DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Touhou Project or Girls und Panzer. The Touhou Project belongs to Team Shanghai Alice, and Girls und Panzer belongs to its creators. I only own the storyline of this crossover fanfic.
-PROLOGUE-
"…"
"Huh."
"That was interesting."
With those words, the mysterious blonde woman wearing a lavish outfit got up from her seat and walked away gracefully.
The woman chuckled quietly to herself, holding a small disk case which read "Girls und Panzer, episodes 1-12".
"Ran!"
"What is it, Yukari-sama?"
"Call the usual people here tomorrow morning. I have another idea for them."
"…Sigh. As you wish, Yukari-sama I will do as you say."
-CHAPTER ONE-
"…Empty as usual, I see."
With a disgruntled sigh, the tired shrine maiden sat down next to her overly spacious donations box. Staring up at the sky, she engaged in a short period of silent thought.
…How dull… Nothing much has happened since that last incident. Though I'm not particularly fond of going out and mucking around fighting strange people I've never met, I think it might be getting a little… well… boring around here. I do wish something interesting would happen soon…
Suddenly, the shrine maiden opened her eyes in realization, then instinctively got to her feet, wary of anything unusual about to happen.
Nothing…
Nothing…
Nothing.
Breathing a sigh of relief, she sat back down and drank a sip from a cup of tea.
So she didn't show up after all, she thought. I suppose that means I'll have some peace and quiet for now-
"REIMU!"
Surprised, Reimu turned around hastily, only to be tackled full force by a black-and-white blur. She sprawled out onto the ground from the force of the impact, while hearing a crash somewhere behind her. Getting up on her feet, she turned to face the intruder, annoyed by what she saw.
"Oh, it's just you, Marisa."
The enthusiastic witch grinned at Reimu, as if expecting some form of congratulation on her dynamic entrance.
"How was that, Reimu? I've been training on my Stardust Reverie! I put more power into it this time!"
Reimu looked at her good friend with an irritated face.
"I told you not to do that whenever you visit. It's annoying being surprised like that and I have to fix the wall and clean up afterwards. If you're going to keep behaving like that, at least take some responsibility and help me with repairs."
Marisa pouted, puffing up her cheeks.
"Aw… Reimu's always so mean to me."
"Don't give me that. You keep trying to act cute and think that I'll forgive you. Anyway, what did you come here for?"
"Hmm? Oh, right, that. Well, you see… that Yukari is planning something for us and some of those other weird personalities."
Reimu scoffed at the words, looking away in irritation.
"Again? Well, whatever that old gap-hag is planning, tell her I'm not interested. I don't want anything to do with that meddling youkai."
"Actually, I think you may be interested this time. Apparently, it's some sort of contest. The winner gets some sort of cash prize."
Upon hearing the magic words, Reimu's eyes lit up. "Cash?"
"Mmm! It's right here on the brochure. Take a look!"
Marisa pushed a folded paper into Reimu's hands. Unfolding it, Reimu began to read.
"Gensokyo Tank Championship… Design a machine of war and pilot it yourself… yada yada yada… Oh wait, here it is. All participating contestants are eligible to win an 800,000 yen cash prize for attaining first place… 800,000 yen!? I'm rich! I'm RICH!" Reimu started frantically waving about the paper which was clutched tightly in her hand while prancing around blabbering about finances.
"Um… Reimu… you haven't won yet. We don't even know what this is about!" Marisa objected hurriedly, but then a thought crossed her mind.
"…But, from your reaction, I guess you'll be taking part then?" Marisa asked with a sly grin.
Reimu's eyes glinted with steely determination. "I will crush all opposition which stands in the way of me and my beautiful, beautiful money. I AM GOING TO WIN THIS! AND THE MONEY WILL BE MINE! ALL MINE!"
Reimu snapped out of her partial insanity and re-read the brochure. "Though what exactly are we supposed to do again? It says here that we're gonna be fighting using machines called 'tanks'. What the heck is a tank?"
Marisa shrugged. "Don't ask me, I've got no idea, ze. I guess we could ask the kappa about it, since they know a lot about machines. Although, Yukari did say that she would explain things to us if we went to the meeting place, so I guess we should go there first."
"And just where is this meeting place?" Reimu asked impatiently.
The words were barely out of her mouth when she felt the ground below them seemingly disappear. Before they knew it, the two girls fell through a pair of strange, purple holes in space.
"Ow!" "Oof!" A flat, solid surface greeted the falling girls. Rubbing her head, Reimu sat up and took a look around.
"Where are we?"
Marisa propped herself up and looked around, quickly analyzing their surroundings. They were in a spacious building with white walls out of something like stone. Around them lay various pieces of machinery and equipment, with tools arranged neatly on shelves.
"Some kind of… workshop, I'd say, though it seems rather well-kept and clean. It's probably just a meeting place created by Yukari to brief us in."
Reimu noticed a lot of other people around. They ranged greatly from the weakest of fairies to the most powerful of goddesses, from deep in Forest of Magic to the summits of the Youkai Mountain. There were dozens of people, mostly in the same dazed state as the two puzzled girls.
"Why are there so many people around?" Marisa asked Reimu.
"So you've noticed it too. Well, I think they were most likely also called to join the competition."
"That's right~" A deceptively sweet voice called out.
Oh, it's you" Reimu said impatiently.
A tall blonde figure shrouded by an elegant purple parasol emerged from a glowing purple gap in space with a grandiose display of ethereal butterflies. Majestically, she stepped out and closed her parasol, lowering it in a graceful sweep. Her sparkling blue eyes peered out from under her glimmering white hat, and her shining lips curled into a beautiful smile as she addressed the pair in front of her with a calm and collected voice capable of soothing demons.
"Greetings, Reimu Hakurei and Marisa Kirisame. It is certainly a pleasure seeing you here."
"Yeah, yeah. Just give up with the overly dramatic first impression thing. We've met before, you don't need to pull off this sort of display with me." Reimu placed her hands on her hips in impatience.
"Oh, but this is simply my standard way of greeting people" Yukari informed Reimu without losing an ounce of charisma.
"Whatever. Just tell us what this whole thing's about. I want to know how to get to my money." Reimu turned away from Yukari with a snort of irritation.
"I'm sorry, but you'll have to wait for the briefing to start. In the meantime, why not socialize with the people around?"
"Socialize? But I already know all of-" Reimu turned around to find an empty space where the powerful youkai once stood.
"Sigh. Still has that annoying habit of hers, I see."
Meanwhile, Marisa was busy chatting with a familiar group of people.
"So, Alice, you got invited too?" Marisa grinned.
"Hmmph. Yeah. Though I didn't really want to come, I- I just thought… since so many people would be here, I would j- just join in, you know, for fun. It- it's not like it's lonely the way I live or anything…" Alice stammered.
"Well, whatever this is, I'm sure you'll have fun!" Marisa smiled. Alice ceased her incessant frowning to show a slight smile as well.
*Cough, cough* "Hello there." A soft, sickly person with a soft, sickly voice approached the group, hovering above the ground.
"Oh, hi there, Patchouli! How did you get here? Did they send an invitation to your library?" Marisa probed curiously.
"Ah, no, they didn't." Patchouli replied.
"Then?"
"Well, the mistress got an invitation. Naturally, her *cough* massive ego acted up at the premonition of a competition. She immediately went into full on mightiest-youkai mode and rounded us up to *cough* go act as her supporters. I was dragged out too. And just when I was going to research a new spell, mukyu…" Patchouli sighed in irritation.
"So where are they now?" Marisa inquired inquisitively.
"Over there." Patchouli pointed a finger at a group of people in the distance. Upon a large red circular carpet rested a small white and red winged figure in an ornate armchair. An aura of immense power seemed to radiate from her. In front of her was an equally grand round table with a polished tea set. To her right stood a figure brimming with elegance and composure, standing elegantly at attention to serve her master with perfection and elegance. Everything about her embodied the concept of elegance.
In front of the carpet stood a woman in a green oriental dress, practicing fighting stances and doing various exercises, while a small blonde child watched in curiosity, her seven-coloured wings waving back and forth.
Suddenly, a small red-haired girl with two small pairs of black wings flew down to Patchouli.
"Master, I retrieved those books you requested" she politely reported, handing Patchouli a few books.
"Ah, thank you, Koakuma. Good to see you could find these. There aren't that many books on the outside world in our library." Patchouli flipped open the books, levitating them in front of her with magic. "I don't have anything for you to do now, so you can go stay with the mistress for now."
As Koakuma flew off, Marisa stepped behind Patchouli to peek at the books. "So, what spell are these for?" she immediately asked.
"These books are not for a spell, if that is what you believe. They are simply informative books from the outside world."
"Is that so?" asked Alice, also moving to view the books. "What are they about?"
"These," Patchouli explained, "are books describing the 'tank' machines which this competition is about. From what I can *cough* gather, 'tanks' are armoured fighting machines used for combat in the outside world. They have been in use for a long time, constantly developing and being upgraded by the residents there."
"I see" Marisa said with absorption of knowledge. "So, this means Yukari wants us to… fight? With these war machines? That's a little bit outlandish, even for her."
"How does that scheming youkai expect us to fight with these things, when we don't even know anything about them?" Alice puzzled.
"Well, Yukari will probably tell everyone about it in due ti-"
"LADIES AND GENTLEMAN!" came a booming voice.
Huh? Kourin is here too? Marisa pondered.
A pedestal rose up in the largely empty center of the building. Upon it stood Yukari, entering in an even more grandiose fashion than before.
"You are all probably wondering why I, Yukari Yakumo, have gathered you all here today. The reason is simple; I have decided to organize the first Gensokyo Tank Championship!"
Many murmurs and discussions were heard from the gathered crowd of watchers.
"You are all bound to be wondering: What does this entail? Well, simply put, everyone gathered here will be competing in a large-scale deathmatch battle using tanks!"
"Yup, just as I thought" Patchouli said. "So she really wants us to fight… sigh. I guess it can't be helped."
'Now you are all probably wondering: What are tanks? How do they fight? How are we involved? Well, I will answer all these questions! Tanks are armoured fighting machines from the outside world! Their purpose is to protect their crew while giving offensive firepower! They were created in…"
Yukari proceeded to describe tanks, their functions, designs and roles in clear detail to the mostly attentive crowd. Yeah, yeah, just get to the part about the money, Reimu thought to herself.
"In this competition, each team will design and build a tank, and use it to fight on the battlefield. Each tank is allowed to utilize one special ability from within your team. As such, if all the other teams are eliminated by knocking out their tanks, the team surviving will be the winner, and will receive an 800,000 yen cash prize!" Yukari declared.
YESSS! I'll win this thing for sure! Reimu clenched her fist in a sign of determination, a steeled grin on her face.
"Now then, form teams of four to six! The roles for crew members of a tank are as follows: A commander, to look out and direct the actions of the tank, a gunner, to man the main gun, a loader, to reload the main gun, a driver, to move the tank using the engine and a radio operator to allow communication with other tanks" Yukari announced. "Of course, since this is an individual tank battle, the radio operator is unnecessary, but it would be best to assign someone to the role in case the tanks get… reused… later." Yukari said with a sly grin on her face.
Now what could she possibly mean by that, everyone wondered simultaneously.
After a while, the teams were decided upon and reported to the center.
"Right, so this decides the teams which will participate!" Yukari announced with importance.
"Team 1: The Hakurei Team, with four members!
Commander: Reimu Hakurei!
Gunner: Suika Ibuki!
Loader: Tokiko!
Driver: Rinnosuke Morichika!
Radio Operator: Tokiko as well!
Right then, team 2! The Magic Team, also with four members!
Commander: Patchouli Knowledge!
Gunner: Marisa Kirisame!
Loade-"
"MARISA! HOW DARE YOU BETRAY ME!" Reimu shouted. "Oh well, it can't be helped. I won't give you a share of the cash prize when I win!"
"Please do not interrupt the announcements. I shall continue now.
Loader: Alice Margatroid!
Driver: Nitori Kawashiro!
Radio Operator: Alice Margatroid as well!
Next is Team 3: The Yakumo Team, with a crew of five!
Commander: Myself!
Gunner: My subordinate, Ran Yakumo!
Loader: Her subordinate, Chen!
Driver: Youmu Konpaku!
Radio Operator: Yuyuko Saigyouji!
Next we have Team 4: The Chireiden Team, with seven members!
Commander: Yuugi Hoshiguma!
Gunner: Hmm?"
Yukari momentarily stopped, staring at the listing in puzzlement.
"The Chireiden Team has two gunners! So, you plan for a tank with two guns?" Yukari grinned slyly.
"That's right!" came Yuugi's confident, loud voice. "We already decided on what it will look like!"
"If that is what you want, I have no complaints! I shall continue with the announcement!
Gunners: Utsuho Reiuji and Koishi Komeiji!
Loaders: Rin Kaenbyou and Kisume!
Driver: Parsee Mizuhashi!
Radio Operator: Yamame Kurodani!
Next, we have Team 5, the Eientei Team, with four members!
Commander: Eirin Yagokoro!
Gunner: Reisen Udongein Inaba!
Loader: Reisen as well!
Driver: Kaguya Houraisan!
Radio Operator: Tewi Inaba!
For Team 6, we have the Human Village team, with four members!
Commander: Kasen Ibaraki!
Gunner: Mokou Fujiwara!
Loader: Mokou as well!
Driver: Keine Kamishirasawa!
Radio Operator: Akyuu Hieda!
For Team 7, we have the Scarlet Devil Team, with five members!
Commander: Remilia Scarlet!
Gunner: Flandre Scarlet!
Loader: Koakuma!
Driver: Hong Meiling!
Radio Operator: Sakuya Izayoi!
For Team 8, the PC-98 Team, with five members!"
Yukari paused. "Your team's name is PC-98. What does that mean?"
"No idea" A green haired ghost magician shrugged. "We just named it that based on some weird hunch Shinki had."
"Fine then, back to the listing.
Commander: Shinki!
Gunner: Yuuka Kazami!
Loader: Elly!
Driver: Rika!
Radio Operator: Mima!
For Team 9, we have… well, they didn't quite give a name, so I guess they'll be just called Team 9!"
"I told you we should have went with 'The Strongest Team'!" a blue-haired fairy exclaimed.
"It's too late to do anything about it now, so just accept it!" her green-haired friend replied.
Commander: Cirno!
Gunner: Mystia Lorelei!
Loader: Rumia!
Driver: Daiyousei!
Radio Operator: Wriggle Nightbug!"
Yukari checked the paper once more, then folded it and tossed it aside.
"That concludes the team listing! We shall commence construction of the tanks immediately!"
Yukari waved her hand in front of her, opening a large gap facing the participants.
"This is a pocket realm I have prepared for you. It contains unlimited resources for construction of tanks. In addition, upon stepping into the realm, you will be granted full knowledge of engineering and vehicle construction for as long as you stay inside! Thus, without further ado, proceed with the construction at once!"
Upon finishing her speech, Yukari disappeared in a purple flash.