The idea for this story doesn't belong to me. A few months back, I stated to a friend that I had just finished reading something, and now had to work out what next to spend my time on. She requested a oneshot, of Willy discovering Wilkinson was a spy for Slugworth.
This short, multi-chapter, fic grew out of that conversation.
If you recognise it from elsewhere, it doesn't belong to me. (More on this later!)
The Devil is in the Details
Devil One - A Stunning Discovery
The sound of the main gate creaking closed echoed around the small office, amplified by the sound system Willy had installed the previous week. Willy jumped.
"That'll be James, returning. Are you ready for this, Charlie?"
The teenager nodded, maintaining his silence. Despite the fact that he had been the one who discovered it, Charlie still couldn't believe it. Their right-hand man had turned spy.
It had begun three months earlier, with Charlie barrelling into Willy's third-floor office (the one he used most of the time), shouting as if he believed Willy might be completely deaf, instead of just a little deaf in his right ear.
Willy had looked up, his eyes like slits, glaring daggers at his young apprentice. The crack of the hand against the table vibrated through the air, causing Charlie to wince at the thought of how Willy's palm must sting. Then Charlie had pressed a finger to his lips. After a moment, convinced that his message had filtered through, Charlie picked up the phone, pressed three buttons, and put the device against Willy's left ear. Willy's hand automatically lifted to grip the instrument, holding it in place, almost without him wanting to. Charlie continued to hold the phone also, hand curled protectively around the mouthpiece, an extra layer of protection against sound.
Willy heard a voice, whispering in his ear:
"Yes, Mr. Slugworth, 'hot and spicy', that's exactly what they said— Well, that's how Willy put it. Charlie said that they should be 'smokin' hot!'
"Anyway, as I was saying, after curried Snozzberries, the second key ingredient is the Elder Flower. A tea is made, the liquid is strained, and that which is left is then distilled. Only the purest of the steam will be used, barely one cup of liquid from a whole barrel of tea, to 'enhance the delicate flavour'. Ten cups of this tea are needed for each batch, or was it every bar? No matter. We shall find out easily enough.
"I didn't hear what was said after that, but those two things, hot and spicy curried Snozzberries and, extra-pure, distilled, Elder Flower tea, were mentioned as being highly important to the end result."
Willy let go of the phone, dropping his hand to his side in shock. Charlie, watching, brought the phone to his own ear. Hearing the conspirators droning on, he replaced the phone on the receiver. Willy, having heard enough, didn't seem to register the change, and continued to gaze at the wall. When Charlie looked closer, he realised that the mix of despondency and perturbation reflected in Willy's gaze, was mirrored by the way the man had seemed to shrivel in on himself. Willy's face was grey.
Tied into a loop of uncertainty, the man was frozen in place by the maelstrom that had taken the place of his thoughts. How had this happened? How could James? This betrayal was worse than anything Willy had experienced before. James, James, James! His would-be personal friend! They had worked together for so long! James knew so many of Willy's secrets! And now he had sold Willy out? Yes! His employees had stolen from him in the past! Yes! Spies had passed his recipes onto his competitors! They had passed them on to Slugworth! And this meant Slugworth was still at it? He hadn't learned his lesson? But none of those spies had been his friend. None of them had been his confidante. None of them had ever had such a personal connection! This betrayal was the ultimate betrayal.
In an instant, Willy's entire demeanour changed. The grey disappeared. A vibrant red suffused his cheeks. The much abused hand smacked across the desk again, sending a crack like thunder around the room.
"WILKINSON!"
Charlie slapped his hands over his ears a moment too late, leaving his ears ringing from the volume. He was actually surprised that Mr. Wilkinson didn't hear, and come running to find out what he had done wrong. Or run away, instead.
"You double-crosser! How dare you do that! After everything I've done for you!"
Charlie was struck by the fact that the last time he had seen Willy angry was back on the day of the tour, when Willy had shouted at Charlie that he had lost. Charlie had thought Willy was angry then. If that was anger, this was pure fury. By comparison, the tour day paled into insignificance. Willy continued raving all the while Charlie was thinking, with the volume increasing exponentially.
Suddenly, silence encompassed the office, booming round it, the loudness of the quiet oppressive, given the previous volume. Charlie would almost have believed that Willy had experienced a second mercurial emotional shift in as many minutes, moving from anger to pleasure, but for the snarl adorning his face, confirming that he was still angry. Then the muttering began, little more than a grimace of sound, that lasted for another few minutes. Only the occasional word was audible, beyond the odd "I'll show him," that seemed to growl along as if it were an engine.
Then, Willy's face cleared, and he looked up.
"How did you find out about this?"
The tone was frigid. Charlie found himself shivering from the ice it held.
"I was walking back to my family suite, and got caught up in an Oompa-Loompa game. We were having fun running through the corridors when a raised voice caught my attention, so we listened. James sounded excited, I clearly heard him say, 'Slugworth.' I froze at the name. I couldn't have moved if I had wanted to. Then I heard something about 'new invention. I'm serious. Now will you tell Mr. Slugworth?'
"I looked at the Oompa-Loompas in dismay. None of us said anything. What we had heard seemed too awful to talk about. Then I realised that I needed to tell you, so I ran to find you, starting to shout your name once I reached the production corridors, hoping that you would be somewhere around and would hear me. And... That's it, sir! That's how I found out."
Story told, Charlie ran out of steam. Willy sat in silence for a few minutes. Then he looked up at Charlie, blue eyes hard and unyielding. "I have to take action on this. If I don't they could ruin us. Are you up for a spot of revenge via consequences?"
Charlie's eyes glinted as he picked up the new atmosphere in the room. "What did you have in mind?"
A devious expression crossed Willy's face as he responded. "Well..."
Charlie had been thrilled when Willy had explained his idea. The potential for mayhem had both grinning from ear-to-ear. Wilkinson had let them down; the disappointment had been a huge shock to them both. Now Willy was rewarding Charlie for his quick actions by letting Charlie play a part in Wilkinson's downfall. That they would be able to take care of Slugworth at the same time, was a bonus. Yes. Willy's idea excited Charlie.
A disappointing three weeks passed without further comment. Charlie began to think that Willy had forgotten all about Wilkinson's treachery. He found it disconcerting just how normal everything seemed to be. The routine of the factory continued on without a hitch. The only thing that suggested anything different was that there had been no working on the recently dubbed "Snozzbang Sucker." Or any other invention for that matter. The lack of creativity was starting to drive Charlie crazy.
Usually, when there was a new creation in the pipeline, Willy would concentrate on the process until the recipe was perfect. With candy, he concentrated on gaining the flavour that he desired for that particular creation. When the flavour was exactly right, the confection would enter the testing phase. Oompa-Loompas would be drafted in from all over the factory to put it through its paces. Once all the side effects had been discovered, Willy could work on eradicating them.
This creation was still in the first phase of production. There was a lot to be done before they could move on; Willy should be in the inventing room much of the day, concentrating on perfecting it. But he wasn't. The creation may as well have been put 'on hold' for all the work that had been done on it.
Charlie sighed. Willy's current behaviour was a mystery well beyond anything Charlie could unravel. It would all become clear before too much longer, Charlie was certain. Until that point, the only thing that Charlie could do was emulate his mentor. And so, Charlie did his best to act as if everything were progressing as normal.
Willy, meanwhile, was smiling to himself as he watched James squirm. After the first week, the other man had begun hanging round areas he wouldn't normally visit. Willy would take every available opportunity to wander along and surprise James in his activities, causing the other man to jump. Willy varied his method of attack, but whether it took three minutes, or thirty, the question regarding what James was up to was eventually asked. James would then have to come up with spontaneous reasons regarding his presence in such spots.
The Oompa-Loompas responsible for monitoring the tap they had placed on James' phone reported that Slugworth was putting more and more pressure on James. Slugworth was eager to find out what was happening with the new creation, what other ingredients were required, and just how they were to be combined. In short, Slugworth wanted to know what the delay was. The sweat starting to bead on James' brow was a delicious hint of the tension he was under: like a rodent, on a rock, frozen in the sight of two birds of prey.
Eventually Slugworth lost all patience with James. Cricknell, the Oompa-Loompa monitoring the phone at the time, reported that James received a verbal chewing-out that would traumatise the most cocky crook. A very much cowed James was soon seen passing through the main gate, in response to the summons he had received. Apparently, Slugworth now wanted to meet up with him in person.
The aftermath of this was that James actually approached Willy, flat-out asking him what the delay was. It was morning, a busy time in the factory, and Willy was concentrating on other things. He was heading to the Chocolate Room, to discuss plans with the Oompa-Loompas responsible for it, when James approached.
(This had been Slugworth's plan, when James had pointed out that he was unlikely to get a straight answer. 'Then ask him when he's busy, moron!' James had lent back, away from the angry man, trying to avoid the flying spittle accompanying this furious pronouncement. Then Slugworth steepled his fingers. 'Yes, that will do nicely.' James cocked his head. 'You will ask Wonka about the delay when he is distracted, concentrating on other things. That way he won't worry about what he believes he should tell you, and you will get an honest answer. Now go!' James, feeling doubtful, knew he had no choice, and having been dismissed, disappeared without delay.)
So it was, that as Willy entered the corridor heading to the Chocolate Room, James bounced from behind a door to pounce.
"Mr Wonka, sir! There you are! Is all well today?"
"Ah, James, my good man. "The sun shines brightly, and the birds sing sweetly." How might I help you this morning?"
James smiled, uncertain. "Must I want help, sir?"
Willy pierced him with a glance. "These days, it seems you appear in the strangest of places, at the strangest of times. Past experience has shown that this bothersome behaviour only occurs when something is bothering you. I wish for this bothersome behaviour to stop, so I must enquire about what is bothering you to achieve the aim of decreasing the occurrence of said bothersome behaviour. Now; how might I help you?"
James twiddled the buttons of his coat sleeve before looking up. "I was just wondering what was happening with your newest invention, sir! It's not normal for weeks to pass without any mention of your latest idea, and the myriad of happenings in relation to it. I just had to ask what was going on."
Willy pursed his lips, musing on his response. "Well, now, why would you be interested in that, my good man?"
James, by now being used to such probing questions, explained.
"You know how invested I am in the success of the factory, sir. I know how rare it is for your experiments to screech to a halt as quickly as this one has. Not without something new springing up in its place, at least. This silence from the Inventing Room— It concerns me."
Willy smiled, brushing an imaginary speck of lint from James' coat, and pretending to examine it in minute detail for the next few moments, before deigning to reply. "Nothing to worry about, my good man. All will come right in the end, you'll see. Now, if you'll excuse me, I really must be going."
Willy turned, and disappeared down a corridor, a nearby door banging closed behind him. Wilkinson threw his hands up and stamped his foot, an exclamation of disgust escaping from his lips. All that effort, and he was still no further forwards. Mr. Slugworth would not be happy, but James could do no more. If Willy didn't want to tell James something, he might as well give up trying. Willy wasn't likely to change his mind for all the persuading James could do.
With events such as this, the stall in production continued on for six weeks. Charlie himself had almost forgotten about the plans, when Willy popped out from behind a door, mere inches in front of him.
"In here Charlie!"
Willy beckoned for Charlie to follow him. Knowing better than to question at this time, Charlie kept his mouth closed, and followed the instructions he was given. Willy would not appreciate anything else, especially given he was obviously trying to be covert. Questions were not covert.
They walked along corridor after corridor, many of which Charlie had never been down before. The sight of the odd, scurrying Oompa-Loompa, convinced Charlie that these corridors were part of the Oompa-Loompa byways. Finally they entered a room Charlie had never seen before.
"This, Charlie, is my War Room," Willy explained in a whisper. "All of my most secret discussions are held here. No one enters without my express permission, and now it is time for me to induct you in the mysteries that surround it."
The haunting tone, mixed with the quiet solemnity of the room, impressed Charlie with the seriousness of Willy choosing to introduce him to such an important area of the factory. The atmosphere was heavy, oppressive; then Willy dispelled the sensation, almost without thinking about it.
"It is now time for us to talk further about our plans for dealing with Wilkinson. I know it must have seemed like I had forgotten about his treachery, but, in reality, I have been preparing many details, in the background. Now, after approaching two months, it is time for us to begin moving forwards with the plan. Are you still with me, Charlie?"
Charlie barely contained a whoop of excitement. Was he in with Willy? Of course he was in with Willy! The look on his face said it all. Without waiting for a verbal answer, Willy outlined the stage things were at now...
AN: End of Devil One... onto the last of the acknowledgements...
The quotation Willy uses in conversation with James, in modified format, comes from The Wizard of Oz. It describes Dorothy walking along the Yellow Brick Road towards the Emerald City:
"Within a short time she was walking briskly toward the Emerald City, her silver shoes tinkling merrily on the hard, yellow road-bed. The sun shone bright and the birds sang sweetly, and Dorothy did not feel nearly so bad as you might think a little girl would who had been suddenly whisked away from her own country and set down in the midst of a strange land."