The Peach Spirit

The Blossoms

Screams reverberated through the air and flooded Taro's ears as he sat at the edge of a grassy cliff. "So many people suffering in one day." Said a transparent second Taro with a smile as he sat next to the first. "You're really shaping up to be a great villain."

"Shut. Up." Replied Taro between grit teeth and with clenched fists. "Whatever happens to everyone else is not my problem." Dark Taro chuckled upon hearing those words.

"So those three are part of that everyone now?" Asked Dark Taro with a smile as he put his arm over Taro's shoulders. "Does make sense. You ARE the main character, right? And EVERYTHING revolves around you!"

Thorns tore through the earth below Taro's feet if responding to his emotions before the peach boy turned to his doppelganger reared his arm for a punch. "STOP TWISTING MY THOUGHTS!!!" Taro's fist went right through the dark Taro, prompting the peach boy to stare at his arm impaling his doppelganger in shock and confusion. "What? WHAT ARE YOU?!"

The doppelganger chuckled gleefully at Taro's shock and confusion before approached him and looked him in eyes from an inch away from his face. "Maybe a weird consequence of your powers or a dark broken piece of of your mind or your subconscious or something just as overly philosophical." He replied with a sinister smile as he put his hands in his pockets. "Or maybe, just maybe, you're going crazy. One thing's for sure, though, I AM part of you."

Taro wanted to deny his relation to his doppelganger. He wanted to scream and try to get rid of him. A growing flame roared in his heart to struggle and prevail. And just as that flame became ready to be unleashed, it abruptly fizzled out into a small spark then nothing. Taro's arms went limp as he stared at the ground with his pink hair ruffling in the wind. He sighed under his breath before grabbing a lock of his hair for a peach.

Dark Taro looked down at the peach boy with a disgusted expression. "That's it? That's all you're gonna do? Sit here and get fat on your OWN HAIR?!" He asked angrily with grit teeth. "Your friends are in danger! You're just gonna laze around while they die?! They've risked their necks for you over and over and THIS is how you repay them?!"

"I can't keep doing this." Muttered Taro before his body began quivering as a chill went down his spine. Tears welled up in his eyes as his voice cracked. "I just- I just want- *sob" I don't know! I just wanna be happy, okay?!" Dark Taro didn't reply. He instead glared at the peach boy hatefully. The peach boy's eyes widened before he turned to the direction of the city. Where his friends were fighting without him. "No no no no NO!" The peach boy quickly picked up his river sword and rushed through the valleys towards the city with desperation in his eyes. "Please! Please!" He muttered to himself.

Meanwhile, the three Z's were fighting for their lives.

xxxxxXxxxxx

A while ago, in the city of Megapolis.

The three Z, standing on top of a building, stared at the once beautiful as a giant spider mech roamed around it menacingly with what seemed like an endless number of spider robots flooding the streets alongside the city's citizens brainwashed by the spider Queen's venom. "I have a bad feeling about this." Said Zao with a low growl as his eyes narrowed at the spider mech. "We shouldn't have come here. At least not without-"

Zuzu rolled his eyes at his canine friend's statement before cutting him off. "First Taro and now you? Where's the violence hungry maniac I know?" He said with a scoff, causing the fluffy silver furred dog to crack the earth below him as he growled aggressively. The monkey didn't even bat eye at the hostility thrown at him as he focused on the titanic spider mech. "With Taro not here, we need a new team leader to be in charge around these parts. I nominate-"