Arata slowly waved his Infinity Gauntlet.
The Space Stone pulsed with a deep blue glow, its energy humming faintly as it responded to his will.
The robots that had previously charged at him were now suspended mid-air, completely motionless, trapped within a distorted field of space.
They couldn't move.
They couldn't react.
They simply existed—frozen.
Arata narrowed his eyes slightly as he studied them.
'So this is… space manipulation at its core.'
He clenched his fist.
The air trembled.
Invisible force compressed the space around the robots, dragging them violently toward each other.
In the next moment, metal collided with deafening force.
The robots crumpled, twisted, and smashed together, forming a dense sphere of mangled scrap—an iron ball of complete destruction.
The remains dropped to the ground with a heavy thud.
Arata exhaled slowly.
He lowered his gauntlet, staring at it with undisguised satisfaction.
'This power…'
A faint thrill ran through him.
'…It's only the beginning.'
He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.
'Control yourself. This is just one stone.'
When he looked up—Melissa was staring at him.
Her expression was filled with expectation, shock, and something else… trust.
Arata shifted his focus immediately.
He raised his left hand—the one equipped with the telekinesis glove and the two rings—and pointed toward the nearby computer system.
One of the rings activated.
A small, bug-like robot shot out and attached itself to the system.
Melissa blinked in surprise.
"What was that?"
Arata didn't look at her.
"A tool," he said simply.
The device activated. The screen flickered. Glitched. Then stabilized.
A live feed appeared.
It showed David Shield—surrounded by villains—being escorted through a corridor.
"They're taking him…" Melissa whispered, her voice trembling.
Arata's eyes narrowed slightly.
"To the vault," he said. "Floor 180."
Another feed appeared.
This one showed chaos.
Heroes—bound.
Restrained by glowing, laser-like ropes.
Even powerful figures like Hawks and Godzilla were pinned down, held in place by two Nomus.
Melissa's eyes widened in horror.
"How… how did they even do this?" she asked.
"How did they get access to the security system!?"
Arata crossed his arms slightly.
"Simple," he said calmly. "Someone on the inside betrayed your father."
Melissa fell silent.
The reality of it sank in.
Arata pointed toward the screen showing David.
"First priority," he said, "we get your father out safely."
He turned to her.
"I'll handle the villains."
Melissa looked at him, worry evident.
"Alone…?"
Arata smirked.
He raised his gauntlet slightly and pointed his thumb toward himself.
"Nah," he said confidently. "I'd win."
Melissa blinked.
Despite everything—A small sense of reassurance settled in her.
Arata recalled the bug robot back into the ring, then removed the second ring from his finger and handed it to her.
"If someone gets in your way," he said, "just point this at them."
Melissa took it without hesitation.
She didn't even question it.
Arata raised his gauntlet.
The Space Stone glowed intensely.
The air in front of them twisted—and then tore open.
A blue portal formed, large enough for both of them to walk through.
"Let's go," Arata said.
They stepped inside.
In the next moment—They appeared on the 180th floor, directly outside the vault room.
The villains froze.
Shock spread across their faces as they saw the sudden appearance of Melissa—and a masked figure beside her.
"Melissa!?" David shouted in panic. "What are you doing here!?"
His eyes quickly shifted toward Arata, confusion and alarm evident.
Arata didn't waste time.
He raised his gauntlet and pointed toward David.
The Space Stone pulsed.
Blue energy wrapped around him—and in an instant, David vanished from his position and reappeared right in front of Arata.
"Melissa," Arata said calmly, "take your father and go. Deactivate the system."
Melissa nodded immediately.
"Come on!" she said, grabbing her father's arm.
David, still bewildered, was pulled along as she rushed toward the control room.
Arata remained behind.
His gaze locked onto the villains.
'So these are the same ones from the movie…'
His eyes flicked briefly to the masked man in the orange suit.
'And Mr. Compress… earlier than expected.'
Mr. Compress turned toward the others.
"Deal with him," he ordered calmly. "I'll retrieve David."
The villains reacted instantly.
They opened fire.
Bullets flew toward Arata.
But Arata didn't move, he simply smirked.
As the bullets approached—They stopped mid-air, suspended and frozen.
As if space itself had rejected their motion.
Arata flicked his hand casually.
The bullets reversed direction.
They shot back toward the villains.
"Watch out!" one of them shouted.
Wolfram reacted quickly, using his metal manipulation quirk to intercept the bullets.
The clash of metal echoed through the corridor.
But in that moment—Arata disappeared.
The villains froze.
"Where did he go!?"
They looked around frantically.
Then—One of them suddenly choked.
His body lifted off the ground, invisible force gripping him tightly before slamming him violently against the wall.
He collapsed instantly, unconscious.
"Behind—!"
Another villain turned—but there was nothing there.
Suddenly, a massive figure—a villain with a purple gorilla-like quirk—froze in place.
His body was surrounded by faint blue energy.
"I—I can't move—!"
Arata appeared behind him, visible again.
The Space Stone glowed brightly.
At the same time, a space barrier formed around Arata, deflecting incoming attacks effortlessly.
He raised his gauntlet toward the gorilla villain.
The air distorted.
Pressure built.
The villain screamed as an invisible force crushed his body against the wall.
Bones cracked.
The pressure intensified.
Then—Silence.
His body went limp.
Arata lowered his gauntlet calmly, his gaze shifted toward Wolfram.
"You're wasting your time," he said. "Trying to manipulate my weapons is pointless."
His voice carried quiet confidence.
"I designed them with that possibility in mind."
Inside the gauntlet—A material beyond normal understanding existed.
[NOVA.]
A synthetic element created using countless quirk chip machines.
One that rejected quirk factor influence like metal bending, item swapping, etc.
The only quirks they will not be immune to are the six infinity stones.
Arata smirked slightly.
His gaze swept across the remaining enemies—Wolfram, Mr. Compress, and the others.
He noticed the subtle tension.
The hesitation.
Even Mr. Compress had begun sweating beneath his mask.
There was no opening.
Arata wasn't giving him a single chance to pursue Melissa and David.
'Good.'
Arata rolled his shoulders slightly, then raised his gauntlet again.
Blue light began to pulse.
"Let's dance," he said calmly.
"Shall we?"