Author's note on Chapter Six: Yep, time for another song. This is my favorite from this band and is just a killer song. It also helps show how the character's are reflecting on their past decisions and future actions.

          

                               Chapter Six: How Could I?                



Back at the Omega Master's castle, the mysterious two figures that were the source of the Shadow senshi's bizarre fall stood before the Prism, still hidden by the shadows so even the Sailor senshi's clones had no clue who they were. The four girls watched quietly as the Prism awaited the report from the battle. The taller of the figures was the one to step forward and sat his hand on his hip, grinning widely, "Just as we said, they couldn't do anything. The rings started to glow and shock them, making even Shadow Jupiter fall to his knees."

"Very good. Now those arrogant Shadow senshi are under my control. Anytime they try to defy me now, they will suffer the consequences. You two have done well."

The Sailor's clones didn't look too happy at the news they heard but remained silent, looking back to the other figure as he spoke, "Now we can reveal ourselves kill them all."

After careful deliberation, the Prism slowed a bit and dimmed, his voice dropping a few tones, "No, I still want you two as my trump card. You must keep away from them, particularly Shadow Mercury. You two will be revealed when the time is just right. Return to the Void chamber."

With deep bows, the two both spoke in unison as their bodies started to disappear, "Yes." Just as they did fade away, four new figures appeared on the floor in a flash of white light. Only Dark Shadow Jupiter remained up as he breathed heavily from his knees, hunched over and tight with pain. The Sailor's clones quickly went over to help them but a jolt of electricity shot through the wounded senshi and he threatened them with a dark glare.

"Back off! Shadow senshi take care of their own."

With weary looks on their faces, they did as he asked and he glared at them a moment, then slowly to the Prism with a suspicious smirk. The Prism pleaded its innocence as it spun slowly above its alter, "I take it the fight did not go well?"

With a grunt, Shadow Jupiter rose to his feet and stumbled a bit, not saying anything at all to the Prism. With a shaky step, he moved over to Dark Shadow Mars and knelt down, placing his hand across his back slowly. Shadow Mars slowly opened his eyes and let out a breath, feeling disoriented from the shocks he received. However, Shadow Jupiter was there to help him up and he soon was on his feet, running his hand across his chest. As Shadow Jupiter went to help the rest of them up, Shadow Mars eyes the Prism and let out a painful breath.

"As leader of the Shadow senshi, it's my fault that we were defeated. Despite our heightened powers, we failed to kill the Sailor senshi. Next time, we will not fail."

"No, I am giving the assignment to them. You four obviously have more issues with this mission than you think." The Prism quipped sharply and made the Sailor's clones step forward. By now the rest of the Shadow senshi were up and though Shadow Mars was silent about the decision, Shadow Jupiter was not.

"You can't give it to them, they're weaker than the Sailor senshi by far! This is just an excuse to keep up cooped up in your damn castle!"

While he argued, Dark Shadow Mercury shook off the effects of the shocks and looked at the Prism with something on his mind. Stepped up behind Shadow Mars, he said something very quietly into his ear. Shadow Mars listened intently

"I'm with Jupiter, this is garbage. I think being in that prism has made you senile or something because....."

"Inform us of your progress." Dark Shadow Mars was quick to cut both Shadow Venus and Shadow Jupiter off in their argument. They both looked back to him in shock but he just eyed them, Shadow Mercury standing behind him with the same weary look in his eyes. Before they had a chance to question, Shadow Mars disappeared from the room and was quickly followed by Shadow Mercury. The remaining two senshi looked between each other for a moment and wondered what just was going on. Even as Shadow Venus disappeared also, Shadow Jupiter turned back to the Prism and huffed, crossing his arms over his chest in anger.

"I'm gonna enjoy it when you four come back with your tails between your legs."

For his remarks, he received a dark stare from the clones but the Prism said nothing, just floated in its silent place above the alter. Looking over them all one last time, Shadow Jupiter started to mumble a curse as he disappeared in a blossom of lightning, following his friends as well.


"Come on, Yamito! This is insane and I can't believe you're going along with it! If it wasn't for our rings acting up....."

Shadow Mars slowly raised his hand to cut Shadow Venus off, nodding his head in understandment and trying to calm down both he and Shadow Jupiter. With his arms crossed over his chest, Shadow Jupiter wasn't amused at all by this but a soothing tone from Shadow Mars did manage to get both of them quiet, "I know you two are angry, but we have a bigger problem. Tell them, Mercury."

Shadow Mercury nodded and started to rub his chest a bit, trying to figure out the words to say, "Just before our rings began to shock us, I was alerted to a presence. I'm not sure who they were, but I know definitely that they are in league with the Omega Master. They had the same vibe." After listening, Shadow Venus scratched his head a bit and shrugged, flicking his ring with the other hand.

"So....what's that mean?"

"It means the Omega Master has a way to control our rings, possibly even kill us with them. As long as he can do that, we are in a very strategically unsound place."

Shadow Jupiter laughed lightly and looked at Shadow Mars with a cynical look on his face, his words bitter but very real, "In other words, we're lapdogs to him just like all of his damn clones."


In the battered and beaten warehouse district of Tokyo, day was soon approaching and the Sailor senshi were attempting to grasp the situation before the day would bring attention to this place. Distant fires still burned on some buildings and by now, the authorities would be gearing up to come to this place. As the Sailor senshi made their way away from it, a mixed gathering of emotions filled the air. The Sailor team was reunited, but the disappointment of the Ginzuishou's failure to return the Shadow senshi weighed heavily on all of them, especially Sailor Moon. Still being helped along by Sailor Mars, she looked at the ground as they walked, soaking in her inability to change Shadow Mars back. However, it was Super Sailor Neptune who broke the silence between them all, "I know this is not what you all want to hear, but we have to officially consider the Shadow senshi our enemy. They've shown just how serious they are about destroying us."

Super Sailor Uranus watched her out of the corner of her eye as she rubbed the tear in her fuku where the triad had impaled her. With a heavy sigh, she had to agree, "The Ginzuishou wasn't affective against them. I'm afraid I agree with Sailor Neptune."

"I failed him. I failed them all. I was so sure the Ginzuishou would save them" Eternal Sailor Moon said quietly and stared at the ground, obviously heavy with grief at the failure. Sailor Mars winced a bit as she watched her, quite sure what 'he' she was talking about. Still, she opened her mouth to console her when a brightly lit figure appeared before them all. All of them looked forward and stopped, seeing the ghostly image of Super Shadow Moon looking down at them with empty eyes.

"The Shadow senshi you knew are gone. The only thing left is evil and dark....and has to be stopped."

All of them blinked at his harsh words, but none more than Eternal Sailor Moon. Not believing what she heard, she stepped away from Sailor Mars slightly and shook her head, "Even you, Sentaku? They were your best friends. Are you just going to abandon them?"

"They are the ones who chose this path. When entering this world again, the Omega Master swayed them with the power they truly had, but at a price I would never believe they would pay. Shadow Mars made his decision to let his dark power consume him, and the others went along with it. Now I can't stay in this realm, because they were my anchor. This will be the last time I will be able to see you, Sailor Moon."

Her blue eyes filling with tears, Sailor Moon just stared at him silently, trying to think of something to do about this. It was, however, Sailor Mercury who spoke next when she stepped forward, her eyes locked on Shadow Moon, "Is there no way to help them?"

"You won't like the only way to help them. The higher powers involved told me that they are hurting all which they did that was good. If they continue along this path, they'll be no better off than those they fought before. That, I can't stand to see." His face was heavy with sorrow and he drew in a long breath, about to say the words he never thought he would have to, "The only way to save their souls is to kill them. I can't see any other way."

"You don't mean that, Sentaku." Eternal Sailor Moon said with an astonished tone in her voice. The rest of the senshi were just as shocked, but suddenly, Sailor Moon became angry, "Yamito's doing all of this for you! He's given up his soul to avenge you and stop the Omega Master, and you want us to kill him!? He's doing this for you!"

Her passionate pleas just made him even more sullen, and he looked away slightly as his image began to flicker slightly, "I know. If Yamito would listen to me, I'd tell him revenge is a poor reason for power and he knows it. My greatest fear is......" As he slowly looked back to them, he looked not only at Sailor Moon, but Sailor Mars as well, "I'm beginning to think he enjoys his new power. Maybe too much."

"You're wrong, Shadow Moon. Yamito isn't like that. I've seen his spirit and he would never hurt people just for power."

Sailor Mars's quick words made Shadow Moon silent a moment, then his image flickered again and he closed his eyes quickly, "I'm losing my grasp on your world. I may be going, but I will tell you everything I can. The Dark Shadow senshi.....their weakness is in their rings, as you saw. They contain their human parts, the part of them that's Shudo."

"What do you mean? What's Shudo?" Sailor Moon asked as she became worried about his image flickering and dying away. With the last of his energies, Shadow Moon strengthened his image a bit and opened his eyes, looking over the senshi with a stressed face.

"You know about their dark powers and how it's the source of their senshi powers. What you don't know is Shadow senshi are also like you, with powers that stem from the light of the universe as well. Even without their dark powers, we would all be senshi, only not as powerful as either they are now, or even you Sailor senshi. We call this innate power Shudo. It balances the darkness in us. With the Darkened Shadow senshi, the Shudo has been trapped in the rings, letting only the darkness fill them. However, it was the Shudo that kept them from using their full power on you. It's also the power that nearly killed them. The Omega Master has learned how to use their rings against them. The lines between the Omega Master and the Shadow senshi are slowly growing and soon, they will fight each other as Yamito has said. Unfortunately, it doesn't mean they still won't fight you. Their Shudo grows weaker as it's trapped in their rings and soon, everything about the Shadow senshi you know will be gone."

The news both shocked and amazed them all, bringing new hope into Sailor Moon's eyes, "How do we free the Shudo from their rings? Won't that make them the way they used to be?"

"Perhaps, but it's a gamble. I don't know what that will do." This time his image flickered completely from sight, then came back but much weaker than before. Looking over them one last time, he saw the hope in their eyes and smiled lightly, "If you truly want to try and get them back, here is the last and only help I can give you. I don't know if it will help." In a point of light, an object appeared in front of them and floated down to the ground, making all of them but Sailor Mars look at it. For some reason, Sailor Mars kept looking at Shadow Moon and he smiled back, his figure finally fading away, "Prove me wrong, Sailor Mars. Only you can."

Getting a small, determined smile on her face, she nodded and planned to not let him down. Meanwhile, Sailor Moon picked up the object that sat on the ground and they all looked at it, curious how this was going to help. The nature of the object made Sailor Neptune hug herself lightly, tiling her head as she peered at the object, "A photograph?"

Tuxedo Kamen scanned the photograph slowly and nodded, catching on to the reasoning that Shadow Moon must have had. As he fixed his eyes on a certain point of the photograph, a light smile came over his face, "I think I know what this means. Maybe it really will work."


It had been a month and the Sailor senshi hadn't seen any sign of the Shadow senshi. However, they have been fighting their clones and other lesser clones sent by the Omega Master in random places, as if they clones were trying to find their limits and gain information. Every time, the Sailor senshi defeated the clones and their monsters handsomely, though they clones would disappear before being defeated. It was frustrating to some of the Sailor senshi to never finish of the new Priestesses of the Omega Master and never see the Shadow senshi. The stress of the situation was starting to weight down on four in particular.

"You weak Sailor senshi won't win this time!" Sailor Mars's clone seethed as she faced off against the Outer senshi, angry for losing this battle once more. The rooftop was a poor place for this battle, for some of the clones had been knocked off to their demise, but one very large, very fat clone remained out of the fighting. Sailor Venus's clone quickly tried a bizarre version of a Love and Beauty Shock on the three senshi but was easily avoided, as if her attack wasn't as refined as the original. A World Shaking from Super Sailor Uranus split the group and the fighting began once more, lighting up the night sky with blasts and energy.

"You're down to one last clone and you four. Are you going to stick around or disappear as usual?" Super Sailor Uranus quipped as she held out her Space Sword, annoyed that they would probably disappear at any time. Seeing how right she was, the four clones looked among each other and nodded, as if they were planning something. At once, they all turned to escape but were faced with a problem, Super Sailor Jupiter and Super Sailor Venus arriving to help. Surrounded by the senshi, the four backed into a small circle and seethed, though oddly glad at the turn of events.

"This time you won't get away. Before you are destroyed, tell us what happened to the Shadow senshi!"

Sailor Jupiter's anger made her clone smile wryly, which only proved to tick her off even more. As she went to step forward, Sailor Mars's clone held up a finger and shook it, a devious look in her eye, "Temper temper, Sailor Jupiter. The Shadow senshi are just fine. We've been keeping real good care of them." Just to add to the taunting, she winked to the two and ran her tongue over her lips, blunt about what she meant. That was enough for Sailor Jupiter, who ran at them yelling in anger. However, the four laughed girlishly and faded away, Sailor Mars's clone left them all with a word, "Babado!"

Like it was activated, the fat clone suddenly laughed loudly and stepped forward, patting his hands across his stomach loudly, "Babado!" The senshi all looked to it as heat started to come off it, rippling the air and making steam rise from the colder rooftop. Soon the building began to shake as the clone began to pound its stomach faster a deranged smile on its face, "Babado!"

"It's some kind of clone hybrid. I don't like what it's doing, everyone." Sailor Neptune said and stepped back a bit, concerned about what the clone was designed to do.

Taking a quick step back, Sailor Uranus nodded and gestured to the fire escape, "I don't think he's going to stop!" With that, all of the Sailor senshi ran towards the fire escape and jumped over the side, getting off the rooftop just as the clone exploded. The blast shattered the top of the building and sent a massive fireball into the air, filling the night sky with light. The senshi barely escaped the blast and quickly got down to the streets below, looking up the smoke rising off the building.

Super Sailor Pluto looked up solemnly shook her head, her soft voice filling the night air over the distant sirens, "A coward's tactic, to sacrifice one of your own to defeat an enemy. They must be getting desperate."

As Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune started off into the night, Sailor Venus placed her hand over her arm and winced, the glove on her hand turning red slightly. Sailor Jupiter waved to the others as they were leaving and then to her, "Are you all right?"

"Ow, I must have knicked my arm on the way down. Stupid clones."

"Are you sure it's okay? Let me see it." Sailor Jupiter cooed again and went to grab her arm. With a giggle, Sailor Venus stepped away and shook her head, looking at her with smile on her face.

"Really, Mako-chan, I'm okay. I'll just bandage it when I get home. You're too motherly sometimes, I think." "Sorry, I just wanted to see if you're okay." She said back with a grin, rubbing the back of her head lightly. Hearing the approaching authorities, Sailor Venus waved to her and was about to head home, but added one last thing before they parted.

"Mako, I'll be okay when this is all over and I get my baka blonde back."


Oleander - "How could I?"


As Minako got home, her mother was horrified at the cut on her arm and asked what it was from. Trying to think up something fast, she stretched the truth a bit and said she brushed a thorn bush on her way home today. Even as her mother sent her into the bathroom to clean it, her mind had wandered to other things. Every time her mom asked about Suteki, it made her hurt inside to make up an excuse and promise he'd be around more. After walking upstairs, Minako slid into her nightgown and settled in on her windowsill, carefully cleaning the cut and bandaging it up. After tending to it, she leaned back and hugged her knees lightly, looking out at the stars with a sigh floating over the cool night air. The brightest one in the sky always caught her eye and she watched it motionlessly, feeling the light from Venus coming down on her. After a long silence, she pressed her face into her knees and whimpered a bit, feeling warm tears trickle down her cheek and onto her legs, "Suteki...."


On the side of a nearby mountain, Dark Shadow Venus was standing on a huge cliff with his arms crossed, a blank expression on his face. His blue eyes were fixed on that same point of light, imagining just what Venus would look like up close. As the same cool breeze came up over the ledge, his white hair tossed around in his face and his mind wandered, right onto the object of his lost affections. Despite his attitude and the expectations everyone had for them now, he thought about Minako a lot and found even his dark urges calmed when thoughts of her crept into his mind. Reaching out towards the point of light, a smile came over his face and he closed his hand around the light, at least, to him he did, "Minako....."


In downtown, Rei was out and about with Usagi, scouting out the new stores that were opening and trying to find the newest fashions. Rei was carrying only one sack, but Usagi had quite a few boxes, and a giddy laugh in her voice to accompany it, "I can't believe I've almost spent my whole allowance! This stuff is all so cool though. Let's go into this store, okay?"

Without the usual flair in her voice, Rei eyed her a moment and sighed, speaking in a stern voice as she looked over the boxes Usagi was holding, "Ugh, your dad is gonna freak when he sees how you've spent your money. Can't you show some restraint, Usagi-chan?"

"I didn't buy those tube socks, does that count?"

Letting out a sigh, Rei shook her head and miffed, throwing her bag over her shoulder, "Fine, just don't cry to me when you're broke." Usagi grinned widely and looked around for another store, hoping to find something with some sweets in it. While she was, something in a department window caught Rei's eye and she blinked, turning her head to look at it. She walked over and carefully looked over a beautiful gown facing a formal tuxedo, as if they were dancing together to silent music. As she stared at it, memories of the night Yamito came to her school's ball and danced with her entered her mind, bringing a light smile to her face.

"Rei? Rei!" Out of nowhere, Usagi put her hand on Rei's shoulder and broke her daze. The touch was enough to startle her and she looked at Usagi, a little red washing across her face from being caught daydreaming. Usagi was happy to see a smile on her face, even if it was only for a moment, "Are you all right, Rei?"

Rei nodded lightly and looked back at the formal clothing with a light sigh escaping her lips, "Yeah, just thinking."

Usagi also looked up and saw what she was looking at, wondering why it was making her this way. Then she picked up on how Rei feels and looked back to her with determination on her tone, "Don't worry, Rei, we'll get him back. I promise."

"I know we will. Come on, let's take a look inside."

Just as they disappeared inside the shop Dark Shadow Mars came around the corner of the walkway, dressed as he once did when he was human. A distant look in his eyes, he idly forward as people passed him with their conversations ringing in his ears. Feeling alone in the crowd, he let out a sigh and looked up slightly at the sun overhead, "So oblivious to the danger around them. This is why it's worth it.....so these people can live their lives in peace." He suddenly stopped in front of the same window and looked up at the gown and tux, his cold eyes studying them intently. The same memories flooded into his mind and a very disturbing feeling comes over him, "I was so happy just to be with her that night. How I wish things were that simple again."

"Are you going to buy something?"

A snooty salesclerk stepped outside to greet him and looked him over, obviously not impressed with what he saw. Shadow Mars looked back at him and noticed how this man was looking at him. The level of his annoyance showed as visible fire danced through his eyes and made the clerk suddenly begin to sweat from a drastic temperature change. Before any damage could be done, those eyes became empty once more and Shadow Mars sighed. Then those tired eyes looked back forward and he began to walk again, leaving the clerk shaking slightly under his tuxedo.

"Hey, are you okay?"

The clerk quickly looked to Usagi and Rei, who just barely exited the store just as Shadow Mars rounded the corner. The clerk eyed them and growled, turning and stomping back into the store in a fit, "Crazy kids and your stupid electronics!"

"Whoa, what was all that about?"

Rei shrugged and they both started to head towards another store though a strange feeling was tickling at the back of her mind, "Who knows? Maybe someone couldn't find what they wanted and yelled at him."


In another part of the city Ami was doing some reading all alone in the silent library, trying to keep her mind on her studies. She put the book she was reading down and yawned while she reached for her sandwich. Though she was trying to keep up with her studies, something was occupying her mind and made it difficult to concentrate. She took a small bit from the sandwich and idly looked over where Kurai used to sit while they read. The silence of the library was intoxicating and she suddenly found herself looking at a translucent image of Kurai reading just as if everything was fine. He even looked up from his book to her and spoke her name, a complacent smile crossing over his kind face. Though she knew it was just her eyes playing tricks on her, she smiled back and set her sandwich down on the table in front of her. Before she knew it she was over next to the image and laying her head onto his shoulder, cleverly disguised from her as a pillow. The strain of her studying and senshi life finally got to her as she closed her eyes and drifted to sleep next to him. However, as her body became relaxed the image faded away and left her alone, just as she always had been.


At the library in the Omega Master's castle, also sitting alone and reading a book, Dark Shadow Mercury slowly set his book down and slid the spectacles from his nose. Passing the time in the castle in the library was his habit but today he was glad to have some privacy from a certain clone. Leaning forward he ran his fingers over the spines of some books and silently spoke their names. Oddly, he recognized a book from the library in Tokyo and slid it from the stack, "I must have taken it while I was there." As he opened it, a paper fell out and drifted to the floor, making him look down at it in curiosity. He picked the paper up and turned it over, finding it was a picture of him and Ami on a sunny day. The picture oddly made a light smile cross over his face and for a moment, he was lost in his own memories. Soon enough, however, he returned to his darkened self and crushed the picture in his hand, "Rubbish." The reminder suddenly made him lose his taste for reading and he dropped the picture to the ground and disappeared from the library.


In her apartment, Makoto was soaking in her bathtub and trying to relax her bruised body with warm water and no interruptions. She sighed lightly and relaxed a bit more by sliding lower into the water. The setting had the affect of making her doze off slightly dream about Kage, how he and her would spend their time together. His image was in her head and she naturally smiled, glad for these memories. Now, images of Dark Shadow Jupiter appeared instead of Kage, making threats against her and fighting her. Now she thinks of when he stabbed Super Sailor Uranus and seemed so uncaring about it. Her brow tightened as she watched him face her with lightning crawling all over his body. With a wry smile, he suddenly disappeared with her name leaving his lips. As her dream ended quickly, she woke up in her bathroom and abruptly sat up, the water spilling over the side in her panic. She slowly moved a hair out of her face and looked at her reflection in the water, being distorted by the motions of the water. Her image was slowly replaced by Kage and she ran her slender fingers over his image, "Kage." Her voice didn't soothe her at all and the image changed into Dark Shadow Jupiter, making her wince. The image then turned from her and disappeared into the water, leaving only her shaky reflection to stare back at her once more.


In a training room at the Omega master's castle, Dark Shadow Jupiter was standing in front of a punching bag, his chest rising and falling as he stared at a swinging log of beaten wood. Beads of sweat rolled down his arms as he caught his breath but then he started to hit the log again. Above the impacts of his fists and feet against the hard wood he distinctly heard a voice filling the air.

"Kage."

It was enough to break his concentration and he looked around slowly, his body tensed up at the thought of someone else being there. The room was empty however and only the ropes moaning under the weight of the log was heard. With a slight miff, he turned back to the log and got ready to begin once more.

"Kage."

Being turned from his log once again, he stared silently into the empty room and clenching his fists at his sides while the heat he was generating made him want to lose even the tank top he was wearing. Now plain annoyed by these voices, he muttered and turned back to find Makoto standing between him and the log. Blinking a few times still didn't make her image fade away and he glared at her with flashing eyes, "What are you?" Her image just slowly faded away from in front of him and left him in silence. Looking around the room once more, he slowly rubbed his eyes and laughed a bit, "Working too hard." Pulling tight the wrap around his hands, he started back into the log and was happy to be left alone again, if only for a little while.

"Kage."

This time he let out an annoyed sigh and turned into the room, "What!?" He waited for an answer but only silence greeted him. Very annoyed by now he growled to himself and started to hit the log somewhat harder than before.

"Kage, listen to me."

"Leave me alone. You're not real."

This time Makoto's image appeared again next to him and watched his every movement, though he didn't look away this time. She was looking at him with a worried look in her eyes and clasped her hands in front of her, "Kage, look at me."

"Go away."

"Why don't you love me anymore?"

"You're not real. Just an illusion because I'm tired."

"You made me, Kage. You made me because you still love her."

"Shut up!" Now he was just punishing the log with his hands, losing all form now and only showing his anger through the powerful strikes, "I don't need to be lectured by some hallucination about who I love!"

"You can lie to everyone but yourself, Kage."

"I'm not lying to myself! I can't love her anymore! I can't!"

"Why? Because you think you'll save her that way?" Finally reaching the end of his fuse, Shadow Jupiter pivoted on his foot and threw a kick that cut right through the air and shattered the log into splinters. The motion of the kick made his face away from the image and he started to walk away. Even as he breathed heavily from anger and exhaustion, the image smiled lightly and closed her eyes, "You know that you can't stop loving her. Not even you are that strong." The words caused him to stop and clench his fists again. This time the anger came out as bolts of lightning that started to run up and down his body. Turning back slowly to her, his face was oddly serene and he tilted his head ever so slightly.

"Yes, I am." A swirling point of energy formed before him and suddenly fired out, destroying a whole part of the castle and turning the training room into a cloud of dust. As that dust settled, two clones ran into the room and looked around in terror.

"What happened here?"

The figure of Shadow Jupiter walked out from the dust and pushed past them, making his way out the door without a word. The clones just looked back into the room and wondered what could have made him geared up enough to destroy an entire part of the castle.


   Next Chapter: Evil Divided