Disclaimer: I do not own Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.It belongs to Roald Dahl and Tim Burton. I sure would like to, though!

Charlie woke up and slid into his candy-man outfit: Purple shirt, pants, overcoat, top hat, and gloves. It was time to get to work and he had a wonderful idea to tell Willy about. It was a candy tree, made specifically to fit on the hill by the chocolate river. It would be made entirely out of chocolate, with mint leaves and caramel apples… His mouth was watering already!

Charlie opened the glass elevator and pushed the button for Willy's room. He was still planning it out. There could be a bird's nest made of cotton candy with chocolate eggs. Brilliant! Why hadn't he thought of this before? The elevator reached Willy's room and Charlie stepped out. Willy was still snoring away. Charlie tapped his shoulder gently.

"Willy! I've got a great idea for the candy valley!" he whispered.

Willy was unresponsive.

"Willy! Wake up!" Charlie shook Willy's shoulder through the bedcovers. It felt cold and stiff. Charlie's face went pale. This was NOT happening. It was the worst nightmare imaginable.

The Great Willy Wonka was dead.

Charlie was silent as he stared at Willy, who was still lying in his purple pyjamas. Just at that moment an Oompa-Loompa entered the room with a tray of pancakes and chocolate milk. He seemed to sense trouble and laid the tray down on the floor. Waddling over to Charlie, he peered at Willy, then Charlie, then Willy again?"

"Is this what I think it is?"

"Yes," said Charlie through a mask of tears.

"This must be dealt with ASAP. I will get your parents. Call the doctor."

The Oompa-Loompa waddled off as Charlie reached for the phone.

"Hello? This is Charlie Bucket. Is Dr. Pebbles there?"

"This is he."

"Oh. We have an emergency. Can you come over here right now?"

"What is the nature of this emergency?"

"Willy Wonka is in-um-critical condition."

"What are his symptoms?"

"Significant drop in temperature. Lack of breathing and heart beat."

"Oh dear. I'll be there right away, although I'm afraid I won't be able to do much."

"Thank you. Please hurry."

Charlie hung up. This was awful. His mentor and life-long friend. Gone.

"Oh, Charlie!" his mother ran in. "The Oompa-Loompa told us the news. We got over here first thing we could!"

"Have you called the doctor?" asked his father. "And the lawyer?"

"What?" exclaimed Charlie and his mother in unison. "Willy Wonka has just died and you're worried about a lawyer?"

"It wasn't a murder, dad!"

"I know. It's about the will! If he left you anything, Charlie, he'll say in the will!"

"Oh," replied Charlie. For once, inheriting the chocolate factory didn't mean very much to him.

The Oompa-Loompa entered again.

"Doctor will be here soon, I think."

"Thank you."

The Oompa-Loompa left. For a while Charlie did nothing but sit and stare at the wall. He couldn't look at Willy. It was too upsetting.

After several minutes, Dr. Pebbles came in and put his stethoscope to Willy's chest.

"It's too late. He died in his sleep. Have you read the will yet?"

"No! Would everyone just stop talking about the will?" Charlie said, leafing a pancake at Dr. Pebbles.

Mr. Bucket cornered Dr. Pebbles. "It's better you not talk about anything in front of him. He needs some time alone. We could read it outside," he whispered.

"Go ahead," Charlie replied loudly. "You're right."

Everybody left the room to read Willy's will. Why was it so important? Everyone knew he would inherit the factory sooner or later, no questions asked. But it was not to be.

"Charlie?" asked his mother, poking her head in through the door..

"Yes?"

"I'm afraid you have a small problem. Well, you see, the will says the chocolate factory won't be yours until you find an heir."

Charlie blinked dark water out of his eyes.

"You mean-?" he said in horror.

"Thankfully no. This is the odd part: he said to use the golden tickets."

Charlie jumped up, knocking over the tray of pancakes and chocolate milk. "Brilliant!"

"I knew you'd say so," smiled Charlie's dad from the door.

"I'll start right now," said Charlie, hugging his parents.

Over the next 3 weeks, Charlie, his parents, and the oompa-loompas were busy childproofing the chocolate factory: Tall railings around the chocolate river, locked doors on the inventing machines and a squirrel atrium. Charlie was planning to do the same tour, and he didn't want any children meeting untimely fates. On the first morning of Week 4, he took the elevator to the heart of the chocolate factory, quietly set 5 golden tickets down on 5 Bucket Bars, and watched them slide off down the assembly line as quickly as they had come. Then Charlie realized something. In a matter of minutes, the world would have choco-mania all over again.

How was it? Hopefully not too bad. In the next chapter we will meet Winner #1, all the way from Hamburg, Germany.