System War: Here Comes the Heroes!

[Miracle Grade Familiar Creation Ticket has been used. Any familiar created at this time will be given maximum growth potential and maximum stats for the first stage of cultivation.]

'Sweet.'

[Awaiting user input to provide parameters to familiar...]

'Done.'

[Approved.]

[Parasing through user's memories to determine appearance of the familiar...]

'Wait, I actually have an idea in mind!'

[Approved.]

'Now wha-Oh my word, my brain feels fuzzy.'

[Establishing connection between user and familiar...complete. Superhero has been created.]

'Cool!'

[Notice: When time resumes, you will be back moments before the fireball impacts your current location. Please react accordingly or you will perish.]

"Duly noted! Good thing I have this big guy backing me up now!"

...Time starts back...

For as long as humanity has been a thing, there has always been a hidden war between two Systems of power.

The Arcanis System, which encouraged people to embrace the mysteries of magic and provided its hosts power in the form of [Demon Creation], the ability to bring to life the nightmares, dreams and beliefs of humanity's past and superstitions.

The Machina System, which forces people to look forward and understand the truths of the world in order to perfect the power of {Mecha Creation], mechanical constructs that are an embodiment of the thousand tomorrows that humanity could achieve. 

Users of these two systems were referred to as magi and mechanists respectively, and both sides absolutely hated each other with the passion. 

They were firm believers that their respective Systems were exactly what humanity needed to progress, and made it a point to secure the precious resources needed to empower these aforementioned systems so that they could reach unimaginable heights.

However, or perhaps this was a feature, these resources were always sources of conflict for the users of these two Systems.

Meaning exchanges like this...

"Bah! You cheating hobo, take your fireballs like a man!"

"You're one to talk, four eyes! Why don't you take your skull crushing like a good little sacrifice and die!"

...was rather common, and usually led to a lot of collateral damage and unnecessary casualties. 

On one side of this conflict, representing the Arcanis System, was Bjorn, a magi, that looked like a homeless druid, whose familiar took the form of a rock troll, a subspecies of troll known for their tough, rock-like skin and ability to manipulate the earth through magical means.

On the other, representing the Machina System, was a mechanist named Farran. His familiar of choice was humanoid robot with bunsen burner-like flamethrower arms with the model designation of BB-09.

These two were fighting over a precious material that their respective leaders told them to find for unknown reasons.

This mission should've been handled quietly, with no witnesses or incidents. But then they ran into each other instead.

What followed was an insane battle that destroyed several million dollars worth of goods, and almost the life of a random civilian.

Keyword: almost.

During the battle between troll and machine, the latter launched a fireball that was narrowly avoided but the former. Both magi and mechanist had noticed that the attack was about to impact what appeared to be two random mortals but they didn't care.

They had grown beyond the concerns of mortal men and had only to worry about-

BOOM!

"What the hell?"*2

However, just as they were going to ignore the soon-to-be pile of ashes, Bjork and Farran both felt a sudden surge of energy.

An energy both of them recognized as being related to the summoning of a familiar, but didn't belong to either of their systems.

This revelation was so incredibly shocking, that they both stopped their fight to turn their attention towards the source of this surge. Only to realize it was coming from the spot those two mortals were hanging around.

"What the..."

"Is that...a shield?"

...Now...

"Okay, cool, summoning you happens at instantaneous speed."

"W-who is that?!"

One moment, SK and the dock work were about to become piles of standing ashes after getting their bacon burnt by a fireball the size of a rhino. The next, their bacon was saved by the sudden appearance of a literal superhero.

To be more precise, moments before the fireball made contact, SK had summoned forth this mysterious superhero to defend both himself and the civilian from the fireball.

The superhero in question has the appearance of a heavily armored knight wearing a blue cape and armed with nothing more than a large shield.

If one were to merely glance at this knight, they would assume that his armor was made of untested steel or silver.

In reality, from the top of his armored head to the bottom of his armored boots, this super hero was covered in a special type of platinum alloy.

"Are you two alright?," the knight asked in assuring tone of voice that was dripping with heroic charisma.

"Yeah, we're good," SK answered while removing the debris off the injured man and helping him to his feet."Can you handle things here?"

"Of course."

"Cool," SK confirmed before walking out of the battlefield with the injured man in tow.

"Hey!"

Confused, and mildly threatened, by the presence of the platinum covered knight, Farran and Bjorn temporarily stopped fighting each other and had their familiars accompany them to figure out what this guy's deal was.

Despite the fact that they were accompanied by a giant flame throwing robot and a rock troll, the magi and mechanist couldn't help but feel oddly intimidated by the shield wielding warrior.

"Who or what the hell are you?," Farran shouted. "You don't look like a mecha."

"And you definitely don't look like a demon," Bjorn added.

"So who the hell are you?!"*2

Funnily enough, they were about to regret asking this question for more than one reason.

"Who am I? Who am I?!," the knight shouted in an even louder voice as he began to lift shield off of the ground and swung it to his right, to expose his full body to the staring mechanist and magi.

"I am the precious metal paragon! The unbreakable paladin who protects all against the forces of evil! The shining shield of hope in the darkness of despair!," the knight announced while performing a series of heroic poses.

"I am Platinknight! Now prepare yourselves to face justice!"

"What the..."

Farran and Bjorn were understandably confused at this flashy behavior for a hot minute, before they got their heads back into the moment. 

This shiny weirdo had clearly just declared himself to be a threat, and as proper System users, they had to respond in kind.

"Face justice? Ha!," Farran laughed.

"Boy, we're beyond the petty scales of mortal justice," Bjorn followed up. "Trobol! Wreck this shiny tinker toy!"

ROAR!

The rock troll let out a bellowing roar before it went charging at Platiknight. In its mind, it didn't need to use any abilities or strategies, because he clearly had the size advantage, which meant he definitely had the strength advantage too.

Most mortals would've ran away in fear at the sight of the galumphing troll, but Platiknight didn't. Instead, he entered a bow legged stance and readied his shield.

"Platinum..."

With zero hesitation, the rock troll swung one of its massive arms, ready to send this knight flying with a single punch...

"....COUNTER!"

BOOM!

"Grr?"

"Impossible!"

...only to be rendered thoroughly confused as Platiknight intercepted his punch with a swing of his platinum shield, and sent him flying instead. Making matters worse, the rock troll's arm had collapsed upon itself before he was sent into a pile of shipping containers.

"Brutish barbarism is no match for my Platinum Aegis!," Platiknight declared. "As long as there is someone to protect, it will never break!"

"Trobol!," Bjorn shouted before he turned and ran to go and check on his injured familiar, leaving Farran alone to deal with Platiknight.

Not that he minded.

"See, this is why you don't use brute force," the mechanist chided with a click of his tongue. "For situations like this, it's much more efficient to use FIRE! BB-09! [Scorching Spray]!"

FUWAH!

The bunsen burner robot proceeded to release a series of hiss and clicks as its flamethrower arms began to glow an unusual color moments before releasing twin jets of flames that superheated the air and melted concrete as it blazed towards Platiknight...who reacted to the attack by throwing his shield forward once more!

"Platinum Guard!"

KA-FWOOSH

"Ha! Direct Hit!"

BWOOM!

"Wait, what?"

Moments before the jets of flame made contact, Platiknight's shield released a blue burst of energy before expanding and blocking the flames entirely. The shining sentinel didn't even mildly warmed by the attack.

"Please! My melting point is too high for the flames of villainy to melt!," Platiknight declared while maintaining his shield. "Now get ready, for a Platinum Rush!"

As soon as Plaitknight said these words, a hidden mechanism built into his shield began activate...

Ka-chank!

WHIRRRRR!!!!

...that caused his shield to spin while still attached to his arm.

And while the shield spun, the flames that were engulfing him began to abate little by little. After all, flames can't exist in a vacuum.

"Uh oh..."