The episode opens on Lydia, Scott, Noel, and Isaac at the sheriff's station. Scott is staring off, thinking about Allison, as her dad sternly helps him get his story straight.

The story Argent pushes is that Scott called him first, and that two masked people tried to steal their car at knifepoint. Argent keeps telling Scott to say "it all happened so fast" if he ever trips up or gets confused, and Scott asks him how he's doing this, treating the death of his daughter so clinically.

Argent looks away from Scott, leveling "It's what we do." He walks away as Parrish interrogates Isaac in the present, asking if he remembers anything else.

Isaac struggles, using Argent's "it happened so fast" line as we move to the Yukimuras' where Stiles is.

—

Noshiko and Yukimura tell Stiles he needs a divine move, and Deaton could help since he knows about the Nemeton. Isaac and Argent share a moment of mourning together, oni infiltrate the sheriff's station, and the credits roll.

—

Afterward, we're at the loft, where Derek cures the twins of their wolfsbane poisoning. He tells them they'll be fine in a few hours, Aiden announcing that they're going to find Lydia. Ethan follows, as Derek asks them if they think they're gonna convince Lydia to go with them.

"I'm gonna try and convince her to run and hide, like any sane person would do," Aiden corrects, Derek asking if Ethan's gonna try and hide Danny.

"Allison's dead, Stiles is dying, what do you think," Ethan spits, asking "You aren't even considering locking Noel up somewhere safe until all this blows over?"

"Of course I am. But Danny wouldn't believe you, Noel would find his way right back to the pack, and Lydia would never run and hide."

"Because of Stiles?" Aiden asks condescendingly, Derek correcting "Because of Scott. You've been trying to find a way into his pack, trying to earn his trust, trying to fight for him. But you've had it wrong the whole time. You don't fight for a leader, you fight for a leader's cause."

"What cause," Aiden asks, Derek answering "Scott's always been about one thing: saving his friends. He will do anything and everything to save the people he cares about. When there's no chance of winning, he keeps fighting. When all hope is lost, he finds another way. When he's beaten down, he stands up again. You want to earn a place in his pack, you want redemption? Find another way to stand and fight."

—

"Stiles and Kira said it was the nemeton that kept it trapped," Scott says as he, Lydia, and Noel enter the clinic. Deaton informs them "The problem is, this isn't even a person you're fighting, it just looks like one. It's a spirit that's taken the shape of a human."

"The shape of my best friend," Scott corrects, Lydia pointing out "Someone caught it once, someone can do it again, right?"

"I don't know," Deaton admits, "this thing was trapped a long time ago, before the nemeton was cut down. It doesn't have the same power anymore."

"Is there anything that has that kind of power?" Noel asks, Deaton saying there's a possibility. He explains that when the tree was whole, its wood used to be used to contain powerful artifacts. Noel's eyes widen, asking "What, like alpha claws?"

"Depends. What alpha?" Deaton asks, Noel hesitantly saying "Derek's mother. He keeps her claws in a wooden box, marked with a triskele, could that be wood from the nemeton?"

"It is," Deaton says, adding "I made it."

—

Void has a scene at the hospital, set to Bad Moon Rising, searching for Melissa McCall before a commercial.

—

At the station, the sheriff and two oni have a standoff, an oni slices Melissa at the hospital, Isaac and Argent share a scene, rinse and repeat.

—

Noel is on the phone, putting it down and saying "Derek's gonna meet us with the box down at the school."

Lydia starts to lose her balance, telling the other three that she senses something is happening that she doesn't understand, and it feels like they're running out of time.

"Yeah, yeah," Stiles says as he limps in with Kira, saying he kinda got that feeling too.

—

Isaac and Argent realize that silver is the weakness of the oni, as we see that Parrish and the sheriff have oni slashes similar to Melissa's, oozing black smoke.

—

Scott drives up to the school in the jeep, Stiles tumbling out with Noel and Lydia supporting him. They go to the door with Kira, as Stiles makes them promise to stick to the plan.

"The plan is to save you," Scott insists, adding "That's the plan I'm going with."

They enter the school and find that it's snowing inside, and it looks like Katashi's garden. Stiles makes a joking comment about how this wasn't part of the plan, and we go to Melissa, who begs McCall to talk to Scott.

—

Derek comes to the school, triskele box in hand, Void waiting for him. He asks Derek if he brought him a present, Derek setting down the box as the twins step in to join him.

"I brought two," he announces, Void taunting "I've heard of an alpha pack, Derek, but not a pack of former alphas. It's a little sad, isn't it?"

"I might not be an alpha anymore," Derek agrees, walking toward Void, "but I can still fight like one." He roars, along with the twins, and the oni draw their swords.

—

Inside the school, the five of them see the nogitsune, Kira drawing her sword as the nogitsune threatens to kill all of them one by one like it promised.

—

After the break, Scott asks where they are, and the nogitsune answers "Between life and death."

"Bardo," Lydia remembers, the nogitsune continuing "But there are no peaceful deities here, Lydia. You're dying, Stiles, and now everyone you care about is dying too."

"What do you mean?" Stiles asks, the nogitsune answering "I've captured almost all of the territories on the board, Stiles... The hospital, the sheriff's station, and now the animal clinic."

It closes its fist, and suddenly two oni are at the clinic with Deaton, who tries his best to fight them but ends up slashed like the other adults.

"Do you know the ritual of seppuku, Stiles?" the nogitsune asks, and when he denies, it explains. "When the samurai disembowels himself with his own sword to maintain his honor, but that's not the cut that kills you. The killing stroke is made by his kaishakunin, who beheads the samurai with his own katana."

The nogitsune turns to Scott, saying his name and revealing that he is Stiles' kaishakunin ('second').

"I'm going to make your best friend kill you, Stiles, and you're going to let him. Because just like you, they're all going to die, everyone touched by an oni, flayed. Unless Scott kills you first."

Stiles asks the nogitsune why it's doing this, and it answers "To win the game."

The oni all draw their swords, Scott and Noel pulling Stiles and Lydia to the middle, both growling as Kira draws her sword.

—

The sheriff, Parrish, and Melissa have scenes showing how weak they feel and how fast the oni slashes are working to kill them, as Kira and the boys fight the oni. Lydia and Stiles watch, and we see Derek and the twins fighting oni as well, as Derek yells that everyone else must be in the school.

He yells for someone to protect the box, Aiden barreling in to retrieve it. Kira's sword gets knocked out of her hands, and Melissa begins to bleed from her mouth.

—

Stiles picks up Kira's sword after the break, putting it in position to stab himself in the stomach. Scott and Stiles call out and tell him to stop, Stiles asking "What if this saves you, what if it saves all of you."

"What if it doesn't," Noel asks back, Lydia adding "Maybe it's just another trick!"

"No more tricks Lydia," the nogitsune promises, as Noel asks "Why should we believe you?!"

The nogitsune repeats "No more tricks, Noel," before turning its attention. "End it, Scott, let your friend fall on his own sword. Do for him what he cannot do for himself."

Stiles' hand trembles, the nogitsune egging Scott on. Noel watches with his legs shaking, calling out "Stiles, please!"

Stiles continues to tremble, noting that he doesn't have a reflection and there are school things all around them buried in snow. He stops, looking around as the nogitsune continues to talk. It tells Stiles he has no more moves left, Stiles disagreeing "Yes I do. A divine move."

The nogitsune seems displeased, as we cut to the battle outside, Argent and Isaac joining. Isaac takes the triskele box and runs at Derek's instruction, taking it to Scott.

—

"Stop fighting them, it's an illusion," Stiles announces, continuing "You have to stop fighting them, it looks real, and it feels real, but Scott, you gotta trust me, it's an illusion."

Scott and Noel turn and face the oni and nogitsune, and despite being slashed several times, the boys and Kira pave a path to the door and break through to enter the school.

They all look down at their bodies and see that they're okay, Scott saying so in disbelief before being tossed aside by Void along with Kira.

Noel braces himself and growls, standing between Void and Lydia and Stiles. Void tuts, asking Noel "Shouldn't you be outside with your beau?"

Noel doesn't say anything, growling again and standing his ground as Void approaches them. He grits his teeth, saying "This was my game. Think you can beat me at my game?"

—

Outside, Aiden retrieves the last silver arrow, killing the final oni. But he does so a second too late, looking down and discovering the oni's sword buried deep in his stomach. Ethan calls out his twin's name, Aiden pulling out the sword and dropping it to the floor.

—

"Divine move? Divine move?!" Void asks as he approaches the three of them, Noel spreading out his arms to protect both Stiles and Lydia as Void asks "You think you have any moves at all? You can kill the oni, but me? Me? I'm a thousand years old, you can't kill me!"

"We can change you," Lydia says in retaliation, Void looking amused. Stiles reminds him that he forgot about the scroll, Void supplying almost nervously "'Change the host.'"

"You can't be a fox and a wolf," Noel agrees, as Scott comes in and bites Void on his shoulder. Noel pushes Lydia and Stiles even further back as a precaution, and Kira comes in to deliver the killing blow via a sword through Void's abdomen.

The lights begin to flicker as Void dies, a fly coming out of his mouth. Isaac comes in, catching it in the triskele box and sealing it tightly.

Void convulses before his skin begins to crack, collapsing to dust as the adults who were slashed begin to recover.

Stiles collapses to the ground, and suddenly we go to commercial.

—

When we come back, Stiles wakes up, everyone relieved to see him awake.

"Oh God I fainted, didn't I?" Stiles asks, everyone sharing a small laugh.

"We're alive," Stiles says like he doesn't believe it, adding "Are we all alive?"

Scott's smile fades, but he says "Yeah... We're okay." Lydia stands, looking down the hall as we go outside to where Aiden sits with black blood pouring slowly out of his mouth.

"Does it hurt you as much as it hurts me?" he asks Ethan shakily, as Ethan confirms and gives a small sob. Aiden says a small "okay," eliciting a laugh from his brother, saying softly "Lydia never believed I was one of the good guys anyways."

"She'll believe me," Derek assures him, as Ethan holds his brother and shushes him softly. Aiden lays back, finally gone, as Lydia runs out of the school with Noel behind her. Lydia runs into Stiles' arms when she realizes what's happened, Noel running past her, going toward Derek.

As we overlook Derek standing up and stepping away from Aiden's body, we hear Noel's footfalls over the music, as he sprints down the stairs and straight into Derek's arms. Derek catches him and lifts him off his feet, holding him with an arm around his waist and the other cradling Noel's head. He kisses the side of it and bends forward into the embrace, before we see Scott's reaction and one more shot of Lydia in Stiles' arms.

—

Noshiko and Yukimura clear a go board and we see Scott cry in his mother's embrace, as Isaac and Argent leave the apartment with the triskele box.

—

We see Malia at the school and Scott giving her lessons on how to summon her claws, as Ethan and Danny have a conversation where Danny reveals that he always knew Ethan was a werewolf. The sheriff watches Stiles clean the walls of his room, Deaton tells Scott about regression to the mean, and we hear Derek talking about how he had a dream that was more like a nightmare.

—

We see Derek, sitting on Noel's bed, Noel standing in the doorway and listening.

"What happened in the nightmare?" Noel asks, coming and gently sitting next to Derek. Derek hesitates, then explains "It started with these hunters who caught Peter and me, after we left Cora. It was a family of them, led by a guy named Severo. They broke into the loft."

We see Derek fighting these hunters, who demand to hear about La Loba.

Derek spits some blood, telling them "You should just go ahead and kill me, because you're never gonna find Cora."

The hunters say that they don't know who the hell Cora is, as a smoke bomb is thrown and Derek drops down to hide. The hunters try and find the source of the smoke, as a deep rumbling growl is heard and they start freely firing. A gun cocks and Derek looks right down the barrel as it fires, and we hear Noel ask in a sweet soothing tone "Oh, baby... Who was the one who shot you?"

Back in Noel's room, he scoots closer to Derek, who looks up to catch his breath as Noel takes his hand.

"There's a lot of myths about how people can be turned into a werewolf," Derek says, taking Noel's one hand and cradling it between both of his. "Usually a bite, and there's one about rainwater."

"Drinking fresh rainwater from a wolf's paw print," Noel supplies, as Derek looks at him and nods. He continues, "But... There's another one."

We see Kate asking Chris back in season one if you can get turned from a scratch, Chris answering "If the claws go deep enough, maybe." We then see Peter slash Kate's throat, as Noel furrows his brow and inspects Derek's face.

He curls his hand into a loose fist, crooking his finger into an ASL letter x and using the digit to tilt Derek's face toward him.

"It was just a dream, babe, why do you look so upset?" he asks, as Derek says nervously "Because I don't remember waking up. Tell me, how do you know? How do you know if you're still dreaming?"

"You try to read something or you count your fingers. You have extra fingers in dreams," Noel explains, as Derek's eyes widen and he moves one hand away from where theirs are joined. He flattens Noel's palm against his own, Noel spreading his fingers so Derek can see that he has six of them.

We then see Derek in the present, falling to his knees, a bullet wound bleeding on his torso. "It's real," he whispers, looking up as we see Kate emerge from the smoke.

"You're real," he says in shock, as Kate smirks and greets "That's right, Derek. And if seeing me is a surprise, watch this."

Her face begins to morph, turning blue and fangs sprouting as we cut suddenly to black.

—

End of season 3b.