Dreams of Tomorrow (Open)

    The Empire had a tendency to expand as it saw fit, doing so long before Ward brought himself into the mortal realm and learned of the Arcosians let alone their Empire. Even now, a leader of three, things moved forward even if they had slowed as of late with the lethargic previous regime and the new one finally settling. There were however many planets still within the reach of Arcose that didn't include species able to put up the resistance a group of Saiyans could, but close enough between Arcose and Plant that it was strategically important for both without question. One in particular had caught not Ward's attention, but Ise, but it was now the Emperor Brumal who found himself and his ship entering the atmosphere.

    His ship broke through the cloud line above the capital city flanked on either side by two smaller but still sizable ships, all sporting not just the Imperial  insignia but Brumal's own personal touches and a color scheme matching his gold and orange body. The landing was purposefully slow and drawn out to let anyone within sight get a good look at the ships and more specifically a good feel of Brumal's energy if they had the ability to sense it. One at a time the doors opened and the ramps descended, as a mass of armed troops sharing the same color scheme as the ships and Brumal's personal insignia poured out. Each one moved past the ones in front until there was a long corridor all the way from the main ship to the entrance to the main capital building from the bodies standing on either side.

    It was a dramatic display and an excess of men for such a task, but it was both a display of force and importance, even if Ward wasn't one for such displays, but as Brumal it was expected and he would surely deliver. From the larger ships ramp came a group of two men dressed both in armor similar to that of the troops lined up, but with flowing cloth and ornate helmets hiding their faces unlike the others. After a few seconds the Emperor himself appeared, hands behind his back and walking slowly down the ramp, followed by two more men dressed the same as the others, but none of these four seemed to be obviously armed as the others were, but it was clear they were Brumal's personal guard all the same.

    It was a long walk and a dramatic display, and by the time he arrived to meet with no reservation or notice of his trip, he expected to be at least greeted in some fashion before seeing this Planet's ruler, and in a sense he was. The head of the king himself came rolling to a stop as it bounced against one of his royal guards foot, bouncing to the side as it stopped. Brumal's eyes turned to meet it for a moment before looking up, hearing a loud voice from inside. With nothing more than a motion of his head, the guard to his right reached down and awkwardly lifted the head before the five of them headed for the entrance. Arriving inside Brumal made another gesture as the head was tossed back towards the feet of the one that had thrown it in the first place.

    He could feel their strength more clearly as they were this close, and could now see the body, making it clear this was the leader he had come to speak to, or at least what was left of them. Surveying the room he blinked once and moved forward, all four guardsmen moving to stand behind him from left to right in front of the entrance as Brumal moved in closer, standing a few feet in front of Fukushu, staring at them curiously before his eyes narrowed as he spoke.

    For a moment the four men behind Brumal moved as they had grown accustomed to the others in the Triumvirate and had come to know that they were to act not just upon request but to know the will of their rulers without word. All but the man on the far left were new to Brumal, as until recently he felt no need to have such an accompany of followers, and the one was the only one he had bothered with up until recently. It was likely Mint would have immediately found a slight in this action and acted accordingly, but Brumal and Mint were far from the same in thought or action. His arms slowly unfolded from behind his back and a single arm raised to motion for the men to stand down as he took a single step closer to Fukushu, never having broke eye contact.

    His hand lifted as his tail slapped the ground, making the men behind him move forward once more, slinging his arm as the seat Fukushu was attempting to sit down in flung backwards with the use of telekinesis. Making a gripping fist the seat began to splinter until it was a pile on the floor, and still Brumal hadn't taken his eyes off of Fukushu.

    Once more then four stepped forward, but leaving room between themselves and Brumal. Despite his actions, his tone of voice didn't seem to match; calm and collected, nearly devoid of emotion even, and his face matched. There was no anger, no annoyance from his tone, but it was clear he meant his words and had taken the situation seriously.

    It was becoming clear this being was some variation of blind. He thought himself stronger which was blatantly obvious to be false, spoke of leading with no one following, thought himself a king by no right but murdering a stranger, and now felt he would lead a planet despite being told otherwise. Where he would begin to dispute all of these confusing statements and assumptions was hard to decide, but the more the man talked the more he realized he didn't want to talk in the first place. Perhaps the rolling head should have been sign enough of his barbaric mindset, but he tried to give these mortals their chance to prove him wrong despite how often the proved him right.

    His left hand slipped behind his back as he noticed Fukushu running towards him, feeling a surge in localized power in his fist, as his right arm raised to motion for his men to disperse to opposite ends of the room to stay out of the way. When the Heran was close enough to reach out and grab, he took a step back and held out his palm and a creation that looked exactly like Fukushu appeared between the two, raising it's fist and swinging forward with the same intent to punch Fukushu in the jaw, and disappearing moments after.

    Fighting was always a bit of a stress relief, but this fight was somewhere between a spar and an opponent he at least had to be careful of. This wasn't someone so weak he could completely toy with them, but he knew that this Heran, like many others, had no true idea of how he fought. The same could be said in the other direction surely, but it was clear enough that they were far more aggressive if not outright impatient comparatively. The question was just how long would they keep trying to push like this and would they tire themselves out doing it.

    He was used to his techniques being called tricks, and if this alone was enough to annoy his opponent then it was only going to get worse for them as time went on. As his hands raised to point his palms towards Fukushu, the clone of him was gone, leaving nothing to block the view of the other, but already he could feel the energy swelling, even more so than before. Sliding a single foot back he waited, but he wasn't being charged at this time, watching carefully for any movement or sign of what was coming.

    It wasn't particularly fast, but at least twice as strong as the previous attention at an attack, as a beam of energy was tossed his direction. His previous use of magic had annoyed Fukushu, and truthfully there was no reason not to see if he couldn't annoy him a second time, as his open palms gripped tight, and for a second time there was a copy of Fukushu standing in front of him. Copying the same movements Fukushu did, he blasted forth an attack with the assist energy of Brumal behind him, but this time the clone didn't immediately disappear, giving a wide and unnatural smirk in Fukushu's direction as it waved at him dismissively, copying his voice as it spoke.

    The clone charged forward much like Fukushu did earlier to try and cover the difference between the two, even swinging at his face like Fukushu did to Brumal, but he wasn't copying the technique again, just the punch.

    Given the way his impromptu opponent had been so boisterous about his odds and how quickly he had instigated the battle and tried pushing the pace, it was a surprise that he had gotten punched at all, let alone the level of effectiveness. He couldn't make any assumptions just yet about a fighting style based one two attacks and a taken punch, but it was curious all the same. It was hard to tell if he had overestimated the Heran's speed to react to such an attack or if the Heran was underestimating Brumal on the whole.

    The clone stood over Fukushu after he was knocked down, not saying anything this time, but leaving that cocky smirk on his face. The question now was how he'd deal with this as he didn't want to show how flimsy the clone was yet, but it clearly annoyed him enough to make just a few mistakes that he wanted to see how far he could push. It was always easier to deal with a frustrated opponent than one thinking clearly. Frankly it kept him from having to get in as close as Fukushu and the clone were to fight as well, as it was far from his strength in combat, and the longer he could keep this up the more stamina he could force his opponent to use while he reserved most of his own.

    In a sudden movement the clone was left staring, only able to reach back and whiff on a grab. The problem with this type of clone was while it looked and acted like the target, it simply couldn't be controlled quite as easily as a more simple clone. Sighing heavily through his nostrils his gripping hands unclenched and the clone dropped to the ground and dissipated altogether, leaving Brumal to narrow his eyes. Another head on attack, clearly not what he wanted to see, but their differences in fighting styles was becoming more apparent in a hurry.

    He could feel the Heran's power spike, but in a very specific way, but it was hard to know if it was temporary to gain an advantage or if things were escalating. In front of him what looked to be a transparent layer of air began to appear, perhaps seeming like a slow process, but given the speed of the fight it was near instant, starting to form some type of mirrored surface. Brumal was visually shielded from it and Fukushu would have only seen his reflection in the surface he was charging at. Behind the mirror Brumal's hand was placed against it, and much like Fukushu his power had began to raise as his body began to shift, both dramatically.

    From the mirror launched...Fukushu. This was no clone, at least not like the others. If Fukushu's charging tackle was that of a raging bull then the one charging at the original Fukushu was a freight train. This might not have been his full power, but he wanted to make it clear he was taking this seriously, tricks or not. This wasn't a spar, this was a fight, and given the circumstances he intended to make a point by the end.

    As the clone hit it's mark, Brumal stood firm, but the mirror fell away and fell like drops of water before sinking into the floor and showing no signs of ever existing in the first place. The clone did much the same, leaving only Brumal staring at Fukushu against the wall. Even in this monstrous form his hands slipped behind his back, standing in a most dignified pose for such an undignified visage.

    Feeling the power surging through his opponent he turned his head to sigh, looking over at the two men standing to his left before turning to eye the ones on the right. They weren't looking at Brumal now but to Fukushu, like hungry animals waiting to pounce, yet tamed enough to stay in their place unless given orders otherwise. An energy began to visibly swirl around Brumal, only for the briefest of moments, missed even with a blink, as his body began to shift further, into what the Arcosian's called their true form, and from either side of the room he now had his men's attention. Each of the four took a knee as they respectfully bowed, but once more raised their heads then back to their feet, turning their attention back to Fukushu.

    All five sets of eyes watched as he raised higher, and now there were many more from the men that had exited the ships and were still waiting in formation outside. He could hear the sounds outside, but there was no rush to meet him once more for a fight, simply turning sharply on his heel as the four men quickly fell in line behind him as he made his way out of the building with no apparent haste. The guardsmen and their leader walked back through those waiting for them outside, each turning to face away from the building and towards Brumal as he walked past, falling in just as they had lined up.

    Raising his hand he stopped before speaking just loud enough for his instructions to be heard by the men and woman.

    Every man and woman in armor began to move except for the four, who stayed by the ship as Brumal disappeared in an instant. Now a few feet in front of Fukushu he raised a hand, lifted it above his head and gripped his hand into a tight fist. In every direction around Fukushu a wall was created, above and below, in front of and behind, and on each side, fairly large in size no less than ten-foot each. Each flew towards one another in an attempt to clap around and create a box around the Heran.