Or to be more specific, one other person. Kimberly Hart. The Pink Ranger. She had never been far from his thoughts since the early day of his invasion of Earth. He had only tried once to wed her, however, and that had failed rather miserably. Perhaps if I had done it myself, instead of trusting Goldar...ah, well. I could try again...

The love potion that Rita had fed him had worked, and he did care for Rita. However, that emotion had been growing for the past few thousand centuries. What he felt for Kimberly was not so much the same form of love, as it was a desire to own a Power Ranger.

Or so he tried to tell himself. He stared down at Earth continually, watching as she did everything. What was it about her that drew his attention, no matter what he was doing? That was a question he had no answer to. He did know, however, that if Rita wasn't already the nagging, moaning, complaining witch of his heart, that he would have taken Kimberly the first chance he had, and molded her into the most perfect and evil queen the universe had ever seen.

I'd have to get her willing to accept evil into her heart. Those who are under spells can always break those spells, and I would never have her leave me. She would have to....his visor flared red for a moment as he realized the only way that she would ever possibly become evil permanently would be if she fell in love...with him.

The very thought of her being in love with him began to send warm shivers of pleasure down his spine. Of course, he wouldn't love her. That was a given. He already loved Rita, and he wouldn't stop, no matter how fascinating he found Kimberly's bright brown hair...sparkling eyes so full of life and goodness...her unshakable courage...the way she never seemed to lose her hope that good would win in the end.

Ignoring Rita's blatherings, he seized his staff and teleported suddenly down to Earth, near where Kim and the other Rangers were having a picnic. His attention was one hundred percent on the Pink Ranger as he morphed himself into a humanoid form. To anyone who had met Zedd in the days before he had chosen his Lord Zedd identity and embarked on his quest for universal domination, it would've been familiar. It was the look of a teenage boy, of the Rangers' age. It was the reason he felt so angry whenever the Rangers defeated him. At their age he hadn't been thinking about defending the universe: he'd been thinking about ruling it. How dare they think they were better than he!

Zedd glanced down at himself; he was dressed as any other teenager would be for this day and age. It was time for a touch of spying...and observing of the Rangers in their natural habitat. To find out what they did when he wasn't around. And to find out just how tight the bonds between Kimberly and Tommy are.

But first, he had a little something to do. Just a little message to send her, something to hint that he was coming...but not enough to frighten them. He smiled frostily as he observed them from behind a tree, then raised a finger, sending a tendril of invisible energy to the boom box playing some sort of sappy love song. There was a moment of static, then a song he'd heard in one of his first courts played.

Behind his tree, Zedd smiled coldly. Phase one complete. Now...on to phase two.