"No! NO! You can't do this to me! I will never surrender, I shall not wear lipstick! I shall..."

"Jadestar, people think you're weird, always trying to look exactly like your brother. This is your chance to show them what you really are!"

"What am I?"

"You!" Mallory closed the door, locking it just in case, and dropped the key into her pocket. Jadestar nervously turned around in slow circles, gazing at all the rainbow of colours on display in Mallory's dressing room.

Mallory herself was dressed entirely in gorgeous shades of pink, in a collarless dress and heels in rose, and a shoulder ruffle in pale chrysanthemum. She looked, Jadestar had to admit, stunning.

"I know I'm me, I can't help it if other people don't."

"Jadestar, this night you, me and Tanya are going to let our hair down, Tanya quite literally, and we're going out. No boys along, no brothers."

"No twins?" Jade asked weakly. She'd been almost inseparable from her brother since they'd been reunited... gosh, it was almost a year ago now! It seemed like only just last week.

"No, Dive isn't coming along."

There was a knock on the door. "It's Tanya," came a familiar snuffly voice.

Mallory smiled, unlocked and opened the door. In walked... someone, "Tanya?!" Jadestar asked, shocked.

"What?" Tanya frowned.

"Nothing…Girl, you look good!" Jade nodded in approval.

"Just like you will soon. Now go put this on." Mallory shoved a dress into Jadestar’s arms, and the girl looked at it dubiously.

"It’s a dress." she stated.

"No kidding." Mallory rolled her eyes, and shoved the slightly overwhelmed teen into a curtained off section of the room. Jade’s mutterings about pushy red heads could be just heard, but they were ignored.

Mallory moved across slightly. "We need something that will go. Not too bright, it'll take attention away from her face... ah! Of course!" She reached in and picked out a pair of shiny black shoes, pointed with a slight heel, but not too much to worry Jadestar while she walked. "I think these will go fine."

"Yah." Tanya smiled. "Are we going to shock the guys before we go out?"

Mallory chuckled evilly, her eyes glinting with expectation.

"Why not?"

A polite cough turned their heads. Jadestar stood in the doorway. The dress showed she both had a very slim figure but was also, quite definitely, a girl; there would be no mistaking Dive for Jade if she wore something like this more often. She looked at them bashfully, twirling the rope belt in her hands.

"Do I look okay?" she asked.

"Step in front of the mirror, Jade, take a look at yourself!"

Jade peeped around, and then stood in front of it, staring, a smile creeping over her face. "Wow! I didn't think I'd look so good!"

"You look beautiful, Jade," Tanya said enthusiastically. "Absolutely beautiful!"

Mallory handed Jadestar the black shoes, and she slid them onto her feet. A perfect fit. The twin looked up, then grinned and twirled the rope belt like a lasso.

Clapping her hands together Mallory gave a triumphant laugh. "I'll convert you yet, Jade! Oh, your brothers' heads will turn!"

Jade's grin became a lot more wicked. "I'm going to show Dive this..." She began to walk out, but Mallory caught her arm.

"Not yet!" the Girl in Pink cried. "Make-up first! Some eyeshadow, maybe a hint of lipstick, a bit of blusher here and there... then we'll go and mow 'em all down!"

"Uh oh…" Jadestar’s apprehension returned and she backed away slightly. Mallory advanced with a familiar glint in her eyes, and Jade decided that resistance was futile.

***

"They’ve been in there for ages!" Nosedive complained, trying to listen through the door.

"Mallory’s going out without me." Duke looked almost mournful.

"Don’t worry man, she’s the kind that’d tell you if she wanted to break it up." Nosedive quickly stepped away from the door, and started hustling Duke around the nearest corner. "They’re coming. Look like we were just walking past."

He and Duke turned to duck behind the corner, but crashed into Wildwing and Grin.

"We were looking for you. Where are the girls?" Wildwing asked the two.

"Um…we don’t know." Nosedive said uncomfortably.

Grin eyed him mercilessly. "Lying is bad for the soul."

The door opened and Mallory poked her head out, grinning when she caught sight of the four males. Duke’s beak fell as he saw her hair dressed up. She must be really planning on a good time.

"You guys stay right there. We have something to show you." Mallory said enthusiastically. She ducked back inside the door and closed it again. The guys looked at each other.

"Well, hey, there’s your answer Wing!" Nosedive smiled.

The door opened again, and Tanya walked out. Wildwing stared.

"Tanya, you look really beautiful." he said before he could stop himself. Tanya smiled self-consciously.

"Um, yeah, I mean, like, thanks." she blushed. Mallory came out the door next.

"Hey, sweetheart, looking gorgeous as always." Duke nodded appreciatively.

"Never mind me!" Mallory waved the compliment aside. "What about her?" She made a flourishing gesture to the empty space at her.

Nosedive raised an eyebrow. "Nice door."

Mallory looked at the door, and scowled. "I’ll be right back. Technical difficulties." She stormed back into the room.

"Jadestar Flashblade, either get your butt out there right now, or I’ll be forced to use my training on you." Mallory told the girl.

"I can’t go out in public like this! It’s just not…me."

"Sure it’s you." Mallory got behind her and pushed her out the door. Jadestar stumbled out, and straightened herself slowly, pushing her hair out of her face. She was met by four astonished faces, a smug one and an encouraging one.

Wildwing found his voice first. "Jadey, you look….very pretty." And grown-up too, he finished in his mind.

"Star, they turned you into a girly girl!" Nosedive gaped.

"I know." she said glumly.

"Hey, don’t be upset!" Nosedive suddenly realised that he’d said the wrong thing. "You look like a babe!"

"That’s because she is a babe." Mallory took Jadestar’s and Tanya’s arms, and walked them off down the corridor. "We’re going out, don’t wait up!" she called behind them.

"Mal…we’re…uh, we’re still on right?"

"Of course!" the answer drifted back. Duke looked infinitely relieved.

"Not so identical now." Grin commented to Nosedive.

"I’ll say." Nosedive snorted.

"I hadn’t noticed that she’d, well, developed." Wildwing said, rather ashamed.

"They *all* looked good. Hmm, well, I have Mallory, something tells me that you and Tanya have something going Wildwing. Dive and Jade as a combination is against the law. So, Grin, I guess you get the new prize." Duke said jokingly.

Wildwing pondered what Duke had said about him, and dismissed it.

Grin made what was a rude face for him. "Careless tongues must be stapled in place." he growled, obviously not liking his matching.

Nosedive flung his arms around Duke and Grin’s shoulders. "Well, if they’re having a ‘girl’s night out’, hows about we have a ‘boy’s night in’?"

"Anyone have any better ideas?" Wildwing asked. No one answered, so he shrugged. "OK, who’s for take-out?"