a pep rally at South Park Elementary, a group of local PETA eco-terrorists protest the use of a cow as the school's mascot. The school agrees to pick a new mascot, and the students are told to vote for a said new mascot. Embarrassed by the bland choices, the kids decide to fill in a joke candidate but disagree as to whether it should be a "giant douche" or a "turd sandwich". Kyle rallies his friends to fill in the giant douche, and Cartman gathers support for the turd sandwich. The result is that the two joke candidates get the most votes and the students must choose between the two in an election.

Stan does not see the point in voting between a giant douche and a turd sandwich as they are exactly the same in his opinion, and declares that he will not vote at all, much to everyone's dismay. Stan is equally dismayed, wondering why anyone would care about such a pointless exercise. He talks about it with his parents at dinner, but his parents are not impressed with his apathy and even get into a fight over who should win when Stan explains who the two competitors are. This results in Kyle calling on Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs, who intimidates Stan with a literal Vote or Die campaign. Meanwhile, the campaign continues, with the turd sandwich supporters rallying against the giant douche supporters, using bribery and fear mongering to gain support.

By the time of the election, Stan agrees to vote after being chased by Combs and his associates through the streets with guns. However, when he is about to vote for turd sandwich, he realizes Kyle only wanted him to vote in order for the giant douche to win, and Kyle demands that he change his vote. Disgusted with the electoral process, Stan once again refuses to vote. The school administration decides that Stan must be banished from the town for all eternity or until he decides that voting is important. He is literally spat on by the townspeople and his shirt is ripped off piece by piece, before he is placed on a horse, bound with a bucket over his head, and sent off into the woods, much to Stan's irritation about how far they'll go to prove their point, with Butters' father blowing a horn to signal the horse to escort Stan.

Stan's horse randomly takes him to a PETA compound where he finds that PETA's members live closely with animals, practicing zoophilia and even interbreeding with them. Stan explains his banishment to the PETA members, who tell him that an election "is always between a douche and a turd" because they are the only people who suck up enough to make it that far in politics. Combs shows up at the camp to kill Stan, but is distracted by a PETA member who throws a bucket of red paint on his fur coat. Combs and his posse retaliate by gunning down all the PETA members. The animals flee, and Stan manages to escape but gets shot in his arm.

Returning to South Park, Stan is finally convinced to vote and chooses turd sandwich. Despite his vote, giant douche still wins the election, 1,410 to 36. Stan initially points out that his vote did not matter, but his parents inform their son that all votes matter, even if it is for the losing side. Suddenly, Mr. Garrison runs in with the news that the PETA members have been discovered murdered. As a result, the cow is reinstated as South Park Elementary School's mascot. Randy tells Stan that now his vote did not matter, leaving Stan with an appalled expression as he went through so much trouble for nothing.

In a barren world caused by wars waged in the 20th century and now forgotten, most live from hand to mouth in enclaves known as "market-towns" or "dog-towns", scrounging out a bare subsistence harvesting hardy crops, raising dogs as food, and trading in trinkets from the past.

What little entertainment exists comes primarily from a brutal sport known as The Game. It is played by bands of roving teams known as juggs, who challenge local teams. They might be considered professional athletes, as they make their living through the tribute paid by the town people, should they defeat the local team. Their trophy is the dog skull from the town. The Game involves two armoured teams of five attempting to score by placing a dog skull on the opposing team's goalpost. One unarmed player—the "quick"—runs with the skull while being protected by his/her teammates from attack by the opposing team.

However, not all in this time live so sparsely. The Nine Cities, buried deep underground, are home to affluent and powerful members of the aristocracy. Each of The Nine Cities fields its own team of juggs in an organization known as The League, and its membership is maintained with a fresh stream of new players who are proven veterans of the travelling "dog-town" games by their collection of trophy skulls.

Members of The League live in luxury almost equal to that of aristocrats. It is a dream among roving juggs to be good enough to get The League's attention and, with it, all of the luxuries afforded a League player.

The team consists of Sallow (Rutger Hauer), Dog-Boy (Justin Monjo), Mbulu (Delroy Lindo), Big Cimber (Anna Katarina), and Young Gar (Vincent D'Onofrio).

Sallow, the team leader, has played in the League of the Nine Cities before, but was cast out because of his indiscretions with an Overlord's daughter. Kidda (Joan Chen), an ambitious peasant girl, joins the team after a game in her dog town where she virtually destroyed her competition. She and Gar inspire Sallow to challenge The League and expunge his past.

But Kidda and Gar do not realise that the City games are for much more than honour and victory, they will need to fight for their very survival. The Game is played much harder and meaner in the Nine Cities.

The film begins with Julie sitting on a park bench reading a book of magic spells when a woman (Céline) walks past, and begins dropping (à la Lewis Carroll's White Rabbit) various possessions. Julie begins picking them up, and tries to follow Céline around Paris, sometimes at a great pace (for instance, sprinting up Montmartre to keep pace with Céline's tram). After adventures following Céline around the Parisian streets—at one point it looks as if they have gone their separate ways, never to meet up again—Céline finally decides to move in with Julie. There are incidents of identity swapping, with Céline pretending to be Julie to meet the latter's childhood sweetheart, for example, and Julie attempting to fill in for Céline at a cabaret audition.

The second half of the film centers on the duo's individual visits to 7 bis, rue du Nadir-aux-Pommes, the address of a mansion in a quiet, walled off grounds in Paris. While seemingly empty and closed in the present day, the house is yet where Céline realizes she knows as the place where she works as a nanny for a family—two jealous sisters, one widower, and a sickly child. Soon, a repetitive pattern emerges: Céline or Julie enters the house, disappears for a time, and then is suddenly ejected by unseen hands back to present day Paris later that same day. Each time either Céline or Julie is exhausted, having forgotten everything that has happened during their time in the house. However, each time upon returning via a taxi the women discover a candy mysteriously lodged in their mouth. It seems to be important, so each makes sure to carefully save the candy. At one point, they realize that the candy is a key to the other place and time; sucking on the sweet transports them back to the house's alternative reality (in this case a double reference to both Lewis Carroll and to Marcel Proust's madeleine) of the day's events.

The remainder of the film consists of the two women attempting to solve the central mystery of the house: amidst the jealous conniving of women of the house over the attentions of the widower, a young child is mysteriously murdered. But this narrative is one that repeats like a stage play, with exact phrases they soon learn well enough to start joking about. Each time they repeat eating the candy, they remember more of the day's events. Just as if reading a favorite novel, or again watching a beloved movie, they find that they can enter the narrative itself, with each twist and turn memorized. Far from being the passive viewers/readers that they were at first—and most movie viewers always are—the women come to realize that they can seize hold of the story, changing it as they wish.

Now, even as the plot continues to unfold in its clockwork fashion, the women begin to take control, making it "interactive" by adding alterations to their dialogues and inserting different actions into the events unreeling in the house. Finally, in a true act of authorship, they change the ending, and rescue the young girl who was originally murdered. Both realities are fully conjoined when, after their rescue of the girl from the House of Fiction, the two not only discover themselves transported back to Julie's apartment, but this time it isn't another "waking dream" for the young girl, Madlyn, has joined them, safely back in 1970s Paris.

To relax, Céline, Julie, and Madlyn take a rowboat on a placid river, rowing and gliding happily along. But something isn't quite right. They go silent upon seeing another boat quickly coming to pass them on the water. On that boat we see the three main protagonists from the house-of-another-time: that alternate reality has followed them back to their world. But Céline, Julie, and Madlyn see them as the antique props they are, frozen in place.

The film ends as we watch Céline this time, half nodding off on a park bench, who catches sight of Julie hurrying past her, who in her White Rabbit way, drops her magic book. Picking it up, she calls and runs after Julie.

The first king of Zephyrus (labelled as Zebulos in the international manuals), El Zephyrus (El Zebulos internationally) had led his clan to defeating an evil empire who had constructed a starship known as the Pig Star, which had the power to destroy planets. Knowing the Pig Star would be sought by the evil, the King had magically sealed the starship and protected the "Key to the Seal" by having it guarded and passed by his royal family over generations, and forming an elite group of warriors known as the Rocket Knights to protect the kingdom. Around this time, an orphan named Sparkster was taken in by Mifune Sanjulo; a friend of the King, and current leader of the "Rocket Knights". Sparkster was trained to become a Rocket Knight at an early age. Sparkster would become the new leader of the Rocket Knights after banishing Axel Gear from Zephyrus, a corrupt "Black Knight", for destroying Mifune.

In the events of the game, the kingdom of Zephyrus had come under attack by the Devotindos Empire, led by Emperor Devilgus Devotindos who has come in search for the key to the seal. Sparkster heads to the Zephyrus castle to find Axel Gear kidnapping Princess Sherry, who is the one who knows the location to the key. Before Sparkster is able to catch Axel, Axel escapes into a large airship and blows Sparkster away to a nearby desert, prompting Sparkster to chase Axel. Sparkster eventually reaches the Kingdom of Devotindos, and reaches the Devontindos castle to confront Devilgus. Sparkster frees Sherry, however Devilgus, having obtained the Key, escapes into space to reach the Pig Star. Sherry casts a spell on Sparkster's rocket pack that allows him to chase Devilgus. After a fight with Devilgus in the Pig Star, it is revealed that Devilgus is a robot; Sparkster manages to defeat him either way. After a melee fight with Axel Gear, Sparkster eventually confronts Devilgus in his true form. Sparkster defeats Devilgus, causing the Pig Star to explode.

Sparkster escapes in a nearby escape pod, however Devilgus attempts a last-ditch effort to kill Sparkster in the escape pod. Devilgus eventually burns apart while entering Elhorn's atmosphere. Sparkster lands back safely in Zephyrus, reunites Princess Sherry with King Zebulos and flies off elsewhere.

Background

The novel is set in a post-visitation world where there are now six zones known on Earth that are full of unexplained phenomena and where strange happenings have briefly occurred, assumed to have been visitations by aliens. Governments and the UN, fearful of unforeseen consequences, try to keep tight control over them to prevent leakage of artifacts from the Zones. A subculture of ''stalkers'', scavengers who go into the zones to steal the artifacts for profit, has evolved around the zones. The novel is set in and around a specific zone in Harmont, a fictitious town in an unspecified English-speaking country, and follows the protagonist over the course of eight years.

Introduction

The introduction is a live radio interview with Dr. Pilman who is credited with the discovery that the six Visitation Zones' locations were not random. He explains it so: "Imagine that you spin a huge globe and you start firing bullets into it. The bullet holes would lie on the surface in a smooth curve. The whole point (is that) all six Visitation Zones are situated on the surface of our planet as though someone had taken shots at Earth from a pistol located somewhere along the Earth–Deneb line. Deneb is the main star in Cygnus."

Section 1

The story revolves around Redrick "Red" Schuhart, a tough and experienced young stalker who regularly enters the Zone illegally at night in search of valuable artifacts for profit. Trying to clean up his act, he becomes employed as a lab assistant at the International Institute, which studies the Zone. To help the career of his boss, whom he considers a friend, he goes into the Zone with him on an official expedition to recover a unique artifact (a full "empty"), which leads to his friend's death later on. This comes as a great shock when the news reaches Redrick, drunk in a bar, and he blames himself for his friend's fate. While Redrick is at the bar, a police force enters looking for stalkers. Redrick is forced to use a "shrieker" to make a hasty getaway. Red's girlfriend Guta is pregnant and decides to keep the baby no matter what. It is widely rumored that incursions into the Zone by stalkers carry high risk of mutations in their children, even though no radiation or other mutagens had been detected in the area. They decide to marry.

Section 2

Disillusioned Redrick returns to stalking. In the course of his joint expedition into the Zone with a fellow stalker named Burbridge (a.k.a. "The Vulture"), the latter steps into a substance known as "hell slime," which slowly dissolves his leg bones. Amputation must be urgently performed in order to avoid Burbridge losing his legs entirely. Redrick pulls Burbridge out of the Zone and drops him off at a surgeon, avoiding the patrols. Later on Redrick is confronted by Burbridge's daughter, who gets angry at him for saving her father. Guta has given birth to a happy and intelligent daughter, fully normal but for having long, light full body hair and black eyes. They lovingly call her the "Monkey". Redrick meets with his clients in a posh hotel, selling them a fresh portion of the Zone artifacts, but what they are really after is "hell slime". It is hinted that they want it for military research. Redrick claims he does not have it yet and leaves. Shortly afterward Redrick is arrested, but escapes. He then contacts his clients, telling them where he hid the "slime" sample that he had smuggled out previously. Redrick insists that all the proceeds from the sale be sent to Guta. He realizes that the "slime" will be used for some kind of weapon of mass destruction, but decides he has to provide for his family. He then gives himself up to the police.

Section 3

Redrick's old friend Richard Noonan (a supply contractor with offices inside the Institute), is revealed as a covert operative of an unnamed, presumably governmental, secret organization working to stop the contraband outflow of artifacts from the Zone. Believing that he's nearing the successful completion of his multi-year assignment, he is confronted and scolded by his boss, who reveals to him that the flow is stronger than ever, and is tasked with finding who is responsible and how they operate. It is revealed that the stalkers are now organized under the cover of the "weekend picnics-for-tourists" business set up by Burbridge. They jokingly refer to the setup as "Sunday school". Noonan meets with Dr. Valentine Pilman for lunch and they have an in-depth discussion of the Visitation and humanity in general. This is where the idea of "Visitation as a roadside picnic" is articulated. Redrick is home again, having served his time. Burbridge visits him regularly, trying to entice him into some secret project, but Redrick declines. Guta is depressed because their daughter has nearly lost her humanity and ability to speak, more and more resembling an actual monkey. Redrick's dead father is also present, having had come home from the cemetery inside the Zone, as other very slowly-moving (and completely harmless) reanimated dead are now returning to their homes all around town. They are usually destroyed by the authorities as soon as they are discovered; Redrick, however, had forcibly managed to defend his father from being taken away.

Section 4

Redrick goes into the Zone one last time in order to reach the wish-granting "Golden Sphere." He has a map, given to him by Burbridge, whose son, Arthur, joins him on the expedition. Redrick knows one of them has to die in order to temporarily deactivate a phenomenon known as the "meatgrinder" in order for the other to reach the sphere, but he keeps this a secret from Arthur, whom he intends to sacrifice to it in order to make a wish to turn his daughter back to normal. After they get to the location, surviving many obstacles, Arthur rushes towards the sphere shouting out selfless wishes for a better world, only to be savagely dispatched by the meatgrinder. With the "Golden Sphere" in front of him, an exhausted Redrick looks back in confusion and bitterness on his whole life of desperate survival in a harsh world, his servitude and lack of free will, and finds that he cannot articulate what he actually wants from the sphere. After much unaccustomed introspection, Red at first leaves it to the Sphere to look into his untainted soul "to figure out" his wish, because "it can't be bad", effectively making his wish that there is something left in him that would wish for good. In irony he winds up obsessing in the same way the boy had. "HAPPINESS FOR EVERYBODY, FREE, AND MAY NO ONE BE LEFT BEHIND!"

Godzilla cells brought into space by Biollante, in 1990, and Mothra, in 1993, are exposed to intense radiation from a black hole, resulting in the birth of "SpaceGodzilla", which quickly makes his way to Earth, destroying a NASA space station along the way.

Meanwhile, members of the United Nations Godzilla Countermeasures Center arrive at Birth Island in order to plant a mind control device on Godzilla. The Cosmos, Mothra's twin priestesses, appear to psychic Miki Saegusa and warn her of SpaceGodzilla's arrival. M.O.G.U.E.R.A. (Mobile Operations G-Force Universal Expert Robot: Aero-type), a mecha built by the JSDF to replace Mechagodzilla, is sent in to intercept SpaceGodzilla, but suffers damage in the process.

SpaceGodzilla lands on Birth Island and attacks Little Godzilla with his Corona Beam. Godzilla intervenes but finds himself overwhelmed by SpaceGodzilla's other abilities, and is powerless to stop his clone from trapping Little Godzilla in a crystal prison. SpaceGodzilla leaves for Japan, with Godzilla in pursuit.

Shortly thereafter, the Yakuza abduct Miki and bring her back to their base in Fukuoka in an attempt to use her psychic abilities to gain control over Godzilla. Miki is saved by a rescue team before SpaceGodzilla arrives. SpaceGodzilla lands in central Fukuoka and forms a massive fortress of celestial crystals. M.O.G.U.E.R.A. arrives to once again fight SpaceGodzilla, but is still no match for him. Godzilla arrives in Kagoshima Bay and fights SpaceGodzilla, but SpaceGodzilla easily gains the upper hand.

The JSDF discovers that SpaceGodzilla is using Fukuoka Tower as a power converter, using it to transform the Earth's core into an energy that SpaceGodzilla can absorb, slowly killing the planet through Earth's volcanos. While Godzilla wrestles with SpaceGodzilla, M.O.G.E.R.A. splits into two different mechas: the Star Falcon, a flying battleship, and the Land M.O.G.U.E.R.A., a tank with a large drill in front of it. The mechas damage the crystal fortress while Godzilla pushes over Fukuoka Tower, cutting off SpaceGodzilla's energy supply. M.O.G.U.E.R.A. quickly reforms and blasts off SpaceGodzilla's crystal-like shoulder formations, weakening him. SpaceGodzilla critically damages M.O.G.U.E.R.A., but is subsequently incinerated by Godzilla's supercharged atomic heat ray. SpaceGodzilla is destroyed, but the JSDF claims that if they keep polluting space another SpaceGodzilla may appear someday.

Godzilla makes his way back to Birth Island after Miki uses her psychic powers to remove the mind control device from his neck. Godzilla turns to her and nods in gratitude. Little Godzilla is then freed from the crystal prison and begins blowing tiny radioactive bubbles.

The Devil runs a computer simulation to analyze souls to determine individual weaknesses to exploit. The program settles on Elliot Richards (Brendan Fraser), a geeky, over-zealous man working a dead-end job in a San Francisco computer company. He has no friends and his co-workers avoid him. He has a crush on colleague Alison Gardner (Frances O'Connor), but lacks the courage to ask her out. After Elliot is ditched by his co-workers at a bar while trying to talk to Alison, he says he would give anything for Alison to be with him. The Devil, in the form of a beautiful woman (Elizabeth Hurley), overhears him and offers to give Elliot seven wishes in exchange for his soul.

As a test, Elliot wishes for a Big Mac and a large Coke. The Devil takes him to McDonald's and places the order. Elliot has to pay for it, because, "There's no such thing as a free lunch." After taking Elliot to her office, based at a nightclub in Oakland, the Devil convinces Elliot to sign her contract, and delivers further wishes. Each wish has Elliot living them out with Alison and his co-workers in surrogate roles. However, the Devil always spoils his wishes by adding something he does not expect or want.

After going through five wishes, Elliot is arrested after confessing his story to a priest who believed he was drunk. The Devil, dressed as a police officer, throws him in a cell, telling him that she likes him, and it would not hurt to have her as a friend. Elliot's friendly cellmate tells him that he cannot sell his soul as it belongs to God, and although the Devil may try to confuse him, in the end he will realize who he truly is, and what his purpose is. Elliot questions the man as to his identity, but the response is simply "a really good friend".

Elliot asks the Devil to cancel their contract. When the Devil refuses, Elliot states he will not use his final wish. The Devil teleports them to Hell. When the Devil pushes him to make a final wish, Elliot wishes that Alison could have a happy life - with or without him. The Devil sighs and Elliot falls into the depths of Hell. He wakes up on a marble staircase, wondering if it is Heaven. The Devil tells him that a provision in the contract's fine print states that a selfless wish voids the contract. Elliot admits that despite her manipulation of him he has come to like the Devil and regards her as a friend. She advises that Heaven and Hell can be found on Earth; it is up to humans to choose. Elliot asks Alison out, but discovers she is already dating another man. He continues with his life, with a better understanding of who he is.

Elliot is confronted by Bob, one of his co-workers, who ridicules Elliot at the encouragement of his co-workers. Elliot grabs a terrified Bob by the shirt, but lets go, simply saying, "Nice talking to you." At home, he meets a new neighbor, Nicole Delarusso, whose looks resemble Alison's but whose personality, interests and fashion sense are much closer to his. He offers to help her unpack and they begin a relationship. While the two walk along a boulevard, the Devil and Elliot's cellmate, both dressed in white, are playing chess. The Devil's computer program lists Nicole and Elliot's foibles, which they tolerate.

We find the girls in town going about their lives without any memories of their past exploits or ability to transform. Tsubomi is approached by Rama, the cat, whom, at first, she does not understand. But the Earth, specifically the Tokyo otaku district of Akiba, is under attack by a trio of powerful alien women along with their minions. The explosions around her restore her memories and she reassembles the rest of the Papillon team to defend the town. The Papillon team is reassembled and the enemies are won over by the team's magical-girl powers and their "charms".

Archie Moses is a small-time thief in Los Angeles who smuggles drugs for drug lord Frank Colton, who launders his drug money through a car dealership. Moses is unaware that his best friend, Rock Keats, is actually LAPD undercover cop Jack Carter, who befriended him only to infiltrate Colton's gang.

Carter has Moses include him in Colton's next drug shipment, secretly planning to arrest Colton and take in Moses, whom he has come to care about, unharmed. Carter's undercover status is revealed before he can enact his plan, however, and a hurt Moses pulls a gun on him. During the raid on Colton's warehouse, an out of control crane hits Moses in the back, causing him to accidentally shoot Carter in the head. Moses then flees the state, and is subsequently found and arrested.

Carter miraculously survives and makes a full recovery with the aid of his physical therapist, Dr. Traci Flynn, with whom he falls in love. Moses is brought into custody, and he agrees to testify against Colton, but the trial is set to take place at the other side of the country. Carter's superior officer, Capt. Jensen, orders him to personally transfer Moses to the courtroom.

Carter harbors resentment against Moses, and tensions escalate once the simple transfer goes awry. Colton learns through bribed federal agents and LAPD officers of Moses' attempt to testify against him. As they flee from Colton's men, Carter and Moses slowly mend their friendship, and are successful in returning to Carter's precinct. However, Colton apparently holds Flynn hostage, and blackmails Carter into turning Moses over in order to save Flynn.

Carter and Moses pretend to comply with Colton, and shoot their way through Colton's guards. It is later revealed that Flynn is on Colton's payroll, and is responsible for leaking Carter's and Moses' whereabouts to Colton. Moses takes a bullet in the shoulder to save Carter's life, giving Carter time enough to arrest Flynn; Moses then shoots Colton dead. Moses gives the incriminating documents on Colton to Carter, who allows him to escape. Moses heads to Mexico to become a bullfighter, with Carter and Moses' mother later accompanying him.

The USS ''Enterprise'' arrives at Gamma Trianguli VI, a planet that appears to be a tropical paradise with very rich natural resources. Captain Kirk leads a landing party including Chief Medical Officer Dr. McCoy, Ensign Chekov, First Officer Spock, Yeoman Martha Landon (Celeste Yarnall), and four security personnel. They quickly find the paradise is extremely hostile; they lose three of the security team to a plant that shoots poisonous thorns, a bizarre lightning storm, and an explosive rock. Transporting back to the ship is impossible as an energy field is drawing power from the ''Enterprise'', rendering the transporters inoperable.

Kirk orders the team towards a primitive village, carefully avoiding the planet's hazards. Along the way, they capture a native of the planet who has been tracking them. The frightened native, Akuta (Keith Andes), says he is the chief of the "Feeders of Vaal". Small antennae on Akuta's head allow him to communicate with "Vaal", acting as the entity's eyes and ears. During this conversation, Chief Engineer Scott reports that the ''Enterprise'' is slowly being pulled towards the planet by a tractor beam. Kirk, suspecting a connection with the Vaal entity, asks Akuta to take them to it. Akuta leads them to a rock formation that has a dragon-like head figure on one side. Spock's analysis shows that the entrance is protected by a force field, but appears to lead to an underground complex. Akuta says that Vaal may wish to speak with them later, but in the meantime, offers the hospitality of his village.

The ''Enterprise'' crew find the villagers to be young and healthy, like Akuta, but somewhat unsophisticated. The villagers say that Vaal prohibits "touching", as "replacements" (children) are not needed. After a while the villagers are observed "feeding" Vaal with the explosive mineral, apparently its fuel, and the landing party conclude that Vaal is a machine that maintains the Eden-like conditions of the planet, making the inhabitants virtually immortal and rendering most work unnecessary for them. Spock and McCoy argue over the desirability of this system, but Kirk reminds them they need to find a way to free the ''Enterprise''.

In the evening, Chekov and Landon go to a secluded area to kiss, and a young native couple observe and copy their behavior. Vaal is instantly aware, and through Akuta, orders the natives to kill the strangers in the morning. During their attack the last of the security men is killed, but the rest of the crew subdue the villagers and place them in a hut. Landon in particular distinguishes herself in the fight using impressive hand to hand combat skills to disable two of the villagers. Scott reports that an attempt to use all available power to free the ship has failed. Kirk orders his crew to prevent the villagers from feeding Vaal, and instructs Scott to fire the ship's phasers on the rock formation, hoping to drain Vaal's remaining power. Vaal is overloaded and the ''Enterprise'' is freed from the tractor beam. Kirk tells a distraught Akuta that his people will now be able to experience normal life. Aboard the ship, Spock suggests that their actions were the equivalent of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge - driving the villagers from their Garden of Eden.

The USS ''Enterprise'' is ferrying a senior officer, Commodore Stocker, to Starbase 10 where he is due to assume command. On the way, the ship makes a stop at planet Gamma Hydra IV to resupply the research station there. A landing party consisting of Captain Kirk, First Officer Spock, Chief Medical Officer Dr. McCoy, Chief Engineer Scott, navigator Ensign Chekov, and Lieutenant Arlene Galway beam down to the facility. The station seems completely deserted, until Ensign Chekov discovers the body of a man who apparently has died of old age, and panics. Robert Johnson, a member of the station crew, appears with his wife Elaine. Both claim to be in their late 20s, yet appear 50 years older. The two soon die in the ''Enterprise'' sickbay.

Mr. Spock and civilian scientist Dr. Janet Wallace begin an investigation. Their only clue is a comet that passed Gamma Hydra IV recently. Soon the landing party, with the exception of Chekov, begin to age rapidly as well. Lt. Galway ages most rapidly and soon dies. By now they have learned that the comet gave off low-level radiation that most likely caused the aging effect.

As Kirk continues to age, he becomes increasingly forgetful, including ordering the use of an obsolete code despite having recently been told the code had been broken by the Romulans. This leads Commodore Stocker to order Spock to convene a hearing, in which Kirk is found unfit to command. With Spock also afflicted, Stocker assumes command, and orders a direct course to Starbase 10, ignoring warnings that this will take the ship through the Romulan neutral zone.

Meanwhile, Kirk, McCoy, and Spock discuss Chekov's immunity to the affliction. Remembering Chekov's fright at the discovery of the dead body, McCoy surmises that Chekov's increased adrenaline levels may have had some effect, and recalls that adrenaline had once shown promise as a treatment for radiation sickness. Mr. Spock and Dr. Wallace, assisted by Nurse Chapel, begin work on an adrenaline-based compound to test on the landing party.

As ''Enterprise'' enters the neutral zone, Romulan vessels attack, ignoring all attempts at contact. Stocker, having no field command experience and paralyzed with indecision, considers surrendering, but is reminded that Romulans do not take prisoners. In sickbay, Spock announces that the drug is ready, warning that it may kill as well as cure. Kirk insists on taking the first injection. The drug reverses the aging effect, and Kirk races to the bridge to relieve Stocker.

Kirk bluffs the Romulans by sending a message to Starfleet Command, deliberately using the broken code, warning that ''Enterprise'' will self-destruct using the "corbomite device", which will also destroy any nearby ships. The Romulans move to a safe distance, giving ''Enterprise'' room to make a surprise escape.

Blackrock is an Australian beachside working-class suburb in which surfing is popular among youths like Jared (Laurence Breuls). His first serious girlfriend is Rachel (Jessica Napier), who comes from a much wealthier part of the city. One day, Ricko (Simon Lyndon), a surfer popular among the local youths, returns from an eleven-month trip. Jared's mother, Diane (Linda Cropper), attempts to tell Jared that she has been diagnosed with breast cancer, but Jared insists on talking to her later as he is busy arranging a "welcome home" party for Ricko at the local surf club. Rachel's father, a photographer who takes provocative images of women, forbids her from attending the party but allows her older brother, Toby (Heath Ledger), to attend.

While driving to the party, Toby sees Tracy (Bojana Novakovic), Cherie (Rebecca Smart) and two other girls and gives them a ride. Jared flirts with Tracy at the party and then gets into a fight with Toby. Ricko comes to Jared's defence, but Jared breaks up the fight after Ricko hits Toby several times. Tracy comes to comfort Toby, and Jared leaves the party to head to the beach alone. Jared sees Toby having consensual sex with Tracy on the beach. He then witnesses three of his male friends interrupting the couple and raping Tracy. Tracy calls out for help, but Jared, who is visibly disturbed by what he is witnessing, does not intervene. Toby and the other three boys, who never noticed Jared was watching, flee the area. Jared also runs away and leaves Tracy alone and distressed. Later that night Rachel, who has sneaked out of home to attend the party, finds Tracy's beaten corpse on the beach.

Jared initially tells the police nothing of what he saw. He is torn between the need to tell the truth and the desire to protect his friends. His anger leads to the breakdown of his relationships with both Rachel and Diane. Despite Jared's silence, police arrest Toby and the three other boys within a few days. Jared decides to tell the police what he saw, as he believes Toby and the other boys will be charged with Tracy's murder. However, on his way into the police station he is confronted by Ricko, who confesses to Jared that he killed Tracy, but claims it was an accident. She hit her head on a rock when he attempted to have sex with her. He has already told police that he was with Jared all night and asks Jared to confirm his alibi in the name of mateship. Diane, who still has not been able to tell Jared that she has cancer because of his behaviour, goes in to have surgery.

Jared tells the police that he was with Ricko. When he tries to suggest Tracy's death may have been an accident, the police show him the photos of Tracy's battered body. Jared aggressively confronts Ricko at the beach, and Ricko confesses that Tracy's death was not an accident. He had found her walking on the beach after the rape, and she asked him to take her home. He agreed but wanted to have sex with her first. She tried to fight him off and bit him in the process, which enraged him enough to beat her to death.

As Ricko finishes his confession, the police arrive, and he realises that Jared has turned him in. He attempts to escape, but the police give chase and corner him on a cliff. Rather than go to jail and ignoring Jared's screams of protest, he jumps to his death. In the weeks that follow, Jared's life collapses. Despite learning of Diane's illness, he moves out of her house and chooses instead to be homeless. Jared returns home one day to collect his belongings; after arguing with Diane, he confesses that he witnessed Tracy's rape and could have saved her life if he had intervened or helped her afterwards. Later that day, Jared joins Diane and Cherie in cleaning graffiti from Tracy's grave.

The game is set in the year 20,031. The player takes on the role of Trent Hawkins, a skilled spaceship pilot. While on the planet Tyrian, a hostile drone shoots his best friend, Buce Quesillac. Before dying Buce warns Trent that the drone belonged to the militaristic MicroSol megacorporation. MicroSol has discovered Gravitium (the game's brand of Unobtainium) on Tyrian and seeks to keep it a secret. Now on MicroSol's hit list, Trent manages to secure a small, armed spacecraft and set out the free world of Savara.

When Uncle Oswald discovers the sexually invigorating properties of the "Sudanese Blister Beetle"', he devises a plan to steal the semen of great men and sell it to women who want to have children fathered by geniuses.

Victims

Victims of Oswald's plot in order of appearance in the book:

Alfonso XIII, King of Spain Pierre-Auguste Renoir, French painter Claude Monet, French painter Igor Stravinsky, Russian composer Pablo Picasso, Spanish painter. In fact, Uncle Oswald and his accomplice are unsuccessful here: Picasso pounces on the accomplice before she has a chance to use a condom to collect his semen. Henri Matisse, French artist Marcel Proust, French novelist Vaslav Nijinsky, Polish-born Russian ballet dancer and choreographer James Joyce, expatriate Irish writer and poet Giacomo Puccini, Italian operatic composer Sergei Rachmaninoff, Russian composer, conductor and pianist Sigmund Freud, Austrian neurologist and founder of psychoanalysis Albert Einstein, German-born theoretical physicist Thomas Mann, German novelist Joseph Conrad, Polish-born British novelist H. G. Wells, British writer Rudyard Kipling, Indian-born British author and poet Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, British writer and creator of Sherlock Holmes George Bernard Shaw, Irish playwright Albert I of Belgium Victor Emmanuel III of Italy Peter I of Serbia George II of Greece Boris III of Bulgaria Ferdinand of Romania Christian X of Denmark *Gustaf V of Sweden

Oswald becomes stranded for a night near Cairo at the desert mansion of a wealthy businessman, Abdul Aziz, whose wife and adult daughter are both very beautiful. Oswald plots to seduce either the wife or daughter, and believes he has succeeded after a woman slips into his bedroom under cover of darkness and spends several passionate hours with him, although he cannot see her face and she refuses to converse with him. The next day, Oswald leaves the house none the wiser as to which of the two women he has slept with. The story ends with a twist as Mr. Aziz reveals to Oswald that he has a ''second'' daughter who lives in seclusion in another part of the house – because she has incurable leprosy. (The implication is that Oswald has been exposed to leprosy after unsuspectingly sleeping with the second daughter.)

Paul Linden (David Farrar), a wealthy and prominent architect, returns home to Marylebone, London. He brings his new wife: beautiful, French, 24-year-old Nichole (Noelle Adam), whom he has just married in Paris. Paul is anxious to introduce Nichole to his teenage daughter Jennifer (Gillian Hills), but Jennifer appears less than happy about her father's remarriage and coldly rejects Nichole's friendly overtures all evening. After Paul and Nichole go to bed, Jennifer sneaks out to the Off-Beat café in Soho for an evening of rock music and dancing with her friends, including Dave (Adam Faith), a youth from a working-class background who plays guitar and writes songs; Tony (Peter McEnery), a general's son whose mother was killed in the Blitz and who has a drinking problem (although beatniks frown on alcohol); and Dodo (Shirley Anne Field), Tony's well-bred girlfriend. Dave and Jennifer are attracted to each other.

The next day Nichole plans to meet Jennifer at Saint Martin's School of Art, where she is studying, so they can have lunch together. At lunchtime, Nichole arrives at St Martin's, but is told that Jennifer has left and gone to the Off-Beat. Nichole goes to the café and confronts Jennifer in front of her friends, who are impressed by Nichole's youth, good looks, and knowledge of modern jazz. The fact that her friends, especially Dave, seem to like Nichole upsets Jennifer. Nichole leaves, reminding Jennifer to be home for her father's important business dinner that night. As Nichole leaves, she passes Greta (Delphi Lawrence), the star performer at the strip club across the street. Greta recognises Nichole and greets her by name, but Nichole ignores her, to Greta's annoyance. Jennifer and her friends see this encounter and wonder how Greta and Nichole might know each other. Jennifer suspects that Nichole was also a stripper before meeting her father.

That night at Paul's business dinner, Jennifer tries to embarrass Nichole in front of the guests by bringing up the encounter with Greta, making sure to emphasise that Greta is a stripper. After the guests leave, Paul questions Nichole, who says that she knew Greta in Paris and that they were in ballet together but Greta pursued a different way of life and Nichole lost track of her. Paul accepts her explanation, but Jennifer goes to the strip club to ask Greta directly. Greta at first claims she made a mistake and doesn't really know Nichole, but under pressure from her boyfriend, strip club manager Kenny King (Christopher Lee), she reveals that she and Nichole worked together as strippers and occasional prostitutes in Paris. Jennifer, encouraged by Kenny, becomes enamoured with the idea of becoming a stripper herself. Jennifer is caught by Paul and Nichole coming home from the strip club at 3 am and an angry confrontation results. Jennifer taunts Nichole by telling her she has spoken with Greta and threatens that if Nichole doesn't stay out of her life, Jennifer will tell Paul about Nichole's background. Nichole visits the strip club to tell Kenny and Greta to stay away from her stepdaughter, but Kenny says that Jennifer will be welcome at the club any time and that if Nichole interferes he will tell Paul about her past.

Jennifer and her friends have a wild night including dancing at Chislehurst Caves, a dangerous car race, and a game of "chicken" on railway tracks where the last person to leave the rails before the train arrives (Jennifer) wins. Throughout the evening, Jennifer and Dave dare each other to increasingly dangerous behaviours as a way of flirting. Jennifer invites everyone to continue the party at her house, as her father is out of town and Nichole presumably won't interfere for fear Jennifer will reveal her past. Jennifer accepts a dare to "strip like a Frenchie" and begins a striptease to music, but when she gets down to her underwear Nichole bursts from her bedroom and stops her. Then Paul suddenly arrives home and breaks up the party, throwing all of the beatniks out of his house including Dave. Jennifer angrily tells her father about Nichole's activities in Paris. Nichole, crying, admits it is true and explains she only did it because she was broke and hungry. Paul and Nichole profess their love for each other and reconcile.

Jennifer goes to the café, but now finds it boring. She walks out on her friends and meets Kenny across the street at the strip club. Kenny invites her to go to Paris with him and have him train her to be a star stripper. Greta, performing onstage, is told by stage manager Simon (Nigel Green) that Kenny plans to leave her and go off with Jennifer. Just as Kenny makes a pass at Jennifer, a woman's hand is shown stabbing Kenny to death with a letter opener. The club staff, thinking Jennifer killed Kenny, lock her up and call the police. Jennifer screams that she didn't do it, and the real culprit, jealous Greta, emerges from behind a curtain. Meanwhile, Dave, Tony and Dodo confront some Teddy Boys who vandalise Tony's car and smash his guitar. Paul and Nichole arrive on the scene searching for Jennifer just as the police drag her, in hysterics, out of the strip club. The police release Jennifer to Paul and Nichole, and they head for home, arms around each other, as Dave throws his broken guitar in a rubbish bin and proclaims "Funny, only squares know where to go."

. The protagonist of ''Phantom Brave'' is a 13-year-old girl named Marona. Having lost both of her parents at a young age, Marona lives on Phantom Isle in the oceanic world of Ivoire with a phantom named Ash. While he was still alive, Ash worked alongside Jasmine and Haze (Marona's parents) as a Chroma, a sort of bounty hunter or adventurer for hire. On an assignment that brought the trio to the Isle of Evil, a fragment of a malevolent being known as Sulphur attacked the group, mortally wounding them. Using the last of his life energy, Haze attempted to revive the party after the battle; however, there was only enough life left in him to bring Ash back as a phantom. Haze and Jasmine's dying wish was for Ash to watch over their then infant daughter Marona.

As far as the game is concerned, Marona is the only one able to see Ash in phantom form. This is primarily because of her unique ability known as "''Chartreuse Gale''". This ability not only allows her to see and interact with phantoms, but bind their souls to various objects to grant them a temporary body, referred to in-game as "''Confine''". Using this power she can summon Ash and other phantoms to the world of the living to aid her in her own endeavors as a Chroma, similar to the work done by her late parents. Because she possesses the ability to see and speak with the dead, many assume that she is either controlled by or cooperates with evil spirits, and are afraid to even interact with her, much less employ her for Chroma work. Also; in the early portions of the story, people who offer Marona employment would rescind any rewards upon completion once they discover that she was the fabled phantom-possessed Chroma.

As she continues her Chroma work, Marona's path eventually crosses with that of a man named Walnut. Walnut prides himself on his status as a Chroma Oxide, one who secretly follows a Chroma on their mission and steals the reward for their work. Walnut regularly tries to meddle in Chroma-related matters involving Marona, but is rarely successful. As they continue their work, Ash and Marona also meet a sickly young girl named Castille. Confined to her bed or wheelchair for most of her life, Castille has been unable to go out into the world and make friends. However; after helping Castille's family on an assignment, Marona grows close to Castille and they become friends. Marona leaves Putty—a mischievous nature spirit found on an earlier assignment—with Castille to keep her company when Marona is unable to do so.

As the game progresses, signs of Sulphur returning to Ivoire in full force become more apparent. Earthquakes increase in frequency and monsters plague the land, with lesser forms of Sulphur known as Wraiths appearing to attack Ash and Marona several times. At one point Marona and her rival Walnut are forced to team up, and it is revealed that Walnut is Castile's older brother who's been stealing money from Marona and other Chromas in an effort to pay for Castile's hospital bills so that she can be cured of the sickness that keeps her bedridden. Ash and Marona meet more people who are aware of the signs signalling Sulpher's return and are making preparations to meet Sulpher in battle, if necessary. Among these individuals are Raphael; a renowned knight known as one of the Nine Swords of Ivoire, and the dreary Sprout; a renegade soldier whose family was killed by Sulphur many years earlier. While Sprout seems to side with Ash in this fight, he is hellbent on the destruction of Sulphur at all costs, no matter the means used.

As preparations for the final battle are made, Ash and Marona return to the Isle of Evil and find Raphael is possessed by Sulphur, and so Marona's team of phantoms is forced to engage Raphael in a duel. After Raphael is too injured to continue and comes back to his senses, he entrusts Ash with Heliotrope; his sacred sword, for use in their battle against Sulphur. At the center of the island lies a portal from which Sulphur is entering the world, and upon the heroes' arrival to this point they expect to engage in combat with Sulphur immediately. However they are intercepted by Sprout. Having gone mad from the dark power that he has stolen from the countless minions of Sulphur that he has killed and by Sulphur's increased influence in the area, Sprout attacks Ash and Marona. When he loses to Ash he kills himself with his sword; Shiva, in an attempt to kill Sulphur within him, but his sacrifice is in vain as Sulphur successfully materializes anyway. Ash and Marona finally battle it out with Sulphur, but in spite of the duo's best efforts, Sulphur is merely weakened and is still attempting to enter into Ivoire. At that point Walnut appears and says farewell to Castile, sacrificing his own life to sever the portal between Ivoire and Sulphur's domain and effectively save the world.

In the novel, Cory Mackenson shares with the reader his experiences in the twelfth year of his life. The year begins when his father attempts to rescue a driver as his car plunges into Saxon's Lake, only to discover the man has been beaten to death. Cory spends the rest of the year, despite multiple distractions, attempting to find out who killed this stranger before his father's dreams drive him into the depths of the lake too. ''Boy's Life'' is a story of coming of age in the south, an all too real reality mixed with the magic and fantasy of childhood.

Cory gets up early to help his father work his milk route. As they discuss Cory's plans for the future, they drive through their little town of Zephyr, Alabama. When Cory's father begins to drive past Saxon's Lake, they are both shocked when they see a car race across the road in front of them and plunge into the lake. Cory's father dives into the water to rescue the driver only to discover the man has been horribly beaten and strangled. Someone has stripped the dead man naked and handcuffed him to the steering wheel to prevent his body from ever rising to the surface again. Cory and his father rush to the nearest house, which happens to be a brothel managed by a woman named Grace, and call the police. Unfortunately, there is little the police can do without a victim, a name, or a motive.

People talk about the murder for weeks, disturbed that such a thing could happen in their small town. However, with no progress on the legal end of things, people soon forget. Easter comes, as Cory and his family attend church with both sets of grandparents. The day is extremely hot and the church is packed. Within moments of the pastor beginning his sermon, a nest of wasps become agitated in the attic and wasps begin invading the church. The entire congregation rushes for the doors, hoping to escape their horrible stings.

Not long after Easter, Cory's bike breaks down and doesn't work anymore. Cory goes to retrieve it with his father, but they learn that the junk man has picked it up. At the junk man's house, Cory learns that his bike has already been crushed. However, Cory and his father get to see a tooth that possibly came from the mythic creature that lives in the Tecumseh, Old Moses. Not long after this, rains bring a swelling of water in the river, leading to a flood. The whole town of Zephyr rushes to Bruton to build a temporary dam to hold the waters back. While there, Cory goes to the home of a local woman whose father is having a heart attack. Cory is left alone with a little boy while his mother and the boy's mother move the old man to dry ground. A creature floats into the house and attempts to attack Cory and the boy. Cory manages to fend it off with a broom, shoving it so far in the back of its throat the creature backs off. As a result of his heroics, Cory is invited to visit the Lady, the honorary leader of Bruton, and promised a new bike.

School finally gets out. Cory and his friends rush off to make plans for their summer. When Cory gets home, he discovers that he has received the promised bike from the Lady. The bike is new and has everything a boy could want, including what Cory believes is a golden eye in the headlamp. A few days later, Cory and his friends meet at the baseball field. A new boy in town, Nemo Curliss, watches them toss the ball for a time. Cory invites him to play too. Nemo turns out to have a powerful pitching arm, strong enough to bruise Davy Ray's hand when he catches Nemo's pitch. As they play ball, the Branlins come upon them. The Branlins begin to tease the younger boys as they often do. When the Branlins begin picking on Nemo, Cory and his friends defend him. The Branlins begin to beat the boys, leaving Cory and Davy Ray hurt, but Johnny Wilson with a concussion.

One afternoon at the public pool, Cory hears a new song by a new group called the Beach Boys. Cory is excited by this new song. However, a local preacher is not as impressed. In fact, he has a special church service to lecture the community on the evils of this new music. Cory and his family attend out of curiosity. During the sermon, the preacher pulls out a monkey he calls Lucifer. Lucifer becomes frightened by the crowd and attacks the preacher. Lucifer then attacks the congregation before escaping through the open door.

A short time later, Cory spends a week with his paternal grandparents, Jaybird and Sarah. Cory dislikes his Granddaddy Jaybird because he always wakes him before dawn and makes Cory do some of the harder chores around the farm. On Cory's last day at the farm, Granddaddy Jaybird takes him to the store to buy ice cream salt. However, instead of going home, Granddaddy Jaybird takes Cory to a house where an illegal poker game is going on. Cory waits for several hours outside and finally gives up, deciding to walk home. Finally Cory is picked up by the local doctor who drives him back to the farm.

As a deal with his father to go to Jaybird's, Cory is allowed to go camping alone with two of his friends. The boys walk deep into the woods and settle down for the night. Cory tells a scary story. In the middle of the story, they see a car drive past their campsite. The boys follow the road and find two men waiting in their car. The boys watch as another car drives up and the men transact some kind of business with these new arrivals. Ben becomes covered with spiders and screams out, attracting the attention of the men. The men chase the boys through the woods. Cory is separated from his friends. The following day, Cory comes across a girl skinny dipping in a pond. The girl takes him home, cleans his wounds, and arranges for him to get a ride to a phone. Cory wins third prize in a writing contest. The mayor calls and asks Cory to meet him at his office. Once there, Cory sees a hat with a green feather in it and jumps to the conclusion that the mayor is the killer. Cory becomes frightened and runs off. However, the feather on the mayor's hat does not match the one Cory found at Saxon's Lake.

Cory wins a plaque and has to read his story at a ceremony. A few days later, Cory is invited to have dinner with Vernon Thaxter, son of a local bank owner. Back at school, Johnny brings his collection of arrowheads. After school, the Branlins attempt to steal the arrowheads. Johnny fights Gotha, using the boxing techniques he learned from a book during his long recuperation from his concussion. At the same time, Cory leads Gorda off on his bike and causes him to fall into a ditch filled with poison ivy. Neither Branlin ever teases or bullies Cory and his friends again.

One afternoon, Cory comes home from school to learn that Rebel, his dog, has been hit by a car. Cory rushes to the vet to see his dog, only to learn he is dying. Cory prays death away. Rebel recovers, but he is never quite right. One night Cory hears someone talking to his dog. Cory realizes it's a young boy who once lived down the street, but died in a fire. Soon, Cory realizes it's time to give up Rebel. He arranges to have the vet put Rebel down. A short time later, Cory is riding his bike in town and is kidnapped by Donny Blaylock, one of the men he saw transacting business during his camping trip. Donny plans to hurt Cory, but instead he's distracted by the memory of a man he killed on that road. There is a car accident and Cory is freed. However, Donny is arrested for murder.

The sheriff, it turns out, has been taking bribe payments from the Blaylocks. As a result, he is leaving town. However, before he leaves, the sheriff wants Donny to be taken by the state police. The sheriff asks Tom Mackenson for help. At first Tom refuses, but later agrees. There is a shootout that ends when Biggun Blaylock's ammunition turns into green garden snakes. A short time later, the Brandywine Carnival comes to town. At the carnival, Cory and his friends see everything from the haunted house to a baby with one eye. Cory drags them off to see a creature that appears to be a triceratops. Davy Ray is deeply affected by seeing this animal, so when Cory learns the next day that someone helped the animal escape, he suspects it was Davy Ray. That fall, when hunting season begins, Cory finds himself thinking about parrots and green feathers. However, before Cory can investigate his suspicions, he learns that Davy Ray has been shot in a hunting accident. Cory and his family rush to the hospital. Cory tells Davy Ray a story about a solitary traveler. The following morning, Cory learns that Davy Ray has died from his injuries. Cory doesn't know how to deal with the death of his friend, especially when his mother and pastor tell him he must have faith that Davy Ray is somewhere better.

When Cory learns that the vet and his wife had a green parrot at in their home the night the stranger from Saxon's Lake was killed and that they both are allergic to milk and therefore would not have thought of seeing a milk man out before dawn, he begins to suspect they killed the man. At the same time, Cory's father finally goes to see the Lady after he goes to her for help dismantling a bomb. At this meeting, Cory's father is told the number thirty-three is important. The only thing Tom can find with that number is a bus that comes to town every other day. Tom takes a job at the gas station where the bus drops off passengers and waits. On the day someone finally gets off the bus, Cory goes to the vet's house to spy on him, in order to prove he killed the stranger. Tom learns that the dead stranger was a Neo-Nazi who helped hide a couple of German officers in Zephyr years before. The man came to town to blackmail these Germans, so he can start a new life. Tom cannot imagine which of his neighbors might be German officers who could be so cruel as to pick and choose which Jewish prisoners should die.

However, when Tom learns the German officer was a veterinarian, he begins to suspect Dr. Lezander, the local vet. Tom and his new companions go to the vet's house where they discover Cory is being held against his will. Dr. Lezander takes off with Cory. Tom follows them. When they reach the road that runs beside Saxon's Lake, the triceratops comes out of the woods and attacks Dr. Lezander's car, pushing it into the water. Tom saves Cory, but can do nothing for Dr. Lezander.

Cory returns to Zephyr many years later with his own family. The town was abandoned after the paper mill closed down in the 1970s. Cory drives to all his familiar haunts, finally stopping at his family's home. Before leaving, Cory decides to drive to the Thaxter mansion. There, Cory discovers that the mansion was given to an orphanage for boys and several people he knew in childhood still live there, working with the little boys.

''L'Amour fou'' follows the dissolution of the marriage between Claire, an actress (played by Bulle Ogier), and Sebastien, her director (Jean-Pierre Kalfon). It is black and white with two different film gauges (35 mm and 16 mm) employed at different times throughout the film. The film focuses on a long cycle of self-destruction in Claire and Sebastien's relationship.

The central event in the film's narrative is a three-week period of preparation by a theater group for a production of Racine's version of ''Andromaque''. A crew films the preparations of the theater company in handheld 16 mm, while the rest of the film is shot in 35 mm. This framework allows Rivette to focus on the act of direction, in the formation of an artwork and the dissolution of a relationship.

The game's plot closely follows that of the film. MI6 agent James Bond is sent to Bilbao, Spain to meet a Swiss banker and retrieve money for Robert King, a friend of M who purchased a classified report from the Russian Atomic Energy Department. The report, which was taken from a dead MI6 agent, is believed to contain information about terrorists who have attacked King's oil pipeline in Kazakhstan. Bond asks the banker who killed the MI6 agent, but he is unexpectedly killed by an assassin. Bond escapes with the money and takes it to the MI6 headquarters in London. A terrorist group then launches an attack on the MI6 headquarters, prompting Bond to pursue the assassin through a London Underground station. Bond offers her protection, but she ultimately kills herself by exploding a hot air balloon. The MI6 traces the recovered money to a KGB agent-turned-terrorist known as Renard, who previously kidnapped King's daughter, Elektra. M assigns Bond to protect Elektra, who is about to oversee the construction of an oil pipeline in Azerbaijan.

During a tour of the pipeline's proposed route in the mountains, Bond and Elektra are attacked by a hit squad in armed, paraglider-equipped snowmobiles. Bond suspects the attack was caused by Elektra's head of security, Davidov, and decides to kill him before taking his place on a flight to a Russian ICBM base in Kazakhstan. There, Bond meets nuclear physicist Christmas Jones and learns that Renard managed to steal plutonium from a nuclear warhead. To get a lead on where Renard might be hiding, Bond visits a former Russian mafia adversary, Valentin Zukovsky, who reveals that Elektra was in exchange for the use of a submarine currently being captained by his nephew. Jones realises that if Renard were to insert the stolen plutonium into the submarine's nuclear reactor, the resulting nuclear explosion would destroy Istanbul, sabotaging the Russians' oil pipeline in the Bosporus. In Istanbul, Bond and Jones are captured by Elektra's henchmen. Jones is taken aboard the submarine, while Bond is taken to the Maiden's Tower. With the help of Zukovsky, Bond kills Elektra and boards the submarine. Ultimately, Bond finds Renard in the submarine's reactor and kills him before escaping with Jones.

Bogwood, Washington is a pleasant suburban community with a special distinction—it has more garages per capita than any other town in America. Not surprisingly, Bogwood is also the "Garage Sale Capital of the U.S.A."

When retirees Doris & Clayton Fenwick decide to empty their nest of retro-modern antiques, they set the wheels in motion for a frantically funny "g-sale" involving Bogwood's most avid garage sale junkies: Angela Cocci (an obsessive market researcher), Ed LaSalle (a beleaguered computer programmer and creator of the cult fantasy roleplaying game "Caves & Beasts"), Dick Nickerson (a retired star of the 60s sitcom "Pot o' Gold"), and BJ Harwood & Helen Ziegler (partners and owners of a trendy retro-modern antique store).

These colorful characters try to outmaneuver each other to score their ultimate garage sale treasure: an antique board game worth a fortune.

Set in feudal times, the story begins in the Kingdom of Didd. Young peasant, Bartholomew Cubbins lives on the outskirts of the kingdom with his family; He wears a simple red hat with a single white feather that has remained within the family for generations. One day, Bartholomew is sent into the town to sell some berries, when he comes across King Derwin riding through a street. As per law, one is supposed to remove his or her hat when the king passes by, but Bartholomew apparently does not follow the rule, despite having a hat in his hand, and is ordered to remove the hat on his head. Bartholomew does so, but another hat mysteriously appears; when he attempts to remove this one, yet another one appears. For unknown reasons, whenever Bartholomew removes one hat, another one appears on his head.

The young boy is taken to the castle where numerous people attempt to remove the hat from Bartholomew's head, but all attempts end in failure. The royal hatter runs away in terror, the King's young nephew fails to shoot the hats off with arrows, a great bowman similarly fails with a longbow, and Wizards attempt to curse the hat away but claim that their spell would only work in "Ten Short Years". The King, exasperated by all the attempts, sends Bartholomew to be executed, but once again the laws get in the way as a person cannot be executed by the Executioner with his or her hat on.

The King's nephew suggests throwing Bartholomew from the highest tower as a punishment. The King, while mildly upset by the idea, agrees. Bartholomew begins to push his hats off rapidly as they climb the tower. As this continues, the hats begin to grow in extravagance and beauty from the 451st hat onwards. The 451st hat has two feathers, while the 452nd hat has three and the 453rd hat has three feathers and a small gem, and so on. Ultimately the 500th hat is revealed as the greatest, studded with massive gems, plumes of feathers from rare birds and gilding, although Bartholomew seems unaware of the fact. The king is stunned by the beauty of the hat, but the nephew is more incensed than before at the sight of it. He tries to push Bartholomew off the tower against the King's wishes. But the King saves Bartholomew's life by spanking the nephew as a punishment. King Derwin grants Bartholomew a reprieve, requesting all 500 hats in exchange for 500 gold coins. Bartholomew agrees and is sent home with his massive reward, while the King keeps all of the hats in a massive chest to admire for years to come. The story ends with the narrator admitting that no one knows or ever knew what caused this strange event, but it is more than likely that it will never happen again.

The main plot involved a virus that breaks out and leaves the humans residing on Earth doomed. However, in a desperate attempt before the end, all humanity's resources are dedicated to a crash program to produce a deep space ark, capable of seeding humanity on a new world. The ship is crewed by six clones; teenage versions of people who achieved great works during the ark project and equipped with the memories of their donors. Prior to its arrival, however, the crew is awoken prematurely to face a threat to the ship, before their memories are complete. They must come to terms with the workings of the ship, the dangers faced by their ship, the realization that they are clones, and their ultimate destiny to save their race.

A young mother and her four children move into a small apartment in Tokyo. Only the eldest, Akira, is known to the landlord; he and his mother Keiko smuggle the youngest boy and girl, Shigeru and Yuki, into the apartment inside suitcases. The elder sister, Kyōko, comes separately by train. Each of the children have different fathers. Their mother does not allow them to go to school or be seen by others, and only Akira is allowed to go outside.

After a few months, Keiko tells Akira that she has a new boyfriend, and that after she gets married, the children can lead normal lives, but Akira seems doubtful. Without warning, Keiko leaves home and is away for months, leaving only a small amount of money for the children. Akira is forced to take charge of paying the rent and other expenses and caring for his younger siblings. When they run out of money, Akira goes to see several men who may be Yuki's biological father and asks them for money.

At length, Keiko returns, bringing all the children gifts, but soon leaves again. Though she promises she will be back in time for Christmas, she breaks this promise, and the season changes to the New Year and then to spring without her returning, forcing Akira and Kyōko into the roles of surrogate parents. Akira soon finds evidence that she has already married and left them forever, though he does not tell his siblings. Again running out of money, they are unable to pay their rent any longer and subsist on inexpensive food from the convenience store. On Yuki's birthday, she asks to go outside to wait for their mother at the train station. The siblings enjoy a day out together, and though their mother does not return, Akira promises Yuki that one day he will take her on the Tokyo Monorail to see the airplanes take off at Haneda Airport.

Akira befriends two boys his own age at a game arcade who start frequenting the family's apartment, playing games and roughhousing, and he begins to neglect his siblings. The apartment is falling into disrepair with no one cleaning or keeping up with other chores. When Akira and the two boys go to the convenience store one day, they dare him to shoplift. Akira refuses, and the two boys leave him. Several months later, when the two have entered junior high school, Akira comes by their school and invites them over to play, but they refuse, and Akira overhears them saying that his house smells like garbage. In an apologetic gesture, Akira takes his siblings to a nearby park to play and buys them candy and toys at the convenience store. They start a garden on the veranda of the apartment, planting seeds from wildflowers inside instant noodle cups.

Eventually the electricity, gas, and water in the apartment are all turned off. The children start using the public park's toilet to wash themselves and the tap there for their water. On one of these visits, Shigeru starts a conversation with Saki, a high school student who is cutting class, which blossoms into a friendship between her and the siblings, and she begins to visit them and help Akira and Kyoko care for the family. However, when she tries to help Akira out of financial difficulties by offering him money obtained through enjo kōsai, Akira rejects it and runs away.

With summer approaching, the children have little money and are growing weary. Akira goes out one day to watch a junior high school's baseball match. The team's coach spots him and, short a player, asks him to sub in. Akira joins the game and enjoys playing baseball. While he is away, Yuki falls from a stool while trying to reach for something and dies. Akira goes to find Saki again, finally accepting her offer of financial support, and they buy as many boxes as they can find of Yuki's favorite chocolate candies, which they place with Yuki's dead body in a suitcase. With Saki's help, Akira takes the suitcase to a field near Haneda Airport's runway. They sit and watch planes come in, and then he and Saki dig a grave and bury the suitcase. They then return to the apartment, and the film ends with Akira, Kyōko, Shigeru, and Saki still together, walking home.

An unseen figure in a jail cell with a raspy voice tells a story to another undetermined occupant in the cell.

Two years previous, brothers King and Tyn are serving a 20 year sentence in a Southern prison for joyriding in a stolen car. The brothers are told by a fellow inmate, Wex, about a local legend of a large undetermined fortune hidden in the grave of Masterson, a legendary local millionaire. King barters with one of the crooked officers in the prison, J.C. Cole, to allow them to escape in exchange for a share of the fortune. While not a clean getaway, the brothers successfully break out of the jail.

While on the run, during an attempt to steal civilian clothes from a laundry line, Tyn is shot by the homeowner. The brothers are able to get help from a stranger who allows them to take his truck, so he can report it stolen and collect the insurance. However, fearing recapture if they go to a proper hospital, they reluctantly visit an estranged friend, mortician Travis Purcell, who was responsible for sending them to jail, to tend to the wound. King alludes to being able to repay Travis for the favor, and leaves Tyn in his care. King then visits his ex-girlfriend Jordan, who is not happy to see him but goes to bed with him and lets him stay the night. J.C. spies on the couple during their night together. King promises to cut Jordan in on his payday, but she doubts anything will come of his claim.

Travis determines that Tyn's wound is mortal, and threatens to not take him to a hospital unless he yields everything he knows about the grave. Tyn gives up his information, but dies anyway. With his slow-witted accomplices Cletus and Boo, the three go to dig up the grave themselves. They open the grave, and find only Masterson's decayed corpse, with a pair of rings on its fingers. Travis takes one figuring it must have some worth. Boo hears someone coming near the grave, and knocks him unconscious with a shovel; it turns out to be King, coming to himself dig up the grave. In the panic of assaulting their friend, Travis ostensibly takes King's pulse and determines he is dead, and puts him in Masterson's grave. Boo is sent to go to town and lose King's truck, but J.C. ambushes Boo and strangles him to unconsciousness. The next morning, J.C. weights down Boo's legs, and throws him in a creek, which wakes him. J.C. gives him the choice of drowning, telling him who told him about the grave, or using a knife to sever his limbs. After initially trying the third option, Boo reveals Travis and Cletus' involvement, but drowns anyway.

Travis and Cletus go to an antique shop run by Jordan, asking her to interpret markings on Masterson's ring. She tells them that urban legend was that Masterson as an elderly man had married a very young woman, Ophelia, hoping for an heir, but found she was infertile, and that they bought a child to raise instead, who was never heard from after both their deaths. She also reveals that the ring is worthless without its companion ring, inspiring the men to return to the grave to dig it out. When they unearth Masterson's coffin again, King is miraculously still alive, albeit woozy. They retrieve the second ring and save him, but he quickly determines it was Travis who left him for dead. When they revisit Jordan, she is able to identify a Latin message viewable only when the rings are interlocked, but only offers it after King promises her a share of the fortune. It is deduced that whatever fortune Masterson hid is in Ophelia's grave.

The men lift the stone cover from Ophelia's grave, and find a ladder to an underground tunnel. The follow it to an iron door, and upon opening it, find a vault that contains both the dismembered remains of Ophelia, indicating Masterson killed her, and large amounts of cash and jewelry, the fortune she married him for. In their celebratory mania, someone locks the vault door, trapping them inside. Jordan emerges from Ophelia's grave as the party responsible for locking them in. She is confronted by J.C., who reveals his intention to kill her. He shoots her and she falls to the ground, and as he steps to her to make sure she is dead, discovers he only shot her in the throat, and she in turn takes a hidden shotgun and kills him.

Returning to the cell, the storyteller is revealed to be Jordan, now using an artificial larynx to speak, explaining her altered voice, and the other person in the room is a priest. She reveals that since J.C. was a cop, she was doomed to be sentenced to death for killing him. When the priest asks what happened to Masterson's changeling, she offers no conclusive answer but hints that it was her. Jordan is escorted to the electric chair and executed at dawn.

Some time later, the priest visits the cemetery, and opens Ophelia's grave.

Set just after World War I, ''The Death Ship'' describes the predicament of merchant seamen who lack documentation of citizenship, making them effectively stateless and therefore unable to find legal residence or employment in any nation. The narrator is Gerard Gales, a US sailor who claims to be from New Orleans, and who is stranded in Antwerp without passport or working papers. Unable to prove his identity or his eligibility for employment, Gales is repeatedly arrested and deported from one country to the next, by government officials who do not want to be bothered with either assisting or prosecuting him. When he finally manages to find work, it is on the ''Yorikke'' (possibly a reference to the Shakespeare play ''Hamlet''), the dangerous and decrepit ship of the title, where undocumented workers from around the world are treated as expendable slaves.

The term ''death ship'' refers to any boat so decrepit that it is worth more to its owners overinsured and sunk than it would be worth afloat. The title of the book is translated directly from the German ''Das Totenschiff''; in English, they are called ''coffin ships''.

A hideous, vindictive, spiteful couple known as the Twits live together in a brick house without windows. They continuously play nasty practical jokes on each other out of hatred for one another.

They also keep a family of pet monkeys, the Muggle-Wumps. The Twits, who are retired circus trainers, are trying to create the first upside-down monkey circus. They will always demand the monkeys stand on their heads for hours on end.

Mr. Twit uses glue called ''Hugtight'' in hopes of catching birds for Mrs. Twit to make into a bird pie. The monkeys try to warn the birds before they land on the tree, but the English-speaking birds do not understand the monkeys' African language.

Once a week the Roly-Poly bird flies to visit the monkeys, to secretly save the birds by acting as an interpreter of languages. On a Tuesday night, a group of four boys see the ladder next to this tree and they decided to walk up into it, not thinking or knowing that glue was on it. On the Wednesday morning Mr Twit sees that the boys have scared them away. Out of rage Mr Twit charges at them, but they get away. Mr Twit tries several times to catch the birds and, tired of not getting anywhere, Mr. Twit decides to go buy guns with his wife to kill them.

The Muggle-Wumps come up with an idea to use Mr. Twit's glue to attach the Twits' furniture to their ceiling, while the birds come up with an idea to smear glue on the Twits' heads. Shocked, the Twits rush into their home and see the resulting mess. Mr. Twit suggests that they stand on their heads so that they are 'the right way up'. The Roly-Poly bird then offers to fly the Muggle-Wumps all the way back to Africa, and the Muggle-Wumps escape.

Hours later both Mr and Mrs. Twit are putting all their weight down on the heads and catch the 'Dreaded Shrinks'- with their bodies compressing 'downwards.' Their head shrinks into their neck, their necks shrink into their bodies, their bodies shrink into their legs, and their legs shrink into their feet. Their feet shrink into nothing but two pairs of shoes and old clothes. Mr. and Mrs. Twit are then nowhere to be seen.

Mr. Twit

Mr. Twit is a wicked person, having hair that covers his entire face, with the exception of his forehead, eyes, and nose. His hair (which he falsely believes makes him appear 'wise and grand' but is widely agreed by everyone else makes him look like a twit), is spiky and hard . Because he never washes it, his mustache holds scraps of food stuck there while he ate, including tinned sardines, Stilton cheese, and corn flakes. Occasionally, he licks these scraps out and eats them when he is hungry.

As part of a plan to make Mrs. Twit feel that she is shrinking, he slowly extended her chair and cane until she was convinced that she was getting shorter.

Instead of wiping his mouth with a cloth, Mr. Twit simply wipes it on his sleeve. Mr. Twit is a drinker with a fondness for beer; he even drinks alcohol at breakfast. He is known to be very quiet when he is plotting. He and his wife mistreat their monkeys, the Muggle-Wumps. They have kept Muggle-Wump and his family locked up in a cage in the garden. The dreaded shrinks demolished Mr. Twit into nothing. All that was left of the Twits were two bundles of old clothes, two pairs of shoes and a walking stick.

Mrs. Twit

Mrs. Twit is the hideously ugly, menacing wife of Mr. Twit. She is said to have quite a nice face once, but her ugly thoughts began to show on her face until she was so ugly, you couldn't bear to look at her.

She takes advantage of her glass eye to play practical jokes in revenge against her husband, and demonstrates multiple acts of cruelty and viciousness throughout the story: the main reason behind her use of a walking cane was as a weapon against innocent children and animals, she participates in the torment of the couple's pet monkeys the Muggle-Wumps, and she once served Mr. Twit a lunch of worms disguised as spaghetti.

Albeit, while she frequently demonstrates acts of stupidity, she has also exhibited intelligence: she managed to maneuver her way out of being carried off into the sky by balloons by chewing through several of the strings and landing safely on the ground. Aside from this, she is portrayed as being hideous, cruel, and unhygienic.

While eight-year-old George Kranky's parents are out grocery shopping, his elderly maternal grandmother bosses him around and bullies him. She intimidates George by saying that she likes to eat insects and he wonders briefly if she's a witch. To punish her for her regular abuse, George decides to make a magic medicine to replace her old one. He collects a variety of ingredients from around the family farm including deodorant and shampoo from the bathroom, floor polish from the laundry room, horseradish sauce and gin from the kitchen, animal medicines, engine oil and anti-freeze from the garage, and brown paint to mimic the colour of the original medicine.

After cooking the ingredients in the kitchen, George gives it as medicine to his grandmother, who grows as tall as the house, bursting through the roof. When his grandmother doesn't believe it was George who made her grow so tall, he proves it by feeding the medicine to one of his father's chickens, which grows ten times its original size. As they return home, George's parents can't believe their eyes when they see the fattest chicken ever and the grandmother. George's father grows very excited at the thought of rearing giant animals. He has George feed the medicine to the rest of the farm's animals, causing them to become giants as well. However, his grandmother begins complaining about being ignored and stuck in the roof, so Mr. Kranky hires a crane to remove her from the house. Her extreme height has her sleeping in the barn for the next few nights.

The following morning, Mr. Kranky is still excited about George's medicine and announces that he and George shall make gallons of it to sell to farmers around the world, which would make his family rich. George attempts to recreate it but is unable to remember all the ingredients. The second version makes a chicken's legs grow extremely long, and the third elongates a chicken's neck to bizarre proportions. The fourth has the opposite effect of the first and makes animals shrink. George's grandmother, now even more angry she's sleeping in the barn, storms over and starts complaining loudly that she's once again sick of being ignored. She sees the cup of medicine in George's hand and erroneously mistakes it for tea. Much to his and Mrs. Kranky's horror, and Mr. Kranky's delight, she drinks the entire cup and shrinks so much that she vanishes completely. At first, Mrs. Kranky is shocked, confused and distraught about the sudden, and very strange disappearance of her mother, but soon accepts that she was becoming a nuisance anyway. In the last page, George is left to think about the implications of his actions, feeling as though they had granted him access to the edge of a magic world.

The story is told from the point of view of Billy, a young boy who has always dreamed of owning a sweet-shop. His ambition is strengthened by the fact that there is an abandoned three-story building named The Grubber, an old English word for a sweet-shop, near where he lives. One day, he finds that the old building has been renovated and has become the head office for The Ladderless Window-Cleaning Company. Billy then meets its members: a Giraffe with an extendable neck; a Pelican, or "Pelly" as he is called by the others, who has a flexible upper beak; and a singing and dancing Monkey, all of whom he quickly befriends. Having only recently arrived in England, all the animals are finding it hard to acquire the right food to feed themselves. This includes fish for the Pelican, especially his favourite salmon; walnuts for the Monkey; and pink and purple tinkle-tinkle tree flowers for the Giraffe (this is all she can eat, as she happens to be a "Geraneous Giraffe"). Billy and the animals all band together when they receive a letter from the Duke of Hampshire asking them to clean the 677 windows of Hampshire House. Things go smoothly when they get there until, while cleaning the bedroom windows of Henrietta the Duchess, the Giraffe and the Monkey spot a burglar attempting to steal the Duchess's jewels. The Pelican then flies in and catches the burglar, holding him prisoner in his beak despite the burglar's attempt to shoot his way out with his gun (this makes a hole in the Pelican's beak, but the Duke assures him that the chauffeur can patch it up). Soon the police arrive to arrest the burglar, whom the Chief of Police identifies as the "Cobra", one of the world's most dangerous cat burglars. As a reward for retrieving the Duchess's jewels, the Duke invites The Ladderless Window-Cleaning Company to live on his estate as his personal helpers. Since he is the owner of the only tinkle-tinkle tree plantation in England, as well as thousands of walnut trees and an enormous salmon river (the River Hamp), all three starving animals have found the answer to their dilemma. Billy's dreams also come true because the Giraffe, Pelican, and Monkey will no longer need the Grubber building; with a little help from the Duke, the Grubber is revived into the most fantastic sweet shop for miles around (among the sweets it sells are Liplickers and Plushnuggets from Norway, also known as the Land of the Midnight Sun), and the story ends with Billy running the shop and The Ladderless Window-Cleaning Company continuing their business (and the Pelican's beak having been fixed). Billy gives each of his new friends special gifts: to the Giraffe, a bag of Glumptious Globgobblers, to the Monkey, a bag of Devil’s Drenchers, to the Pelican, a bag of Pishlets, and to the Duke, a bag of Scarlet Scorchdroppers. The Monkey, before leaving with the others, sings a little song to Billy (thus the ending).

''Yargo'' tells the story of Janet Cooper, a young woman from Avalon, New Jersey, who is abducted by aliens from the planet Yargo. During her interplanetary adventures with these intelligent but emotionless extraterrestrials, she falls in love with their leader.

On the second to last day of the season, Chapel's team, the Atlanta Hawks (no relation to the NBA team of the same name), are about to play against the New York Yankees. Chapel receives news from a friend in the media that he is about to be traded. Just the night before, his girlfriend Carol did not show up at his hotel room, and Chapel reaches the conclusion that it is time to move on and finally make the transition from boyhood to manhood.

Over half the book tells the story of that final game, with flashbacks from the pitching mound and Dugout to incidents throughout Chapel's life. Chapel is determined that his last game will also be his greatest, even though, with all the young new players on the Yankees, they are a far superior team. As he strikes out his opponents one after the other, he soon becomes aware of the fact that he has held the Yankees at bay thus far, not allowing one hit from the more talented Yankees team. He soon becomes determined to pitch a perfect game. Meanwhile, he reflects on his personal life, and especially on Carol, whom he finally realizes that he loves, even though he has never shown her that he really does. That morning Carol told him she was going to London and was leaving immediately, so the two key passions of his life, Carol and baseball, are about to vanish forever.

As the game proceeds, Chapel feels the sharp pain in his arm that comes with age. Nevertheless, he refuses to give up the pitching mound, and chooses instead to divert his attention by delving deeper into his life and his relationship. At the end of the game, he has pitched a perfect game and retires from baseball with a new dignity. After the celebrations, he heads to the hotel and dials Carol's home, where he plans to go to tell Carol his feelings. With baseball behind him, he has grown from a boy who has led a life into manhood.

This short book was discovered after Shaara's death, and publishing was arranged by his son, author Jeffrey Shaara. The book was made into a movie by Sam Raimi.

The Federation starship USS ''Enterprise'' is on routine patrol when it finds wreckage of a survey vessel, the SS ''Beagle''. The ''Beagle'' was under the command of Captain R. M. Merik (William Smithers), whom Captain Kirk knew during his academy days. First Officer Spock traces the path of debris to a planet in the previously unexplored "system 892".

Upon arrival, the ''Enterprise'' crew monitors a 20th-century-style television broadcast from the planet showing footage of what appears to be a Roman gladiatorial match. The planet's culture is thus revealed to be a kind of 20th-century parallel to Earth's Ancient Rome. An announcer refers to one of the gladiators as William B. Harrison (who is killed); Spock identifies him from ship's records as one of the ''Beagle'' s flight officers.

Kirk, Spock and Dr. McCoy beam down to the planet to investigate. They are captured and brought before Septimus (Ian Wolfe), the leader of a group of runaway slaves, who asks them if they are "children of the sun". Septimus explains that he was a senator until he heard the "words of the sun" and was made a slave. Although another slave, Flavius (Rhodes Reason), suggests killing the landing party, Septimus decides the landing party poses no threat.

Kirk reveals that he is looking for Captain Merik, who the slaves suggest is Mericus, First Citizen. Flavius, a former gladiator, offers to help and leads Kirk and his party to the nearby city. They are soon captured and brought before Mericus, who is in fact Merik, and the Proconsul Claudius Marcus (Logan Ramsey), who invites the landing party to sit and talk in private. Merik explains that the "Beagle" suffered damage and Merik came down to look for ore to repair his ship; he relates that when he met Claudius Marcus and came to know his culture, he agreed that the planet should be protected from cultural contamination at all costs. Merik decided to stay, putting his crewmen into the gladiatorial matches, where they would be killed (Harrison was called the "last of the Barbarians"). Merik and Marcus try to persuade Kirk to have the ''Enterprise'' crew abandon their ship and integrate into the planet's culture. Kirk refuses their demands and instead signals to Chief Engineer Scott, in code, that the landing party is in trouble, but that no rescue attempt should be made.

Angered, Marcus sends Spock and McCoy into the televised arena where they must fight Flavius and another gladiator, Achilles. Spock overpowers Achilles and uses a Vulcan nerve pinch on Flavius, ending the fight to a hail of pre-recorded boos and hisses. Spock and McCoy are taken back to the slave pens while Kirk is sentenced to a televised execution scheduled for the next day by the TV Manager aka "Master of the Games". The evening prior to the execution, Marcus sends Drusilla to Kirk's quarters to entertain him and have sexual relations with Kirk. Marcus later remarks to Kirk that he was responsible for Drusilla's visit. As the execution broadcast begins, Flavius rushes forward and is killed trying to save Kirk; Kirk kills the Master of the Games and two guards as well. Marcus orders the remaining guards to kill Kirk; On the ''Enterprise'', Scott uses a low-power phaser burst to cause a power blackout upon the Planet, allowing Kirk to free Spock and McCoy. Merik signals the ''Enterprise'' to beam Kirk and party up with a stolen communicator, and is fatally stabbed by Marcus. The landing party dematerializes just one second before the guards open fire with their machine guns.

Back on the ''Enterprise'', Spock expresses surprise at a sun-worshiping cult preaching universal brotherhood, opining that sun worship was primitive superstition, with no such philosophy behind it. Lt. Uhura, having monitored the planet's communications all this time, has the answer: "It's not the sun up in the sky. It's the Son of God." The Captain is astonished: "Caesar and Christ. They had them both. And the Word is spreading only now."

As the story begins, Fred Platt, the main character, is about to place a telephone call to a college friend he hasn't seen in years. Platt, as the opening sentence indicates, comes from "old money" -- he is three generations removed from its acquisition. He wants to acquire a job without the contaminating hand of his father's connections.

Accordingly, he calls his old friend Clayton Thomas. Clayton is now an executive in the advertising wing of a large chemical company, hence the story's title. The drama in the story consists of Fred's horror at Clayton's gauche, new-money ways, a horror that he with some effort suppresses in the interest of asking Clayton for work.

Some nice touches arise from Fred's brief conversations with each of the two secretaries through whom his phone call must pass before he can talk to Clayton. For example, the second secretary asks, "About what was it you wished to speak to him?" and one senses an earnest and newly educated woman's effort to avoid ending a sentence with a preposition. Fred, when he does finally reach Clayton, asks (in counterpoint), "Who are all these girls you live in the midst of?"

The game begins with Berethor (voiced by Rhys Lloyd), a captain in the Citadel Guard of Gondor, travelling to Rivendell to find Boromir at the behest of Denethor. On the outskirts of Rivendell, he is attacked by the Nazgûl, but is rescued by Idrial (Lori Phillips), an elf in the service of Galadriel. As they travel through the forest, they see a murder of crebain (evil crows sent out as spies) and Idrial deduces that Saruman (Christopher Lee) has betrayed the elves leaving Middle-earth for the Grey Havens. Seeing her convoy under attack by Isengard orcs, she and Berethor intervene. They then head to Caradhras to seek any further survivors, and there meet Elegost (Chris Edgerly), a Dúnedain ranger hunting Warg. They learn the Fellowship tried to pass over Caradhras recently, but were prevented from doing so by a snowstorm unleashed by Saruman, and so they instead elected to pass through the mines of Moria. Elegost explains he was hunting with a dwarven companion when they were caught in the storm, and separated. The three head towards Moria, soon finding the dwarf, Hadhod (Lewis MacLeod), whom they save from a Cave Troll. They fight the Watcher in the Water shortly after it failed to kill the Fellowship.

Upon entering Moria, they fight the Watcher again, and this time they kill it. Hadhod learns the rumors regarding Balin and the dwarves are true; they have been wiped out by orcs. They pursue the Fellowship, finding themselves on the floor below them, and seeing a Balrog ascending from the depths. After fighting countless wargs, goblins, and 9 Trolls, they reach the Bridge of Khazad-dûm. There they join Gandalf (Ian McKellen) as he faces the Balrog. They help him to victory, but are unable to prevent him falling from the bridge. However, unbeknownst to the Fellowship, Gandalf is resurrected by the Valar. Meanwhile, the party exits Moria and follows in the footsteps of the Fellowship, passing through Lothlórien.

They soon learn that Boromir is dead, that Frodo and Sam have headed towards Mordor to destroy the Ring, and that the rest of the Fellowship have gone to Rohan. They too head towards Rohan. However, Saruman has used his agent, Gríma Wormtongue, to corrupt Théoden, King of Rohan, manipulating him into banishing Éomer, captain of the Rohirrim. Saruman plans to use the division caused by this to destroy Rohan. The party meet the resurrected Gandalf, who tells them they must assemble Éomer's men and head towards Helm's Deep, where Rohan will make a last stand against Saruman's army. In the meantime, Gandalf will attempt to release Théoden from Saruman's curse. Soon thereafter, they meet a woman named Morwen (Lori Phillips), who joins the party on the road to Helm's Deep in the hopes of finding her family. Having assembled Éomer's scattered forces, the party begin to make their way to Helm's Deep. On the journey, Morwen reveals she is originally from Minas Tirith, and the party receive word that Théoden has been released from Saruman's spell. On the road, they meet Éoaden (Charles Martinet), a member of Rohan's Royal Guard, who joins them. Soon thereafter, they find the bodies of Morwen's family, killed by wargs, before arriving at Helm's Deep.

Inside the fortress, they prepare for battle. Soon, Saruman's army of 10,000 Uruk-hai arrive. They breach the outer walls using explosives and overwhelm the inner defenses. As Berethor fights, he suddenly hears the voice of Saruman telling him he shall be punished for his betrayal. Gandalf and Éomer arrive with the Rohirrim, attacking and decimating the Uruk-hai army. Meanwhile, the Ents, roused to war by Saruman's partial destruction of Fangorn Forest, lay siege to Orthanc, ending Saruman's involvement in the war. Gandalf then explains to Berethor why he heard the voice of Saruman – Berethor was captured by Saruman, who put him under a spell. Saruman believed Boromir would take the Ring from Frodo, and Berethor's job was to take it from Boromir and return it to Saruman. However, Boromir did not take the Ring. Knowing of Saruman's plan, Gandalf and Galadriel sent Idrial to find Berethor and stay by him until the spell could be broken, and with the destruction of Orthanc, Berethor is freed from the spell.

Gandalf tells the party that Sauron will now turn his eye to Minas Tirith. Gandalf rides on ahead, and sends the party to the ruined city of Osgiliath, to stand alongside Boromir's brother, Faramir. As they await the arrival of the army, Berethor muses that Osgiliath seems familiar to him. Éoaden remembers a Gondorian warrior who fought under Boromir during the defense of the city some time ago, but who fled the battle in fear. The party realize that Berethor is that man. He vows he will never flee again, and the party join Faramir in a fight against Gothmog. They defeat him, but he flees before they can kill him. Gandalf then summons the party back to Minas Tirith. Before they leave, however, Berethor learns the reason he fled Osgiliath was because he was stabbed by a Morgul blade, the tip of which is still within him. He and Idrial face the Witch-king, but Idrial explains he cannot harm the Witch-king whilst the blade is still inside him. He cuts it out and they attack the Witch-king, driving him off. The party then head to Minas Tirith.

They reach the city just after the Mordor army has breached the main gate, with orcs rampaging through the streets. Meanwhile, the Witch-king confronts Gandalf, who is joined by the party in the fight. During the battle, they hear the horns of the Rohirrim, and the Witch-king flees. The party head to the citadel at the top of the city, where they witness the death of the insane Denethor at the hands of Gandalf. They then learn that Aragorn is on his way with the Army of the Dead. The battle moves to the Pelennor Fields as the Rohirrim charge the Mordor army. The Witch-king attacks Théoden, and Éowyn comes to his aid. The party join her as she fights and they are able to defeat him. Soon thereafter Aragorn arrives with the Army of the Dead, who wipe out the Mordor army.

As the party celebrate, the eight remaining Nazgûl attack, stabbing Morwen. They defeat the Nazgûl, and Aragorn is able to save Morwen's life. He then tells the party the entire army is to march on the Black Gate to distract Sauron from Frodo's approach to Mount Doom. At the same time, the party attack the Eye of Sauron itself. As they fight, Frodo successfully destroys the Ring, and Sauron is defeated. In the aftermath of the victory, Gandalf tells Berethor he will face more adventures, saying "Your tale has hardly begun."

An American couple, The Forrests, want to introduce a visiting English friend to an authentic American billionaire. They take him to a dinner party where he meets a Texan businessman, John Born.

The Forrests and their friend, Donald King, and Mr. Born discuss the recent re-election of President Dwight David Eisenhower and a gas bill that the President vetoed earlier in the year.

The history that provoked Updike to write a story about such a conversation has been largely forgotten in the intervening half century, but at that time he was able to assume most of his readers would know that on February 6, 1956, Senator Francis Case of South Dakota had said on the U.S. Senate floor that a lobbyist for a natural gas company had left $2500 in cash in an envelope waiting for him, presumably in exchange for his vote on the deregulatory bill. This set off an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and forced creation of a select Senate committee to look into lobbying practices.

The deregulation bill passed anyway, although President Eisenhower vetoed it on February 17.

In the fictional discussion of these events, as Updike portrays it, Mr. Born claims that he is in possession of a trillion feet of natural gas that he has no incentive to sell unless some similar bill is passed in the next session of Congress and signed. On their way home, the Forrests and Mr. King are a bit confused. They wonder how many zeros are in a trillion — American and UK conventions on that differed — and whether he meant a trillion feet (305 million km) spread out along a pipeline or a trillion cubic feet (28 km³).

The show features the efforts of Ares, the god of war, played by Kevin Tod Smith, who attempts often to destroy his younger half-brother to win over Zeus' good graces. Among his group is his nephew Strife (Joel Tobeck), who is the rather weaker member of the team. Strife's mother is Discord, goddess of retribution (Meighan Desmond), who acts more level-headed and power hungry than her counterpart on more than one occasion. The series has two other villains: Hera, queen of the gods and Hercules' stepmother; and Apollo, god of the sun and Hercules' half-brother.

The series follows Hercules (Ryan Gosling) as he attends Cheiron's Academy to train in the arts of the warrior under the wise headmaster Cheiron the Centaur (Nathaniel Lees). He makes friends with the future king of Corinth, Prince Jason (Chris Conrad) and a thieving former member of a bandit group named Iolaus (Dean O'Gorman), who was sentenced to train at the academy as an alternative to prison for his crimes. Hercules also meets the academy's first female cadet, Lilith (Jodie Rimmer). Other characters of interest include Kora, the innkeeper who (unknown to Hercules and his friends) is a devotee of Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt. As the series develops, Kora is revealed to have special powers which allow her to do Artemis' bidding. There are hints of romance between Hercules and Kora, although their friendship keeps it all innocent.

The Federation starship ''USS Enterprise'' orbits the planet Neural, a primitive world that Captain Kirk has visited before. On the planet, Kirk and First Officer Spock notice a group of villagers apparently preparing for an ambush. Kirk is surprised to see them with firearms, and their quarry seems to be a group of Hill People, one of whom, Tyree, Kirk recognizes. Forbidden to use phasers, Kirk throws a rock toward the villagers, causing one of their guns to go off. A chase ensues and Spock is shot.

Once back aboard the ''Enterprise'', Spock is taken to sickbay. Sensors detect a Klingon vessel in orbit around the planet, and Kirk suspects the Klingons of having supplied the firearms to the villagers.

Kirk returns with McCoy, both in native dress, to investigate. The two are attacked by an indigenous creature called a ''Mugato'',A horned white-furred gorilla-like creature, pronounced "mu-GAHT-u". which bites Kirk with its poisonous fangs before McCoy can kill it with his phaser. McCoy is unable to call for help, as the ''Enterprise'' has left orbit to avoid detection by the Klingons.

A friendly group of Hill People arrive and take Kirk and McCoy to their camp, where Kirk discovers that his friend Tyree is now their leader. Tyree is married to Nona, a ''Kahn-ut-tu'' woman who can cure the ''mugato'' bite. Nona has been urging Tyree to acquire firearms for their tribe.

On hearing of Kirk's arrival, Nona enters the cave and spies McCoy using his phaser to heat rocks. Nona is intrigued and quizzes Tyree about the mysterious guests. She then proceeds to treat Kirk, pressing a ''mahko'' root into his injury with her hand which was cut with a knife just before the ritual began. At the conclusion of the ritual she claims that Kirk is now hers, and Tyree explains that, according to legend, he will be unable to refuse her anything as a result of the treatment. The injuries to Kirk and her hand are shown to be completely healed.

When Kirk recovers, he asks Tyree about the villagers' weapons. Tyree says he saw them for the first time a year ago and believed the villagers were making them. Kirk and McCoy decide to reconnoiter the village that night. Once there, they locate a forge in which they find a chrome steel drill and virtually carbon-free iron, evidence of outsiders' involvement. Soon a Klingon appears with the village leader, who discuss the manufacture of improved weapons. Kirk and McCoy surprise and overpower them, taking a flintlock weapon and escaping with Tyree's help.

The next day, Kirk shows the Hill People how to use the weapon, but Tyree refuses to handle it. McCoy protests, but Kirk counters that both warring parties must be put on an equal footing if both are to survive.

Nona tries to seduce Kirk with the help of local herbs. A mugato attacks Nona and Kirk disintegrates it with his phaser. Nona then knocks Kirk unconscious, flees with the phaser, and coming upon a group of villagers, offers them the weapon. Not believing her story, they assault her. When Kirk, McCoy, and Tyree appear, the villagers believe she has led them into a trap, and kill her. The two groups fight and the villagers run away.

Tyree now demands more "fire stick" weapons to avenge his wife's death. Kirk reluctantly orders Scott to manufacture and beam down a hundred flintlocks for the tribesmen. Scott questions the unusual order, and Kirk answers, "Serpents for the Garden of Eden."

The story is introduced by Peter Howe, a distant relative of the Merrye family, who discusses the now-extinct "Merrye Syndrome", a genetic affliction unique to members of the family which causes them, starting in late childhood, to regress down the evolutionary ladder mentally and physically.

Ten years prior, a delivery man arrives at the decaying Merrye House, feared by locals, where three of the Merrye "children", Ralph, Virginia, and Elizabeth, live in seclusion with their protector and chauffeur Bruno (Chaney). All three exhibit playful innocence mixed with feral madness. Virginia, known as "Spider Baby" due to her obsession with spiders, murders the delivery man in a game of "spider", trapping him in a rope "web" before "stinging" him to death with butcher knives, and keeping one of his severed ears in a match box.

Peter and his sister Emily soon arrive, followed by their lawyer Schlocker and his secretary Ann, seeking to claim the property as rightful heirs. Although the group is shocked by the children's behavior, Bruno rebuffs Schlocker's suggestion to put the children in an institution, having sworn to the children's father to protect them for life. Emily and Schlocker insist on staying overnight to examine the situation, but with only two rooms available, Peter takes Ann into town to stay at an inn.

Schlocker investigates the house, finding the delivery man's ear before going down to the basement, where he is attacked by older, deformed members of the Merrye family, and then murdered by Virginia and Elizabeth. Seeing Schlocker's body, Bruno tells Virginia and Elizabeth that it will be hard to protect them from more men like him in the future, reminding them that Ralph is almost ready to join their older relatives in the basement. At the behest of the Merrye girls, Bruno devises a plan to keep them from being separated, and leaves to fetch supplies. In his absence, the girls chase a terrified Emily out into the woods, where she is captured and raped by Ralph.

Finding no rooms available in town, Peter and Ann are forced to return to the mansion, where Virginia and Elizabeth, fearing the consequences of what will happen if their crimes are discovered, make a plan to take care of them. Elizabeth escorts Ann to her room, leading her into the clutches of Ralph, while Virginia starts a game of "spider" with Peter, tying him to a chair before preparing to "sting" him with her knives. However, Elizabeth intervenes to ask for help with Ann, who is struggling against her and Ralph.

In the woods, Emily awakes traumatised and delirious. Sexually aggressive and murderous, she returns to the house and attacks Ralph while his sisters struggle to defend him. Meanwhile, Peter escapes his confinement and frees Ann. Bruno reveals that he plans to blow up himself, the house, and the Merrye relatives with dynamite used for blasting on a nearby construction site, and urges Peter to flee the house as quickly as possible. Peter escorts Ann to safety as the house explodes behind them.

In the present day, Peter finishes recounting the story, explaining that, as the sole remaining heir, he inherited the vast Merrye family fortune, married Ann, and wrote a book on the "Merrye Syndrome" phenomenon. He adds that his branch of the family was distant enough to be immune to the syndrome - however, the film ends with Peter's young daughter admiring a spider in its web, in the same manner as Virginia.

A year has passed since the events of ''Crocodile Dundee'', and Mick Dundee and Susan "Sue" Charlton are living happily together in New York. Although Mick's ignorance of city life is a hazard when he attempts to continue his former lifestyle, like blast fishing in Manhattan's waters, Sue's writing has made him a popular public figure. He later goes to work for Leroy Brown, a mild-mannered stationery salesman trying to live up to his self-conceived 'bad guy in the streets' image.

While working for the DEA in Colombia, Sue's ex-husband Bob (mentioned, but not seen, in the first movie) takes photographs of a drug cartel leader's murder of an unknown person, and is spotted by one of the cartel's sentries. He sends the photographs to Sue before being murdered. Colombian Cartel leader Luis Rico and his brother and top lieutenant, Miguel, go to New York City to retrieve the photos.

The gangsters take Sue hostage, leading Mick to ask Leroy for help. Leroy contacts a local street gang, whom Mick asks to create a distraction by caterwauling at the mansion's perimeter, leading most of the cartel's guards on a wild goose chase while Mick rescues Sue. Rico goes into hiding to avoid arrest, and after his henchmen fail a subsequent attempt to kill Sue, Mick decides to take Sue to Australia to protect themselves on familiar ground. In Walkabout Creek, Mick is enthusiastically welcomed back by friends. After getting provisions, he and Sue take refuge on his personal land, named Belonga Mick ('Mick's Place'; see bilong in Tok Pisin). Here, Sue discovers that Mick legally owns a large plot of land, including a gold mine.

Rico and his men track them to Australia, where they hire some locals to assist, but their Aboriginal tracker abandons them when he hears that their quarry is Mick (the implication being that Mick is a good and respected friend). The gangsters then take Mick's friend Walter as a hostage, but Mick saves his friend by shooting Walter slightly.

Walter convinces the gangsters that Mick's failed attack was because he is the only person suitable to guide them, so they take him as a replacement tracker. He then leads the gangsters on a false trail through the Outback, during which Mick, with the help of his Aboriginal friends he summoned with a bullroarer, manages to reduce the opposition's numbers one by one, leaving the rest increasingly nervous. In the end, he retrieves Walter from Rico and Miguel, leaving the latter to face him alone.

Rico sets a bushfire in a ploy to corner Mick, but Mick regains the upper hand, captures Rico, and switches clothes with him to lure Miguel into a vulnerable position. Sue, Walter, and Miguel begin shooting at the pair from a distance, mistaking their targets for each other. Walter and Miguel shoot Mick and Rico, respectively, and Rico falls down an escarpment to his death. Sue shoots and kills Miguel, after which they learn of the clothing switch from one of the aborigines. Sue is relieved to find that Walter's shot has only wounded Mick, and the two embrace. He asks her if she is ready to go home, to which she joyfully replies, "I ''am'' home."

Gil Buckman, a St. Louis sales executive, is trying to balance his family and his career. When he finds out that his eldest son, Kevin, has emotional problems and needs therapy and that his two younger children, Taylor and Justin, both have issues as well, he begins to blame himself and questions his abilities as a father. When his wife, Karen, becomes pregnant with their fourth child he is unsure he can handle it.

Gil is also frustrated and fearful that the financial burdens of another child and office politics at work are turning him into the detached workaholic he despised in his own father, Frank. Humbled by family and work issues, Gil opens up to Frank about his doubts as a parent. Frank tells him that he worries too much, and they have a reconciliation of sorts with Frank telling Gil that worry for one's children never ends. Gil is finally able to accept the life he has chosen after his elderly grandmother tells him the story of her first experience riding a roller coaster when she was young and was amazed at all of the different emotions she experienced compared to the merry-go-round which was simple and bland.

Gil's older sister, Helen, is a divorced bank manager whose wealthy dentist ex-husband wants nothing to do with their kids, Garry and Julie, aside from small child support payments, and spends more time with his own second family. Garry, who has just entered puberty, is quiet and withdrawn and likes to be alone in his room with a mysterious paper bag. At first, Helen worries that it contains drugs or alcohol, but later finds it actually contains pornography.

Julie is still in high school but is not interested in her education. She and her boyfriend, Tod Higgins, get married, she becomes pregnant, and Tod moves into Helen's house. Helen asks Tod to talk with Garry believing he would be more comfortable confiding to another male. Tod reassures Garry that his obsession with girls and sex is normal for a boy his age, to Garry's relief. This also increases Helen's respect for Tod. Eventually, she supports Tod and Julie's relationship to the extent that when Julie wants to break up with Tod, Helen orders her to face her fears and work on their relationship. Helen also starts dating Garry's science teacher, giving Garry a father figure he has long been without.

Gil and Helen's younger sister, Susan, is a middle school teacher married to scientist and researcher Nathan Huffner. They have a precocious daughter, Patty. Susan wants more children, but Nathan is more interested in Patty's cognitive development. Susan lashes out by eating junk food and compromises her diaphragm as a plan to get pregnant against Nathan's wishes. She eventually gets so frustrated that she leaves Nathan, who eventually comes to one of her classes and serenades her to win her back promising her he will try to change. She agrees to move back home.

The youngest, Larry, is the black sheep of the family but is Frank's favorite. Rather than settle into a career, he has drifted through life trying to cash in on get-rich-quick schemes. He has recently shown up along with his biracial son, Cool (the result of a brief affair with a Las Vegas showgirl), asking to borrow money from Frank. It soon becomes apparent that he needs it to pay off gambling debts ($26,000 worth) or he will be killed. Frank is disillusioned but still loves him and tries to help. Frank refuses to bail him out completely but offers to teach him the family business so he can take over for Frank who has to put off retirement to pay off the debt. However, Larry instead suggests another get-rich-quick scheme which involves him going to Chile. Frank agrees to look after Cool knowing that Larry will most likely never return.

The family is reunited at the hospital when Helen gives birth to a daughter. Frank holds Cool. Tod and Julie are together, raising their son. Susan is visibly pregnant. Gil and Karen are now the parents of four.

Like most of Kay's novels, this contains a large amount of political intrigue and religious strife. At the opening of the novel, the peninsula of Al-Rassan (formerly known as Esperaña when under Jaddite control) is split between three Jaddite kingdoms in the north (Valledo, Ruenda and Jaloña) and Asharite kingdoms in the south, of which Cartada and Ragosa figure most prominently in the story. After centuries of being dominated by the Asharites, the Jaddite kingdoms are regaining their strength, while the once-powerful khalifate of Al-Rassan is divided and vulnerable.

In Fezana, a city in the north of Al-Rassan close to the borderlands with Valledo, Jehane unwittingly prevents one of her patients, a merchant named Husari ibn Musa, from being executed by Asharite King Almalik of Cartada during a purge of Fezana's leading citizens. By giving Husari shelter when the danger is revealed, Jehane puts her own life in danger. As a result, she flees Fezana at the same time that the Jaddite commander Rodrigo Belmonte of Valledo and his company have come to Al-Rassan for their ''parias'' gold - regular tribute given to the Jaddite kingdoms. A different group of Valledans, led by the brother of the powerful constable of Valledo, brutally attack a village outside the walls of Fezana. Rodrigo steps in to halt the slaughter of the villagers, leading to the eventual death of the brother. As a result, Rodrigo is exiled by King Ramiro. Rodrigo and Jehane make their way to Ragosa, to the court of King Badir.

Almalik set up the purge in Fezana to be blamed on his longtime courtier Ammar ibn Khairan. Ammar joins forces with the king's heir (also called Almalik) and assassinates the father. The new king Almalik II then exiles Ammar from Cartada and Ammar also travels to Ragosa. Rodrigo, Ammar and Jehane are brought together in the court of King Badir, where Ammar and Rodrigo are hired as mercenaries, and Jehane as a physician. They form a close connection which forms the heart of the story. Jehane develops feeling for Ammar but sees her relationship with Rodrigo to simply be that of friends.

The admiration of the two men for each other is obvious, as they are the 'best' each nation has to offer. However the shelter and stability they find in the wealthy and worldly city of Ragosa is threatened by events occurring far beyond the city walls. The Jaddites begin a holy war against the Asharite kingdom of Ammuz and the Kindath city of Sorenica, in a rough parallel to the Crusades. Clerics from Ferrieres urge the kings of the Jaddite kingdoms of Esperaňa to launch their own wars of reconquest against their Asharite neighbours. To the south of Al-Rassan, in the Majriti Desert lands, the Muwardis, who practice a stricter version of the Asharite religion, are impelled to intervene in the affairs of Al-Rassan, as much to repel the Jaddites as to cleanse the Asharite lands of their luxury-loving leaders. Both the Jaddites and the Asharites also exhibit violent outbreaks against the Kindath. Jehane's father, the famed physician Ishak ben Yonannon and her mother, Eliane, are rescued by Rodrigo just as a violent mob in Fezana storm the Kindath quarter with the intent of massacring its residents. Ishak then performs an astonishing operation on Diego, the young son of Rodrigo, who has been savagely assaulted by the Muwardi.

The deep loyalties of Rodrigo Belmonte and Ammar ibn Khairan to Valledo and Cartada respectively mean that their eventual conflict becomes inevitable. The two finally meet on the battlefield, each at the head of opposing armies. The two commanders duel and one is killed. The story concludes with an afterword set some years in the future, which reveals firstly that the Jaddite kingdoms have recaptured Al-Rassan (mirroring the Reconquista) and eventually the identity of the victor of the duel.

22-year-old private detective Cordelia Gray walks into the London office she shares with former police detective Bernie Pryde to find her partner has committed suicide. Pryde has left everything, including his unlicensed handgun, to Cordelia, who decides to keep the failing agency open out of gratitude. When she returns to her office from the funeral service, she is visited by her first client, Elizabeth Leaming, assistant to prominent scientist Sir Ronald Callender, whose son Mark recently hanged himself.

Cordelia travels to Cambridge, where Mark had left university and taken a job as gardener despite decent grades and the prospect of a considerable inheritance from his maternal grandfather. Her task is to discover the reason for Mark’s death but she begins to suspect foul play. She meets Mark's student friends, who are reluctant to talk and attempt to convince Cordelia that his death really was suicidal.

Cordelia decides to move into the rundown cottage on the estate where Mark had worked. As she sifts through Mark's effects, trying to get a clearer picture of his life, she becomes ever more convinced that his death could not have been suicide. Repeatedly, friendly overtures from Mark's former companions try to lead her away from the investigation but Cordelia is determined to succeed in her first solo case. Returning to the cottage one night and finding an effigy hanging from the same hook on which Mark's body had been suspended convinces her that someone is trying to scare her off.

She finds out that a certain Nanny Pilbeam, formerly nanny to Mark's mother, had attended Mark's cremation and goes to question her. The old woman tells Cordelia that she went to see Mark at his college and gave him a Book of Common Prayer that his mother had wanted him to have when he turned 21. Cordelia finds the book in the cottage and discovers in it evidence that Lady Callender could not have been Mark's mother.

Back at the cottage the following night, someone attacks Cordelia, throws her down a well and replaces the cover. She is saved by a combination of her own resourcefulness and the good luck that the cottage owner notices the well has been tampered with. Cordelia in turn lies in wait with Bernie's gun in order to ambush her would-be killer. He turns out to be Sir Ronald's laboratory assistant, Lunn, who had been tailing her during her investigations. However, he escapes in his van, only to die in a collision with a truck. Certain now of her case, Cordelia continues to Sir Ronald's house, where Miss Leaming takes her gun from her and leads her to Sir Ronald. Cordelia privately accuses him of the murder of his son, which he defiantly admits, sure that nothing can be proved against him. Miss Leaming, however, who has overheard him, enters the office and shoots him with Cordelia's gun.

Miss Leaming confesses to Cordelia that she was Mark's true mother but was prevented from telling him by Sir Ronald. Lady Callender had been infertile and died shortly after Mark's birth. Sir Ronald had murdered Mark when he was close to discovering the truth, so as not to lose his wife's fortune. Cordelia sympathises with Miss Leaming and the two rearrange the crime scene to look like yet another suicide and it is accepted as such by the coroner. The case, however, is referred to Chief Superintendent Adam Dalgliesh, who had been Bernie Pryde’s commander originally and then sacked him. Word arrives during their interview that Leaming has been killed in a car crash, allowing Cordelia to maintain the fiction they concocted together. Dalgliesh admits to Cordelia, based on his observation of her abilities, that perhaps he had underrated Pryde. He also believes that he has worked out the true facts of the case, but in private conference with his superiors says there is little point in disturbing the official story in view of the social and international pressures on the police.

Cordelia returns resignedly to the agency and finds her next client waiting, a man who believes his 'lady friend' might be cheating on him.

Professor Edward Johnston (Billy Connolly) leads an archaeological study of the village of Castlegard, near LaRoque Castle, in Dordogne, France, the site of the 1357 hanging of Lady Claire, sister to Arnaut de Cervole. Her martyrdom led France to win the Hundred Years War against the English. Johnston's team includes Scottish archaeologist André Marek (Gerard Butler); students Kate Erickson (Frances O'Connor), Josh Stern (Ethan Embry), and François Dontelle (Rossif Sutherland); and his son Chris (Paul Walker), who is infatuated with Kate. While excavating a nearby monastery, they find a sarcophagus containing the remains of a French knight with a lopped ear, holding the hand of his lady, an unheard-of practice for the time.

Johnston travels to the American headquarters of the ITC Corporation, his project's sponsor, to inquire whether or not they have tampered with the site. The students later discover a pair of Johnston's bifocals and a note begging for help, although both date over 600 years old. When the students contact ITC, the company invites them to its headquarters.

There, the team is introduced to ITC president Robert Doniger (David Thewlis) and vice-president Steven Kramer (Matt Craven). Doniger reveals that, in the process of developing teleportation technology, they locked onto a stable wormhole to 1357 Castlegard. Johnston was invited to see the past for himself, but his group has not returned, and they want the students to go back in time to locate him. All but Josh volunteer to go.

The volunteers are stripped of all modern technology – save for pendant-shaped markers they can use to initiate their return. Along the way, the students are joined by a security team, including ITC's head of security Frank Gordon (Neal McDonough) and two former military men.

Upon arrival in 1357, the team finds itself in the path of a young woman (Anna Friel) chased by English knights; the security men are killed while protecting the group, although one activated his marker shortly after priming a grenade. When his body arrives in the present, the grenade detonates and shatters much of the teleportation device. Josh aids Kramer in making repairs.

The team evades the knights, and the woman leads them to the English-controlled Castlegard. They are captured and brought before Lord Oliver de Vannes (Michael Sheen) and his second-in-command, Sir William De Kere (Marton Csokas). The team members are stripped of their markers, and Oliver kills François, believing he is a French spy. The others are imprisoned along with Johnston, who is revealed to have promised Oliver that he can make Greek fire for the English in exchange for his life. They make their escape but are pursued by the English. Gordon and Johnston are recaptured, while the others make for the monastery, led by the woman.

Sir De Kere reveals himself to Gordon and Johnston as former ITC employee William Decker, who had frequently used the teleportation device but was not told by ITC that each use damaged his DNA until it was too late, at which point he would die on a return trip. He plans revenge on ITC and kills Gordon. Oliver orders his knights to march on LaRoque castle, and De Kere brings Johnston along.

At the monastery, Marek, Kate, and Chris meet Arnaud and realize the woman is Lady Claire – they find out that they have changed history by saving her. Marek, who has become infatuated with Lady Claire, is given a horse to rescue his friends. Kate and Chris help to swing the upcoming battle in the French's favor by leading de Arnaud's men through the monastery tunnels they had previously mapped to the castle.

As the battle starts, Marek and Lady Claire is captured during his rescue attempt. But Marek manages to free himself, Lady Claire, and Johnston, while Chris helps Arnaud defeat Oliver. Enraged, De Kere slashes off Marek's earlobe, and Marek realizes he is destined to be the knight in the sarcophagus. Marek defeats De Kere, recovers the markers, gives them to the others, and says his goodbyes as he runs off to help the French assure victory and restore history.

As the three returnees activate their markers, in the present Josh and Kramer have finished the repairs after coming to learn that Doniger has attempted to sabotage their attempts, as he fears that when the students' stories become public, ITC will suffer great financial losses. As the machine activates, Doniger races into it, attempting to block the teleportation, but instead he is sent back to 1357, where he arrives outside the castle and is presumably killed by a charging knight.

Chris, Kate, and Johnston safely return. Later, the team returns to the Castlegard ruins, re-examines the sarcophagus, and finds that Marek and Lady Claire led a prosperous life after the war and had three children: Christophe, Katherine, and François.

In ''007 Racing'', a high ranking European diplomat and businessman plans to hijack a shipment of NATO weapons and smuggle them to international terrorists inside cars that roll off the assembly line of his automotive plants. As Bond, it is up to the player to stop him. The gamer is supplied with several gadget-filled cars from the Bond universe to thwart the villain.

The story opens with Bond rescuing Cherise Litte from an Eastern European country (presumably Estonia) and getting her over the border in his Aston Martin DB5. Upon his return to London he is informed by M that a freighter carrying top secret NATO weapons including laser-guided surface-to-air missiles, long-range missiles, missile shields, latest GPS technology and Q equipped BMW 750iL bound for Halifax was intercepted in the Labrador Sea, south of Greenland. Bond is tasked with finding the cargo. His mission takes him to New York City, where he is met by his friend from the CIA Jack Wade. Upon arriving in New York he is informed by a villain that a bomb has been planted on his car and that any attempt to defuse it or slow down the vehicle will cause it to explode. Bond jettisons the car in the Hudson River.

Bond continues on with finding the electromagnetic pulse device that was stolen and destroying ten computers in distribution center from which a car transporter carrying the smuggling cars. He intercepts the transporter with his Aston Martin. Bond then goes to Mexico with his BMW Z3, to where he was pointed by questioning the transporter driver, the henchman Whisper. He is trying to track Zukovsky and once he manages, he finds out that behind everything is Dr Hammond Litte, Cherise's father, and that her rescue was just a decoy mission aiming to distract him from the freighter. Bond then engages in race with Xenia Onatopp and her Ferrari F355 after which he gets captured and taken to Louisiana. He manages to escape and finds the stolen BMW, after which he pursues and destroys the boat driven by Jaws.

Back in New York, Bond downloads the files from four limousines with his BMW Z8 and discovers that Litte's real plan is to release a deadly virus that will kill millions. Bond then goes to the Baltic Sea with his Lotus Esprit and after infiltrating opponent's underwater base he destroys the plane transporting the virus.

Donald, an Army private, is on an all-day march with his unit. He keeps up his enthusiasm for the first few miles and starts to mark them off on the pack of the soldier in front of him, but fatigue and unforgiving weather conditions - first rain, then snow, then heat - soon take their toll on him. By the time the unit commander calls a halt for the day, the tally marks cover not only the soldier's pack, but the backs of his arms, legs, and helmet as well. An exhausted and famished Donald quickly dumps out a mountain of gear from his pack, but he is not allowed to eat until he has set up his tent. It takes him only seconds to do this, but the tent soon collapses and he ends up struggling long into the night to set it up again. He dumps a bucket of water over the sagging canvas, causing it to shrink and rip in half.

As Donald tries to get some sleep, the peculiar snoring patterns of his fellow soldiers - bugler, drummer, machine gunner, mortar artilleryman - keep waking him up. The moment he passes out from exhaustion, the bugler plays reveille to wake everyone up for the new day. He hurriedly crams all his gear into his pack, now comically bulging out in all directions, but inadvertently lashes it to a pine tree as he is tying down the cover. When the unit moves out, he stumbles after the other soldiers, uprooting the pine tree and dragging it along with his pack.

The Federation starship ''Enterprise'' inspects an unmanned station at Gamma II. Captain Kirk, Communications Officer Lieutenant Uhura and navigator Ensign Chekov attempt to transport, but disappear before the system activates. Commander Spock orders a search for them and discovers an ion trail.

Kirk, Uhura, and Chekov find themselves in a gladiator arena on a strange planet. They are attacked by four humanoids and subdued. Galt, Master Thrall of Triskelion, informs them that they will be trained in games to entertain his masters, the Providers. Each is fitted with a "collar of obedience" that engages when they disobey Galt's orders. Uhura, Chekov, and Kirk are assigned individual "drill thralls": Lars, Tamoon, and Shahna, respectively. After a period of training, the Providers bid for the new thralls in their currency, "quatloos".

While running among ancient ruins outside the arena, Kirk tries gaining information about the Providers from Shahna, but her collar is activated when she speaks too freely. Kirk protests that he should have been the one punished, and when they are returned to their cells, Shahna expresses her appreciation for this. When she moves to embrace him, Kirk knocks her unconscious, and uses her key to free himself, Uhura, and Chekov, but they are stopped by Galt.

The ''Enterprise'' follows the ion trail, finding a planet with a humanoid settlement. As Spock and Chief Medical Officer Dr. McCoy prepare to beam down, the voice of Provider One warns them not to transport. Kirk's voice is also heard, and he brings them up to date. Kirk challenges the Providers to show themselves and finds himself in an underground chamber; The Providers are three disembodied brains. Kirk offers them a wager: he and his two officers will fight an equal number of thralls. If Kirk and his party win, the Providers will teach the thralls to govern themselves. If they lose, the ''Enterprise'' crew will become thralls. The Providers agree, stipulating that Kirk must battle three thralls alone.

As the ''Enterprise'' crew watches from the ship, Kirk kills two thralls and injures a third. Galt sends in Shahna. Kirk subdues her, and she surrenders. The Providers declare that Kirk has won the wager and unlock the thralls' collars. Shahna expresses a desire to follow Kirk to the stars, but he answers that she and the other thralls must first learn to live in their newfound freedom.