As the group arrived near the end of the river, Mr. Wombat spoke up.
"Now, our ride should be here any time now."
"What ride?", Elmyra asked.
Mr. Wombat was just about to answer Elmyra's question, but instead he said, "Ah, right on schedule."
The toons looked & saw what appeared to be a large, pink boat that appeared to be made out of candy.
Inside the boat, there were about 50 Oompa-Loompas rowing the boat, with an extra one in front, slowly beating on a large drum in rhythm with the rowing.
"Wow", exclaimed Fifi, "what a pretty boat."
When the boat came to a complete stop, Furrball spoke up.
"Are we going on a boat ride, Mr. Wombat?"
"Indeed we are, my feline friend. All aboard, everyone!"
As Furrball & Fifi were about to board the boat, Monty rudely stepped in front of them & said, "Ladies first, and this means Elmyra of course."
Fifi whispered to Furrball, "If she's a lady, zhen I'm a Vermicious Kenid." Furrball giggled as they both hopped aboard the boat.
Mr. Wombat joined the group & sat next to Furrball & Fifi, with Monty & Elmyra sitting in front of them, facing the opposite direction.
"I think you guys are gonna like this", Mr. Wombat said.
Monty began licking the boat, which is indeed made of candy, before Mr. Wombat said, "Hey, Monty, don't lick the boat please, you'll make it sticky. Anyway, off we go!"
The Oompa-Loompa at the boat's bow started beating on the drum slowly again while the others began rowing the boat down the chocolate river.
As the boat made its way near the waterfall & under the bridge. Mr. Wombat took a small ladle out of his coat & dipped it into the river.
Once he took it out, now filled with chocolate, he offered it to Furrball & said, "Here, try some of this."
Furrball took the ladle & sipped some of the chocolate.
"Mmmmmm, it's delicious", he said, as he handed it over to Fifi, who sipped the rest of the chocolate.
"Mmmmm, eet is tres bon."
As Fifi handed the ladle back to Mr. Wombat, he looked at the cat & skunk curiously, seeing the two of them holding hands.
"You know, you two have been spending the whole time together. Are you two in a relationship or something?"
"Oui", Fifi replied, "we are a couple."
"I see. Would it be polite of me to ask how you two got together?"
"Well", Furrball said nervously, "it's kind of a long story."
"Well, it might be interesting to me. After all, it's not often I see a cat & a skunk in a relationship."
Furrball & Fifi looked at each other for a moment to see who would tell the story to Mr. Wombat. Furrball then spoke up.
"It all started back in December. Back when Fifi was single & I was a poor, homeless, unlucky alleycat."
"Really?", Mr. Wombat asked.
"Yep, and we both had something we desperately wanted; I've always wanted to have a home, and Fifi always wanted to have a lover. And she went through a horrible break-up with Hamton after-"
"Wait, wait, wait. YOU & Hamton were a couple?", Mr. Wombat asked Fifi.
"Oui, but I broke up weez him after he betrayed moi."
"Really? What happened?"
"He was going out with another girl in school", Furrball answered.
"Oh. That's bad."
"I saw everything that happened, and I felt really sorry for Fifi. I wanted to make her happy again.
"Oui", Fifi then said, "and just days before Christmas, Furrball got moi a beauteeful locket as a present."
"Oh, that's nice of him", said Mr. Wombat.
"But zhen, eet gets better."
"How so?"
"He asked moi to zhe Christmas Dance & requested my favorite song to be played."
"How sweet."
"Yup", Furrball then said, "and after the Dance, when we were at Fifi's house, I told her about my life, how I had no food, no shelter...and no family."
"Oui", Fifi said, "eet breaks my heart imagining zhe things Furrball had to go through."
"Awww, poor fella", Mr. Wombat said sadly.
"But in the end", Furrball continued, "Fifi let me move in with her & finally have a home. And in return, I offered to be her boyfriend, and she said 'yes'. Now we're both very happy."
"Awww, a happy ending for both of you. You guys must've been lucky to finally get what you both wanted."
"It wasn't luck that bought us together."
"Oh?"
Furrball looked at Fifi with loving eyes & said, "It was true love."
The cat & skunk held each other softly with smiles on their faces. Mr. Wombat smiled too as he looked at the cat & skunk. He was so distracted by the couple, he didn't notice Monty calling him.
"Mr. Wombat? Mr. Wombat!"
"Huh? What?"
"We're heading to a tunnel."
"Oh, thank you. Full speed ahead!"
The Oompa-Loompa at the drum started pounding on it harder & faster, which signaled the other Oompa-Loompas to row faster.
"How can they see where they're going?", Elmyra asked.
"They can't", Mr Wombat replied. "There's no knowing where they're going."
The toons looked at the candyman curiously before he shouted, "Switch on the lights!"
In the tunnel, the lights turned on, but suddenly, instead of the boat moving forward, it dropped straight down into a completely different tunnel with a variety of swirling colors illuminating the path.
The boat was moving so fast down the chocolate rapids that everyone felt the wind blowing into their faces.
After about a minute of twists & turns, the boat arrived at a large room with many large, round doors placed in various locations.
"Now", Mr. Wombat spoke up, "we're gonna be passing through many different rooms here, some of which are very important."
Furrball & Fifi looked at a few of the doors they passed by, which had large, colored words above each of them: DAIRY CREAM, VANILLA CREAM, HAIR CREAM.
"'Hair Cream?'", Fifi asked Mr. Wombat, "What do vous use hair cream for?"
"Well, for my hair, of course", he replied. "I need to look good for you people, don't you think?"
As the boat continued down the stream, Furrball saw an open door. Inside there were a few Oompa-Loompas hitting a cow suspended in mid-air on a harness with bullwhips.
"Whipped cream!", he exclaimed.
"Yep, precisely", Mr. Wombat replied.
Elmyra turned to the candyman & said, "I don't get it."
"Well, for your information, Elmyra, whipped cream isn't whipped cream at all unless it's been whipped with whips. Get the idea here?"
"Ooookay", Elmyra replied as she turned back slowly with a confused look, not knowing what Mr. Wombat meant by that.
As the boat traveled past several more doors, Mr. Wombat spoke up.
"Stop the boat! We have arrived at our destination."
As the boat came to a halt, the toons saw that they're at a large, round door, much like the others, and above it read 3 large words illuminated in light blue: THE INVENTING ROOM.