The evening sky burned orange over the harbor.
Smoke rolled across the docks in thick waves while alarms blared throughout the city.
Cargo containers had been crushed like soda cans.
Ships drifted half-submerged in the water.
And in the middle of it all—
SKRREEEEEEEEEEE!!!!
—the three-headed dragon-snake reared upward from the harbor, its massive body twisting between warships and shattered cranes.
One head breathed fire.
Another spat streams of glowing green acid that melted straight through steel.
The third—
The third just screamed.
A sound so violent it shattered windows for blocks.
MISSILES streaked across the sky.
BOOOOM!!
Explosions erupted against its scales.
The kaiju barely noticed.
Military helicopters circled overhead while tanks fired from barricades near the shoreline.
"Keep firing!"
"Drive it back into the water!"
"Watch the left flank!"
Too slow.
One of the serpent heads lunged forward—
CRUNCH!!
A tank disappeared between its jaws.
The soldiers nearby scattered in panic.
FWOOOOOOSH!!!!
Three colored streaks tore across the clouds.
Red.
Blue.
Green.
The Powerpuff Girls arrived like missiles.
Buttercup reached the battlefield first.
"I don't have time for this!" she shouted excitedly. "I need to find Ben!"
BOOOOOM!!!!
She slammed straight into the dragon-snake's center head, snapping it sideways hard enough to send a shockwave across the harbor.
The monster screeched.
"The Professor said he'll be tracking him down!" Blossom shouted. "While we deal with this monster!"
Unlike the panicked soldiers, Blossom's voice cut cleanly through the chaos.
Calm.
Controlled.
Commanding.
Bubbles darted through the air at blinding speed, grabbing trapped civilians from overturned vehicles near the docks.
"It's okay! I got you!"
Another explosion erupted behind her.
The kaiju's acid breath swept across the harbor—
SSSSSSHHHH!!
A battleship began melting apart.
"Gross!" Buttercup yelled.
The second head snapped toward her.
Too late.
WHAM!!
Buttercup drove both fists into its jaw, forcing its mouth shut before the acid exploded between its teeth.
The creature convulsed violently.
"HAHA! That's what you get!"
"Buttercup!" Blossom shouted. "Stop freelancing and focus!"
The third head lunged toward Buttercup from behind—
But Bubbles intercepted it midair.
THOOOM!!
She used all her strength to lift the creature out of the water before suplexing it headfirst into the ocean.
The impact sent massive waves rippling across the harbor.
The military watched in awe as the titanic monster was submerged by one of the three energy-coated girls.
"By God's grace… who are those girls?" one of the tank operators muttered from the shoreline as he watched the creature they had struggled to contain get completely manhandled.
Not by warships.
Not by jets.
Not by military-grade rockets.
But by three glowing girls flying through the sky.
Bubbles shot out of the water and rejoined her sisters overhead.
For a brief moment, the monster actually stopped moving, its brain struggling to comprehend how it had suddenly been submerged.
Then it resurfaced in confusion.
Bubbles blinked.
"…Oh."
She smiled sheepishly.
"Sorry."
The creature stared at her as she rubbed the back of her head like she hadn't meant to use that much strength.
It took that as an insult.
And growled.
A roar exploded outward in a cone-shaped shockwave.
Bubbles was blasted backward by a violent gust that whipped through her hair and clothes.
She crossed her arms in front of herself to brace against it.
"Hey! That isn't nice!!"
A streak of green circled the monster before diving straight toward its spine.
Buttercup clenched her fists, ready to finish this and go search for Ben before he triggered his violet rage form somewhere else.
BOOOOOOOM!!!!!
The water exploded around the kaiju.
Its massive body sank as Buttercup tore straight through it, ripping through flesh and organs before bursting out through its stomach.
Her momentum carried her downward.
Buttercup didn't stop.
The moment she emerged, she cocked her fist back and rocketed toward one of the creature's jaws at mach speed.
CRACK!!
Its neck snapped sideways.
Then the jaw tore clean off.
"Buttercup, you're being too rough!" Bubbles shouted worriedly. "Don't hit it that hard!"
She flew closer, but the three-headed serpent suddenly opened all its mouths at once, unleashing fire, acid, and sonic blasts.
The girls scattered to avoid the attack.
Meanwhile, their more emotionally composed sister watched closely.
The military joined in again.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
Missiles tore into the creature's scales.
But they were little more than mild annoyances.
The beast shed its charred skin and regenerated fresh scales almost instantly.
Blossom narrowed her eyes as she analyzed it.
She could already see the hole Buttercup punched through beginning to heal.
Three heads.
Independent nervous responses.
Rapid regeneration.
And every time part of it was damaged—
—it healed almost instantly.
"That's annoying."
Below them, soldiers regrouped while civilians were evacuated farther inland.
The creature swam toward shore as tanks desperately tried to keep it away.
But it didn't care.
It smashed through the barricades and stared toward the city with insatiable hunger.
The girls grabbed onto its tail, trying to pull it back toward the water.
Five fighter jets screamed overhead, their missiles locking onto the creature's eyes as they attempted the same blinding strategy from earlier.
General Monger stared upward from a command vehicle.
"They're actually pushing it back…"
HIIISSSSS!!!
The monster spewed acid across its own tail.
Bubbles immediately let go to avoid being splashed.
The creature instantly made a break for land.
Blossom inhaled sharply before unleashing a freezing gust that encased the center head in ice.
Buttercup flew beside her, diving underwater before erupting upward again.
"AHHHHHH!!!"
Her emerald aura flared brightly as she used every muscle in her body to lift the creature entirely out of the harbor so it couldn't swim or slither away.
The dragon-snake suddenly began thrashing violently.
Its glowing eyes pulsed.
Blossom's expression changed instantly.
"Let go!"
KRAAAAAAAAAAAASH!!!!
A massive ring of blue fire exploded outward from the monster's body.
Entire sections of the harbor detonated.
Shipping cranes collapsed.
Water erupted into steam.
The shockwave alone sent military vehicles tumbling backward.
It was like a miniature nuclear blast.
The beast had triggered some kind of suicidal energy discharge.
Its massive body slammed back into the water.
Then the center head slowly rose again.
Burn marks covered its scales.
One jaw hung partially broken.
But it was smiling.
Then all three mouths began glowing simultaneously.
Blossom's eyes widened.
"That's bad."
The harbor lit up with azure flames.
Far away, hidden behind the city lights and distant chaos—
Inside his car—
Ben watched the emergency broadcasts illuminating his phone screen.
And smiled faintly.
Because somewhere beyond the battlefield—
Beyond the destruction—
He could practically feel Him watching the episode unfold.