Princess of Miracles (Kuroko no Basuke FanFic)

Zone Showdown

"The ace carries the hopes and wishes of his team." - Kuroko Tamaki

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'This is getting ridiculous! What kind of game is this?' Wakamatsu thought to himself, even as the stunned players on the court watched as their two aces battled each other for supremacy on the court, literally flying over the polished floor.

The remaining players on the court might as well be ghosts for all the attention that the two aces paid to them—now with them both being in the Zone.

Block.

Steal.

Parry.

Defend.

Even the spectators could only watch, bewildered and almost afraid of the high tension between both the aces down on the court as the ball changed hands several times. One time, the ball actually landed in a startled Sakurai's grasp, but the usually timid teen had the common sense to throw the ball behind him before the two almost feral teens bowled him over in an attempt to get the ball.

In the states that they both are now, they literally couldn't see anything but just each other and the ball. It is one of the side effects of the Zone.

'No one's scored for almost a minute.' Tamaki mused to herself, blue eyes scanning the court, taking in the gobsmacked faces of every single player currently staring at Aomine and Kagami like open-mouthed fishes. 'With them both being in the Zone, their focus and reaction speed and even the capabilities of their bodies have been pushed to the maximum. But... It also puts extreme stress on their bodies.'

Tamaki glanced at her partner and her boyfriend. There is a reason after all why neither Tamaki nor Seijurou have used the Zone before—as unlike their more physically inclined teammates, their bodies are weaker and not as durable.

'Four minutes. It all comes down to it.'

XXXXXX

"Neither one is making any progress." Kashitori Kenta commented, eyes narrowing. Honestly, is this really a high school basketball game? This is almost at professional level!

"But why are both the teams completely relying on their aces?" Takao asked with a frown. "If they passed the ball to their teammates, couldn't they score?"

"It's not that simple." Midorima said grimly next to Takao, and the Hawk Eye user looked at him with surprise. The green haired shooter didn't take his eyes from the match, not wanting to miss even a single moment of it. He'd heard Tamaki talk about it once just after their second year—before Aomine had started losing his path. Back then, there is just that one time when Aomine actually had to go all out against an opponent. It wasn't the Zone, but it had been a state close to it—hence, Tamaki had to switch strategies mid-way, and rather than Aomine backing the team up, it had been the other way around—the team had to back him up, as the tanned teen wouldn't be capable of rational thought. "Most likely, it wouldn't change the outcome." Midorima concluded slowly, much to his teammates' surprise, but Kashitori and Nakatani nodded with agreement.

"The Zone is a double-edged sword in essence." Kashitori commented. "It is true—it is capable of allowing the user to access 100% of their strength. But it comes at a price." He told the Shutoku players grimly. "It is stated that a human brain is only capable of accessing ten percent of the thought process as it contains too much information. It is proven scientifically that those rare few that we've seen in the past with abilities like telepathy and such are one amongst the rare number that could access more than ten percent of the thought process of the human brain. Even then, it is not by much. But those in the Zone..." Kashitori turned his attention back to the court. "For just a limited time, they could access all one hundred percent of the thought process, thus functioning on just instincts alone. Rather like how an animal could sense danger." He explained. "Thus, all unnecessary information is cut. But as they're moving and using skills way beyond their bodies' capability, it creates tremendous stress on both their bodies and minds. Hence why the Zone has a time limit before it runs out."