I Died and Was Reincarnated as a Goth Femboy

With a final, gentle gust of wind from their harpy escorts, the party landed softly at the foot of the mountain range. Before them, nestled in a lush, green valley, was a giant, shimmering sign made of pure gold that spelled out "HOZYHOO" in elegant, looping script. They had arrived.

The princess, who had been silent and sullen for the entire flight, suddenly sprang to life. She leaped from Bombom's arms, landing gracefully on the ground.

"YEEEEES! FINALLY!" she shrieked, a triumphant, manic grin spreading across her face. She spun around to face the party, her expression instantly souring. "It took you all some days! You are all weaklings!"

Bombom sighed, the sound barely audible over the ringing in his ears from her scream. "I carried you the whole travel," he pointed out, his voice flat with exhaustion.

She scoffed, flicking her hair over her shoulder. "Yeah, sure. I did all the work, navigating from your arms. Now, let's go. Carry me to my mansion."

With a groan that seemed to come from the very depths of his soul, Bombom bent down and scooped her up again. The Featherlight Power Bar was still active, but the sheer mental weight of her entitlement was crushing. "Let's go, team," he mumbled.

Taguro walked over to Jairson, his voice low and serious. "We should look out for the reptilians." Jairson just nodded in agreement. He turned to Bombom. "Since we are already here, I will take a look around with Taguro. Let's go, boy." Jairson spat on the ground, tipped his cowboy hat to Bombom, and the two of them walked off toward the city center.

Taguro paused to give Bombom a quick, tight hug. "See you soon," he whispered. "Don't let that snake put you down." The princess, from her perch in Bombom's arms, stuck her tongue out at Taguro. He returned the gesture before jogging to catch up with Jairson.

Leroy, who had been silently observing the whole exchange, simply shrugged. "I will get more chicken," he announced to no one in particular, and wandered off in the direction of what looked like a market district.

That left Bombom and Flora alone with the princess.

"Looks like it's all us for now," Flora said, hopping a little on her feet and releasing a small, shimmering cloud of spores. Bombom instinctively took a step back.

"Right," he said. "But don't move much, okay?"

They began the long walk toward the opulent mansion district, a collection of gaudy palaces visible on a distant hill. As they walked, a low, rumbling sound grew louder, and a sleek, black Bugatti pulled up beside them. The window rolled down, revealing a bald man with a expensive rolex, expensive sunglasses and a smug grin.

"Hey my boy, where's your Bugatti?" he asked, his voice a deep, confident baritone. "I have five. You need to put in the work, or the Matrix will get you."

Bombom glared at him. "I'm already in the Matrix. I'm carrying a princess."

The bald man laughed, a loud, obnoxious sound. "A princess? You are a zucking simp. You know what, my guy, I'll give you an opportunity." He took a long drag from a thick cigar, blowing a cloud of smoke into the pristine air. "The elites around here are hiding something. Find out what it is, tell me, and I will give you a Bugatti. See ya around." With a roar of its engine, the car zapped into the distance, leaving them in a cloud of dust.

"What a weird guy..." Flora mused. She paused, then jumped happily. "So, a side quest?"

"Yeah," Bombom nodded. "But first, let's get the princess safely home."

"You better not take quests from that... bald zitch," the princess scoffed from his arms.

"What's wrong with all that misspelling in the cursing?" Bombom asked, genuinely confused.

"We are rich, we don't need to curse," she explained haughtily. "But sometimes it's good to... you know, assert domination."

Bombom sighed, a single bead of sweat rolling down his forehead. "Yeah..." He kept walking. The city of HozyHoo was incredibly beautiful, like something out of a movie, but all he could think about was the web of problems he was tangled in. He needed answers. He needed a fight.

Meanwhile, Taguro and Jairson had made their way to a public gym in the city center. It was a gritty, old-school establishment that smelled of sweat and rust. A man was talking to his friend as they spotted a pair of dumbbells.

"I started suspecting he was a reptilian..." the man said. "...dude never skipped his reps-tilian workouts." His friend, who was holding a set of drumsticks, did a quick "ba-dum-tss" on a nearby bench.

Taguro sighed and looked at Jairson. "Their jokes suck."

The first man, who was tall and wearing all blue, overheard him. He and his friend, who was half his size and wearing all brown, got up and swaggered over. The shorter man pointed at Taguro. "You know what's funny? Your face with all that stupid makeup."

The two friends looked at each other and then shouted in unison, waving their hands up and down. "OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!!!"

A phone started ringing. The tall, blue-clad man answered it. "The lollipop man called 1980 and they want their cupcake back? And now a time-eater god wants to turn him into a sofa? We are coming." The two friends looked at Taguro, let out a series of synchronized "humpfs," and then walked out of the gym.

Taguro looked at Jairson, completely bewildered. "What in the hall just happened?" Jairson just shrugged.

He walked over to the biggest, most muscular man in the gym, who was in the middle of bench-pressing a small car. "Hey boy," Jairson said, his voice low. "Some guys told me you have what I need."

The huge man, who looked like he could wrestle a bear, immediately started trembling. He dropped the weights with a loud clang and looked up at Jairson, his face pale with fear. "Y-you're the man that stole a whole city... look, I don't want any trouble. Just say what you want."

Jairson spat on the floor. "We want to know where the reptilians are."

The man was shocked. "What? Reptilians? Look, I've never seen one."

Taguro stepped forward, his expression angry. "If you know he stole a whole city, you would know about the reptilians."

The man gulped, his eyes darting around nervously. "I-I can't talk about it, okay? They're watching." With that, he scrambled to his feet and ran out of the gym, dropping some of his weights that was in his back in his haste.

Taguro sighed. "I did something bad, right?"

Jairson nodded, a grim look on his face. "But I was hoping for that to happen. Now, let's follow him." The two of them exited the gym, melting into the crowds as they began to tail the terrified strongman.

Bombom, Flora, and the princess finally reached the mansion district. It wasn't so much a neighborhood as it was a collection of gaudy, competing palaces, each one trying to outshine the last with ostentatious fountains and manicured lawns that looked too green to be real. The princess's mansion was the largest of them all, a sprawling white monstrosity with a private helipad on the roof and a fleet of exotic cars gleaming in the driveway. As they approached the massive, gilded front gate, a pair of heavily armed guards stepped out, their expressions stern.

"It's the princess!" one of them shouted, his professional demeanor instantly replaced by one of relief. "Let them in!"

The gates swung open with a silent, hydraulic hiss. They walked up the long, winding driveway, and Bombom could feel the last dregs of the Featherlight Power Bar's magic flickering out. His arms, which had been carrying the princess with relative ease, began to tremble under her weight.

"You can put me down now," the princess said, seemingly sensing his struggle. Bombom gratefully did so, setting her on her own two feet and stretching his aching arms with a groan of relief.

"JAMEEEEEEEEEEES!" the princess shrieked, her voice echoing across the pristine courtyard. "JAMEEEEEEEEES, WHERE ARE YOU?!"

A man in his fifties, dressed in a perfectly tailored butler's uniform, came running from the mansion's main entrance, his face a mask of polite panic. "My princess, you've returned! I'm so sorry, I was just—"

"I DIDN'T ASK WHAT YOU WERE DOING!" she snapped, cutting him off. "WE HAVE GUESTS!"

James bowed his head. "Yes, my princess. I will take care of them immediately."

The princess scoffed, but then her expression softened almost imperceptibly as she glanced at Bombom. "Good. And if I find out you are treating my Bombom badly, I SWEAR..." She let the threat hang in the air before letting out a sharp "humpf" and stalking into the mansion.

Bombom and Flora exchanged a look of pure shock.

"She always acts like that?" Bombom asked, stepping forward. "Is she even a real princess?"

James offered them a weary, long-suffering smile. "Yes, she is always... passionate. I suppose being a billionaire changes how one acts. And no, she is not royalty by blood. But... you know, she likes to be called one, and her father certainly treats her as such."