Authoress' Note: What's this? A second update to this story in less than a day? What madness is this?

Well, it seems a gauntlet has been thrown—one in which may end up testing my writing skills. Unlike the tamer and nicer version of Vegeta stopping Tarble from killing him outright that I had written previously, this is a 'what-if' that involves Tarble deciding to take advantage of his temporary power that he has over the prince before he does the deed.

Unlike the previous version, there will not be any switches between perspectives. I am going to write this all from Tarble's perspective/point of view just to highlight the seriousness of how little he appreciates Vegeta after everything he's been through.

Before reading this, please for the love of Pete, read chapter 11 or risk being spoiled.

Another thing: there will be blood and torture—so much so that even I'm surprised I wrote this mess of a one-shot. I think that after this, I may need to focus more on writing happier stories to rebalance my writing style a bit. Thankfully, I did hold back some cruelty during all of this, considering how dark this was going, but not by much.

If you do not prefer this version, then please by all means, get out now because this disservice of writing truly makes everything else I've written so far tame. Just to give it a measurement of the darkness rating scale, this is probably ranked far worse than Black Divergence's writing, so if you have sensitive stomachs or anything, this is your final warning to get out.

Anyone else still with me after all of these warnings, don't say I didn't warn ya.

Before reading, feel free to sample this music clip that's unrelated to this fanfic:

https://youtu.be/wGcyKEZtWuE

"Blacker than a moonless night, hotter and more bitter than hell itself... that is coffee." Godot

Alright, that's probably the lamest way to break how dark this sniplet's going to be, but I digress. Still, I won't take back that shameless music clip I decided to include because it's sounds so amazing.

#darkerthanblack

A Prince's Insanity

One-Shot

Odd. Usually, I wouldn't take such sadistic joy knowing full well that I finally managed to bring my big brother to his knees. Correction, I should have said that I brought him in such a demeaning position and utterly defenseless on the ground, but who fucking cares about the damn details? All I knew was that I now had Vegeta at his mercy, and to be fair, I want answers before I go about killing him slowly, but surely.

"Damn it!" My brother tries in absolute futile to fight the paralysis that I had inflicted only a short time ago. He truly shouldn't have lowered his guard so easy. After all, I am highly aware of his fighting style, and his egotistical pride made him so blind to where he is vulnerable to everything due to him focusing harder on the offensive.

While his attacks have indeed been hard, I have been reading his movements. Despite my handicap and blindness, I make due to what I know of my brother and capitalized on his weakness. Even before my sight was an issue, I was paying attention to how he carried himself—prideful, arrogant, and a total asshole like my father had been back when I was banished into exile off world.

The drugs flowing through his system should last long enough to have my fun, and I sincerely doubt that anyone would be able to find us. I have all the time in the word to hash out my revenge on my elder brother. For the first time, I believe that I have every right to interrogate him the same way he interrogated everyone else without much bias opinions. Reaching down to my boot, I withdrew a blade that I managed to make inside of my workshop in my spare time. I had been secretly planning this whole thing for what felt like months, and now, I plan to see it through to completion.

"Where the hell did you get that primitive weapon?" Vegeta questioned, his voice sounded like he disapproved of my torture device. No matter. His opinions are moot.

I could hear the slight catch in his throat as I leaned down and draw it lightly against the left side of his face. Not deep enough to cause too much harm, but to just tantalizingly create enough pressure to draw small beads of blood to the surface. He hisses both in anger and pain since he is helpless right now to defend himself from the abuse I wish to inflict on him. How disappointing though—his reaction wasn't what I had imagined.

"Why should I tell you when it really won't matter once I'm done getting answers?" I coldly answered his question with one of my own. I pulled back, the scent of his blood starting to cloud my better judgement. It would be a shame to end his life so quickly. If I were to compare that haziness I nearly surrendered to, the best analogy would be if humans were drinking alcohol for buzz—the scent of blood is considered a drug to our kind.

"Because I'm pretty sure that you're just going to kill me," Vegeta retaliated. His regal voice sent a shiver down my spine, one that nearly tested my resolve. "You're better off just getting it over with."

No, he isn't dying that damn easy, especially after all the shit I had to deal with over the last four years since we reunited. If I truly want to kill him, I want to do so after I strip away nearly every last bit of his damn pride in the process. I would prefer it if he begged me to end his life, but since he's like a fucking wall, I would have to break him slowly.

"I would, but first, I think you deserve to feel what it's like not being able to see..." The words came out of my mouth with absolute conviction. It seemed that the moment I said this, I knew that I could no longer go back on what I had just said. "You had told me that I was helpless without my sight... I think it's only fair to take yours away as well."

The realization dawned on my brother as I drew closer to him once more. His eyes. When I was able to see Vegeta, his eyes were exactly like my father's eyes—judgmental and cold. I always hated my brother for having those eyes, and to be honest, I was ready to do him a favor and let him feel as helpless as I have become after I lost my sight.

"Damn it... Tarble, come to your senses," Vegeta's voice held frustration—as though he were pretty much done with my bullshit, but unfortunately, I'm beyond reasoning at this point. If I had thought of doing this years ago, I probably would have been appalled for my actions and never bothered to entertain such cruel dark thoughts that seemed to be driving me to my breaking point. Considering that this damn accursed world was going to hell, I might as well give him a taste of how I have always felt—inferior, insignificant, and utterly helpless.

_______

Blood stained my once white gloves as a muffled painful sound came from below me. It had taken quite some time, but now, my eldest brother was blind since I had cut his eyes out. He had yelled, screaming profanities at me until I tore part of his cloak and shoved it right in his fucking mouth. The last thing I want is to hear him screaming to the point where I lost my hearing. Taking the gag out of his mouth, the heavy, painful panting.

"You... you've proven your point," Vegeta told me, his voice laced with pain. "Why don't you stop torturing me already and just finish it?"

"Finish it?" my voice cracked slightly as I chuckled at the stupidity of his request. "I'm afraid that we're just getting started big brother."

The way I addressed Vegeta was condescending—I had administered more of the paralysis drug into his system to avoid him trying to fight me during his surgical procedure. While the scent of the blood in the air was affecting me greatly, I still was not satisfied.

Not yet.

"What more are you going to do to me?" Vegeta asked. He had a good point, and I was already one step ahead of him as I lifted the knife from the ground and reached for his tail. "You... you wouldn't..."

"After seeing how much you pride yourself a Saiyan, it would be a huge dishonor if you lost it," I sneered cruelly. "Still, cutting it off all at once would just be like tearing off a band aid—once gone, you don't miss it that much."

"You... you sick..."

"Oh no big brother, you have no say at how I remove your tail. Instead of taking it all off near the base, I think I'll cut it off. Piece. By. Piece. And if you scream in my ear again, I'll slit your damn throat and let you drown in your own blood!"

My thumb was against the dull edge of the blade as my other hand held his tail. Flicking the blade forward, the knife sliced right through the first vertebrae with little resistance. A pained hiss escaped my brother's lips at the idea that I was brutally chopping away at his tail—a tail he had since birth and never in all of his life knew what it would be like to lose it.

He truly was a spoiled bastard that my father doted on. I would have called him otherwise, but honestly, I do not wish to tarnish my mother's name and say the alternative.

Each cut I made as I dismembered each joint brought back another painful memory of how Vegeta mistreated me when we reunited. Not once did he see me as his younger brother, but a hinderance and weakling that could not even fight to protect himself.

Well dear brother, do you still think I'm weak and helpless? Do you still consider me a hinderance? Do you still think that I'm not worthy to call your brother after you fucking disowned me in front of the others?

If so, then you are such an asshole who deserves all of this.

By the time I had to turn him over to remove what was left of his tail, I threw the knife away and pulled it out by what was left of it from the base. A strangled, muffled cry emitted due to pressing his head down into the ground while I tore it directly from where it connected to his spine. Blood splattered against my skin, but I could care less how dirty I had become due to this violent display.

Eventually, I released his head as he took shallow, agonizing breaths. Damn, I should have just let him go without breathing a moment longer, but then again, I want him to once more ask for me to end his suffering. I wanted to deny him yet again that satisfaction and continue this barbaric torture just a little longer.

Not giving him a moment's reprieve, I kick him so he's now lying on his back again, my foot resting firmly on his left arm as I step on it hard enough to break it. He grunts in displeasure of this violent treatment, knowing full well that I was still taking pleasure in torturing him.

"A-are you satisfied...?" Vegeta managed to choke out.

"No," I snorted. "Why should I be?"

"Because this... this isn't like you..."

Those words stopped me from stepping on his other arm for a moment. How dare he accuse that this isn't like me? Didn't this asshole want me to be more like a true Saiyan? If he didn't want this, then he's a goddamn hypocrite who deserves to die for not making up his goddamned mind.

Fuck this. I change direction of where I wanted to inflict pain next and step on my brother's right hand. The very heel of my boot grinded into the back of it as bones shattered from the amount of pressure I put into that single step.

I could hear him breathing hard between his clenched teeth as I continue to slowly break every single bone in his limbs. Even if the paralysis wore off, he wouldn't be able to get very far.

As the warmth of the day slowly began to fade and the sounds of the night tickled my ear, my brother's shallow breathing was the only sign that there was still life within that now helpless body that laid on the ground. It seemed that my lesson was finally over.

"So, do you now know what it's like to be helpless?" I asked my brother, expecting a response. Sadly, he did not say anything to me. Perhaps he lost consciousness while I inflicted pain on him.

No matter. He's as good as dead to me anyway.

My hand trembled slightly as I summoned up enough energy to kill Vegeta once and for all. The small, more rational part of me hesitated. I was about to kill my brother—the one who from birth never seemed to appreciate who I am. So why do I feel... sad?

"I hope... that one day... you'll die... just the same way... I'm about to..." Vegeta bitterly responded with an equally bitter laugh. What pity I had was gone, snuffed out by those words he uttered out of his own stupidity.

Damn him to hell. I hope he burns for an eternity.

"And this is checkmate, big brother," I harshly said my goodbye to him before unleashing the blast that pierce his chest—killing him instantly.

Thunder roared overhead as a low, heartless laughter escaped my lips.

Vegeta's dead.

My brother, the prince of pain, the asshole my father favored early on due to his immense strength is dead. Had this been our home world, this would have been ironic that the younger brother outlived his elder one due to using sheer intelligence alone to out think and survive the savagery of a Super Saiyan.

Sadly, it was only possible due to my brother's pride keeping him from seeing the bigger picture.

"Big brother, you foolish, foolish man... look what you made me do...?" I laughed, the disbelief that I was capable of killing someone who could have killed me ten times over finally sunk in.

My laughter began to darken at the morbidity as I replayed the scenario in my head. I didn't grant my brother a lenient death—I had outright tortured him to the point that he cursed me to die the same way I just KILLED him.

As if I'd die LIKE he just did! I might be weaker because I didn't wish to train, but I have managed to disprove the theory that the strong live and the weak die bullshit our father always seemed to spew.

My energy began to rise unconsciously as my laughter reached its crescendo. I was so blind by the lack of sanity that I had no idea what was happening to me physically. By this point, I was consumed by hatred so intense that I wanted nothing more than to surrender to it entirely.

I heard someone land behind me, a gasp escaping his lips. Almost though a spell had been broken, I stopped laughing and pulled away from the pool of liquid madness that I nearly allowed to consume me completely. I turned towards the intruder who dared interrupt my triumph before a voice spoke up.

"P-Prince T-Tarble...? Is... is that you?"

Ah shit. It seemed that Karot had found me, and he seemed terrified for some reason. While I had hoped to burn Vegeta's body to ashes, it seemed I wasted too much time permitting myself to truly give into the carnal pleasure of celebrating my brother's death.

"What do you want?" I spat coldly. Did he have a death wish being around a murderer like me?

"I... I felt your energy rise, and... wh-what happened to Prince Vegeta?" Karot's voice stuttered.

"What do you think?" I smirked almost though I had won the right to rule the way I preferred without my brother's influence. "He got what he deserved."

"O-oh..." the younger son of Kakarot whimpered. "I... I guess that explains why you've changed..."

"Changed?" I repeated these words, almost though sampling them for the first time. I honestly have no idea what the boy was talking about.

"You're... you're just like my daddy was when... when..." I slowly began to realize that something had changed within me just as Karot proclaimed, but I had no idea at that moment what it was.

"Just spit it out," I barked, not in the mood for him hesitating.

"You're a Super Saiyan..."

Of all the things I had expected him to say, between being called a lunatic or deranged man, a Super Saiyan was the last thing I had anticipated Karot to say to me.

And yet, as I stood there transfixed, I felt the power overflowing from within me. The power that the others had gained through their own traumatic or selfish experiences. I had no idea that I too was capable of such a power...

"...nce Tarble?" Karot's voice broke the reverie of the dark thoughts that ran through my mind.

"What?" I barely had much patience with the boy.

"I was asking if you were okay..." Karot admitted in a small voice.

Somehow, the way he spoke to me reminded me of the boy I used to be many a year ago. And to think he had recently lost his father to that blasted virus shortly after breaking free of his prison that Chille held him in.

Even though I am losing my mind, a part of me felt like the scared child that stood before me. The power of the legends slipped away from my grasp—a power that scared me since I had no idea how to yield it as of yet.

"I'll manage," I reassured the tentative boy, but inside, I knew that I was slowly losing the battle as I started my descent into madness.

A madness that I feared no one was immune from.

Fin?

_______

This sniplet truly is one of the darkest ones of this series, even though I cut out some of the violence I knew I wouldn't be able to stomach. I was nearly tempted to not write the other torture scenes but knowing that Tarble was already close to losing his mind, it was a stretch to write a man who was just tired of all the crap Vegeta put him through.

As this sniplet was reaching its conclusion, I will admit that having Gohan/Karot arrive at the scene was something that may have traumatized other kids his age. I had almost considered putting another character in, but I think it's only fitting that Tarble is confronted by a child that reminds him of where he had come from, and to at least slow down the descent into insanity slightly. This will also explain the boy's absence (mostly) in chapter 11.

Yes, you may have noticed that I was going by the future timeline's version of events that played out compared to the present. Why I chose this path is because if I wrote the present timeline's, I'm sure that someone would stop Tarble before he either started torturing Vegeta the way he had, especially since Future Trunks did finally spill the beans about the younger prince losing his mind the way he did.

Seriously though—I think that Future Trunks should have told them a long time ago rather than wait and hope that things changed for the better. He knew that this was going to happen, and he should have intervened sooner. I mean he's already done it saving his dad and all, so what would be the worst that could happen if he tried to stop Tarble from committing regicide?

Anyway, time for another of Chibi's fan theories: in the future timeline, Karot, recently orphaned due to his father's death, had also lost his uncles. Tarble, who had almost considered the young half-breed a burden, realized how much the boy looked up to him, thus the boy managed to save him from fully surrendering to losing his sanity after he transformed into a Super Saiyan without realizing his actions.

Well, at least in the beginning.

Sadly, Tarble will have the rest of his sanity devoured after Karot dies years later. The former prince will end up taking it all out on Trunks prior to Karot's death since he learned that the boy's blood came from the woman he had selflessly saved in the past, and it grows so much worse afterwards because he felt he was indirectly responsible for things going to pot.

It is a miracle in itself how resilient Trunks seems to be compared to the others that he had not caved from the immense psychological pressures that surround him.

Wow, even my post-story notes are dark. For the record, I had no idea how long this sniplet was going to go considering that I was so into writing this piece that while I skimped on the more gruesome details, I will admit that this was still pretty dark writing I was doing. Will this become a new theme—writing long sniplets that defy my usual writing length?

Seriously though, I honestly don't mind writing these things when given the inspiration, though if anyone else has a challenge they wish for me to write about, please let me know. I truly enjoy writing scenarios as I permit myself to write these shameless fantasies for others to indulge in.