Kevin didn't say anything, but he rested his racquet against one shoulder and paced Neil all the way down the court. They were the last to the Foxes' huddle but their teammates made room for them easily. Neil answered the tired smiles sent his way with an exhausted one of his own. Kevin had eyes only for Andrew as he crouched in front of the downed goalkeeper.

"So," Kevin said, "did you have fun?"

Andrew was too tired to put any heat in his words. "You are despicable, Kevin Day. I don't know why I keep you around."

"Foxes," Riko said as the Ravens came up at their backs. All the Foxes save Kevin turned to face him. "I admit I'm at a loss as to what to do now. I cannot thank you for the night's game because I can't call this debacle a game. I thought I knew what to expect when we came here tonight, but I am still embarrassed on your behalf. You have fallen so far, Kevin. You should have stayed down and saved us the trouble of forcing you back to your knees."

"I'm satisfied," Kevin said. It was the last response any of the Foxes expected from him. They forgot about Riko in favor of gaping at Kevin. "Not with their score or performance, but with their spirit. I was right. There's more than enough here for me to work with."

"How many balls did you take to the helmet?" a Raven asked.

Kevin only smiled, slow and sure and pleased, and offered Andrew a hand. Andrew looked at it, then at Kevin, and let Kevin haul him to his feet. Renee was ready when Kevin let go and looped her arms around Andrew in a fierce hug. It had to be awkward with all the armor Andrew was still wearing, but it gave Andrew a couple seconds to find his balance. Kevin distracted the Ravens from Andrew's unsteadiness by facing them.

"Thank you for the game tonight," he said. "We will see you again at semifinals. It will be an interesting rematch, I promise."

Riko wasn't expecting that calm confidence after tonight's awful results. "One man cannot carry you that far," he said, sounding torn between incredulity and disgust. "Even you are not stupid enough to believe that. You should give up now."

It was a threat, not friendly advice, but Kevin said, "One is enough to start with."

"Thanks for nothing and good night," Dan said. "We're out of here."

The Foxes filed off the court to the shouts of a still-riled crowd. Wymack was speaking to a couple reporters, but he excused himself at their arrival. Renee and Andrew weren't waiting for him to catch up. Renee had an arm around Andrew's shoulder still and she propelled him toward the locker room as quickly as she could without being obvious about it.