-15- JATA
Taggart had sat in the chamber for hours, staring from his place by the elevator at the unmoving, unchanging blue-black mass. Nothing had happened since his enigmatic guide, Cosmo had plunged himself into the mass. Taggart recalled Cosmo's words before they took the elevator down into the chamber; that Cosmo would have to fight his enemy in the chamber. He believed the frightful image of the face on the black mass was Cosmo's nemesis, and when he entered the mass he had gone to do battle against him.
The blue and red armored citizen sat patiently for what he hoped would be the triumphant return of his guide. Cosmo had seemed certain of victory before they had even taken the elevator down. So far, Cosmo had not been wrong about anything he had told Taggart. Everything he said would happen had.
Taggart thought about the exchange between Cosmo and his mysterious enemy "Von Nebula." He pondered what it all meant, what kind of strange and ghastly history the two had with one another. He wondered about the connection these two beings had with the Makuhero Cataclysm, with the fall of the Hero Factory itself, with the end of the universe as it was known.
As these thoughts passed through Taggart's wandering mind, the blue glow of the mass suddenly rose in brightness. He was amazed that after several hours something was happening. He felt a dread about it. Either Cosmo had triumphed or failed. Taggart braced himself for both possibilities.
In the region of the blue-black mass where he had seen Cosmo enter, Taggart saw a churning of the mysterious substance. In the area where the substance was moving, two arms emerged and reached outward. They were followed by two legs, and finally a body to which all of the limbs were attached. The figure that emerged was indeed Cosmo.
Taggart wanted to scream out in joy at seeing his guide having returned safely, but something stopped him. The fear that perhaps nothing was quite as it seemed kept Taggart a silent onlooker.
Cosmo, whose citizen robot body burned into the shadows with a blue glow, looked to the other end of the chamber. He met gazes with Taggart, and the two stared from their opposite ends of the chamber.
Cosmo began slowly walking towards Taggart, who knew he could do nothing but watch. Cosmo's stride was steady and confident. The closer he moved to Taggart, the clearer Taggart could see his expression. Cosmo was smiling, a smile at once sinister and kind.
With Cosmo approaching Taggart in a strange new light, the blue and red citizen recalled one warning the blue and black armored citizen had given him before they entered this chamber.
"Nothing will ever be the same after what I must do is done."
Cosmo stood only a few meters away from Taggart now. Taggart was sitting on the floor of the chamber near the elevator, nervous but not quite afraid enough to stand himself up. Cosmo stared down at him, the outline of his form bathed in the radiant blue hue that came off his body. A moment of silence passed between them.
Cosmo stared into Taggart's eyes, his own blue eyes adding a peculiar charm to his smile. The radiance of the great blue-black mass behind him added to his aura.
The blue glow of the mass and Cosmo began reaching blinding levels of brightness. As this occurred, Cosmo uttered words that both chilled and amazed Taggart.
"I know what I am going to do with you."
-END-