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The Tree with a tongue

Chapter 13: O'Hare's tale: The Town Pariah

"Here's your latte Mr. O'Hare!"

O'Hare paid no attention to his intern, although he did swiftly snatch the coffee cup from his scrawny hands. Normally he wouldn't fancy himself with a caffeinated beverage past the morning hours but he felt he had to celebrate, for this was to be a crowning moment in his business career.

He finally found and captured the only threat to his business; the Once-ler.

O'Hare kept his eyes firmly on the double doors down the end of hall that was his main office, the closer he got the more his smile grew. He wriggled his fingers with delight before he pushed the door open, normally he would have two people open the doors for him as it should but this was matter of business was considered confidential and preferred to have as little people involved as possible. Upon entering, he spotted his two technicians; Cyrus and Luke standing off to the side, one had a look of self triumph and the other looked uncomfortable and uncertain. Two of his guards stood side by side and the Once-ler sat in a chair in between them with his arms and wrists tied tightly behind him, such a sight pleased O'Hare more.

As he rounded the office towards his desk he took a loud sip of his latte followed by a loud content sigh, he hoped up onto his chair and adjusted it high so his torso was over his desk. He took one last sip of his beverage before he looked over to the Once-ler, whose face was hidden underneath his pink Thneed and pointed at his cup,

"You ever had one of my lattes?"

The Once-ler didn't respond but that didn't effect O'Hare's good mood. He continued,

"I'm tellin' ya, I don't how I was able to start my mornings without it before, it just gives you that nice kick," he expressed his statement with a balled up fist, he peeked into the small drinking hole and grimaced, "Though it could use a little less foam and a little more vanilla." He set his drink down and threw another casual look at the Once-ler whom now had his concealed face turned to the side.

O'Hare then decided that it was time to stop pretending to be a good host and get down to business.

He gave a little whistle to his guards, pointed a finger at the top of his head and made a slashing gesture with his hand, making the message clear to them; get rid of that stupid Thneed. With that, one of the guards grabbed a handful of the material with his bulky hand and ripped it right off the Once-ler's head, his face revealed to everyone.

The two technicians, heck even the guards flinched and took a step back from the Once-ler; the flaky bark skin and wilted hair was definitely a sore sight, it was almost…saddening actually.

O'Hare grimaced before it turned into laughter, "Well I can definitely see you've had...better days eh?"

The Once-ler scowled.

"And yet," his voice became low and smooth, "After all these years you haven't changed a bit, you really are a freak."

Life was so sweet.

An eighteen year old Aloysius O'Hare sat in his newly finished office, after counting the hundred dollar bills in his hand he threw them into the air, he leaned back in his leather chair and let the paper bills flutter down on him like freshly fallen snow. He only started his business six months ago and his net profit had already reached fifty million dollars and it was rising fast, at the rate the numbers were rising he might even hit two hundred million before the end of the twelve month period.

He'd finally done it; he was mocked, humiliated and bullied around his entire childhood but he kept a firm head held high, for every night before he went to sleep he vowed that someday he would make something of himself and that he would be praised and loved for his success. Now here he was; the multiplying money, every personal possession he'd ever wanted and the notoriety he so rightly deserved.

And he had one person to thank.

He pushed himself off his office chair and walked up towards a huge frame that hung on his wall; it was a blown up magazine cover picture of the Once-ler during the peak of his success. Every person always has an idle or hero that they looked up to for inspiration, for O'Hare, it was the Once-ler. He memorized the man's biography by heart; a man who started with nothing but a mule, a wagon and a brilliant idea that he never gave up on, no matter how many times he was mocked and discouraged by others around him, even his own family.

To O'Hare, he felt like they were kindred spirits; two people who once had nothing quickly had everything.

However, he also read in the biography that he had some sort of mental breakdown right around the drop in stock of his Thneed; he fired every single worker and put Terraville(which had changed to Thneedville) on economic hard times for several years, in fact it was his success that put the town back in motion. No one knows for sure what had happened, for the Once-ler had disappeared shortly after the fact; some say he took his own life because the stocks of his Thneed had reduced to zero. O'Hare couldn't blame him, now that he himself has tasted sweet riches and success, who would go back to mediocrity?

It was quite sad, to visualize a broken man moments before his death and then compare it to this remarkable picture of him glowing with success, O'Hare had to make sure he would never succumb to that fate.

"Mr. O'Hare, there's someone here to see you." A voice on the intercom crackled through the speaker.

He scowled, he didn't like being interrupted with his thoughts, "Sally I thought I made it clear earlier when I said no appointments or calls right now!"

"But sir…I think you might want to take this."

O'Hare let out a long drawn out sigh and dragged his feet back towards his desk, "Okay fine, who is here that thinks they are so important to disturb my alone time?"

"A Mr. Once-ler sir."

O'Hare was stricken with silence followed by a surge of anger, how dare someone use that name in vein! "Is this some kind of joke?!"

"I-I'm not sure s-sir. I mean, he insists that he's the Once-ler and that it's important that he sees you."

O'Hare looked up at his two bodyguards that he recently hired for some added protection, you can never be too careful. Once they gave him a reassured nod, telling him that they'll make sure nothing will go wrong, O'Hare grimly replied, "Very well Sally, send him in." He then muttered to himself, "I'm going to give this fraud a piece of my mind."

Within minutes there was a soft knock on his doors and the guards opened it in response. A tall figure walked in wearing a mirror image of the famous green suit the Once-ler wore except that it looked dusty and worn out and the hat was missing, instead of the hat there was a Thneed serving as a hood to keep his face hidden. The Once-ler walked up to O'Hare's desk and spoke promptly,

"Aloysius O'Hare, it's nice to finally meet you in person, I've heard quite a bit about you."

O'Hare merely snorted in response and leaned back in his chair, "Well, the outfit's good but any idiot can put together the green suit with a little effort."

The Once-ler gave a soft chuckle, "You're skeptical, I can understand that. I have kept myself in…low profile for a long time." He looked up at the large portrait of him, "Nice picture, I believe it was at my first fundraiser when I posed for that shot."

O'Hare had to admit, whoever this person was did his homework on the Once-ler but he still wasn't buying it. He went back on the defensive, "Look buddy, if you want me to be convinced you are who you say you are then how about you start by taking off that Thneed."

The Once-ler sighed, "I guess you have a good point, you just have to promise me you won't freak out."

O'Hare chuckled, "Freak out? Please I've never been freaked out in my entire life."

The Once-ler rolled his eyes at that obvious lie, he let out a deep sigh and gripped onto the edges of his hood. The two men quickly tensed up when their boss recoiled deep into his chair with a surprised shout but before they could do anything they backed away from the Once-ler once they got a good look at him.

O'Hare stuttered, "W…what are you?!"

The Once-ler shifted his gaze to the floor, "I…it's complicated and even if I told you, you wouldn't believe me." He prepared to reach into his coat, "Now about why I'm here…."

O'Hare interrupted, "Hold on there! This doesn't convince me of anything, all you've done was show me how much of a disfigured monster you are! Get him out of here!"

The Once-ler jumped when he felt a pair of firm hands grip tightly onto his arms, he began to struggle when they lifted him off the chair, "Wait!" He grunted as he got one arm free and quickly reached inside his coat, "Fine, you want proof! Here!" He pulled out a rolled up parchment and held it up to O'Hare.

"What is that supposed to be?"

The guard released the Once-ler's other arm, he gave the two a glare before he replied, "This is something that was said to have disappeared with the Once-ler a long time ago, something that was thought to be lost forever."

With that he unrolled the parchment open, O'Hare felt his jaw drop.

It was the deed to the town of Terraville.

O'Hare desperately wanted to scream out that it was a fake; that the deed no longer existed but there it was, properly affixed with the town's seal and had the Once-ler's signature (that he learned to recognize) as well as the signature of the mayor before him, O'Hare tried to search for any signs of fraudulence but there was nothing

There was no doubt about it.

"You….you really are….." O'Hare stuttered.

The Once-ler slowly nodded.

O'Hare practically fell out of his chair, rushed around his desk and grabbed the Once-ler's hand with both of his in an excited handshake, "I can't believe it! Mr. Once-ler you're my idle! My HERO! I mean, if it weren't for you I wouldn't be where I am today! Please forgive my behavior earlier, my rise to fame and fortune has attracted a lot of con artists."

The Once-ler tried to pull his arm away as discretely and politely as he could but O'Hare had a good grip, "It's quite alright Mr. O'Hare."

O'Hare rubbed the back of his neck, "If uh-if you don't mind me asking, what…..how did…." He motioned towards his face to empathize what he was talking about.

The Once-ler rand a hand through his Truffula hair with a grin, "As I said, it's complicated."

Though O'Hare accepted his answer, he was running through many possibilities in his own head. An accident maybe? His factory did spew out many kinds of chemicals and toxins, maybe there was a horrible reaction and this was the result. That would make sense, it would definitely explain why the Once-ler vanished afterwards, who would want to be seen looking like that?

He snapped out of his thoughts when the Once-ler cleared his throat, "Mr. O'Hare though it's nice to know we are on good terms, I'm afraid I'm not here for casual talk, I'm here for business. You say that you are the owner of this town but you know as well as I that in the world of business, it is always important to have such claim in writing and since I seem to be the one who has it," he held up the document in confirmation, "As far as the law's concerned I have true ownership of this town."

O'Hare knew full well when he was being enticed and he didn't like it, but he couldn't help but feel a little star struck that his idol wanted to conduct business with him. He put on his signature smile, "I hear what you're saying Mr. Once-ler, once a business tycoon always a business tycoon. So what is it that you'd like? Partnership? Hey now there's an idea! You and me, running this company and the entire town together!" He took a quick look at the Once-ler's face and flinched, "Though it'll probably be best for me to be the face of the business…."

The Once-ler chuckled uncomfortably and rubbed the back of his neck, "That is quite a generous offer but unfortunately I'm going to have to pass, I'm not interested in being in a business of any kind….not anymore."

"Oh…." That certainly caught O'Hare off guard, usually people demand part ownership of a company or its stocks, either that or…. O'Hare smiled again, "Ah, I understand what you really want," he pressed a button on his intercom and shouted, "Sally! Go get my checkbook!"

With that, the Once-ler quickly waved his palms at him, "No no! It's not money either, that is something I'm definitely not interested in anymore."

"Uh….cancel that Sally." O'Hare leaned back in his chair, "Well Mr. Once-ler I'm a little confused, with all due respect a person would normally take advantage of this for their own personal gain, but if you don't want money then what exactly do you want?"

The Once-ler smiled and dug into his pocket, "You're right, any other person would jump at this opportunity but what I'm aiming for isn't for my own personal gain, it's for the gain of others." He held up his closed palm, "In exchange for this deed, I want this to be planted in the town of Thneedville." With that, he opened his palm, revealing a small brown seed.

O'Hare couldn't see very well from his view so he crawled up onto his desk and walked over to the seed. He leaned down and gazed closely at it, "Is…is that….?"

"Yes. It's a Truffula seed."

"B-But they're extinct! No one's seen a Truffula tree in decades!"

The Once-ler smiled sadly and caressed the seed gently, "I know, this seed is the last one of all. It's important to me that this gets planted and not only that, I want to be ensured that it's protected by the fullest extent of the law. The trees need to come back Mr. O'Hare."

There was a million things going on in O'Hare's head at that moment, he remembered learning about trees and other plants while he was in school and what exactly they did; they use sunlight to absorb carbon dioxide and release many carbohydrates and even oxygen. If this got planted, then it would eventually lead to more trees being planted and the more trees that are planted the more oxygen they create, the more oxygen they create the less people will have to buy air from him, and the less people buy the less money he'll have…..

Fear snapped in his mind. He couldn't let that happen, he couldn't go back to his old life; to a life of being at the bottom, of being a nobody. He will not be ruined by some stupid plant!

He quietly asked to hold the seed for a moment in which the Once-ler reluctantly let him; it seems the seed really meant a lot to him. O'Hare observed the seed in between his fingers while he calmly spoke,

"Mr. Once-ler, this is quite a simple offer; a deed to a whole city just to plant one little seed, any business owner would take the offer in a heartbeat." He clenched the seed in his hand, "However…" O'Hare glanced down menacingly, "Mr. Once-ler you understand what I make for a living right?"

"Yes….you sell filtered air."

"Exactly, so you will understand what I'm about to do."

The Once-ler wasn't sure where the fast reflexes came from, he watched in horror as O'Hare placed the seed on his desk and raised his foot, fully prepared to crush any hope of bringing back the trees. The Once-ler dove forward and covered the seed with his hands in the knick of time, though he hissed in pain when his fingers were now being stepped on by O'Hare's shoe. He pulled the seed away, almost tripping O'Hare in the process,

"What are you doing?!"

O'Hare snarled, "Making a smart business decision. You must be out of your mind, thinking that I would let that…that thing be planted! I refuse to let anyone jeopardize my business!"

"You're insane!" The Once-ler shouted, "O'Hare even you have to realize that the way things are now aren't right, people shouldn't have to pay to breathe!"

O'Hare simply shrugged, "That's not my problem, heck if I could find a way to block out the sun itself so people will buy more electricity from me I would." He hoped off the desk and began marching towards the Once-ler, who in turned back away, "Besides, if anyone's to thank for the way things are right now it's you, if I recall it was your factory and the decimation of the trees that soiled the very air we breathe, all I did was find a solution for it."

"This is the solution!" The Once-ler held up the seed, "You're right, I have caused everything that's happening now but I'm trying to make it right again."

"Business isn't about doing the right thing, it's all about the dollar." O'Hare gave a look of disgust, "To think I looked up to you; you were man that was on top of the world and you made sure no one got in your way, but now you're nothing more than a hollow shell; a mutated freak." He watched with glee as his guards grabbed the Once-ler's arms, one of them snatched the deed from inside his coat, "I run this town, I call the shots around here and I'm not going to let some has been like you ruin it for me. Now GIVE ME THAT SEED!"

The Once-ler struggled as much as he could to break free from O'Hare's guards, thankfully he managed to get a good head shot of one of the guard's chin; the upside to having bark skin is that anyone that would get hit by you was equivalent to getting hit by a brick wall. He noticed the other guard was shocked by the sudden assault and loosened his grip, he took that chance and shoved the other guard hard against the wall. However, he barely had time to react when O'Hare suddenly jumped and latched onto him, he gritted his teeth as he tried all he could to keep the short man from getting the seed,

"Give….me….that….seed!" O'Hare grunted.

"No!"

With that, he got a good grip on the man and threw him against the wall beside his winded guard, the Once-ler wasted no time at all, he turned heel and ran out of the office. O'Hare stumbled to his feet, rushed over and slammed a fist down on a remote button, causing every room in the building to flash a red light with a siren. The first thing the security system did in response to the alert was shut and lock all doors inside the premises, including the front doors. The Once-ler panted with panic as he ran past the spooked and confused employees and the doors right as they locked shut on him. When he arrived at the front glass doors, fear coursed through him when he realized that the security system had already locked them, he tried all he can to turn the handles but it was no use. He turned around and heard O'Hare and his guards in pursuit towards him,

"You're mine!" O'Hare snarled.

An idea suddenly hit him, he remembered what he was now made of and he planned to take advantage of it, he looked at the door with a firm face, took a step back and pushed himself off in a dash towards the glass door, he raised his arms to cover his face seconds before he charged through it, he threw himself to the ground along with thousands of pieces of glass as they showered over him. People that walked by the facility at that time all screamed and back away from the scene, when he got up he got a good look at the people who were staring right at him, one woman let out a blood curdling scream,

"WHAT IS THAT THING?!"

When the Once-ler heard other noises of fear and disgust he scrambled to grab his hood that rested behind his head and covered his face, once again self conscious of his appearance. He sharply turned to see O'Hare and his goons, who were shocked at first by the Once-ler's stunt were now stepping through the hole in the door, he knocked into a random civilian as he resumed his retreat, he could hear O'Hare shouting from behind,

"Get him! That monster tried to attack me, he's dangerous! Somebody get him!"

Though the people who he was running past at that moment were merely confused, he could hear those from further back cry out in anger, followed by their footsteps. He looked back and saw a good crowd of people in pursuit, some of them were gaining on him. He looked forward again and saw the hole in the town that he initially entered from; a missing gap in the wall that they were currently constructing on. He had to keep pushing forward, if he could just make it a little more…

The Once-ler then heard something creak and shift from his left, he turned and saw a large tall scaffold with several buckets of paint, brushes and various materials and leaning dangerously side to side. He cried out when the whole thing began to fall forward towards him, he closed his eyes and picked up the pace, he ran past in just in time as it all crashed down onto the road. He halted for a second to catch his breath and looked behind him, the scaffold was now in many pieces and the townsfolk that were chasing him screeched to a halt as the debris was now obstructing their path, he gazed at the people sadly before he resumed his run.

O'Hare shoved his way through the crowd and growled at the Once-ler's retreating figure, "THIS ISN'T OVER! I WILL FIND YOU! YOU HEAR ME! I WILL FIND YOU!"

The Once-ler disappeared into the smog.

O'Hare's office chair creaked back and forth slightly as he gazed up in the ceiling, reminiscing on that day, "Yeah that was quite a day, I'll tell ya, the people weren't too thrilled that their mayor was attacked by some disfigured creature from the smoggy wastelands. They were anxious for the rest of my wall to be built, they couldn't bear to think of what would happen if that very creature came back and attacked their children, ever since then it wasn't difficult to turn you into a pariah."

O'Hare straightened his chair and faced the Once-ler, "You did a pretty good job hiding from me I'll give you that but I think it's time I finished what I started all those years ago." He snapped his fingers, "Search him!"

The two bodyguards hoisted the Once-ler on his feet and began patting him down and searched through all of his pockets, when they found nothing they merely shrugged at O'Hare who wasn't very satisfied with that answer one bit.

He got up on his desk, walked over and grabbed the Once-ler by the collar of his shirt, "Where is it?! Where's the seed?!"

The Once-ler merely smiled, "Sorry but I don't have it."

O'Hare yanked at his shirt, his face inches from the Once-ler's, "WHERE ARE YOU HIDING IT!?"

The Once-ler didn't respond but he didn't need to at that point, O'Hare had always been a man of quick wit and it didn't take long for him to put two and two together, "Ted," he whispered to himself, "It's Ted, he has it doesn't he?!"

The Once-ler smirked, "You won't be able to stop him, once he tells everybody about that seed everything will return to the way things should be; trees will begin to grow again, fresh air will come back, nature will return….." He became moved by his own words and what quickly happened next caught him off guard; a weird glowing light formed right in front of his chest, both him and O'Hare stared in awe. A little brown seed slowly emerged from the light before it faded, the seed dropped onto his lap.

The Once-ler was at loss for words, his mouth opened and closed like a fish that was out of water. He couldn't believe it, there was another seed! Was he the one that made it? How in the world did he do it? He couldn't figure it out. He started when the short man snatched the seed from his lap,

"Well well…" O'Hare chuckled as he observed the seed, "Looks like you have a little hocus pocus in ya, I never would've guessed it." He looked over at Cyrus and Luke, "Get those bots ready and have them scan out for Teddy's location. As for you….." he sneered down at the Once-ler, he dropped the seed onto his desk and stomped on it roughly, giving out a sickening crunch. The Once-ler cried out in despair, it felt like his soul was being crushed along with that seed. O'Hare chuckled, "Since it seems you can pop these things out like a vending machine, I'm going to have to keep you locked up." He rubbed his chin, "I've always wanted a house plant in my office." He let out a bark of laughter then looked up at his bodyguards, "Lock him up in one of the waiting rooms, make sure there's no way he can get out then in morning we'll transfer him up to my blimp, that way he'll never escape." He gazed at the Once-ler with a maniacal look on his face as his guards hoisted him back up on his feet and dragged him out of the office, the Once-ler was still shocked from the appearance of the second seed that he didn't resist.

O'Hare adjusted his coat proudly as he watched him get dragged out of his office, he turned and noticed Luke was still standing there staring at him, Cyrus had already left to tend to the assignment that he had given them. He snarled, "What are you still doing here?"

Luke took a deep breath, "Mr. O'Hare, with all due respect don't you think this whole thing has gotten a little out of hand?"

O'Hare glared darkly at him, Luke steeled himself and continued,

"Look at him sir, the Once-ler looked like he was barely able to stay up on his feet, don't you think we should get him medical attention of some kind?"

O'Hare marched up to him, the dark glare on his face stayed in tact, "I don't have to explain myself to you in any way, you're on thin ice as it is and if you know what's good for you you'll start getting your act together and do whatever I tell you to do or else you'll be joining Charles out there in the unemployment line, do I make myself clear!?"

Luke didn't respond all he gave was a stoic expression. O'Hare took that as a sign of agreement and with that, he exited his office. Luke balled his fists up in anger and slammed one of them against the wall, a battle of the conscience going on in his head.

To Be Continued…