I was looking for Oncest fan fiction, and everyone seems to portray the Greed-ler as super evil, but seeing as he's technically still Oncie, I decided to write something where he's a bit less uh, harsh? Still a manipulative little bastard though.

Hopefully my interpretation isn't too out of character for you haha

Set before Oncie is able to get people to buy his Thneeds

When the Lorax first decided that he was going to save the forest, he had no intentions of this happening. This being the fact that there were two human boys standing in front of him that looked almost exactly the same besides the way they were dressed.

"Lorax, you have some explaining to do," the Once-ler wearing a more casual, and less flamboyant outfit said, his facial expression told the Lorax that he was not happy. At all.

The Lorax took in a deep breath, "well this isn't exactly what I intended on happening."

"Some sort of freak accident," the other Once-ler muttered, he was wearing a whole lot of bright green, and a pair of large sunglasses were pushed up off his face against his huge top hat.

"Yeah sure freak accident is a good way to put it," the Lorax couldn't help but feel a bit intimidated by the two Once-lers, neither of them looked to be in a good mood, plus the Lorax had no clue what was going on with the really flashy one, he seemed to be holding himself in an entirely different manner than the other.

"I was just sitting around and then he showed up! Like he literally popped up out of nowhere! It was freaky!" Oncie- the original Once-ler- exclaimed.

The other Once-ler huffed, "it was worse for me! Imagine being the one popping out of no where!"

"Who even are you?" Oncie asked the Once-ler, "who even is he?" He pointed towards the Lorax.

"He's you," the Lorax shrugged, "some super showy version of you."

"Alternate version of me?" Oncie looked over at the Once-ler.

"I'm obviously the good looking version of you," the Once-ler sniggered.

"You need to fix this," Oncie told the Lorax sternly, ignoring the Once-lers comment.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll try but I can't guarantee anything."

"What am I supposed to do with him?! I can't just walk around town with a clone of myself!"

"I'll just stay in the forest then," The Once-ler offered, "I wouldn't mind taking a look around."

"Perfect, way to compromise!" The Lorax grinned broadly, irritating Oncie thoroughly.

"Alright, I'm leaving then," Oncie took one more glance at his duplicate before turning around and beginning to trek away from him and the Lorax.

The Lorax looked up at the Once-ler and furrowed his brow, "I don't know what you are, but it's kind of freaky. Just leave Oncie alone though, he's got enough to worry about without you bothering him."

The Once-ler was about to respond when he felt a terrible pain in his chest, he fell to his knees, and exhaled loudly, it felt like his chest was being crushed, he could barely breath. The Lorax scrambled towards the Once-ler, he had no clue what to do in this situation. If only Oncie was still here, the Lorax looked in the direction he had wandered off in and felt his jaw drop when he saw Oncie keeled over in a similar position as the Once-ler, he hadn't made it very far away from the Lorax.

The Lorax put two and two together fairly quickly. "Come on," he pulled on the Once-lers coat, "you need to get closer to the other you."

The Once-ler's eyes were open wide, and his face was pale, he did attempt to start crawling towards Oncie, though. The Lorax waved his hands in the air and called out loudly to Oncie, "Come back here you beanpole!" He grabbed onto the Once-ler and tried his best to help pull him forward. The man was attempting to get on his feet, the Lorax was surprised at the amount of willpower he had.

A few moments of struggling later, the two Once-lers had apparently gotten close enough to each other to stop hurting, but Oncie was still running forward, he grabbed onto the Once-ler as soon as he was close enough and the Once-ler didn't hesitate grabbing onto him in return. The amount of relief he felt as soon as Oncie was near was overwhelming.

"Do not leave each other again," the Lorax warned, "I refuse to deal with that again."

"How am I supposed to advertise my Thneeds?" Oncie groaned.

"Advertising? I can help with that," the Once-ler grinned revealing teeth that almost looked sharp.

"I'll start trying to find a way to fix this," the Lorax sighed, "in the meantime don't do anything stupid."

"I never do anything stupid," Oncie said as the Once-ler said, "I'll make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."

"Okay great, now shoo," the Lorax waved his hand in a 'go away' motion and Oncie began trotting away. The Once-ler trailed along a few feet behind him.

"So you need help advertising, huh?" The Once-ler asked.

"I'm having a little trouble selling my amazing product," Oncie replied semi-hesitantly. It was really unsettling talking to someone who looked and sounded just like yourself.

"What kind of product?" The Once-ler had picked up his pace so that he was walking right beside Oncie.

"It can do almost anything!" Oncie smiled at the thought, "I'll have to show you for you to understand, but it's really genius!"

The Once-ler nodded, "sure sound like a good product, why aren't people buying?"

"That's the problem," Oncie frowned, "they don't get it! I don't know what else I can do to persuade them into buying."

"I'm pretty creative, I bet I can help your sales multiply" the Once-ler smirked, "as long as I get some of the profit."

"Aren't you me anyways?" Oncie narrowed his eyes, "whatever, hopefully you'll be gone soon anyways."

"Damn, harsh," Oncie was surprised to hear the Once-ler swear. "I'm just offering to help."

"Sorry it's just really weird to be talking to someone who looks just like me."

"You'd never be able to handle having a twin."

Oncie snorted, "I have older twin brothers, maybe that's why I don't like the idea."

"Ooh yes I faintly recall them," the Once-ler tapped his chin, "Chad and Brad?"

"Chet and Brett," Oncie laughed, "wait, you said you recall them, do you have like the same memory as me then?"

"Kind of," the Once-ler shrugged, "I know the big details of your life, but nothing small, no specific memories. I know your mom is a bitch, and that your brothers are idiots, and that your Aunts are even worse, so two-faced!"

"My mom's not that bad," Oncie glanced downwards, "she just plays favorites."

"She obviously isn't very smart then, your brothers are less-than-average in just about everything besides football."

"That's unfortunately true."

They walked along in silence for a few minutes, Oncie began to think more deeply about his current situation, he hadn't had much time to really evaluate what was going on yet.

So there was a second him, and he wore a suit with sunglasses that didn't particularly match. He was kind of rude, or at least very blunt, but he didn't seem mean. It was obvious to Oncie that they had very different ways of thinking though, it was obvious in the way that the Once-ler expressed himself. His body language was as easy to read as the way he spoke. He stood up as straight as possible, making the most of his height, and walked like he was strutting down a catwalk. He also used his hands a lot when he was speaking, but Oncie knew that he did that too.

The most concerning part of it all was that if the Once-ler was an alternate version of himself, what was the big altercation? Oncie had read stories of characters meeting the opposite gender version of themself, but this Once-ler was obviously not a girl. It made Oncie weary of the other man.

"It looks as if we've made it to town," the Once-ler was looking up at the large 'Welcome to Sneedville' sign.

"I wanted to see if there were any open billboards I could rent," Oncie said, "I haven't tried that yet."

"Billboards? No no no, what you need is something big and flashy," Oncie opened his mouth to mention that billboards were big and flashy, but the Once-ler kept talking, "some sort of live performance to get people involved."

"I mean, I have a guitar," Oncie shrugged. "I don't think that's my best option though."

"You can sing?"

"I didn't say anything about singing!"

"I bet you can sing," the Once-ler nudged him in the side with his elbow.

"Why don't you try for yourself, we have the same voice."

The Once-ler looked as if the idea had never occurred to him. Thus the Once-ler started up an interesting rendition of Row, Row, Row Your Boat, testing out his voice throughout the song. He wasn't a bad singer, but the song choice wasn't very flattering.

"You could pull off singing on the streets," the Once-ler concluded after he finished his song.

"Wow, thanks."

"Just make up a catchy jingle, people love them. I have yet to see your product though, is it jingle material?"

"I'll show you when I go home, I didn't bring it with me because of well, you showing up."

"I can be a bit distracting," the Once-ler waggled his eyebrows in a way that made Oncie a bit uncomfortable.

"Anyways, I'm still going to go look for open billboards," Oncie was determined to change the subject back to the original topic quickly. "I think it would be a worthy investment."

It didn't take long to find the retail building in town, or at least it didn't feel like it took very long, the Once-ler kept asking questions about everywhere they passed, it seemed as if he was sizing everything up.

"Why don't you stay out here?" Oncie suggested, looking at a wooden bench that was placed outside of the small building, "I don't want to scare whoevers working in there."

"Again, haven't you heard of twins?" The Once-ler sat down on the bench despite his complaining. Oncie straightened his hat, cleared his throat, and entered the store, ready for business.

The Once-ler sat outside the retail building, waiting for Oncie to come back outside. It was a shame that the other man didn't take his advice more seriously, he knew what he was doing, and he was very good at it. The reason the Thneeds weren't selling was all about advertisement and Oncie was going about it all wrong.

They hadn't known each other long though, it was reasonable for Oncie not to listen to him yet, but the Once-ler knew it wouldn't take long for him to gain Oncie's trust. After that happened he'd be easy to manipulate, easy to make him into the man he deserved to be.

As long as that dumb Lorax didn't get in the way, he didn't seem to be much of a threat, but he had accidently brought the Once-ler to life. It wouldn't surprise him if he accidently got rid of him too.

But that wasn't a problem at the moment, so the Once-ler decided to focus on more important things, like how he was going to gain Oncie's trust. So far it had been going well, conversation had come easily, and the fact that they literally had to stay by each others side was helpful.

Speaking of which, the Once-ler wasn't feeling the best, sitting alone. It wasn't to the point that he was in pain, but he felt a sort of weariness sitting upon him, and he felt sort of… sad. The Once-ler stood up and began pacing around the bench, trying to wake himself up. Maybe this invisible chain between them was more of a hindrance than helpful.

A woman walked past the bench pushing a stroller, she glanced at the Once-ler briefly but didn't say anything. The Once-ler realized this was the first person he had seen outside besides Oncie. Where was everyone? They were in the heart of the city, the street was lined with shops and it was a nice summer day, this didn't add up.

The Once-ler heard the bell above the door of the retail shop ring, and he turned around. Oncie was holding a stack of papers, and wearing a doubtful expression. The Once-ler immediately took a few steps toward Oncie, and he automatically felt as if he'd been recharged with energy.

"How'd that go?"

"Well I found a perfect place to put a Thneed ad," the corners of Oncie's mouth rose slightly, "but it's a little more expensive than I thought it would be."

"See! I told ya your talents would be much more beneficial!" the Once-ler swung his arm around Oncie's shoulders, the other man went still under his touch. That wasn't a good sign. The Once-ler slowly slid his hand down Oncie's arm, "hey just tell me if you're not comfortable with something, okay?"

Oncie turned his head to face the Once-ler, they were barely a foot apart, "Sorry," he said softly, "just not used to other people initiating contact."

Way to make a guy feel bad, the Once-ler kept his loose grip on Oncie's arm, "come on, where to next?"

"Home," Oncie nodded once and started walking back the way they came.

"What does everyone in town do all day?" the Once-ler asked.

"Oh, yeah, not many people out right now," Oncie was looking around, "they're probably out enjoying nature. People are really into that here."

"Really? Interesting." The Once-ler tucked that information away for later.

By the time they made it back to the forest the sun was beginning to lower in the sky and Oncie was starving. As soon as he entered his home he headed for the kitchen. Pancakes sounded fantastic.

The Once-ler sat down at the small table in the kitchen. "What are you doing?"

"Making food, obviously," Oncie rolled his eyes even though the Once-ler could only see his back,

"Ooh sassy," the Once-ler was easily amused. "I like that."

Oncie felt his face flush, this other him certainly enjoyed messing with him. Oncie dropped the whisk he had been using into the sink and began pouring batter onto the griddle. All he could do was hope that the Lorax got rid of the other him soon.

The pancakes came out perfectly, and they towered high on the plate Oncie had set them on. He spun around to find the Once-ler eyeing up the plate. "Hopefully there are enough to share," he almost seemed disgusted by how much food Oncie had made.

"If you don't want to eat fine, more for me."

The Once-ler forked a single pancake onto his plate. Oncie doused his own in syrup.

"Kind of sweet for my taste," the Once-ler commented.

"You don't like pancakes?!" Oncie felt as if he had been punched in the face, who in their right mind didn't like pancakes?!

"I mean they're alright but I prefer something a little heartier. Like meat."

Oncie stuck out his bottom lip, "I love pancakes."

The Once-ler was almost glad that there was a knock at the door before he could come up with any sort of reply. Almost, because it turned out that the Lorax was at the door.

"Have you found a way to fix this yet?" Oncie asked the Lorax eagerly.

"This might actually take a bit longer than I thought it would," the Lorax was rubbing the back of his head with his hand.

Oncie groaned, "he doesn't like pancakes!"

The Lorax ignored him, "just let me know if something bad happens, I'm still not sure how he's here so he could glitch out or something."

"I'm right here, you know," the Once-ler waved at the Lorax.

"Don't do anything bad," the Lorax shot in his direction.

"I'm not a little kid," the Once-ler glared.

"Just let me know when you find something out about this," Oncie sighed, "in the meantime I'm going to finish my pancakes."

"He's gonna stay with you then?"

"We don't have much of a choice," The Once-ler crossed his arms over his chest and stood up so that he was towering over the Lorax. "Why don't you get back to finding out how to get rid of me?" He waved one hand in a 'shoo' motion and pulled open the door with the other.

"I'll be fine, Lorax," Oncie smiled reassuringly as the creature was pushed out of the house.

"You better be, Beanpole," the door slammed shut behind the Lorax.

The Once-ler sat back down at the table and huffed out a sigh. "What did I ever do to him?"

"He's just overprotective," Oncie sat back down as well, "I think."

"I'm not gonna do anything to you," the Once-ler chuckled darkly, which wasn't reassuring at all. "Although I can't say I wouldn't like to."

"Alright that's enough of that," Oncie replied quickly, he hoped his face wasn't as red as it felt.

"Cute," the Once-ler commented, but didn't push the subject any further, which was a relief to Oncie. "You still haven't shown me your Thneed."

"Oh yeah!" Oncie jumped up out of his chair grinning, he crossed the room quickly and picked up a pink piece of fabric. "It can do just about anything," he was beaming, "you can wear it, or carry it as a bag, or use it as an umbrella, and a whole bunch of other stuff too!"

The Once-ler took the Thneed out of Oncie's hand and a smile spread across his face. It was perfect. The Thneed had every component needed for a successful product, it was an entrepreneur's biggest fantasy. It wouldn't take long at all for the Thneed to become a bestseller.

And once the Thneed blew up, Oncie would finally become the man he was meant to be. Successful and well known, and most importantly, rich.

The Once-ler made eye contact with Oncie, wanting him to see the overwhelming emotion behind his eyes. Oncie visibly swallowed, his smile wavering.

"I love it."

I feel like I should mention that I'm calling the Greed-ler "the Once-ler" because that's who Oncie thinks of him as, at least for now.