Though introductions are usually pleasant exchanges, the Manetric's was not very reassuring. He sat down and began licking at a very ugly looking scar, pausing only long enough to reiterate his name.
As if I didn't hear you the first time when you were... ten feet away...? At the most, anyway...He swallowed hard, cowering nervously away from the Manteric; old he was, but Oliver could tell from his usual nervous habit of inspecting everyone closely for possible signs of danger that the old timer would definately be a bad person to tee off.
Weariness overwhelmed him and his stomach growled. He eased a hand to it in the hopes that doing so would shut it up, but to no avail.
When was the last time I ate, anyway? Gosh, what I wouldn't do for some Mago berries right now... better yet, a Mago poffin. With chocolate sauce on top. In Anne's cozy kitchen...He shook his head lightly. No. He shouldn't dwell on that. It hurt too much.
He unwound his scarf from around his neck and carefully moved acouple feet away, intent on placing it down on some leaves.
Already got some of my blood on it... I'm gonna have to scrub it hard enough as it is; let's not get anymore blood on it, huh?A noise caught his attention and he glanced up to see the others returning.
Relief flooded him; he didn't know these strangers, and that still frightened him, but they were kind to him. They had taken him in. And they were nicer than the inspector, anyway.
Maybe he'd finally made some Pokemon friends? Perhaps they'd even help him find Anne?
Another noise... Oliver tilted his head towards the sound; it wasn't any of the returning Pokemon. Rather, it seemed to be coming from above... was that... wingbeats...?
And then, suddenly... there was no word to describe what happened next.
A species he didn't recognize swooped down from above at such a speed it made his head spin. The thing grabbed Taoide, who naturally began to scream along with his "mother" and she shot a Shadow Ball at the offender.
Who then promptly tossed Taoide in the way.
Oliver clutched the scarf to his chest, leaping involuntarily to his feet, brown eyes huge with horror as the child was there one minute, and a mess on the side of a house the next.
The only comfort was that the result of such a thing was that the death had been quick. There could not have been any suffering at all.
Luna was a different story.
As she stared, paralyzed by horror, it grabbed her next. Oliver did not know the name of the move it used but he could feel the heat all the way from where he was standing.
He carried her up and then... she melted.
And as she did, it bit into her and drank her insides. It was like a demonic version of the way Anne used to drink fruit smoothes. The same pleasure, the same excitment... and yet so very, very twisted.
She screamed, of course. Oliver would hear those screams in his nightmares for years to come. He wouldn't wish witnessing or hearing such a thing on anyone, not even Jon. Not even Tank. Or Joker.
Not even Sly.
He finally dropped what was left of her to the ground and flew off, scattering some embers as he did.
The splat of Luna's body hitting the dirt and grass was what made Oliver realize this was not a nightmare. For some reason he could not explain, the splat was what did it.
Perhaps it was because the noise was so... final. That sound... it signaled that there was truly nothing left of her.
That two survivors of this horror were survivors no more.
He began to tremble uncontrollably, falling over onto his butt. His arms tightened around the scarf and, though the blank look in his eyes did not change, the tears started to fall.
... Why...?