Visions of Greed

Chapter 33: Once In A Blue Moon

Notes:

I do want to apologize for doing a lot of summaries in this chapter. But there was simply too much going on here for me to go into detail with everything. And to be honest, I'm getting a little burnt out writing this. (I still intend to finish the fic though). But I hope to enjoy it regardless as there's still a lot of fun stuff in this chapter, including the "You're all going to jail!" scene and an ending sequence inspired by the song Dance With The Devil by Breaking Benjamin that takes the lyrics quite a bit literally. These final chapters are also going to have lots of references to the 1972 special as well.

Recommended songs: Emperor's New Clothes-Panic At The Disco, Praesans-Starset, Something Strange Was Happening- Lolita Ritmanis, Traumatic Iconic-You Me At Six, Monster- Lolita Ritmanis, Gasoline-Halsey, There's a Good Reason These Tables Are Numbered Honey, You Just Haven't Thought Of It Yet- Panic At The Disco, Dance With The Devil- Breaking Benjamin.

Once-ler's success would only continue to grow from then on. His TV appearance was well received, leading to a substantial increase in profits for Thneed inc. as thneeds quickly became a household and fashion staple, further promoted by colorful billboards inspired by Once-ler's own design.

Once-ler also found additional success in the food industry with the opening of his new restaurants. Which included Once-ler Burgers, Once-ler Cones, and Once-ler's House of Pancakes. Due in no small part to Once-ler using thneeds as a flavor enhancer in various menu items, all of his restaurants became quite popular. In order to meet the increased demand for thneeds, several workers, including some of Once-ler's distant cousins, uncles, and aunts, were hired to work at the factory. With many of them living in the new apartments and houses that Once-ler had designed and owned, making him even richer.

All of these successes led Once-ler to not only substantially increase his revenue but also his influence. For all of Once-ler's various business ventures created a significant boon for the local economy, leading the citizens to rename the town Thneedville in honor of the product that started it all.

Unfortunately, as thneed production, along with the town's population, continued to increase, so did the pollution in the surrounding area. Made all the worse by Thneedville's citizens tossing their garbage out of their windows and into the river. With none of them seeming to care about the environment that surrounded them as long as they had their material comforts.

The attitude of Thneedville's citizens was also shared by the Once-ler himself, now occasionally known as the Greed-ler, a nickname he now embraced with pride. For Once-ler now felt far less guilt as he continued to keep on biggering his businesses and living a life of luxury. When Once-ler wasn't working or attending business related events such as charity balls, fashion shows, or photo shoots. Once-ler, still an introvert at heart, spent most of his time relaxing in his opulent penthouse. Although he also occasionally enjoyed going shopping and visiting his favorite nightclub.

But despite how marvelous Once-ler's life was becoming, not everything was perfect. For the Lorax, still occasionally showed up to try and thwart Once-ler's plans by lecturing him. However, Once-ler, now more sure of himself, rebuffed the forest guardian's efforts and quickly had him sent away. If Once-ler did happen to have any lingering feelings of guilt after one of his encounters with the Lorax, he would try to suppress them by humming the tune to How Bad Can I Be, while also occasionally counting his money as a sort of grounding exercise, before he returned to his work.

Although Once-ler now overall questioned himself far less often and completed projects much more efficiently than before, there was still one particular task that Once-ler had difficulty with. It was a proposal from Instant Roadway Company in regards to building a new four-lane highway that would lead to the factory. Although the completion of the roadway would allow Thneed Inc. to ship out products more quickly and efficiently, it would also lead to immense destruction, as thousands of truffula trees would need to be chopped down.