Author's Notes: Hey readers! Just to let you know I will be posting the next chapter of The Anniversary Tour sometime next week and so I will probably be writing these two fics at the same time. This idea popped into my head as I wrote Mike's chapter in AT so I hope you enjoy this one too and happy reading! :)
Two down and two to go. Willy Wonka happily watched the oompa loompas roll the now inflated blueberry Violet Beauregarde into the Juicing Room. He ignored her despondent father's threats. Now all he had to do was to get rid of Veruca Salt and Mike Teevee, his two least favorite of the ticket finders. Willy's plan for Charlie Bucket, the good-natured boy who found the final golden ticket just one day prior to become his next heir was getting closer to success. Willy did not simply want anyone to inherit his factory, he wanted a kind-hearted and selfless child to become his heir. He scanned the three remaining children.
"Two naughty nasty children gone. Three good sweet little children left..." he told them as he led the group into the Lickable Wallpaper for Nurseries Room and later the Fizzy Lifting Drink Room.
The children were eager to try the Fizzy Lifting Drinks.
"Oh come on! Can we try some please?" Mike politely asked.
"Yeah! I want a Fizzy Lifting Drink NOW!" Veruca barked.
"No, no, no. Absolutely not! There'd be children floating all around. Come along now, don't hang about. You're going to be wild about this next room..." Wonka announced as he led the group onward.
"Wild? Are there animals? I want one now!" Veruca declared.
"Maybe later sweetheart..." Mr. Salt gently told his spoilt daughter.
Without saying a word, Willy led the group into the Golden Egg Room.
"Lo and behold, the Golden Egg Room!" he announced as he noticed the Buckets were nowhere to be seen. He looked at the ceiling for a couple of seconds and then back at the two families. However, both Buckets were still absent.
The families found themselves in a small room with a dozen of oompa loompas either scurrying about with golden shopping carts or gently patting large golden eggs. Near the ceiling were five enormous white geese resting on golden nests. Below each goose was a large scale that read "Good" on one end and "Bad" on the other.
"As you can see, they're larger than ordinary geese-"
Before Willy could finish, someone screamed: "HELP! WE'RE GONNA GET KILLED!"
The group froze in shock as loud thumping echoed the small room.
"That's Charlie!" Mike yelled, immediately recognizing the blond boy's voice.
"HELP! HELP!" Grandpa Joe's voice frantically cried.
At that moment, Willy realized that Charlie had failed his test, who probably stole a Fizzy Lifting Drink. He sadly stared off into space, his ultimate plan of Charlie being his heir failed miserably.
"What are you waiting for Mr. Wonka?! Find them!" Mrs. Teevee yelled as Willy sadly led the others back into the Fizzy Lifting Drink Room.
"Thank goodness! Mr. Wonka! We're up here!" Grandpa Joe bellowed from above.
The others saw the elderly man and Charlie both dangerously close to the blade.
"I told you not to, silly boy..." Willy flatly told them from below, with a hint of disappointment in his voice.
"Mr. Wonka! How are we gonna get down? Help us!" Charlie cried.
Willy did not respond and simply blew his pipe whistle. Seconds later, a group of oompa loompas circled around the bubble machine and broke out in song:
"Oompa loompa doompa dee do,
I got another puzzle for you,
Oompa loompa doompa dee,
If you are wise you'll listen to me.
What do you get when you steal?
Tempted by an excellent deal?
Flying amongst the bubbles,
Will bring you nothing but troubles,
Then you will be sliced, sliced, sliced... by the blade!
What a huge price to be paid!"
As the Buckets listened to the song, Grandpa Joe loudly belched and sunk downward.
"Charlie! We gotta burp our way down!" he told his grandson as he belched once more.
"Oompa loompa doompadee da,
If you're not greedy you will go far,
You will live in happiness too,
Like the oompa loompa doompadee DO!"
The oompa loompas continued as both Buckets managed to belch their way down to safety. Willy led the Teevees and the Salts back towards the Golden Egg Room.
"Mr. Wonka! Wait! We're okay!" Grandpa Joe yelled, struggling to catch up with the others.
"We're so sorry we drank the Fizzy Lifting Drinks! Can we please stay?" Charlie begged.
Willy gave them both disheartened looks.
"Are you bonkers? You're both out. You stole Fizzy Lifting Drinks! Could you kindly send the Buckets back to the foyer?" he asked a nearby oompa loompa who grabbed Charlie by the wrist.
"No! You can't do this! I'm not hurt like Augustus and Violet! I've always dreamed of coming here!" the blond boy cried, nearly in tears.
Willy sadly watch the Buckets disappear deeper into a corridor.
"Serves that pathetic peasant right!" Veruca scowled under her breath, thrilled by the strong possibility of winning the contest.
Mike also watched in sadness. Charlie seemed so innocent, so perfect on the tour. Even he noticed a slight feeling that Charlie was Willy's favorite ticket finder and would be the winner. Mike did not care so much about Willy's prize, rather he was determined to give his Everlasting Gobstopper to Slugworth, who quietly offered him a small role in a sitcom during his interview. Although he would only be an extra on a genre that he did not particularly care for, Mike could not wait to be a TV star.
"I don't understand it. The children are disappearing like rabbits..." Willy remarked, leading the two families back into the Golden Egg Room.
The candyman could not bear the fact that Veruca would become his heiress since Mike snatched a sample of his Exploding Candies For Your Enemies back in the Inventing Room. He would now rather host a whole new contest or have no heir at all. As they walked back into the tiny room, Veruca walked back towards the gigantic geese.
"Hey daddy! I want a golden goose!" she barked.
The British girl's catchphrase now gyrated the chocolatier's nerves and he hoped that she would somehow fall down the garbage chute very soon.
"All right sweetheart. Wonka, how much do you want for the golden goose?" Mr. Salt asked the candyman.
"They're not for sale." Willy responded with no emotion.
"Name your price." Mr. Salt demanded.
"She can't have one."
Veruca gave Willy the most sinister look she could muster.
"WHO SAYS I CAN'T?!" she roared.
"The man with the funny hat." her father nervously replied.
"But I want one! I want a golden goose!"
"I'm afraid you can't have one Veruca. If you attempt to steal one of my golden geese, you will therefore be disqualified from the contest." Willy warned, now desperate to rid her.
Veruca's face reddened.
"How dare you! I think I'm going to SCREAM!" she howled as she violently thrashed several ribbons at Willy and Mike. The spoilt girl then aggressively kicked several nearby boxes, nearly striking Mike, who flinched in defense.
"I WANT THAT GOLDEN GOOSE NOW!" Veruca screamed at the top of her lungs, shoving a golden cart towards a stack of packages. The entire stack instantly scattered and Veruca darted towards one of the eggdicators.
"Don't care how, I want it now! DON'T CARE HOW I WANT IT NOOOWWW!" she shrieked as she plummeted downward and disappeared.
"She was a bad egg..." Willy robotically told the others, relieved that the spoilt girl was eliminated at last.
"Where's she gone?" Mr. Salt frantically asked.
"Where all the other bad eggs go. Down the garbage chute." Willy replied with no emotion.
Mr. Salt nervously laughed.
"The garbage chute? Where does it lead to?"
"To the furnace."
Mr. Salt laughed harder.
"To the furnace. She'll be sizzled like a sausage!"
"Not necessarily. She could be just stuck inside the tube." Willy replied.
"Inside the...? Hold on! Veruca! Sweetheart! Daddy's coming!" Mr. Salt frantically cried as he bolted towards the same eggdicator that his daughter fell into.
He jumped into the eggdicator and disappeared in a matter of seconds.
"Hey Mr. Wonka? Is she really gonna be fried alive down there?" Mike questioned, pointing at the eggdicator.
"Hmm... well I think that furnace is lit only every other day. So they have a good sporting chance, haven't they?" Willy explained with some disappointment in his voice.
All of the oompa loompas circled around the eggdicator and started to sing about how spoiled she was and her parents were to blame for her plight in a similar fashion as the other songs. Willy listened in sadness, knowing that the contest was a complete failure. No winner. No prize. No heir. He wondered how he would find an heir now.
Once the oompa loompas finished their song, he quietly led the Teevees towards his office, where they passed the Television Room. Willy was in no mood to take them there.
"So much to do, so much to do. Invoices, and bills, letters... I must answer that note from the queen..." Willy sadly told them.
"Mr. Wonka? Where are we going now? Can we see another room?" Mike asked.
"Oh, I'm afraid that's all the time we have today and I hope you enjoyed yourselves. Excuse me for not showing you out. Straight up the stairs, you'll find the way." Willy robotically told them, gesturing the Teevees a nearby rainbow door.
"I'm terribly busy. Whole day wasted. Goodbye to you both. Goodbye..."
The chocolatier walked into his office and disappeared inside. Mike and his mother exchanged confused looks.
"That's it?! Was there supposed to be a prize in the end, mom?" Mike asked.
"Yes there was! And he just kicked us out like that?! How rude of him! I'll find out what his deal is. You stay out here and do not wander off..." Mrs. Teevee sternly told her son as she walked inside Willy's office. Mike quietly stood by the door, having no intention of wandering off. He fiddled with his toy pistol and closely leaned at the door, hoping to hear what exactly was happening.
"Mr. Wonka? What's the big idea?" Mrs. Teevee's voice asked in impatience.
"I'm extraordinarily busy ma'm." Willy's voice responded, who sounded irritated.
"Where's the prize? Don't realize that we spent so much money to fly from all the way from Arizona to just see this factory?!" Mrs. Teevee demanded.
"He won't get it. There's no winner today." Willy flatly responded.
Mike gasped in shock.
"Why?!" his mother's voice angrily questioned.
"Because he broke the rules..."
Mike gulped, not understanding how he broke a rule. He was the only one who did not get into an "accident" or an oompa loompa song.
"What are you talking about?!" Mrs. Teevee shouted.
This prompted Mike to creak the door open. He peered to see a small room with yellow and white striped wallpaper. Every object was split in half, including a desk, chair, alarm clock, sink, and a white bust that held Willy's top hat. Willy's face reddened.
"Wrong ma'm, WRONG! UNDER SECTION 37B OF THE CONTRACT SIGNED BY HIM IT STATES QUITE CLEARLY THAT ALL OFFERS SHALL BECOME NULL AND VOID IF- AND YOU CAN READ IT FOR YOURSELF!" Willy screamed as he grabbed a smaller version of the lengthy, shrinking contract that the children signed earlier on. Mike began to tremble in fear and the enraged candyman spotted him.
"COME HERE THIS INSTANT!" Willy roared as Mike slowly walked inside the small office.
"I want to show you this copy of the contract that you signed earlier today! "I, THE UNDERSIGNED, SHALL FORFEIT ALL RIGHTS, PRIVILEGES, AND LICENSES HERIEN AND HERIEN CONTAINED, ET CETERA, ET CETERA! FAX MENTIS INCENDIUM GLORIA CULPUM, ET CETERA, ET CETERA! MEMO BIS PUNITOR DELICATUM! IT'S ALL THERE, BLACK AND WHITE, CLEAR AS CRYSTAL! YOU STOLE EXPLODING CANDIES FOR YOUR ENEMIES AND KNOCKED OVER AN ENTIRE RACK OF POTS AND PANS IN THE INVENTING ROOM, WHICH NOW HAVE TO BE STERILIZED! SO YOU GET NOTHING! YOU LOSE! GOOD DAY!" Willy violently roared, slamming the copy onto his half desk.
Mike began to shake and whimper in terror. He felt tears welling up in his bright blue eyes and hid behind his mother.
"Stop it! You're scaring him! You know what you are? A huge jerk! You don't care about anyone but yourself!" Mrs. Teevee yelled as she felt her son tightly grab her arm.
"I SAID GOOD DAY MA'M!" Willy screamed once more as he looked back down at the queen's letter.
"Come on Mike, let's get outta here..." Mrs. Teevee whispered, taking her now sobbing son by the hand back into the hallway.
The Teevees quietly walked towards the rainbow door. As they walked up the blue stairs, Mike yelped as he tripped over one of the steps.
His Everlasting Gobstopper slid out of his pocket.
"Give that piece of garbage to Mr. Wonka! Defective candy!" Mrs. Teevee snapped, still furious at the candyman.
"N-no... I'm gonna give it to Slugworth!" Mike sadly declared.
His mother gave him a stern look.
"You are not giving it to that creep!" she yelled.
"Why? He offered me to be an extra in a sitcom if I did! I'll be a TV star!" Mike whined.
"Mike. He's just scamming you, and same to the other kids. It's just too suspicious, he could be a pedophile for all I know! You should give it to him before we forget or I'll take the TV away for a week. Eating those candies without permission was still very wrong of you. Now go!"
Mike gulped and nervously gripped on his Everlasting Gobstopper and slowly trudged the hallway. Mike now regretted his actions back in the Inventing Room. Though motivated by Slugworth's offer, he still truly enjoyed the wonderous chocolate factory.
The tiny cowboy slowly trudged into Willy's small office. The chocolatier was still busily answering the queen's note as the half clock loudly ticked. Mike felt himself tremble as he approached the candyman.
"M-Mr. W-Wonka.. I-I'm s-sorry I t-took those c-candies. H-here y-you go..." he stammered as he silently placed the Gobstopper onto Willy's desk.
Mike stood in the same position for a few seconds, waiting for Willy's reaction. The chocolatier was still writing his response. The little cowboy sighed and slowly walked out of the room.
As Willy wrote, he eyed the colorful candy on his desk. He looked at it in pure shock and clutched it. At that moment, Willy realized that he had no other choice but to make Mike his heir.
"So shines a good deed in a weary world..." he muttered to himself.
Mike was nearly out of the room as he grabbed the Gobstopper even harder.
"Mike... my dear boy... you won! You did it!" Willy yelled with fake enthusiasm.