Disclaimer: I own only Eve Angelheart – Tatsumaru belongs to Activision
Tatsumaru was meditating when he heard a noise – barely audible – behind him. He shot to his feet and twisted around, his hands balled into fists and ready to kill. He just stared at the young, non-Oriental blue-eyed, brown-haired woman in front of him. She was wearing a black kimono and her straight hair fell down to her shoulder blades.
She was leaning calmly against the wall with her arms crossed over her chest. She smiled at him sweetly before speaking.
"I'm here to challenge you, Tatsumaru," she said, getting off of the wall and standing with her right hand on her hip. He frowned.
"Why?" he asked. "Are you eager to die?"
She laughed. "No, I just want to fight a worthy opponent."
"Very well." Tatsumaru launched himself at the woman, swinging his fists in what would have been a bone-shattering punch if she hadn't moved aside, grabbed his wrist and tossed him into the wall with enough force to send him through it. Recovering quickly, the Ninja rolled to the side and lashed out with his foot, catching the woman in the stomach but – to his great shock – not doing much damage, she was only winded for a few seconds – but those few seconds was all Tatsumaru needed.
He was on his feet in seconds. He tripped the woman with a foot sweep, knocking her onto her back. He lifted his foot and drove it down, but she brought her arms up in an "x," blocking his attack and pushing him backwards. She rolled to the side, stood up and roundhouse kicked him in the stomach – all in one fluid motion and all without losing her balance. She's good.
Tatsumaru jumped towards her, his foot extended in a kick that caught her in the chest, forcing her back and giving him a few seconds to attack her again. He slammed his fist into her stomach, forcing her to double over, before stepping around her and slamming his elbow into her spine. She stumbled forward, righted herself and swung her fist with all of her strength, catching him in the back of the head.
Tatsumaru stumbled forward and fell to one knee, but he didn't give up. He stood up and drew his sword, swinging it behind him in an attempt to cut her open.
At the same moment that he had drawn his sword, she had drawn her own weapon – a silver katana with a dragon etched into the blade – and blocked his blade, purposefully locking them. She smiled innocently at him and pushed him backwards, releasing the blades from the lock. As he recovered, she ran forward and kicked him hard in the chest. Tatsumaru felt a rib crack, but paid it no heed as she slashed at the woman again. She blocked the attack and slammed her fist into his arm, cracking the bones in his wrist. Letting out an involuntary groan of pain, Tatsumaru forced her back and attacked her with a figure-eight attack. She leapt backwards quickly, but not quickly enough – his blade nicked her bare arm, but she ignored the sharp pain that came with the wound and kicked the blade from his hands so hard that the blade flew across the room and embedded itself in the far wall up to the hilt.
She kicked him in the stomach and followed that up with a hard elbow to his head, knocking him down.
Tatsumaru closed his eyes and waited for her to finish him. When nothing happened, he opened his eyes and blinked in shock – she had vanished, and there, on the floor – in perfect Japanese – was a piece of paper with the name of his challenger:
Eve Angelheart
The End
