Showdown at Noon

[Overlord Jebus]

Hello people!

Riding on the coat tails of my writing binge with Tragedy, I decided to keep up the momentum and jump straight into my next project. This is a nice short one off piece because I was tired of waiting for Brandon to write something like it.

 

Showdown at Noon

Spoiler

Hazer Noon made his way through Elendel Grand Station as inconspicuously as he could. The station was busy, as always, with bustling crowds of comers and goers from all over the Basin. The midday traffic wasn’t too bad, and moving through the crowds was relatively easy. It also limited the amount of potential victims.

The large open space, topped with a dome of glass and metal, held many places a person could hide. The ground floor was ringed by pillars supporting the mezzanine above. The crowd flowed through the clumps of people that stood about, staring up at the clock and the announcement board. Noon joined the masses, standing near the base of a pillar. It was covered with people who were lucky enough to find a place to sit rather than stand.

Noon pulled his sleeve back and checked his watch. It was a plain wristwatch with metal studs along the band. Each stud was a different metal — some were metalminds, others metallisers. A little further up his arm, the dark shadow of a Hemalurgic implant was visible just beneath the skin. 

Noon was a few minutes early. His team members, Hazers Dawn and Lumin, would be in position very soon. 

Scanning the crowd, Noon burned copper and steel. His Allomancy was weak, the blue lines pointing to watches, wallets, and purses, only reaching a few meters, but he wasn’t going to take any chances. Plus, Dawn was the team’s only Copperpiercer. If their target was what Noon suspected, she’d most likely be the first to detect them. After that, Lumin and Noon would move in to apprehend as quickly and quietly as possible.

One of the “incoming” displays ticked over from “Pending” to “Platform 3”, and there was a general movement among the crowd. Blue steel-lines shifted as people made their way towards the platform.

Noon took the opportunity to hop up onto a newly opened spot at the base of a nearby pillar, granting him a great view of the board and, not exactly coincidentally, the slightly raised vantage of the rest of the station. In about a minute’s time, Lumin should appear on the mezzanine level on the opposite side of the station.

He was a good lad, Lumin was. A natural Coinshot, he was useful despite his lack of implants. About as green as they come, he was freshly married and new to the Hazers. The boy had aced the Allomancy Aptitude tests, despite never using his powers during his time as a beat cop. He must have a hobby that keeps him sharp, Noon thought.

Noon himself was a born Augur. He hadn’t even noticed until he was nearly eighteen. Most people don’t have bits of gold lying around the house for their kids to lick and since neither of his parents were Mistings, they’d never thought to get him tested. 

By the time he’d realised, his parents were dead and he’d already made the decision to join the force. Noon didn’t think his gold ability would change things much. It might make him a bit more introspective but it wasn’t like ads were posted looking for gold burners, proclaiming “Do you question all your life choices? Then we need you!” 

As it turned out, the Hazer unit was always on the lookout for gold Mistings and Ferrings. They didn’t talk about it much, it raised too many questions. Hemalurgy still had a stigma against it after all, despite advances in technology. Noon hadn’t really cared. If he was given the choice of spending the rest of his life in agony in a hospital bed, or being pumped full of drugs, given a lovely final day surrounded by friends and family before being put under and having a spike driven through your heart, he knew what he’d pick. He’d signed his donor form with barely a thought.

Plus, the implant he’d been given was second hand anyway. Or third hand, or fourth. He had decided he wasn’t too interested in the full history of the gold implant nestled in his heart, only that it made him a Bloodmaker. Chief Colms had told him he’d be virtually unkillable, and that was enough for him. The idea of open heart surgery being a job requirement was a little daunting for the young Noon, but once an implant became available, there was no turning back. 

Another group cleared out as the board chimed to announce another train’s arrival. The space next to Noon became free, and was quickly filled.

His healing wasn’t exactly top of the line. That was just the nature of implants. But it didn’t matter too much. The department liked to get someone with at least one natural gold ability for a reason. Once he’d awoken after his operation, he’d been walked through storing health, burning the gold to get more health, then using that to fill up more metalminds. He’d left the hospital less than a week later, feeling better than he had in his entire life.

From that point on, Noon had risen through the ranks quickly. His healing allowed him to have new implants added and removed without much worry. None of his abilities were very strong, unfortunately. That was why they still needed specialists like Dawn on the squad. He didn’t need to be strong to be effective, though. As his old captain had been fond of telling him, “With a bit of ay-pewter here, bit of eff-steel there, most people won’t know what hit ‘em.”

Noon checked his watch again, it was time for Lumin to appear. Noon looked at the upper railing on the opposite side of the station. No Lumin in sight. 

Noon’s brow creased. The kid was green, but he wasn’t stupid. He knew how to get into position on time. Dawn should be in position near the center of the station, but it was hard to see from where Noon was. He had to assume she was there.

Noon returned his gaze to the announcement board and waited another minute.

He checked again.

Still no Lumin.

He tapped a little sight, making his vision more precise. Lumin was definitely not where he was supposed to be.

Another arrival chimed from the board, causing another rush of people. As the area cleared, he noticed the next person who sat beside him had left a distinct space between them.

Noon looked down.

Next to him sat a thick brown envelope. Hastily scribbled on it were the words ‘For Noon’.

Years as an officer of the law had taught him to notice when something was wrong. Even if it weren’t for those years of training, this envelope was like a tin-flare that something was very, very wrong.

“Oh, Rusts,” he said to himself. He grabbed the envelope and tore it open. It was heavy, with something metal inside. How had he missed that?

Noon shook the metal object out of the envelope. A large metal disk, around the size of his palm, fell into his hand. He turned the medallion over, looking at the engravings. One side was embossed with a language Noon didn’t recognise, while the other side depicted a head with a single spike going through his eye. He thought the design looked vaguely southern, but he wasn’t sure.

It took him a moment before he realised that there wasn’t a blue line pointing at the medallion. It didn’t feel like aluminum, but it certainly seemed like a metal. That could only mean...

“Invested. Rusts and Ruin...” Noon whispered, cursing under his breath.

Noon closed his eyes and felt the metal of the coin. Really felt it.

There, like a candle in the dark, he felt the power within the metal. It felt like one of the metalliser primer studs on his wrist. Not quite a normal metalmind, but something else.

Opening his eyes, and checking the area around him, he tapped the coin.

He felt something change, the power inside beginning to flow into him. It was strange, he felt nothing new. The medallion seemed to be doing something, but Noon couldn’t work out what.

He held the coin up before him, as if looking at it in a better light might reveal something previously unseen.

Hello, Hazer Noon.

“Mists!” Noon hissed, nearly dropping the coin. The voice sounded like it came from inside of his head, right between his ears.

Don’t worry, Hazer, you haven’t gone mad, it chuckled. I’m talking to you through the medallion. The voice was calm, authoritative. 

“What? How?” Noon said, looking around him. The person sat next to him looked at him strange.

It’s an ancient southerner device. Very rare, you see. I found it along with a few other... Interesting items.

Noon thought on this for a moment. 

“Can you hear me?” He said into the medallion.

Oh yes, this works both ways. I have the other half. And you don’t need to talk directly into the thing. They’re connected, you see. The voice put special emphasis on the word “connected”.

“I’m not sure I understand.”

That’s okay. You don’t have to.

Noon pushed himself off the plinth, deciding it was time to check on Dawn. 

“So who are you exactly?” Noon said, making his way through the crowd. He had a very good idea who was talking to him, but he wasn’t about to let them know that.

Oh come now, that would be cheating! I’m who you’re here to see, Hazer. I can tell you that much.

“So why don’t you come see me?”

You really are trying your darndest to make this easy for yourself, aren’t you? I’m not about to just push myself over to you and let you arrest me. That wouldn’t be any fun!

Noon was quickly becoming rather annoyed. The voice was smug, tinged with an air of superiority. Give Noon a dozen blue-blood Thugs who didn’t say much and hit hard, and he was happy. He didn’t like these rusting mind games.

Keep him talking, though, Noon thought. Keep him talking, and who knows what he’ll give away.

“If that’s the case, then how about this. Want to tell me why you killed all those people?” Noon said, almost conversationally.

They had been tracking their target for weeks. It had started as a string of unexplained murders. A family found dead in their fifth floor apartment, the only unlocked entrypoint being a window with no fire escape. A triple homicide involving an iron bar, bent in a way that only pewter’s strength could explain. Once word got out that the police had started linking the crimes and Noon started showing up at every crime scene, the killer had started to leave clues behind. Little messages.

That’s when they’d started telling Noon he was being paranoid. A serial killer they could accept. A serial killer with every metalborn ability under the hood that had started sending coded messages to the police officer tracking him? That was a tough alloy to swallow.

And that’s why he was here with only Dawn and Lumin. They’d agreed to follow him and the clues, despite not quite believing him.

Now that’s more like it, Hazer. Tell me, what do you know of the Mistborn?

Noon was a little rusty on his history. He reached the middle of the stations main hall. A square in the middle of the room, slightly lowered, surrounded by benches and large potted plants. Light streamed down from the dome below.

Dawn was supposed to be sitting on one of these benches, using her own implants to pierce any nearby copperclouds.

She wasn’t.

A heavy weight dropped in Noon’s stomach.

He dropped his coppercloud, instead burning bronze. As he started to weave through the crowds, he let his instincts take over, trusting them to know what to do before he did.

“Mistborn, like the Ascendant Warrior and the Lord Mistborn? Born with every metal’s power running through their blood?” Noon said.

Oh yes, that kind of thing, although the Lord wasn’t born with his powers. Back then, they weren’t merely myths. The entire noble class was based on who was Mistborn! Sure, you had Mistings, like we have today, but the Mistborn! Ohhh, the Mistborn!

The man was getting excited. Good. 

“You’re a fan, then?” Noon said, passing the medallion from one hand to the other, his bronze thrumming within him.

Ha! A fan. Something like that. We should be above them, you know, these... these skaa. They should bow before the Metalborn, as they had before. The Lord Ruler had it right. We’re not born equal, so why should we act equal? A few mewling welps don’t mean anything in the scheme of things.

“That doesn’t mean you had the right to kill them,” Noon said, snarling.

What right did I have to let them live?

There was silence after that. Noon wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that. He had read interviews with other serial killers. He knew reasoning with the man wouldn’t work.

But then, Hazer Captain, you should know something about that.

Noon’s brow creased. “What do you mean?” He said.

Those “implants” in your body. A more civilised tool, for a more civilised world, we are told. You think everyone goes quietly into the dark? No. They don’t. But because the city needs killers, the people need to make sacrifices. Once you’ve signed your life away, there’s no turning back, whether you want it or not.

“I don’t see how men and women donating their abilities for the good of the people is anything close to your butchery.” Noon hissed quietly. He put his hands in his coat pocket, medallion held tight.

Oh it’s only “murder” if it’s me who kills them, is it? Do it quickly with a knife to the heart or a snap of the neck and it’s “uncivilised”. Pump them full of drugs and do it in a hospital, and suddenly it’s a donation!

Noon was about to reply in anger, but paused. How did he know about that? The Hazers kept that element of the force... Well, their use of Hemalurgy wasn’t exactly secret, but they didn’t talk about it much with outsiders.

Noon fingered the metalliser studs on his watch.

They had a name for you, you know. They were the most feared servants in all of The Final Empire. They took what they needed and didn’t think twice. Why should they? It was for the good of the people. You’re just an old idea with a new coat of paint.

“Who are you?” Noon said, incredulously.

The voice laughed. All in due time, Hazer. I have another question for you. This one’s easy. Do you know what a Feruchemist is? A Feruchemist, I mean, not any old Ferring.

That one, Noon did know.

“Someone that can use all the Feruchemical metals. Like the Hero.”

Like. The. Hero. Each word was enunciated. Our so called God on high. Balancing two powers that can create and end worlds. Hmph. Seems he was just following the theme.

“What do you mean?”

The Lord Ruler was able to use all Allomantic and Feruchemical metals. He was God before Harmony took up the title.

Noon vaguely remembered this. He didn’t pay much attention to religion, but he understood enough. Someone able to use the full suite of Allomantic and Feruchemical abilities? No wonder they called him a god.

“Is that how you see yourself then? Like a god?”

Oh no, no, no. Not at all, the voice said, unconvincingly. Not yet, anyway. There are things I will accomplish, and if others wish to name me The Lord Reborn or whatever nonsense goes through the minds of lesser men, then so be it.

“What are you going to do?” Noon said. He’d almost finished a loop of the station. He’d felt tin burning in the crowd but it had gone out of range before he could work out where the pulse had come from.

In time, Hazer, in time. For now, I want to show you what I can do. I want you to activate your newest metalliser. That fancy new stud you’ve been fingering on your watch.

Rusts, Noon thought. How did he know about that?

The metalliser was something new that the screwheads down in The Pit had cooked up. The metal it was made from was apparently exceedingly rare, and the power it contained was even harder to obtain. He’d been told to only use it in absolutely dire circumstances. It would let him take down any target, get out of any situation. He was told he’d be able to dodge bullets if he needed to.

“And why should I do that?” Noon said. He had started making his way back to the center. He had been so wrapped up in the killer’s monologue that he had almost forgotten the absence of Dawn and Lumin.

I want to show you something, the voice said, turning harsh. Just do it!

Noon hesitated, but pressed down on the metalliser on his watch. To anyone nearby, it simply looked like he was adjusting his shirt cuff. 

The stud clicked softly, and power flowed through him.

Around him, the hundreds of people burst forth into hundreds of shadows. Noon watched them. As people walked, they moved into the place left behind by a shadow that telegraphed their every move. He felt like he should be overwhelmed by the barrage of information, but it all just made sense to him. Every person followed a trail of shadows of themselves, showing where they’d be one step, two steps, five steps from where they were now. The chaos of the disorganised crowd was transformed into a beautiful work of art, where every step was made as though it knew exactly where it needed to go. Almost instinctively, Noon found himself able to navigate the shifting crowd with ease.

Good, the voice purred into his mind.

The scene changed.

The people around him exploded with dozens of images. Noon stumbled. It was too much. People stopped following their tracks. They became chaos, spilling out around him so quickly he struggled to see where the shadows came from.

And that’s when he noticed the bodies.

The shadows started to fall. All around him, every shadow began to drop. Noon tried his best to follow them back to their source, but there were too many.

They were all joined by a single figure.

A man. He wore a coat with a hood to hide his face. He would drop down from the air, swoop in from nearby or simply push aside other shadows. He’d slit throats, spill guts, snap necks. The methods of murder numbered almost as many as the shadows, the man with the hood seeming to come from every direction. There was no tracing it back to where it came from. One by one, he watched as the people around him died.

Eyes wide, Noon turned off the atium metalliser.

“What in Harmony’s name was that?” he said, too loud. The people around Noon looked at him. He looked back at them, not moments before having watched them die a thousand deaths. Embarrassed and confused, he shoved his hands in his pockets and made his way back to the center of the station.

Did they not train you in that? They probably thought they were the sole proprietors of atium.

“Of course I was trained. I’ve seen the images before, just never... like that,” Noon said, reaching the middle of the station and sitting in an open seat. He rubbed his eyes with the balls of his hands.

When two people see the future, the shadows conflict. You see what I’m going to do, and that changes what you’re going to do. That changes what I am going to do, and so on until the shadows are as numerous as possibility.

“But what was that?” Noon hissed. “Why was it showing me everyone dying?”

Because that is what I wanted to show you, the voice said, very calm and quiet. That I am ready, willing, and able to kill every single person in this room, and there isn’t a single damned thing you could do to stop me.

Noon stopped rubbing his eyes. He slowly lowered his hands to his knees and sat up straight. The lead weight in his stomach seemed to double. 

I’m leaving now. You were a fine opponent, Hazer Noon. I liked this chase. I hope you get the opportunity to grow old, surrounded by loved ones and friends. Never come after me again.

“Wait!” Noon said. He stood and looked around frantically, trying to see someone, something amiss.

In that moment, his steel-lines warned him of metal dropping from above. They were faint, but moving fast. The bits of metal dropped down in front of him, clattering on the marble floor.

Before him lay several bloody lengths of metal, about the size of large hair pins, and a pristine gold wedding ring. 

Noon looked up at the glass dome above, just in time to see a figure disappearing through one of the windows and out of sight.

Scooping up the metal and the ring, Noon turned and ran for the door.
 

 

Huge thank you to @WireSegal and @ladymxdnight for their help on this!

[Agent34]

That title's something of a misleading pun. Connection allowing for telepathic communication is certainly interesting, was it inspired by paired fabrials?

[Overlord Jebus]

21 minutes ago, Agent34 said:

That title's something of a misleading pun. Connection allowing for telepathic communication is certainly interesting, was it inspired by paired fabrials?

Yeah, that's the basic idea! These would actually be extremely powerful medallions since the only example we've seen of telepathic communication is around third/fourth Oathed spren bonds. If you imagine two items Connected as strongly as a Radiant and their spren, you're on the right track.

[Marzipan]

I love it!!! @Overlord Jebus, are you planning on writing more?

[Overlord Jebus]

@Marzipan, I'm not planning on writing more with Noon but I quite liked the ideas here so I might return! I am planning other little projects

[Agent34]

Were Noon's vials premixed or something? Medallions (or metallisers in this case, or allomantech) don't provide the metal to burn, just the ability yet Noon could see atium shadows. Sorry if it sounds like I'm nitpicking.

[Overlord Jebus]

@Agent34 The atium metalliser provided the ability to tap an metalmind that stored Allomantic atium (Essentially, reverse compounding). I'm glad you picked up on that  Noon is basically a mixture of every fan theory and headcanon possibility I could think of.

[Agent34]

3 hours ago, Overlord Jebus said:

@Agent34 The atium metalliser provided the ability to tap an metalmind that stored Allomantic atium (Essentially, reverse compounding). I'm glad you picked up on that  Noon is basically a mixture of every fan theory and headcanon possibility I could think of.

He's a well put together mixture, that's for certain. You're quite skilled at weaving headcanon in with canon in your writing.

[Kingsdaughter613 she/her]

Your villain makes me think of the Joker... was that intentional or a coincidence? Either way, in my head he sounds like Mark Hamill. Great job!

[Cheyenne Sedai she/her]

another interesting story from Overlord Jebus. I really enjoyed this one.