Hearts as One

(Open POV)

Townsville…

There is the city skyline in the evening. 

"The city of Townsville." The narrator said.

Space…

There is a view of Earth from space.

"On the planet Earth." The narrator said.

Further back, the moon is also there, with something hovering behind it.

"Out in outer space." The narrator said, looking at the moon. "And not too far out in outer space…" The spaceship slides away. "…just behind the Earth's moon, a mysterious craft lies in wait."

Spinning in place, the craft in question looks vaguely as if it was grown in somebody's backyard garden. Two alien voices speak from inside.

Spaceship…

 "Target achieved, Your Highness. Firing sequence ready on your command." Voice 1 said.

"Excellent. Launch the sporepedo." Voice 2 said.

The underside of the craft bulges briefly and expels a projectile that resembles a flower which has not yet opened up its petals and bloomed. A spearhead is attached to this. The object hurtles through space and enters Earth's atmosphere.

Earth…

The object lands in a farm field with its pod/bloom facing straight up and its base glowing. This swells up for a moment and then bursts open; a cloud of green vapor pours out and envelops the entire field. A few seconds later, in a long shot, the miasma dissipates to leave only a spot of pulsing green light where the missile hit. 

Farmsville…

It is a rural setting: farmhouse, barn with a crowing rooster on the roof, tractor in front. The sun is smiling and chewing a stalk of wheat.

 "The town of Farmsville!" The narrator chirped, looking across the street. "A quiet, hardworking agricultural community whose residents take humble pride in the most important of duties…"

It is your average small town, with more barns, a gas station, a general store, animals grazing, and so forth. There is a field, in which a man is using a combine harvester to gather the produce—broccoli.

"…the growing of wholesome, natural foods, which are promptly harvested…" The narrator said.

The broccoli stalks as they enter the machine, then they are now in crates and being loaded onto a truck.

"…packed, and shipped…" The narrator said, as the truck rolled off toward Townsville. "…to the many hungry and grateful residents of Townsville."

Townsville…

On a city street, humming with business activity of all sorts.

 "These busy city-dwellers may have important appointments to keep…" The narrator said, and in an office, two men shake hands over a contract. "…deals to make…" The control room of a TV station. "…information to distribute…" A building being put up. "…and constructions to construct…"

Malph's Market…

At the market, the truck from Farmsville is parked in front, unloading its cargo for Townsville to purchase from Malph's in the store's produce section.

"…but none of the business that is Townsville could even begin, without a trip to the market, and a heaping plate full of that nutritious, delicious farm-raised goodness. " The narrator said.

Townsville…

There is a black woman in her house eating dinner, which includes a healthy portion of broccoli. She eats a forkful and smiles.

"Mmm-mmm." The mom said, happily.

Her children—a son and a daughter—are next to her in the family kitchen. They glare at their food with loathing, and their mother is trying to get them to eat it.

"Come on, kids, eat your vegetables." The mom said, smiling.

"No way, Jose!" The black daughter cried.

"Yeah. No way, Jose!" The black son said, angrily.

"I don't eat broccoli."

"Yeah. I don't eat broc…" The black said, while both look crossly at him. "…lo…ri."

In another house, a man is at the table with his infant son. He is playing around with the child's food, waving a forkful around and trying to steer it in—but with no luck.

"Here comes the Broccoli Express…" Father 1 said, imitating a train whistle. "…into the tunnel!" He laughs. "Here comes the pirate ship to hide treasure in the secret cave! Here comes the X-Wing space fighter zooming around through hyperspace with proton torpedoes to blow up the Death Star!"

His face falls at his lack of success. 

In another house, there is a kid in football gear, with his dinner plate in front of him and his helmet next to him on the table. His plate also has a fair amount of broccoli on it. His father is chewing on his meal.

"Yuck! I ain't eatin' that!" Football Jimmy said, worried.

"Why?" Football Mom asked, bored.

"'Cause vegetables is for sissies and rabbits. Right, Dad?"

Football Jimmy's father is a big, beefy fellow with a Marine Corps tattoo on his arm and an entire steak speared on his fork. He is the one chewing on food. 

"Right." Football Dad said, bored.

"And eatin' the flesh of stupid lesser beasts makes you strong. Right, Dad?" Football Jimmy asked.

"Right." Football Dad said, and he is the father in all his buzz-cut glory. 

The mother stands next to him, with a bowlful of broccoli in hand and an annoyed look on her face. He stops chewing after a few seconds and looks at her sheepishly; now he opens his mouth so she can stick a forkful of greens into it. He bites down. The whole time, her face remains locked in that annoyed look, making sure that her husband ate the broccoli, one way or another, in hopes of convincing their son to do the same.

(Jared's POV)

Utonium Residence…

The girls are peeking over the edge of the dinner table at a plate of everybody's favorite vegetable. I am busy sipping on a mango smoothie, knowing that the broccoli isn't safe. And that the aliens are broccoli.

"Ewww! What's that icky green stuff?" Bubbles asked.

"It definitely isn't cake." Blossom said, sadly.

"It ain't a corn dog." Buttercup said, scoffing.

"I know it's not a hamster." Bubbles said, frowning.

"You eat hamsters?!" Blossom and Buttercup exclaimed, shocked.

"No! I like hamsters, and I know I don't like that…stuff!" Bubbles said, worried.

The Professor is at the table as well; Blossom and Bubbles are perched on booster seats. Buttercup's chair is hidden by its placement and the plate of broccoli. I am still drinking my smoothie, wanting to be here for the girls.

"Now, girls, eat your broccoli. It's exactly what growing superheroes need to charge up their powers." The Professor said, flexing his muscles on the end of this line. "Oh, it's packed with all kinds of vitamins and minerals, and mmm-mmm! It's so good for you!"

"Too bad it tastes so nasty." Buttercup said, annoyed.

Blossom sticks her tongue out at the broccoli.

"Jared, why aren't you eating the broccoli?" Blossom asked, looking over at me.

"It's not safe." I said, holding my smoothie cup in my hand.

"What do you mean it's not safe?"

"Spoilers."

"That isn't helpful. You haven't even tasted it yet." Bubbles said.

"Shhh!" Blossom and Buttercup said, at the same time.

"Well, you're not leaving the table until your broccoli is all gone." The Professor said, looking down at his plate; he spears a forkful. "And the only way to get rid of broccoli is to eat it all up like this!"

At the end of this line, the Professor lifts the fork to his mouth and uses it to pick up the broccoli. The girls react with fear and revulsion.

"Eew!" Bubbles shrieked.

"Professor, no!" Buttercup said, angrily. "Jared, why didn't you stop him?"

"It has to happen." I said, sipping on my mango smoothie.

"Has to?" Blossom asked.

I looked at the Professor's mouth as the broccoli enters it. 

(Open POV)

Space…

In the stars, where the UFO is still hovering. The first alien voice speaks again.

"Your Highness, readings show the receptor spores have been ingested." Voice 1 said.

Spaceship…

Inside the spaceship, its interior also has a very organic motif. The speaker is a giant humanoid stalk of broccoli with a rather nasty-looking face. It and a second stalk are seated at control panels; a third sits behind them on an elevated chair, holding a scepter and wearing a belt with a red jewel. It speaks next—this is the ruler, who has been referred to as 'Your Highness', and who was the second voice heard at the start.

"Excellent." The Ruler said, smirking. "The time is ripe to initiate hypnotransmithesis."

The Ruler looks down at his scepter. He presses a button on its head, and it begins to glow with the same green light as the projectile in the field. He brings it back in front of his face.

"Now the Earth's barbaric mammal people shall be hypnotized into a vegetable state, allowing my warriors to reap through the Earth's animal population and weed out all the human beings, leaving we, the Broccoloid Empire, to harvest the fruits of the earth and plant the seeds of a new empire!" The Ruler yelled, laughing evilly as he was holding his scepter.

(Jared's POV)

Utonium Residence…

"Wow…" I said, looking down at the Professor's head. "Just…wow."

The Professor's eyes are pulsing with the same light, and his skin has taken on a greenish tint. His face is frozen into a flat mask, showing no hint of emotion or movement whatsoever compared to moments earlier when he told the girls they could not leave the table until their broccoli had been completely eaten, and when he tried to encourage them by eating it himself, thus making him vulnerable to the hypnotransmithesis.

"Professor?! Professor?! Are you all right?!" Blossom exclaimed. "Jared, what's wrong with the Professor?"

"All I can say is that he ate the broccoli." I said, as the Professor's entire body seems to have gone stiff. 

The Professor tips backward and crashes to the floor. He is as stiff as a board and totally unresponsive. Blossom, Bubbles, and I stand near him and are visibly distraught.

"Is that your only hint?" Blossom asked.

"Yeah." I said, sadly.

 "You see…" Buttercup said, landing by the Professor. "I told you that stuff was wrong!"

"Why did you eat it, Professor? Why?" Bubbles asked, her voice breaking.

A faint cacophony of voices starts up, and the girls cock their heads and cup their hands to their ears, listening intently. Waves radiate outward from where they're listening as their ultrasonic hearing kicks in.

"Just then, the girls' ultrasonic hearing is bombarded with cries for help." The narrator said.

"Sounds like we're not the only ones in trouble. We gotta find out what's going on!" Blossom yelled.

Outside Utonium Residence…

The girls and I exit through the roof and head into the city.

"So the girls head out across Townsville with one of their closest friends." The narrator said.

The black family's kitchen…

The mother is in the same condition as the Professor: stiff as a board, greenish skin, face frozen in an emotionless flat mask, eyes glowing green and completely unresponsive; the children are nearby, crying. 

"What happened?" Blossom asked.

Blossom and I flew in through the window.

"Can you tell us?" I asked, in my ghost form.

"But everywhere they go, the story's the same." The narrator said.

"Our mom was trying to make us eat broccoli…" The black daughter said, sadly.

I teleported out of the house and over to where Bubbles is.

Another house…

I teleported into the house. Bubbles and I are on the scene. 

"Jared, you got here quick." Bubbles said, frowning.

A blonde woman lies on the floor, in the same condition as the Professor and black mother, with her son nearby.

"Mother tried to feed you broccoli too?" I asked, looking down at the blonde son.

"Yeah. But I wouldn't, so she ate it, and her…" The blonde son said.

I teleported out of the house with a feeling of empathy.

Football kid house…

I teleported into the house where I knew Buttercup would be. Buttercup and I checked out the parents of the football kid. 

"How's it looking with Blossom and Bubbles?" Buttercup asked.

"The same with some of the other kids." I said, crossing my arms.

"Argh. You have got to be kidding me. This is just great."

"Yeah." I said, letting out a sigh. "Parents fed you broccoli?"

The mother's expression has gone from the annoyed look she had as she was feeding her husband the broccoli earlier to a similar zonked-out look like on the Professor, with her hair somewhat frazzled, and her husband is in a similar state as well.

"Yeah! Eyes started glowin', and then they just zonked out, man!" Football Jimmy yelled.

Townsville…

All three girls and I gathered for a conference after a couple to few hours of house hunting.

"It's all over Townsville. Every kid was trying to be fed broccoli." I said, rolling my eyes. "I avoided it to try and help you girls."

"Thank you, Jared. Your foreknowledge helped speed up time with you being able to teleport. Just like the Professor!" Blossom said, while we are in the street, with a crowd of kids around us. "We've got to investigate that broccoli!"

"Girls. It started in Farmsville." I said, smiling. "In one of the fields."

I take off with the girls.

"Glad we have you by our side." Buttercup said, smirking.

Sky…

The girls and I are in flight, heading toward Farmsville.

"So the girls and their faithful friend trace the broccoli back to its roots in hopes of unearthing some clues." The narrator said.

Farmsville…

We land in one of the fields; Blossom, Buttercup, and I are inspecting the remaining stalks left from the harvest that collected the tainted broccoli and delivered it to Townsville.

"Hey, Jared, girls!" Bubbles cried, as she was farther back from us. "Over here!"

Bubbles has found the spent shell and is looking intently at it. Her sisters and I join her.

"What is it?" Bubbles asked.

"Looks like a missile." Buttercup said.

"Or a weird pea pod."

"Or both." Blossom said, now looking very closely at the projectile. 

The highlights in Blossom's pupils glowed slightly as she looked at the projectile.

"Definitely both." I said, taking out my sonic screwdriver to scan the projectile. "Haven't seen one of these before."

I am looking down at the projectile, scanning it with my sonic screwdriver, as the Narrator speaks.

"Upon closer inspection, Blossom's microscopic vision and Jared's sonic screwdriver reveals…" The narrator said.

There is a magnified view of the surface of the exposed bulb at the center. It is covered with glowing green particles. This is Blossom's perspective.

 "It was carrying some sort of alien mind-control spores." Blossom said.

"Yeah." I said, reading the scan off my sonic screwdriver. "That's what it is saying. It's definitely alien mind control. Not blood control. Or hypnotism."

I placed my sonic screwdriver inside my sling bag.

Buttercup is bent over a furrow in the field, "There's spores all over this field."

Blossom, Bubbles, and I are standing away from Buttercup.

"It must have infected the broccoli." Blossom said.

"But why?" Bubbles asked, and a high-pitched humming began. "Where did it come from?"

In the sky, the organic flying saucer descends toward the field.

"Looks like we're about to get our answer." Blossom said, looking at a nearby scarecrow. "Quick, hide!"

I turned myself invisible, with the help from my ghost powers. The girls dive into it and poke their heads out. Top to bottom: Blossom, Buttercup, Bubbles. The craft extends legs and touches down. Its underside bulges and ejects four Broccoloid soldiers armed with blasters made from carrots. The ruler, who could be now dubbed as 'Emperor' due to his earlier decree regarding the Broccoloid Empire, stands in the middle of the group; he now wears a red cape in addition to the belt and still carries his scepter.

"Leaftenant, branch out and scout the area for our first wave of invasion." The Ruler said.

The soldiers fan out as he finishes. Also, 'Leaftenant' would actually be 'Lieutenant' in normal military rank designations, though it is dubbed 'Leftenant' in the British Armed Forces.

"What?!" Buttercup exclaimed.

The girls jump down in time with their next lines. Each one ends up with different clothing from the scarecrow—Blossom the hat, Buttercup the shirt, Bubbles the pants and shoes. I made myself visible and I am still in my ghost form.

 "Nobody invades Earth!" Blossom said, angrily.

"Without a fight!" Buttercup yelled.

"From the Powerpuff Girls!" Bubbles growled.

"And from the Black Pearl!" I said, excitedly.

"Earth creatures!" The Ruler said, pointing to the scepter. "Why aren't you hypnotized?!"

"Because we didn't eat none of your diabiological spores." Blossom said.

"Well, then, eat this!" The Ruler said, pulling a weapon of his own and fires. 

The shot vaporizes the hat, leaving only a wisp of black smoke above Blossom's head that she looks up at as her bow parts to emit the wisp of smoke from where the scarecrow's hat had been. 

The other troops begin shooting as well; Buttercup jumps out of the shirt just before it is blown full of holes, turning it into Swiss cheese. 

Bubbles charges at the enemy, still wearing the pants and shoes and taking long, floppy strides to avoid the barrage. 

"This is another day at the office for us." I said, striking the blaster from a soldier's hands—and, in the same blow, knocks the hands themselves off. "Sorry about that, Blossom."

"It's fine." Blossom said, happily.

Buttercup beheads another with an uppercut, while Bubbles disposes of a third with a high kick. Blossom splits the fourth with a flying karate chop.

The battle is not over, however; the four Broccoloids quickly regenerate the body parts they have lost. Even the one Blossom just split in half regenerates, with each half becoming a new soldier and advancing again. The girls scream and grab each other, and Bubbles jumps out of the scarecrow pants.

"That scared the pants off of me!" Bubbles said, worried.

"How are we ever gonna stop them?!" Buttercup exclaimed. "Jared, do you have any ideas?"

(Open POV)

Utonium Residence…

Blossom has a mental picture of the Professor and recalls his words at the dinner table before he became incapacitated by the Broccoloids—words that do not put her at ease as she recalls them.

"The only way to get rid of your broccoli is to eat it all up." The Professor said, as a memory.

Blossom then spots Jared drinking a mango smoothie in the kitchen.

(Jared's POV)

Farmsville…

A Broccoloid jumps at Blossom, snarling, ready for the takedown.

"Jared, do you have fruits, yogurt and a blender?" Blossom asked, while she does not realize what she was about to do. 

"Smoothie?" I asked, taking out a portable blender out of my sling bag, along with a box of pineapples, a box of bananas, some containers of yogurts, orange juice, and almond milk. "I'm ready."

"Okay." Blossom said, using her ice breath on a Broccoloid, she then picked up the Broccoloid and placed it inside the portable blender.

I then placed some pineapples, some banana, a container of yogurt, some orange juice, and some almond milk into the portable blender. I hit the mix button on the portable blender and once the drink was blended, I took a glass out of my sling bag and poured the smoothie into said glass. 

"Here you go, Blossom." I said, handing the tropical green smoothie to Blossom. "Better than eating the broccoli by itself."

"Hopefully this is good." Blossom said, sadly.

Faced with no other option, Blossom finally opens her mouth as wide as she can and drinks the smoothie in one gulp. The enemy is dispatched in one drink; Blossom swallows hard and looks a bit ill from the experience. The other Broccoloid infantry and the ruler are left shocked by what they just witnessed.

"Barbarians!" The Ruler said, angrily.

"Ew-ew-ew-ew-ew-ew-ew-ew-ew!" Bubbles cried, disgusted.

"Ugh! Nasty!" Buttercup said, annoyed.

"Swallow your pride, girls! Jared came up with an option we can do! We gotta drink 'em to beat 'em!" Blossom said, smirking.

The Broccoloids yell and charge, and the girls do likewise with their teeth bared, ready to drink some alien veggies. Blossom freezes one and tosses it into the portable blender, Bubbles moves out of the way for Blossom to free one her way up from the legs of another before placing it into a portable blender, and Buttercup moves out of the way and lets Blossom freeze the head off a third with a single ice breath. 

"This blender is going into overdrive." I said, making a lot of tropical green smoothies for the Powerpuff Girls and myself. 

The girls and I have been drinking a lot of the tropical green smoothies. Blossom freezes the one Buttercup was struggling with for the lower half of this one for a moment before finally getting it down. Now Bubbles and Buttercup moved out of the way for Blossom to free one and make short work of it.

"Okay. That's a lot of smoothies." I said, turning off the portable blender and rubbing my stomach. "I love them. But so much…"

Buttercup joins Blossom, Bubbles, and I on the ground; then later rubs her stomach.

"Oh…I'm getting full." Bubbles said, sadly.

"I think I've got room for one more." Blossom said, looking over at the Broccoloid Emperor stands by himself at the entrance to the saucer. "Jared, the smoothies were a good idea."

"It was." I said, sadly. "I thought it would make you girls like vegetables more."

"It did." Bubbles said, frowning.

"It tasted good..." Buttercup said, letting out a sigh. "All of those fruits."

What the Broccoloid Emperor says next starts with him having a look of sympathy on his face before turning it back into an evil smile.

"What? You're getting full already? But that was just an appetizer." The Ruler said, as the sky fills with saucers, a couple deploying their landing gear as they prepare to touch down first to reinforce their leader. "Here comes the main course!"

The Ruler laughs wickedly.

The girls and I look into the sky with great apprehension.

"Uh-oh. We're gonna need some help!" Blossom said, and the reinforcements start to land. "Jared, can your friends help us?"

"They're Japanese. They might have gotten possessed by these things too." I said, looking down at the ground. "We can't rely on them. We have to rely on the citizens of Townsville."

"What's the matter? Don't have the stomach for it?!" The Ruler exclaimed, laughing wickedly again.

The girls and I take off for the city in a tactical withdrawal.

"And with that, the girls and their loyal friend retreat back to Townsville to enlist the aid of the other children." The narrator said.

Townsville…

The girls and I are in the midst of a crowd of kids.

"So you see? The only way to save the Earth is by eating broccoli! We tried drinking them, but we ended up full!" Blossom yelled.

"Yeah. Maybe putting fruits in there was a bad idea." I said, laughing a little.

"Aw, don't believe her!" Football Jimmy said, and I looked at him. "This is just some kinda trick to get us to eat vegetables!"

"What?!" Buttercup exclaimed, very angry. "You doubt the word of a Powerpuff?!" She is flying to him. "Or maybe you're just scared to eat vegetables. Tell you what: Why don't you just run on home to your mama and see if she'll make you a baloney sandwich?! Oh, wait! You know what? She can't! 'Cause she's been zapnotized by alien invaders!"

Through this harangue, the kid has steadily backed away from Buttercup. 

"Buttercup…" I said, looking at Football Jimmy, face collapsing into guilt, remorse, shame, and sadness; he starts to cry and his nose runs as Buttercup continues the tongue-lashing. "You're going too far."

"But you don't want to help save her 'cause you don't feel like eating a few vegetables!" Buttercup said, angrily.

Football Jimmy sobs and sniffles for a few seconds before recovering and raising his helmet with a new spirit and vigor, "Let's do it for the folks!"

Football Jimmy's teammates roar and bang their helmeted heads together in agreement, and several of the other kids cheer with a new fighting spirit. A huge boy wearing a black T-shirt with the letters 'nWo' on its front shoves them aside.

"Lemme at 'em! Lemme at 'em!" A huge boy said, excitedly.

"You know it would work, didn't you?" Blossom asked, looking over at me.

The girls and I look on in approval.

"Yup." I said, clutching the strap of my sling bag. "I did."

"And so…" The narrator said.

(Open POV)

Field…

Armed assault vehicles built from ears of corn and tomatoes roll out of the saucers.

 "…as the vegetarian forces mobilize for invasion…" The narrator said.

As the narrator continues, two kids put cooking pots on their heads—one wears a mush pot and the other has a colinder—and a third dons a fireman's helmet.

"…the children of Townsville gird their loins for battle." The narrator said.

The helmet has a strobe light on top; the kid presses a button to activate it and a siren. Broccoloid soldiers rush to parade formation, salute their ruler, and seize blasters. A kitchen drawer is opened; several kids reach in to grab utensils. One boy slides salt and pepper shakers into a bandolier slung across his chest as if they were shotgun shells; a fork is already loaded in. Another boy checks the aim on a bottle of ketchup and drops it into a cowboy-style holster at his belt like a six shooter. The alien ruler, now mounted on a giant carrot creature, gives a signal to the troops as the creature rears up like a whinnying horse, and the march to Townsville begins.

(Jared's POV)

Townsville…

Blossom and I have a set of battle plans spread before us on the ground and are explaining them to a group of kids as Bubbles and Buttercup look on. When we finish, two of them snap to attention and salute. The assault force approaches the city, but stops at the ruler's command.

"Halt!" The Ruler said, to a nearby soldier. "Colonel, let's trim back that overgrown city."

The soldier, dressed in a military cap and belt, speaks with the first alien voice we heard—the one that addressed the ruler twice before on the saucer.

"Artillery, on my mark." The Colonel said, looking at a row of assault vehicles; he continues. "Ready." They roll into position. "…aim…" The cannons are leveled. "…fire!"

Before anyone can obey the command, though, the vehicle next to him is blown to bits, knocking the Colonel's hat off in the process as he shields himself from the splatter that results from the artillery piece's demise.

"Huh?" The Colonel asked.

"Now you're really pissing me off." I said, flying overhead, my eyes locked in an angry, fighting mood, with me firing ghost rays from my hands and wiping out several vehicles. "You're not destroying my safe haven."

The Powerpuff Girls do likewise, after which all four of us take cover in the city. The ruler looks after us and growls in surprise and fury at the cheap shot air assault to his armor so that the city skyline remains unharmed.

"Those little sprouts have pulped my tanks! No matter." The Ruler said, turning around, to ranks of soldiers. "Infantry, after them!"

The troops run through the streets.

"Storm the city!" The Ruler said, angrily.

They charge down one street but find nothing. Not one trace of the Girls and I anywhere after we retreated following taking out the Broccoloids' armor. At an upper-story window in one building; Blossom, a kid, and I watch, keeping as far out of sight as they can so the Broccoloids don't see them. Suddenly Blossom and I stood up.

"Release the cheese!" Blossom said, signaling.

"And release the chocolate!" I said, signaling.

Up and down the street, kids tip over huge kettles of melted cheese and melted chocolate, and the contents rain down toward the Broccoloids.

"Huh? No!" The troops said, at the same time.

The troops scream as the cheese and chocolate douses them; when the deluge ends, they have been reduced to a dripping yellow mass and a dripping brown mass on the pavement, leaving a few pairs of eyes to blink in confusion and arms and legs sticking out of the mess to twitch in helplessness. At a closed door, which bursts open. A horde of kids swarms out, with Bubbles floating above them.

"CHARGE!" Bubbles said, angrily.

The kids start to cheer as they rush out on Bubbles' command to attack. Buttercup smashes her way through another door, and she and more kids fall on top of the incapacitated invaders. Everybody digs in with great enthusiasm and not a little bit of bloodlust, though their table manners could use some improvement—one of them chews with his mouth open far enough to allow us to see the contents.

"Wow." I said, happily. "They're good."

A soldier standing near a trash can is chomped by a kid who pops out from inside it; another one meets the same fate after stepping too close to a basement window. Several others retreat around a corner, firing up the street, but one trips and falls—and is promptly set upon. Now a troop transport made from a pumpkin and tomatoes rolls onto the scene, and a hatch in front opens to allow its occupants to join the battle. They are met by the football team, with Buttercup standing behind them like a quarterback.

"82. 36. Bite!" Buttercup yelled.

They tackle the invaders and chomp away. Now I see a close-up of a soldier advancing down the block, gun drawn, and stopping to look back and forth. No threats in sight. Crunching is heard, and the soldier looks down as I looked over to find two babies eating it from the legs up. Another enemy has a kid at gunpoint, but promptly gets a face full of salt and is devoured.

"Like really good." I said, smiling.

The football kid is pinned down and at the mercy of yet another soldier, which laughs at him. 

"They are." Bubbles said, opening a cage of rabbits, which hop over and quickly nibble the threat into submission, saving the kid. 

"Is this how you remembered it?" Blossom asked, standing next to a boy lying on his back; his belly is greatly swollen, and he sounds very ill and weak. "Is it?"

"Yeah." I said, crossing my arms. "It is."

"47 stalks. The horror. The horror." The 'injured' boy said, sadly.

"Stay down, soldier. You've seen enough action." Blossom said.

"You should rest." I said, looking down at the kid. "That is enough for the day."

"Blossom, Jared." Bubbles said, standing with several other kids, all looking sick. "…a lot of us are getting really full. I don't know how much more we can eat."

The Broccoloid Emperor has a quick conference with the Colonel. The Colonel is still without his hat after it was knocked off by the earlier attack on the Broccoloid artillery pieces by the Girls.

"Sire, their forces are weakening. We have them on the run." The Colonel said.

"Excellent. It's only a matter of time before— What?" The Ruler asked.

A sound like that of a Harley-Davidson starts up in the distance, and the two look toward it. I looked at a silhouette and a cloud of dust racing toward the battlefield; close-up of a kid wearing sunglasses and a bucket on his head. He holds the horns of an animal, perhaps a goat. 

"This is funny. Too funny!" I said, laughing that this is in fact what it is, and the goat has a pretty fierce scowl on its face as it and its rider roar onto the scene. "I love it. Wait till I tell the others about this."

The boy and the goat charge in at top speed, and a second rider appears on the scene. They leap over the Emperor and Colonel, who look on in total disbelief.

"Oho! Here comes the hungry cavalry!" The narrator said, excitedly.

When they hit the ground, they each do a screaming U-turn and plow into the ranks of surviving troops. The goats eat the bodies and leave pieces of the heads flying, and the riders finish these off. Severed arms and legs flying everywhere during the blitzkrieg. Blossom, several other kids, and I, including the football kid, watch in admiration.

"Hooray!" The kids, Blossom, and I said, at the same time.

"CHARGE!" Blossom cried.

They do so.

"RETREAT!" The Ruler said, terrified.

He does so, but the other Broccoloids are quickly set upon; Blossom takes one out in a single flying bite as I took one out with a ghost ray. The ruler makes a break for it but finds Buttercup and several other kids blocking his path. They cheer and yell at him, and he directs his mount in a new direction. This time, he runs into Bubbles and still more fired-up defenders. He is knocked to the ground when one of the goats munches the animal, and he raises his scepter to protect himself in futility as the Powerpuff Girls and I descend on him to end the invasion once and for all.

"No! No! Leaf me alone! I don't dessert this!" The Ruler said, worried.

The girls' shadows and my shadows fall over him on the end of this line, and one by one, I watched the girls' mouths open wide for a huge final bite of mutant broccoli. 

"It's all yours." I said, happily.

The scepter falls to Blossom's feet and, after she looks at it as it glowed for a few more seconds.

"Thank you." Blossom said, doing a one well-placed stomp from her Mary Jane to reduce the scepter to mush. "Is that it?"

"That's it." I said, smiling.

"Thank goodness." Blossom said, sadly.

"Thought it would never end." Buttercup said, annoyed.

"Same. The invasion is over!" I said, changing my form from ghost back to human, after landing safely to the ground. "We won!"

I looked at a street full of cheering, celebrating kids. Buttercup is tossing a couple of them into the air, Bubbles is being tossed by two—one of them being the football kid—and Blossom and I are shaking hands with two more.

"So, with the Broccoloids devoured…" The narrator said.

A couple to a few hours have passed and I watched as the kids reunited with their parents. I am now looking at a street full of recovering adults as he continues. The kids hug them. The football kid's father is a bit befuddled at finding a rabbit in the celebration.

"…and the hypno-transmithesizer destroyed, the parents of Townsville awaken. And families once torn apart by war are reunited once again." The narrator said.

Grocery store…

To the Professor—now back to his normal self—and the girls and I doing some grocery shopping. Bubbles and Buttercup ride in the cart; Blossom floats along above it. Things have returned to normal as life continues after the girls and I have saved Townsville once more.

"And as normal life resumes, we join the Utonium family on an outing to the supermarket." The narrator said.

"Why don't you girls go pick out some cereal, and Jared I will meet you in the produce aisle." The Professor said, looking at the girls.

"Okay!" Blossom said, as the girls zip away.

"We'll see if we can't find some greens they will eat." The Professor said, talking to himself. "Jared, what's going on there?"

"It's a long story." I said, watching the commotion bring the Professor up short.

In the produce aisle, kids are ferociously digging into the fruits and vegetables on display. The girls are leading the offensive.

"Give 'em heck, troops! We'll show 'em who's boss! You can never be too careful." Blossom said.

"What exactly happened?" The Professor asked.

The Professor and several parents watch, completely stunned by this turnaround of their kids eating the greens that they hated only a day ago. 

"Let's just say it made the kids want to eat vegetables." I said, still laughing my ass off, thinking about that alien invasion and how ridiculous it was. "Reminds me of a similar invasion of how some friends of mine had to go to space."

(Open POV)

The background for the end shot comes up.

"And so once again the day is saved…" The narrator said.

The girls appear in their usual pose.

"…thanks to the Powerpuff Girls!" The narrator chirped.

The background is chomped away in three huge bites; it ends up looking exactly as it did before, but now several kids have appeared below the girls.

"And the hungry little tykes of Townsville." The narrator said.