It was starting to get late.<br/><br/>The sky flashed with lightning, and thunder roared overhead. The weather had said nothing about any thunderstorms occurring tonight. He didn’t mind standing out in the rain, but the sound of thunder did tend to make him a little jumpy whenever he was feeling anxious.<br/><br/>Waiting and being patient in general were not some of Azriel’s strong points. As he stood there leaned against his car, drenched from head to toe from the rain, which left a chill in his bones and the discomfort of his clothes clinging to him, he watched each and every car that passed by hoping that one would turn into the old parking lot that was the meeting place.  Every now and then it appeared as though a car would stop, but simply passed by or used the lot as a shortcut instead. He was becoming increasingly annoyed at how late the people he was supposed to meet were, with each minute that passed. If the situation happened to be the other way around, he sure as hell would not keep anyone waiting on him.<br/><br/>There were a lot of reasons he disliked being out so late at night. Shady people tended to roam the streets. Having dealt with quite a few shady people, working with them and against them, he was well aware of the dangers of being out late at night. While the thought of being mugged wasn’t one that was particularly terrifying to him, it still made him uncomfortable. This was a great meeting spot, but it was in the middle of a lot of operations. Why the people who called him suggested this location, he had no idea. It almost seemed suspicious to come out here in an area like this. Their conversation would not be overheard, the security was not that tight around this area, but he couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable.<br/><br/>Never before had he felt so strongly about just getting this meeting over with as quickly as possible so he could go back home, dry off, and get some rest before carrying out whatever task he was given.<br/><br/>At long last a car rolled into the lot and pulled up beside him. Azriel could see three men inside and shifted slightly. Inwardly, he frowned, refusing to allow his expression to show anything other than neutral, his mind racing with a few thoughts. Why were there three men? Hadn’t he been told there was just going to be one person meeting him? It didn’t make sense to him at all. Whenever he met with someone, it was always one or two people. Maybe they were bodyguards? That would make sense if the man did not trust him. It was hard to trust people these days; some things never change over the years, and society is one of them. Yes, he was sure that these people did not trust him.<br/><br/>Silently, he thought it was a wise choice.<br/><br/>“I hope my tardiness hasn’t caused any issues.” The one who appeared to be the leader spoke in a low voice. “I’d offer you an umbrella, but I doubt it would do you any good.” He gestured to the two men flanking him, carrying umbrellas. One of the men was holding one up for him.<br/><br/>“At least you… showed up. I have to say, I was… starting to becoming worried.” Azriel ignored the fact that umbrellas had been brought up, not really caring that he was soaking wet anyway minus the chill, and forced a faint grin.<br/><br/>“Now, now, have some faith in me. I aim to please. I assure you, I wasn’t late on purpose… I was waiting for someone as well.”<br/><br/>“I see…”<br/><br/>The man’s lips looked like they were about to pull into a frown, but were quickly forced into a smile instead, “Now, to business then.” He gestured towards one of the men, who nodded to him and pulled a gun out of his jacket. The man’s smile widened slightly. “I called you because I wanted you to do a job, and then after we spoke for awhile, we had then agreed to meet… But it was all a lie.” For some reason, this didn’t come as much of a surprise to Azriel. Now that he thought of it, there had been something suspicious about their phone calls… He didn’t think much of it; he was use to suspicious calls. It came with the territory of being a hired gun after all.<br/><br/>Admittedly, Azriel has never seen a gun like this before. All sorts of weapons existed in this day and age, as the years rolled by.<br/><br/>Almost as if the man he been reading his mind, the man said, “I’m surprised that you were so quick to accept my invitation… and I’m glad. It’s about time someone takes out this mysterious assassin, a man who has managed to kill a lot of powerful people over the past few years.” There was a sinister grin on his face, and the atmosphere of the meeting changed. “This gun is our latest prototype… now that I’ve finally found a guinea pig to test it on…” His words trailed off. It was as if he was wondering what was on Azriel’s mind, perhaps irritated that he was remaining neutral instead of reaching for his own gun. Death threats were something Azriel was use to. They usually came with the territory of being a hired gun.<br/><br/>The man holding the gun leveled it at Azriel’s head. He didn’t even have time to react, before he knew what hit him, he was suddenly struck with a burning feeling in his chest. It felt like someone had taken a hot poker and impaled him with it. He dropped to his knees, trying as hard as he could not to give them the satisfaction of hearing him cry in pain. Pain was something he was able to handle pain very well, but that had come close to pushing his limit. Eyes watering a bit, he looked up at the three. The gun was still leveled at him, and they were all smiling, apparently satisfied by the results. Azriel, naturally, was not satisfied at all. He wanted to say something to them but the words were escaping him at the moment.<br/><br/>Next thing he knew, he was being dragged to his feet. The two men were holding him up, which was a good thing considering he felt like he was about to fall over without support.  Something had been strapped to his chest and the man seemed to be doing something to the device.<br/><br/>The man spoke again, “It’s unfortunate that I have to do this.”<br/><br/>“Sir?” One of his goons cut in, his tone showing a bit of nervousness. “Are you sure you want to do that? If it fails…”<br/><br/>“I’m not worried about if failing.”<br/><br/>“But…”<br/><br/>“Have my inventions ever gone wrong?” There was a chuckle, which cut off Azriel trying to say anything. Not that he was in any state to respond, he still felt like he was on fire. “Now.” The man said, returning his attention to Azriel. “I’m sure you will be missed. You were a very skilled man who could have gone far, but caused too much trouble. I know it was your profession… such a shame…” The man put on a fake frown. “Ah… here we go.” The man was finally finished tweaking whatever he had placed on Azriel’s chest and backed away. There was a malicious grin on his face, and he looked as though he was examining his work. “Well, Azriel… this is good-bye.”<br/><br/>The man reached out and pressed a button on the device strapped to Azriel’s chest.<br/><br/>Suddenly, taken off guard yet again, Azriel felt himself being flung into the air so quickly he didn’t even have time to fully grasp what was happening to him. Then, there was the feeling of travelling, most likely flying, at a fast pace, faster than he has ever travelled before even in this day and age where fast travelling was a common thing. Everything around him had begun twisting horribly into a blur until it was completely distorted. His head felt like it was going to explode, a nauseating feeling clawing relentlessly at the inside of his stomach. His body started to feel hot again, unbearably hot, worse than he had felt when he had been shot, and then suddenly began to feel very cold. And then he felt like he was floating…<br/><br/>It was over no sooner had it happened. He was now lying on the ground panting heavily, eyes closed tightly. He was shaking uncontrollably and couldn’t move. Pain shot through every part of his body, which no longer felt like it was on fire, but frozen solid. When he got his wits about him, he opened his eyes. After lying there for a moment, he was finally able to muster the strength to get his feet, and did so slowly, warily.<br/><br/>Azriel felt shaky and unsteady while he stood. He took one step forward, staggered a bit, and then caught himself against a rock. Most of his shakiness was probably from the shock he felt when he noticed that he was no longer in Jerusalem. In fact, he was positive that he wasn’t even in Israel anymore. He appeared to be somewhere in the wilderness… But where? Where was he exactly? Now that he thought of it, he wasn’t even sure he was even on Earth anymore. This place somehow seemed different. While a few things looked similar, there were a few trees around he did not recognize, and the air seemed different. He was definitely not on Earth anymore. The thought caused him to suddenly be struck with a sense of dread.<br/><br/>And then he remembered something, that device… He still had that device on his chest. Looking down, he ripped the device that had been strapped onto his chest, his brow furrowed. It looked like some kind of teleportation thing that they equipped certain vehicles with; somehow it had been modified, and evidently he was the guinea pig. Well, the device had worked alright. He didn’t need to be told twice that he had been teleported. It was strange. Human teleportation was only supposed to go so far, and yet here he was. This was probably the most terrifying predicament he had been placed in, in a long time. He had no idea what he was going to do now; he was just going to follow what he was comfortable with.<br/><br/>That was all he could do, at least for the time being.<br/><br/>His hand shook a little as it reached for his gun, moving almost automatically, as if basic survival instinct was taking over. He had a feeling he was going to need it. He hardly noticed the sleek, black Desert Eagle, the design unchanged over the centuries, was firmly in his grasp until he was checking the clip. Taking in a deep breath, he straightened himself, as best he could. He still felt like he was going to fall over and remained against the rock for some support. When he looked down the sights, a holographic number twelve suddenly appeared above the gun. Good. He still had a full clip. Not that he had shot off any rounds, but it was still good to check nonetheless.<br/><br/>There had to be life on this planet, right? If there was… would anyone speak his language? He supposed the translator on his phone would suffice. Maybe…<br/><br/>Pushing that from his mind, he pushed off the rock and staggered slightly along the path, hoping to find some signs of civilization.