System Wars: Here Comes the Heroes!

RIP!

The moment SK ripped apart the platinum colored ticket in his hand, his entire perception of reality began to warp once more.

[Miracle Grade Familiar Creation Ticket has been used. Any familiar created at this time will be given maximum growth potential and be bestowed with a complete suite of skills appropriate for their build and design,] the System informed SK as the warping continued for what felt like minutes until it finally settled.

Instead of staring at the frozen scene of a troll and a giant robot tearing each other to shreds, with a stray fireball hurtling towards his direction, he was now staring at something akin to a blank canvas of reality.

Standing before him was a plain white space that was just begging to be filled with ink, paint and pencil, all coming together to make a unified whole.

What exactly that whole looked like, well…SK had a couple of ideas, he just needed the right tools to do so.

And the Superhero System knew exactly what he needed.

[Scanning User's mind…scanning complete. Providing the necessary UI for the user to maximize their potential creation.]

The edges of the blank canvas began to warp and distort until manifesting into the shape of a drafting desk with each of the little indents and holes being filled with all the pencils, pens and paintbrushes that SK used whenever he started to get into the zone with his drawings.

Right now, he was feeling that he was in that zone.

"Alright, should I do one of the characters I already drafted ahead of time or make something new?," SK asked himself as he picked up one of the pencils next to the blank canvas.

The pencil felt like it had the correct weight and feel to it, but SK could detect that there was something…extraordinary to it.

"Quick question, is there a time limit or do I have time to rework, erase and make the necessary edits for this first Familiar of mine?," SK asked the System in a tone of voice that was significantly more confident than it sounded moments ago.

[Due to time being paused, the user will have free reign to design their familiar however they wish. It should be noted though that once the Familiar has been created, time will resume in the exact moment that the user first entered the Contract Space.]

"Meaning…"

[You're going to get a face full of fireballs unless you and your familiar are properly prepared.]

"Right on."

Understanding the assignment now, SK decided to file away the idea of making a brand new superhero right this moment, and reference one of his older draft designs.

This would've been the moment where he would whip out his trusty sketchbook and start referencing one of them, but he never brought it with him during work.

So, he had to rely on his memory instead. Granted, his memory wasn't the greatest in the world…but he got the feeling it wasn't going to be an issue.

"Alright, let's start with a sketch-whoa!"

As soon as he took his pencil to the floating canvas, the general shape of a human figure made of several circles and ovals appeared before his eyes.

It was like he was staring at the drawn version of one of those poseable figures that some artists used when they didn't have a human model to work with.

The build of this figure was quite androgynous all things considered.

If SK so desired, he could easily change the shape to be more feminine or more masculine with just a couple more outlines.

"Do I make my first superhero familiar, a guy, girl, neither or both…wait, if this is going to be the first superhero in existence, then I have to base him on the first superhero in existence," SK eventually concluded as he began drawing again.

In the blink of an eye, the shapeless figure took on a more masculine appearance, with a wide chest, muscular arms, strong shoulders and robust legs. Even added a cape in the back.

"Hmm, maybe I should make it shorter…there."

Now that he had the general shape in mind, SK now needed to come up with the theme.

The nice thing about superheroes is that they could literally be based on anything and have any power.

The bad thing about superheroes is that they could literally be based on anything and have any power.

Needless to say, SK was struck with the worst kind of paralysis: choice paralysis.

"Do I make the familiar based on one of my older or newer draft designs…"

As an avid consumer of popular culture and niche geek hobbies, SK had made it a point to try and design heroes that didn't just follow the sensibilities and principles of the current Dark Era of Comics, but the past eras as well.

SK had drafted independent superhero designs that reflected the idealism of the Golden Era, the contemporary explorations of the Silver Era and the more realistic issues of the Bronze Era.

As a creative exercise, he even tried to see how superheroes would look during the Victorian era of comics and Platinum era of comics.

"Should I do Construcikong? V8? Or maybe should I do Captain Plasma? But none of those guys are particularly good at defense…wait a minute…"

The more he thought about the dozens upon dozens of character drafts he had drawn over the years, he thought back to the very first superhero he drew when he was a child.

SK wasn't sure what was going on through his head at the time, but he did remember having done a back to back marathon of a certain superhero movie franchise that had been going on since the late 2000s.

The memories of those movies blended with his childhood obsession of fairy tales at the time, so he drew a knight themed superhero who ended up becoming his imaginary friend.

He thought it was clever at the time, because he had yet to see a proper knight themed superhero in any of the movies and shows he watched on streaming channels. Evidently, when he discovered that there had been other knight themed superheroes in the past, he felt a little crestfallen on the fact that he didn't do something completely original.

That said, that idea of a shining knight coming in to save the day with nothing more than a shield and a whole lot of courage, never really left him.

"Huh…"

And right now, he had a golden opportunity to bring to life that old imaginary friend.

"What was his name again? Golden Knight? Silver Knight? No, it was…Platiknight. That was it! Platiknight!"

Once he remembered the name of this old childhood idea, SK quickly swapped out his pencil for pen and paintbrush and began to strike at the canvas with even more vigor than before.

He first drew out a classic looking knight that was kitted out in full plate armour, had a billowing blue cape and a large kite shield.

Looking over the design though, he couldn't help but be a little disappointed with what he had come up with. 

"I don't know what the hell I am going to be facing in the future, but I just know that a normal knight isn't going to be enough to deal with the dangers ahead. Especially if that psycho scientist and his hobo friend are anything to go off of," SK concluded. "Then I might as well have a bit more fun with this."

Having a feeling that his future foes were going to consist of even more absurd monsters and machines, SK added a couple more embellishments to Platikngiht's design to make it obvious that he was a mix of both high science and high magic.

A magitech knight!

Now that he had finished the main body though, SK couldn't help but to think that the shield he had drafted looked a bit weak and primitive in comparison.

"Hmm…what if I do this instead?"

With the wave of an eraser, and the scribbling of several more pencils and pens, SK replaced the kite shield with a circular one that was more uniform with the platinum magitek armor that Platiknight was now wearing.

Not only that, but he also added several designer notes in the corners that shared his ideas on what kind of abilities he wanted Platiknight would have.

Little did he know, the System was paying very close attention to this particular detail.

"Okay, I think I'm done," SK concluded as he placed away the drawing tools. "Now what do I-"

[User's completion in the task of Familiar Creation has been acknowledged. The System will now be using the design to create the User's first superhero. The System will also be using the user's notes as a guideline to what skills should be bestowed to the familiar.]

As soon as this announcement was made, the white canvas carrying Platiknight's design began to merge with reality until the only thing remaining was that aforementioned design now floating in the air.

"Oh...cool."

[Familiar creation has been completed. Please note that future creation sessions will require the usage of materials and skill crystals. Now standby for canvas break.]

"Wait, what was that about materials? Also what's a canvas bre-?"

CRACK!

"Holy-!"

The next thing SK knew, Platiknight's design started to become significantly more...three dimensional.