Visions of Greed

Chapter 12: Crazy With Greed Part 1

ANNOUNCEMENT: Chapters 1-11 were re-edited and reposted on 2/29/24

Thank you all so very much for your patience and for reading and interacting with this fic in any way. If you feel so inclined, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the fic so far. Thanks again!

P.S. Sorry this took so long, but I ran into some story problems, and it took me some time to get it right. I'll explain later, but for now, I hope you enjoy the chapter!

Recommended Songs: The Order- Starset, Psycho In My Head- Skillet, Hold Me Down- Halsey, Freefall- Alesti American Dream Machine, Untitled (How Could This Happen To Me)- Simple Plan,   Step Inside The Violence- Red

Once-ler eventually recovered from his illness and returned to work. It was his first day back, and he had just begun his morning inspection of the factory. No other employees aside from Once-ler were working in the building at the moment, so it was his job to open up the factory and get it up and running before everyone else arrived.

Once-ler walked over to the control panel to activate the machines in the manufacturing area. This would ensure that they were all ready and operational by the time the employees of that department came in for their shifts. Afterwards, Once-ler continued his inspection of the factory, turning on the lights and unlocking doors as he went. After he finished unlocking and inspecting the lobby and offices, Once-ler then made his way over to the manufacturing area to check on that part of the factory. He needed to make sure that all of the machines had turned on correctly and that none of them were experiencing any problems.

When Once-ler opened the doors to the manufacturing area, he was once again greeted with the all too familiar smell of smogulous smoke. The scent of the fumes was stronger than it usually was, but having since gotten used the the odor, Once-ler paid it no mind at first. Then, suddenly, Once-ler heard a loud popping sound. He turned his head to see a large plume of smoke leaking from a pipe attached to one of the machines. As more smoke began to pour into the factory, Once-ler began to cough and his eyes began to sting. He knew that this was dangerous and that he needed to escape the factory, but before Once-ler even had a chance to turn around, he heard a voice.

"I warned you what could happen if you didn't listen to me."

Greed-ler then emerged from the cloud of smoke, His green gloves and suit practically glowing against the darkness. Through the fumes, Once-ler could just barely see the crazed expression on Greed-ler's face as he moved closer to him.

"You're just going to keep hurting yourself and hurting your business, our business, by trying to resist me! Greed-ler growled before throwing a punch at Once-ler.

Once-ler staggered backwards at the impact, then quickly steadied himself and tried to punch Greed-ler back, but he before he could do so, Greed-ler dissipated into smoke and reemerged behind Once-ler, hitting him again and knocking him forward. Before Once-ler could recover from the blow, Greed-ler reappeared in front of Once-ler and punched him again. Once-ler backed up and attempted another punch, but Greed-ler dissipated into smoke yet again. Then he materialized next to Once-ler and dealt him another blow.

Once-ler kept trying and failing to hit Greed-ler, while the latter kept disappearing and then reappearing randomly, hitting Once-ler from multiple directions. Until finally, Greed-ler dealt Once-ler one last blow to the back, letting him fall forward and land on the floor. Before Once-ler could hoist himself up, Greed-ler crouched down next to him and picked Once-ler up by the back of his vest.

"It's pointless to try and fight me, you'll never win." Greed-ler sneered at Once-ler as he held him up, before he roughly tossed him backwards, causing Once-ler to hit another one of the machines.