Draou continues to fight the force of the knight's own "abyss" for a short while, but then realizes he isn't getting anywhere good. Feeling the horrible emotions coursing through both of their minds, Draou tries to remember what 1 told him before.

"4... sometimes working alone isn't the only way to win reliably. Sometimes, when you have enough trust in others, you can work as a group to achieve a greater goal, acting as one massive force. Without this idea, civilizations would not exist, towns would not function, and society would be impossible to maintain. But this is not exactly what I'm getting at here, you already know this basic concept. What I am really saying is the idea of complete trust. A bond of confidence between multiple people so strong they were almost the same person in their combined mindsets. Our original... 0... he knew this quite well. Those two friends you saw in that image, they were the one's he shared this bond with. Heed this advice, you must NEVER assume gaining a bond of trust this great is impossible to create. It will be your eternal goal to make this bond a reality with as many people as you can. Just like what you have done successfully with us other fragments. Trust your inner judgement, but also trust the same of others you know can be trusted. Do not forget this."

If I can't win this fight myself... then... oh, I see. That is what I must do... It is what I must continue to do from this point onward!

Instead of fighting the force, Draou tries to absorb all of the hatred and despair from the knight into himself, letting his own force of the void seep into where the emotions are emptied in an attempt to replace it further. Fully realizing what this might do to him, Draou enters a stabilized set of meditation, closing off everything around him except for consciousness of both the knight and himself. As he does this, he forces his own feelings to enter a blank, gridlocked state, stalling for as long as he possibly can from the onslaught of dark emotions.

If this doesn't work... I must trust in the others to do what's right. We can't let you do this to anyone or anything else in any reality. Not anymore. But please, you must understand this somewhere, you can be something better... something good. You can be free from your suffering and torment. Use your own feelings, let yourself choose. Please, for the sake of everyone, not just you.

"I'm not afraid..." came a soft, kind voice. "I'm unworthy... I've failed..." the knight whispered. Even in the darkness his armor gleamed brilliantly with a radiant aura. The abysmal darkness around him seemed to be exerting all of its attention on keeping him defeated.

Everything turned into darkness for Draou. Even when he looked down he couldn't see his own hands. There was nothing but the abyss.

Suddenly he could see himself again. He was standing on black, in a world of black. He couldn't tell where the ceiling, walls, or floor ended. He just knew he was supporting his own weight. Nearly 40 feet in front of him stood a man in brilliant shining armor. His blonde hair and bright garb a beacon of light in this dreary world. He stood proud and tall with his broad sword in hand and a tower shield in the other. He looked weary.

Magnus' large fist slammed down on the creature's skull, smacking it into the floor. Immediately it rushed down the minotaur, wrapping its arms around his waste and lifting him into the air. It spun backwards and slammed him into the floor just in front of the descending staircase. Monsters yelped and chittered around the two.

Virachne's bones were quickly replacing themselves, managing to heal off a large portion of the damage already. She swung Magnus' ax while striking out with her legs. She slew beast after beast and soon the monsters began to grow wary of her strikes. They stopped charging and began to circle around her, separating her from her ally.

Meredith lay unconscious in front of Amanita while Draou's head remained planted in the knight's open helmet. The next thing they knew however, Draou had fallen out of the warrior's armor and landed on his back, laying still. The knight's armor then crumbled to dust. Frank then started creating a new robot, but quickly realized he didn't have enough supplies. Seems his luck had run out.

It didn't take long for the trio to reach the second house. It was swarming with monsters as they tore into the wood of the building, desperate to reach whatever was inside. Suddenly an extra large one of the creatures stampeded through the others, smashing the lesser beasts out of the way. It slammed through the door, busting the front of the structure wide open. Inside the house the group heard several loud crashes and roars. The monster then was thrown backwards out of the broken entryway, rolling onto its back with its face caved in.

Still the other monsters continued to charge. A blue glow emanated from within the house.

"Heh...maybe I'm the only one afraid then..."
Kneeling down in front of the knight, even more mud splashed upon her.
"I'm afraid of so many things...Mister, especially failing...but..."
Merideth's eyes fell downward in despair.
"If I stay afraid...I'll just fail again and again...that's why..."
Clenching her fists, she was filled with determination.
"That's why I won't be afraid anymore..."
Hands outstretched toward the knight, she smiled.
"And that's why you can't be afraid...not of failure, not of unworthiness...Mister Knight, don't give up!"

Hello... can you hear my thoughts?

Draou smiles warmly, hoping his friends have found some way to help. He doesn't really care though, all that matters is saving whoever was inside that suit, and he is almost certain this man is the one.

"I don't imagine you or I have much time here, but I would just like to say it's nice to meet you." Draou walks up slightly, looking around the empty world around him in mixed interest and suppressed stress. A bead of sweat drops down his brow and onto the nonexistent ground.

"I want to help you... I think you know I do. We all want to help you. I'm not asking you to trust in us, I'm asking you to trust in yourself." Draou walks up more, stopping about 10ft from the man.

"I understand this might be horrible to experience... but it isn't just for you. Good and evil battle each other everyday, people choose sides and switch sides every day, the only defining moment of all this is when those people fight against the evil with all their power. Power isn't just might... or even the ability to defeat something. You have to defeat your own battle... within yourself. We all have this battle. You CAN win it. You just have to grasp your hopes and carry them to a brighter future." Draou stares the man directly in the eyes, making his point as clear as possible to get his attention.

"It doesn't matter what happens to me. You're all that matters right now. You can do this... that's all I really have to say." Draou stands still and continues to stare at the person in front of him, expression turning into a very serious one as he grinds his teeth in anticipation for the man's answer.

".... I didn't give up... I was... defeated...
I was a hero... a champion. I was tasked with defending my people. I was the best. The only one capable of taking down the evil that plagued us. So I hunted the source of evil. The one place that darkness originated. I was foolish and brash. I fought without care for myself, my pride my greatest downfall. I found the source, and I entered it. It consumed me. Now... there is only the Abyss..."

"There's only one freedom for me any more..." The man smiled sadly at Draou. He raised his sword and his expression turned grim.

Amanita sprinted for her life away from the monsters, whistling for all she was worth. Hundreds of the creatures began crawling out of every crevice. They smashed through nearby windows and bulldozed out of ally ways. They surged out of the sewers and came leaping off of roof tops. They were quickly gaining on her and were coming from everywhere.

Virachne swept the horde behind her apart and tossed the ax back to Magnus, who managed to catch it single handed. The weapon's weight misplaced his strength and he wasn't quite fast enough to swing it before the monster was on him once more. It placed a massive hand on his wrist and held his arm back, while also placing its other arm on his throat, pushing down on the bullman's windpipe. It roared in his face and the minotaur's ears rung.

Then out of seemingly no where, Frank dove out of the shadows. He slammed his fist into the side of the monster's neck. A sudden surge of power exploded from his gauntlets and shoved the thing off of Magnus, sending it crashing into the wall. The reporter staggered forward groggily, his gauntlets sparking with power. But before he could follow up a portal opened up next to him and Draou came out of it. The teleporter spun his staff around and slammed it into the reporter's jaw, knocking him off of his feet. Draou's eyes were completely black and a black and purple aura emanated from him.

The pudding began freezing into spiky chunks that immediately killed several of the monsters when they struggled to free themselves. The trio sprinted for the nearest opening, a large hole in the wall, while killing whatever monsters got too close or emerged from the ice.

Once inside all three saw a single man, blue energy radiating out of his sunglass shaded eyes. Brown, wavy hair upon his scalp. Large auras of blue energy leaked out of his forearms and ankles. They made it inside just in time to see a monster making a lunging slash at him with a claw. He back stepped and grabbed the thing's wrist before slamming it into the floorboards. He followed up with a swift punch to the back of the neck, snapping the beast's spine. Around him were countless corpses of monsters. He was breathing heavily.

"Hey, you're not monsters..."