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.
Of combat training and cultural revelations
Tuesday June 10th, 7:20 pm, 2094
The three boys that were talking amongst themselves stop as they hear the diminutive blond chime in, all three turning to look at her. The tall, gangly boy on the right looks at Tanya for a moment, then finds the ground very interesting as he fidgets. The short, stocky blond gives her an impish grin and shrugs, then looks to the broad shouldered, dark of hair and eye boy standing in the middle. "Want to handle this, Friedrich?" He asks of the boy who had fixed Tanya with a condescending gaze.
"Of course, Heinrich." The boy addressed as Friedrich says with a sigh. "Shouldn't you be off playing your little games with your fancy dresses? We have real work to do over here if we are going to win this year's competition." He says in a dismissive manner.
Tanya fixes him with her usual cold stare, a sardonic little smirk gracing her elfin features. "Oh? And here I thought you three were playing dress up? Since you're wearing those outfits, but you don't seem to have any idea of what to do with them. I'm sorry, I thought I was speaking to the monolith code team, not the boys that warm up their gear for them."
Visha has the good graces to blush a bit and shake her head, well used to her former superiors' way of 'introducing' herself to others. 'She really needs to learn how to play well with others.' she thought to herself as she bit down the reaction of apologizing for her companion.
Friedrich bristles at that, narrowing his eyes at Tanya. "And you think you could do better? Go away, Monolith Code is only for men to participate in." He starts to turn away, making a dismissive motion with his hand.
Tanya seems unfazed, if anything the smirk is growing into a grin. "Really? There are men here? I must have missed them. I'm sorry if I disturbed your playtime, my companion and I will go see if we can find the actual team." She turns on her heel and starts to stride away, Visha bobbing her head in an apologetic manner before hurrying to catch up.
"Wait, what did you say, little girl?" Friedrich turns back, clenching his hand as he stares with those dark eyes at the back of Tanya's head.
She turns and regards him with a sweet look. "Oh? Did you not hear me? I said that we will go find the actual team. We are sorry to disturb your playtime."
Friedrich glares at Tanya, then glances at his two companions. "Fine, how about we show you what this game is about. Just a friendly little demonstration, little girl. So, where is your third? It takes three to play."
Tanya sighs, looking about. "Well, since there seems to be just the two of us, what can we do? I guess we will just have to make do with what we have." She gives him a sweet grin. "So, want to explain the rules to us poor, sweet little girls, or do you need to go ask someone who knows firsts?"
Visha pipes in at this point, the usual look of abashed horror at her companion's antics finally breaking free of her restraint. "Tanya! It's not nice to pick on those that are weaker than you, you know that." She admonishes her amused companion, then turns and dips her head in an apologetic manner. "I apologize for what she said, she never knows when to hold back when she goes to speak her mind about things, especially if it's the blunt truth of the matter. You would think she would have learned some tact by now…." She trails off as she notices that Friedrich looks even more upset, and his short team mate is struggling to keep from laughing out loud. "Did...I say something to upset you?" She says nervously.
Tanya waves her hand. "He is just having problems accepting the reality of the situation, that is all."
Friedrich takes a breath, the anger clear in his eyes as he mechanically starts to recite off the few rules and guidelines to Monolith Code, his gaze boring into Tanya like he wished he could kill her with a look.
Tanya nods along, inwardly pleased at how off center he was already, formulating her plan for dealing with the three. Tactics and strategy were things that she would have to instruct them in, and since they didn't seem to be the kind to listen to wise words, she would just have to beat her ideas into them.
Visha watched Tanya's expression, knowing full well just what that look entailed and sighing inside, knowing that this would not be good. She just hoped that she wouldn't break them too badly. She was, after all, a bit rough on her toys.
Shortly, the two teams are at their starting points, the two girls stuffed into the closest fitting outfits they could find. Visha looked at Tanya expectantly, waiting for her to disclose what her plans were for the upcoming engagement.
"So, no lethal attacks, no attacks besides magic, and the objective is to retrieve the code from their monolith and input it. Doesn't seem all that difficult, really." Tanya says as she stretches a bit. "I think that the easiest way will be to distract, disperse, and detain them. Classic engagement for dealing with less well trained soldiers. It would be easier with our orbs, but I imagine we will manage. So, this is what I propose…." Tanya leans in, speaking in quick, concise statements as she lays out her battle plan to her loyal follower, knowing it's best to be precise lest the battle maniac get over zealous.
The three players of the boys team go about their usual plan of attack, with the quiet one, Hans, staying back to play defence while Friedrich and Heinrich push forward, making sure that they can support each other as they advance. As they pass through a section of dense forest, they lose sight of each other temporarily, something that they had planned on but still inconvenient.
Heinrich pauses as he thinks he hears something from the direction that Friedrich was walking, stopping and casting about to make sure that things were ok. He relaxes as he sees Friedrich motioning to him from where he was huddled behind a tree just a bit off the path that he was expected to take. Heinrich nods and hurries over, well aware of how short tempered his team leader could be. Needless to say, he was more than a bit shocked when his team leader vanished before his eyes and he suddenly found himself dropping into a pit that he could have sworn was not there before. He winced as he looked up, seeing a pair of taunting blue eyes staring down at him. With some shock, he recognized the short blond girl from before with the cute brunette standing next to her holding what appeared to be a shovel, of all things?
"Now, be a good boy and just sit down there and we will make sure you are out after the game. We wouldn't want to have to get...Rough with you, after all." Tanya says in that flat, mocking manner of hers, one that speaks clearly of what will likely happen if her suggestion is disregarded.
Heinrich nods nervously, trying to stand then sitting heavily with a grunt. "Ok, ok I got it." He laughs softly, shaking his head and looking at the brunette. "I guess I really fell for you, hrm?" He starts to laugh until he meets the very, very unimpressed and...angry? Eyes of the blond. Shutting his mouth before he gets in more trouble sounds like a really good idea, suddenly.
Friedrich looks about as he breaks out of the trees, sighing in relief as he sees Heinrich hurrying off to his right, a bit off the route they had planned, but nothing too bad. He motions and then hurries off to the left, not noticing his companion fizzing out after he enters another clump of trees, leaving a hurrying brunette to circle back around to make sure the next surprise that Tanya had planned worked out as intended.
Tanya, for her part, was making her way towards where the other teams monolith should be, using a combination of concealment magics and natural cover to make her advance as stealthy as possible. It wasn't long before she found her target shifting about nervously, standing next to the monolith and looking like he wanted to be somewhere else. Tanya nods as she steps out of her cover, smiling at the awkward boy. "I do hope that you will be more entertaining than your friends were." She says as she walks towards him, her variation of a defensive shell up, and deflecting his first air bullet.
Hans's frustration only grew from there as his blond tormentor seemed to just split into more and more copies as she kept advancing on him, some vanishing as his spells passed through them, others taking their place. He backed away as they kept coming at him, a seemingly endless wave of opponents all with that maniacal grin on their faces. It was with a great deal of shock that he saw the monolith open, and knew that they had more than likely lost unless Friedrich had managed to get the girls' code.
It was almost a relief when the buzzer sounded, signalling the end of the match.
The three boys sat a bit cowed at the feet of the girls, listening as Tanya broke down exactly what they had done wrong in excruciating detail. They watched as she paced back and forth in front of them, a surprisingly military manner to how she carried herself. An offensive, blunt but oddly charismatic air about her as she extolled their failings and the few things that she had found merit in, in detail that was merciless. But this wasn't gloating, it was a meticulous breakdown of what happened, and what could have been done differently. It was enlightening in a way. As she finished her lecture, she turned to look at them with that devious, maniacal look in her eyes. "Are there any questions? Anything I might have missed?"
To the surprise of the other two, Friedrich was the one to respond first, snapping to his feet before her. "No! I think you were quite clear. Thank you for taking the time to educate us. So, do you think that you could show us how to do...That?" He motions towards where the battle had been fought.
"Of course, what good is such an example if you don't educate people on how to best take advantage of such an experience?" Tanya counters, Visha noticing the telltale aborted movement that would have resulted in Tanya adjusting her cap as she usually did when she was in instructor mode.
Needless to say, the rest of the night's session was informative for those involved, and those that stopped to watch in horrified wonder.
It was a bit later when the two veterans of an unknown world war make their way home, Tanya stretching as she walked inside, stopping to check her beeping phone and shaking her head as she turns to look at Visha. "It looks like you might be on your own tomorrow night, I have been called to help clear up something with the good doctor. Will you be ok on your own?" She says in a way that is oddly soft for the hardened soldier, a tone of voice that always does something odd to the pit of Visha's stomach.
"Of course, Ma'am! I will do my best to live up to your expectations!" Visha snaps out of long ingrained training, only shifting and smiling softly at Tanya's amused little eye roll. "I mean, I will be ok, Tanya. I might go shopping for a few things, actually. After classes, while you are engaged, that is." She clarifies. "Why don't you go take your shower, and I will make you something to snack on before bed?" Visha offers, heading towards the kitchenette.
"That sounds like an excellent idea, Visha. If you are sure you don't mind if I go first?" Tanya asks politely, even as she grabs her bed clothes, stopping at the door to the bathroom to make sure.
Visha smiles softly and makes shooing motions. "Go ahead, I don't mind as long as you don't use all the hot water."
Tanya laughs and looks back at her as she slips into the bathroom. "No promises, I have gotten rather used to running hot water."
Visha finds herself looking at the bathroom door often as she can hear the shower running, oddly distracted by her thoughts of Tanya even as she whips up a quick snack for the two of them.
It could be another long night.
Wednesday, June 11th, 5:31 PM
Visha finds herself walking through the shopping district at the side of the student council treasurer, Jane Donner. She can't help but glance aside at the energetic redhead from time to time, still a bit baffled how exactly they ended up here together. A comment made in passing to the secretary of the Student Council, Lisa Neuman, had resulted in the two of them being sent off to the market with a promise that she would give the recipe for the pastries that Visha had shared with her fellow first year earlier that day over lunch to Ms. Donner.
It all seemed like a strange set of occurrences, but when one spends enough time with the Devil of the Rhine, odd occurrences become somewhat commonplace.
She had to admit, Jane was a pleasant enough person to talk to, energetic, outgoing and with a slightly unusual accent to her Germanian, or she would suppose German as the country was known in this world. A lot different than Tanya, but she supposed she could get used to her. Even if she did miss spending time with the Argent.
She was brought out of her thoughts as they stepped into the next store, adjusting her bags as she nods to the employee they brush past, turning back to answer Jane's latest question. "Yes, fresh fillings are the best. Strudels and pies are best if you take the time to work it from the ground up. As Tanya always says, you must execute each part of a plan precisely, knowing how every part fits together, to make something exceptional."
Jane laughs that light hearted laugh of hers, her green eyes flashing. "You really do speak highly of your friend, you know? I don't think you can go any length of time without bringing her up somehow." She grins and nudges her gently. "You must think highly of your little firecracker."
Visha blushes at that. "Of course I think highly of her, I would be lost without her." She smiles fondly at the thought of her companion, once again being broken out of her reverie at the laughter of her shopping buddy. She glances over at her with an apologetic look, then gets a puzzled look on her face as she stares past Jane at a pair of girls holding hands and walking close together.
Jane blinks, then looks over at where she is looking and grinning. "They are a cute couple, but it's impolite to stare, you know Viktoriya." She chided her gently.
Visha blinks a bit owlishly, trying to process what she said even as she answers automatically "Please, just call me Visha. I prefer my friends call me that." She stops suddenly, as things register. "Wait, you said they were a couple? But...they are two girls?"
Jane stops, looking back a bit oddly at Visha. "Ok, I can do that. And, haven't you seen lesbians before? I would think that you, of all people, would not be shocked by seeing a couple like them?" She narrows her eyes at Visha. "You're not one of those close minded, backwards thinking people, are you?"
Visha raises her hands, shaking her head. "N..No, it's just...Not something I have seen before, you know, in the rather small town I came from…" she finishes lamely, biting her lip as she watches the girls lean close together, laughing over some shared comment.
Jane stares at her for a minute, then shakes her head. "I'm sorry, just how you talk about your friend, I figured that you two were probably a couple." She starts to walk, then stops when she realizes that Visha isn't following her.
"You...Thought we were a couple?" Visha says in a shocked tone of voice, unsure of what to think at the moment.
"If I'm wrong, I apologize, Visha. So...What about the canned fillings? Can't I just use those?" Jane says, trying to get off what she can tell is an awkward topic.
"Well, yes, you could but I can't guarantee they will turn out like mine." Visha is only too happy to be distracted away from her train of thoughts, even as she glances back at the two girls who were obviously happy together, her thoughts derailing for a moment again before she snaps back to the conversation and continues to extol the virtues of cooking from scratch.
'A couple? A pair of girls...in a romantic relationship…' Visha thinks to herself, feeling that tightness in her chest again before she shakes her head and continues her shopping trip with her new friend.
Later that night there is a plate of strawberry strudel waiting for a certain former military commander when she gets back home.