Author's note: Hi, Spindle Berry! Yeah, the last chapter definitely wasn't the best one I've ever written, and I knew that it was going to be cheesy the moment I wrote it. But that's my writing style, and I can't guarantee that there won't be any more cheesy moments later on. I wasn't offended at all, but thanks for your concern. Thank you and everyone else for taking time to read my story. Now, here's the next chapter. Warning, this one is very looong!

Chapter 9

The next morning I left my home and took a walk toward the park. I really needed to clear my head of all thoughts and just start over again from the beginning. So many things have changed in the last two days. Getting contacted by Leon and Chance about a Project Etybonan that could be a threat to the city, a mysterious woman that I didn't know but she seemed to know about me, the fight in the mall that forced me to use my powers and still almost ending up getting killed, and then being saved by Electricia who ended up being my own mother. Not only that, I was really beginning to worry about myself. All these changes probably weren't doing my sanity any good. Also, I went through such a wide array of emotions yesterday that I still felt burned out even then. It was probably a sign of completely shattered nerves. I was most worried about my temper out of all things. I always had a problem of controlling it if something made me angry enough. The events of the past couple days saw me lose it almost explosively. Yesterday I almost killed Leon with my temper. What could happen tomorrow? Just how far would I go if I completely lost control of myself? I actually began to wonder if it was something I was going to need counseling with.

I reached the park and was pleasantly surprised to see it empty. It was still early and it was a Saturday, so all the kids were probably busy watching morning cartoons. I really needed some time alone right then anyway. I went over to the swings and sat down in one. I moved it just enough to swing about a foot in either direction. I just stared at the ground and thought about how much my life had changed. It was just so much to think about. I wished that everything was just like it was last week. Sure it was boring, but it was normal and everything made sense.

"You know, thinking too hard can be hazardous to your health," a voice said from behind me.

Surprised by the sudden voice, I shot up out of the swing and almost stumbled on my own feet in the process. Turning around, I saw a figure dressed completely in black and wore a full mask covering her entire head. I knew that she was a woman by her features, but there was no way I could tell who she was. Who was this woman, and what did she want?

"Who are you?" I asked her.

"You don't know?" she asked back in a confused voice.

"Well, how could I know? You're wearing a mask."

She chuckled. "Well, that could explain it a little. I'm still surprised that you don't know. In that case, just call me a friend."

I sighed. I really wasn't in the mood for this. I came to the park for some quiet thinking time, not to have a conversation with a stranger, although it seemed like that was how I was starting them lately. "Alright friend, I want to be left alone right now. What do you want with me?"

"It has nothing to do with what I want," she told me. "It's has to do with what you want to know."

What I wanted to know? What did she mean by that? I felt my frustration staring to grow, but I quickly put a clamp on it. "What does that mean?" I asked her.

"It's precisely what I mean," she said. "There's something that's been bothering you for the last two days and you want to know about it."

I raised an eyebrow in surprise. That was too good an answer to be just a guess. Was she this mysterious woman that started all of this? I decided to test her. "Okay, then. Tell me what's been bothering me for the past two days."

"Unless you have been preoccupied with something else, I believe it has something to do with a Project Etybonan, am I right?"

That confirmed it for me. She had to be that woman. "Are you that woman that contacted Leon and Chance?"

"I don't know," she replied. "I could be, or maybe I'm not. It's whoever you think I am."

Now she was starting to play games with me. My patience with her was evaporating faster than the morning fog. Still, I managed to keep my cool. "What do you mean by that? Either you are or you aren't. It's that simple."

"No, things are never that simple," she said. "Believe me, I know. Besides, weren't you the one sitting there in the swing wishing that your life was a lot simpler these days?"

I was almost floored by that statement. What was this woman, some sort of psychic? How could she know that about me? "Okay, who are you really?" I demanded. "How do you know so much about me? What do you know about this Project Etybonan?"

"It was like I said before, I'm a friend, someone that I thought you knew," she told me. "As for Project Etybonan, I know about it, and you will as well very soon."

"What?" She was confusing the heck out of me. "What does that…"

"I have to go," she interrupted. "You're a lot smarter than you realize, and you should be able to figure things out. See you around." She started to leave, but then turned around. "By the way, you might want to look in the mirror. You might be surprised by what you see." With that she walked away from the park.

I just stood there in stunned silence. I thought that my life couldn't get any stranger than this, and just when I was on the verge of…

RRRIIINNNGGG! RRRIIINNNGGG!

My eyes shot open. For a few moments I didn't know where I was or what was going on. Then I realized that I was asleep and it had all been a dream. Man, I've been having some weird dreams lately. It all seemed so real though. Then again, all dreams seem real when you're sleeping. My phone was ringing. I frowned, thing that it was Allison again. I thought that I told her about that, especially since there was no real reason for her to call me early on a Saturday. Only it wasn't that early as bright sunlight was already streaming through my window. I looked at my clock and saw that it was just after eleven in the morning. It wasn't unusual for me to sleep in late on the weekends, but even that was a little late for me. I reached over and picked up the phone.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Jess, is that you?" It was Chance's voice.

"Chance? Are you alright? What happened to you at the mall yesterday? I didn't see you around anywhere."

"Oh, well," he hesitated. "Leon wanted me to go find some help while he stalled the robbers. I think that he just wanted me out of the way and keep me safe. I not quite as skilled a fighter as he is, but I am learning. I heard that you held your own, too."

"Just barely," I told him.

"Still, I wish that I was there to help him," he said. "I think that he's a little overprotective of me. I mean, sure he's my older brother only by two years, but I wish that he'd let me do things on my own. That's why I hate having an older sibling. Don't you?"

"I wouldn't know," I said. "I'm an only child."

"Lucky you. Be glad that you are. Older siblings can be a pain in the neck sometimes, no matter how much you love them."

"I can only imagine." I told him. "So why are you calling me? I doubt that it was to discuss older brothers."

He hesitated again but this time for a while before he said, "Leon told me what happened at the mall between you two. You really freaked him out, you know. He told me that he'd never seen anyone as angry as you were. He thought that you were actually going to kill him. I wanted to call you last night to talk about it but he didn't want me to. He's gone to the movies right now, so I just went ahead and called you anyway. I just wanted to know if you're alright."

I felt really terrible then. I had no intention of scaring or even hurting him like that. I wondered if he truly hated me now. I wouldn't blame him one bit if he did. "I'm fine now," I said softly. "I really don't know what came over me. I'm not that violent a person. I mean, I do lose my temper quite easily if someone really pissed me off, but I would never go that far. I think that it was because so much had changed for me over the past couple days and I was just so stressed out by it all that I took it out on him. Tell him that I'm truly sorry for that and I hope that he forgives me."

"Well, I don't know," Chance said. "He seemed so upset about it. He might eventually, but I wouldn't hold my breath for him forgiving you quickly."

"I wouldn't blame him," I sighed. "That still doesn't change what I told him, though. I don't want any more part of this. It's turning me into someone that I don't want to be. What went on at the mall yesterday should never have happened. Your brother and I almost got killed, and I came that close to killing him myself. I just can't be involved in this anymore. I hope that you understand."

"I understand what you're saying," he told me. "Like it or not, though, you're already involved in this. Your dad could still be working for Project Etybonan. He could be working on things that could be a threat to Metroville. Doesn't that concern you?"

"Of course it does," I told him. "I would love for him to explain to me what's really going on with all this, to tell me that he's not involved and what Etybonan means. But I just can't do this anymore. I don't want to use my powers again and hurt anyone else, even if they are criminals. I just can't take that chance. I'm through, and don't try to change my mind about this. My mind's already made up."

"Alright, I won't push the issue," he said. "It'll be disappointing not to have your help, though. By the way, how'd it go with your mother last night?"

"Excuse me?" I was confused by that.

"Leon told me that your mom is Electricia and that she just found out about you," he said. "Did she ground you at all or something?"

"Actually, no she didn't," I told him. "She was very upset with me about it and gave a lecture, but she didn't ground me. She also told me a story about herself, but that was mainly it."

"Wow, you are so lucky," he said with some amazement. "If my mother ever found out that Leon and I were supers, well, let's just say that she'll do a little more to us than just ground us until we were twenty-one."

My mouth dropped to the floor. I couldn't believe what I've just heard. "Whoa, wait a sec! Back up! Are you telling me that your parents don't even know that you two are supers?"

"Well, um," he stuttered a little. "Okay, yeah, that's exactly what I'm telling you."

I shook my head in amazement. "And I thought that I hid something huge from my parents for all these years. How are you two getting away with this? How'd you even get your suits, for that matter? I'm sure that you didn't make them yourselves or ask your parents to get them for Christmas."

"Actually, it's very easy to hide our activities from them," he replied. "I'm surprised that we were able to get away with it this long. As for our suits, no, we didn't make them. We got them from our uncle. He's a super that lives in Munichberg."

"Did he make the suits?" I asked.

"No, he didn't," he said. "All supers get their suits from one person. You might be surprised who it is, and…" He stopped suddenly, and then he said, "I have to go. Leon's back. Listen, I know that you don't want to be involved anymore, but I'd like to leave you our number, just in case. You never know what could happen later."

I was about to say no, but I knew that he was right. I didn't know what could happen later on. I grabbed a pen and piece of paper from my nightstand. "Okay, go ahead and leave it," I told him.

"Alright, it's 555-7461. Have you got that?"

"Yeah, I got it," I said once I finished writing it down. "Just tell Leon that I'm extremely sorry for what I did, okay?"

"Yeah, I'll tell him. I'll talk to you later." The line clicked as he hung up.

I stared down at the number in my hand for the longest time. I wasn't sure what to do with it. Part of me wanted to tear it up and throw it away, while the other half wanted me to keep it around just in case something really did happen. I wasn't sure what could happen, but you never know. With a small sigh, I folded it up and stuck it next to my phone.

I figured that I was wasting time just sitting there in bed, especially since it was close to noon, so I got up and put on some casual clothing. I then went downstairs to see Mom ironing some clothes in the living room. For some reason, I was slightly disappointed. I didn't know why, maybe it was that I was expecting her to do something, well, super. Probably something like having the plug of the iron on her finger instead of in the wall socket. That was something that I would love to see someday. Still, it was a stupid thought to begin with. Yes, I found out yesterday that my mother was Electricia, but that didn't mean that all sense of normalcy around the house was thrown out the window by that.

"Hi, honey," she said when she saw me.

"Hi, Mom," I greeted. "Has Dad come back home yet?"

"No, he hasn't," she replied. I then saw her frown a little. "He called earlier and told me that he had to stay there a little longer. That must be one great project they have him working on down there."

Almost immediately alarm bells went off inside my head. Something about that didn't seem right. Dad had never been gone to work this long before. What kind of project was he working on? Was it part of Project Etybonan? If it was, then just how involved was he? Did he know what was going on or was he doing this willingly? What if he was in trouble at this very moment? What if he was just working overtime on just a normal project? So many questions were racing through my mind that it was hard to keep track of all of them.

It wasn't just those questions, though. I was also questioning whether or not I should tell Mom what was going on. The questions for that were a lot harder for me to answer than the ones I had for my Dad. It seemed extremely ridiculous. You would think that it would be a no-brainer and that I should just tell her everything I knew. It just wasn't that simple, though. I was thinking that not only did I not want any more part in this, but I didn't want Mom involved, either. I was still thinking of her as my mother and not as Electricia and I guess that I didn't want anything to happen to her. At the same time, I knew that she could more than likely defend herself in any dangerous situation. According to her story, she had been doing this for nearly twenty years. That meant that she was a year or two older than I was right now when she first started. Still, if what I heard was true, this whole thing sounded too dangerous for either one of us, although if we…

"Are you ready?"

"What?" Mom said something to me that I didn't quite catch.

"I asked if you were ready to go get your new super suit," she repeated.

"Oh, um…yeah, I suppose."

"Great," she said. "Let me finish up my ironing and then we can go."

I didn't tell her that I was beginning to have second thoughts about getting a suit of my own. Yesterday I thought that it would be awesome, but I was also not really thinking clearly. Now that I had more time to think about it, I wasn't quite so sure if I wanted one. I mean, getting my very own super suit would seem like I was making a commitment to being a hero at that time. I didn't think I was quite ready for one just yet. Still, Mom was right and that I never knew what could happen, and I didn't want to disappoint her by voicing my opinion, so ten minutes later I found myself reluctantly climbing into Mom's truck and we were on our way to wherever they made the suits.

"So, is this like some sort of super vehicle or something?" I asked.

She chuckled. "Nope," she answered. "It's just your regular '93 Ford Explorer. I don't have a real need for a super vehicle. Remember, I can travel through power lines to get to places."

"Oh, yeah." That was still really freaky. She could actually turn into this electric pulse and travel through the power lines to get to wherever she needed to be. I was going to ask her how she was able to do that later.

"So where do we actually get the suits, some sort of Supers 'R Us?" I asked her.

"I would prefer to surprise you," she said.

We continued to drive on until we were leaving the city behind and were entering the countryside. I begin to wonder how far we had to go until we reached our destination, wherever it was. In the meantime, I passed some of the time by looking out of the window at the countryside. It was really beautiful with lush green fields and orchards and very few houses. I wouldn't mind living out here someday, that is if Metroville's suburbs haven't made it out this far by then. By the way they were growing, I wouldn't be surprised if they would be out this far by the time I was able to live on my own.

I saw that we were approaching a very large mansion. I couldn't tell exactly what type of mansion it was or even who might've lived there. As we got closer, though. I definitely recognized it, and with that I knew who lived there. My jaw dropped and my eyes bugged out of my head. No way! It couldn't be her mansion, could it? It was impossible! This had to be some kind of joke, but as we turned into the long entryway, I definitely knew that it wasn't. I probably shouldn't have been that much surprised, but I was.

"No way!" I exclaimed. "Edna Mode? The billionaire fashion designer? She makes the suits?"

"Yes, she does," Mom told me. "I told you it would be a surprise."

Yes, it was definitely a surprise, but it wasn't a pleasant one. She was known throughout Metroville as 'Crazy E'. It was mainly because her old mansion burned down seventeen years earlier, well, actually more like exploded sky-high. Everybody says that she caused the explosion, although they didn't know exactly why. Not only that, her new mansion was strange. Sure, her mansion looked normal on the outside, and I could presume that it looked normal on the inside since I've never seen it, and she had a very expansive but normal looking lawn and a few fountains, but surrounding the whole estate was an actual laser fence. It was a single red beam about eight feet high, about an inch thick, and supported across dozens of metal poles about ten feet high that went around the whole perimeter. The whole thing seemed very impractical, and the amount of power it probably needed, not to mention the bill, had to be immense. It was probably just something flashy and completely unnecessary. That was one thing I hated about rich people. They always wanted to show off their wealth to the world, things like buying a dozen Ferraris, a half dozen private jets and yachts, mansions with about a million rooms, thousand acre yards, and a swimming pool the size of Lake Superior, and in this case, an entire laser fence surrounding the mansion. It was like they were saying, 'Look at me! I'm rich and you're not! Ha, ha, ha!' Still, she was one of the world's best fashion designers, so it would probably make some sense that she designed super suits as well.

"Mom, she's crazy," I complained. "She blew up her own house, for God's sake."

"She did not blow up her house, Jessica," Mom told me. "At least, not intentionally."

That caught me a little off guard. "What? You mean that she really did? What happened?"

"It's a very long story," she said.

'Isn't everything,' I thought to myself.

We pulled up to what I presumed was the entrance. The laser fence was continuous, but it was the only place where the road continued on toward the mansion. Mom stopped the truck just short of the beam. I wondered if Edna would know that we were there. I didn't see any cameras or monitors or even a call button anywhere. At that moment, I heard a mechanical noise and then a black pole slid out from the ground right next to the truck. Immediately a point of light appeared from it and then an image shimmered into view. It was a holographic picture of a tall, muscle bound man wearing a suit and sunglasses. He looked like one of those guys that came from the CIA or something.

"Do you have an appointment?" he asked in a very deep voice.

"I'm just a friend passing through," Mom told him. "I just…"

He interrupted her. "All visitors are required to notify…"

He was then interrupted himself by a very short old woman beating him over the head with a rolled-up newspaper. They both disappeared out of view. I knew that it was Edna Mode herself doing that to him. I chuckled to myself seeing such a huge man being handled so easily by a short old lady.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to do that?" she told him off the picture. "Go on, get out of here! Make yourself useful for once! Feed the dogs, check the power level of the fence, do something!" She then reappeared in the image, although you could only see just the top of her head and her oversized glasses. "Yes, yes, who is it? What do you want? For God's sake, move closer to the image, I can't see you."

"Hi, E," Mom greeted her. "It's me, Veronica Wells. You know, Electricia."

"RONNIE!" Edna exclaimed. Mom visibly winced a little. "So nice to see you again, darling! Don't just sit out there! Come in, darling! Come in!"

Her image faded from view and then the part of the fence in front of us shimmered off. We went through the opening and toward the mansion. The fence turned back on the moment we were clear.

"Ronnie?" I asked Mom with an eyebrow raised.

She sighed. "It was my father's nickname for me when I was little. Edna picked it up when she overheard him call me that one time. She's been calling me that ever since. She thinks that it's real cute. I hate it when she calls me that. Don't tell her I said that, though."

"Sure, no problem…Ronnie." I giggled. She groaned loudly but I saw her smile a little.

A moment later we pulled up to the front of the mansion. I got out of the truck and looked up at it. It was a very modern, but very imposing structure. The whole place was built from marble and had dozens of windows. The entrance was flanked by a pair of columns that extended to the roof. It was actually a pretty place, but it had to be also pretty expensive. It had to have cost tens of millions of dollars.

"I still think she's crazy," I muttered.

"Jessica, she's not crazy," Mom said. "She's been designing super suits since the late forties. She knows what she's doing."

"I hope so," I said under my breath.

We went up to the double front doors of the mansion. We didn't have to ring the doorbell or anything like that, because right then the doors flew open and Edna Mode herself rushed out to greet us. I was taken back by her height, or lack of it. I've seen her dozens of times on television and in newspapers and while I knew she was short, it was hard to tell just how short she really was. I saw now that she was a lot shorter than I was, and I was only a fourteen-year-old girl.

"Welcome, Ronnie, darling," Edna greeted my Mom. "You never call me. Why is that? It's been so long since we last talked."

"It's only been a few months," Mom told her.

"Like I said, darling, too long." She then turned to me. "And who is this?"

"This is my daughter, Jessica," Mom said. "She's a super as well. We're here to get her fitted for her own super suit."

She came over to me and shook my hand. "Nice to meet you, Jessie." she said. "Can I call you that, darling?"

"Well…" I started to say.

"Good, I'm glad you like it. I'm Edna Mode, by the way, but everyone calls me E. I want you to call me that too, darling."

"Well, okay, but…"

"Enough with the introductions. So, you need a suit of your own, huh? I'm usually so busy at this time, you know, with the upcoming Tokyo Fashion Expo. I don't have time to make super suits, darling, although if you ask me nicely, then I might be able to squeeze in some time."

"I…"

"Okay, okay, I'll do it. I'll make you a suit. God, you push so hard, Jessie, just like your mother. I can only take so much begging and pleading. What can I say? It's a weakness of mine, darling. Okay, then, come on, come on. Let's go on in and see what we can do."

As we went inside I looked over at Mom with a confused expression on my face. She only shrugged in reply. Did I mention that Edna was crazy before? I take that back, she was absolutely insane! Was she always like this? Did she totally lose her mind designing all those clothes and super suits or something? I didn't think that I liked her calling me Jessie as well. I didn't like it when my aunt called me that. What could I do, though? I guess that I now knew how Mom felt when Edna called her Ronnie.

Crazy as she was, at least she kept a nice looking place. The entry hall was lined with vases taller than all three of us. Each one of them looked very rare and expensive. I didn't have much time to look at them, though, because we were suddenly entering her living room, at least I think it was the living room. Whatever it was, it was huge, probably the size of our entire house. The room was packed with all types of furniture sitting on a huge highly decorated rug and large paintings hanging on the walls, again, all probably very rare and expensive. Hanging from the ceiling was the largest chandelier I've ever seen. On one of the walls was a huge home theater system that probably would've taken up an entire wall and then some in our own living room. Heck, the huge projection TV itself likely would've done that. Along one wall was a grand piano the size of my mom's truck, bigger maybe. She also kept a few tall pine trees along the walls. Impressive as all that was, nothing could compare to what was along the back wall. There was a large bronze statue of a man with his arms outstretched and holding on to a jar in each hand. Water was coming out of each jar and was cascading down into a pair of trenches made in the floor. The water flowed along these trenches and disappeared under the front wall. In all, I don't think that I've ever seen such a huge collection of highly expensive stuff in my life.

Did I also mention that I really hated it when rich people showed off their wealth like that?

"How was the fashion show in London, by the way?" Mom asked Edna.

"Terrible!" Edna spat. "I've never seen such shoddy work in my life! Nothing but patchwork quilts! And they want to pass them off as designer clothes? Bah! I've designed better clothes as a baby! Hmph! Fashion designers, indeed! For the totally blind, maybe!"

She went over to the piano and tapped on eight keys. Immediately a portion of the wall next to the piano slid open to reveal a secret elevator. I wasn't really all that surprised when I saw it. I already suspected that she had a secret room or something that she made the suits in. It wasn't like she could do something like that out in the open. We went inside and the doors shut behind us. The moment they did, the elevator shot down at an incredible speed. No, we didn't go flying up toward the ceiling, but I definitely felt my insides trying to move up into my brain. Almost just as quickly as the descent began, it stopped and my insides slammed down into my feet. It was not a very good feeling.

The doors opened and we stepped out into a futuristic looking tunnel. It was lit up with blue lighting and was so highly polished that everything reflected off another thing and made the whole thing look a lot bigger than it was. The most prominent feature of the tunnel though were about a couple dozen mannequins along the walls that were wearing the suits of different supers. As we walked by them I took closer looks at the suits. I definitely recognized some of them as the suits of Frozone, Prototron, Meteor-Mite, Sky Hawk, and even my mother's old Electricia suit. However, at the end of the tunnel in a large display case were the suits of all five Incredibles. I admit that I've always liked their suits. Unlike most other super's suits, the Incredibles' suits haven't changed very much in the fourteen years they've worn them. They were the perfect example of a simple yet very bold design that could last throughout the years pretty much unchanged.

We came up to a door that looked like it opened diagonally from one top corner to the opposite bottom corner. On the right side of the door was a large keyhole with a red light under it, which presumably meant that the door was locked.

"Identification required for access," a deep synthesized computer voice said from a hidden speaker.

Edna pulled out a key and inserted it into the lock. When she turned it, I expected the door to open, but it only opened a smaller panel above the lock. I saw that there was a hand scanner, a retinal scanner, and a tiny microphone. That surprised me a little. Jeez, you'd think that she had enough security systems for a single door? Then again, this was where she made the suits, so I guess that you can't be too careful with that. She placed her left hand on the hand scanner, which made a quiet beep a moment later. She then peered into the retinal scanner, and again there was a beep. She then spoke into the microphone.

"Edna Mode."

There were a few loud clicks and then a hiss from the door. The light under the lock turned green.

"Identification confirmed," The voice said. "You may enter."

Almost immediately though, a loud alarm sounded. Two panels on the ceiling slid open and a pair of the meanest looking weapons I've ever seen came shooting out of them. One of them aimed at my mother and the other at me, their laser sights pointed right at our foreheads.

"Warning, two unidentified personnel detected. Use of deadly force authorized."

"Oh, and guests," Edna said quickly into the microphone. The alarm shut off and the weapons retracted back into the ceiling.

"Access granted. You may enter."

"E, I thought you were going to get that fixed," Mom said.

"Oh, I will, darling," Edna told her. "I'm just so busy these days, fashion shows, designing super suits, and all that."

"But you've been saying that same thing for fifteen years! That thing's going to kill someone someday."

"Hasn't happened yet, Ronnie. Come on, let's go."

I was still a little shaken from that near death experience. "Um, is it…safe?" I asked.

"Of course it is, Jessie," she told me. "I was just telling your mother that. She can get so paranoid over such little things."

"I do not!" my mother objected.

"Whatever you say, darling."

The doors slid open and we stepped into a room that looked like it came straight out of a James Bond movie. It had all types of advanced looking machinery, mannequins of all shapes and sizes, mock-ups of what I thought were gadgets for supers, electronic rotating schematics of the same gadgets and other things that I didn't recognize, and what I thought looked like a moving display case along the back wall. To say that I was amazed by what I was seeing would've been the ultimate understatement. And I thought that everything up in her mansion was expensive! All this had to have cost some serious bucks! At least everything in the room had a purpose instead of just being there for show.

Edna went over to a table and sat down in a chair. Grabbing a nearby sketchpad, she then said, "Alright, let's get down to business. What exactly are your powers, darling?"

"I can fly and shoot fire from my hands," I told her. "When I fly I have this aura of fire that surrounds my body. I think that the faster I fly, the hotter it gets."

"Hmm, sounds a lot like Blazestone," she said.

"Who's Blazestone?" I asked.

"She was a super that basically had the same things that you told me, except that she didn't have an aura and she was pyrokinetic."

"Pyrowhat?"

"She could control fire with her mind, darling. Can you do that?"

"Not that I know of," I told her. That was something that I was going to have to look into later.

"What's your super name?" she asked.

Super name? I've never chosen a name for myself. I didn't have a reason to. "Um, I…haven't thought up one yet."

She raised an eyebrow. "You don't have a name? No, darling, that just won't do! You have to have a name for yourself. How am I supposed to work my magic if I don't have anything to work with? Your name reflects your character, and that reflects the design of your suit. Do you have at least any ideas of what you what to call yourself, darling?"

"No, I don't," I said.

"Well, let's see," Mom said. "You can fly and you have fire powers, almost like a phoenix. Maybe you can work with that."

A phoenix? That almost sounded exactly like what I could do. I began to think hard. Maybe I could base my name off of that. Could I just simply call myself Phoenix? No, that sounded too masculine. I wanted something that sounded strong but also had a feminine touch to it, something like Electricia. Wait a second, that was it! Why not just combine the two names. How about Phoenicia? I liked it. It had a cool ring to it, and it also honored my mother. After all, we might one day end up being a mother-daughter team.

"I kind of like Phoenicia," I said.

"Phoenicia," Mom repeated. "I like it. Has a nice ring to it. It also says a lot about you."

"I suppose," Edna said. "It wouldn't have been my first choice, but it'll work. Now, what do you expect in your suit?"

I thought some more. "I don't know. I don't want anything overly flashy, maybe just something simple…"

"Simple?" Edna exploded. "Bah! Simple is only for the weak-minded and fashion-deprived, darling! No, Jessie, you don't want simple! You want something very bold, something very dramatic, something that'll stun your opponents by its sheer elegance so you don't have to work so hard to beat them! That's what you want!"

"Okay," I said with some confusion. "Are suits really made out of spandex, though? Because if they are…"

Edna laughed loudly. "Jessie, darling, contrary to what you read in the comics, supers never wore spandex. Sure, that might work for fake supers and Richard Simmons wannabes, but not here. I would never allow it. Besides, this is the nineties now. We're talking space age, nanotube-based super fabric. Completely unbreakable, bulletproof, waterproof, fireproof, and also stain-proof. That's a new feature, by the way. It also breathes excellent."

"What about a cape? How come…"

"No capes!" she yelled. "I don't do capes!"

"Uh-oh. Now you've done it," Mom told me.

"How many times do I have to tell this blasted story? When will you people learn that capes are just as dangerous as any villain?"

"Why is that?" I asked. Despite my mother's warning, I was very interested to know why supers suddenly stopped wearing capes.

Edna sighed deeply. "Capes were just something that got in the way. Sure, it looked all nice and flashy, but it was just something that was just begging to get caught on something. Do you know how many supers got killed by their own capes during the Golden Age?" She sighed again. "I thought that they would've known better when the ban was lifted, but nooo, then came the eighties. God, what a terrible decade that was."

"What was so terrible about it?" I asked.

"Two words, darling. Generation-X. You're not one of them, are you?"

"I don't think so," I said.

"Good." She sighed for a third time. "Those damned Gen-X supers. Always wanting to break the rules, always wanting to go against the better judgment of others."

"What was so…" I started to ask.

"Do I have to spell it out for you? THEY MADE THEIR OWN CAPES! One of them decides to make a cape, and then they all do it! They totally desecrated my perfect work just to make a fashion statement! Not only that, those so-called capes weren't even made professionally! Some of them literally were patchwork quilts! Do you know how embarrassing it is to have your hard perfected work be associated with such crappy work? Well do you?" Before I could say anything, she continued on. "So they're out there with those rags around their shoulders, and like I predicted, they start getting killed by them. Are you aware of Aeroraider?"

"He was the one with the flying surfboard, wasn't he?" Mom asked.

"Yes. Tall, a lot of muscle but not a lot of brain. April 17th of '83. Another air disaster, another chopper clips a skyscraper and loses its tail rotor. Aeroraider arrives to save the day, only to have his rag snag the main rotor. Quite a mess, that was."

"Ouch," I cringed.

"Then there's Aquafine. Very pretty cheerleader but also very airheaded. I could hardly understand her, always saying things like, 'whatever', and 'like totally', and 'as if'. Anyway, August 9th of '88, another disaster on the high seas, another cruise ship saved, when she like totally got her rag caught in the propeller. Do you want to hear any more, darling? I've got five more."

"No, no, no!" I said quickly. I was somewhat sick to my stomach. "I got the point."

"Good. At least you learn quickly, unlike some people. Good thing that was just an eighties fad." She then held out her sketchpad. "Done! What do you think, darling?"

Done? I didn't know that she even started. I took the pad and looked at it. On it was what my new suit would look like. It was totally black with orange gloves, boots, and belt. There was a symbol of what looked like a bird on fire with wings outstretched on the chest that was also orange in color. Finally, the eye mask was black and was shaped almost like the symbol. I actually liked the design very much. It was simple, yet very stylish. It also seemed to fit me perfectly.

"I like it," I told her.

"Let me see," Mom said. I handed her the pad at she looked it over. "Wow, that's nice. That's definitely you, Jessica."

"Good," Edna said, taking back the pad. "Now, before we get started, I'm going to need your exact measurements. Come stand in this circle, darling."

There was a white circle on the floor close to me. I went over and stepped inside it. Edna went over to a nearby computer terminal and tapped some keys on the keyboard. Two thick metallic poles slid up from the floor on both sides of the circle until they reached my height. Then a wide green laser beam came on from the bottom of the each pole and shined on my shoes. The twin beams slowly moved up my body and then down again. Then the poles moved a quarter and started over again. When it was done the poles retracted back into the floor.

"Time to make some magic," Edna said.

She cracked her knuckles and then started typing away at several computer terminals. After a while she moved over to another set of computers and typed at those as well. Then she went back to the first set and again typed. She kept moving back and forth like that for the longest time. I didn't know what she was doing. Finally, she tapped a few last buttons and suddenly one of the mannequins along the wall was picked up by a robotic arm, was moved over to the center of the room, and then was gently set down. I noticed that it was roughly my size. Edna pushed a button and a wide green beam came down from the ceiling and onto the mannequin. A wireframe appeared around the mannequin and then filled in with the image of my suit. It was how it would appear on me when it was finished.

"Still like it, darling?" Edna asked me.

I walked around the mannequin. The image was completely 3-D, so I could inspect how the entire suit would look. After I walked around it one more time, I decided that it was just right. "It's perfect," I said.

Edna pressed another button and the image disappeared. Then the robot arm picked the mannequin up again and moved it into some kind of giant booth. The arm set it down inside and then moved away. A door slid shut but it had a large window so that we could still see inside. Immediately about eight robot arms came out of the sides and started moving at an unbelievable around the mannequin. I think that they were actually making my suit.

"Your new suit should be ready within the hour, darling," Edna told me.

"An hour?" I asked in amazement.

"Yes. Is there something wrong with that?"

"No, I just thought that things like this took a little more time to make."

"Like I said, Jessie, this is the nineties. We can do a lot these days." She went back over to the table and sat down. She pressed a button and part of the table slid open and a teapot and some cups came out. "Care for some tea while we wait, darling?"

I shrugged. "Sure, why not." She poured me a cup and handed it to me. I took a small sip and immediately coughed and sputtered. "Ugh! What kind of tea is this?" I managed to croak out between coughs. "It's bitter."

"It's Japanese tea, darling," she told me. "I take it you don't like it."

"It could use some sugar."

"You don't put sugar in Japanese tea. I suppose it's an acquired taste."

I set the tea back down on the table. "I'm sorry, E. I can't drink this."

"I suppose not everyone can enjoy it," she said. She then turned to Mom. "Ronnie, darling, come over here and let's talk about old times."

She didn't look so thrilled about that, but she came over to the table and sat down. As they started to talk I walked away and explored more of the room. I went over to the table where the gadgets were sitting and looked at them. I wondered what some of them did. One of them looked like some weird type of ray gun, another looked like a grappling hook, and others that I had no idea what they did. I then noticed a mannequin in the corner with only the bottom half of a suit on. It was dark blue with black boots on. I wondered whose suit that was and if it was finished. I explored a little more of the room before I sat down on a couch along the walls. I looked over at Edna and Mom. Edna was busily yapping away about something while Mom nodded, but I could easily tell that she was bored out of her mind. I then looked at the machine that was making my suit. The robot arms were moving in a blur, but I definitely could see the suit starting to take shape. It was fascinating to look at, but it was also incredibly boring. I yawned unconsciously. I stretched out slightly and rested my head on my arm. I felt like I was about to doze off, but I…

"Jessica, wake up, hon." Mom was lightly tapping me on the shoulder.

"What? What's going on?" I was looking around trying to find out what was going on.

"You fell asleep," she told me. "Your suit's ready."

"Already? It's been an hour?"

"Yes, it has." She helped me onto my feet. "Come on. E's about to demonstrate your suit's abilities."

I slowly stood up and we went over to the large display in the back where Edna was waiting for us. We each took a seat in three large chairs.

"Alright, let's start the fashion show," Edna said. "Be proud, darling, your suit's the best work I've done in five years."

A door on one side opened up and the mannequin that my suit was made around came through and slowly moved along a track. Wow, I could definitely say that my suit looked great up close. The suit was just so black and everything so orange. I was beyond impressed.

"Okay, darling," Edna said. "I've designed your suit with your basic nanotube-based fibers. As I said already, it's bulletproof and fireproof."

Just then six machine guns popped out and started shooting at the suit. The bullets easily bounced off it. The guns stopped firing and went back into the wall, only to be replaced by an immense wall of fire. My eyes widened and my jaw dropped. Man, this was some demonstration! I looked over at Mom and Edna. Mom just sat there with some interest while Edna had the biggest grin I've ever seen. The fire stopped and I was surprised to see that it was completely unburned and still looked just as bright and radiant as before.

"Your suit can take temperatures up to 6000 degrees Fahrenheit," she went on. "The gloves are capable of enhancing your fire powers to quite a degree, so watch out. Oh, and don't worry, the suit cools down immediately after flight. Well, what do you think?"

I was speechless. "Wow, it's…amazing," I said.

"Yes, I know I am, Jessie."

The mannequin continued on the track and then went through another door and came out into the room. Edna went over and took the suit off the mannequin. She neatly folded it up into a box and closed it up and wrapped it up with, surprise, surprise, expensive-looking wrapping paper. She then handed it to me.

"Here you go, darling," she said. "One genuine super suit made by yours truly, Edna Mode, fashion designer extraordinaire. Now, is there anything else I could do for you?"

"No, I think that's it," I told her. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, darling." She turned to my mother. "That reminds me, Ronnie. It's time for you to get a new suit."

My mom raised her eyebrows in surprise. "What? But I only had my current suit for three years."

"It's a rag now, darling. Styles change. You have to keep up with the times, go with the flow, all that stuff."

"It doesn't look all that out of date," Mom argued. "I think it still looks stylish."

Edna sighed. "Of course, you would, Ronnie. That's why I'm a fashion designer and you're not. I've got an eye for detail. Trust me, it's out of date. Fine, you can keep the rag, but I'm still going to design you a new suit."

Just then a loud beeping went off. Edna pulled out a beeper and looked at it. She then groaned. "Great, just great. Some people just can't do anything right. I have to go. I trust that you can find your way out of here. Do stop by again, Ronnie, or at least call me. We have so much to talk about. Ta, ta, darlings." She went over to another door and went through it.

After Mom and I made our way out of the secret room and out of the mansion, I asked her. "You still think she's not crazy, Mom?"

"For the last time, Jessica, she's not crazy," she told me. "She's just…off, that's all."

"So you're saying that she's crazy then."

She sighed heavily. "Okay, I admit it. She's a little crazy, a little. Are you happy now?"

I smiled a little. "Yeah, I am, Ronnie."

She groaned loudly. "Jessica, please. I don't like that nickname, and I don't want you to start calling me that. I'm sure that you wouldn't want me calling you Jessie all the time like your aunt now, would you?"

It was my turn to groan. "Yeah, you're right. I still think that Ronnie's a cool nickname."

Mom chuckled. "Yeah, you would."

"I still want to know how she blew up her own house."

"It's like I said, it's a very long story. I'll tell you all about it someday. Come on, let's go home."

With that, we climbed into the truck and left the mansion grounds and headed back toward the city.