Dragonball M, Chapter 1: Silent Menace Aproaches!

[Monstrous Bird of Qin, Ou Ki]

"We could take turns," interjected Totoma. "Sarada first, then I take a crack at 'em, and then everyone who isn't a fight-junkie can mob whatever's causing trouble. Everyone wins. Except the bad guy, hopefully."

She probably wouldn't accept going after a 'mutt', and, well, going after her was fine with him. If she won, then great, problem solved and the worst that would happen is that everyone else had to suffer her bragging for a week. If she lost, then at the very least he'd have been given a chance to see how the enemy fighters--their physical combat style, their ki attacks, tendencies... and so on. And if he lost, then the others could just swarm them like an angry pack of bees that had given not one, but two chances to see how the enemy fights.

Looking at it logically, everyone swarming the enemy at once would be the most effective way of dealing with any given threat, but it didn't get the blood pumping like a proper duel. Not that anyone besides a Saiyan would care about that.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Her voice almost incredulous, "You actually only train in controlled environments? Where's the fun in that?"

"Hmph. We have training facilities on Vocado. We don't send Saiyans out to battle until they graduate. By that point, they're usually strong enough to hold their own." And if they aren't, they're enslaved for the rest of their life.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

"We could take turns," interjected Totoma. "Sarada first, then I take a crack at 'em, and then everyone who isn't a fight-junkie can mob whatever's causing trouble. Everyone wins. Except the bad guy, hopefully."

She probably wouldn't accept going after a 'mutt', and, well, going after her was fine with him. If she won, then great, problem solved and the worst that would happen is that everyone else had to suffer her bragging for a week. If she lost, then at the very least he'd have been given a chance to see how the enemy fighters--their physical combat style, their ki attacks, tendencies... and so on. And if he lost, then the others could just swarm them like an angry pack of bees that had given not one, but two chances to see how the enemy fights.

Looking at it logically, everyone swarming the enemy at once would be the most effective way of dealing with any given threat, but it didn't get the blood pumping like a proper duel. Not that anyone besides a Saiyan would care about that.

The mutt had an idea. She would have the first -- and only -- crack at the evil Kami, then on the off chance she fell, he and everyone else would have a chance. This was, if she being honest, a very sound strategy. She was likely going to be the most powerful person in the group, so it made sense that she be the first to fight. That would give everyone else a chance to see how his fighting style, techniques, etc.

Not that it mattered.

The Kami wasn't going to last for very long once she got her hands on him. Once her training was complete, she was going to be so powerful. Definitely powerful than any of the other Saiyans on Vocado, and certainly more powerful than some crazy Namekian.

She smirked. "A sound, if not completely useless, strategy. I won't lose."

She took her scouter off and checked to see if it was still working. She needed to check her power level after those last two battles. She was surprised she hadn't thought to do it as soon as she felt her power rise after eating those berries. I guess the mutt and his bitch distracted me.

[KamenRaida]

The altercation between the two Saiyans and the lone Chromakai was difficult to ignore, even with larger issues at hand to deal with. Perhaps it helped that he had been of late especially impatient with the boisterous insolence of the Saiyan people, and the female was proving herself every bit the typical Saiyan, if not in strength, then certainly in her priorities.

It may have been better to simply leave the other off-wonders to their argument, but the Saiyan named Sarada was simply making things far too tempting.

“Now, now, I’m sure so fine a warrior as our dear Sarada would know what she was talking about. Why, we just witnessed a true example of her battle experience coming to fruition when she used that False Moon to distract the yeti.” Koorimaru interjected, feigning as much politeness as he could, “Really, in all my years I have only seen so many truly inspired means of deception. Only a truly idiotic imbecile would have released the False Moon for the purposes of using it in a situation like that, ohohohohohoho .”

[Sion Reaver]

Hm... while Karine had handled herself well in her first real battle, Totoma couldn't recall whether or not she had any proper combat training. That is... did she know how to throw a punch without doing more damage to herself than the enemy?

She had some formidable techniques, and in a group effort, would have no trouble using them at her leisure... but mano-a-mano? Might be a bit difficult when the enemy was focused solely on her. He would have to give her some hand-to-hand training later.

"Should be fun," he said. "More interesting than just wandering around semi-aimlessly, at any rate."

Were she here, his mother definitely would've... encouraged him... to go through with this. Hell, she might've accepted herself and dragged him along with her. Of course, given how powerful she no doubt would've been at this point... well, she might've been able to just overpower whatever this looming threat was.

...

Kind of a boring outcome.



Totoma smiled back. "Heh. No problem, though..."

He paused for a moment, his outward expression becoming quite serious compared to before.

"...out of curiosity, can these... Dragon Balls revive the dead? Heck, what are the limits of its wish granting in the first place?"

He was breaking his 'goofy wandering hero' character for a moment, but he was genuinely curious. If they could revive people, then maybe... just maybe...

"Not sure 'fun' is the term I would use in this case, though I do admit there's an part of live combat that is exciting I've found out. Hopefully its not contagious." She teased slightly, in all seriousness though she wasn't too surprised. As far as what she was, one still had to remember her kind's darker past and nature. Humans had theirs of course, hate, rage, a desire to dominate in some cases was all there in Nosferartu just, or had been more pronounced.

She supposed the main difference was until the 'fall' they embraced it rather tried to control it more, where now they were trying to find a balance. Maybe that's why the book Dr. Jekel, Mr. Hide was one of her favorite books. Part of her did enjoy that fight, she wasn't too worried as long as it didn't get too in the way.

The last part about the Dragonballs and able to grant wishes cause a mighty mental pause, her heart stopping for a few beats. If she heard right..then she could possibly revive her father and Totoma's parents. The idea made her excited until the rational, cautionary part of her hit her soon after: no doubt most if many of the others may want something of their own. While she didn't know the details, she doubted the dragon could grant everyone's wish.

"If its as you say, why entrust us? Aren't you worried about anyone abusing it or backstabbing you when they get the chance?" She supposed maybe she could nullfiy the wish if that was the case, or was confident she could kill anyone who did so before then but to Karine it seemed like a gamble.

"We could take turns," interjected Totoma. "Sarada first, then I take a crack at 'em, and then everyone who isn't a fight-junkie can mob whatever's causing trouble. Everyone wins. Except the bad guy, hopefully."

She probably wouldn't accept going after a 'mutt', and, well, going after her was fine with him. If she won, then great, problem solved and the worst that would happen is that everyone else had to suffer her bragging for a week. If she lost, then at the very least he'd have been given a chance to see how the enemy fighters--their physical combat style, their ki attacks, tendencies... and so on. And if he lost, then the others could just swarm them like an angry pack of bees that had given not one, but two chances to see how the enemy fights.

Looking at it logically, everyone swarming the enemy at once would be the most effective way of dealing with any given threat, but it didn't get the blood pumping like a proper duel. Not that anyone besides a Saiyan would care about that.

If nothing else, perhaps it would get Sarada for her arrogance problem.

Who am I kidding?

She may as well ask a toddler never to be temped even once to put things into their mouth that were dangerous to it. Not that she was comparing Sarada to a toddler, since the other at least had cuteness to get away with their antics along with being more pleasant usually. And unlike the former, they usually learned eventually not to touch those dangerous things rather then leap into them.

Koorimaru comment was least surprising, if a bit amusing. She didn't react outwardly to it though.

At least this group wouldn't have a dull moment; assuming certain people didn't kill each other or themselves in the process.

[Yun Lao]

The first of the villagers rose, having regained enough of the energy stolen by the mage. Perhaps to the group's surprise, it was not a miner, muscular from a life of work, but rather an elderly lady. Seemingly snatched in her night attire of sleeping gown, fuzzy slippers, and rollers in her hair, she seemed out of place with her look of pure contempt as she approach them, or rather, Charco in particular.

"You Zippa's kid?"

"Uh, yeah..."

"What's that in your pockets?"

"Oh! That...it's Korinzu tea."

"Gimme."

Nodding quickly, the teenager handed her one of the bottles and the tiny woman downed it like a shot of whisky. In fact, she could be heard grumbling, "Shoulda put some vodka in it."

"Pardon me?" Charco, capturing the woman's attention once more.

"So...you were in my house. You didn't hurt any of the ducks, did ya?"

"Uhh...I don't think so..." He replied and was extremely confused with her look of extreme disappointment, followed by her lighting up a cigarette.



"Shame. I hate those fuckin' things. Only keep them around because my husband loves them."

"So..." Charco began, faltering briefly from utter confusion, "You must be Ducky--?!"

The woman slapped him with enough force to send him, effortlessly, into a nearby wall, "Only three people are allowed to call me that, and some snot-nosed brat like you ain't one of them...but yeah, I'm Mrs. Duck."

[Sub-Zero MKA]

The altercation between the two Saiyans and the lone Chromakai was difficult to ignore, even with larger issues at hand to deal with. Perhaps it helped that he had been of late especially impatient with the boisterous insolence of the Saiyan people, and the female was proving herself every bit the typical Saiyan, if not in strength, then certainly in her priorities.

It may have been better to simply leave the other off-wonders to their argument, but the Saiyan named Sarada was simply making things far too tempting.

“Now, now, I’m sure so fine a warrior as our dear Sarada would know what she was talking about. Why, we just witnessed a true example of her battle experience coming to fruition when she used that False Moon to distract the yeti.” Koorimaru interjected, feigning as much politeness as he could, “Really, in all my years I have only seen so many truly inspired means of deception. Only a truly idiotic imbecile would have released the False Moon for the purposes of using it in a situation like that, ohohohohohoho .”

"Obviously," she replied, only letting a little of her irritation slip through.

The nerve of this jackass.

She could have said more, but saying more would have killed what little credibility her words had to begin with.

[Monstrous Bird of Qin, Ou Ki]

The mutt had an idea. She would have the first -- and only -- crack at the evil Kami, then on the off chance she fell, he and everyone else would have a chance. This was, if she being honest, a very sound strategy. She was likely going to be the most powerful person in the group, so it made sense that she be the first to fight. That would give everyone else a chance to see how his fighting style, techniques, etc.

Not that it mattered.

The Kami wasn't going to last for very long once she got her hands on him. Once her training was complete, she was going to be so powerful. Definitely powerful than any of the other Saiyans on Vocado, and certainly more powerful than some crazy Namekian.

She smirked. "A sound, if not completely useless, strategy. I won't lose."

She took her scouter off and checked to see if it was still working. She needed to check her power level after those last two battles. She was surprised she hadn't thought to do it as soon as she felt her power rise after eating those berries. I guess the mutt and his bitch distracted me.

Big talk for a wash-out. You'd think someone in her situation would have learned a bit of humility, but... guess not. You really couldn't rob most Saiyans of their pride, it seemed. Was that pride innate, a result of culture, or some combination of the two, he wondered?

"Heh, sure, whatever you say. I'll be sure to wait until you're unconscious before I start cleaning up your messes. Wouldn't want that Saiyan pride of yours to get wounded, too," he said. His tone was indicated that it was just playful ribbing, though he did honestly expect to have that sort of thing happen at some point. Or maybe not. Who knew, at this point?

The altercation between the two Saiyans and the lone Chromakai was difficult to ignore, even with larger issues at hand to deal with. Perhaps it helped that he had been of late especially impatient with the boisterous insolence of the Saiyan people, and the female was proving herself every bit the typical Saiyan, if not in strength, then certainly in her priorities.

It may have been better to simply leave the other off-wonders to their argument, but the Saiyan named Sarada was simply making things far too tempting.

“Now, now, I’m sure so fine a warrior as our dear Sarada would know what she was talking about. Why, we just witnessed a true example of her battle experience coming to fruition when she used that False Moon to distract the yeti.” Koorimaru interjected, feigning as much politeness as he could, “Really, in all my years I have only seen so many truly inspired means of deception. Only a truly idiotic imbecile would have released the False Moon for the purposes of using it in a situation like that, ohohohohohoho .”

Totoma stifled a snicker. "Well, hey, it worked. Probably better for everyone that I didn't have the chance to go ape-****."

Better for him, as well. He liked his tail, and he also liked not going berserk. Not that he'd remember it. And he was sure that the others liked not having two giant apes having a giant-ape slapfight.

...


He really needed to figure out how to effectively control his Great Ape form. Sarada probably knew, but somehow he doubted she'd be keen on teaching a 'mutt'... at least for now.

[Ptrvc]

Jack snorted at Totoma and Sarada's absurdities, "Oh come off it. Big bad sayains gonna take care of everything while the rest of us sit back and watch? Come on, I am not gonna let the fate of earth be gambled on something like that. Such gambles are best left to the professionals," Jack wanted to light up bad, but felt that doing so at this point, and in this place would have been a tad too disrespectful to both the people of cask, and the self-styled deity before them. This was making him a tad shorter tempered than normal, and this came across in his voice.

"Let me ask you both a question, when's the last time you've been in a life or death, one on one duel with someone whose totally outclassed you?" he tapped the side of his head with his index finger before continuing, "When's the last time either of you even killed anybody? And I don't mean those yetis out there where you had back up, either, I mean one on one with another thinking reasoning creature? When?"

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Big talk for a wash-out. You'd think someone in her situation would have learned a bit of humility, but... guess not. You really couldn't rob most Saiyans of their pride, it seemed. Was that pride innate, a result of culture, or some combination of the two, he wondered?

"Heh, sure, whatever you say. I'll be sure to wait until you're unconscious before I start cleaning up your messes. Wouldn't want that Saiyan pride of yours to get wounded, too," he said. His tone was indicated that it was just playful ribbing, though he did honestly expect to have that sort of thing happen at some point. Or maybe not. Who knew, at this point?

When the half-breed said something to her, her eyes cut to him. A cutting remark was on the tip of her tongue when she finally registered his tone.

A joke.

It better have been, because it was a ridiculous thing to say if he was being serious. If she was defeated by someone, there was no way in hell a low-grade half-breed would stand even half as good a chance, let alone do better.

"Funny. Because that was clearly a joke."

Totoma stifled a snicker. "Well, hey, it worked. Probably better for everyone that I didn't have the chance to go ape-****."

Better for him, as well. He liked his tail, and he also liked not going berserk. Not that he'd remember it. And he was sure that the others liked not having two giant apes having a giant-ape slapfight.

...


He really needed to figure out how to effectively control his Great Ape form. Sarada probably knew, but somehow he doubted she'd be keen on teaching a 'mutt'... at least for now.

"That was actually my plan," she revealed. It wasn't, but there was no need for them to know that. "Have you go ape and distract the Yeti so I would have an easier time killing it."

That actually wasn't a bad plan. As long as she didn't look at the Blood Moon, there was no chance of her turning.

Of course, there was the very good chance that the mutt would have likely killed a few of their own, but that certainly wasn't her problem. If they didn't know how to run away from a fifty foot ape monster, that was on them.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Jack snorted at Totoma and Sarada's absurdities, "Oh come off it. Big bad sayains gonna take care of everything while the rest of us sit back and watch? Come on, I am not gonna let the fate of earth be gambled on something like that. Such gambles are best left to the professionals," Jack wanted to light up bad, but felt that doing so at this point, and in this place would have been a tad too disrespectful to both the people of cask, and the self-styled deity before them. This was making him a tad shorter tempered than normal, and this came across in his voice.

"Let me ask you both a question, when's the last time you've been in a life or death, one on one duel with someone whose totally outclassed you?" he tapped the side of his head with his index finger before continuing, "When's the last time either of you even killed anybody? And I don't mean those yetis out there where you had back up, either, I mean one on one with another thinking reasoning creature? When?"

What crawled up his ass?

Her smirk increased ever so slightly. "What's the matter? Mad that I may take all the glory?"

Then, she thought about his question. The answer to both was never. Technically, the answer to the first was yes. Her graduation exam was against a fellow student in the CTC. If she won, she would live as a free woman. Failure meant life as a slave. Life in the Meat Market carried the risk of being raped and killed, or dragged into the gladiatorial arena and slaughtered in front of millions. So, yes, she very much had been in a life-or-death duel with someone who far outclassed her.

And she lost. Badly.

Her prospective one-on-one duel with the evil Kami would be a literal life-or-death struggle, except she couldn't lose. If she did, she would have nowhere to run to. Her life would come to an end right then and there. It was why she wouldn't lose. It was why she needed to get stronger.

"I've never killed anyone," she admitted, her smirk falling away. "But I have been in a life or death struggle." She stopped there. She didn't want to admit anymore than she already had.

[Ptrvc]

What crawled up his ass?

Her smirk increased ever so slightly. "What's the matter? Mad that I may take all the glory?"

Then, she thought about his question. The answer to both was never. Technically, the answer to the first was yes. Her graduation exam was against a fellow student in the CTC. If she won, she would live as a free woman. Failure meant life as a slave. Life in the Meat Market carried the risk of being raped and killed, or dragged into the gladiatorial arena and slaughtered in front of millions. So, yes, she very much had been in a life-or-death duel with someone who far outclassed her.

And she lost. Badly.

Her prospective one-on-one duel with the evil Kami would be a literal life-or-death struggle, except she couldn't lose. If she did, she would have nowhere to run to. Her life would come to an end right then and there. It was why she wouldn't lose. It was why she needed to get stronger.

"I've never killed anyone," she admitted, her smirk falling away. "But I have been in a life or death struggle." She stopped there. She didn't want to admit anymore than she already had.

Only a year or two younger than me, but your still just a kid, aren't you? Jack thought to himself. He did not want tell his life story either. Left to die in the cold by his own parents at three years old, struggling day to die to survive, as the winter got colder and colder. If Manco hadn't found him he'd have frozen to death or been eaten some wild animal. Even then the life of a bandit was hard, you took what you could, mostly from people better off than you.

And then there had been the duel with Manco, when his Dead Man's Hand had torn through his savior, mentor, and friend, reducing him to a lifeless sack of meat in an instant.

"Ain't no glory in killing, girl, not a drop," Jack admitted, "If you want to prove your strength that's fine, even commendable. If you want to fight Totoma, or me or whoever, and prove that you can whup us, more power to you." Jack smirked for a second as if to suggest he had his doubts that she could beat him, but his face quickly dropped back to dead serious, "But I don't want you getting your hopes up and thinking this is gonna be something it ain't."

"This is about survival, who lives and who dies, and I intend to survive, even if it's just to spite those who've tried to put me down," he shrugged, "Don't get me wrong, Sarada, nothing wrong with going after what you want, but if you expect me to stick on the sidelines when my own chips are on the table, you got another thing coming."

[Monstrous Bird of Qin, Ou Ki]

Jack snorted at Totoma and Sarada's absurdities, "Oh come off it. Big bad sayains gonna take care of everything while the rest of us sit back and watch? Come on, I am not gonna let the fate of earth be gambled on something like that. Such gambles are best left to the professionals," Jack wanted to light up bad, but felt that doing so at this point, and in this place would have been a tad too disrespectful to both the people of cask, and the self-styled deity before them. This was making him a tad shorter tempered than normal, and this came across in his voice.

"Let me ask you both a question, when's the last time you've been in a life or death, one on one duel with someone whose totally outclassed you?" he tapped the side of his head with his index finger before continuing, "When's the last time either of you even killed anybody? And I don't mean those yetis out there where you had back up, either, I mean one on one with another thinking reasoning creature? When?"

"Never said you had to sit things out. You'll just have to wait until round 3 to gang up on the big bad," said Totoma. "Look at it this way... if the two of us fail, we've at least softened them up and given you a chance to figure out how they fight."

"As for your question... well, I've had some... not fights, but altercations with guys stronger than me. I managed to pull through all right. Wasn't trying to win, of course. Just survive. And killing... that's just a natural outcome of fighting in a lot of cases, isn't it? Gonna be blunt, if Sarada here were a couple times stronger, she'd probably have killed us all just for the fun of it. Saiyans may look like just Earthlings with tails, but fullblooded ones are especially ruthless, and the training they're given only makes that quality worse."

He didn't quite have the same level of ruthlessness as a purebred, of course, but he'd kill, when pushed. He preferred knocking out his enemies, though. That way he could fight them again when both he and they had recovered.

[Ptrvc]

"Never said you had to sit things out. You'll just have to wait until round 3 to gang up on the big bad," said Totoma. "Look at it this way... if the two of us fail, we've at least softened them up and given you a chance to figure out how they fight."

"As for your question... well, I've had some... not fights, but altercations with guys stronger than me. I managed to pull through all right. Wasn't trying to win, of course. Just survive. And killing... that's just a natural outcome of fighting in a lot of cases, isn't it? Gonna be blunt, if Sarada here were a couple times stronger, she'd probably have killed us all just for the fun of it. Saiyans may look like just Earthlings with tails, but fullblooded ones are especially ruthless, and the training they're given only makes that quality worse."

He didn't quite have the same level of ruthlessness as a purebred, of course, but he'd kill, when pushed. He preferred knocking out his enemies, though. That way he could fight them again when both he and they had recovered.

Jack was about to tell Totoma that six months ago he would have thought nothing of ambushing the Half-Sayian, beating him into unconsciousness, and stripping him of anything that might have even remotely looked valuable, and left him to fend for himself after that. He decided against that, he was trying to keep a low profile on what he had been, and Jack suspected that he had admitted too much in his last comment to Sarada.

Jack settled on, "Ifs don't really count though do they? Aside from the future. What was is what was, and what is is what is." He shook his head "Look if you want to wait your turn after me and whoever else wants to go all in, and then have your duel, go ahead, but don't expect me or anyone else to sit back for you. That's what you want, not what I want."

[Lord Falcon]

Erosa flinched visibly at the whistle. But it was his words while standing in defiance of her that really started ringing in her ears. It was annoying, infuriating. It looked like he wanted to fight her? For what? So the old man could recover and start beating on them again? Seduce them with sweet words and finish what he started? So they could get what they wanted from him an bind him up in his urn again forever. Locking, binding, supressing. Death was better. Killing him was better. At least she would be quick. It would be fun too. He deserved it for what he did. HE DESERVES TO DIE!

RIP AND TEAR AND LET IT BE DONE WITH! MOVE! STOP PROTECTING IT!

"Raaaaawrr!" Erosa brandished her claws in a show of aggression but didn't move to use them.

Get lost. Move. Out. Out. Out.



"No, No, No." Erosas inner voice sounded like a petulant child not getting her own way. "Candy man doesn't understand. Why he protect the bad man? I could kill him now and make everything better! I kill for him so he not have to feel guilty! I kill so bad man not have to go back in jar.....death better then jar. Not wish deep dark place on anyone. No one can hear, no one can see. Worse then death."



"Is that so.....Hmm." Etrina spoke as a side thought to her examination. "I'm certainly in no position to offer moral judgement on a situation of this magnitude. But logically speaking, I doubt this urn ended up here as a result of a miner bringing it down here. This was here way before the mine. Someone, at somepoint, decided this man with worth sealing and burying as deep as they could. So either he was a part of something as bad or worse then this...or he was a prisoner for far less immoral reasons. Humanity has a habit of locking away what it doesn't like. A couple centuries in an urn would make even the most stable man desperate for a way out. Isolation breed insanity. His man could have been a scholar in life."

"This is all hypothetical though. We only have to work with what is in front of us. To judge based on what we know, or to hesitate on what we do not.....that would be the....that would......."

Etrina flinched and flung her gaze over towards the down mage in annoyance. "What in kamis name is going on over there! I'm trying to focus on a........oh no...." It took one look for her to understand the situation.



"EROSA! What did I tell.....you about......." Both Etrina, Erosa and the others watched as the black mist that made up the mage sucked itself back in the urn and resealed. "......what did you do erosa?

"Gaoooo! GAO AAGO!" Erosa pointed at Ajna as he passed by her, a hard look on his face.

"No, I'm asking what YOU did. He was just guarding the body! I gave no order to have you start beating on an unconscious man, let along scare the man into choosing imprisonment!"

"GAO!"

"A likely story! Ugh........why.....why are you doing this! The only thing I ask of letting you wander around of your own free will is that you do not...DO NOT....act in such an extreme manner! Do you want the leach again? I can write up the spell for it now. Is that what you want?" Etrina started waving her finger in the air with a threatening manner. "Well...?"

"GGggrrrrr....Gao..." Erosa hissed, but with less energy then before. "Ggo...ga...."

"....Good. I hope you can keep to that this time.....I won't hesitate to put a muzzle on you if you don't start behaving."

"Gaogogo GaoGa!!"

Etrina eyed her curiously, then let out a sigh and turned her gaze towards the approching Ajna. "Please.....I'm so sorry for her attitude. She....well she just......." She eyed erosa, who was staring at her quietly. "...She wanted me to pass along something.......*sigh*.........she wanted to pass along an apology as well..." She glanced over in time to see a look of annoyance pass over erosa face before she let out another gao and stomped off.

Ishtar had heard too, in her own way, and it certainly had not been an apology she had passed along.

"Hope you have fun protecting him, you'll have to do it a lot longer then I would have took killing him. Stupid Candy Hero."

Mine:

With a mumble, the mage awakens hearing their plans. In desperation not to be killed, his body turns into dark smoke and flees back into the urn, like pouring water in reverse. When the last of it is inside, the talisman glows, no longer being fought, and slowly reseals and repairs itself, sealing the wizard away.

Before the mage's fate could be sealed, he chose to seal himself instead. Awakening from his brief slumber, he fled back into the urn in a cloud of smoke, even going so far as to rebuild the urn behind him as he went. Asha'rah would have blinked, had her optical sensors the mechanisms. Her foe had gone so far as to imprison himself to escape her wrath. He was no less deserving of death inside that urn than he had been while he was free, but...there was a stark difference between kicking a psychopathic monster while he was down and killing him after his total surrender and self-disablement. She picked up the urn in one hand, her metal fingers clicking softly against ceramic, and considered the paths before her for a moment.

The beast-like lady who seemed to have an almost pet-like relationship with Etrina had wanted to eat the mage, and among her reasons was her view that death was better than suppression. Those words felt like they came from the heart. But the beast-like lady's heart was her own, and so too this nameless mage. By sealing himself back inside his prison, he had obviously made a different value judgment.

Yes, that seems most suitable.

"Etrina, you have some expertise with the workings that go into this vase, yes?"