A Saga of Tanya the Evil/The Irregular at Magic High School crossover.

I do not in any way, shape, or form lay claim to either of these works.

This is just a work of admiration from one fan, to those others that share the same interest.

The only characters or places I lay claim to are those solely of my own creation

Chapter 34, The Seven Schools Competition: No plan survives contact with the enemy (Or, for that matter, your friends).

While no one from the hotel or school had stopped by to check in on the pair, they did not pass the night without a visitor. A short time after they had finished cleaning up and Tanya had let herself rest, a cautious knock was heard from out of sight on the door jamb of their room.

Visha continued to aim the pistol she had acquired as she waited to see what happened next. She relaxed marginally when she heard her particular challenge phrase being called out. "The bratwurst was horrible today."

Visha answered calmly while the pistol never moved. "I liked the sauerkraut ."

"I would have preferred schnitzel." came the response.

Visha nodded as she lowered her pistol as two security agents and a medic came into the room. The agents wore the dark suits that she had gotten used to for the guards that were not in uniform. The medic was one that Visha had dealt with often before, and certainly looked like he was out of his comfort zone as he eyed the mess in the room.

"Any injuries?" The medic asked as he knelt next to Visha.

"None, but you had best let me wake her up, or that will change rapidly. She doesn't handle strangers waking her up well." Visha explained as she leaned in close and gently shook Tanya's shoulder while she whispered softly in her ear. What she said went unheard by the others, but Tanya woke up without reaching for the weapon at her side.

"About time you got here. I thought that we might be allowed some time without adult supervision." Tanya said in her usual snarky manner as she stood up and stretched.

The medic nodded as he checked Visha over, before doing the same for Tanya. "We were situated off campus, unfortunately. We couldn't risk being too high profile, what with how many foreign guests there are here." He explained as he pulled out his portable reader and checked on Visha's integrated CAD.

"Well, there are a few less now. Are you going to expect us to handle any other problems?" Tanya said as she sat down a bit closer to Visha than before.

"We will have a detail watching the area. Honestly, who is going to notice one more when there are so many already." The medic said as he finished his check. "We are ready to move you two to another room." He said as the security guards moved to grab their luggage.

Tanya sighed as she eyed the balcony and nodded as the pair quickly packed up the last of their loose possessions and made their way to their new room.

"You think that we will have any more door knockers anytime soon?" Tanya asked, as Visha swept the room out of habit.

"You should be okay for tonight, at least. A bit of targeted violence usually makes all the rest of the roaches hide for a while." one of the guards said as they saw the two teens settled in. "We will be in the room next doors, if you two need anything."

That said, the trio of agents from the project made their way out as Tanya and Visha looked at each other and laughed. "You get some rest, Visha. I will keep the rest of the watch tonight." Tanya said as she settled in, the pistol resting in her lap.

Visha gave Tanya a long look then nodded as she slipped into her bed. "If you get tired, feel free to go to bed." Visha yawned as she rolled over, and Tanya wasn't sure if she heard the rest correctly or not, but it sounded like Visha said. "Mine or yours. Doesn't matter what one."

Tanya just sat there and let that percolate through her brain as Visha's usual soft snores and restless sleep talk soothed her nerves.

Tanya sighed as she let her head roll back and relaxed. They had done this same thing on so many nights in one front or another that this felt far more real than the peaceful days did. Tanya knew that Visha was just as haunted as she was by what they had seen, what they had done. But Visha seemed to handle it better, for the most part. Tanya had often wondered about that, but recently she thought she might have come to a conclusion.

Visha was no better at dealing with it all than Tanya herself was. She just buried it better under a jovial, carefree attitude and taking care of others. She found the answer to why she was still alive in that, or at least that was the conclusion that Tanya had reached.

Tanya figured that it wasn't healthy, but at least she seemed to be able to sleep without assistance. Something that Tanya herself seemed to have not achieved on her own.

Tanya looked at her longtime partner and watched her sleep then nodded to herself. She was going to become a real support for Visha. She was going to help her friend endure this, and come out a better person on the other side.

Just like Visha had done for her.

Tanya smiled as she moved to sit in the chair next to Visha, and rested her free hand on the hand Visha had above the blankets. It was a nice feeling, one that was worth two lives and three worlds.

With a determined look in her blue eyes, Tanya settled in for her silent vigil.

The next morning came, and with it a curious Jane was the first person to knock at their door. "Hello? Tanya? Visha? I went to your room, and there were servicemen repairing your door. They said that you had been moved to this room? Everything okay?" she asked.

Visha opened the door as the sound of the shower seeped from the bathroom. "Good morning, Jane. Yes, we just had some try a bit hard to get in, and they broke our door. Tanya's in the shower right now, but she will be out in two minutes."

"Two minutes?" Jane asked as the shower stopped and Visha just gave Jane an almost smug look. Exactly two minutes later Tanya walked out of the bathroom wearing her school uniform and pulling her hair back.

"Good morning, Jane. I see you had no problems finding us." Tanya said as she picked up her morning cup of coffee.

"I asked at the desk when I saw your old room. I wanted to see if you two wanted to join me for breakfast?" Jane asked as she smiled and tried to hide her nerves.

A quick glance passed between the two veterans, then Visha smiled and nodded. "We would love to, Jane."

Jane smiled and relaxed minutely. "Thank you, I always enjoy my time with you both."

Visha nodded as Tanya grabbed her hand held, and the pair preceded Jane as they began to talk about the upcoming events of the day. Unseen by Jane was the quite, subtle hand gestures as the two compared impressions.

Tanya gestured out the message "She knows something."

Visha returned as she smiled and nodded in response to what Tanya had said about the Crowd Ball match later that morning. Her hands, though, conveyed their own message. "I agree."

Tanya cast a quick glance at Jane, taking in her stance, how she carried herself and how she interacted with them and looked forward to making sure that the grim look on her face went unseen by the subject of her speculation. It seemed unlikely that Jane would be involved with an attempt on either one of their lives, but moles and information brokers for all sides were not unheard of in any age or place. It was best to keep a closer eye on their friend. A quick glance at Visha showed the concern on her gentler friends face and Tanya sighed. Perhaps it was also time to see about getting the Project involved, to see if anyone had leverage on Jane, perhaps.

It was so much simpler when she knew who was trying to shoot her and why.

The trio made their way to the eatery, where they found Frieber and Sierber already waiting for them. The five of them said their good mornings and settled in for their meal while they planned out the next two days worth of events, before Visha gave a happy little wriggle like a puppy that just got a new bone. "I can't hardly wait, Tanya! In three days I get to see you in that costume while you participate in Mirage Bat!"

Tanya sighed and bowed her head. "I do wish that you would forget about that. I am more looking forward to it being over than anything else." Tanya said, while she contemplated the chance to have that talk with Visha once again. After the event seemed like the perfect time, as long as they didn't have any other uninvited guests trying to shoot either of them.

But perhaps that was too much to ask.

Tanya felt her hand held buzz with an incoming message as she looked to see who it was from. "Willa just messaged me. Said that she had something to relay to me, a picture. She says it's where she got the inspiration for my costume for Mirage Bat." Tanya noted the file being downloaded, and decided that she would share it with the starry eyed Visha later. She wasn't that interested herself, but Visha certainly was.

The conversation eventually died down, and the group broke up to go their separate ways with Jane casting one last long look at the pair of temporal refugees before she sighed and returned to her room to report to the new person that held her leash.

Earlier that morning…

Jane woke up to the phone giving a very particular buzz, one reserved for her handler. She sighed and bit her lip as she rolled over and answered it. "Morning, E. You know what time it is here? What did you need…. Sir." she said as she tried to wipe the sleep from her eyes. In a moment, she found herself completely awake.

"E is no longer your handler, Miss Donner. You may refer to me as D. I will be handling you from now on. As you will no doubt find out, being the diligent asset that you are, is that there was an attempt made of Miss Degurecheff and her companion, Miss Serebryakov. The attempt failed, but it's shoddy execution and lack of sanction have left us in an uncomfortable position. Now, what I need from you is all relevant information that you can deliver to me now, quickly, that might have led your former handler to make this rash decision to remove Miss Serebryakov."

Jane bit her lip as her pulse raced. "Were… Were they hurt?"

There was a moment's pause then a sigh. "No, neither one of the targets was injured in the debacle. We speculate that a third party provided support, either directly with approval from the two young ladies sponsors, or what is more likely that they saw an opportunity to deplete our on-ground assets in the area. Now, what led him to believe that Miss Serebryakov was enough of a threat to warrant such a messy attempt." D said as he referenced the files that E had made. Honestly, they became more and more disjointed as they progressed. It was clear that he had suffered some sort of mental breakdown.

"I.. Honestly, I don't know. The bigger threat would be Tanya, honestly. You aren't going to try and hurt them again, are you? If you are, I won't help you anymore. Not even though you have my grandmother. She would never approve of it." Jane said as she braced herself for the worst.

"No, we have no intentions of doing anything more than observing. That was the mandate we had tasked E with. And your grandmother will remain safe. I personally dislike the practice of using leverage on an asset. That said, we will if needed. Do keep that in mind, Miss Donner. I will do whatever the task at hand demands, regardless of personal reservations." D said as he accessed the files on the two subjects again.

Jane relaxed a little and nodded. "Okay, then what do you need me to do?"

"Just what you have been. Observe and report. I don't foresee any other action needing to be done at this time. It's better to track and understand another country's assets over removing them in most cases. It's best to know where they are spending their resources, and prepare for the threat you know than the one they kept hidden." D said as he closed the files and steepled his fingers. "I look forward to working with you, Miss Donner."

Jane doesn't answer as she hangs up the phone and looks at the clock. No way she could get back to sleep now, so she sets about getting ready for the day and heads out to check on the pair as soon as she can.

On finding that they had been moved to another room, she sighed and took a breath of relief she didn't know she had been holding.

They were safe, at least for now. Now, she just had to make sure they stayed that way, if she could. Without Tanya killing her, preferably.

Later, the two veterans were alone in their room once again as Tanya pulled out her handheld and opened the file to show Visha. The photo was obviously old, and showed signs of decay around the edges. Both of the veterans paused and drew in a breath as they saw the two men that stood in the middle of the picture. They were, without a doubt, First Lieutenant Rhiner Neuman and Second lieutenant Vooran Grantz.

The pair exchanged looks and shrugged. "It's not impossible that they had versions in this world, right?" Visha said as she gazed fondly at the old photo.

"It's not, but look at the insignia, Visha." Tanya said tersely.

Visha looked closer as she gasped. "Isn't that…" Visha said quietly as she looked at Tanya.

Tanya nodded grimly. "That is the insignia of the Salamander Kampfgruppe. With the designation that they are of the 203rd. These are not dopplegangers. These are our officers."

Attached to the photo was a small file. "I found this a while ago, and remembered it when I saw you. You just seemed like you fit the uniform that my great grandfather and his friend were wearing in the photo. It's funny, Lisa Neumann's and my family have always been close. When my mother married, she was given a copy of this photo and the uniform my great grandfather wore during the war with instructions to make sure that it was passed along to her child, so that the family's long history could be preserved. I am so glad that you like the costume, and appreciate it!

There I go rambling again.

Your friend,

Willa Victoria Von Eldstadt-Rhiner.

(I don't usually use the second half of my family name, since it's already a mouthful.)"

The silence that hung between the two was as loud as the rumble of distant artillery.