Starting Points: Stand-Alone Stories

Compiled by Schol-R-LEA

This is the third installement of the 'starting points' collections of links, meant for newcomers to the series. This entry covers a collection of stand-alone stories which might be helpful in getting the flavor of the Whateley Academy series. While most of them do have some referents to other stories, most of them should be readable without knowing a lot of the backstory.

Of particular interest are the Combat Finals stories, especially the ones from Fall 2006. The combat finals are a series of challenges every able-bodied student must go through at the end of each Fall and Spring term. Each term there is a different 'theme' to the conflicts, which are intended to test the students' ability to cope with dangerous situations - and drive home the lessons from the classes.While most students (officially) get paired at random with someone in their own bracket (Freshman/Sophomore or Junior/Senior), they also have some training teams assigned to 'The Crash', which is a series of hand-picked challenges for specific students.

The challenges are usually one-on-one, and don't necessarily involve fighting - despite the name, the combat finals actually reward students if they can win without fighting, provided it shows initiative and cunning. The Fall 2006 Freshman and Sophomore finals were one one one, and involved trying to get to a point in the arena and finish a series of questions before the other contestant. The Spring 2007 challenge was to resolve a hostage situation without harming the hostages. Harming the simulated bystanders and LEOs counts against you in all cases.

Despite the school's best efforts to remain hidden and anonymous, the footage alays seem to leak out to the promoters of the 'Mutant Deathmatch' Pay-Per-View shows, and betting is common both within the school and outside. Funny how that happens...

Stand-alone stories

• The Bad Seeds
• A Single Fold
• The Case of the Poisonous Patent
• Three Little Witches
• The Big Idea
• Ask Not For Whom The Belle Tolls
• Baker's Dozen
• Silent Nacht
  • Part 1
  • Part 2
  • Part 3
  • Part 4
  • Part 5
• I Looked Into The Abyss, and It Winked
  • Part 1
  • Part 2
  • Parts 3-6
  • Part 7 & 8
  • Part 9
  • Part 10

Stories About Jobe

• The Book of Jobe
• The Second Book of Jobe
  • Part 1
  • Part 2
  • Part 3
  • Part 4
• No Beast So Fierce - takes place concurrent to 2nd Book of Jobe Parts 2-4
• Saks and Violence

Stories about Aquerna

• Never Look a Gift Squirrel in the Mouth
• Straight from the Squirrel's Mouth
  • Part 1
  • Part 2
  • Part 3
  • Part 4
  • Part 5
  • Part 7
  • Part 8
  • Part 9
  • Part 10
• Spring, and a Young Squirrel's Fancy...

Beyond the Academy grounds

• Sara's Little Purple Book - a primer on the difficulties of intimate relationships when superpowers are involved.
• Crime and Chaos - this one is basically a "Law and Order" pastiche, but it does give a look at the world outside of the school. One of the detectives, Janice Talbert, later reappears as a new teacher.
• Mimeographic- more backstory material, from the perspective of one of the major villains

Fall 2006 Combat Finals

• The Pushover - Bugs vs. Tarmac
• Never Look a Gift Squirrel in the Mouth - Aquerna vs. Buster
• Stress Fracture - Fractious vs. Stopwatch
• What's Up, Dork? - Foxfire vs. OMAG
• Chasing the Dragon - She-Beast vs. Zhong Lau
• Gearhead - Loophole vs. Sizzle
• Combat Boot - Phase vs. Belphegor
• A View to a Smell - Peeper v.s Miasma