Pietro's gaze focused on the three Infinity Stones in Ul-Thanos' chest and moved back up to his face, narrowing his eyes at the wide grin on their face.
The next moment, he was gone, time nearly frozen as he pushed himself to his top speed. Ul-Thanos however grinned and shifted to the side, avoiding the strike while swinging a backhand.
Ducking back to avoid the blow, the two vanished and reality rippled, traces of scarlet red energy rippling outwards.
Snow turned to fire and ice to magma as Ul-Thanos stomped down, but the heat was not even noticeable by Pietro as he ran across the surface.
Ul-Thanos raced right beside him as the two ran across Antarctica, leaving a trail of destruction behind them. Pietro frowned as he slid to a stop before flipping back, avoiding the heel drop thrown at him.
Kicking off the air, he landed back on the rippling magma and was gone once more. Ul-Thanos' eyes flicked rapidly in their sockets as he followed Pietro, who ricochet back and forth around him.
Then, he immediately spun and blocked the dropkick that Pietro threw at him, the force of the attack sending the synthetic android rocketing backwards.
Turning the sea of magma and fire back into ice and snow, Ul-Thanos clenched his hand and pointed it at Pietro, but his eyes narrowed when the speedster barely avoided the threads of red energy.
'Intriguing.'
'Fuck those stones,' Pietro cursed with a groan as he ran around with rapid stops, making sure Thanos can't focus on him.
He needed to get those stones away, but he didn't know how far the reach was of the stones without the Power Stone to give them energy nor did he know if his chaos energy would buffer some of the effects.
Unfortunately, he gained nothing from just lounging about and running around Ul-Thanos, especially when the man-android could speed up to match his own thanks to the stones.
Thus, he had but one choice available.
'Gotta Go Fast,' With a lunge, he was gone, accelerating towards Ul-Thanos right as his head snapped to him. Yet, the speedster didn't stop and instead ran around him.
The synthetic android raised his clenched fists and punched them together, unleashing a shockwave of scarlet red energy outwards that turned the ice back into a burning hellscape.
Yet, Pietro was a blur as he ran across the magma, sating and running towards Ul-Thanos. Right as he neared him, though, the being smirked before the Space Stone activated and he was gone.
A hand grabbed the back of his head and pulled Pietro back as the world shifted back to solid rock, Ul-Thanos spinning and slamming the speedster skull first into the ground.
The blow dazed Pietro and his head rung as Ul-Thanos leapt upwards, coming back down with a double stomp only for Pietro's body to vibrate.
With a push back, Pietro rolled to his feet and was gone once more, but he only made it a few meters before his point of view shifted to a fist slowly heading for his skull.
Barely sliding under it, space shifted once more and he found himself airborne upside-down with Ul-Thanos swinging a spin kick at his side. Yet, he didn't stop as he vibrated his chest, letting the blow pass through him.
Continuing with a kick off the air and a spin, his own kick smacked against Thanos' jaw and knocked it back, giving Pietro chance to gather himself.
The moment he landed, reality erupted into a glorious blaze, Ul-Thanos compressing that heat with the Space Stone before he punched forward.
Pietro stared at the blast of pure plasma slowly approaching him before he moved, surprising himself as he leapt over the blast with a barrel-roll before taking off mid-air.
Each step propelled him forward and he grabbed onto Ul-Thanos' face, ignoring the vertigo of the artificial intelligence's attempt to teleport hundreds of times in rapid succession.
Instead, his mind processed the entire process before he grabbed onto the android's head with both hands. Landing on his feet with a teleport, he threw Ul-Thanos head first into the ground as he found himself now upside down.
Continuing with a spin kick, he spun and wrapped his arms around Ul-Thanos as the android appeared behind him, kicking off the air behind him and slamming the being into the ground when he attempted to flip their positions again.
'I was never going to keep up with him considering that Ultron could probably run hundreds of millions of simulations in his head, but just like a human, he has an instinctive pattern that he follows,' Pietro thought as he let go of Ul-Thanos, rolling to his feet before taking off as the ground under him crumbled.
The world shifted back into a frozen wasteland as Pietro ran, not surprised to see various monstrous icebergs in his path to attempt and block him.
He just ran face first through them with a grin, vibrating his body at a rapid pace while slowing down his own speed.
After all, he didn't want to burden Aria with accidentally piercing through the universal barriers once again.
'Still, there's no way I'm going to kill him without it,' Pietro thought as he leapt with a spin, exiting the iceberg he was running through while sliding along the side of another.
The ice was immediately altered into waves of bubbling acid, Pietro speeding up to avoid affecting the matter around him as he ran.
His eyes were nothing but scarlet blurs in their sockets as he analysed the surrounding area, narrowing his eyes at the blue-gold arc of energy keeping up with him.
Ul-Thanos narrowed his eyes at Pietro before he sped up, shifting space to put the two of them just a few hundred feet away from each other.
Time slowed as Pietro met Ul-Thanos' eyes, their next step echoing in the hollow ice dome that the android had made.
The next moment, space crumbled as Pietro speared his body into Ul-Thanos' chest, sending the both of them rolling across the icy ground.
Pietro quickly recovered and rolled to his feet, but his eyes widened as a strange sensation washed over his body.
The next moment, his eyes widened as every part of himself just...paused.
'No, I didn't pause,' Pietro thought with a horrified look as he ran at a slow pace, barely faster than the fastest human. He didn't get to ponder on it long as Ul-Thanos' fist crashed into his chest.
It felt like a sledgehammer had been taken to his ribs as he was sent hurtling backwards, gagging when a large hand appeared from thin air and smashed him into the ground.
"Come now, Pietro! We are merely beginning!" Ul-Thanos exclaimed as he threw Pietro through the air, grabbing onto his leg midway before flinging him halfway across the ice.
Pietro felt as though his consciousness was fading before he gasped as sensation returned to his body, immediately flipping over and taking off.
'What the hell?' he thought as he slid to a stop, staring in surprise at Ul-Thanos who just crossed its arms with a hum.
"Impressive and fascinating. I have used the full power of the stones to ensure that your speed is sealed away and yet, the energy it consists off fought through the influence the moment you were out of the range."
'I see,' Pietro took deep breaths as he rose to his feet, feeling both his chi and his energy stitch and mend his injuries. Inhaling softly and exhaling, he was about to take off when a blur slammed into Ul-Thanos from behind.
The synthetic android was also surprised by the blow before he recovered with a spin, both him and Pietro staring at the sight of Makkari in front of them.
She wore her red bodysuit, but Pietro's eyes locked onto the violet stone embedded in the chest of her suit. Violet and gold streaks of energy danced across her skin as her gaze softened when she looked at Pietro.
"Here to make up for what I did," she signed, Ul-Thanos narrowing his eyes while Pietro gave a soft chuckle.
"I've already forgiven you for that," Pietro signed back and she smiled, but the two soon looked at Ul-Thanos as they heard clapping.
"This is heartwarming, truly, but I must ask who she is. After all, her energy is quite significantly different from ours."
"No need for you to know, Ultron," Pietro replied, making Ul-Thanos snort before Makkari vanished.
Ul-Thanos' eyes immediately locked with hers as he vanished as well, but before the two could clash, a pair of feet crashed into his side and sent him ragdolling across the icy landscape with a deafening boom.
Makkari herself slid under Pietro as he slowly flipped over, the two sharing a smile before they sped up.
Flipping over to his feet, Ul-Thanos noticed the two rushing towards him and stomped down, altering reality once more as water enveloped them from every direction.
Both Makkari and Pietro were slowed for a moment and that was all the synthetic android needed as he punched the water, creating a massive shockwave that pushed both back.
Altering reality once more, the Space Stone carried Ul-Thanos forward and into Makkari's path, the speedster Eternal barely flipping around the kick swung at her head.
Landing with a slide, she took off and Ul-Thanos followed closely behind, the latter's eyes flicking to the side where a gold-blue arc of energy caught up.
Spinning around to push away Pietro's punch, a kick impacted his back and pushed him forward, Makkari twisting with Pietro as space distorted.
Both of them kicked back at the same time and onto Ul-Thanos' arms when he reappeared, the synthetic being now fully focused as both speedsters took off in separate directions.
The world rippled in frozen time as three blurs raced across the planet. Makkari punched Ul-Thanos through the Eiffel Tower and he bounced across the Seine River.
The next moment, reality crumbled as everything shattered, sending Makkari skipping across acid only for Pietro to catch her by the arm.
With a spin, he threw her back onto her feet while avoiding Ul-Thanos' dropkick. The droid narrowed his eyes before the Space and Reality stones glowed in unison.
Ul-Thanos punched forward and reality shattered, creating a blackhole that soon flew forward. Makkari immediately took off to the left as Pietro rushed forward, lunging to the right just as it flew past him.
Makkari sped forward and Ul-Thanos turned to her, lashing out with a vicious high kick that she ducked under. At the same time, Pietro threw an uppercut and it cracked against Ul-Thanos' jaw.
However, the synthetic being kicked out his leg at the same time, sending Pietro ragdolling across the ground.
Makkari appeared behind him only for space to be distorted, a hand grabbing at the stone at her chest and ripping it free. The Eternal's eyes widened and she reached for the stone, but Ul-Thanos spun and threw her into Pietro's rushing form.
The speedster slowed for a moment to catch her, but his eyes widened as Ul-Thanos absorbed the Power Stone. It reappeared on his chest in between the Space and Reality Stones, but his eyes widened when golden sigils formed on his chest.
Pietro himself was surprised as the stones were pushed from his chest, watching as chains erupted from the ground and pulled him to a kneeling position.
"W-What?! What trickery is this?!"
"Sigils made by both Aria and Phastos. The latter also made a little something extra," As she finished signing that, Pietro watched as several mechanical arms sprouted from the ice.
They dragged themselves across the ground and gripped the being's skull in an iron-tight grip, strands of gold penetrating his head.
Pietro watched as Ul-Thanos' eyes went from blood red to a dull yellow, forcing his head to flop forward as his form sagged like a lifeless doll.
"What just happened?" Pietro asked as a golden portal appeared below Ul-Thanos' form and teleported him away.
"Aria will explain when we get back," she signed and he nodded, the two of them taking off back to Kamar-Taj.
If they had stayed a second longer, they would have noticed the red sparks dancing in the air, a figure soon approaching from thin air with an amused smirk on his face.
"He almost had it. He simply needed to push it further," Kang murmured as he stood with his hands in his pockets, looking around and taking a deep breath.
"Ah, so you're here now?" he muttered as he turned, staring at the being with the horned helmet and green cloak standing behind him.
Loki, God of Stories, stared down Kang with a slight frown before he spoke, "You are interfering with a story that has not yet finished."
"Well, that's the fun part, isn't it? Being able to edit the story while the story is still being created by a fourth or fifth dimensional being," Kang replied with a smirk, causing Loki to stare at him.
"If you stay here, you will find a result that does not fit into your narrative."
"That's the beauty, Loki. I want a result I did not expect," Kang responded and that made Loki smirk.
"You say so, but I know your true desires, Kang. I have already read this story, after all," Loki spoke with a knowing smirk and Kang's faded as he stared at the being with a stoic stare.
"What else have you come here for, Loki?"
"I'm not here. This is but one of my many avatars I use throughout the cosmos."
"Of course. Then, begone. I have things and plans I want to implement."
"But of course. Good luck," With a cheerful wave, Loki's form faded away, but Kang didn't believe that he was gone for a moment.
The god will watch for now, but Kang knew that Loki was not above influencing the book so that the good ending will always be the end result.
'No matter. The plan will proceed as always,' he thought as he turned and vanished.
A/N: And we end it here~! Ultron is now being taken care off and Kang is beginning to make his own moves.
Soon, the end will come.
Next chapter: How to deal with a murderous AI
As always, read, enjoy, review and until the next one...
Ba-Bye~!