Willy Wonka's holiday candies were always an anticipated event and he was certain his chocolates were bound to sell out again. Things were starting to look up for his chocolates but something was still missing. His spectacular new holiday creation still had yet to be made and what it was going to be, Mr. Wonka could not think of it. He and Charlie spent hours a day brainstorming for new ideas until one day when Mrs. Bucket was decorating their little cottage with holiday decorations. Charlie helped his mother put up the wreath on the front door and installed the Christmas lights with his father. Once he switched them on, he saw nothing but bright lights in front of him and immediately, another light sparked in his mind. After the decorating was done, he sprinted away from the chocolate room and into the pink boat. He had to see Mr. Wonka immediately before his idea wore off.
"Mr. Wonka! Mr. Wonka!" Charlie cried as the boat stopped at the door of the Inventing Room. He flung the door opened and ran over to his mentor in sheer excitement. "I got it! I know what we can make for the Christmas season! I was helping my parents with the holiday decorating and what would be more festive and delicious than candy wreaths that light up! Cherry flavored holly, mint leaves, chocolate pine cones… what do you think?!"
Mr. Wonka's face lit up and hopped with excitement. "That's it! We can make the holly light up… Brilliant, Charlie! Let's get to work immediately! Hah!"
It was going to be the most wonderful holiday treat ever. They worked more hectic hours, fully consumed with their new project. Mrs. Bucket was not happy about Charlie cutting back on homework hours on the weekend to work but she had faith in her son to set his priorities. Mr. Wonka had never worked so hard on one particular project in ages and finally felt he could outrun Miss Vicky for the first time.
The day has come and Mr. Wonka was ready to manufacture his special holiday candy light wreaths. Candy was glowing and ready to be packed and shipped. Suddenly, the doors opened slowly and little Charlie walked inside the manufacturing room. However, his face was not filled with excitement at all. Rather, he wore a sullen frown as he walked over the boxing machines and switched the power off.
"Charlie, what are you doing?!" Mr. Wonka looked at his heir in bewilderment and turned the machines back on again. "We have these boxes to ship to all the candy shops!"
Charlie sighed and turned the machines off again. "We can't sell these candy wreaths, Mr. Wonka."
"Don't be silly, of course we can!" He leaped cheerfully and turned it back on.
"No, Mr. Wonka!" Charlie switched it back off again and it was certain he was getting irritated. "We're not going to sell them anymore."
"Are too!" Mr. Wonka turned it on again.
"Am not!" Charlie turned it off and almost broke the lever.
"Now look here, little boy." Mr. Wonka was clearly annoyed. "We've just worked endless and vigorous hours on this. We are not holding them back… No way!"
Charlie shouted. "We have to because Miss Vicky already released them!"
"What?!" He glared. It was impossible. She could not have possibly.
"You heard me, Mr. Wonka." Charlie lowered his voice and calmed down. "Look." He took a remote control and turned on one of Mr. Wonka's large television screens and to the news advertising Miss Vicky's new holiday treats. As expected, the advertisement showed dozens of glowing candy and bubblegum wreaths with Miss Vicky's name all over them, being grabbed by numerous shoppers. Another shot was the assortment of bright, green Christmas trees that were decorated with the same glowing candy and bubblegum.
"For you Holiday shoppers, Miss Vicky has never ceased to amaze us. Earlier this week she released one of the most anticipated holiday treats. They are edible and chewable and they glow so bright. A very sweet addition to your holiday decorating! Get them before they sell out!"
"That's it! Ohh…curses!" Mr. Wonka shut the television off and slammed the remote on the ground into pieces. "She has gone too far this time! Is she stealing our ideas and just became another despicable spy? After all I have done for her…" He began pacing vigorously. Charlie could see his mentor had finally lost it.
"But, Mr. Wonka." Charlie was feeling some resentment toward his competition for once and thought hard. "There's no possible way she would have found out what we were working on. Every room in the factory is highly secured and the oompa-loompas never reveal any secrets to anyone."
"Of course I know that." Mr Wonka pouted. "I would know if there was someone else besides you and the oompa-loompas watching over our work. But knowing her, she must have found a way around it. She always does." His face darkened as he muttered to himself, inaudible for Charlie to hear. "Oh boy is she going to pay."
For the rest of the day, Mr. Wonka has locked himself in his tower and tried to control his rage. His uncontrollable pacing led him to accidentally shatter a lamp and a few more of his furniture in half. A wretched girl, that Miss Vicky was. How in the world did she manage to steal his and Charlie's ideas? He knew there was something suspicious about the way she was always ahead of whatever he did. How dare she thought she was allowed take advantage of his hospitality! Maybe he ought to stop trusting her and resort to more extreme measures. Of course, he could not kick her out of the factory. He did not need the bad publicity. Something had to be done in order for him to be back at the top of the candy market. His violet eyes flared and his scowl turned into a sinister grin as an idea brewed up. Oh, how she was certainly going to pay.
That evening, he walked down the stairs into the hallway that led to Miss Vicky's working space. He waited patiently outside her door. He could not help but imagine the room set on fire. He grinned at the thought. Suddenly, the door opened and Miss Vicky came outside as she tapped on one of the blue buttons on her cane.
She shut the door behind her and as she turned around, she jumped at the sight of Mr. Wonka standing behind it. "Willy, you gave me a fright! What are you doing here?"
Mr. Wonka glared, wanting to attack her with as many words of sheer fury. However, he held back and forced a smile. "Oh, none of your concern, Miss Vicky."
Miss Vicky sneered. "Hmph, well, I am off to the Buckets' for supper. Are you coming?"
He shook his head. "No, I have much more work to do."
She cocked her head to the side and smirked. "Hm, I'm sure but I know what you mean. I work such hellish hours, I feel guilty about not visiting them as often. Now that my holiday collection has been released, I can finally rest. You don't mind if I borrow your glass elevator for this trip, do you?"
"Not at all, Miss Vicky. Do whatever you wish. I'm only headed downstairs." He narrowed his eyes at her. Oh, how he really wished that elevator would shatter her into tiny pieces.
"Thank you, Willy. Well, I will see you later then." She entered the glass elevator and zoomed far below the tower.
Mr. Wonka looked down and muttered. "Yeah, more like I'll be seeing your work later. Hah!" He quickly turned around toward the door to Miss Vicky's working space. What he was about to do was something he never thought he would ever have to resort to but it was his only chance to beat his rival at her own game. He found the key that unlocked the door and as he walked inside, he found her robotic clones shut down and asleep. Forgetting about his promise to protect her privacy, he found himself in a desperate situation and as anger overwhelmed him to no limit, such promises disappeared from his conscience.
He crept up to the light switch and turned it on, revealing all the amazing machinery she had in the large room. He quite regretted giving her the space with how much it helped her. He reached into his pocket and held up a small nut bolt that contained a very tiny camera lens. Then he took out another one, but this time, the center had a small microphone-like piece. Very quietly and cautiously, he installed numerous amounts of them into various parts of her machines. The discreetness of the devices made it impossible to detect with the busy eye. It would take Miss Vicky to have to break the machines apart to find them.
He glanced suspiciously at the clones that he hoped were completely shut down. To make sure, he tried putting the devices on them as well with surprising success. He quickly stepped out of the room and locked the door behind him. His grin grew sinister knowing that his competition was never going to know what hit her.
He went back up to his tower and tested the connection to his room. He had several monitors and all displayed six screens each, filming every angle of Miss Vicky's working space. He also had a pair of headphones that contained a wireless connection to the microphones installed. As everything appeared to be running perfectly, Mr. Wonka smirked. "Let the battle begin."