Realistic or Modern 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦. (𝘓𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘪, 𝘚𝘱𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘺𝘚𝘬𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘰𝘯).

[lokii]

SpookySkeleton

It had currently been around 6am, when people had actually started to get up to get their day going, and head off to work. The grass outside had been covered with a thin layer of dew, and the sun had just been rising which, always looked beautiful at the right angle that you were looking from. Animals, thriving as they began to wonder around and birds chirping almost instantly. It had rained the night before, so as expected the ground would be wet, with semi-large puddles depending on how big the holes were.

Tulip had always managed to wake up when the sun had peeked up through her windows. Her house, was rather large, more of a modern feature but hidden into the forest to where barely anyone would find it. She lived alone. Well, alone without humans. She had her trusty sidekick! Her Australian Shepherded mix, named Arizona. Probably, the one thing that she had ever trusted. She did her daily morning routine; feed her dog, let her out to use the restroom in the backyard, work-out, shower, and get ready for her day. Currently she had been wearing a simple pair of grey jeans, ripped at the knees for effect, and a black spaghetti strap top, that had been low in the front. Her hair kept tamed, as it surprisingly wasn’t frizzy as was a perfect wavy like manor.

She knew she had work, more like to find someone. Grabbing her gun out of her closet, that was filled with all types of superior things, including knifes, etc. She shoved it behind her belt, behind her, as she threw on a black blazer, to cover it. Slipping on her mask, now only having the top half of her face exposed as she headed out of her house. Private gates had opened which released her from her property. She started to make her way towards town, looking at her phone as she examined the information of her next target.

Tulip had been a skilled person. Mainly with long distance shots, and up-close confrontation. She only worked for herself, and herself only, she never made an exception for anyone else to rule or tag along with her. The persons features had memorized to her as she made her way into town, and climbed up a ladder, as she settled upon a roof-top, looking down on all the people that had been walking as she paid close attention, as therefore her target had left for work early and had been seen on these streets. He was her target, due to him having a major attitude, and being a snobby rich.

 

[SpookySkeleton]

Kenneth went to work that morning, rubbing his head as he had never had to get up this early before. He called his friend and left a voicemail. "Hey, Henry, it's me. I'm just letting you know I'll probably just want to sleep tonight when I get home. I'll be cleaning the grand ballroom and he expects it all done by tonight. I'll probably have to pull a no break all nighter just to get it done. Anyways, I'll talk to you tomorrow." He hangs up and continues walking. The only thing he thinks of when he is walking along the street corners is all the big shots having their hovercars and their black trench coats. Since those got back into fashion in the early 2100s, the rich have a more sinister and powerful look to them, commanding respect. All he had was a mattress and an old computer from 2020, He didn't even have 5G yet.

He sighs, standing in front of the restored Victorian Era castle doors. looking down at his shirt, taking out the dog tags from his father, "Miss you dad, you would have known what to do..." Before he knocked on the door, he tucked the dog tags back in and walked up to the entrance. "Took you long enough, Mop Guy." The 19 year old said as he walked up next to him, "I'll be having some guests over so you'll have to look presentable." His boss hands him a Black trench coat, similar to his own, and starts to head inside. "Wh- b-b-but I don't understand, I thought you wouldn't dare associate with me?" The boss shrugged, "I need a good image for my future prospects if I'm going to buy them out for everything they're worth." he said it with such a honeyed tone it made Kenny shiver, but he continued to follow his boss inside.

Once inside, several overweight high-classman were standing in the main hall, laughing amongst themselves. "AH, Prince Kelly, nice to see you again old chap, it's been years!" Kelly just shrugs him off, "Be professional, Lockhart, this is a business meeting, save the social talk for tomorrows galla..." Kenny just stands there awkwardly for a moment and brushes himself off before stepping forward. "I-I-I'll be cleaning the Grand Ballroom tonight gentlemen, there will not be a single spot on that floor!" Lockhart locks eyes with Kenny for a moment before turning back to the prince. "You hire such confident staff! And putting him in your garb to show loyalty to your name, fascinating!" Kenny sees himself out of the conversation, hurrying to the ballroom with his headphones in hand.

 

[lokii]

Tulip had stared at a rather large building, as she glanced down seeing a familiar presence. She looked at her phone before nodding, “that has to be him,” she had whispered to herself before heading in the direction. Hopping down off of the building, and taking narrow ways to the building, like a castle just in the middle of the town. Glancing around for entrance and exit ways, she didn’t want to have to murder everyone that she saw, just because she was wanted for pretty much everything a criminal, and more can be charged for.

Tulip, pulled herself up and hopped over a wall before entered the building through a back door which had seemed to lead into the small kitchen. And by her luck, nobody had been in there. She opened the door, which of course lightly squeaked, but that didn’t bother her at all. Pushing her way through she hide herself in the main hall as she looked around, staying silent to detect any movements from others, or speech. Sighing, as she thought to herself, she looked at her watch. Cheating, she swiped on the touchscreen watch, pulling up a camera feed of whom was where. She had been feeling a bit lazy.

Once she had seen someone alone, she had to assume that it was the person that she was after. Glancing around once more, she took a side way, as she made her way to that exact room. She always had advantages because she seemed to know where everything had been, like rooms, certain buildings, but it was all because she spent such a long time in the same spot, and spying. She had entered the room, although staying completely silent, as she went to a corner and sat down so she could observe for a second. Even though, she had moved herself back to where nobody could see her, as she grabbed the gun from behind her, and loaded it which made a echoing sound throughout the ball room. She was tired enough of waiting, so she simply aimed and shot. But unfortunately she had missed, not expecting you to move at the same moment.

She had shook her head to herself, in a rather dissatisfied way as she hid the gun once again, and had muttered to herself. Sighing, she revealed herself before standing with her arms crossed. “Now this is embarrassing,” she mumbled. Now knowing, the other people most likely heard. Shooting, wasn’t probably her best option; so she’d have to act rather fast.

 

[SpookySkeleton]

When Kenneth got to the grand ball to assess the damage, he put his hands on his hips and sighed. He knew it was gonna be bad, but not this bad. He shakes his head before going to head back into the kitchen. Suddenly, a bullet was fired, it grazed his ear, but he turned to the sound of the gunshot. "Now this is embarrassing." He immediately puts his hands up and starts panicking. "waitwaitwait! My name is Kenneth Paltira, I have two very sick cats at home who are in desperate need of medicine, I have no known enemies to speak of and I don't know what you want please dont kill me!" He falls to his knees, pleading for his life, He felt tears streaming down his face.

His life began to flash before his eyes, and it wasn't much, most thing he did was follow orders and stay inside unless he was needed by someone or something. His friends were supportive, but didn't ever ask what he wanted. He never took his own life into his own hands, he always wanted to stick it to the people that thought they were better than everyone else just because they had more money. He wanted to be the angel of vengeance from his favorite comic series "Harvest Knight". He would always take down those who deserved to be knocked down a peg, and lifted those who needed some reassurance. He is what kept him going all these years, what would happen if he just... left... especially now. Who would lose him? His cats, his friends, his boss, (not like he cared much about that one.) His mom? He couldn't, not now.

"Listen, please, If you let me go, I'll help you do what you have to do from now on. I'm sure you don't like owing people, so if you let me help you with a contract, even once, then you could let me live!"

 

[lokii]

Once Tulip had heard the males name, she sighed in frustration. This had been her first time of messing up, and now she’d have to fix this mistake somehow; even if she didn’t know how too. Walking over to Kenneth before shaking her head. “Get off the floor, and stop acting like a baby,” she had hissed to him, as she looked around the room to see if anyone else saw. She rubbed the temples of her forehead annoyed as she tried to think of an outcome, until he started talking once again about helping, which made her scoff as a remark. This, isn’t what she wanted. She hated working with anyone else, but she couldn’t just let him leave. Wander off, go tell the police, and it doesn’t help that their probably in one of the most secure places at the moment which made her question of how she even managed to get inside.

“Just..be quite, and continue to work,” she muttered to him, as she heaved another sigh. She partook the part about the cats, since she has a dog of her own, but it didn’t mean much. She had to take things in consideration if she wanted to just kill him now, let him leave, or him coming with her. Now, stress, something that she hadn’t felt in a long time now overcame her as she looked around the room once more, before looking up to the same camera that she had used to locate Kenneth instead of her actual target. She didn’t have much to say to him, as she crossed her arms as she stood. “Your simply, my wrong target. I apologize for that. But I only have a few options, and I really hate to be close with others,” she had told him as she pulled out her phone, checking the time before looking back up to him. “And, I never owe people,” she had scoffed, as she tilted her head as she glared to the door.

Closing her eyes as she thought about what to do, she was currently very indecisive at the moment and she still needed to find her right target.

 

[SpookySkeleton]

"Oh..." he sighed in relief to finding out he wasn't the right target, so he would get to live, but he still felt as though he had to help. If she was here for a reason, that reason was definitely justified, it had to be! "Then... you must have mistaken me for my boss because of my coat!" He took off the coat for the time being, throwing it over his shoulder. "My boss, Kelly Lanchester, is a wealthy guy, a little bit younger than me, and he's with other prospects at the moment, but if you wait until night, he usually trains in the grand hall at 11pm after I've left!" He was excited to give her this info, even though he knew what the expected outcome to this was. He had to sound confident so she’d want to take him with her to help, maybe this was his chance to turn his life around.

 

[lokii]

Tulip has furrowed her eyebrows to Kenneth, that had just simply been lost at first. Once he had started talking, about his boss and etc, she thought about how loyal that he thought she was. I mean, she’s never worked with anything and never planned on too, considering she’d most likely kill them. But assuming that Kenneth had been tight with money, there wasn’t really much to waste for herself anyways. Who knows, maybe she can raise another assassin, but it’d be quite difficult to gain his trust no matter the situation. He sounded confident, almost too confident as she didn’t forget that he was just begging not to he killed. Tulip decided to test him. Leaning against a table, she had crossed her arms and examined him. “Alright, say if I,” she began as she pondered along with herself. “If I come here, around 11pm, to kill your so called boss.” Her gaze to him and glowed into a glare, as she pushed herself off the table and walked right to him. “How do you think you can trust me, and think that I won’t simply murder you next.” This question, had been rather deep. But it was true. She needed to test the person before she took him into a whole new experience instead of being worked with higher rankings, and a tight budget.

 

[SpookySkeleton]

Her words shocked him, he didn't actually think that she would be willing to let him in on this, he expected her to put up more of a fight. But as she finished her sentence, he had to ponder for a second. He knew that what he was getting into was dangerous, but who knows, she might even kill him next, but somewhere in him, he just knew that wouldn't happen. Maybe it was because he had to hold out some hope for a better life, or maybe it was just a stone's throw of a chance he could finally make a difference in this world. He thought back to Harvest Knight issue #2, when Freddy Grayson (Harvest Knight's secret identity) was offered a power by a seemingly untrustworthy spirit. That decision to go with his gut made Freddy Grayson the greatest vigilante hero of all the Tombverse! Kenny knew that this was his moment, to reach out his hand and make a deal with his spirit. Plus, she is kinda cute. Maybe he could get a girlfriend out of the deal.

"Heh, as if..." He thought to himself.

He straightened up, giving her a determined look, "If you were going to kill me, you would have done it already, even though you had to witness my poor display of groveling for my life..." He knew that were true, if she had any intent to cover this up, she would have done it already, especially with how physically close to him she was getting. "B-But, I want to make a change, my life has been nothing but being a servant to other people's needs, I've had almost nothing but my comics and my cats for as long as I can remember, I barely make end's meet on my rent, and every time I get extra money, I always give it away to someone in more need than me. I don't want to keep blindly serving everyone around me, I want to stick it to the ones that deserve to be knocked down a peg, and lift those who need a little reassurance in their lives. That's why I want to help."

Despite the fact that he ripped that last line straight from Harvest Knight's motto, he meant every word of it. He was tired of living for everyone except himself, and now he has a chance to. He can finally get his cat's medicine, he can finally get a better computer, he can finally get an actual bed, almost everything he can think of that needed replacing would finally get replaced. But there was one thing that bothered him, he wanted to see his friends still, and he still wanted them to be there when he was ready to come out of hiding. But he needed to do this, for his own self interest and his own needs. For once, he was looking after himself, and the world around him, not just one or the other.

 

[lokii]

She had been surprised, how how much that he wanted to help her. Despite his sob story, he wasn’t half as bad. By the looks of it, he seemed to be at least trust worthy. Although, she’d have a lot to do. Clear his name and get him up to speed if he were to work with her. Still, she didn’t like the fact that she’d have to associate with someone. Shaking her head, as she thought to herself, she didn’t know what to do. Kenneth wasn’t wrong either, she wasn’t going to kill him. I mean, only if it’s necessary. But, that wasn’t on her venue. Her job was to assassinate anyone on her list, that really never ended, and he wasn’t one of them. Maybe doing the greater good would come with something actually good this time instead of giving her the rotten end of the deal.

Looking away from him, she moved over to the side and examined the grand room around her. Hopefully not regretting her decision. “Alright, fine,” muttering to herself before she turned back to him. “First things, first. Willing to work with a murder, you must become one yourself. I’ll be teaching you everything I know, and I’ll be trusting you not to kill me in the process.” Nodding to him, as she spoke confidently to him, but had a stern attitude.

It took her a moment to think before she sighed. “If willingly, you may move to my location. I’ll provide all proper needs for you and your cats, but you have to do what you can in return, I’m not doing this just like a one way deal.” She knew that she already had extra, guest bedrooms due to how big her house actually was. Tulip, still didn’t know if she was comfortable with him knowing mainly anything, but it was to late to turn back now. Trust, although was one of her main issues.

“And find someway to quit your job,” she had scoffed. “Working here, and barely making it past the ‘alive’ state.” She shook her head in disgust as she walked over to a table and sat on it. Continuing to ponder to herself.

 

[SpookySkeleton]

His face lit up, he was really doing it! He was finally going to be able to help people in a way that actually mattered. "Awesome! I don't think I'll have a problem with getting rid of my job, as you'll be killing my employer soon..." He didn't really think on her words about becoming a murderer too much, he respected life and death as two parts of the same whole, and he knew that sometimes in order for things to run smoothly, death was one of many options that nature has to correct it.

"I have some experience with guns, I was a hunter in my younger years before I moved here to Britian. Wait… does that mean I have assassination skills already?” His confusion just adds to his charm, and you’re not quite sure if he’s being serious when asking that question or not.

“Sooooo…. Should I go now or…”

 

[lokii]

Tulip had looked back up to him. She was concerned on why the male had been so excited about helping her. It was still a dangerous job; but more as she pondered it must be better than his current situation. She crossed her arms as her glare to him turned cold, as the first time that she met him. It kept crossing her mind, that now, she had to make sure to. . .Well for one, make sure that he stays unnoticed, and two that he doesn’t get in any trouble with any outsiders. The part about being able to trust him was hard considering that he could call anyone, at any moment.

She had giggled a little, which sounds a bit as a childish physco, as she hopped off of the counter and walked up to him. It was like she had a whole mood change in just a quick minute. “Oh please! Just because you have experience with guns doesn’t mean that you have the skills to be an assassin,” she had mocked to him. “There is so much more to it,” she had added before she had raised an eyebrow.

“Hold on a second. You said that your ‘boss’ had a party tonight?” She had thought for a moment, and if they could get into the ‘party’ maybe this would be the time for him to prove himself to Tulip.

 

[SpookySkeleton]

“Y-yes, he is having a party tonight,” Kenneth sits on the stairs, thinking for a moment. “I can disable the security system from the inside to give you access to the front door.” He holds up his keys. “I’ll need to keep these for now though because he won’t give me another set.”

“Wait, what about my cats?! I don’t know how much time they have!” He takes out a picture of them, one is Calico and the other is black with missing eyes. “My black cat had to have surgery on its eyes because they got infected… I have to help her around when she wants to move. But I keep most of the other stuff, like her food and water, near her catbed. Wait, you probably don’t care too much huh…”

 

[lokii]

A slight grin, plastered over her face as she looked to Kenneth. “Well what do you say about attending the party?” she had asked him, with arched eyebrows. “And I mean, it’d be fun, and definitely worth it; if you could disable the security so I wouldn’t have to do it myself,” she said in a hinting way that she wanted to have him do most of the work considering that he was new. As before, Kenneth didn’t seem that bad. She felt if she’d push him for a longer amount of time, that’d he would be decent enough to stay. Although she didn’t like the idea.

Sighing at the fact, she looked around before crossing her arms. “And what do expect me to do, or you to do, with your cats?” She asked him, almost in a trick-question way. If anything, she cared about most was animals. A strong connection unlike what she had with actual humans. Her gaze lowered to the floor before shaking her head. She didn’t want to show herself being even more ‘helpful’ than she already was.

 

[SpookySkeleton]

"My cat isnt getting any better because each time I go back there, they use improper tools and leave her wounds opened, I would go somewhere else, but there's nowhere else around here. I know you're forte is killing things, but I thought that at least something could be done..." He sighed in discontent, he knew that he'd have to prove himself if he wanted her help. "Well, we'll just have to do it after this whole job then, I'm gonna head home and prepare for it." He starts walking home with his new coat in his arms. Pondering to himself if this was all a dream, or some kind of set-up from his boss to test his loyalty.

No, he couldn't doubt himself now, he needed to get ready for what's to come, and that might just mean killing his boss. "I have to do this..." He said to himself as he walked into his front door. He greeted his cats and pet them one at a time, giving extra care to Helper, his black cat who had the eye infection. His other cat, Goldy, rubs against his leg and hops up into his lap as he lokos through his computer. He found several breaks in his boss's system, and he could easily get to them if he could get past security. "Ugh, how would she get past them..."