Spears Has a Busy Afternoon
Guy Spears was in his office the following afternoon working on some papers when a sandy haired bearded stout man burst into his office. "YOU THIEF!" He screamed.
"Dr. Grippin," Spears said in a bored voice. "I thought I told you to leave yesterday."
"I'm not going anywhere without getting what's mine!" Dr. Grippin shouted.
"We've been through this before," Spears said. "The judge declared that Power 8 is my property."
"You stole that formula from me!" Dr. Grippin shouted.
"No you signed an agreement stating that anything you created was the rightful property of Spears Incorporated," Spears told him. "It was in your contract. Not my fault you didn't read the fine print."
"But what about the money you owe me?" Dr. Grippin shouted.
"I have already given you more than enough severance pay," Spears told him. "And I'm sure with your credentials you can find a job somewhere. Making new formulas for Alpo perhaps?"
"That money is a pittance than what I deserve and you know it!" Dr. Grippin shouted.
"Look Grippin, I am a busy man. Too busy to get into arguments with crackpots," Spears told him. "I have many friends and if you wish to do any kind of research in the future I suggest you drop this. Unless you want my lawyers to give you another thrashing in court…"
"I'll see you in hell Spears!" Dr. Grippin shouted as he stormed out the door, nearly colliding with Creed.
"Friend of yours?" Creed asked sarcastically.
"Just a disgruntled former employee who thinks he can bleed more money out of me," Spears said.
"Gee I wonder where he picked that trick up?" Creed asked with a sneer. "I want that formula Spears."
"And I will give it to you as soon as I get my payment," Spears told him.
"Twenty million dollars is a hell of a lot of money you cretin," Creed snarled.
"Yes well I need that money to increase production," Spears told him.
"Like hell you do," Creed snapped. "You can produce Power 8 cheaply! It couldn't have taken you that long to rebuild your factories after those muties shut you down!"
"I was up and running two weeks later," Spears said. "But I purposely shut down production until now."
"Of course you did," Creed sneered. "You needed time to get a buyer as well as milk the insurance company for all it was worth."
"I need compensation for lost time," Spears told him.
"What about your responsibility to the human race?" Creed asked.
"I'm more concerned with the responsibility towards my bottom line," Spears told him. "I am going to get very very rich off of this."
"You're already rich!" Creed shouted. "Don't count on the FOH paying for this. It's not as if we won't be able to figure the formula out ourselves."
"I doubt it," Spears told him. "I made sure I bought back or destroyed every single bottle of Power 8 back from the public. I've had my most loyal men work for me and I've made sure that no one knows the exact formula except for myself."
"You think you've covered all the bases don't you?" Creed asked. "What about your friend who just left now?"
"If you bothered to do your homework you would discover that he only made the base formula," Spears told him. "I'm the one who added the ingredients and improved upon it. I do have a degree in chemistry as well as business. Unlike some people who couldn't get through medical school, I am capable of doing more than one thing."
"WHY YOU LITTLE…" Creed roared as he grabbed Spears by the collar and yanked him over the desk.
"Before you lay one hand on me I think I should warn you that this entire office is under surveillance," Spears indicated with his head the cameras on the walls.
"You think you can threaten me with assault you son of a bitch?" Creed sneered.
"At least I'm not the son of a freak," Spears hissed back.
At the mention of this Creed turned white. "What are you talking about?" He said in a harsh whisper.
"I think you know exactly what I'm talking about. I wonder what your supporters would think if they knew the truth about you," Spears sneered. "The whole truth about your family connections?"
Creed let go and stepped back. "You are playing a dangerous game Spears," He warned. "If you utter one word about…" He choked. "No one will believe you!"
"I have proof," Spears grinned as he sat down again. "And I can always call Mommy dearest and have her testify from jail if I have to."
"You bastard…" Creed snarled. "I won't pay one dime for that formula!"
"You will. I think my price has just doubled," Spears lay back in his chair. "Call me when you change your mind."
"You haven't seen the last of me Spears! That's a promise!" Creed shouted violently, knocking over a plant on his way out. "No one double crosses me and lives to tell about it!"
Creed stormed out of the plant to his limo. Duncan was waiting for him, dressed as his driver. "Trouble Mr. Creed?" Duncan asked as he opened the door, concerned.
"Mr. Matthews trouble isn't even the word for it," Creed remarked as he got inside. "I'LL KILL THAT FOOL! I'LL KILL HIM!"
Overhearing this was Xavier, Ororo, Shipwreck and Roadblock as they made their way to the front door of the company. "Sounds like he and Creed aren't buddies after all," Shipwreck observed.
"Maybe this is a good sign?" Roadblock asked.
"Somehow I doubt it," Xavier sighed for he had glimpsed the thoughts of Creed as he left.
They went to Spears' office. "Well if it isn't Mr. Xavier," Spears said in a fake friendly tone. "And some of his friends. What a pleasant surprise."
"I wish I could say the same," Xavier frowned. "Spears why is your plant running again?"
"I would think it would be obvious," Spears told him. "I'm creating more Power 8 to sell."
"Why?" Ororo asked. "We told you that it was poison to mutants!"
"Yes and thank you very much for informing me of that," Spears told her as he casually bent down and took out a drink of Power 8 from a small refrigerator. "I'd offer you something to drink but this is all I have. Shame you can't drink it, it's quite refreshing," He opened it and took a long sip.
"You're going to sell this product as some kind of mutant poison aren't you?" Xavier was becoming furious.
"And make ten times as much as I planned to do when I thought it was just a simple sports drink," Spears grinned.
"You can't do that!" Ororo shouted.
"I can manufacture and sell whatever I want to whomever I want. Face it Xavier," Spears leered. "The law is on my side and there's nothing you can do about it."
"Don't you care that you're poisoning innocent people?" Ororo shouted at him.
"Since when are mutants innocent people?" Spears snickered. "Besides nobody's forcing you people to drink it."
"Not yet," Shipwreck growled. "Your plant is contaminating the sewers below. What about the Morlocks?"
"What about them?" Spears snarled. "Who cares what happens to the rejects of society?"
"They are people Mr. Spears," Xavier frowned.
"My company is well within government regulations," Spears told him. "According to federal guidelines there is nothing wrong or unhealthy with this plant or my product. You can check with the EPA yourself. I did. According to the authorities the waste created from the creation of Power 8 is well below the toxic levels allowed."
"But your product makes mutants sick!" Roadblock shouted.
"So? People who are lactose intolerant get sick but nobody's shutting down the milk industry because of a tiny insignificant portion of the population suffers from an unfortunate genetic quirk," Spears sneered.
"We'll find a way to shut you down you clown," Roadblock growled.
"What are you going to do?" Spears sneered. "Blow up my plant? Go right ahead and try. I have friends too Mr. Xavier. And believe you me they would love nothing more than a reason to blow all of you up to kingdom come."
"You mean like Creed?" Shipwreck asked.
"He'll come around," Spears grinned. "Once he realizes I have the best product in town, he'll even dance the tango if he has to in order to for me to supply him."
"How can you just sit there and willingly take part in something that's no less than genocide?" Ororo asked. "Don't you have any conscience at all?"
"On the contrary," Spears grinned. "Society will one day thank me for the service that I'm rendering."
"You're a monster!" Ororo shouted, her eyes darkening.
"How about something to drink?" Spears snarled as he tossed the contents of the Power 8 bottle at Ororo.
Before anyone could react, Shipwreck shoved Ororo out of the way, getting soaked with the mixture himself. He glared at Spears' satisfied smirk and watched it with supreme satisfaction as Spears realized that his ploy had backfired. "I'm human. Doesn't hurt me." He strode over and grabbed Spears by the throat. "BUT I CAN HURT YOU!"
"Shipwreck no!" Xavier ordered.
"He ain't worth a charge of assault and battery," Roadblock pulled him off. "But we'll close you down Spears, just wait and see."
"Go ahead and try! I'd love it if you and those Morlock freaks to try and stop me!" Spears shouted as they left. "I'll be waiting for you!"
"That man is intolerable!" Ororo fumed.
"Are you okay?" Shipwreck asked her.
"Fine thanks to you," She sighed.
"You better not touch me until I get my shirt off," Shipwreck unbuttoned his shirt. "Of course it's a great excuse for you to look at my pecs."
"Not to mention a free sample of Power 8. Spears just gave us some valuable property," Roadblock said. "This will give us an opportunity."
"Yes we can study this liquid some more," Xavier nodded. "See if he's changed the formula."
"More importantly we can make an antidote for this stuff," Shipwreck nodded. "Or better yet, some kind of anti-bodies or something."
"We did make an antidote when we first encountered Mr. Spears' rather toxic brew," Ororo said. "However your idea for immunization of some sort to this poison is not without merit."
"And with Spears running his factory again we are going to need it," Xavier said.