Middleton High School was, in the grand architectural scheme of the multiverse, a structural anomaly. It was a place where lockers smelled of gym socks and existential dread, where the cafeteria served meat of an indeterminate biological origin, and where—on this particular Tuesday—the annual Science and Innovation Expo was threatening to collapse under the weight of its own mediocrity.
Kim Possible stood by her display, which was a perfectly respectable, triple-panel cardboard summary of the effects of high-altitude training on cardiovascular endurance. It was neat. It was grounded. It had glitter-glue borders that shouted "I am a normal teenager with hobbies."
"Kim, I'm just saying," Ron Stoppable said, adjusting his goggles. "A volcano that erupts real baking soda and vinegar is a classic for a reason. It's the comfort food of science."
"Ron, you're seventeen. People expect more than a paper-mâché mountain," Kim replied, her eyes scanning the gymnasium with a practiced, mission-ready intensity.
"But Rufus is the village elder fleeing the lava!" Ron protested, pointing to the naked mole-rat who was currently wearing a tiny grass skirt and a look of profound boredom. Rufus squeaked and began to gnaw on a piece of volcanic "rock."
Kim didn't hear him. She was looking at the center of the gym, where a space had been cleared for the "Pre-Established Genius" section. It was a space usually reserved for the high school's top students, but today, it was dominated by a single, sleek, brushed-aluminum table that hummed with a frequency that made Kim's teeth ache.
Lexi Possible was standing there, looking like she'd just stepped out of a high-fashion catalog for "Cheerfully Terrifying Billionaires." She was wearing a lab coat that shimmered with microscopic fiber-optics, and she was currently levitating a small, glowing orb of liquid mercury with a flick of her finger.
"Morning, Subject 1-A," Lexi chirped, her green eyes bright with a calculation that Kim found deeply unsettling.
"Lexi, we talked about this," Kim hissed, stepping over to her twin's table. "This is a high school science fair. The prize is a fifty-dollar gift certificate to Bueno Nacho and a plastic trophy."
"I am aware of the stakes, Kim. They are delightfully low," Lexi replied, her voice a calm, clinical lilt. "However, my current research into 'Surface Tension Override' requires a public test environment with a high density of non-specialized observers. The gymnasium provides the perfect demographic of 'average humans' for my data set."
Kim leaned over the table, lowering her voice. "You have a PhD in every field that offers one. You have patents that make you the richest person under twenty on the planet. Why are you here?"
Lexi tilted her head, a stray lock of red hair falling perfectly over her eye. "Because Monique said that if I didn't participate in 'normal' activities, she would stop letting me test my bioengineered tea blends on her. And I simply cannot lose my primary emotional anchor, Kim. The risk of me becoming a world-ending threat increases by 84% without her 'No' input."
Monique stepped into the conversation, holding a clipboard and looking like she was the only thing keeping the gym from being sucked into a singularity. "She's not kidding, Kim. She tried to install a telepathic link in the cheer squad yesterday. I had to tell her it was 'uncool' three times before she deactivated the nanites."
"Nanites are efficient, Monique," Lexi murmured, her finger tracing a pattern in the air that caused the mercury orb to shift into the shape of a miniature Rufus.
"Lexi," Kim warned. "Keep it low-key. No portals. No temporal shifts. No summoning prehistoric flora."
"I promise nothing but a perfectly reasonable demonstration of aquatic walking," Lexi said, her smile broadening in a way that made Kim want to call Wade for a tactical extraction.
In the rafters of the gymnasium, hidden behind a heavy curtain and a very confused mascot costume, Shego was watching through high-powered binoculars.
"I'm telling you, Dr. D, it's not the one in the cargo pants we should be worried about," Shego whispered into her comms.
"Nonsense, Shego!" Drakken's voice crackled back, sounding like he was currently fighting a losing battle with a toaster. "Kim Possible is the thorn in my side! The grit in my gears! The... the blue in my blue-faced existence!"
"Yeah, well, the other one is currently rewriting the laws of physics to win a fifty-dollar nacho coupon," Shego retorted. "She's... different. I checked the intergalactic databases, Drakken. Lexi Possible isn't just a twin. She's a 'Legally Recognized Autonomous Entity.'"
"A what?"
"It means," Shego said, her eyes narrowing as she watched Lexi casually hand a juice box to a passing freshman using a robotic arm that shouldn't have fit in her pocket, "that she has the same diplomatic standing as a sovereign nation. The Justice League won't touch her because she solved their 'Dark Matter Leak' problem last year. The Galactic Council gave her a 'Hands-Off' pass after she accidentally fixed the sun of the Pleiades. Even the Plumbers and Star Command have her on a 'Do Not Engage' list because the last time they tried to audit her lab, she replaced their entire legal team with sentient staplers."
"Sentient... staplers?" Drakken sounded genuinely horrified.
"She's a wild card, Drakken. And I think she's bored. Which is the most dangerous thing a hyper-genius can be."
The Science Fair was in full swing when Mr. Barkin stepped onto the small stage, his voice booming over the chatter.
"Attention! We are now beginning the live demonstration phase. Please clear the center of the gym for... Miss Lexi Possible."
Barkin sounded like he was reading a death warrant. He knew Lexi didn't go to this school. He knew she had more degrees than the entire faculty combined. But Lexi had provided him with a "Clerical Error" document from the Middleton School Board that was so legally airtight it had literally glowed when he touched it.
Lexi stepped forward, carrying a small, innocuous-looking bowl of water.
"Good afternoon, residents of Middleton," Lexi said, her voice projected by a microphone that was actually just a small patch on her throat. "Today, I will be demonstrating a breakthrough in molecular cohesion. Specifically, I have modified my own cellular structure to ignore the traditional limitations of surface tension."
Kim gripped the edge of her table. "She's going to do it. She's actually going to do it."
Lexi placed the bowl on the floor. Then, she stepped into it.
She didn't splash. She didn't sink. Her foot rested on the surface of the water as if it were solid granite. She took another step, then another, walking in a small, perfect circle on top of a six-inch bowl of water.
The gymnasium went silent.
"Holy... she's Jesus," Ron whispered, his jaw hitting his chest.
"No, Ron, she's Lexi," Kim groaned.
Lexi hopped off the water, landing gracefully on the linoleum. "The application is simple: aquatic travel without the need for displacement vessels. I call it the 'Lilypad Protocol.' I have already filed the patents with the United Nations and the Galactic Council's Office of Intellectual Property."
"Question!" a student shouted from the back. It was a junior named Barry, who Lexi knew—via her secret Genius Coalition—was actually a time traveler from a show called Best Friends Whenever. "Does it work on other liquids? Like... lava?"
Lexi smiled cheerfully. "I haven't tested it on lava yet, Barry. Would you like to volunteer for the Sub-Thermal Crustacean biome levels later? I have a sublevel dedicated to prehistoric volcanoes that could use a fresh perspective."
Barry turned pale and sat down.
The demonstration was a runaway success. The judges—three terrified science teachers and a local librarian—unanimously awarded Lexi the first-place trophy before she had even finished her presentation.
Lexi accepted the trophy with a polite nod. "Thank you. I shall add this to my collection. It will look lovely next to the 'Sovereign Summons' award from the Infinite Realms Elder's Council."
As the crowd began to disperse, Lexi felt a familiar, localized temporal vibration. She looked toward the exit, where a group of teenagers was walking in. They looked normal, but to Lexi's "Cheerfully Terrifying" eyes, they were a walking encyclopedia of anomalies.
Danny Fenton was there, looking nervous and holding a thermos. Ben Tennyson was checking his watch—a watch that Lexi knew was the most powerful weapon in the galaxy. Jake Long was laughing at something a girl named WordGirl was saying.
Lexi's "Genius Coalition" Slack channel pinged in her mind.
Donatello (Rise): Lexi, are you really at a high school science fair?
Phineas: We're building an orbital elevator, you're missing out.
Jimmy Neutron: Lexi, did you solve the surface tension problem? My hair is starting to defy gravity again.
Lexi sent back a quick mental reply: Middleton is currently at a 'Stabilized Chaos' level of 4.2. Intervention is unnecessary, but the nachos are excellent.
She felt a tap on her shoulder. It was Monique.
"Okay, Einstein. You won. Now, are you going to help Kim with the 'Global Threat' that Wade just pinged her about, or are you going to stay here and gloat over your plastic trophy?"
Lexi turned her gaze toward Kim, who was frantically talking into her Kimmunicator.
"Wade says Drakken is at the Middleton Dam," Kim said, grabbing her bag. "He's trying to use a 'Hydraulic Resonator' to flood the valley."
Lexi sighed, set her trophy on the table, and pulled a small, silver sphere from her lab coat. "The Dam's structural integrity is already reinforced by the nanite grout I installed last month, Kim. But if Drakken uses a resonant frequency above 400Hz, he might disturb the hibernating prehistoric sturgeon I've been bioengineering in the reservoir."
Kim paused, her hand on the door. "Prehistoric sturgeon?"
"They're very sensitive, Kim. And very large. And they have a 'Cheerfully Terrifying' appetite for blue-skinned scientists."
"Lexi," Monique said firmly.
"Fine," Lexi relented. "I will provide the counter-frequency. But Kim, you must ensure that Shego doesn't see the drone. I haven't officially registered my 'Invisible Surveillance' fleet with Star Command yet, and the paperwork for a clandestine drone strike is a nightmare."
Lexi tapped the sphere. It vanished with a soft pop.
"Counter-measures deployed," Lexi said, returning to her table. "Drakken's resonator will now play nothing but the 'Bueno Nacho' jingle on a loop until his hovercraft's engine fails."
Back at the Dam, Dr. Drakken was screaming.
"WHY IS IT SINGING, SHEGO? WHY IS THE DAM SINGING ABOUT CHEESE FRIES?"
Shego was leaning against the resonator, her arms folded. "I told you, Dr. D. You're playing in the big leagues now. And the big leagues include a girl who has a 'Get Out of Jail Free' card signed by the Justice League."
The resonator pulsed, the jingle echoing through the valley: "Bueno Nacho, it's the nacho for you..."
"I HATE THIS TOWN!" Drakken wailed, as his hovercraft began to emit a thick, black smoke. "I HATE THE LUNCHES! I HATE THE SPIRIT! AND I ESPECIALLY HATE THE SINGING INFRASTRUCTURE!"
Lexi Possible sat in the Possible kitchen later that evening, her feet tucked under her as she shared a plate of nachos with Monique. Kim and Ron were in the living room, Ron retelling the story of how the Dam "magically" started singing, while Kim looked suspiciously at her twin sister.
"You did it again, didn't you?" Kim asked, walking into the kitchen.
Lexi sipped her tea—a blend that smelled faintly of jasmine and rocket fuel. "I merely optimized the outcome, Kim. The world remained intact, the sturgeon remained asleep, and you successfully 'saved' the valley. It was a win-win-win situation."
"And the Plumbers?" Kim asked. "Wade said he saw a cloaked ship in orbit."
Lexi waved a hand dismissively. "Oh, that was just Max Tennyson. He was checking in to see if I'd finished the 'Intergalactic Culinary Guide' I promised the Galactic Council. He's very fond of my bioengineered space-moss recipes."
Monique nudged Lexi. "You're a weirdo, you know that?"
Lexi leaned her head on Monique's shoulder, her smile softening into something almost human. "I am a 'Sovereign Autonomous Entity,' Monique. But for the right price—say, a movie marathon with no scientific commentary from me—I can be a very efficient girlfriend."
"Deal," Monique said, squeezing Lexi's hand.
Lexi Possible closed her eyes, the humming of the thousands of sublevels beneath her feet a comforting, rhythmic pulse. The Justice League might recognize her, the Infinite Realms might fear her, and the Galactic Council might audit her, but here in Middleton, she was just Lexi.
The "Cheerfully Terrifying" girl who walked on water and made the world sing about cheese fries.
And for now, that was exactly the kind of "low-stakes" comedy she needed.