A sigh echoed off of brilliant crystalline walls as the edge of a goblet touched the pale lips from which it had escaped. Taking a slow sip of deep red wine, those same lips released a second sigh soon after. A leg shifted against the cool floor tiles as the pale figure leaned back against the front of an intricately carved golden chest. The alabaster skin of his upper body slowly rose and fell beneath the crimson of the robes he wore, casually swaying the glass within his hand. He soon lowered the goblet, setting it gently to sit upon the floor at his side. Then, placing a hand against the edge of the chest behind him, he rose slowly to his feet before stretching his arms out above him and rubbing a hand against the back of his neck. He walked over to the mirror on the nearby wall, placing a hand against the glass thoughtfully as he watched his own visage stare back at him.

Boredom. Dendalli had experienced it many times in his long years of existence. His still youthful face bore a stoic expression; the obvious disinterest reflected back at him within his deep crimson eyes. Within a few short moments he quickly tired of looking at his reflection and took casual steps back across the room to his bedside, falling against the sheets carelessly with yet another sigh.

His long ears took in the silence of the room as time ticked by at a snail's pace. The boredom seemed to weigh heavy on him this day. There had been countless periods in the past in which it had ...and they had been just as difficult to bare. Time was never a real issue for a god. When immortal, one tends to literally have all the time in the world. In fact, that was sometimes the problem. Within the expanse of his domain, all he had was time. He had already re-read several of the compendiums and tomes within his extensive library; many times over, in fact. Even his tinkering in the laboratory these days seemed to afford him less interest than usual. Though patience was a virtue the young god knew rather well by now, it seemed taxed by his growing boredom a great deal more of late than it had previously.

Spending several more long minutes soaking in the surrounding silence, he'd had enough. He needed to go out. It was that simple.

Practically leaping to his feet from the bed with a feeling of resolve, the pale wizard deftly dropped his robe off to the floor and began to dress himself for his outing. He quickly donned an intricate garment of bright sky blue, trimmed with a darker blue. Normally he wore this when battle was expected, but today he wanted to venture out with no expectations of what to run into. He was looking for something to catch his interest, hence a fight may fall upon him unexpectedly. It was better to be prepared. This was the thought that came to mind as he slipped on his gloves, tugging them against his fingers securely.

Running one hand subconsciously over the top of his hairless head, Dendalli made several intricate yet effortless hand motions across the air in front of him with the other. Shortly thereafter, the fabric of space began to tear slowly, opening a portal in front of him.

The sun had risen in the sky over the town to about shortly before noon as Dendalli stepped through the rip in space, setting foot on a rooftop somewhere downtown. Allowing it to close behind him, he took several steps to reach the edge of the roof, slowly taking in the surrounding area. He was overlooking what appeared to be one of the city's shopping districts. There were several stores and shops lining the streets, as well as a moderately sized shopping mall several blocks down.

A shopping mall. There would most definitely be people there. His encounters with modern mortals had always been interesting, to say the least. He found their often menial obsessions rather intriguing and amusing. The god knew that a locale such as a 'mall' was a bustling hub for such things. It was the perfect place to begin.

Briskly making a few short hand movements and uttering a few words, Dendalli stepped casually off the edge of the roof. His clothing fluttered lightly as he descended slowly through the air, floating down three stories to land softly on the pavement below. He then made his way down the sidewalks along the street towards his destination. Out the corner of his eye, he caught glimpses of the looks he was receiving from the local people due to his appearance. He was used to it by now, paying it no more mind than a mild chuckle of amusement from the astonished expressions stamped on their faces.

Walking at a normal pace, he reached the entrance to the mall within several minutes. Upon entering through the doors, he was a bit surprised. The mall was bustling, indeed. Many locals were doing their routine shopping, of course; however, the prime sum of the mall goers today were not exactly of the norm.

Several groups of people passed his immediate field of vision, many rather oddly dressed compared to what was considered 'regular dress'. Many of them were female, dressed in odd clothing of all types. Some were obviously costumes(as evidenced by things like tape, stitching, or make-up), while others were surprisingly realistic. The large amount of oddities trekking through the complex was an interesting discovery. It appeared he would have little trouble 'blending in' with the crowd.

Dendalli spent an estimate of three hours wandering through the mall. He took time to observe the various shops and their wares, taking particular interest in the electronics stores and the many devices for sale. Technology and the advancement thereof was something that tended to catch his interest. He took special note of the many small items that were showcased, most of which were for entertainment purposes; such as phones and music players. Of course, not being allowed to try them out without buying them first was a bit of a bother, which made him lose interest rather quickly.

He also took time to observe those that he passed by. His ears caught a conversation here and there, most of them referring to some 'convention'. Indeed, he knew by now about this city's reputation as a hub for various beings from all walks of the multiverse. Most tended to take the guise of cosplayers to cover themselves since they were from various medias that many of the town's inhabitants were familiar with. Very few people knew the real truth that these people were, in fact, the very characters from 'shows' or 'video games' that they claimed to portray. Even so, this was old news to him. He had actually encountered a few others from other domains, but never actually discovered how they were able to cross into this realm. It was something he was still trying to find out.

Having lost interest with the goings on inside the mall, Dendalli decided to try looking elsewhere for something to interest him. He needed stimulation; be it mental or physical. He wasn't getting enough of it here.

Stepping out of the mall doors, he released a small sigh.

"Back off!!"

Dendalli's head quickly turned as his ears caught the shout, looking in the direction from whence it came. A few yards across the parking lot, he spotted a group of four young women and five men. One of the women stood between the men and her friends. She had dark blond hair pulled back in a low ponytail and wore glasses. She also looked rather irate. The other young women present consisted of a girl with shorter blond hair wearing black and green, one with long reddish brown hair in a white shirt and blue pants, and one with black hair wearing all black.

"Ease up, babe", one of the men smirked. "What's with the attitude?" "You guys have been following us around all day", the girl with glasses spoke with a tone of irritation. "We told you nicely the first time. Now get it through your thick heads. We're not interested!" "Seriously, Sir", the one in black chimed in. "We've got better things to do than play with 'boys' like you." The redhead seemed to suddenly whip a white signboard out of nowhere with the word "Exactly" written on it. "Who the fuck you callin' a 'boy', bitch!?" another one of the men spoke up. "This is the last time I'll say it," The one with glasses spoke again, her next words coming out in a threatening tone. "Back the fuck off!" "Kitty, let's just go, okay?" the other blond urged. Glancing back at her friend, the one in glasses gave a nod and said "Fine. Let's go." The moment she turned, however, the man closest her grabbed her forcefully by the upper arm. "You're not goin' anywhere!" he proclaimed. "No one says no to us. Especially not to me!"

Dendalli would have likely stepped in at that point, but he soon found that his intervention wasn't necessary. No sooner had the man grabbed the girl's arm that he was quickly met with a swift and accurate palm strike to the underside of his chin by her other hand. The impact snapped the man's head back, causing him to release her arm and stumble back. The reprieve was short lived as the girl quickly followed suit with a roundhouse kick, the heel of her shoe landing into the side of his neck.

Dendalli, as well as the other young men and women, watched in shock as the fool went crashing to the ground in pain. The girl stood back upright after her kick and stared back at the remaining men with a dangerous look. "That was just a warning. Keep your fucking hands to yourself!" "YOU BITCH!" Another of the men shouted. "GET 'EM!" He and another went straight for the one in glasses while the remaining two went after the other three girls. One of them grabbed the girl in black, but was quickly met with a kick to the shin, followed by a kick to the groin. While he released the girl to hold his nether regions in pain, the redhead came up behind him and bashed him in the back of his head with her signboard, which now had the word "POW!" on it for some reason. The one with glasses, meanwhile, was busy dodging the punches of her two attackers; and with apparent ease. She soon delivered a swift elbow to one's gut and followed after with a back kick into the other's chest. As both men doubled over in pain, she continued with a swift punch to the jaw of the man on her left, then used the momentum of her recoil to whip around and deliver a knife-hand strike to the neck of the one to her right. Both men promptly fell to the ground.

"AHH!! Let go!" She quickly turned from her own battle after hearing her friend cry out, looking to see the last of the men forcefully grabbing the other blond in black and green while she tried to vainly slap him off of her. "KAT!" The one in glasses yelled out and quickly darted towards her friend, leaping without a thought right into the midsection of her friend's assailant. The force of the impact caused the man to release his grip as he toppled over onto the ground with the girl in glasses on top of him. Before he could even emit a word of protest, she was already on his chest and swung her fist into his face with a deafening thud. She began pummeling him in anger until her other two friends had to finally pull her off.

"Kitty, calm the hell down!" the one in black insisted. "Yer gonna kill the guy!" The redhead then held up her signboard which now said "Yeah! He's a real worlder too, remember?" After a few moments, Kitty's breathing slowed down as she calmed back to a semi-normal state. "...Sorry, guys. I guess I got carried away." Then she gasped. "Kat! Are you okay?" She walked over to her other blond friend, who had fallen on the ground. She offered a hand and Kat took it, standing back up with Kitty's help. "Yeah", she nodded. "I'm okay. Thanks." "I swear, Sir" the one in black stated, folding her arms over her chest. "You turn into a friggin female Bruce Lee sometimes. You sure you got those moves from that old pervert??" "Some of 'em", Kitty answered. "I picked up some moves from others over time." "It shows" was now written on the redhead's signboard. Kitty smirked a bit. "Thanks, Jenni. You guys okay?" The redhead lowerd her sign ...only to raise it again with it saying "No injuries here." "I'm fine, too", the one in black replied. "So, now why don't we get the hell outta here?" Jenni's sign changed once again, this time saying "I agree with Raven".

"LOOK OUT!" Kat suddenly yelled, pointing behind them. All three turned just in time to see the first man Kitty had knocked down earlier reel back with a rock in his hand ...only to suddenly be knocked back to the ground by a massive fist hitting him in the back of his head.

All four girls looked up to see a familiar towering (and posing) brown haired mass of muscle. "Noone makes a sneak attack on the boss lady while Benja's on the job!" "Oh", Kitty said blandly with a matching expression. "It's Benja." Flexing and posing, the man smiled a pearly white smile as he stepped up to Kitty. "Are you alright, boss lady? The Benja is always here to protect you!" Raven looked just as disinterested, muttering "So where the hell was he five minutes ago?" Jenni held up her sign saying "No kidding".

As this went on, Dendalli continued to watch from a distance. He put a hand to his chin thoughtfully as he replayed what just happened within his mind. Interesting... She took down three of those men by herself with rather little effort. And using some skilled moves, at that. If I heard right, she actually had formal training under someone. I wonder who? But not only that... she dove right into that fourth one to help her friend without even considering if he had a weapon. Then again, any one of them could have been armed. She's obviously serious about standing up for and protecting her friends. You don't see such chivalry often these days.

Another thing came to his attention after witnessing the whole scenario. He had briefly caught wind of a rise in her spirit during the skirmish, but hadn't registered it until just now. Her fighting spirit... It's not often to find someone around here whose spirit you can actually sense. She's an interesting one indeed. To top it all off, he caught sight of the redhead's signboard when it mentioned something about 'realworlders'. Could that mean they're some of the few who know about others from the multiverse wandering about in this town?

As he mulled all of these things over in his mind, his interest began to grow. Something about this girl was now sparking his intrigue. He would most definitely need to look into this further..

After all, he had ventured out today looking for something to garner his interest.

...And he just found it.