... If they found out there are superpowered people causing chaos with their abilities? I'll explain a bit more. I have a fantasy story that is set in a fictional town in America. I plan on having a few books on it and have ideas for those books. It's not gonna be published since I'm writing this only for my own amusement, but still want it to be as accurate as it's possible. There are six of these 'books' planed. At the end of book five, something happens and causes these superpowered people to be exposed. In book six, a demon releases the Eight Guardian curses (Guardians are those superpowered girls and main characters. They're called that because they guard the sources of their powers). The curses are: pride, lust, greed, envy, gluttony, rage, mendacity and sloth (something like seven deadly sins in Christianity). Those curses make Guardians go crazy and use their powers a lot. But the more they use their powers, the more the curses drain powers from them and they're slowly dying without knowing it because the curses make them feel good. Personal gain with powers is not forbidden, but since they're cursed, it becomes a problem. And even bigger problem is when they start using their powers for things even normal themselves would never do witht them: stealing, destroying everything around them, thinking of themselves as being better than 'normal and weak' people, causing earthquakes, storms, tornadoes, fires etc. When they first got exposed it was hard enough for them, but now their curses make them do evil things, it's all complicated. So what would the government do in this case? Would they be considered terrorists? Would it be something alike seen in X-Men? Would the citizens be warned about them and such? And a question for people who are answering this... How would you react if something like that happened in your town? Would you be afraid? Or maybe confused? Opinions and suggestions about reactions are wellcome.
What would the American government do? Probably invade and occupy a rogue Middle-Eastern state, after carefully constructing a less-than-watertight case to "demonstrate" that the aforementioned state was covertly sponsoring these super-beings. It seems to be their answer for most problems!
The moment such people were "exposed", they would be placed in protective custody, and or recruited by an appropriate government agency. They would pose a risk if they were left running wild, because of what might happen if they suddenly started converting to a radical religion, joining a sect, becoming communist etc. etc. Once they really started doing crazy things, they would be hunted. First by police (SWAT), and perhaps later by other special forces. The question is - what is known about them? Any team trying to track them down and/or kill them would act very differently depending on what they knew about them. Can they even be killed? Are they vulnerable? How?
I really like this answer. It's detailed and gives pretty much what might really happen. Protective custody, huntings, imprisoning does sound realistic. It really would be risky to let them run free. Now to answer some questions: 1. What is known about them? Everyone knows them as normal, different high school girls. But there were some strange things about them, such as sudden disappearings without explanation (when they had to fight evil). 2. Can they even be killed? They can all except for one girl that has regeneration as one of her abilities. But she can be killed too if the source of her power is destroyed. 3. Are they vulnerable? Yes, they are. Each one is afraid and vulnerable to something and each of them owns a power that gives them flaws. 4. How? Same as number three. But wouldn't their parents be called and talked to since they're minors?
More likely the government would be too busy dealing with the chaos to bother doing something about super-powered beings. And not just the earthquakes, storms, tornadoes, fires, and such: but the massive social upheaval surrounding them. Cults would probably spring up worshiping these people, religious fanatics would provoke them into more destructive acts by challenging them ("your super powers are no match for my faith in Jesus! Jesus will triumph over you!"), and countless refugees would be fleeing from them. The humanitarian crisis would be a disaster in its own right. After the heroes succeeded in defeating the evil spirit and ending thier rampages, the first order of business would be trying to place them in protective custody to protect them from revenge attacks by people still believing them to be evil. Then scientists would try to study them, while the government confered with other world leaders (presidents, prime ministers, princes, generals, ect.) to determine what to do with them, and what to do if any other super beings exist in other countries (an interesting concept: super powered Islamists, anyone?) Really though, it would depend on how your characters were first exposed. Were they caught on tape? Then until they fell under the evil curse, the government would dismiss it as a hoax. Were they forced to save the day in the presence of millions of people in a high profile case (like saving Tokyo from Godzilla)? Then the government's first response would be to identify them, keep the press from interfering by throwing them false leads, and confer with world leaders to address the same issues above (are there more of them and what do if there are). In any case, the first thing the government would try to do is talk to these supers and gauge weither they're friend or foe. It would help if you gave more info on how they got exposed such as what they were doing, where they were doing it, who saw it, and what happened.
They were fighting a villain. Mostly other magical creatures who fought the Guardians did not want to end up exposed eighter so they fought in secret (they found the Guardians a threat to them). But then this one girl came. A long time ago she was a Guardian too and the Emerald heart (the gem that holds the powers over the earth element and regeneration) was taken from her. She spent centuries (regeneration grants you immortality) searching for it and now that she's found it, she wants it back. But the girl that now owns the Heart (her descendant) refuses to give it to her because she's evil. So the ex Guardian gets mad and decides to make the newbie give her the Heart by using her powers to destroy Collinstone (fictional city they're living in). The two girls then have a fight in the city, where everyone sees them using their powers. And can someone please answer my other question: would their parents be asked about them or talked to and if yes, what might they be asked? They're minors.
So the first people to see the Guardians would be news media, police, and the local FBI. Working through witnesses, the media and law enforcement would identify the Guardians, then, yes, they'd try to talk to the parents, with the FBI trying to protect the Guardians and their families from reporters and curiosity seekers. The government would then try to discern from the parents what they knew about the Guardians - and try talking to the Guardians themselves - asking such questions as "How did they get thier powers? How long have you known about (suspected) this?" as well as general questions about the Guardians' temperments (if they're emotionally unstable) and biographies. In the meantime, the higher levels of government would be consulting other nations to see if other Guardians exist in other countries such as China, Europe, the Middle East, or Africa. I hope that helps.
I have to say, demented-tiger, your answers were the most helpful. Thank you very much for the time you took to explain things to me and answer all my questions. It really helped a lot. But about this emotionally unstable thing, what if they were? Because due to them being infected with curses, they quite are unstable.
Then the government would round up the best psychologists, counselors, and psychiatrists to minister to those Guardians with emotional and mental problems, while working with thier international partners on developing emergency procedures in case the Guardians snapped, and on what to do if more Guardians were discovered.
If a situation like this has happened in the past, it is possible there would be a secret government agency set up to deal with situations such as this. If you don't want to go along that route, after the first wave of chaos hits, the government would most likely either deny or, at least, not confirm rumors of people with super powers until they had gathered enough information to understand what is going on. Even if the news has footage of Guadians running about, the government could state it is forged or doctored media. Collateral damage caused by the Guardians would possibly be blamed upon terrorists, gas main explosions, chemical spills, etc. If the situation becomes too dangerous or chaotic, the government would consider it a state of emergency and declare martial law.
