I Died and Was Reincarnated as a Goth Femboy

Flora nodded. James, as if summoned by the mere thought of being needed, appeared at their side. "This way, please," he said, leading them to the fanciest guest room Kenjiro had ever seen. It had a private sauna, a holographic entertainment system, and a bed that looked like it was made of actual clouds.

"I know my room at the guild is expensive, but damn," Bombom said, jumping happily onto the bed. "This is on another level! The monster can really be in jail here!"

Flora giggled. "I can jail the monster in a different way~"

Bombom's face went red. "Y-yeah, shut up..." He pulled the last Featherlight Power Bar from his purse, looking at the fine print on the wrapper for the first time. 'Consecutive uses will have the effect time reduced.' "Oh," he thought to himself. "So that's why the effect wore off before a full day."

In a dark, grimy warehouse on the other side of HozyHoo, Taguro and Jairson were in the middle of a brutal fight. Jairson, a carton of orange juice in one hand and a massive pistol in the other, was a whirlwind of controlled chaos, using his skills to absorb damage and resist debilitating status effects on the reptilian thugs. Taguro was a storm of crackling energy, zapping their enemies with precise bolts of lightning. Once the last of the reptilians was unconscious, they tied the leader to a chair.

Jairson pressed the barrel of his gun to the creature's scaly forehead. "Now, tell us. What are the plans?"

The reptilian just laughed, a dry, hissing sound. "There'sssss no plan. We've already taken over thisssss city. We are cloning everyone. Every person you see, every famoussss person... is already one of ussss."

Taguro let out a low growl. "You know what? You better tell us something useful, or I will really fry you alive."

The reptilian began to sweat. "Okay... okay! The elitessss contracted ussss. We clone the people they want and put one of ourssss in their place."

"So why's that?" Jairson demanded.

"Control," the reptilian hissed. "And that'sssss just one of the thingssss."

With a sudden, violent spasm, the lizard broke free from its ropes, spitting a thick, viscous goo in Jairson's and Taguro's faces, blinding them for a crucial second. It was just enough time for him and his crew to escape into the shadows.

"Damn it!" Taguro cursed, wiping the slime from his eyes. "We must tell Bombom about this!"

Jairson nodded grimly. "Yeah. Let's go."

Back at the mansion, Bombom and Flora were fast asleep in their cloud-like beds when BANG! The door to their suite burst open. Taguro came running in, his face a mask of panic, and leaped onto Bombom's bed.

"Hey, wake up!" he yelled, but Bombom was snoring softly, completely dead to the world. Taguro smirked, and then began slapping his face. "HEEEEEEY! WAKEEE UPPPPPPP, MASTEEEEEEEER!"

Bombom woke up with a terrified yelp, and Taguro gave him another three quick slaps for good measure.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Bombom screamed, scrambling up.

"Hey, you're finally awake," Taguro said with a cheerful smile.

Bombom's mind flashed back to his old world—the rumble of a cart, a gruff voice, a man in rags... a bad, deeply ingrained memory. He shook his head, regaining his senses. "So... before I throw you through that window, explain yourself."

Taguro and Jairson quickly explained the reptilian cloning conspiracy. Bombom got out of bed, his expression grim, making Taguro, who was still on the bed, fall to the floor. "Let's go."

"But we have no clue where this 'elites' hideout is, my boy," Jairson said, tipping his hat.

Bombom just laughed, a sharp, confident sound. "Isn't it obvious? They're at the HozyHoo sign."

Flora, awakened by all the commotion, sat up in her bed. "What's going on?"

"Get up," Bombom said, a dangerous glint in his red eyes. "We're going to eat some tiny gecko."

They traveled to the massive, golden sign that night. It was even bigger up close, a monument to obscene wealth. Bombom began touching the giant letters, searching for a hidden mechanism. He finally pressed a loose piece of decorative trim, and with a low groan, a section of the sign slid open, revealing a set of dark, descending stairs.

"See? Told you," Bombom laughed. The stairway was pitch black. He gulped, then turned to Flora. "Ladies first."

She just smiled. "I hope you like smelling pheromones as I walk..."

Bombom immediately went first. "Yeah, you go last."

Kenjiro took a deep, steadying breath and plunged into the darkness of the hidden stairway. The air was stale and cold, a stark contrast to the vibrant, manufactured perfection of the city above. The golden light of the HozyHoo sign vanished as the heavy stone door groaned shut behind them, leaving them in a pitch-black corridor that seemed to descend into the very bowels of the earth.

"Well, this isn't creepy at all," Taguro whispered, his voice echoing nervously in the confined space.

"Stay close," Jairson grunted, the sound of him drawing his massive pistols a comforting, metallic click in the darkness.

They walked for what felt like an eternity, the only light coming from a small, glowing flower that Flora had conjured in her palm. The stairs finally opened into a vast, cavernous space. It wasn't a dungeon or a treasure vault. It was a giant, impossibly clean office, sterile and white, with rows of expensive-looking desks and ergonomic chairs. Cameras mounted in every corner swiveled to track their movements, their red recording lights like the eyes of silent, judgmental spiders. This was the nerve center, the place from which the elites watched their gilded city.

The party began to look around, their footsteps unnervingly loud on the polished white floor. They found files, data slates, and financial records, all detailing the intricate web of control the elites held over HozyHoo—from manipulating the media to rigging the stock market. But there were no people, only the silent, watching cameras. At the far end of the office, they found another door, this one made of reinforced steel, with a small, circular window.

Peering through, Kenjiro's blood ran cold. The room beyond was a laboratory, bathed in a cold, blue light. And lining the walls were dozens of cryo-pods, frost clinging to their glass surfaces. Inside each one, suspended in a shimmering, translucent fluid, was a person. A famous person. He recognized them from the news, from the weird celebrity invasion in the city. There was Mikel Yakson, the King of Pop, frozen mid-moonwalk. Zelks Nesley, the King of Rock and Roll, his signature sneer preserved for eternity. And in the center pod, the most recent addition: Tany Nest, the controversial music mogul.

Taguro's face lit up with a fanboy's glee. "Ooooh, Tany Nest! He's my favorite!" He immediately began doing a strange, blocky dance, mimicking one of the artist's famous music videos. "You're such a zukin—"

"We got it," Jairson said, cutting him off before he could finish the lyric.

Bombom walked over to Tany Nest's pod, his expression grim. This was it. The proof. The clones were walking the streets, while the real people were kept here, on ice. He found the release mechanism and, with a hiss of decompressed air, the pod began to drain. The glass door slid open, and the real Tany Nest, pale and shivering, tumbled out onto the floor.

He looked up, his eyes wide with confusion. "W-what happened?"

Taguro rushed to his side, helping him up. "We're saving you," he said, his voice filled with reverence, before guiding the bewildered artist over to Jairson, who offered him a steadying shoulder.

"Do you remember anything before you got here?" Bombom asked.

Tany Nest nodded, a dark look in his eyes. "Yeah. They sent me a deal. An offer from the elites. They wanted me to spread their lies, be a part of their corruption. I said no."

"So they 'vanished' the old you," Jairson concluded, his voice a low growl.

A defiant fire returned to Tany's eyes. "But don't worry," he said, a confident smirk spreading across his face. "We are going to exit this place, and we are going to destroy them."

As they walked back out into the main office, a deafening siren began to blare. Red lights flashed, and from hidden panels in the ceiling, automated turrets descended, their barrels aimed directly at the party.

"Tany Nest has escaped," a cold, robotic voice announced. "Sending all units. Initiating Control Net 1.0."

"Zhit," Tany said, his bravado vanishing. "Let's run! We ain't gonna make it!"

Bombom just looked at him, his face full of a sudden, powerful ego. "We ain't gonna make it? I left the mansion. I ate so much."

Taguro, catching on, grinned, his eyes gleaming with hype. "Negative, Bombom. Negative."

"RAAAAAAAAARGH!" Bombom roared, a familiar, dark aura erupting around him. His shadow monster peeled from his back, smirking as it flexed its impossible muscles. "THE MONSTER IS GETTING OUT OF JAIL!" it boomed. With a single, devastating punch, it shattered the reinforced, one-way window at the far end of the office, revealing a control room filled with terrified, lab-coat-wearing scientists who had been watching them the whole time. The shadow vanished, and Bombom stopped, panting to regain his breath.

"I can't breathe," Taguro gasped from behind him.

Bombom shot him an intense, angry look. Taguro immediately started whistling innocently.

"I mean it," he clarified. "Flora's pheromones are taking over the place." True to his word, a thick, sweet-smelling haze was filling the room from the panicked plant mage.

They rushed through the shattered window and into the control room, the scientists scattering before them like rats. They ran through a labyrinth of laboratories, past terrified employees, until they burst through a final set of doors and found themselves in what looked like a strange, high-tech hospital.

Tany Nest let out a whoop of laughter. "What the zhit was that? Woah! I must make a song about it!"

"Later," Jairson said, his expression grim. "We must destroy the elites first."

"We?" Tany jumped down from Jairson's back, his self-serving smirk returning. "I only know me. Bye-bye." An expensive-looking car, seemingly appearing from nowhere, screeched to a halt beside him. He hopped in, and the car sped away, vanishing into the distance.

Bombom sighed, watching him go. "That's your idol?"

"Oh, he's probably late for something..." Taguro said, his voice full of a hope that was clearly misplaced.

"Alright," Bombom sighed, shaking his head. "We already got what we needed. We discovered the lizard people, saved a village, saved some harpies, became an ally of the goblin kingdom, got the princess safe, and we discovered the plot of the elites."

"Where's the bald man?" Flora asked, looking around.

As if summoned by her words, the black Bugatti screeched to a halt in front of them. The bald man got out, a wide, manic grin on his face. "Yo, my boy!" he laughed loudly. "I didn't know you had the balls to do it! I watched it all over the news! You got a Bugatti! Jump in!"

They all piled into the ridiculously luxurious car and drove to one of his many mansions. He led them to a garage that was larger than the guild hall, filled with dozens of hypercars. "I've got so many of these cars around," he said with a wave of his hand. "You can pick the color you want."

Bombom, without hesitation, pointed to a sleek model in a deep, metallic blue with black trim. "Good choice," the bald man said, tossing him the keys. "It's good to know I'm right." He walked back toward his mansion, laughing like a maniac.

Bombom sighed, looking at his new, ridiculously expensive car, then at his team of misfits. "At least we got a car. Let's go."

They all got in, and Bombom, with a surprising amount of skill, drove them back to the princess's mansion. They found Leroy at the front gate, arguing with the guards who wouldn't let him in. Bombom honked the horn. Leroy looked over, saw them in the Bugatti, and, without a word, got in the passenger seat. They started to drive out of the city, their quest finally, truly, over.

As they drove, the high-tech screen on the car's dashboard flickered. The normal news program was replaced by a static-filled screen showing the dark silhouettes of five figures.

"We know what you did," a distorted voice said, cold and menacing. "Don't interfere in the future."

The screen went blank. Whatever it was, Bombom knew for sure it was the elites. And he knew this was far from over.