Chapter 17

Go Go rolled her eyes as she took another bite of her lunch. Hiro and Karmi were going at it again, typical of their lunchtime meet-ups. Back when they'd first met their arguments and confrontations had been a lot more… tense. Karmi not wanting to be overshadowed by Hiro taking the title of youngest person ever admitted to SFIT from her had caused her to be defensive and cold. And so, they had continued on as bitter rivals for almost an entire school year, much to Go Go's annoyance. Almost every week Hiro would complain to his friends about the insufferable Karmi and the arguments they'd have. Honey Lemon and Fred had immediately "shipped" them, claiming that they were in the infancy stages of a budding romance. Go Go and Wasabi (and ESPECIALLY Hiro) had been opposed to that idea. Since Karmi's brush with Di Amara's genetic experiments, however, the two had mellowed out and actually started getting along. And now Go Go had to admit that their current dynamic was… charming. One might even say cute. Go Go never would but Honey Lemon did. Constantly.

So, since she re-applied to SFIT to go after her master's degree, Go Go found herself often sharing lunch with two of the youngest ever SFIT students. They'd all talk for a bit until Hiro and Karmi inevitably started arguing about something or other. Since their early relationship had been built on competition, they still reverted to that. However, unlike that early rivalry, their arguments now were laced with a more humorous tone that were closer to witty banter as opposed to real arguments. Go Go might even go as far as to say it was their version of flirting.

"I'm just saying that if you put them in a room together, Einstein would win." Hiro sat back with his arms crossed and a smug smile centered on his face. Karmi scowled (although it was a forced through in an attempt to hide a smile) in response and leaned closer to Hiro, poking the table with her index finger to demonstrate her points.

"Einstein was brilliant, yes. There's no debating that. But lots of his work was theoretical. Einstein's THEORY of relativity? Hello?! Nikola Tesla could construct circles around Einstein. Not to mention that lots of his work wasn't even attributed to him until years after the fact."

"We're not talking about recognition here, Karmi. We're talking about if you put two scientists in a room with plastic swords, who would win in a fight?"

"Tesla! He'd turn his sword into a Tesla Coil and fry Einstein to a crisp!"

"No, he wouldn't; plastic isn't conductive!"

"He wouldn't use the plastic sword he was given, Genius Boy! He'd build one out of spare parts!"

"He can't, that's against the rules!"

"Since when? Who said that?"

"Me. Just now."

"Unbelievable!"

Go Go hid the snort of a chuckle that came out of her mouth. Fine, Honey Lemon wins. They were cute. But she had somewhere to be and so couldn't stay. Finishing the last of her lunch, Go Go grabbed her bag and stood up as the two teen geniuses went on arguing oblivious to the fact that she was going. Finally, she cleared her throat to get their attention (something she had to do often), and they turned to look at her in surprise.

"Actually, you're both wrong. Da Vinci would beat them both just based on the fact that he lived through a time when swords were more viable than firearms. But I gotta get to my last class today. See you guys later."

Go Go turned and left, smiling at the retorts she was receiving from the two about Da Vinci's chances in a hypothetical swordfight. With a full belly and the warm late summer breeze blowing through her hair as she walked across campus, Go Go felt relaxed. Or, as relaxed as Go Go ever got. She stifled a yawn as she walked into the lecture hall and took her seat. She and Fred had been paired up for night patrol the pervious evening, meaning that Go Go had gotten less sleep than she would've liked. But she'd been leading the superhero double life for over a year now, she could handle it. After a few moments, Professor Granville walked into the room and laid her satchel down on the desk at the front of the hall.

"Good afternoon, class. Today we'll be taking a look at page 46 in the textbook, so please turn with me…"

Go Go zeroed in on Granville's lecture at first but the hall had all its windows opened due to the pleasant weather outside. This meant a warm but pleasant draft was wafting in through the windows and combined with Go Go's full stomach and lack of sleep the previous night, she began fighting to stay awake. She sat up straighter in an attempt to ward off the drowsiness, but while Granville was a very eloquent speaker, she wasn't known for being dynamic. Between all of the other factors and Granville's monotone delivery of the lecture, Go Go found herself nodding off.

She was suddenly awoken by a hand on her shoulder and jerked awake. Granville was standing over her with a concerned look on her face and the room was now empty. Go Go groaned and put her head down on the desk.

"How long was I out?" she asked, her voice muffled by her jacket sleeve.

"Thirty-seven minutes, eighteen seconds." Granville answered.

"Ugh. I'm sorry, Professor Granville. It won't happen again."

"I'm sure it won't, this is very unlike you. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine I was just doing…" Go Go held up six fingers so she didn't have to say it out loud in case anyone was eavesdropping. "…stuff last night and I got in late."

"I understand. While I am sympathetic to your… work life balance shall we say, as your teacher I am concerned. Your grades so far compared to this point in the semester last year are eighteen percent lower. Are you having trouble with the material?"

"No, I just don't have time to study it. Between school, the Wowaroos, and… work, I barely have time to eat or sleep."

"Far be it from me to tell you what to do in this instance, but perhaps you've overexerted yourself. Cutting back slightly in one or more areas might help you to improve in all of them."

"I balanced it fine last year, I can do the same now."

"Yes, but last year you only had to worry about school and work. Now you're worrying about both and volunteering with Ms. Wower at the science center. She speaks very highly of you, but she managed on her own for years before you offered up your assistance."

"I can't quit on her now, we're gearing up for a hiking fieldtrip out to Muirahara Woods this weekend. There's only one other person that knows those woods better than me and he lives in them with a family of space-rock bears." Go Go paused to let the absurdity of what she just said sink in. "And I can't believe that is a sentence that just came out of my mouth. Besides, the kids have grown attached to me, and I've… kinda grown attached to them."

"Be that as it may… you can't do it all."

"Yeah, I can… I have to. Sorry again about falling asleep, Professor. I'll see you next time." Go Go grabbed her bag and quickly walked about before Granville could reply. She was late enough to the science center as it was.

Wendy Wower strummed the final notes to her closing song, the kids cheering and clapping as she took her bow. "Alright Wowaroos, thanks for joining us today! We'll see you all back here tomorrow for another fun day!"

The kids got up from their places on the carpet and moved to the door where their parents were waiting on them. Go Go high-fived each of them as they left, wearing the orange lab coat over her regular attire but otherwise keeping her appearance unaltered. She may have discovered that she liked teaching kids, but she could do without the blindingly bright wig if she wasn't in disguise. Thankfully the kids had easy accepted Go Go's more laid-back personality after a slight adjustment period. And her presence had even helped mellow out the weird little boy somewhat. He approached Go Go with a genuine smile as he went to walk out the door.

"Bye, Miss Go Go." He leaned in close to whisper. "Don't tell Ms. Wendy, but you're my favorite."

Go Go smiled and knelt down to whisper back. "Well don't tell the other kids, but you're my favorite. It'll be our little secret."

She winked at him and held out her closed fist, and the boy eagerly clinked his knuckles against hers. With that the kid walked out into the hall where his mom collected him, waving good-bye to Go Go. She waved back and closed the door now that all the kids were gone, turning to the mess that had been left behind in the classroom. Crayons were scattered, a single child sized chair had been tipped over, and glitter covered the floor from their arts and crafts project earlier. The kids had made a map of the galaxy, using glitter for the twinkling stars. It was actually surprising how much of it had gotten to the intended paper targets and not the floor. Go Go picked up the chair as Wendy grabbed a broom and began trying to sweep up the glitter.

"You ok today, Go Go?"

"Yeah. Fine."

"Really? You seem… and please don't take this the wrong way, but more sullen today."

"I fell asleep in class today. I was up late last night with the team."

Wendy nodded in understanding. Thanks to her various brushes with supervillains, she'd deduced some team members identities and been introduced to the others. It was a secret she guarded very closely. "The supervillains still giving you trouble?"

"Yeah. Putting Sirque away last week was nice, but we still don't have any leads on Trina, Noodle, Steamer, Hardlight, or Di Amara. Any one of them could pop up at any time with some sort of destroy-the-city plan and I don't like waiting. But they're really good at hiding, which is annoying."

"Isn't there some robot cobra lady too?"

Go Go sighed. "Yes, there is. Totally forgot about her. So that's starting to interfere with my sleep routine even more than it used to, which means my grades aren't what they usually are either."

"How are you doing?"

"Two A's, three B's."

Wendy snorted. "Really? That's it?"

"Wendy, it's SFIT. It's a passing grade, sure, but everyone at the school is a genius. Even if the material is difficult, most everyone manages to be straight A students."

"I remember, competition there was rough. But after Trevor stole my thesis project and I started working here, I realized that none of that mattered anymore. I was happy doing what I was doing, and whether or not I made straight A's at SFIT didn't matter. You need to be happy with what you're doing."

"I know, I know. That's why I'm going to school again in the first place. I want to be like you someday! Maybe just with less… neon." Go Go managed to offer the older woman a slight smirk. Wendy shook her head and abandoned the broom, instead resorting to a mop to eradicate the pesky glitter.

"And I'm honored you think that, but you can't overwork yourself. If it comes down to having to choose between school, your hero work, and this so you can at least get a decent amount of rest, I know what I'd choose. And if I have to, I'll choose for you."

"What? You'd stop me from volunteering to help teach kids?"

"Only temporarily. You spend almost as much time here as I do, and this is my actual paying job. You could easily cut back a few hours a week and it'd be fine. That'd give you more time to focus on yourself and the team."

"Who would get the room set up every day? Who would set out the snacks?"

"I would. I didn't always have you helping out y'know. I can manage."

"Yeah, you managed. And you were underpaid to boot. Me helping out and dividing your workload in half makes your salary seem a little more reasonable."

"I will admit that your mysteriously deep pockets have been helpful when it comes to supplies, and that yes, I don't earn as much as I should. But none of the money I earn or save is worth it if you're killing yourself by working too hard. So consider what I'm saying, please?"

"Fine." Go Go huffed as she tossed the last box of crayons back into the cabinet they belonged in.

"And with that out of the way, now I need to tell you the bad news."

"What bad news?"

"Our trip to Muirahara Woods this weekend has been cancelled."

"What?!"

"The board here at the science center don't want us talking kids off campus until the supervillain problem in the city is contained. They feel that if the kids aren't here then its easier for a parent to win a lawsuit should something happen while we're on a trip."

"It was that moron with the big mustache, wasn't it? He's never liked you or me! I otta walk down to his office and-"

"Don't, because I agree."

"You agree?!"

"I know you and your friends are trying your best, but it's like you said. The supervillains are really good at hiding until they're ready to strike. We have safe rooms and stuff here at the center, if something were to happen, it'd be easier to keep the kids safe."

"Muirahara Woods isn't even a target anymore! Ned Ludd has Bessie under control, I'd be there, and Hiro and Baymax agreed to fly around the perimeter as an extra precaution. The kids would be safe."

"But what if something happened on the way there? What if the Noodle guy started rampaging around when we were all on the bus?"

"Then… the situation would be harder to control." Go Go sighed and leaned on the counter.

"Are you mad?"

"Not at you, Wendy. The situation. Life would be easier without supervillains threatening to destroy the city practically every six months."

"I know. On the bright side, maybe you can get some rest. Take the day off instead."

Go Go laughed dryly. "Not likely. With my luck, that'll be the day Baron Von Steamer decides he wants to force everyone to wear copper monocles or something stupid."

Wendy put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her friend. "I'm sorry, I know you were looking forward to the trip. Why don't you go on home? I can finish up here."

Go Go nodded, defeated for the moment. She turned to leave and walked to the door but stopped just shy of opening it. "I'll text Wasabi and see if he knows a good way to get glitter out of carpet."

"I'd appreciate that, thanks." Wendy and Go Go shared a smile before the younger woman placed her orange lab coat on a hook and left.

Go Go huffed as she walked through downtown. The day had started out alright but had quickly spiraled, leaving her in a grumpy mood. As much as she hated to admit it, maybe she was taking on a few too things at once. Going for a master's degree was no joke and required lots of attention. But so was her superhero work. In the last year and a half, the city had become an increasingly dangerous place. Supervillains springing up left and right, multiple potential city-wide destructive events. Someone had to stop the bad guys. Go Go just wished it didn't necessarily have to be her. She'd never really wanted to be a superhero, she'd more or less been dragged into by her friends to bring Tadashi's killer to justice, and after that, by Fred's constant pleading to do night patrol.

And at the time, it really was the six of them against the world. Baron Von Steamer, Momakase, High Voltage, Noodle Burger Boy, Obake's whole grand plan… it had been a busy fall semester and the six of them had been the only ones who could have stopped the bad guys. Now though, that wasn't necessarily true. Globby switching sides had surprised her, the odd goop monster having a heart underneath his selfish ambitions. Since then, he'd helped them out numerous times and had proven to be a hero in his own right. Then just last week, Abigail Callaghan had literally appeared out of thin air with powers and a drive to help people. At the rate Big Hero 6 was gaining allies, they'd either have to change the name or start rotating places on the team. It was enough to give Go Go pause for sure. Maybe she didn't have to spend as much time superheroing anymore. But just as that thought entered her head, it left as a pair of orange-colored blurs raced past her and smashed through the windows of a bakery. Go Go fixed her hair from the wind and pulled out her phone to signal Skymax.

As she stepped into a nearby alley to wait, she scrolled through her phone to see who would be available for backup. Wasabi was working, taking on a few extra shifts before his move in a couple weeks. Honey Lemon was off recruiting Globby during their annual teatime, so she was out. Fred was on a comic date with Olivia, leaving him unavailable, and Hiro was about to start his internship with Krei. And Go Go didn't have Abigail's number. So she was on her own, because of course. She keyed in another command for Skymax as the first drone landed with her gear, if she was going in alone, she'd need something to help give her an edge. The app confirmed that the next drone was en-route, so Go Go put her phone away and slipped on her gear. With her helmet in place, she skated out of the alley and looked towards the bakery. The doors blew off their hinges as the two perpetrators exited the establishment. Supersonic Stu held a bag presumably filled with baked goods as Supersonic Sue yelled something at the shop owners, probably her awful catchphrase. With that, they bolted down the street, speeding away. Not for long, though.

The sound of the next Skymax drone caught Go Go's attention and she looked up as her package was delivered. While Go Go had sold five designs for mag lev vehicles to Krei Tech, she'd kept the sixth for herself. Hiro had built it a few months ago and she'd used to go after Mr. Sparkles when he'd formed an underground racing challenge as a cover for robberies in the area, but it hadn't gotten much use since. Now though, it was about to come in handy. Go Go took her seat and lowered the canopy, revving the engine as the vehicle powered on. When all systems lit up green on the dash, Go Go gunned it and the vehicle shot off, speeding down the road. Unlike last time, there was dense traffic everywhere as everyone made their way home for the evening. Thankfully, the cycle was nimble enough to dodge and weave in between the larger cars and busses on the road. Soon enough, Go Go rounded a street corner and caught sight of the Supersonics, gaining on them as they fled back to their hideout. Supersonic Sue took notice though, looking back at the yellow blur that was quickly gaining on them. She smiled wickedly and turned to her grandson.

"Well, my little road rash, looks like we've got company. Ready for that maneuver we've been practicing?"

"Oh, I am SO ready, nana!"

The Supersonics split up, Sue turning left while Stu turned right. Go Go made a quick decision and turned left to follow Sue. Stu might be able to cause some damage on his own, but without his nana's brains he was a little aimless. Sue led her on a good chase, both of them doubling back on the route they'd just travelled but Go Go smiled when Sue took a hard left into an alley. With nowhere to go, the aging speedster was trapped. Go Go hit the brakes and slid her vehicle into the alley where Sue was waiting for her. Go Go was about to tell her she had nowhere to run when Sue started skating in circles and then with enough momentum built, skated vertically up the side of the building onto the roof. While Go Go was surprised, she wasn't unprepared, two could play at that game. She hit the switch on the dash to signal Skymax to pick up her cycle and disembarked, spinning her disks and revving them up. She then planted all four limbs on the ground, resting on her disks, and shot forward, following Sue up the building. As Go Go landed on the roof, Sue gave her a soft few claps.

"Impressive. Didn't know if you had it in you, Skater-Tot."

"Could say the same thing about you, nana. You ready for a nap by now?"

"Nah. But you are!"

Go Go didn't have time to question the statement as she heard another pair of rocket skates to her left. Turning, she caught sight of Stu racing toward her with an outstretched fist and then her lights went out.

Go Go came to, finding her arms and legs tied to a rickety wooden chair. She was in one of the many abandoned warehouses that littered the docks, and she could smell the sea water in the air. She raised her head and looked around. Stu was sitting on an old shipping crate, stuffing a cookie into his mouth as Sue checked her teeth in the reflection of Go Go's cracked helmet. It was then that she noticed that her helmet was off. Great. Go Go sighed angrily, getting Su's attention.

"Well, well. Rise and shine, Skater-Tot. Sorry about the helmet, Stu doesn't know his own strength sometimes. Gave you quite the shiner, there." Sue held up a small mirror so Go Go could see herself. Sure enough, a nice large bruise was forming on her left cheek. "Oh, and don't worry about the whole secret identity thing. I try to keep homes and stuff off-limits, so we're not going to track you down or anything."

"I feel so relieved." Go Go spat sarcastically. "So you and junior over there are ripping off bakeries now?"

"Yeah, well my oven kinda went kaput recently, so I haven't been able to make anything for the little tike over there." She motioned to Stu, who was patting his full belly. "It's not quite the same but it'll do."

"And you couldn't, I don't know, pay for some of those cookies?"

"We got a couple pies too!" Stu told her proudly.

"Oh, good for you." Go Go rolled her eyes.

"That's part of the fun, yellow. Take what you need, escape the law, or in this case you…"

"And then kidnap them? That's not how you usually do things."

"No it isn't, but you gave us a good opportunity we couldn't pass up. See, we've been planning this for a while, but we haven't figured out how to get you on your own. Then you come after us during our sweets run and we knew we had to spring at the opportunity. Stu, you got it?"

Stu fumbled around in his suit's pockets until he found what he was looking for and then nodded vigorously. Sue motioned him over and he stumbled onto his rocket skates in his excitement. Go Go raised an eyebrow in half curiosity, half annoyance as Stu finally made it over and knelt down on one knee in front of her. Both of Go Go's eyebrows then shot up when Stu held out his hand, a small diamond ring held between his index finger and thumb. Go Go looked between Stu and his grandma, trying to piece things together.

"Hang on a second, what?!"

"Oh, you see, when a man gets on one knee and brings out a ring, it means-"

"I KNOW WHAT IT MEANS NIT-WIT!" Go Go yelled at Stu. "You can't be serious right now."

"Oh, we're serious." Sue confirmed. "I've been doing a lot of thinking, and I'm not getting any younger, and Stu here isn't getting any…"

Sue smiled gently at the man-child and leaned down to cover his ears before she whispered "…smarter."

Stu looked up at his nana and smiled, oblivious to what she'd said. Sue in return affectionately pinched his cheeks before continuing. "So, I was thinking maybe it was time he settled down with someone. Someone who'd help him carry on the family legacy, and I was thinking about what type of girl would be good for that, and then I had it. It's you, Skater-Tot!"

Go Go's jaw slowly dropped as she looked between the two Supersonics. "I don't believe what I'm hearing. You're crazy!"

"Sure I am, but what has that got to do with anything?"

"So let me get this straight. You thought that by kidnapping me, I would then happily agree to marry your grandson. Someone who we've fought with multiple times. I've helped lock both of you up in jail multiple times."

Sue dismissed that thought with a wave of her hand. "That would be water under the bridge. What family hasn't sent each other to jail a few times?"

"I don't believe this…" Go Go leaned her head back and looked at the ceiling, not believing the absurdity of the situation she was in. Stu looked between Go Go and Sue, confused (as usual).

"She hasn't said yes, Nana. Do I keep kneeling here, or..?"

"You can stand up, sweet-pea, we're negotiating."

"NO WE AREN'T!" Go Go yelled as she looked back at the crazed grandmother. "This isn't something you can negotiate about. I barely know Stu except that he's incredibly stupid-" Sue shot her a look about using the 'S' word in regard to Stu, and not willing to anger her captor more than she already had, Go Go quickly recovered. "-idly fast! Besides, that's not much of an engagement ring, what low-quality shop did you steal that from?"

"It's mine, actually. Wore it for twenty-seven years before Stu's granddad ran off with Sharon Perkins from the roller-derby. But I will admit, he was a pretty cheap guy. I doubt the ring he probably got her was any better."

"Well, as charming as that little story is and as tempting an offer as marrying…" Go Go trailed off as she watched Stu put his finger in his ear, root it around, and then bring it out only to eat the contents. "-him is… I have to decline. I'm not looking for a relationship right now, I'm focusing on my career and school."

"That's admirable. Really it is. I was the same way when I was your age. But everything changes when you fall in love, Skater-Tot. Let me tell you, when I met Greggory, the only thing I wanted was him. You just gotta meet the right guy."

"And how'd that turn out?"

"Actually pretty great. I dumped Greggory after a year because I thought Stu's granddad was loaded and as we discussed that didn't turn out so great, but that year I spent with Greggory was bliss."

"Sounds like Greg dodged a bullet…" Go Go muttered to herself.

"So, what do you say?" Sue elbowed Stu, getting him to drop to one knee again. "Maybe Stu's the right guy after all."

"Yeah, no. Hard pass." Go Go deadpanned. Sue simply shrugged at the response.

"Well, what can you say? We tried. Guess we'll just have to ask again sometime and see if you change your tune."

"I doubt it."

"Never say never, Skater-Tot. Maybe after a couple days here on your own you'll be a little more receptive to our offer." Sue walked over and grabbed the bag of stolen deliciousness and motioned for Stu to follow her. He slipped the ring back in his special pouch and turned to follow her.

"So what, you're just going to leave me here to starve?"

"Of course not! We'll be back in a few days with pizza or something and a better ring. I think that one store on 23rd street is still cleaning up from the portal chick's break-in."

"Ok, I'm done with this." Go Go started rocking back and forth in her seat, causing the chair to tip forward and back.

"Go ahead and try, Skater-Tot, but you'll never-" Sue was cut off as Go Go and the chair fell over onto the concrete, instantly causing the thing to fall to pieces. Go Go surged up and threw the ropes off of her, the knots coming undone now that the chair was a large pile of splinters. Sue dropped the goody bag and rolled her eyes. "Note to self, next time get a better chair."

Sue surged forward to grab Go Go, but the younger woman dived out of the way just in time and grabbed her disks. The moment she had them on she was racing around the old warehouse, keeping just out of reach of Sue's attacks. Go Go collected her helmet and slammed it on, hoping to call the team. Unfortunately, Stu's attack had damaged the helmet enough to disable the HUD, and she didn't have time to stop and text for help. So, she was still running solo. After Go Go had dodged another attack, Sue stopped in her tracks and whirled around to face Stu, who had just been standing there observing.

"Stu! Help me catch her!"

"Um… I don't know, Nana. Doesn't chasing her probably make her not want to marry me?"

"You ever hear of a shotgun wedding, baby beluga?"

"Um… no."

"Well, I'll make sure you get one if you help me catch her!"

"Cool, thanks Nana!"

Stu charged into the warehouse, nearly bodychecking Go Go into the wall. Go Go turned and made a run for the exit, but Sue blocked her, forcing her to divert and leap onto an old stack of crates. Stu followed her, the two of them jumping from crate to crate. Go Go grabbed onto a chain that was still attached to an old crane and swung around back to the other end of the warehouse. Stu tried to follow but his weight was too much, and he fell into the old crate, causing dust and wood to fly everywhere. Sue lost sight of Go Go as the dust cloud continued to spread throughout the old warehouse. She didn't have to look long though, as Go Go came sailing out of the cloud, the chain in her hands. Before Sue could run, Go Go had skated around her and wrapped her up.

"That should keep you occupied for a while." Go Go said.

"Hah, like this'll matter. Stu will get out of that box any moment now and he'll catch you eventually."

Go Go smirked. "I don't think so."

As Go Go walked over to the pile of yummy loot, Stu was finally getting himself out of the crate he'd fallen in. He flopped on the ground with a thud and stood up, dusting himself off. Before he could wonder where Go Go had gone, a box of something was sliding towards him on the ground. He looked at the label and clapped happily.

"Fudge bites! My favorite!" He opened the box and started to chow down. Sue stared at him in disbelief and started to say something to get him back on task, but a muffin was suddenly thrust into her mouth to act as a temporary gag. She glared at Go Go as the speedster grinned and held a finger up to her lips to say 'shhhhh'. Sue started mumbling at her through the muffin but Go Go didn't care. She took out her phone and snapped a picture of the pair, texting the image and address to Chief Cruz. Even when Sue managed to regain control of her grandson, it was unlikely he'd be smart enough to get her out of the chains she was wrapped in. With the villains detained, Go Go left and skated for home, a large headache starting to make itself known.

After changing out of her superhero gear, Go Go was finally back at her apartment, tired, sweaty, and more than a little grumpy. It hadn't been a very fun day. She put the key into the lock and turned, opening the door. Honey Lemon sat on their couch and shot Go Go a concerned look as she entered the apartment.

"You ok?" Honey Lemon asked.

"Don't want to talk about it." Go Go said as she retreated to the kitchen. She whipped open the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water, unscrewing the cap and downing the entire thing in one large gulp. Go Go wiped her mouth and chucked the empty bottle into the recycling container. Now taking a better look at her roommate, Go Go noticed that Honey Lemon wasn't her usual cheery self. No matter how bad she felt, her friends came first. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong."

"Yes there is, your smile is missing. Did Globby not want to join the team?"

"No, no, he accepted. He was really happy to."

"Ok, then what?"

Honey Lemon sighed and picked up her tablet. "It's the house hunt. Everything I look at is either out of my price range or…"

"Garbage?"

"That's one word for it. I found this one place that's great, but it's just outside of my price range."

"Show me." Honey handed Go Go the tablet and she looked through the listing. They'd had several long talks about what Honey liked in a house while she'd lived with Go Go. The small space wasn't her preferred layout, but she liked it due to the fact that she got to share it with her friend. So Go Go wanted to make sure that if Honey Lemon was moving away, she'd get a place that she liked. "Yeah, this seems like its right up your alley. Good neighborhood, nice kitchen… how far is it going to be from work?"

"Thirty minutes if I walk, less if I take public transit."

"And how far is it out of your price range?"

"Two grand."

"That's it?" Go Go whipped out her phone and tapped a few buttons. After a moment, Honey's phone buzzed and she opened her Kash-aroo app, the little cartoon kangaroo showing her that Go Go had just given her four thousand dollars. Honey's eyes went wide and she looked up.

"Go Go!"

"And you'll have some leftover for groceries and junk. You're welcome."

"Go Go, I can't just take this from you!"

"You're not, I'm giving it to you."

"That's not…" Honey Lemon closed her eyes and removed her glasses, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Go Go, it's too much. Thank you, but I can't accept this."

"Why not?"

"Because it's four thousand dollars! It's not like you bought me a candy bar or something!"

"You're right, it's not. I'm helping you out so you have a good place to live. And I'm not going to miss four grand." Go Go crossed her arms, knowing she had a point. After selling her designs for mag-lev vehicles to Krei Tech, Go Go had become a millionaire overnight. With her usually meager spending habits, she wouldn't need to worry about money for a long time. She thought that Honey Lemon understood that.

"I know you won't but it's your money. You should spend it on you, things that are important to you!"

"You are important to me!" Go Go said. Honey Lemon didn't say anything, looking surprised. Go Go sighed and ran her head through her hair, her headache increasing in strength. She pushed through the pain and started to talk again. "You know I don't do emotions. That's why it was so hard for me to just say I wanted you to stay when you had the opportunity to move back to SFIT. I've really liked having you here. It hasn't always been easy with your stickers and the Bunny-You AI, but you're my friend. I care about you. So if I'm finally getting my apartment back to myself, then I'm going to make sure that you're going to live in a place that you feel comfortable in. And if that means splurging a little so you have enough money to do so, then I'd say that's money well spent. You know Fred would do the same for any one of us. Heck, he has done the same for all of us since we've found out he was loaded. Friends help friends however they can, and so that's what I'm doing."

"I know… thank you Go Go." Honey Lemon opened up her arms and surged forward for a hug but Go Go stopped her halfway.

"Sorry, no hug right now. I reek and you've got Globby bits on you still." Honey Lemon looked at her clothing, sure enough, a few gelatinous globs were still on her.

"Oops. I should probably clean the couch then."

Go Go finally managed a smile now that the discussion had ended. "Great. I'm going to shower, then do you want to go out and grab something to eat? I don't feel like cooking tonight."

"I'd love to. And it's my treat, no arguing! As a thank you."

"Fair." Go Go turned to the stairs and started walking up, but suddenly the pounding headache she already had started to feel like drills boring into her skull. She groaned and steadied herself on the handrail as the room began to spin around her.

"Go Go?" Honey Lemon asked. Go Go heard it but it sounded echoey and far away. She started to answer but the blackness consumed her, and she felt herself fall backward. After a while, things started coming into focus and cautiously she opened her eyes. The lights were too bright and she squinted, looking up at a large marshmallow man.

"Go Go, can you hear me?"

She groaned and held her hand in front of her eyes to block the light. "Yeah, Baymax. Loud and clear."

Honey Lemon's concerned expression was the next thing to fill her vision, much too close. It was then that she realized her head was resting on Honey Lemon's lap. "Are you ok, Go Go?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. What happened?"

"You passed out. I called Hiro and Baymax to come help." Honey gingerly helped Go Go sit up, now spotting Hiro standing next to Baymax, looking incredibly worried.

"Baymax, what do you think?" Hiro asked.

"Based on my scan, Go Go is suffering from dehydration and severe exhaustion. I would recommend fluids and a good night's rest."

"Exhaustion? I'm fine." Go Go tried to stand but her legs failed her, sending her back down to the floor where Honey Lemon and Hiro caught her.

"You are not." Baymax said as curtly as he was programmed to. "You also have a large bruise on your left cheek. Applying ice will help it heal."

"What happened today, Go Go?" Hiro asked. "You weren't like this at lunch."

"No big deal, I had a run in with the Supersonics. I took care of it."

"You fought the Supersonics alone?!" Honey Lemon cried.

"Go Go, you should have called us." Hiro said, his expression darkening.

"You all were busy, and I knew I could handle it. And I did. Check in with Cruz, pretty sure he's probably got them by now."

Hiro pulled out his phone and tapped a quick message. After a few moments it dinged and Hiro shot Go Go a look as he returned the phone to his pocket. "He does. They'll get transferred to PrisonMax later tonight. Still, you should've called for backup. When was the last time you had a full night of sleep?"

"Um…" Go Go thought for a moment. "Before the earthquake?"

Both Hiro and Honey Lemon groaned. "Go Go, that was weeks ago."

"You don't think I don't know that? I stay up pretty late every night working on schoolwork now. I can't do it during the day because I'm either in school or helping Wendy, and a lot of times I can't do it at night either because I'm chasing after bad guys."

"Professor Granville talked to me today." Hiro said. "She was worried about you, said you fell asleep in class. I didn't want to believe it, but… I think you're doing too much. You can't keep juggling things like this. It's not good for you, and it's not good for us, either."

"I've handled it pretty well so far."

"No you haven't! If you were handling it well, you wouldn't have passed out and scared Honey Lemon half to death. It's time that you pick and choose what you want to do, because you can't do school, help Wendy, and be on the team all at the same time. What if this had happened when we were trying to catch a bad guy instead of at home?"

Go Go looked down and didn't answer. She knew Hiro was right. The young genius sighed and ran a hand through his hair, causing Go Go to notice that Hiro was wearing his suit minus helmet and Baymax was still armored up to his legs, the rest of him exposed to better assist his medical programming.

"When did I become the responsible one?" Hiro asked quietly.

"You've been the responsible one for a long time, Hiro." Go Go offered him a slight smile. "You're right, I can't keep doing this. But I can't decide what to drop on the spur of the moment."

"I know. But for now at least I'm going to lighten your load a bit. You're off night patrol roster for the time being. Fred and Wasabi can handle a few extra nights."

Go Go nodded as Honey Lemon handed her a glass of water. She took it and drank a little bit before looking at both of her friends. "Thanks."

"C'mon, Baymax, let's get home. This is like the third time in a row I've had to leave Krei Tech early because of some emergency…" Hiro began putting armor pieces back on Baymax so they could leave, the robot handing Go Go a lollipop as Honey Lemon helped her to the couch. After a few minutes Hiro and Baymax left and Honey Lemon ordered take-out so Go Go could rest. But as she sat there she realized that she'd accidentally lied to Hiro. She could easily make the decision on what to drop from her life because deep down she'd already come to the decision. The city still needed her for now, but sometime soon it probably wouldn't. As soon as all the villains were back in jail, she knew what she was going to do.

She was going to leave the team.

She just wasn't sure whether she was happy about it or not.

Notes

As promised, a longer chapter to make up for last week, and what a doozy this one was. Outside of the main Hiro/Baymax duo, I think Go Go might be my favorite member of the team, and that's somewhat of a recent development. For most of the movie and show, Go Go is fairly one-note, being the stoic no-nonsense member of the team. This doesn't make her a bad character, but she does stick to her archetype. Then there's the few episodes where she's the focus, such as the roommate duology split between the first to seasons and then "Go Go the Wowaroo". Much like Wasabi, she's grown slowly over time, and it's become increasingly clear that despite her outward attitude, she may be the person on the team that actually cares the most. That's obviously very debatable as the team is a very strong family unit, but Go Go is the least likely of all the team to have ever been a superhero. Her outward apathetic attitude on the surface says she doesn't really care about anyone, but dig a little deeper and that façade easily breaks away and you realize how much she really does care. I find this very fascinating about her, with "Go Go the Wowaroo" being the icing on the cake. To me, that episode is arguably the best out of the entire third season, as it accomplishes the goal of being a more humor based plotline like the TV execs wanted while also building on the story and characters in a interesting yet natural way. It's unfortunate that it was paired with "Big Hero Battle", what a waste of 11 minutes that was. One of these days I'll go a full rant about Season 3 as a whole, but not today.

So Go Go may have trouble showing it, but she cares a lot. And that means she's probably going to work herself to the bone to make sure everyone is cared for. So despite grumbling about night patrol at first, once there were more threats, Go Go always was right there with everyone else in the thick of it when she probably easily could have retired from being a hero after Callaghan was put away. So add being a superhero on top of volunteering with the kids on top of going after her master's, something eventually needs to give. And so we get to our next tie-in for the new roster of heroes storyline, as Go Go has made the decision to leave the team despite not moving out of the city. So Globby and Abigail are being brought in to help replace Honey Lemon and Wasabi, but now we need a replacement for Go Go as well. So who's that going to be? Well... I'll leave you all to theorize. In terms of coming up with what her breaking point would be, the Supersonics were an easy answer.

Of the Season 2 villains introduced, I think they might be my favorite, at least in terms of comedic relief. Jane Lynch is always a fun actor to bring in, and I wish that they'd been able to do a little more with her character because of that. But if I thought she was good on her own, pairing her up with Stu was comedy gold. They have such a fun dynamic, and despite being silly, they're a great threat as well. I find it odd though that the show never played up the rivalry between Sue/Stu and Go Go more, all three of them being speedsters, so I tried to do that a little here. Of course with this pair it couldn't be a "normal" bad guy plot and had to be something completely bonkers, so Sue trying to get a Go Go/Stu ship going seemed just crazy enough that it would be something she'd try, much to Go Go's annoyance. This is one of those fun chapters as well where I had a basic outline but not much knowledge of how everything was exactly going to play out until my fingers hit the keyboard. Chekov's Baked Goods had me laughing to myself when I came up with that, and was an appropriately silly way to subdue a pair of silly villains. I bet Stu will probably get along great with El Fuego in prison.

NEXT WEEK: The new BH6 recruits get a crash course in hero work. Also, rampaging billionaire mutants, electro-cobras, and butlers, oh my!