Reprisals Unexpected, Repayment Most Terrible

by Shadow Master

(BtVS/MCU/GoW/Asura's Wrath/Claymore/SF/Others) Heroes. We call people that because they put themselves in harms way to protect us. However heroes are not immune to failure. Or REVENGE!

1. Chapter 1

"Reprisals Unexpected, Repayment Most Terrible"

(BtVS/Marvel Cinematic Universe/God of War/Asura's Wrath/Claymore/Street Fighter/Others)

By Shadow Master

Email: ryley[underscore]breen

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted materials contained herein. They are the rightful property of their respective creators and/or associated companies. I make no profit from this whatsoever and I have no intention of changing this at any point in the future. I write because it's fun and because there are those who enjoy reading my works. Therefore I would greatly appreciate it if no legal action was taken against me. I can promise you that even if you drain me dry of money it won't cover even a tenth of your legal fees.

Note 1: I got motivated to write this in the weeks leading up to 'Avengers Engame' and began to wonder what might happen if Thanos wound up killing the precious people of four Scoobies that had secrets that'd remained known only to them for twenty years. Secrets locked away because they were afraid of what might happen if they weren't sealed away. However with the deaths of those with the strongest connection to their hearts…fury will overcome fear. Might just be a one off or it might

Note 2: Positive reviews will be gratefully received, constructive criticism will be considered but not necessarily acted upon and negative/bashing reviews will be treated like the worthless collection of words they truly are.

Now cue the ominous and violence implying background music…

Reprisals Unexpected, Repayment Most Terrible

The Scottish Isles

Castle Headquarters of the New Watcher's Council

April 28, 2017

Xander's POV

"Hurry up, Xander!" Dawn yelled from the bedroom even as he worked to finish cleaning up in the bathroom.

"I'm almost done! Keep your panties on!" he yelled back even as he worked to finish trimming his goatee.

"You don't have to be so obsessive about it!" Dawn yelled knowing what he was doing. "It looked fine last night."

"I'm not going down there with a messy beard!" he yelled back without losing the precision of his trimming.

He knew it was silly but it was also a mark of how he'd grown since the fall of Sunnydale and became one of the founders of the New Watcher's Council. It'd been another move to distance himself from the person he'd been and take one more step towards who he wanted to be and over a decade later he had to admit it'd done its job. He'd modeled it after one a famous actor had grown for a prominent military role in a movie and it looked DAMN good on him. Since then he'd taken as much care to maintain it as most of the girls did their hair that, of course, was a regular source of teasing for him. He took it as karma for all the bad jokes he'd told and the times he'd let his emotions screw things up.

It took another five minutes before he was satisfied with it and with a few quick comb strokes he left the bathroom, ready to face this year's Council Assembly. It wasn't anything crucial or ground breaking but rather a gathering of friends, loved ones and comrades in arms to celebrate another apocalypse averted. As much as they were all united in their desire to fight and protect the Earth against both supernatural as well as demonic threats, they'd known from the beginning that they had to celebrate life whenever possible. In the war they were fighting losses were inevitable and, whether they happened because someone sacrificed themselves or were cruelly taken from this world by random chance, the grief was all the same. The only thing that gave them the strength to keep on marching forward were the memories they had the good times and the belief that, if they held on long enough, the light of hope would come again.

Or maybe he was just being a LITTLE overdramatic.

Stepping into the bedroom proper he beheld a sight that never failed to make him smile and wonder how he'd managed to be so lucky in this way but have bad luck everywhere else. Standing near the door to the bedroom with a somewhat impatient look on her face was Dawn Summers-Harris, his wife. It'd taken her five years to wear him down and convince him that a relationship between the two of them could work but ten years ago she'd gone all in and popped the question before he could. In that moment he'd listened to his heart and gave her the only answer he could.

Since then, for all the troubles being members of the Council dumped in their laps, the two of them had been given more than enough reasons to be happy.

"About time! Let's go before we miss Buffy's speech," Dawn said, reaching out to grab him by the hand and pull him towards the door.

Ah.

He'd forgotten about that, or rather his mind had done everything it could to repress the knowledge.

It'd become customary at every assembly for a senior member to give a speech to the newer people that was meant to be respectful towards those that'd fallen the previous year and inspire those who remained to keep fighting in the year to come. Even he'd given one once, though it'd taken a lot more than picturing everyone in their underwear for him to keep from devolving into a stuttering mess. The others had been much more dignified and inspiring but, with Buffy's turn now up, he wasn't going to get his hopes up. Odds were the oldest living Slayer would begin well enough, make a few odd analogies before finally using quotes from movies to finish things up regardless of whether they fit together right. He'd made a token effort, along with Robin Wood, during the planning of this year's assembly to suggest that perhaps someone else give the speech but it'd failed. In a rare show of sisterly solidarity Dawn had supported the idea that her elder sister be allowed to give the speech, citing that her sibling had matured quite a bit since her Sunnydale days.

Which was true but maturity didn't mean that she could give a decent speech.

He'd matured quite a bit but that didn't mean he could do advanced quantum mechanics or something equally outside his normal field of expertise.

Unfortunately Dawn remained optimistic and so, as a good husband should, he kept his doubts to himself while being as supportive as he could convincingly be.

Walking down the hallways of the castle that'd become their home for a good while and the fresh start the Council needed after the old one's HQ had gotten blown up, he let his gaze pass over everything. Paintings of people and places as well as keepsakes of past victories were spread about, as well as the result of every female Scooby and Sunnydale survivor's interior decorating choices. In their defense they listened to him when it came to strategic or tactical design options in order to make sure that they could defend the castle if it came under siege but the rest was all them. Honestly it was about what you'd expect from a multi-millionaire who'd bought a castle then tricked it out with every luxury and fashionable accessory imaginable. Personally he preferred function over appearance but he wasn't stupid enough to badmouth the choices of women who were perfectly capable of kicking his ass if they wanted to.

"So do you know where Jessie and Joy are?" he asked, changing the topic of conversation to something a little more pleasant.

"No, I haven't seen them since-" Dawn began to reply only to be drowned out by a scream of fright getting closer and closer every second.

The source became visible in short order in the form of a six year old girl with short blonde hair dressed in a cute looking pink dress that of course was the height of fashion for someone her age. She was running like the hounds of hell were behind her but, since none of the alarms, technological or mystical, were blaring, it wasn't a case of literal hellhounds. The cause showed up about ten steps behind the girl in the form of an eight year old boy with messy light brown hair who had hands covered in disgusting gunk with the clear intent of smearing it all over the girl. Dressed in a simple white dress shirt and black pants, the kid must've been at least a little careful since there weren't too many gunk stains on his clothes.

"FREEZE YOU TWO!" Dawn bellowed, causing both children to freeze in their tracks.

Understandable because, if there was one thing that every child knew it was that when your mother raised her voice like that, you damn well listened. When little Jessie had been born he and Dawn had talked things out before deciding that she would be the disciplinary and responsible parent while he would be the one to make life fun. Buffy, of course, didn't like it and asked why they didn't split the disciplining and responsible behavior between the two of them.

Dawn just rattled off every irresponsible thing he'd ever done as well as evidence of is sporadic bouts of disciplined behavior, starting with the Summers family arrival in Sunnydale to the present.

He'd only been a little offended by the truth but conceded that it was better to play to ones strengths and succeed instead of try something new only to fail miserably.

"Now would one of you tell me what's going on? Joy?" she asked, turning her eyes to her daughter.

"Jessie was gonna get me with that icky stuffy and ruin my dress!" Joy replied angrily before glaring at her brother for such an unforgivable plan.

"I wasn't really! Honest!" Jessie exclaimed, clearly trying to weasel his way out of the situation. "I was just scaring her, that's all."

Typical sibling behavior, especially when Joy tended to get the lion's share of the attention around the castle AND get away with stuff Jessie couldn't because she was younger.

"And you managed to dirty up your nice clothes BEFORE your aunt Buffy's speech," Dawn pointed out, making it clear their son wouldn't be getting any leeway from her.

Looking down at his clothes he could tell Jessie was trying to come up with some way of downplaying the damage or even figuring out a way to wipe the stains out without making things worse.

A little too early for that, little man. he thought, remembering similar moments in his own childhood. It'll be another three years at least before you'll know enough to pull something like that off.

"Xander, take Joy down to the assembly hall," Dawn said, walking up to Jessie before grabbing the eight year old boy painfully by the right ear. "I'll take Jessie to the nearest washroom to see if we can salvage this at all."

"Will do, wife-o-mine," he said holding out his hand to his youngest. "Let's go get some good seats, Joy."

"Way at the back? Where no one'll know if we take a nap?" Joy asked, sounding innocent but with a twinkle in her eyes.

"Exactly!" he replied with pride at his youngest learning some of his lessons.

"Don't nap too long," Dawn said before going around the corner. "I nominated you to give out the awards right after Buffy's speech."

Damn.

And here he was hoping to sleep through all the boring stuff until dinner was served.

As much as he might have matured and grown into being the director of operations for the Council, there were some personality quirks and habits that not even God Almighty could get rid of. One of them was avoiding any work he defined as boring or aggravating while the other was getting some shuteye whenever the opportunity presented itself. One of the lessons he'd learned in Sunnydale was that demonic and supernatural forces could strike at any time so you had to grab the essentials whenever you could; those essentials, of course, being food, rest and, when necessary, medical help. Naturally the more responsible members of the Council often berated him or at least were exasperated when they found him napping but most didn't make too big of a fuss. As long as he did his job and could be relied upon when the shit hit the fan, they were willing to let the rest slide.

It was a short trip to the assembly hall with a few encounters with people he knew or recognized from past assemblies. Those he knew well he greeted informally like all friends did while those he knew only in passing he respectfully said hello before moving on. When they finally arrived at the assembly hall he could see that most of the seats were more than halfway full with more people trickling in as time passed. Looking for the best spot, he was grateful that there appeared to be a corner with four unoccupied seats so he gently pulled Joy in their direction. Once there he reluctantly chose the seat closest to the isle so when they called him up to give out the awards he would have an easier time of it. Joy naturally took a seat next to him but, like most kids, soon became bored at having to just sit around with nothing to do.

So he took out something he'd been saving for later, a portable gaming system loaded with thirty games that hopefully had at least a few that Joy would get hooked on and keep her entertained.

"You know a good book would be better," a voice said to his right that he knew almost as well as he knew his own.

Turning towards the source he beheld two beauties that were both well dressed for the occasion as well as very much still in love with each other despite the rough patches they'd been through, Willow and Kennedy.

The former would always be his just as he would always be hers, even if it was only in the familial sense, but the latter… he did his best to remain civil with her. He'd never liked Kennedy's spoiled rich girl attitude and while her time as a Slayer had helped water that down with a hefty dose of humility, it still popped up from time to time. During those times he drew on his nearly lifetime familial love of Willow to still his tongue and keep him from saying anything that'd result in being on the receiving end of 'The Look'.

"Books are good… I guess," Joy said, looking up from the gaming system.

This, of course, caused Willow to smile at the sight of yet another potential student of the written word.

"If you stack them high enough you can get to the Chunka Chocolate Chip Cookies easier," Joy said, finishing her statement before returning to the game she was playing.

The smile shifted from one of pride to one of rueful exasperation.

His best bud should've realized that Joy had half his DNA in her so of course the littlest blonde was more concerned with food than expanding her mind with a book. He didn't expect it'd last forever since Dawn liked to read the heavy stuff from time to time so it was inevitable that Joy would follow suit eventually. Jessie, though, his little partner in pranks, was going to need a kick in the pants every now and again to make sure he did well in school. Already some of his teachers at the elementary school were sending home notes about problems listening during class, as well as goofing off, but neither he nor his wife were too worried. Kids would be kids and, rather than try to force them to grow up quicker, it was better to ease them into it because everyone knew that adult life was more complicated than a kid's life.

"It was a close one this year," he said, referring to the apocalypse they'd managed to avert.

"A little too close. If I hadn't managed to figure out those hieroglyphs in time, the sarcophagus would've popped and he'd have come out," Willow said, echoing the stress she'd felt at the time briefly. "Those clan Acabana guys are nuts for wanting to bring him back."

"In their defense they've pretty much been conditioned from birth for several centuries to see him as their leader and a god," he said, remembering what they'd learned of the desert tribe. "That's not something you can just throw off at the drop of a hat."

"Maybe not but things are gonna be tense for the next couple of months being on the lookout for their payback," Kennedy said, sounding like she wasn't looking forward to it. "No way their entire clan was in that pyramid when it collapsed."

"Maybe not but even if there were survivors it couldn't be very many," he said, trying to stay optimistic. "Not enough for a frontal assault. All we need is to up our electric and mystic security a few notches and we'll be fine."

"I've got a few ideas about that but it'll take some research to make sure they'll work," Willow said, sounding indeed like the gears in her head had been turning. "I'll wait until after the yearly assembly is over before doing anything, though. This is the one time of the year everyone is in one place so we should do what we can to enjoy it."

"True," he said before noticing movement around one of the auditorium doors. "I think someone forgot to tell my better half about that, though."

Coming in through the door was Dawn, who was still pulling little Jessie along, with the latter looking mostly submissive but with a slight twitch of annoyance that you had to really look to see. From what he could tell it looked like his wife had mostly managed to clean the kid up but he could still spot some of the stains on the kid's good clothes. That was going to irritate Dawn for as long as their son had them on. Hopefully once they got to the less formal parts of the yearly assembly Jessie would be allowed to slip into his usual 'hang out around the castle' clothes. As much as it might have been hammered into his head that formal attire was necessary when in the presence of important people, he'd never felt fully comfortable in it. When you got right down to it he was a laid back kind of guy when there was no world saving to do so being extra stuffy just wasn't for him.

"Well, I've cleaned him up the best I could but I'd need more time than we had to get it all," Dawn said before pointing at the empty seat next to the wall. "You plunk yourself in that seat, young man, and don't even THINK about messing with your sister again. Try anything and I'm adding another week to your 'no video games' boycott. Understand?"

"Yes, mom," Jessie said, trotting slowly to the designated seat before sitting down.

"But if you get better than a B plus on your next math test I'll talk to Mom about letting you off early," he said, deciding to try to brighten the little man's mood a little more. "A B plus and no less. You got that?"

Jessie looked a little conflicted but that was the whole point.

Math was the one subject his son absolutely loathed and unfortunately that mean the little guy wasn't doing the greatest in it at the moment. Both he and Dawn had tried to help him with it, with Willow chipping in whenever she had the spare time, but it never really seemed to click with the eight year old. Hopefully with the motivation of getting access to his video games earlier would be incentive enough to go all in with his studying.

Looking at Dawn, he could tell that she knew what he was doing as well as why but there was still a slight glint of disapproval but he'd expected that. As much as the youngest Summers lady might've hated her mother and older sister for being so O.C.D. with rules and responsibility growing up, Dawn now knew why they were necessary. Setting limits and making sure your kids respected them made sure they didn't get too wild down the road and get into trouble that was potentially lethal.

It definitely explained his and Willow's childhoods, considering neither of their parents had set any real limits up for them that stuck. As a result they wound up fighting demons for more than twenty years when most sane people would've moved someplace 'safe' and ignored the whole mess. Still, he doubted anyone in the room regretted signing on to fight and, considering the number of times they'd averted the end of the world, it'd definitely been worth it. He still missed those that didn't make it, who'd died either by murder or by something else, but he'd like to think that they'd approve of what the New Council had accomplished since its founding.

Unlike the Old Council, they'd done the best they could to improve relations not just with the various human countries around the world but also the neutral or benign demon clans. Most of the time it was just non-aggression pacts or treaties where resources were provided in exchange for protection from the more hostile demonic species, but it was more than what Travers' kind had ever done. He'd also worked with Willow over the years to update both the research division as well as the armory so that every Slayer would have what they needed to both save the day and survive saving it. While survival rates for the Slayer army still weren't good enough to guarantee they'd see retirement, the girls now at least had a choice about whether or not to fight at all.

All in all a massive improvement from the old status quo that Travers insisted remain in place, despite overwhelming evidence that it needed to change.

Bet the old man would bust a blood vessel if saw what'd become of his 'traditional institution', he thought with a grin as he watched Buffy walk towards the podium. He'd definitely have a few things to say if he found up Buffy was leading the entire thing. A traditional Slayer she is NOT.

Everyone in the room noticed Buffy's location immediately taking their seats and quieting down. Personally he hoped that the bottle blonde, something she hadn't ditched even after twenty years, had the sense to keep things short and sweet. Sure, speeches like this were usually very elegant and inspiring but that just wasn't Buffy when you got right down to it. Better that his personal hero kept to her strengths instead of trying to be something she wasn't for the sake of appearances.

"Welcome everyone to the fourteenth annual Council Assembly," Buffy said, apparently deciding to start off with the niceties first. "Glad to see so many faces, especially coming off of the yearly apocalypses across the world. I'm happy to report that this year we've managed to come out better than any of the previous fifteen years!"

This got a round of applause but it was entirely warranted. Under the old management casualties and injuries were considered 'acceptable losses' and 'collateral damage', with very little done to reduce it. Whenever a lower ranking member submitted an idea to improve things they were either brushed off with a 'we will consider it and get back to you' or they were outright denied with the reason being the idea conflicted with one of the Old Council's proud traditions. Sometimes he felt as if the Old Council were their own worst enemies at the very least and at most might've had at least one spy in their midst subtly tweaking things in favor of the demonic.

"That said, like any battle, we have suffered losses and we have felt pain," Buffy said, taking on a more somber and respectful tone. "Some people who were here last year aren't here now. Whether it's due to death or a debilitating injury that requires they stay in the med-center, it serves as a reminder that this fight takes its toll on us every year. Nevertheless, we fight it and give it everything we have for one single thing: hope.

"Hope of a better tomorrow. Hope that our children will be able to grow up without having to worry about the monsters in their closets or the sky raining fire all of a sudden," Buffy said with rising energy and passion. "Hope that one day the fight will be over. That is what gives us the strength to fight and when necessary make the ultimate sacrifice to protect those left behind. It is this hope that dispels the fear the enemy uses against us and proves to them that humanity isn't just an all you can eat buffet!"

He had to smile at this since the speech was going a lot better than he had thought it would. In fact he had to wonder if someone else had written it and just handed it off to Buffy to read at the podium. He'd wait for a polite moment to inquire later on but for the time being he'd accept the possibility that she'd come up with it entirely on her own.

"With every year the New Council not only survives but also saves the world, we prove to the members of the old status quo that change doesn't have to be a bad thing. It can be a WONDERFUL thing that lets us make some actual headway against our enemies," Buffy said, just shy of yelling her words into the microphone. "I'm not saying we'll all get to live to see the end of this war. Maybe it'll only be our grandchildren who get to see it. Even if it is, though, wouldn't it be worth it to fight for such a day? I say it is. What say you all?"

If the thunderous roar of agreement and the renewed clapping as anything to go by, he felt it was a safe bet that there wasn't a person in this room that thought the New Council was a failure to be abandoned.

"Then, without further adeu, I'll turn the podium over to our chief of Council operations for the award ceremony," Buffy said, looking right to where he was sitting. "Come on down here, Xander. It's your turn."

Yipee! he thought with false enthusiasm as he stood up.

Doing his best not to fidget or look uncomfortable, he made his way up onto the stage and, after a quick hug with Buffy, took her place behind the podium. Looking out at all the people that belonged to the New Council, he couldn't help but feel a bit of pride. The First Evil and its minions had proven to be quite thorough when it came to attacking the Old Council, with only a few of its members managing to make it through alive. Those survivors were a mix of old loyalists and modern thinkers but neither group had been willing to just throw in the towel and settle for civilian life. True, there'd been a few moments of friction once the improvements were proposed then carried out, at least as far as the old loyalists were concerned, but thankfully they eventually saw reason.

"Well, now we're at the part that's most important to everyone here: The shiny gold plated or crystal statues with their name one them," he said, earning a chuckle from the crowd. "Seriously, though, it's a fact of our line of work that we don't get a lot of thanks and in fact get very little recognition. So it's moments like these that help make it all worthwhile.

"First up is a very important award: the Lifetime Achievement Award," he said, feeling more sincere since he knew who was getting the award. "It is an award for Council members who have dedicated their lives to the cause and accomplished things worthy of being remembered. As such it is my honor to bestow this year's Lifetime Achievement Award to none other than Rupert Giles! Let's hear it for him folks!"

With clapping, some honest while others just polite, an old man of sixty-five years got up from his seat and, with mild to moderate help from his walking cane, made his way to the stage. The cane, something that G-Man still saw as overly fancy and expensive, was necessary due to an incident five years prior when the man had shown that the Scoobies had unfortunately rubbed off on him. That, of course, meaning he'd done something reckless, foolish and potentially fatal in order to save the day but somehow managed to survive despite the odds against him. However the act had resulted in multiple bones breaking as well as muscle damage in one leg. While it hadn't eliminated the old Watcher's mobility, it did make running impossible and on particularly damp days the man needed to dip into the infirmary's pain meds.

Nevertheless, seeing the man stride towards him he could only remember the wise man who'd done a better job fathering him than the worthless drunk he was born from.

A slight stumble, though, and his concern went up a bit, wondering if G-Man had been up late and hadn't gotten enough sleep. For a second or two it looked like the old Watcher had recovered when two more steps were taken without difficulty but when the weakness returned tripled he knew that this was not sleep deprivation. However, when he stepped away from the podium to see if he was okay, Fate chose to deny him the opportunity in the most chilling of manner.

Like a statue made entirely out of ashes, with the force keeping it together failing, Rupert Giles fell apart, dropping to the floor until it could easily be mistaken as something fresh from the fireplace.

Shock and grief welled up within him, threatening to overwhelm him, but then his training kicked in, causing him to lock away such emotions. Now was not the time for that. Now was the time to figure out what was going on and how they were going to undo it. While a part of him was certain that this wasn't something someone could come back from, he wasn't about to rule out the possibility completely. One of the things that he'd noticed over the years was that those who practiced magic often tended to add some showbiz pizazz to their spells, even if it wasn't a part of the original spell. For all they knew this had just been some sort of teleportation spell or dimensional displacement. Once Willow and Dawn had some time to research it, they'd locate Giles and then mount a rescue effort.

"KENNEDY!" came Willow's scream, fear and sorrow filling it, causing a terrible feeling to grow in the pit of his stomach.

Turning towards where his bestest bud was sitting, he beheld a sight that became increasingly terrible with every second that passed. From where he stood on the stage he had a horrifyingly good view of the entire seating area of the auditorium and as a result he learned that what'd happened to Giles was not an isolated incident. With no predictable rhyme or reason people in the audience turned to ash, with many unable to speak before they became nothing. When his eyes finally settled on Willow and Kennedy's location, he was just in time to see the former's hand prove to be final straw as it passed through her disintegrating partner's arm, followed by the body.

It was this sight that caused him to turn his gaze to where his own precious people were seated but all he could see was Dawn. Where were Jessie and Joy? Out of sheer denial he sprinted from the stage, his mind lacking anything other than defiance of what logic insisted was the case determined to make his way to his family. When he arrived and could see the scene sufficiently Dawn was on her knees arms in a position to make it look as though she'd been trying to hug air. It was when his eyes fell upon the two piles of ash on either side of her, though, the truth became crystal clear and his ability to lock away his emotions was strained almost to the breaking point.

However he could not be emotional now.

Not when every second could be crucial.

Pulling out a device issued to him his first day as chief of operations, he pressed the red button before bringing it to his lips.

"This is chief of operations Alexander Harris! Code Omega!" he said firmly into the device. "I repeat this is a Code Omega situation! Authorization zero-five-one-nine-eight-zero-C-Omega! Lock down the castle! All defenses to maximum! We are under attack! MOVE IT PEOPLE!"

The Senior Member Briefing Room

Scottish Castle Council HQ

12 Hours Later

Robin Wood's POV

This is gonna end bad no matter how I try to spin it, he thought as the other founding members of the New Council filed in and took their seats. Best I can do is be honest and try to get them to accept the facts.

For the last twelve hours the entire information network of the New Council had been put to work trying to figure out what had happened, why it'd happened and most importantly who was responsible. The arcane and ancient records departments had, with respect, examined the remains of every person who had been turned to ashes before giving them to each respective family. While no one wanted to admit it outright, he suspected that everyone believed those affected were dead rather than taken somewhere. Nevertheless, everything was being tested for and only crossed off once they had conclusive evidence that the possibility was a dead end. It had been hectic trying to keep it straight but, with over a decade of experience, those involved in the investigation kept things professional as well as efficient. At the moment all they had was a preliminary and loose picture of what was going on and it'd likely be a couple of days before their agents abroad could help fill in all the blanks, but he knew the others wouldn't have the patience to wait that long.

And what patience they did have would likely evaporate like water in an incinerator once he told them everything he'd learned.

"What do you have for us, Robin?" Buffy asked, her voice cold and her eyes even colder.

"Well, first of all this wasn't a focused assault. No one was targeting us specifically," he said before bringing up a map of the world. "It's global. All over the world people are reporting people turning to ash with little if any warning, sometimes resulting in accidents harming people who weren't effected. While the various agencies and governments are still trying to get a head count on those touched by the phenomena, current estimates are at forty-two percent and climbing."

"Forty-two percent of each country's population?" Willow asked, her voice a little better than Buffy's but not by much.

"Forty-two percent of the entire world's population. Attempts have been made to find a common thread, something to link the affected together, but so far nothing. It's completely random," he replied, remembering the answer coming up every time he asked someone the same question. "It's like someone hooked up a random number generator to spell and then executed it."

"I honestly can't decide if that pisses me off more or less than someone putting the crosshairs on us deliberately," Xander said, animalistic fury clearly being held at bay, if only just. "Does anyone know who did this? A warlock? A demon faction?"

This would be the part that could send the entire briefing into chaos and would be the hardest to make the people in front of him listen to reason.

"No. An hour ago I received a briefing packet from our guy on the World Security Council," he said, changing the image on the screen to show the perpetrator. "This is Thanos. He's an alien, not a demon."

"Really?" Willow asked, scrutinizing the image no doubt for familiar demonic traits. "That's new."

"Yeah, well, so is his story. According to what our guy's managed to learn, Thanos has a bloody agenda and so far no one's been able to stop him for very long if at all." He put up the map they'd acquired of the galaxy, full of holes though it was. "He apparently believes that every inhabited planet in the galaxy is going to eventually suffer the problems that usually happen as a result of overpopulation and then go extinct. He believes in keeping things in balance and that includes keeping a planet's resources proportional to the number of sentient beings who need them in order to thrive."

"So what? He takes over the planet and puts his grand manifesto into action?" Xander asked, sounding unimpressed thus far with the newfound focus of his rage.

"No. He invades the planet with his large and decidedly lethal army and, once he has control of the surface, he splits the population in two randomly before killing half of them." He remembered how floored he'd been when he'd learned of this.

He was no stranger to death and with the New Council he'd been to battlefields where the dead covered the ground as far as the eye could see. However death on the scale of the report he'd gotten was something he could scarcely fathom, never mind accurately picture. Looking at the others he could see that they were also having trouble grasping the enormity of evil that Thanos had been committing over the years but he needed to keep their minds from lingering on the past so that they could understand the present.

"He's done this to more worlds than we know but about ten years ago his game plan changed. Seeing himself as someone willing to make the hard choices no one else would, he wanted to refine his efforts so he could see the end result in his own lifetime. So he began to look for six stones that supposedly would give him the power to do just that," he said, successfully managing to bring the group out of their shock and back into the outside world. "They're called Infinity Stones and apparently they were created by the Big Bang. Each one can control a different facet of reality. Time, space, power, reality, soul and mind, with any single one of them being capable of making its wielder a galactic power. Get all six together and, well… what happened twelve hours ago happens, not just here but EVERYWHERE in existence."

"Okay. So space Hitler got his hands on six tools of galactic destruction," Xander said, sounding like he was taking it all in but had one important question. "I got one big question: WHY THE HELL DIDN'T WE GET A HEADS UP ON THIS!? Slayers are supposed to get visions of big crap coming down the pike so we can stop it. We've got seers in the Coven that can do the same! Why didn't we get a warning!?"

"The short answer? It's not our jurisdiction," Willow replied, showing greater restraint than Xander but still not sounding happy AT ALL. "We handle the supernatural and demonic. We even made it a rule of ours when we founded the New Council. The rest of the world handles the normal issues and we stick to the supernatural and demonic. If the beings responsible for sending Slayers and witches their visions think the same, then they wouldn't warn us about some alien with cosmic stones."

"So the one time when everything is on the line, when the lives of countless people across the galaxy are at risk, and they can't make an exception?!" Xander asked, his incredulity laced with anger. "We have hundreds of Slayers! If we'd even gotten just twenty-four hours warning I could've had all of them armed and mobilized in half that time on board planes that could've gotten them anywhere on the planet in hours! We could've done something!"

"Maybe. Maybe not," he said, bringing up the latest intel even though it was incomplete. "According to the first crumbs we've gotten the big fight happened in the nation of Wakanda about an hour or so before the phenomena happened. The Avengers and their military fought against sizeable army of creatures and generals, with the odds see-sawing as to who'd win."

"Let me take a wild stab and say they lost." Buffy said, sounding like she had a really poor opinion of the so-called superheroes at the moment.

"We're still trying to pull out the details of what happened," he said, remembering what their undercover agents had told him. "However we're having trouble given that Secretary Ross has been even more paranoid and high strung than usual. Apparently Mister Rhodes hung up on him during one of their holo-calls after Captain America showed up with others who'd refused to sign the Sokovia Accords."

"Smartest thing he could've done," Xander said with a look of contempt at the mention of Secretary Ross.

Not surprising considering that it was Xander who'd been put on point when it came to negotiating with the American government with regards to what the New Council could do on U.S soil. The American delegation had been comprised of a member of the CIA, a representative of the President and the military with then-General 'Thunderbolt' Ross being the last one. The first two had been open yet serious about what the Council would need to agree to in order to permit Slayers to operate in American soil. Xander had reported that the first two were reasonable with their terms and that he could understand their wariness regarding the New Council. The old order, Travers and his people, were likely the ones the United States had been working with since the country's founding so someone new was an unknown quantity.

Ross, on the other hand, had been quite unreasonable and had in fact been quite hostile towards Xander, believing that it was unacceptable to put the safety of America in the hands of teenagers or foreign citizens. It'd been Ross' opinion that all Slayers who were confirmed to be American citizens should be under the jurisdiction of law enforcement or the military, as well as answerable to those institutions. Basically he wanted America to have its own Slayer division, answerable to the American government like any other cop or soldier. Naturally Xander had told the man that Slayers existed to protect HUMANITY, not just Americans, and that in order to go where they were needed the Council couldn't afford to alienate other countries by playing favorites. If Slayers were placed under the authority of the United States and this was passed on to other nations, they might follow suit and valuable time would be wasted in a war between Slayers cold or otherwise. Demons would take advantage of the situation using their puppets and human collaborators to ensure that more time was spent with Slayers fighting each other than their true prey.

Naturally Ross only cared about America and believed that other nations could deal with their inhuman problems their own way. The idiot had even gone further and said that if any foreign nation tried to use their Slayers against the United States of America then appropriate action would be taken in retaliation.

Needless to say it was a good thing the other two representatives of the United States stepped in when they did otherwise Xander might've pulled all New Council support from America.

Or at least that would've been the threat and anyone in the know about the supernatural would never permit that to happen just because of one man's warped sense of right and wrong.

Several people were of the mind that it would have been easier if Xander had just killed the man then and there. Only a few key people had been against the idea, saying that killing him would be easy but dealing with the fallout would cost them political capital that they didn't have or couldn't afford.

"The only thing that we can say for certain is that Thanos is still alive and that he managed to use the space stone to escape," he said, knowing that this would be the most provocative to those present who'd lost someone. "Given the cosmic nature of each stone he could be anywhere in the galaxy and, even if we could find out where he was, I don't know if we have the resources to get to him."

"You're suggesting he's left Earth. Gone somewhere else in the galaxy." Willow said more as a statement than a question.

"It would be the logical move," he said, putting his opinion forth. "He was likely injured during the fight and he'd accomplished his objective. If he'd stayed on Earth the Avengers would've hunted him down and probably tried to use the stones to undo his work. His best option for his survival and the survival of his victory would be to put as much distance between himself and others as possible. Maybe go to some uninhabited world far from any space traffic."

Watching Xander, Willow, Buffy and Dawn, he waited for one or all of them to furiously declare that they'd pursue Thanos no matter where he'd gone. That they would put the full force of the Council on the job of both finding the alien and fabricating a means by which they could go after him no matter the cost. It was, after all, the typical reaction of someone who'd lost a precious person as a result of the deliberate act of another. However if they did this he would do his best to impress upon them that they were out of their league against Thanos. Buffy, at best, was strong enough and fast enough and skilled enough to fight the legendary Captain America to a stalemate but, according to his source, the hero had barely been able to slow Thanos down. Willow might be the most powerful Wicca he knew, if not in the entire world, but he'd never seen anything to suggest she could generate power on the same level as Thor. Xander might've done his best to make the most of his Halloween soldier possession and build upon it but that just put him in the same league as S.H.I.E.L.D.'s upper echelon of agents.

If they, along with Dawn, tried to go after Thanos while the alien was in possession of the infinity stones, they'd be wiped out with a thought.

Even if they armed every Slayer and every Watcher before assaulting Thanos' position, the power of the stones made their numbers useless.

"Thank you for briefing us on this, Robin," Xander said with an eerie calm voice. "Keep pulling in what information you can from all Council sources. Even if we can't take revenge on Thanos directly, others might not be so accepting of this fact. There's no telling how far they'll go to get their pound of flesh and what trouble they'll prove willing to put the world in to get it. Only cold hard facts will stop them and only if it's presented in the right way."

"You'll each be updated on any new intel every two hours until the last reports come in," he said, feeling a little relieved at the direction things were going.

However, despite the missing explosive rage, he still had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach looking at the four people before him.

It's probably nothing, he thought, shaking his mental head. Just aftershocks of learning so much about Thanos.

After all how could anyone get over the fact that someone had been going around for years killing billions of people each time in less than a day. Even with what the Council faced on a yearly basis, it was rarely that bad.

It made him feel small and really put in perspective where the Council stood in the galactic pecking order.

Still, this was the only world he knew and so he would do his best to protect it, even if his efforts were small potatoes compared to those higher up the ladder.

Willow's Private Arcane Laboratory

One Hour Later

Buffy's POV

"We good?" she asked, looking to Willow for a positive answer.

"We're good. My lab is now completely isolated from the rest of the castle and eavesdropping is impossible," Willow said, her face devoid of the academic enthusiasm. "We should only keep it this way for an hour or so. Any longer and Robin will get suspicious."

"Right. So what's the plan?" Xander asked, sounding like he had a few ideas of his own.

"Willow goes to Wakanda and finds this Thanos' departure point. With any luck magic will be able to trace the connection between departure point and arrival point," she replied, voicing the courses of action she'd already come up with. "Even if we can't get exact coordinates, it'll be enough to get a ballpark area to search."

"I'll tell people I'm checking to see if the power of the infinity stones disrupted Earth's natural magical flow. That should allow me to gather the ingredients I'll need without making anyone suspicious," Willow said, not hesitating. "I'll need to leave soon, though, and make only one or two stops before heading to Wakanda. The longer I wait, the more the trail'll go cold."

"I'll manage Slayer deployments around the world. With half the population gone, vampires and demons'll see this as an opportunity to go on the offensive," Xander said, looking more focused than ever before. "I know a few girls that'll follow my orders without question. I'll have them 'talk' with some of the demon tribes in Wakanda and some of the more organized demon groups in New York City. We'll get more information about what went down and just what we're up against."

"Make sure they understand to wipe out the groups and clans afterwards," she said in a no nonsense tone of voice. "We can't risk word getting back to Robin or any other member of the Council."

"Of course," Xander said with a nod. "They'll appreciate the chance to cut loose."

"I'll start looking through our inventory of talismans and enchanted weaponry," Dawn said, disclosing her contribution to the venture. "If Thanos was able to take on the Avengers and still accomplish his goal as well as get away, we'll need several edges to tear him apart. I'll find them."

"And what'll you tell the others if they ask?" she asked, wanting to make sure that a convincing cover story would be ready for use.

"I'll tell them I'm worried that some of the larger demon organizations like the Order of Taraka and Wolfram & Hart might try to remove us from the game," Dawn replied without hesitation. "With the reps of the parties involved, no one will question why I'm taking stock of our magical arsenal."

"What'll you be doing, Buffy?" Xander asked, sounding curious about what she'd be doing while the rest of them worked.

"We're charged with protecting humanity against the stuff of nightmares. Even if this was outside of our usual territory, we still failed miserably!" she declared, her mind imagining how many people across the world were grieving at that very moment. "When we founded the New Council, I made the proposal to limit our activities to the supernatural and demonic because I didn't want to overburden us with more than we could handle. Because I didn't want our Slayers to be forced to fight humans more than was necessary! Now look at the price we've paid for my fear!"

While the others had worked to find out what'd happened and why, she had focused her efforts on making contact with every branch office, safe house and VIP she could. She'd done this believing that she needed to figure out how bad the damage to the New Council really was but that was a lie. The truth of the matter was that she just wanted to find out for herself that the people precious to her that hadn't been in the castle for the assembly were okay. To her grief, more numbers dialed went unanswered then answered but when she called David's home to hear his voice and confirm that he was okay, it was his sister who informed her of the terrible reality.

David was gone.

Turned to ashes before Sarah's very eyes.

Her world had shattered as it had only once before when she'd walked into her house to find her mother dead and it was only because of her own stubborn spirit that she'd been able to pull herself out of her ocean of grief. As the hours passed the number of people confirmed to had been turned to ash had only gone up and that was just counting those people with ties to the Council. At last count almost a thousand people had been taken from this world by the event that were connected to the Council, with the few news broadcasts she'd watched giving her idea of the death toll worldwide. Faced with so much death, it was inevitable to ask themselves a single question: what could I have done to prevent this?

After much time to think she had reached a single conclusion: four years ago, after the attack on New York City by alien forces, she should've altered the Council's mandate to include such threats.

Instead she'd only remarked on the gathering of the founding members of the Avengers and put her faith in them when it came to handling threats of a scientific or off world nature.

Never again would she shirk her duty as a protector of the human race, not if this was the price!

"There is only one way we can atone for our failure," she said, her tone quiet yet bristling with power. "We must break the seals. We must embrace what we once turned our backs on. No matter the cost."

She could see the surprise on the faces of the others as their minds made the connection and, much like she'd expected, none of them completely rejected the proposed course of action.

However neither did they completely embrace it but she'd be suspicious if they had considering the consequences breaking the seals would have for each of them.

"We should wait before going down that road," Willow said, sounding like she suspected they'd be doing it anyway. "We all remember what Giles told us after the sealing ritual was complete. There'd be no going back to who we are now."

"When Willow goes to trace Thanos' location, she can do a psychometric scan of the battlefield," Xander proposed, sounding like he wanted to be sure before committing himself to the option of last resort. "Get us images of what happened and what Thanos is capable of. Once she has a better feel for the power he has and his skill level, we'll know if what we have now, what we are now, will be enough to kill him."

"And if it isn't?" she asked, her instincts telling her that they would fall short of the necessary requirements.

"Then we make sure our legacy here won't be burned by the flames of vengeance," he replied, a light in his remaining eye that she remembered from so long ago. "And we show Thanos that even infinite power will not save him from us, from our wrath."

The part of her that still grieved for the lost, that turned that grief into rage, wanted to ignore the reason embedded in their words but time had matured her somewhat. She knew that for something so important nothing could be left to chance and unbridled fury would only lead to mistakes being made that could rob them of their revenge. Therefore she put the part of her that screamed for reckless action in chains before nodding in agreement with what her friends proposed.

"Fine. Get the information, make the preparations and then report back," she said, somewhat forcing the words past her lips. "I'll do what I can to keep people from looking too closely at what you're doing."

With that said the assembled members of their quartet dispersed to prepare for the first steps on their path of vengeance.

Vengeance would not, could not, be denied and woe to anyone who tried to stop them.

The Forests Close to the Wakandan Capital City

The Middle of the Night

Willow's POV

FLASH!

In an instant she was no longer in her personal laboratory and instead stood in the middle of a clearing surrounded by trees, vegetation indigenous to this particular part of Africa. Looking around with both her normal sight and the vision granted to her by various spells, she was glad to see that there was no one around. Despite the calamity that had been born there, no warriors of Wakanda or even the remaining Avengers were present to get in the way of what she was determined to do. In all likelihood they were with friends and family mourning the dead or wallowing in the emotions a protector often felt when they had failed miserably in their duties. So long as she didn't give them any reason to be interested, she would be able to get what she'd come for relatively easily.

Reaching out with her arcane senses she looked for any distortions similar to those she'd encountered during her time as chief of the arcane division of the New Council. Every magical method of teleportation or portal opening had an effect on the surrounding environment, ranging from the physical to the metaphysical. As such it did not take long for her to find two dissipating points of distortion, with the weaker one likely being where Thanos arrived while the latter was where he departed. With her target located she strode with determined steps, unwilling to let her best chance of finding Kennedy's murderer slip through her fingers.

Taking the most direct route, she used her magic to render any obstructions in her way impotent either by phasing through them or floating over them. Upon arriving less than ten feet from the center of Thanos' departure distortion she reached into the two pouches tied to her waist before pulling out seven glowing gemstones. With precision and skill she threw them in a specific order, with the distortion acting as the epicenter, and when all were in place she cancelled out the arcane bindings in each of them. Reacting to this the light within each gemstone shot out with purpose, creating complex patterns that took a few seconds to take on obvious arcane patterns. It took some time but eventually the patterns each gemstone created connected with one another to form a complex arcane circle that hummed with her power.

Now to get to work, she thought, lifting off the ground before assuming a cross-legged position. By now the tether between beginning and ending has likely already frayed by half. Even if I'm careful I'll probably accelerate the damage with my tracing so I'll only get one or two shots at this.

Closing her organic eyes and focusing her mind entirely on her mystic eyes, she located the tether before willing her power to begin metaphorically swimming up it to find its other end. As she worked she allowed a part of herself to marvel at the properties of the space stone and the energy it possessed. It did not match any magic she had 'seen' before with her mystic eyes and neither did it have similarities to any scientific phenomena she'd seen before. However through her contact with the tether she could sense the potency of the power it possessed and could easily predict what she likely would've felt had she been there to see the bastard leave.

If this is the power of just one stone then the power of all six… NO! It doesn't matter how powerful the stones make him! she thought, shattering the kernel of fear her prediction had almost finished creating. Power is meaningless if the one controlling it is flawed. Countless warlocks and demon sorcerers thought themselves invincible when they came into power only to be brought down by their own personal weaknesses and flaws. Thanos shall be no different.

Feeling the tether fraying with every minute that passed she doubled her efforts to find the other end, not caring about the risks she took in pushing herself so far. To someone watching her from the physical world she imagined that her hair was changing color and the veins in her exposed skin were likely becoming ever more vivid. However it would all be worth it when she found where Thanos had run off to and so she pressed onwards. Further and further away from the planet Earth she extended her arcane power, utilizing every trick she could think of to make sure that she did not run out of power before she accomplished her goal. From the land of Wakanda, the remnants of crackling power that'd been in close proximity to Thanos' departure point and even the residue of the space stone itself, she took it all to continue her path forward.

Even as the tether began to crumble beneath her she worked to continue down it, determined to at least get a reliable heading if she couldn't find Thanos' arrival point.

Before long, though, her one connection to Thanos became akin to space dust, leaving her floundering in the great emptiness of the space between planets. Such was the cost of pushing herself further than she ever had before and using external sources to bolster her when her own core of power was not enough. Nevertheless she did not give up and used all the will she could muster to retract all that she was back to the planet Earth and back into her body. It was a testament to who she was and what the many years of diligent training had given rise to that she was able to begin the journey back. It became a miracle when, despite the odds, she actually made it to the halfway point but those two things proved only capable of getting her so far.

As her stubbornness demanded that she continue on only to fall short she wondered if in her desire for vengeance she had only wound up dooming herself. If so she would at least make sure that Buffy, Dawn and Xander would benefit from what she had learned. She would use what strength she had left to burn the heading she had traced into her physical body and key what arcane power she could to display it as a hologram when her sense of hearing detected all three of them. Hopefully they would be able to use it to find Thanos and carry out their vengeance on her behalf.

"There is no need for such dire measures, little cub," a primal voice said even as she was gathered up by a powerful and ancient magic. "Reckless though your actions may have been, your resolve is admirable and worthy of reward."

With an unusual mix of power and gentleness she found herself fully back in her body, the arcane circle she'd created being blown away by unseen winds. It was incredibly disorienting at first and, while no longer in danger of perishing, she had still taxed her body to its very limits, leaving her with only enough strength to remain conscious. A recovery period of at least a few hours of sleep would likely be required before she'd be able to teleport back to the castle and she only had herself to blame for that.

Still… who was the one who'd come to her aide?

"You come to my lands and know not who I am?" the primal voice asked with polite amusement. "Reckless indeed but also possessing great resolve. Will it be enough to grant you what you seek? I truly hope that it does young champion for, though I am bound by ancient laws, that does not mean I am not filled with a desire for vengeance. Many Wakandans were slain by Thanos and their souls cry out for vengeance. Go and answer their cries. Know that the blessings of the Ennead go with you."

With that she fell into slumber but instead of dreams filled with loss or fury her sleep showed her a battle between those who protected and those who destroyed.

Of one who called down the lightning and one who believed he was right even when the entire galaxy told him he was insane.

Through this dream she would gain knowledge and with that knowledge divine judgment would descend upon Thanos with all the fury of a supernova.

The Office of the Chief of Operations

Six Hours Later

Xander's POV

While he might have been alone in his office he was far from without anything to do and had locked the door to ensure that he would not be interrupted.

Since the others had gone to see to their respective parts in the plan he had divided his efforts into two parts, devoting sufficient energy to each one in order to achieve maximum results. The first, of course, was to take in all the information they were acquiring on Thanos in order to gain a proper tactical image in his mind of their prey. It was key to understand precisely what their prey could do, what the bastard couldn't do and what obstacles they'd need smash through to make him pay the ultimate price.

Over the years of fighting he had realized that he would never be the sort of warrior often depicted in the movies, comics or videogames. While such venues did provide thrilling stories of an everyday man rising up to become the strongest champion the world had ever seen, reality was far too harsh to allow such a thing. For all the possibilities that were open to someone like him he was still human with all the limitations and flaws that went along with being a member of the species. Add to that the loss of an eye during the closing days in Sunnydale and the only way he'd been able to keep up with everyone else was to do what he'd never really done before.

Train his MIND.

Scary thought, eh?

While he did his best to get and keep his body in tip-top condition he also began reading books on strategy as well as having a weekly chess match with Giles, regardless of painful it was for the first five years. Eventually he'd gotten to the point where reading material and chess matches couldn't help him any further, leaving him to move on to online strategy games as well as something that occasionally had gotten him in trouble.

Coming up with combat courses for the Slayers that were deliberately designed to ensure that they'd fail immediately came to mind.

Using them as his test subjects he created scenario after scenario, with them posing as the 'evil demons', with the end goal being either their containment or termination. Naturally the latter took the form of paintball impacts, light tazer rounds and the like since he wasn't about to sink to the same level as Travers or demons. If the Slayers managed to beat a scenario he congratulated them on their good work but later went over the training session to see where he failed so he could make improvements on the next scenario. If the Slayers failed he told him that the purpose of the scenario was to teach them about their own limitations as well as make real the possibility that they might not always win.

Basically it was the New Council equivalent of Star Trek's Kobayashi Maru scenario.

However when one too many Slayer squads failed his scenario they started bitching about it to the others and so he'd gotten double teamed by both Willow and Buffy. They'd wanted an explanation and when he'd told them the truth… he wouldn't say that they were mad but they did disapprove of using Slayers in training as lab rats for his own training. It was after all part of his job to help the girls get better not chip away at their self-confidence day by day. He had pointed out that using this method would actually produce superior Slayers since they'd have to up their games to beat his scenarios and it'd deflate the egos of the ones that liked to talk down to normal humans. While fresh from Calling Slayers were good enough against low level minions or some of the more primal demons there was more than those two types out there. There were demons and vampires who had skills and cunning minds that were more than capable of making a Slayer team dance to a tune that'd end with them dead or captured. If they were going to extend the lifespan of the average Slayer all the way to retirement age then they needed to not only make them strong but also smart.

This had caused Buffy and Willow to relent a little bit but they'd insisted that he space out the 'no-win scenarios' more and put in more training scenarios that the Slayers could actually beat if they used their brains. He'd agreed if only because if the Slayers lost too many times to his creations he'd have a hard time finding lab rats to test future ones on down the road.

Right now he was taking in everything they'd found out about Thanos and the fight in Wakanda along with the dossiers of the Avengers who'd been present for the fight. Most of what he'd come across so far indicated that they'd gone to Wakanda to get the mind stone out of Vision, either to hide it or destroy it. By studying up on both the good guys and the bad guys he could draw up a rough idea of how things must've gone down as well as how Thanos had managed to kill off half the galaxy. Once he honed and refined the battle in his head he could come up with a short list of the bastard's strengths and weaknesses. That would allow him to come up with a battle plan that he could later show the others and have them add their own input on how to make it that much more likely to succeed.

Okay… looks like high levels of super strength or at least enough to make taking down the Hulk a non-issue. Worrisome but not impossible to get past, he thought, piecing together a tactical image in his mind. Willow's got plenty of spells that can sap a target's strength and even if that's not enough physical strength is useless if you can't connect with anything.

The high level of durability was an issue since according to a report on some demons that'd been passing through Wakanda told one of his Slayers that Thanos had taken the blade end of Thor's new hammer to the chest and had still managed to get away. Possible healing factor plus the possibility that Thanos' species had their critical organs in different locations than a human being. It'd take some experimentation with successful attacks and some feints to find out where the asshole didn't want to get hit but that just meant the four of them would have to work together. If only one of them did probing attacks Thanos would catch on and be more careful but if they each took a crack at it then the big bastard would take longer to realize what they were doing.

The thing that had him worried the most were the six stones that Thanos was in possession of and for good reason. Used at the same time they had effectively turned to ash half the sentient beings in the galaxy in seconds without any noticeable advance warning aside from what he suspected was an odd feeling in the victims. If the info Robin had uncovered was right and double checking it proved its validity to his satisfaction then each stone was able to manipulate its chosen variable to a staggering degree. Power, space, reality, time, soul and mind were now things that Thanos could affect at will to whatever degree he wanted. If Thanos had been able to hold off a small army long enough to accomplish his goal all by himself then that implied much about what sort of edge the stones gave him.

Taking what he knew of the three that'd be coming with him. as well as some of the more impressive arcane weapons in their armory. he began to play with the variables as the battle played out in his head. With years of seeing Buffy, Dawn and Willow fight he had no trouble picturing how they would assault the monster and he knew how he'd attack as well. The difficulty came in estimating just how deadly Thanos was in combat as well as what sort of strategies, tactics and skills he'd bring to bear along with the Infinite Stones. Was he a front line commander who fought alongside his troops or was he more like a general who directed things from the rear? Both were positions requiring a certain degree of combat competency but the latter was usually kept off the battlefield either due to importance or simply because they weren't physically capable of fighting anymore. As such a general's fighting skills would likely be rusty and if old age or an injury slowed down their body. then they would be much easier to beat.

Seeing as how Thanos had been able to defeat the Hulk and hold off an army long enough to kill half the people in the galaxy. that meant he led from the thick of things.

As a result he deliberately measured Thanos' fighting potential to be on the high side of things despite his obvious bulk while putting his training as identical to boot camp instructors of similar build. Coupled with the power of the Infinity Stones the picture that started to form in his mind was not encouraging to say the least. The instructors in any country's military boot camp weren't there for their good looks or their knowledge of military protocol but because they had the know-how as well as the skills to make sure the new recruits would be a credit to their nation. While sometimes they were assigned to instruct because a battlefield injury or old age made field work problematic. there were some who simply felt that they would be of most use to their country shaping the next generation. If Thanos' skill matched his estimations then killing him would require equal portions surprise and assured lethality. As long as the monster knew where each of them was during the fight as well as what they could do a stalemate that'd last a while was a distinct possibility.

Also there was a high likelihood that the purple killer had encountered a wide variety of weapons, from simple cutting edges to things with hidden surprises in them that upped their killing potential. Even if the alien had never encountered magic before, it was probable that some species somewhere had come up with a sword capable of energy discharges or something that had a little extra added that did not react well with living tissue. They'd need weapons then that didn't have any visible clues that hinted at what 'special feature' it had as well as a fast rate of fire.

It'd probably also be a good idea that any damage they do goes from high to low instead of low to high, he thought, thinking about how Thanos could turn things around on them.

The fact of the matter was that even if they hit Thanos with a nasty surprise, the alien could have the fortitude to endure the pain and use one of the Infinity Stones against them in retaliation. If they used weapons that started out only doing a little damage in the beginning but proved cumulative Thanos would likely knock them on their butts before any significant damage was done. However if their attacks did the majority of their damage on the initial impact then perhaps they could disorient the fucker long enough for another hit to land keeping the asshole on the back heel. It'd take good timing but they'd manage.

Wait a second… he thought as something occurred to him out of the blue. If he has the power to wipe out half the sentient population in existence then how did he get hurt in the first place? Why did he have to flee at all?

While it was true that he was using guesswork and comic book logic to estimate the power each Infinity Stone possessed, it shouldn't have been possible for the Avengers to do any damage to the monster at all. So what happened? He thought on the matter debating possibilities like Thanos wanting a good fight to the stones needing time to build up to galaxy killing levels. However in the end he came upon a conclusion that had him grinning.

Thanos could only use one or two stones at a time!

They were so powerful that they either required considerable focus to use or they placed such a strain on the user's body that to go past two resulted in self-injury. That meant most likely that in disintegrating half the galaxy's population, the purple people eater had intentionally inflicted a serious injury upon himself. THAT would explain why he'd retreated rather than do the typical villain victory speech. It also meant that they had a potential weakness to exploit if done the right way. If they could somehow force Thanos to use more than two of the Stones at a time the pain or injury it caused him could give one of them an opening to deliver a decisive blow. In all likelihood, though, whoever succeeded in forcing the alien's hand would not survive to gloat about their success and that meant he'd make sure he was the one that did it. The others brought more to the fight than he did and therefore stood a better chance of dealing the killing blow against their chosen prey. If he could be the pebble that started the avalanche then he'd die gladly knowing he would be the tripwire that caused the fall of the being that'd killed his children.

Then another possibility soured his mind given how possible it was to be the truth.

What if Thanos had retreated to some sort fortress or encampment filled with loyal soldiers and a sizeable arsenal?

He had been operating under the assumption that either Thanos would leave someplace to be alone and that he'd brought all of his forces to Wakanda to acquire the Infinity Stone there. Considering what Robin had told them in the briefing, Thanos had attacked and conquered many worlds before eradicating half of their existing population. That was not something you could do with only a few hundred troops and support craft. You'd need an army greater than the combined military strength of whatever world you were conquering AND you'd need a force big enough to defeat any retaliatory efforts that might be sent your way. As his mind raced to come up with a best guess the only thing he could say for certain was that if Thanos had retreated someplace where he could get protection until he'd fully recovered, then killing him was going to be infinitely harder. Four warriors against a single powerful target was doable with enough planning and the right resources but four against an army surrounding a single target was suicide.

We'd need to lure him away from his armies. Get him someplace alone or at least with so few bodyguards that we'd have a fighting chance, he thought as he adjusted the tactical scenario in his mind to reflect Thanos having loyal troops at his side.

With new variables in play he began to imagine how the fight would go and how he, Buffy, Willow and Dawn could bring about their vengeance successfully. Minutes soon became hours but as time passed his mood soured proportionally as his mind came up with one unacceptable outcome after another. With all the data their sources were bringing in, he attempted to refine his mental simulation, hoping that some new tidbit would give him something encouraging. However when hour number five rolled around and his stomach complained that it needed food he still hadn't figured out a surefire way to circumvent any bodyguards Thanos might have with him. More than that when he factored in the skill sets, the experience and the abilities of the four of them, the most he could see them handling were around fifteen bodyguards plus Thanos himself.

He very much doubted that the universe would be so kind as to only pit against them the maximum they were capable of handling.

As for luring the madman away from his army with only the bare minimum of backup, he wasn't sure what they could do. If the reports he was reading were accurate the psycho had achieved what he'd set out to do and was all set to bask in the joy of victory. While they could certainly insult his accomplishment, belittle it, odds were good that the purple fucker had already heard a lot of it. They couldn't undo his work or even put on a good enough light show to make someone think they could so they couldn't use that against Thanos.

Think, Harris! THINK! he thought angrily at the facts that would try to convince him that vengeance was pointless. How do you get an enemy where you want them to go but without the bothersome entourage?

He would find and answer and when the others returned with their contributions they would have all they required to exact bloody compensation from Thanos.

They WOULD NOT be DENIED!