disclaimer: i own nothing! except for jade. and kim kibum and jeong yunho. and...my harem of ghei korean popstars. 8D

"Mrs. Harper from next door called," Tori said, walking into the guest bedroom with a pile of freshly laundered sheets. "She wants to know if you're available to babysit the twins tomorrow afternoon."

Jade looked up from her black painted toenails and groaned. "I hate kids," she grumbled. "I only watched the little monsters because I needed the cash. Do you know how long it takes to wash strained beets out of your hair?" She touched her blue-streaked auburn strands. "Besides, I've already got plans for tomorrow."

"You've got plans?" Tori repeated unbelievingly. "You have plans? With who?"

"I don't think I feel like sharing that with you," replied the other girl loftily.

Tori stared at her cousin, trying to figure out with whom she traded the chance to earn more money. The phone rang however, before she got a chance to ask. "Hello?" she asked. "Oh hi, Dustin. Uh...sure." She covered the mouthpiece with her hand and stared questioningly at her. "Why is my best friend calling for you?"

Jade shot her a 'don't ask' look and grabbed the cordless. "Dustin, your timing is impeccable," she snarled, pushing Tori away when she tried to listen in.

The boy either missed the sarcasm, or chose to ignore it altogether. "Thanks," he replied. "I borrowed my sister's car. What time should I pick you up tomorrow?"

"For what?"

There was silence. "For our...date?"

Jade smacked herself in the forehead with her hand. Date, she thought. The word didn't even begin to describe the floaty feelings in her stomach. Despite herneed to feel clinically detatched to the world, she still felt her heart skip a beat when she heard his voice. "Right," she said. "I knew that. Um...why don't we meet at Storm Chargers at say around...three...ish?"

"That sounds good," answered Dustin, his voice hinting that he was happy-dancing all over his room. "So I'll see you then. And Jade?"

"Huh?"

"I'm glad you said yes," he said quickly before hanging up.

Jade clicked off the phone and stared at it with a wry smile. "What?" she asked innocently, when Tori's face cracked into a slow, silly grin.

"I knew it!" she yelled gleefully. "I knew you liked Dustin!"

"I do not," sniffed Jade, trying to maintain some sense of pride and dignity.

"Then why are you blushing?" Tori asked smugly.

Up in Lothor's space ship, Kapri searched for her sister. She found her sitting in Uncle's chair, thumbing through the latest issue of Alien Queen Magazine.

"So guess what?" she asked.

"Can't it wait?" answered Marah with a roll of her eyes. "I'm reading up on ways to win the Yellow Ranger back."

Kapri rolled her eyes. Marah had tried to trick the rangers into showing her the location of Ninja Ops and had fallen in love with Dustin Brooks in the process. "Like Uncle would even let you go out with a goody-goody Power Ranger," she snorted. "Besides, he asked out the Midnight Shadow Ranger today."

The magazine fell from Marah's hands as she let out an outraged shriek of horror. "How could he like her better than me?" she sputtered. "She's like...pissed off half the time and she has no fashion sense! Not to mention that awful blue hair...and those piercings--"

"There is nothing wrong with blue hair," Kapri retorted, fingering her own bubblegum pink locks. "Besides, maybe he's into the whole Gothic piercing thing."

"You know, you could do something about that."

The two of them looked up to see Medusa. Neither of them were very fond of this newcomer; Uncle Lothor treated her more as a daughter than his pupil.

"You and I have more in common than I thought, Marah," purred Medusa. "We were both denied the one thing that would cause us great joy. May I make a suggestion?" She leaned closer and whispered in Marah's ear.

"What do you get out of it?" she demanded tearfully.

"Oh, the pleasure of having the Midnight Shadow Ranger destroyed," Medusa responded nonchalantly. "Of course if you want her to be forever happy with the Yellow Ranger, be my guest."

Marah grabbed the older woman's wrist as she started to stand. "Just tell me what to do," she said.