Visions of Greed

Chapter 13: Crazy With Greed Part 2

Notes: Just another friendly reminder to make sure you read Part 1 before you read this part. Enjoy!

Update: 9/28/24 A new scene has been added to this chapter! I originally meant to include it here whenever I originally wrote this chapter, but for some reason it got left out (like I said before these particular chapters gave me a lot of trouble). I thought about just adding the scene later in the story, but I couldn't find a way to make it work, so I decided to just go back and put it in here. The new scene begins with the words: "Everyone turned to stare at the forest guardian in surprise..." and ends with the words "...Brett and Chet noticed and caught Once-ler before he hit the ground." I also had to edited a couple of lines in order to accommodate the scene. Thanks for reading.

Recommended Songs: Hopeless- Breaking Benjamin, Inverted Reality- Safe n Sound AMS Dave Squish, Neurotic- Thee Days Grace Lukas Rossi, Waking Up- Starset

Meanwhile, Greed-ler was still attacking Once-ler. "You're just making things even more difficult for yourself." Greed-ler spat as he hit Once-ler again before disappearing and reappearing to attack him from another angle. "Can't you see how much it hurts to resist?" Greed-ler asked mockingly as he dealt Once-ler yet another blow.

Once-ler, exhausted, fell to the barn floor, his hat toppling off his head.

Greed-ler crouched down in front of Once-ler, grabbed him by the front of his vest, and glared down at him. "Why?" Greed-ler asked him. "Why do you continue to try and fight me when you know that doing so will just bring you more agony? Why do you keep resisting me when you know I am the only one who can save you from this nightmare?"

"You..." Once-ler gasped. Even though Once-ler desperately wanted the pain to stop, and he was tempted to just give in, there was a part of him that was still afraid of becoming the vision of greed that he saw in front of him. Of becoming the person who would be willing to hurt anyone, even himself, in order to get what he wanted."...you're the nightmare!" Once-ler shouted as a rush of adrenaline suddenly surged through him. He grabbed Greed-ler by the labels of his coat and pinned him down, knocking off the man's top hat and glasses.

Once-ler's victory would be short-lived, however, as Greed-ler, full of rage, quickly regained the upper hand, and pinned Once-ler back down to the barn floor.

"You are only lying to yourself!" Greed-ler growled, "Deep down you know what you really want, but the Lorax keeps getting inside your head and driving you crazy!"

Once-ler looked into Greed-ler's blue eyes, completely identical to his own, except in expression.

While Greed-ler's eyes burned with malice, Once-ler's eyes were filled with dread. "N-no, it's y-you." Once-ler whispered, his voice cracking, "Y-you're the one t-that's inside my h-head, and d-driving me c-crazy."

"That's only because you try to keep me trapped inside your mind and won't let me out." Greed-ler sneered. "You just keep prolonging your agony by trying to delay the inevitable. I've told you this before, but you still refuse to listen. It's pointless to fight me, and both you and our business are going to suffer if you continue to try." Greed-ler then paused as his expression changed from a scowl to a sinister smirk. "But it's still not too late Once-ler, you can still make all the pain go away. You can still wake up from this nightmare and make all of your dreams, our dreams, come true. All you have to do is give up and finally let me take control. "

Once-ler said nothing. Unable to fight back, but also unable to give in. He lay there helplessly, paralyzed with fear.

"Still hesitant huh?" Greed-ler asked as he prepared to throw Once-ler one final punch. "Then I guess I'll just have to knock some sense into you."