"Pass the ball!"
Armin stopped right in front of Moblit and passed the ball towards Eren.
Something like a lightning bolt flashed across Moblit's eyes. He intercepted the ball before it could leave Armin's hand and threw it deep into the court.
Both Bertholdt and Oluo leapt for the ball, and though Bertholdt towered over Oluo a good 9 inches, Oluo was massively faster and grabbed the ball before Bertholdt, landed on his feet, and manoeuvred around Bertholdt.
"Like hell, I'll let you!"
Reiner followed up the instant he got past Bertholdt. He spread out his arms, in an attempt to get blocked Oluo.
"How amusing."
One, two, three, and he was gone. Just like that, Oluo drove past Reiner, leaving the burly young man stunned in utter amazement.
Oluo ran to the net, jumped, and with his left hand, dunked the ball powerfully into the net. The rim rattled at the burst of strength it was hit with, causing the trainees to finally understand that they were going to lose.
"Dammit! There's no way in hell we stand a chance!" Reiner shouted, frustration building up within him.
"Don't give in Reiner, just keep on playing on like before. If we can't beat them with strength, we can beat them with strategy. I'll do my best to come up with a plan, please, all of you, find a way to hold them off."
The players looked at Armin, then nodded their heads.
"Okay, let's go!" Eren said.
The game continued.
Eren ran with the ball, pushing forward with each bounce and came face to face with Eld. The man also had that faded streak of lightning across his eyes, much to Eren's anger.
He passed the ball through his legs to his left hand and dashed forward. His face came up against Eld's and he sharply crossed over the ball to his right hand, bent low, and attempted to run past Eld.
It was a splendid move, but, it was unfortunate that Eld was his opponent.
The man sharply turned around, at an incredible pace, and literally grabbed the ball out of Eren hand. He did a crossover and ran in the opposite direction towards the basket.
*Tap*
A soft touch on the ball, made Armin and Eld cross gazes, with Eld's eyes open in surprise.
Thank you, Eren!
While the ball didn't quite enter his grasp, it still lost contact with Eld's hand... All according to plan. Eld felt a breeze pass him, and Jean's hand scooped the ball before it could hit the ground, running past Eld with a speed that rivalled Finn's.
Running towards the net, Gunther came up in his path. With incredible speed, they matched each other. Jean performed a series of crossovers, spun around while crossing the ball between his legs, faking to move left, only for him to use his right hand to bring back the ball and pass it back to his left from behind.
Gunther followed him, each movement against Jean's, and the two kept going. It was madness to the trainees and coaches on the bench. Even Erwin and Levi became tense at the play that happened before their very eyes.
Like bolts of lightning, they pushed against each other, speed matching that of Finn's, who had an expressionless gaze on his face, though his intentions were quite obvious as his hand visibly shook. It almost looked like he was annoyed, very much so.
Finally, the burst of movement came to an end, as Jean threw the ball sideways to the open. It was caught by Eren, who passed to Bertholdt, and from half-court, shot the ball into the net.
They're faring surprisingly well for their first time seeing the Mock Zone. But still...
Petra bit her lower lip, as the background voice of Connie and Thomas shouting 'Nice one!' were heard. She was worried, very much so, especially about Armin. Taking on the Mock Zone is no easy feat, considering this is their first time. The worst-case scenario would be temporary damage to their bodies because the Mock Zone takes up a lot of stamina and stresses the bones and muscles, but even at that, once the damage is done to the body, no matter how small, it can never be restored to its original anymore.
It's just five minutes into the fourth quarter. Please let this end quickly.
"How amusing, Jean. Maybe I shouldn't have motivated you so much." Farlan spoke with a smile.
"Don't give yourself too much credit, I'm the one doing the work," Jean replied, taking his position.
Standing in front of the young man with his legs bent and arms spread out, Farlan blocked Jean's view from the opposing team.
"Luck doesn't happen twice." Said Farlan.
"Why're you so pressed? Isn't it just a practice match? You guys are trying to make basketball weapons out of us in a single match, and you're getting pissed that we're holding our own? Call it luck or whatever, but I'll make it a second time."
"You're right, we're pushing you way ahead of your limits, but the thing is," A smirk played on Farlan's lips as he looked Jean dead in the eye, "there's no rest for the gifted."
At that moment, he stretched out his right arm, and the ball came flying straight into his hand.
Jean's eyes widened with bewilderment. What the? When did he...
"Brace yourself, Jean."
Two fakes, in an instant, he had gotten past Jean. But the moment he stepped out of Jean's radar, Eren came upfront and blocked his path. Farlan passed the ball between his legs, but it was a fake. Before the ball could cross, he brought it back with his right hand, crossed over from behind, and turned around on his pivot, breaking through Eren.
That wasn't enough to stop Eren. The brown-haired male responded in like manner and ran after Farlan. Farlan stopped abruptly, swerved to the side and passing the ball to his left hand, took a step backwards, letting Eren pass him. He crossed back to his right hand and continued on his way. That was when Jean came up precisely, with the right timing, and intercepted Farlan. With bustling speed, Farlan dodged him and headed towards the net, jumping, and with his hand under the ball, smoothly did a layup into the basket.
"Tch!" Eren and Jean clenched their teeth in frustration.
"I told you, didn't I? Luck doesn't happen twice. Thirty more minutes till the fourth quarter ends, win before then."
He was taunting them. They knew he was taunting them, but nevertheless, they rose to anger.
"They're still toying with us," Armin muttered.
"Armin," Reiner's deep voice called out to him. "It's not like you to get pissed. Just do your thing and get us out of this situation."
Glancing at Reiner for just a moment, the blond-haired male nodded, and the two set out to their posts.
The ball came into Armin's possession. He ran forward, and as he predicted, no one on the opposing team was so eager to apprehend him. He moved forward till Moblit decided to block his path.
Armin instantly stopped and turned around, facing his back to Moblit for a split second before raising the ball up.
Moblit was confused. For some reason, his teammates were giddy and scurried around, trying to act as a shield to block the trainees in their respective positions.
Eld grit his teeth and shouted, "Dammit! Moblit, don't let him!"
But it was too late. Before the ball could leave the tip of his fingers, Armin turned the ball left and threw it towards that direction.
Moblit reasoned It doesn't really do much if he throws it towards Bertholdt. Everyone is being guarded, there's no one for him to-
"-pass to, is what you were thinking, wasn't it?" Armin whispered.
Bertholdt jumped and caught the ball. The same instant he caught it, he threw it low... back towards Armin's direction. The blond boy bent down and caught the ball, using his height disadvantage against Moblit, and ran past him.
"What? How?" Unable to process exactly what had happened, Moblit resulted in just chasing after Armin. After all, the boy was still physically the weakest among everyone on the ground.
Still running, Armin stopped, held the ball in his right hand, and passed it backwards. As Moblit came forward, the ball flew backwards, eventually passing him, and for a brief moment, realisation dawned on him.
So that's what happened. When he turned his back to me, he silently gave out the commands and formations using his free hand. He did it in an instant, fast enough for his teammates to get the idea, but also let Eld and the others understand his plan. That way, he made sure they would put their entire guard on each of his teammates, leaving him solely to me and eliminating any interception. The height difference between Oluo and Bertholdt made his plan even more plausible, as it allowed Bertholdt a chance to grab the ball before him. The goal was never to pass me or break through. The goal was and had always been on Bertholdt! To shoot a three into the net!
Bertholdt jumped, caught the ball before Oluo, and took a shot at the basket. The ball entered smoothly into the net.
"I can't believe it! Even with the Mock Zone, the newbies can still hold their own against them!" Isabel exclaimed from the benches.
"Certainly impressive, don't you think Miss Hanji?" Petra asked, being polite as ever.
"Petra..." Hanji clenched both her teeth and fists. She smacked Petra and painfully rubbed her knuckles on Petra's head.
"Owowowow!! Haaanji!!!" Petra cried in pain.
"Shut up, you petite-faced girl! How many times have I told you not to call me Miss Hanji?! I'm not that old, and heck, we're even the same age!!"
"Please stop! I'm sorry, I'm sooorry!!"
"O-Oi, shouldn't we stop them?" Connie asked, unsure of what to do at that moment.
"Leave them be. If one of them dies there's nothing to lose. Though I hope it'll be Hanji that kicks the bucket first-"
"Like hell!" Isabel exclaimed, hitting Finn's head with a metal ruler.
Where and how in the world did she get a ruler? Marco, Connie, and Thomas sweatdropped.
"That's not the problem here!" She shouted as if reading their minds.
"I told you, you b*tch, if you touch my head again, I'll f*cking kill you."
*Smack* *smack* *smack* *smack* and *smack*
Levi flexed his left hand, loosening it and looked down on the individuals sitting on the bench condescendingly.
"Anyone wanna talk? Let's hear it." Levi spoke, calmly.
All with the exception of Finn, they shook their heads in the negative.
"I guess that'll do for now." Levi said, "Hanji, Isabel, act up anymore, you'll regret it. Especially you, Hanji" He walked to the opposite side and took his seat beside Erwin, with an expressionless gaze on his face.
"F*cking chibi," Finn muttered, returning his gaze to the ongoing game.
With a serious tone, he said, "Hanji, Isabel, Miss Petra, don't you think it's about time we came in?"
"Hm?" They gave him their attention.
"Sure, I mean there's no problem, but do you really want to enter right now? It'll disturb the flow of the game, you know?" Isabel addressed him.
"That being said, you've been awfully still for some time now." Hanji remarked, "Is something the matter?"
He looked away from them with bored eyes. "No, there's nothing. I've simply... grown bored of this match." He said.
Connie's head snapped towards Finn. "Oi, oi, this is not the time for cocky-Finn to come out y'know."
"Shut up Q-ball, I'm not in the mood for your games," Finn replied sharply, effectively cutting off Connie.
Hanji and Isabel sighed. Looking at the other, they nodded their heads and came to a resolution.
"Under one condition. If you guys score the next point, you won't enter, but if you don't, then otherwise. Deal?"
"Ahh dammit! They have another one on us!!" Thomas exclaimed in frustration, seeing Eld score another point yet again.
"And that's my cue to leave," Finn said, getting up and standing by the court, fully ready to go in. The shock and bewilderment on Hanji and Isabel's faces was truly a sight to witness.
Isabel sighed in defeat, noting her tenth or something loss against the dark-haired male.
She stood and shouted, "Hoover and Ryder, player change!"
I was pretty excited about this earlier. But looking back, it's just a mockery of the real thing, a cheap imitation of the original. Those three over there are most likely the final bosses with the real thing. He looked up at Erwin, Mike, and Levi. The only way to make them come down here would be to utterly destroy the current players. Worse comes to worst, if they eventually don't come, then I'll just take them all by myself.
He swapped hands with Bertholdt and walked into the court, with dull eyes and a lazy smirk on his face.
Reaching his mark who was Oluo, he bent down in position to start the game, still with that lazy infuriating smirk on his face.
"Sorry, I have nothing against you guys, but, it's going to be very rough."
Just like Oluo's, a faint streak of black lightning... flashed across his golden eyes.
To be continued.
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Another chapter has done ✅. It's been over a month, I know, but I hope this chapter was worth waiting for. Thank you all for reading and your patience, they truly mean a lot to me, believe it. This chapter was somewhat difficult for me to write and I'm not sure why 🤔... But thanks anyway for reading. So stay safe, strong, and I'll send you all in the next chapter. Bye 👋!