"Dan Hibiki?" Rainbow asked. "This is the greatest warrior of your world?"
"One of them," Sagat clarified. The pink clad warrior walked over to Sagat, smiling at him and extending a hand. "Thank you for coming on such short notice. I am...at my limit."
"Huh, a student so tough that you need me to crack them, huh?" Dan asked. He then glanced at Rainbow Dash and nodded. "Oh yeah, I can see it. She practically oozes with overconfidence and a desire for vengeance."
"Think you can help her?"
"Of course I can! I'm the greatest warrior in the world!" Dan laughed. He then walked across from Rainbow Dash and took up a fighting stance. "But first, I must see where this student of yours is at. Don't worry, I'll go easy on her."
Rainbow raised an eyebrow before she slowly brought up her own stance. Dan's was full of holes, holes that even a rookie fighter would be able to cover. Was he really going this easy on her? Or was it a bait, to make her think he was open and then to counter attack? She would test him out.
"Tiger shot!" Rainbow roared. A ball of rainbow energy erupted from her hooves and rocketed towards Dan, who let out a yelp as he dove to the side to avoid being hit. He rolled up and gave her a thumbs up, not noticing that his ponytail was slightly burning.
"An impressive move. Now try mine!" Dan roared. He threw one hand back and gathered green energy within it. His smile grew even wider as he thrust out his hand and yelled, "Gadouken!"
The blast of ki left his hands, floated lazily forward and then vanished from existence. Dash stared at the spot where it had vanished, dumbfounded. It was such a simple attack, how had it not made it over to her? Even her weakest tiger shot had been stronger than-
A kick caught Rainbow in the side of the head and she staggered back, having not notice that Dan was now on top of her. She snarled, angry at herself for falling for it. The blast had been a decoy, obviously, that had allowed Dan to get in close. She threw up her guard just as Dan threw another punch.
She blocked it easily, maybe a bit too easily, and lashed out with a punch of her own, catching Dan right in the nose. He yelped as his head snapped back, a trail of blood following his head. Dan recovered and threw out a knee strike, one that Dash easily sidestepped. She went low and swept Dan's legs, causing him to land flat on his back. The moment he was down she went for a strike on his head, but then he smiled and blinded the mare, getting her to snarl as she backed off.
"Hmph, you are a really good fighter," Dan admitted. He then held a finger to his nose to see that he was still bleeding. "In fact, you may have more talent than either Sakura or Ken. Yet you allow yourself to be held back. For someone so determined to be the best, you sure like shackling yourself with unnecessary baggage."
"As if you're one to talk," Rainbow snarled. "What's your game? You...aren't good. Your punches are slow, your kicks have little power in them, your ki is borderline useless...if it wasn't for all your oddball tricks, this fight would be over already!"
"And yet it isn't," Dan replied with a smile. "If you're so much better than me, why is the fight still going?"
Rainbow growled and launched herself towards Dan, hooves blazing with fire. He blocked her first blow before a second caught him in the gut. He doubled over just in time to avoid a kick to the head, before he sprang back up and headbutted Rainbow in the chin. both combatants staggered back, one clutching her chin the other the back of his head, before they both took up their fighting stances again.
"You're really boring, aren't you?" Dan asked. Rainbow's eyes narrowed into slits. "I mean, don't get me wrong, you're good. But it's all so...predictable. Punch and kick when you're close. Fireball at a distance. You're one of those people...ponies...to eat food without spice, aren't you?"
"I do what it takes to win," Dash roared. "And I don't care about anything else!"
"And how's that working out for you?"
Rainbow saw red and hurled her arms forward, firing off her biggest tiger shot yet. But when she blinked and took a moment to look, she saw Dan was no longer in front of her. Her eyes snapped up to see that he was airborne. In fact, he might have leapt before she ever threw her attack. She tried to move, but was still rooted in place from anchoring herself for the tiger shot. All she could do was close her eyes and wait for the blow...that never came. Dash slowly opened her eyes again and saw Dan standing in front of her. He flicked her on the nose before backing up, lifting his stance once more.
"Why didn't you attack?" Dash asked.
"I told you. I'm going easy," Dan replied. He then shook out his foot, trying to hide the fact that he rolled his ankle upon landing.
"Who goes easy in a fight?" Rainbow asked.
"Someone who's having fun," Dan replied. He then brought both his hands together and aimed them at Rainbow Dash. He wanted to throw a fireball at her? Fine, she would return the favor. Dash leapt into the air, just in time to watch a somewhat bigger ball of ki erupted from Dan's hands. She smirked at his foolishness before she threw out a kick...only to watch what happened with disbelief.
The ki blast that Dan gave off was so strong that it actually sent Dan tumbling backwards, off of his feet, but more importantly, away from where Dash thought he would be. She had to make a last second adjustment and landed hard, staggering her as Dan rolled up to his feet. He flashed his pearly whites before throwing out his knee again, this time catching her in the face. He followed up with a series of kicks, with the last one sending Dash higher into the air. Then he uppercutted.
"Koryuken!"
The blow caught Dash in the chin and sent her tumbling backwards, where she crashed into the ground and groaned while Dan landed, stuck out his rear and gave Dash a thumbs up.
"You're so weird..." Dash grumbled, getting back up. "If your moves actually hurt, I might be in trouble. But they don't. You're not Zangief and you're certainly no Ryu."
"Neither are you," Dan replied. Dash snarled once more, but this time Dan rolled his eyes. "Anger. Is that your answer to everything? So you lost to Ryu. Join the club. So you've been mutilated by another fighter. Again, join the club. Anger only helps when you control it, like Sagat over there. And revenge doesn't help anyone. Take it from me."
"Take it from you? You're a joke. Your fighting style is basic at best and you're weak," Dash said. "You don't deserve to be on the battlefield! You're no warrior."
"Oh wow, never heard that before," Dan yawned. "Now then, are you ready to finish this?"
"Yeah, I am!"
Dash kicked off the ground and rocketed forward, channeling her power into a single hoof. Dan threw out another one of his gadoukens, but now that Rainbow knew they didn't hurt, she charged right through it without a second thought. Dan had just enough time to realize what she had done before a fist connected squarely with his chin and Rainbow roared,
"TIGER UPPERCUT!"
Dan was hurled backwards with the sound of a tigers roar, before he crashed down onto the ground without a sound. Rainbow land as rainbow flames encircled her, taking a moment to calm herself before she glanced over at Dan, who was starting to slowly move.
"This fight is mine," Dash snarled. Then she glanced over at Sagat. "I don't know what you're game is having me fight this loser, but it was nothing more than a waste of time. What did you expect for me to learn from this-"
"Wow, you really are impressive," Dan said. Dash glanced over at him just in time to see him give her another smile and thumbs up. "Thanks! That was a really fun fight! I'm glad I got to fight you."
"...huh?" was all Dash could say in reply.
"Some advice though," Dan began. He slowly stood up, winced as he put pressure on his ankle. "You're too stiff and straight forward, like I mentioned earlier. Also, you don't whiff punish enough."
"Huh?"
"New to the concept, I get it. I stuck out a lot of limbs in that fight, and you either dodge or blocked. But when someone misses, or whiffs, a big move infront of you, you should be able to strike the limb they used," Dan continued on. "I takes a long time to master and, not going to name names, some of us still aren't good at it."
"Why?" Dash asked again. "Why are you smiling? You lost."
"So?" Dan asked. Then a smile crossed his face and he nodded in understanding. "Ah, I get it now. Rainbow Dash, this may be hard for you to hear..."
"But winning isn't everything."