"What do you think they will look like this time?" Dash asked gloomily as they rounded the curving driveway to Edna's home.
"It's Miss Mode's decision and this time you will only say thankful things to her about the new suits." Helen said turning and looking Dash straight in the eye.
"The last suits were ridiculous! I'm so glad no one knew it was me!" Dash said defensively,
Helen had to admit Dash had a point. Until about 6 months ago Dash had enjoyed receiving new supersuits when Edna claimed she had discovered the next fashion and had designed new suits for everyone. Helen's had been a mud brown suit. Dash's had been a pastel yellow. Bob's was neon green. Jack-Jack's had been ocean blue and Violet's had been a rusted red. Helen was still trying to see how those suits had worked together in Edna's mind.
"Dad and Violet don't have to come to this stupid thing." Dash continued.
"Dash, that's not fair. They come with us to most of the fitting but your sister is away at college and school always comes first. Plus, she has finished growing so her suit doesn't need a lot of adjusting-,"Helen began.
"Yea, and you can't see it half the time…" Dash interrupted in a low voice.
"-Unlike you and Jack-Jack who are still growing boys. Your father had to stay at home in case anything happens while we're here." Helen finished, not acknowledging Dash's interruption.
"What do you think my suit will do this time?" Jack-Jack said brightly.
Helen smiled. While Edna would never admit it, she was still trying to create a suit that would be able to outperform Helen's youngest son. Every time they would come for a "superfasion show". Edna would nonchalantly explain all of the new features of Jack-Jack's suit specifically. That is until Jack-Jack would display a new ability. Sometimes Helen believed Jack-Jack would hide new abilities just to see Edna's face.
"We'll just have to find out." Helen replied as she parked the car, "Remember stay with me and don't wander." Edna's paranoia at rivals trying to steal her designs resulted in her house being the essence of a booby-trap maze.
As they reached the door, Helen by habit kept a clear distance from the doorknob which was designed to superheat and burn anyone who tried to turn it without putting in a code on the keypad next to it. Helen pushed the doorbell button and in a matter of seconds the door opened revealing the petite figure of Edna Mode.
"Come in darlings!" Edna greeted as she almost forcefully ushered them inside. Helen entered with Jack-Jack close behind He watched Edna with an expression like she was a funny clown to entertain him. Dash brought up the rear and Helen shot him a pointed glare as he looked like he was on his way to the guillotine. Seeing her face, Dash's expression changed to an almost passable polite detachedness.
"Well, now let me see you. Come, come, turn around." Edna directed the two boys as they all entered the grand open space of her living room.
Jack-Jack did a complete turn for Edna, who merely remarked he was becoming quite proportionate. While she scrutinized him, Helen could almost see the barely contained look of triumph in her eyes. Certainly, there was no telling what Jack-Jack's suit would do this time. After a few minutes, Edna moved on to Dash who made a quick turn while watching Edna with wary eyes.
"My God, you are so lanky! Like the silly stick supermodels! You obviously don't take after your father." Edna stated matter-of-factly. Dash's eyes widened as he looked to his mother pleadingly. The last time they were in, Edna had said Dash was growing into a slimmer version of his father and perhaps unlike him, Dash wouldn't let himself go.
"E, Dash just hit a growth spurt since the last time he was measured. He is a growing teenage boy." Helen said before Dash could. This was true; Dash now towered over Edna at a height of 5'6 and his body was still just slightly out of balance with his height. Of course, it didn't help that he literally ran as fast as he could, as often as he could.
"Yes, yes." Edna said half-listening as she grabbed a pen and pad of paper from a table and began furiously writing notes, making occasional glances back at Jack-Jack and Dash.
When she finished she proudly said, "Well, I am always prepared which is why I incorporated some of the elastic material of your suit into skinny boy's. Now come, let me show you your new suits. They are marvelous!"
Jack-Jack's face lit up in anticipation while Dash looked on the verge of literally groaning out load. While Helen was more than ready to be rid of her mud colored supersuit, she was uneasy to see what Edna could possibly have created this time. It didn't help that Edna absolutely refused to allow them to wear "outdated" suits. When some of the superheroes Helen was friends with tried to wear previous suits, Edna cut off all contact with them and refused to make them new outfits.
Edna led Helen and the boys down a long hallway with prototypes of some of Edna's most famous supersuit creations displayed every few feet.
"These are truly my best work yet. They are inspirational, epic, and will be unforgettable!" Edna rambled making dramatic expressions and gestures as they walked. Dash walked behind her and made an almost perfect silent imitation of her and rolled his eyes.
At the end of the hall, Edna began the now six step identification process as Helen directed the boys where to stand, which happened to now be by the prototype of Bob's suit from their battle with Syndrome, so the security system wouldn't perceive them as a threat to Edna and more importantly her "studio".
As Edna finished, two pairs of reinforced doors parted, revealing the most technologically advanced design studio and runway in the world. Jack-Jack gave a small gasp in awe of the amount of instruments that lined every available space. Helen herself still at times couldn't believe that someone whose official work was extravagant couture fashion could have such a scientific clothing laboratory hidden in her home.
Wasting no time, Edna strutted directly to the demonstration area where four low empty gray chairs positioned around a small table on a movable platform waited. Once they were all seated, Edna nonchalantly offered Helen some coffee and the boys each a soft drink and then launched into her presentation.
"Now that your family is appearing more as a whole group, it is time to show the world the strength of the group." Edna began dramatically. Jack-Jack and Dash both visibly perked up at this as they were constantly trying to go on every mission possible.
"Dash and Jack-Jack are still too inexperienced to-" Helen began before Edna cut her off.
"Darling, shush. The world is seeing them more and that's what counts," Edna replied obviously annoyed at being interrupted and continued, "This calls for a return to uniformity yet uniqueness between yourselves." Dash and Jack-Jack now gave each other confused looks at this statement before turning their attention back to Edna. Edna paused and, with a smirk playing on her face, looked each of them in the eyes to build the suspense. She then gave a quick dramatic twirl on her chair which signaled the doors in the demonstration area to open, and all of their new suits on mannequins rolled into view. They were all a bold dark blue with black accents decorating around the arms and legs to connect to matching black boots and gloves. Helen's initial reaction was that the suits all looked like Bob's Mr. Incredible suit from when they were dating, but she would never say one of Edna's suits looked like a previous version. That would probably be one of the worst insults she could give the designer and there would be no telling what Edna would make as Helen's next suit in revenge and spite. On initial appearance, the suits looked roughly identical, but Helen could see differences between the suits particularly in the I symbol emblazoned on each of the suits.
"Since Robert and your daughter aren't here, I will just show them briefly." Edna said as she punched some modification into a remote by her chair. The five suits then retracted and after a brief moment two of the suits reappeared. The first was massive and would obviously to Mr. Incredible. It's I symbol was a deep red against a black background with a light blue circular swirled border. The black accents on the arms and legs were positioned to make the muscles of the arms look even larger than they were. The next suit was an extremely slim and much shorter version that would be Violet's. The I symbol on this suit was a deep violet color which was contrasted against a lavender circular background that appeared to ripple out around the I symbol in all directions. The arms and legs of this suit had once again black designs, but as the suit moved on the track, the designs would alternate disappearing and reappearing. As the suits moved along the track, the platform Helen and the others were seated on moved in sync.
"These suits required little additional modifications. The new material is slightly sturdier and now shock absorbent." Edna said as they moved. As they neared the opposite wall, the smaller suit briefly turned invisible while the larger suit was subjected to explosions. The smaller suit then reappeared and the smoked cleared from the larger suit to reveal them both unchanged.
As the suits exited the demonstration area, the platform whipped back to the beginning of the track while Edna said, "Now we will move on to you darling." Helen leaned forward in anticipation of getting a better view of her suit. The doors of the demonstration area once again opened and a single suit moved into view. The I symbol of her suit was an off white color with a bold red background. On the arms and legs, the black accents wrapped the limbs in thin lines until they reached the boots or gloves.
"The elastic quality of your suit has been improved as well as the addition of thermal control. Your suit will now automatically retain or repel heat based on the environment." Edna explained as her suit was subjected to explosions and extreme cold while being stretched to impossible lengths.
Once Helen's suit disappeared and the platform moved back to the beginning, Edna began the next introduction, "Now Dashel's suit as I said earlier, has some of the elastic quality of your suit so it should still fit him." She then looked at Dash with narrow eyes like he grew on purpose to try to hinder her designs.
"You always think of everything." Helen said, trying to soften the mood.
"Yes, darling, I know." Edna said dismissively, but turned back to view the demonstration area. When his suit came into view, Dash gave a smile in spite of himself. His I symbol was a bold yellow that would match his blonde hair against a circular black background. The accents of his suit ran in tapering shapes which suggested the speed he was so famous for.
"As with your suit, it has the addition of thermal control. It has also been modified to better be able to deflect large forces of wind as well as still having its previous resistance to large amounts of friction." Edna explained as she watched Dash's expression. He was clearly relieved and even proud of his new suit. As the demonstrations on Dash's suit ended and it disappeared, Helen could see Jack-Jack almost bubbly-over with excitement. When they reached the beginning of the room for the final time, Edna paused to give an almost challenging look to Jack-Jack before she began.
"John's suit required the most modifications as usual." As she said this, Jack-Jack's face grimaced for a second; he hated to be called John, which Edna knew or had at least been told. As Jack-Jack's suit came into view, Helen could see his I symbol was a light blue against a bold light green background. The accents of the arms and legs were warping shapes that literally changed as the suit moved.
Edna now pulled out her pad of paper again and began reading out a list, "It is able to endure immense amounts of trauma and force, move through objects, endure being set on fire, experience transportation, change density as he does, adapt to shape changing now including liquification and sublimation, allow for his tactile energy absorption, and will change color as he does."
As Edna ended her list, she looked victoriously from Jack-Jack's suit, which was still being subjected to each item from the list, to Jack-Jack and was obviously confident she had finally made a suit that would handle all of Helen's youngest son's powers.
Jack-Jack gave a polite smile back and then turned to Helen and said, "Oh yea, mommy? This morning I did something really cool. Watch this!"
He proceeded to put his hands about six inches apart and a visible electric current ran between them.
"I can't also shoot it too! Want to see?" Jack-Jack asked as a small ball of white-hit electricity formed in the palm of his hand.
"No, sweetie, that's okay." Helen said quickly before Jack-Jack accidently destroyed some of the surrounding expensive equipment. Jack-Jack then grinned and looked over to Edna, whose face was still showing the shock of the appearance of Jack-Jack's latest power.
A fake expression of shock appeared on Jack-Jack's face as he said, "Oh no, Miss Mode, would this new power mess up my gloves?"
Edna's lips pursed as her eyes narrowed and she snatched back up the notebook and forcefully wrote a new note down. She then set the notebook down and waved her hands dismissively.
"Well, yes, darling, that current would build up on the inside of your gloves so you won't be able to use that new…ability with this suit. However, wasn't your mother just saying how you didn't go on many missions?"
A/N: WHEW! So this one has been in the works for a while and I finally sat down and finished it. It also is my longest so far, which is probably because I kept adding stuff to it and then couldn't get to a good stopping place. Anyway, this was a lot of fun to write and I love Edna. She is amazing and no one can tell her different. Hope you enjoyed it!
Also as a reminder, ages for Jack-Jack and Dash are about 6-7 and 15-16 respectfully.