Nervous Like Ning & Skun

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“Nervous Like Ning & Skun”
Ōban Star-Racers episode
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 16
Guest stars	None
Written by	Savin Yeatman-Eiffel
Directed by	Thomas Romain Savin Yeatman-Eiffel
Production no.	116
Original airdate	25 September 2006
Episode chronology
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"Fierce Like Lord Furter"	"Optimised Like Ondai"
Episode chronology

"Nervous Like Ning & Skun" is an episode of the series Ōban Star-Racers.

Facing both internal and external conflicts, Molly races hard to win her team some points and it looks like she may actually pull it off. However, her hopes are short-lived when two dangerous sisters take it upon themselves to 'educate' the humans in true racing.

[edit] Plot

“

"We've fought two races on Oban already, but have yet to score a single point. Our opponents...and Oban itself, are proving to be alot tougher than I expected. I'm starting to wonder if I'll ever see my mother again. I need the Ultimate Prize to make us a family again. I've got to keep on fighting, I've got to!" ~Eva

”

Molly, lying in her hammock, is suddenly awakened by a strange rumbling coming from outside. Over in the other end of the room Jordan continues to sleep peacefully, oblivious to the sound. Getting out of bed, Molly walks to an opening in the wall to look outside. Looking down she sees that they are floating over a 'sea' of huge lilypads and hears more rumbling. She wonders if it's an earthquake, but Jordan appears mentioning that it would be more correct to call it an 'Oban-quake'. As she looks outside she hears strange noises below and recognizes them as the songs of the creatures that saved her and Jordan from Furter. To Molly, they don't seem bothered by the quake; they sound peaceful and happy. Jordan seems uninterested as she listens to the songs then suddenly notices an Avatar Ship launching into the atmosphere far in the distance. Jordan wants Molly to come inside before she catches a cold and reaches out and takes her arm. Caught off-guard when Jordan suddenly pulls her, she spins and lands against his chest. After a moment of hesitation they look into each other eyes for a few awkward moments before quickly separating, visually embarrassed.

After changing into their uniforms, they decend to the lower level, but are still unable to talk to each other about what happened. They walk to the Arrow and both try to say something at the same time but again are not able to. Instead, they settle for a playful smile and prepare to enter the racer. As Molly climbs the ladder, Don Wei appears and walks up to the ship. Molly defensively asks if he has any words of advise, but Don seems distracted and doesn't answer at first. He later says that even though they are behind in the race, each of their oppenents, with the exception of Sul, has only scored once. He tells them that they still have a chance to get back into the race; Molly understands. Then Don reminds them that they have worked and struggled too hard to get to Oban, and that they owe it to themselves to do better. The temple sends out light beams signaling the start of the third race. Don tells her to go and Molly reassures him and climbs into the pilot seat. As Don watches from the edge of the launch platform, Molly seems to "almost" believe that Don might 'actually' believe in her.

After the light beams disappear, the racers are launched from their modules into the forest of giant lilypads. Entering the forest, Molly radios Koji asking where the first gate is. On his display Koji says there are six gates all arranged in a straight line, and that she needs to be careful since the first three are very close together. The racers are all grouped close together as they spot the first ring. Furter is in the lead until Kross rams him, knocking Furter off-course and causing him to miss the ring as Molly and the others fly through. Moving towards the second ring, Sul flies around and past Kross causing the Crog to fire on him in order to stop Sul's 'arrogance'. After a vicious blasting from the Crog, Sul is forced to swerve away and miss the gate as Kross, Aikka and Ning and Skun fly through the second ring. Approaching the ring, Muir pushes past Molly through the ring. After stabalizing the Arrow, Molly passes the ring and catches up to Muir. Jordan blasts Muir's ship allowing them to slip by and through the third ring. Muir, distracted by Jordan's shooting, crashes into the side of the ring and flies off to the side. The front group of Kross, Aikka, and Ning and Skun continue to speed through the forest towards the fourth ring, with Molly not far behind. Later, Don tells her that they are in fourth place with three rings left with Molly reassuring herself that she can catch them.

As Molly gains ground on the front pack, Ning and Skun look back to see Molly coming up behind them. Nodding to each other, they attempt to lose the Arrow by swerving between a tangle of large roots. Molly follows them and dodges through the roots but bumps into one root slightly. The jolt causes a large group of strange blue, blob-like creatures to fly into the air. Jordan notices them flying around the ship, saying that he would "like" one of them. The creatures cling to the Arrow preventing Molly from seeing and she spins the Arrow to knock them off. When Stan asks why she's off course, Molly comments that she's "helping Jordan find a friend". Flying through the fourth ring, they catch up to Ning and Skun again. The short-haired pilot (Skun) mentions that the humans are getting clingy and the long-haired pilot (Ning) notes that the pilot 'is' female. Skun dismisses the comment saying that Molly's not like them and that they should "introduce" themselves. They separate in different directions and disappear. Not seeing where they went Molly continues forward, but Ning and Skun appear behind the Arrow and begin to fire on them. Surprised by the sneak attack, Jordan returns fire but has difficulty targeting the smaller racers. As he is focused on Ning's racer, Skun flies up behind the Arrow. She jumps out of her seat and runs to the front of her 'bike' and changes her hand, causing it to grow very large with very long, razor sharp fingernails. She rips into the back of the Arrow creating a large hole and climbs in.

Sitting in his turret Jordan hears strange noises behind him and calls to Molly. As he does so, Skun's hand reaches around and grabs Jordan's face from behind. Hearing noises below, Molly calls to Jordan asking what's wrong and notices someone is trying to open the hatch behind her. Below, Skun is trying to open the hatch but can't reach, so instead she begins punching and tearing a hole in the floor near Molly. Molly is scared by what is happening as Skun laughs at her. Molly attempts to kick Skun's hand away from the hole but Skun proclaims that she's stronger than Molly. Jordan tries to attack Skun with a fire exstinguisher but she easily catches it with her other hand and says that Jordan should be more concerned with his own life instead of Molly's. As Skun attacks him, Jordan sprays the exstinguisher into Skun's face, blinding her left eye. She staggers out of the ship back onto her own racer. Ning, concerned, flies back to see what happened. Molly calls down to Jordan but he says he's all right. Ning asks her sister if she's alright, and they combine their two racer 'bikes' into one larger racer.

Ahead, Kross and Aikka fly through the fifth ring. Aikka looks back to see what's happening and smiles as he sees Molly fly through the ring and catching up to him. Back in the control room, Don becomes excited, mentioning that they are in third with one ring left and that hope is not lost afterall. Behind Molly, Skun targets the Arrow with her racer's cannon. Kross and Aikka fly through the last gate in first and second place, with Molly quickly approaching the gate. Molly lets out a cheer just as Skun fires her cannon. Koji detects the shots and tells Molly that two heat-seeking, plasma blasts are approaching from behind. He tells her to swing away but Molly says she's almost to the gate. Stan says they won't make it and yells for Don to say something, but Don Wei can only feebily wonder if they can still make it. Stan tells Molly that points won't matter if they are blown up and Don yells out as the blasts reach the racer. At the last moment, Molly angles the Arrow up hard just as she reaches the gate and performs a rolling backflip, dodging the blasts as she goes. Don is shocked by the move and seems to recognize it. Just before she reaches the ground Molly pulls up and the plasma blasts impact the ground, creating a violent blast causing the Arrow to crash into the forest floor. Aikka can only watch helplessly. Molly sits up from the floor just in time to watch Ning and Skun fly through the last ring causing it to crumble. She is crushed, realizing she had come so close to finally getting some points.

Later that evening back in the module, Molly stands on the balcony watching the sunset. Jordan walks up with some drinks and asks if Don Wei is still hiding in his room. Below, Stan complains to Koji how poorly Don is acting and is upset that Don only seems to be concerned with his own feelings and not the whole team; Don listens to them in the dark. Jordan thanks Molly for saving them earlier and compliments her on the maneuver she used. Seeing Molly still depressed, Jordan attempts to confess that he has feelings for her and that she's more than just a 'partner' to him, and tries to reach out and hold her hand. However, Molly is "suddenly distracted" by the sounds of more creatures singing. Nearby, Aikka also hears the singing and noticing Molly and Jordan, he smiles and goes back inside. Jordan again tries to talk to Molly but now she's "distracted" by a trail of glowing dots on the forest floor. Jordan says that taking the Arrow to investigate would be a bad idea. Suddenly, Aikka flies up from below on G'dar and offers to take Molly down to investigate. Jordan attempts to convince her not to but Aikka tells him that he'll watch after Molly. As they pull away, Jordan jumps onto G'dar's back and sits between Molly and Aikka saying he won't "leave them alone together".

They fly down to the forest floor and notice that the glowing dots are in fact the lion-maned humanoids, but their fur is glowing and they are covered in strange glowing marks. Jordan says he knows a 'shortcut' and they continue to follow them. They emerge into a clearing and see the creatures all around them and more creatures appear behind them but ignore them and walk by. Now trapped in the middle of the crowd, Aikka insults Jordan's so-called 'shortcut'. The creatures begin to sing and their bodies glow brighter. Stones on the ground begin to grow glowing legs and eyes, causing them to resemble eerie-looking insects, and begin to scitter towards the middle. Molly suddenly finds herself on top of one of the rock insects and Jordan and Aikka both race each other to 'save' her. The rocks reach the middle and begin to stack themselves onto each other and begin forming walls. When it's all over, a new temple has appeared and the creatures stop glowing and appear to fall unconscious. Aikka suggests they leave and they slowly sneak through the creatures. As Molly passes one of the creatures, it turns its head and stares at her but says nothing. Molly can only stare back in shock but Jordan pushes her forward.

Aikka flies Jordan and Molly back to their module and wishes them a good night. Molly and Jordan walk into the module and notice the light in Don Wei's room is still on and Molly gets a concerned look. Jordan tries to reassure her that he'll come around before the next race, but Molly rebutts him saying she could care less about Don; earning points is what matters. Don overhears them and walks to a window and stares out at the moon. He has a flashback of himself standing in a crowd with little Eva. Maya is preparing to perform a dangerous new maneuver and Don is concerned. She takes off and performs the same looping move that Molly used in the race to avoid the plasma blasts. After the demonstration, Don watches as little Eva imitates Maya's move with her hand. The flashback fades and Don is sitting at his desk staring at the picture of his family. Putting the picture down, he stands and leaves the room, clearly shaken. The last words from his mouth, "No...no...it can't be. It's impossible!"

[edit] Standings

Current points as of the third race "The Lilypad Forest"

Pos	Racer	Points Awarded	Total Points	Points (Behind)	Note
1	Sül	--	12	0
2	Ning & Skun	3	12	0
3	Kross	9	12	0
4	O	--	6	-6
5	Ondai	--	6	-6
6	Aikka	6	6	-6
7	Eva (Molly)	--	--	-12
8	Furter	--	--	-12
9	Muir	--	--	-12