Inheritance of Giants

Paranoid

"Yeah, you don't want to lose your ping pong and TV privileges, man! Especially with you sleeping next to Micheal," Victor said with a shiver.

"You hear what Micheal did to poor old Gerald?" Stan whispered.

"Stan, that story has been around here longer than you," Ford muttered. "Gerald's, whoever he was, has been dead for a decade now."

"And how do you know that, Ford?" Stan rebutted instantly.

"Because I ask questions, Stan," Ford replied plainly.

Toga sat her bag down and began counting quickly.

Stan frowned and said, "Dude, aren't you bad at math or something?"

"No, that's me, Stan," Victor said in a deadpan voice.

"Oh, sorry," Stan said sheepishly.

"Yeah, you got in here from a bank robbery on the Sky Anchor, right?" Ford asked with narrowed eyes, looking at Martinez.

"I-" an alarm went off, a worker being carried away.

"Wait! I swear!" The worker yelled, trying to break free of the guards' grip. "I didn't do anything! I didn't steal any drugs!"

"We found your fingerprints all over the hidden crate, Henry," one of the remaining guards called out.

Ford shook his head. "That poor boy. You know, he got into heroin far too early in his life. I mean, not that you ever should get into heroin, but for that boy, what, he was twelve when he got access to some?"

"Yeah, I remember him saying that it was his father's stash," Victor muttered with a sigh. "And I thought my drug control meetings were helping him."

"Cheer up, Victor," Stan said, slapping the man on the back. "You're helping everybody else in that group!"

"... Thanks, Stan," Victor said with a half-smile.

"Uh, okay, I've got hundred and two," Toga said. She frowned and looked up, seeing her companions' masks, feeling her worry start to rise.

"..." Stan's mask twitched before he snorted and let out a guffaw of laughter. "Oh man, Martinez, you should've seen the look on your face! Dude, that's fine, so you got a little less than usual, big deal! What's one bad day gonna do, huh?"

"Yeah, so you didn't get the hundred fifteen, hundred twenty you usually do, big deal, Martinez," Victor said with a wave of his hand. "Trust me, the higher ups won't care. You need to relax sometimes, Martinez!"

"Yes..." Ford said with the tilt of his head, emotions unreadable. "You do need to relax."

Then, without warning, Ford pinched the back of Martinez's hand.

"Dude!" Victor called, smacking Ford's hand. "You didn't need to do that! It isn't a test from those, uh, colorful fish guys. I swear, you're just so paranoid sometimes."

Ford stood still before shrugging. "Well, worth a try. And they're Metrons, Victor, not just colorful fish guys."

"Pfft, you thought Martinez was a Metron?!" Stan said, starting to laugh again. "Man, I'm really beginning to question who's the smart one between us, Ford! Plus, aren't the Metrons, like, allies of this place? It's just a test from the higher ups and the Metrons, so give it a break, Ford."

"I'm not failing a test, Stan," Ford grumbled.

"Yeah, your pride would never let you!" Stan responded.

"So? Of course I would take pride in the fact I've never failed a Metron test!" Ford rebutted.

"Yeah, but I bet five dollars that you would miss, like, I don't know, a young girl trained by a galactic warlord who has like a human transformation Quirk!"