Mao Mao — Roleplayer Guild

Look, I am just surprised none of the AI images so far aren't tinted piss-strained yellow yet. But seriously, thank you for speaking up Roman; it's been bothering me since all of the AI-rendered Jason Todd, Aqualad, Shazam, and now Robin have been ugly as hell (it can't even do freckles right, for crying out loud!). And it isn't a matter of satisfying someone, our planet is melting whenever someone uses generative AI for whatever, and some poor mom's water & electricity bill has gone up $500 because of (my personal opinion here) deeply selfish and quite frankly lazy reasons.

However, to my knowledge, Arthur Curry as a child doesn't exist so what is your alternative in that case?@Bounce
Sometimes you have to just improvise! Here's an image made by an actual artist of Arthur Curry Jr that you could easily pass off as Arthur himself (crop out the parents of the picture and boom).

In the aftermath of nationwide protests against the artificial-run government, the country and its people are starting to rebuild. 

Hammer Bay was where it all began, with a student protest at the University of Genosha, which saw intense clashes with state police that left dozens injured and hundreds more arrested. A day later, the largest trade union in the country proclaimed a general strike against both the government and the decades-long apartheid system. The capital city, home to 67% of the island's inhabitants, soon became the epicenter of protests that spread across the country.

Now, an uneasy calm seems to have settled for the tens of thousands of people who poured onto the streets to vent their frustrations. The very same streets that are now largely quiet, many still littered with piles of charred debris and stained with dried blood. 

When the strikes continued into the following day, President David Moreau planned on ordering the military to crack down on protesters with "heavy force." But the order never went through as Magneto attacked the Parliament Building in the early morning hours. The mutant terrorist, presumed dead by the American government after going missing in the 1960s, had declared his reappearance to the world with the brazen attack on the Genoshan government. It lasted only for an hour before the army command announced to its soldiers and officers that they were no longer in service. 

Even though the protesters emerged victorious without a single casualty, they now have to deal with what's coming next: uncertainty.

Magneto seemingly has the people's backing to reshape their country ahead of the general elections in the spring, recently announced. He and his cabinet will have six months to abolish the apartheid system, address the grievances brought forth by the protesters, and prepare for the upcoming elections if he decides to run. Additionally, he will face challenges coming from the deposed President Moreau, who fled the island alongside most of his cabinet due to concerns for their safety. Reportedly, with the backing of the United States, he will declare the interium government to be illegitimate in a press conference tomorrow to garner support from the international community.

Magneto, the first mutant to hold public office in history, will begin naming new ministers for his interim cabinet in the coming days.

GENOSHA
HAMMER BAY
A New Dawn

The streets were slowly coming back to life after days of protest erupted across the country. Hammer Bay saw two hundred thousand people marching to the steps of the Parliament Building despite threats of arrest being given repeatedly. Léonard Rasoarizay witnessed on his TV screen the brutality inflicted by the state police on the peaceful crowd. But only when he saw the very same protesters, bloodied and bruised, running in fear from his balcony did he start to get involved. Opening up his seafood restaurant below as an improvised medical centre was his way of contributing to the community in their time of need. And there were a ton of injured people to shelter while street medics did their job.

Then, the president was overthrown by an outsider. Léonard felt at ease that he and his neighbors had prevailed in the end, and he gladly joined in the celebrations that lasted for the whole night. It was cleaning the restaurant the following day, learning details about the foreigner from the news, that he started feeling conflicted. On the one hand, he and his friends put their bodies on the line and fought valiantly to defend strangers altruistically. They brought back democracy without any casualties for either side, a feat that should have been impossible to achieve. On the other hand, what's stopping a terrorist from getting power-hungry and discarding democracy altogether to start his own regime?

Léonard couldn't afford to ignore such concerns; he had his restaurant, his employees, and his neighbors to look out for. A "former" mutant supremacist taking charge, even if temporarily, was impossible not to worry about. 

Nevertheless, Léonard had his restaurant to focus on, and it needed a proper cleaning before it was ready to be reopened. Then he was soon distracted by a commotion outside. He saw people looking up at the sky out of the window. Some pulled out their phones to presumably record whatever was happening, while others began shouting questions. Léonard made his way outside to further investigate out of curiosity. However, he didn't need to go far before seeing the outsider floating above almost carelessly. It was strange to see someone important without any security, but witnessing a bent light post get straightened with relative ease made bodyguards obsolete. He wasn't the first mutant to use their abilities openly, nor the last, but he wasn't just an ordinary citizen. He was the president of a country with which he had no connection to. And as such was subjected to intense questioning from the citizens, in Léonard's opinion.

The crowd was growing larger, and Léonard decided to join them to get his question answered. He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, "Magneto!"

"How are you going to help the businesses impacted by the protest?!"

"When are you going to form a new parliament?!"

"What are you doing to help overstretched hospitals?!"

"Why haven't the Magistrates dissolved yet?!"

"Will you hold the cops accountable for their actions?!"

Magneto didn't mean to ignore the amassing crowd below him and their questions; he was just distracting himself from the thoughts that had haunted him ever since assuming the presidency. It wasn't his intention to take over after overthrowing the government. But enough of the protesters voted and selected him to lead them over other candidates, a hiccup in initial plans. Magneto understood right away that he had to do everything in his power to avoid making the same mistakes he had made with the Brotherhood. He wasn't responsible for a ragtag bunch of misfits, but a diverse population of millions—a quarter of that being mutants, the largest of any nation on the planet.

Magneto straightened another light post, a task that oddly made him as relaxed as meditation did. Quite often, he used his powers to cause destruction to his adversaries. And yet he rarely used them to repair the damage caused, whether indirectly or directly, by him. Of course, he spent the morning helping with the reconstruction effort at the Parliament Building. Progress was forced to a halt due to a problem with-

"Magneto."

A familiar voice, with a light Portuguese accent, cut through the noise of his thoughts and the now fairly large crowd. Everyone turned and saw the acclaimed leader of the Acolytes holding bags of presumably take-out from various restaurants. Fabian Cortez was an infuriating, arrogant individual born into wealth and would've easily grown up to be such a man-child if not for his mutant powers emerging. It didn't necessarily mean Magneto dismissed him outright; on the contrary, he had a lot of potential left to offer. For one, he had to be naturally charismatic if he managed to get Amelia to come out of hiding and agree to join any group with such eagerness. Not to mention his ability to augment the powers of other mutants, which made him quite formidable, in addition to his healing capability. And, of course, it helped to be royalty even if he had been basically disowned. It almost reminded Magneto of his old friend...

But Fabian was nothing like him.

Magneto turned and asked, "Come to fetch me yourself?"

"Decided to get lunch for everyone this time around, actually." Fabian answered cheekily while lifting the bags in his right hand for him to see. He then noticed the crowd was beginning to gather around him, taking pictures and expressing gratitude for his role in fighting off the Magistrates. And before he had to ask, Magneto used the manhole beneath him to lift him up, much to the crowd's dismay and annoyance. Fabian breathed a sigh of relief and simply said thanks to him before adding, "Now you can help me carry the bags."

At first, neither of them said much during the flight back to the Old Council Chamber, where the interim cabinet agreed to convene and was waiting for their food. There was an unspoken friction over the differences in leadership style when it came to the Acolytes. Magneto could've seen that Fabian was likely compelled to step aside out of admiration for his idol. And soon came to regret it. But since having to relinquish the role upon becoming the interim president, he expected the matter to be resolved for good. Time could only tell, though. Fabian pulled out his phone from his coat pocket and stared at it for a moment before putting it away. Magneto was going to ask what it was about before he got his answer.

"Your Interpol friend has just arrived."

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