The Foxes travel by bus to Blackwell University for the fall banquet: a gathering of 14 Exy teams. Aaron brings Katelyn as his date, and Nicky brings his classmate Jim. As they approach the venue, Kevin suffers a panic attack at the prospect of encountering his former team, the Edgar Allan Ravens. After his mother died, Kevin was raised by the Ravens’ abusive coach, Tetsuji Moriyama. The team’s star player, Riko Moriyama, was Kevin’s adoptive brother and deliberately inflicted the hand injury that nearly ended Kevin’s Exy career. Wymack gives Kevin vodka to calm him before they enter.

The Foxes discover that their assigned table is directly across from the Edgar Allan Ravens, who wear identical black outfits and sit in synchronized, imposing poses. Jean Moreau, a Raven backliner with the number “3” tattooed on his cheek, sits across from Neil and taunts him by listing three of his past aliases—Alex, Stefan, and Chris—confirming that Riko has investigated him. Terrified but outwardly composed, Neil insists that his name is Neil.

The Ravens insult the Foxes relentlessly. After Riko calls Neil a “coward” like his mother, Neil snaps and delivers a scathing monologue attacking Riko’s family dynamics and mental state. As Wymack arrives to relocate the Foxes, Jean warns Neil that he must speak with Riko later, or everyone will learn he is the son of “the Butcher.” Shocked at this revelation, Kevin grabs Neil’s face, staring at him in dawning recognition. Neil tells Kevin that they will discuss it tomorrow. Kevin leaves in distress with Abby.

Neil considers fleeing but is grounded by the thought of his phone and Andrew’s promise. After dinner, Riko and the Ravens corner Neil, Kevin, and Andrew on the court. The other Foxes intervene, and when a Raven striker sexually harasses Dan, she retaliates by striking him in the groin with her stiletto heel. Coach Moriyama arrives and inspects the scars on Kevin’s broken hand. Jean signals Neil to follow Riko to the locker room.

Inside, Riko addresses Neil as Nathaniel and says that he identified him using fingerprints lifted from a glass at Kathy Ferdinand’s show. Neil feigns ignorance about their families’ connection, but Riko explains the truth: Neil’s father worked for the Moriyamas (a yakuza family) as an enforcer, and Neil’s mother stole money from them before she fled with Neil. When Matt interrupts the confrontation, Riko warns Neil that he will eventually beg him for forgiveness.

Neil rejoins the group and tells Andrew that he made a different call this time, confirming that he chose not to run.

The next morning, Neil wakes at Wymack’s apartment. Wymack confronts him about antagonizing Riko, and Neil offers a partial truth, claiming that his hostility toward older men stems from his abusive upbringing.

At the stadium, Kevin confronts Neil about being Nathaniel. Neil refuses the name but tacitly confirms the identity. Kevin reveals the full story: Neil’s father, referred to as “the Butcher,” was a high-ranking enforcer for the Moriyama yakuza. Neil’s childhood meeting with Kevin and Riko at Castle Evermore was an audition to be trained by Coach Moriyama as a future Raven. Had Neil failed the two-day trial, his own father would have executed him. Neil’s mother fled with him before the second day, saving his life. Kevin says that Moriyama plans to claim Neil for the Ravens in the spring and urges him to run.

Neil refuses, vowing to stay a Fox through the season and expose the Moriyamas to the FBI in May, accepting that they will likely kill him. Kevin agrees to continue training him. Revealing his pact with Andrew, Neil asks why Andrew is so desperate to keep Kevin in the Foxes. Kevin explains that Andrew wants to come off his medication, but without it, he is destructive and purposeless. He has, therefore, promised to give Andrew’s life meaning by making him care about Exy. Andrew is often hostile to Kevin’s efforts since, deep down, he doesn’t think this goal is achievable.

Over the next two weeks, Neil grows closer to the upperclassmen, learning their backstories. Renee’s birth name was Natalie before her adoptive mother renamed her. Dan reveals that she worked as a stripper in high school to support her family and that she and Renee were recruited by Wymack from rival teams. She wants to succeed Wymack as the Foxes’ coach. Allison slowly recovers from Seth’s death, speaking to Neil again. Matt shares stories about his father, a professional boxer, and his mother, a plastic surgeon.

In the library, Neil encounters Aaron and Katelyn holding hands. He tells Nicky, who speculates that Andrew will be angry, as he doesn’t want his twin to be happy. Neil shares more about the identical twins’ history. Their mother, Tilda, initially put both sons up for adoption but reclaimed only Aaron, whom she neglected and abused. Meanwhile, Andrew grew up in foster care, only reuniting with his family when he was released from juvenile detention. One day, Andrew persuaded Aaron to swap places and accompany their mother on a car journey. Tilda crashed the car and died, while Andrew survived the accident. Aaron blamed his brother. Neil theorizes that Andrew caused the crash to protect Aaron from further abuse.

Nicky recalls how, one night, four men attacked him in an antigay hate crime. His cousin, Andrew, came to his rescue but would have killed the men if a bouncer hadn’t intervened. After his arrest, Andrew was prescribed his current medication. Nicky shares his painful experience of being sent to a “gay conversion camp” by his religious parents and how his boyfriend, Erik Klose, saved him in Germany. He suggests that Neil and Andrew need to find love, as Exy alone will not sustain them.

In early October, campus prepares for the Friday-night home game against the top-ranked Ravens. The Foxes are tense all week. On game day, Kevin is completely silent, while Andrew has uncontrolled energy. Coach Wymack summons the team to the stadium hours early to escape the campus-wide frenzy.

In his pregame speech, Wymack demands that Neil score at least five points or run marathons until graduation. The Foxes take the court to a roaring, supportive home crowd. Before serve, Riko approaches Kevin and gives him a brief, public hug that sends the crowd into a frenzy. When Kevin freezes, Andrew bangs his racquet against the goal wall to snap him out of it.

The game begins, and the Ravens immediately dominate. Riko scores within two minutes, the fastest anyone has ever scored on Andrew. After the Ravens score three goals, Wymack substitutes Matt and Aaron for Nicky and Renee. The new lineup is more effective, and the game’s aggression increases. In a rare move, Andrew leaves his goal to clear a loose ball up-court to Neil. Neil executes a perfect rebound pass off the wall to Kevin, who scores the Foxes’ first point. The game devolves into fights. Matt earns a yellow card for punching Riko, resulting in a penalty shot that Riko scores. A Raven backliner hits Neil in the face, earning Neil a penalty shot that he converts. The first half ends with the Ravens leading six to three, with Neil having scored two of the Foxes’ points.

In the second half, Andrew begins suffering withdrawal symptoms, and his performance declines. The game ends 13 to 6, the most points ever scored against Andrew and the worst loss the Foxes have seen in three years. Andrew is so exhausted that he cannot lift his racquet and sits heavily on the court. When the Ravens approach to taunt them, Kevin calmly praises his team’s spirit and promises a rematch in semifinals. In the locker room, Wymack praises the effort and announces that they’ll return to standard lineup next week, with Renee returning to her usual position at backliner and Neil and Kevin as the only strikers playing full games. The team leaves exhausted but proud.