Chapter 12: Mr. Willy Wonka
AN: And now it's time our winners meet Willy Wonka! Enjoy!
It was now 10:00 a.m. and Willy Wonka was due to appear at any moment. Once all ten of the chimes of the factory's clock had died down, everybody looked towards the main entrance to the factory with anticipation. A moment or two later, the door to the building creaked open and Willy Wonka himself stepped out into the world for all to see. He was a middle-aged man with curly brown hair and emerald green eyes. His outfit consisted of a light purple collared shirt, a golden bowtie, a dark purple jacket, tan khaki pants, brown dress shoes, and a red-orange top hat. In his hand he carried a brown cane with a brass top. Once everyone in the crowd caught sight of him, they all burst into applause as he made his way over to the gates on the long red carpet.
However, the cheering died down after a moment once everyone saw how he was walking. He was walking slowly with a limp in his right leg and the expression on his face seemed to spell out that it hurt him to move. Even all five of the ticket winners and their relatives showed concern for the middle-aged man. Once he got closer to the slightly open gates, he dropped his cane to the ground and stood motionless. A few seconds later, he tumbled forward and did a somersault before coming back up into a standing position right by the open gates. Once he performed the trick, he raised his arms up triumphantly and smiled warmly, and this caused everyone to erupt with more applause.
"Thank you, thank you very much; thank you," Willy Wonka spoke after the cheering died down and he looked towards the ticket winners. "Welcome, my friends, welcome to my chocolate factory. Would you come forward, please?"
The ticket winners and their relatives stood up from their chairs and began to move forward. However, the anxious Diamond Tiara walked very fast in order to be the first one in, causing her parents to practically sprint after her. As they passed by the crowd, Flurry looked to the left and saw Sombra making eye contact with her as if telling to remember their conversation from yesterday.
"Guys, I just saw Sombra back there," Flurry whispered to her brothers, who then looked back to see Sombra glancing at them.
The winners soon reached the gate and stood in front of Willy Wonka, patiently waiting for further instructions from the candy man.
"Welcome, I'm so glad you all could make it," Wonka smiled at the guests as they smiled back. "It's nice to have you all here. This is going to be an exciting day. I hope you enjoy it. I'm sure that you will. Now, would please introduce yourselves and show me your tickets?"
"I'm Diamond Tiara. It's a pleasure to meet you, sir," Diamond Tiara grinned as she handed over her golden ticket.
"Well, the pleasure is all mine, Ms. Tiara. Well, your name speaks for itself since you're wearing a lovely diamond tiara on your head," Wonka said.
"Thank you for noticing. I've got six more of them at home," Diamond Tiara winked.
"I'm Filthy Rich, but you can just call me Mr. Rich. And this is my wife, Spoiled Rich," Filthy Rich introduced himself and his wife.
"You're wearing a purple jacket? How quaint," Spoiled Rich said blandly.
"Oh, now be nice to Mr. Wonka, dear," Filthy Rich lightly scolded his wife before turning back to Wonka. "I apologize if you feel insulted with her description of your coat, Mr. Wonka."
However, Wonka only maintained his cheerful demeanor. "Oh, not at all, Mr. Rich. I'm just overjoyed to see you and your family. Would kindly step over there please?"
The Rich Family obeyed the request and moved to the side, allowing Truffle and his parents to walk up next.
"I'm Truffle Shuffle," Truffle said as he handed over his golden ticket.
"Truffle Shuffle, my dear boy! It's good to see you and in such fine shape!" Wonka noticed the heftiness of the boy.
"I really love your chocolate!" Truffle added.
"Yes, I can tell," Wonka nodded.
"We'll try to keep our son from eating your entire factory," Mr. Shuffle joked.
"But remember this is not his diet time," Mrs. Shuffle giggled.
"And you two must be the radiant Mr. and Mrs. Shuffle. So nice to meet you both. Just over there, please," Wonka greeted them.
The Shuffle family moved over to stand by the Rich family, allowing Trixie and her parents to move up next.
"I am the Great and Powerful Trixie! But you may call me Trixie Lulamoon," Trixie boasted as she handed over her golden ticket.
"Trixie Lulamoon, what a beautiful name! Welcome to Wonka's. It's so nice to have a singing magician visiting my factory," Wonka said cheerfully.
"Oh, Trixie is more than just a visitor. Trixie's the one who's going to win the special prize in the end," Trixie claimed.
"Well, you do have confidence and confidence is a great thing to have. And these two must be Mr. and Mrs. Lulamoon," Wonka said as he noticed her parents.
"If you have any free time, come see the Lulamoon Magic Company on tour next month. We're the troupe of magicians that you will be dying to see when we come to town!" Jackpot handed a small card advertising the traveling magic show.
"Let's not overwhelm Mr. Wonka, dear," Spectacle tried to restrain her husband.
"Oh, it's not overwhelming in the slightest, Mrs. Lulamoon. It certainly sounds like a magical experience! Kindly step right over there, please," Wonka kindly brushed it off.
The Lulamoon family joined the other two families while Button and his parents walked up to Wonka.
"I'm Button Mash. Put her there!" Button held out his hand.
"Wonderful to meet you, my boy!" Wonka eagerly shook his hand before doing the same to the parents. "And Mr. and Mrs. Mash, how do you do? What an adorable little boy you have."
"Oh, thank you, sir," Mrs. Mash smiled.
"Just over there, please," Wonka gestured over to the other families.
The Mash family joined the others and finally, Flurry and her brothers walked up to their candy-making idol.
"I'm Flurry Heart," Flurry smiled as she gave him her golden ticket.
"Well, well, Flurry Heart, I read all about you in the papers this morning. I'm so happy to meet you. And who are these two boys?" Wonka greeted warmly.
"These are my older brothers," Flurry replied.
"I'm Bob Nightwalker," Bob shook Wonka's hand.
"And I'm Patrick Moonbeam," Patrick followed suite.
"In that case, I'm delighted to meet you both," Wonka said before closing and locking the gates. "Overjoyed, enraptured, and entranced. Is that all of them? Yes! Good! In we go!"
With that, Wonka grabbed his cane and led the winners towards the factory doors while the crowd outside burst into applause once more. The marching band began playing music again as the winners all went through the open doors. Once all of them were inside, Wonka gave a bow towards the crowd before he too went inside. The door closed and the music and cheering was eventually silenced.
After walking down a dark, short narrow hallway, the group entered a small windowless lobby. The lobby contained golden coat hangers in the wall shaped like hands, a raised floor with a small staircase, and a red curtain hanging on the wall above the raised floor. The group took in their surroundings while Wonka walked in and gave them instructions before walking up onto the raised floor.
"Now, you can put your hats, coats, purses, and any galoshes over here. But please hurry, we have so much time and so little to see!" Wonka instructed.
The group moved to hang up their winter coats before Wonka spoke up again, making them all stop in their tracks.
"Wait a minute, strike that, reverse it. Thank you," Wonka corrected himself.
They were all slightly confused with that statement, but continued hanging up their coats anyway.
"When do we see the factory?" Trixie asked.
"First take off your coat, Trixie," Spectacle answered.
"Those are some weird looking coat hangers," Button remarked.
Just as the ladies were about to hang up their coats, the hand shaped coat hangers grabbed ahold of the coats much like an actual hand. This caused the ladies to jump back and shriek in surprise.
"There are little surprises around every corner, but nothing dangerous!" Wonka said in alarm before calming down. "So don't be alarmed. As soon as your outer vestments are in hand, so to speak, we will begin."
The rest group hung up their coats and gathered around the chocolatier. Patrick stood underneath one of the hangers, which grabbed onto and pulled off his winter hat. After feeling his hat being pulled off, he glanced back and looked at the hanger before shrugging it off and joining the others.
"Now, will the children kindly step up here?" Wonka requested.
As the five children stepped forward, Wonka pulled on a rope to the side, which pulled up the red curtain. Underneath the curtain, was what looked to be a blown up kind of contract attached to the wall. The adults in the room all began to read the fine print, but squinted their eyes since the print got smaller and smaller near the bottom until it was practically impossible to read. This caused the adults to murmur in confusion and talk amongst themselves.
"Floods, fire, frost, or frippery?" Filthy Rich raised an eyebrow.
"Accidents? What kind of accidents?" Mrs. Shuffle asked.
"Labor unions...?" Mr. Mash repeated.
"I can't see what it says at the bottom," Mrs. Mash examined.
"I didn't know we had to sign anything for this tour," Spectacle remarked, causing Jackpot to tense up.
"Trixie, you're up first. Just sign your name in the box at the bottom," Wonka held a pen out to the girl in question.
Trixie took the pen and was about to step up onto the raised floor to sign her name when the voice of her father made her stop.
"Hold it!" Jackpot made his way up to his daughter's side and looked Wonka in the face. "Mr. Wonka, what exactly is this all about?"
"Just a standard form of contract," Wonka said simply.
"Don't talk to me about contracts. I have an ugly history with contracts and they're basically for suckers," Jackpot frowned.
"Yes, but I'm sure that you wouldn't begrudge me a little legal protection? Not even a drop?" Wonka gave a smile.
"Look, the bottom line is that I don't sign anything without my lawyer present," Jackpot put his foot down.
"My daughter doesn't sign anything either!" Filthy Rich spoke up.
"Then she can't go in! I'm sorry, but those are the rules of the house," Wonka said honestly.
This realization made Diamond Tiara shocked and angry, causing her to turn on her father with a vicious glare.
"I want to go in! Don't you dare stop me!" she snarled.
"Don't worry, Diamond Tiara. I'm only trying to help," Filthy Rich tried to reason with his daughter.
Having none of that, Diamond Tiara stepped up onto the raised floor and swiped the pen away from Trixie, leaving the 12-year-old magician bewildered.
"Give me that pen!" Diamond Tiara snapped before turning back to her father. "You always have to make things difficult!"
The spoiled girl then went to one of the boxes at the bottom of the contract and began to sign her signature.
"Nicely handled, Diamond Tiara. She's a girl who knows what she's doing," Wonka smiled.
He then handed another pen to Trixie, who took it and went over to the second box to write her own signature. Jackpot relented for his daughter's sake, but he was still understandably concerned.
"But what's all of that small print at the bottom?" Jackpot asked.
"Oh, if you have any questions or concerns, dial information; thank you for calling," Wonka half explained.
Once Trixie and Diamond Tiara finished signing their names, they went back down to the floor and handed the pens to Truffle and Button. The two boys then went up to sign their own signatures.
"I assume that there's an accident indemnity clause?" Mrs. Mash inquired.
"Never among friends, ma'am," Wonka shook his head.
"Don't be so sure. I saw this kind of thing in a movie once. A guy signed his wife's insurance policy, but then he bumped her off afterwards," Button said as he finished signing his signature.
"Very clever," Wonka nodded.
When they were finished signing, the two boys went back down to the floor and Truffle handed his pen to Flurry.
"What about me, guys?" Flurry turned to her brothers.
"Sign away, Flurry! We've got nothing to lose!" Patrick gave her a thumbs up.
"Not entirely, Pat," Bob remarked.
Flurry went up to the contract and began to sign her name in cursive. Diamond Tiara was starting to grow impatient.
"Let's go in! Hurry up!" she whined, causing Bob and Patrick to glare daggers at her.
"Patience, Diamond Tiara! Everybody moves at their own pace," Wonka said firmly just as Flurry finished and went back down to rejoin the others. "Besides, everything has to be in order. Everyone signed? Yes, good, on we go!"
Wonka stepped down from the raised floor and began leading the group down another hallway. They walked for a moment until they came to a large door with thick glass. In the center of the door was a combination lock wheel with a red button in the center of it. Wonka then began to turn the wheel while entering the combination.
"99-44-100 percent pure," Wonka said to himself before he pushed on the red button.
After he pushed the button, he pushed the door open and the guests saw what was inside. Past the glass door was a narrow room painted in black and white stripes that seemed to stretch a few yards.
"Just though the other door, please," Wonka kindly requested.
Without much hesitation, the group went into the room and tried to find the other door. Key word: tried. They began looking around for the other door, but nobody could seem to find it anywhere. Wonka then stepped in and closed the glass door shut behind them, locking them into the small, narrow room. It wasn't long before the feeling of claustrophobia began to set in and the guests began to panic and raise their voices.
"Uh, Mr. Wonka, I think there's some kind of mistake!" Filthy Rich pointed out.
"There is no other door!" Trixie yelled.
"There's no way out!" Diamon Tiara shouted.
"I know that there's another door in here somewhere," Wonka began moving past the guests and started banging on the walls.
"I don't like this, Wonka!" Mr. Mash said fearfully.
"Holy claustrophobia!" Patrick commented.
"Is this some kind of trick or something?" Mr. Shuffle inquired.
"Flurry Heart!" Bob hollered.
"Help, Mr. Wonka, help! I'm getting squashed! Save me!" Mrs. Shuffle shrieked.
"Was that a desperate soul that just cried out my name?" Wonka wondered.
"LET ME OUT OR I'LL SCREAM!" Diamond Tiara screamed.
"Somebody's touching me!" Spoiled Rich squealed.
It turned out that in the chaos, Patrick accidentally put his hands on the rich woman's shoulders. Once he realized this, he ripped his grasp off of her.
"Sorry, ma'am!" Patrick smiled nervously, causing her to frown at him.
"Now, what is the meaning of this, Mr. Wonka?!" Filthy Rich demanded.
"I assure you, there will be a question and answer session at the end of the tour," Wonka continued to pound on the walls until he came right back to the glass door. "Come along, come along! Ah, here we are!"
After hearing that, the guests instantly calmed down and looked to where the chocolatier was glancing at.
"Oh, don't be a darn fool, Wonka! That's the way we came in!" Jackpot pointed out.
"It is? Hmmm, are you sure?" Wonka asked.
"We just came through there!" Mr. Shuffle nodded.
"Well, how do you explain this?" Wonka asked as he pushed on the door.
Once the door swung open, everybody, except for Wonka, all gasped in surprise. Instead of the hallway that led to the lobby, they were now staring at a different hallway of doors that also seemed to stretch a few yards away. At the end of the hallway was a single door, which seemed to be the way out. Wonka then stepped out and began to slowly walk down the hallway.
"What is this place, some kind of funhouse?" Mr. Mash asked.
"Why, having fun?" Wonka turned back around and looked at him.
"I've had enough fun for one day! I'm not going in there!" Mrs. Mash said fearfully.
"Come on, Trixie and Spectacle! We're getting out of here!" Jackpot began looking around for another way out.
"You can't get out backwards," Wonka spoke to the guests as he continued walking down the hallway. "You got to go forward to go back. We better press on."
Realizing that they didn't seem to have much of a choice, the guests cautiously made their way out of the room and also walked down the hallway. However, it didn't take long for them to realize that there was something off about the hallway. The more they walked down it, the smaller it started to get. The hallway was built and an angle to where it got smaller and smaller until the guests were practically crouching.
"Hey, the room's getting smaller!" Bob observed.
"No it's not, he's getting bigger!" Mrs. Mash shook her head in disbelief.
"He's at it again," Mr. Shuffle stated.
"Where's the chocolate?" Button asked.
"I doubt there is any," Filthy Rich doubted.
"I doubt if any of us will get out of here alive," Jackpot also doubted.
"Oh, you should never, never doubt what nobody is sure about," Wonka remarked.
"You're not squeezing me through that tiny door!" Mrs. Shuffle said, since the door was revealed to only be about a few inches big.
"You're out of your mind, Wonka. None of us will be able to get through there," Mr. Mash scoffed.
Wonka then turned his attention to the guests and began to explain what was beyond the door. "My dear friends, you are now about to enter the nerve center of the entire Wonka Factory. Inside this room, all of my dreams become realities. And some of my realities become dreams. And almost everything you will see is eatable...edible. I mean, you can eat almost everything."
"Holy entrée!" Patrick gasped.
"Let me in! I'm starving!" Truffle shouted hungrily.
"Now, don't get overexcited! Don't lose your head, Truffle!" Wonka said calmly. "We wouldn't want anyone to lose that...yet. Now for the musical combination."
Wonka then pushed on a section of the wall and a tiny keyboard appeared from a rectangular hole in the wall. He then played a few notes on the keyboard that bewildered the guests.
{Music Cue: Symphony No. 5 in C Minor}
"Tchaikovsky," Mrs. Mash incorrectly stated.
Wonka then pushed up the keyboard back into the hole and began to push on the wall itself.
"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I welcome you to...The Candy Room," Wonka said as the wall began to open up like a door.
AN: Please leave a review and let me know what you think. For the record, I renamed the first room because it's technically a room filled with candy, not just chocolate. Stay tuned for the next chapter in which we go inside the Candy Room. Until then, catch ya later!