Let's build a racing pod

I had many questions for Irina. First off was what Al meant when he said dynamite made him "itchy". Is he some kind of cartoon villain!? It would also imply that Irina's shoved dynamite in his mouth before.

And second... "HOW THE HELL DOES THIS DAMN POD STEER!?"

Immediately after rousing Al, Irina whisked me over to the starting line of the surf ski races. She didn't elaborate anything, throwing me into what I assume to be the driver's seat of this weird pod. And when I say pod, I mean pod. The ride we're in is pretty much just one giant plexiglass pod, sort of like a cockpit on a fighter plane.

The other combatants were in similar pods, but unlike me, they seemed relaxed, likely because they knew how these things worked.

"Don't worry, the rules blurb will come on, but you'll need to be fast," Irina smirked from the next pod over.

It looked like we'd be competing against each other here. Speaking of competition, I recognized quite a few of the other combatants. There was Al, who I just met, Jade, Delina, Suzie, Meredith, and even Selena and Worm. There was also some dog guy in a red overcoat along with a girl who's head resembled an incandescent light bulb of all things. The names that displayed above those two's heads were Dick Barrows and Annie Faster, respectively.

Flora then appeared as a hologram before us to go over the rules. "Now this is easy. First, you have 2 minutes 22 seconds and 1 millisecond to craft your ideal racing pod. You can choose any design or just go basic if you think you're the best ever and want to "make things more fun". If you wish to use a design you've used in the past, just select that. Once the allotted time is up, the race will begin with a 3 second countdown. The course is the basic Normandy sky-sea-floor track. And with that... you may begin construction... NOW!"

Some "helpful" explanation! I still had no idea what to do. Looking for reference, I watched the other combatants. Dick instantly summoned what appeared to be a WWI German Fokker, Annie summoned a hearse with a giant light bulb on the back, and Al summoned what appeared to be a coffin decked out with a hot-rod engine and a front license-plate labeled, "SURF-U-LA". Jade's pod was a giant dragon, or maybe just her hair while Worm's appeared to be an asteroid.

Both Delina and Suzie appeared to have similar pods, each being akin to a piano with a giant stereo speaker on the back. Meredith was clearly just as baffled as I was, but clearly didn't care as she was slapping whatever looked cool onto her car. Selena was literally just sitting there smiling, not even bothering to modify anything.

"Well someone's cocky. Anyway, I'll give you a little hint," Irina smiled as she showed me her screen. "See, there are parts, but if ya go with the "in my head" option, the pod will read your mind and modify the design. For example..."

In an instant, Irina's pod turned into a Mongolian death worm decked out in Christmas lights and a Santa hat. Seeing that erased all my confusion, replacing it with a heartwarming smile. She really has come to appreciate the world... Perhaps it's time I stop running and face my problems. It may be too late after 500 years, but for peace of mind, I want to-

"30 seconds remaining!"

AH CRAP! I'm still in a basic pod! I don't want to try replicating what Selina's doing, so the mind reader option is my best bet. But I have no idea how it will-"

"10! 9!"

Ugh, whatever!

"-1, IT'S TIME TO RACE!"

With a mighty splash, all our pods landed in the water. From the nearby stands, I could see Lyn, decked out in full cheer uniform, face paint, and even spiked up hair cheering madly. In contrast, the rest of the crowd just sat there, politely smiling, but at the starting line, all eyes were on me.

"Uh... Hana? Why'd ya go with something... like that?" Irina nervously asked, her face a tad red.

Huh? Why is she so flustered? D- Did that mind reader accidentally create something dirty? It can't be! The only thing I could think of was me and Irina trekking this supercontinent of a world-"

"Uh, quite the animated design you got, Hana Hangetsu. This is your first time, yes? So I guess I'll delay the start by 30 seconds, just so I can show you what your pod looks like," Flora nervously chuckled.

A small holographic image then flashed before me. It was of Irina smiling and walking ahead of me as we walked along a small-scaled Neopangea. That was really cute, but why was she- Oh...

It just came to me that I had made me and Irina trekking the world my racing pod. Now that I got a better look outside, I could see my pod now had more width, about the length of street on either side of me.

"Well, it's what's in your heart, and that's what matters," Selena smiled as my face went flush red.

"And for the other first-timer, here's this," Flora's voice growled as I assumed she showed Meredith the abomination of an art piece she had just crafted.

And with that out of the way, the start timer for the race slowly began ticking down. It was then that the original problem I had returned in full force; HOW THE HELL DOES THIS THING EVEN WORK!?

Frantically looking from side to side, I noticed the other combatants holding up their hands as if they were holding on to some invisible steering devices. I decided to mimic them, but it just made me feel dumb. There was nothing to grab, and there was nothing to indicate my pod was even drivable.

"3... 2... 1... GO!"

But as Flora said those words, a holographic steering wheel, gas pedal, and brake pedal materialized. But me being too shocked, ended up not slamming down on the gas instantly, resulting in all but Meredith, leaving me behind in the dust.

"Lol, you always had bad reaction time. Well, see ya, sucker!" Meredith taunted as she slammed on he gas.

But her taunt fell flat on it's face, or rather, her lopsided pod fell with an unceremonious SPLAT on it's side.

"Oof! That's why ya gotta choose your designs carefully," Flora frowned.

"No fair! I wanna race!"

As Meredith's pod slowly began churning along like a turtle, I decided to hit the gas, and in a flash, I was off.