Author's note: I really have no idea where this came from – suddenly, one morning, the entire plot came into my head along with a few useable lines and passages of description. All I can say is – SCORE!
Anyway, this fic is about the CatCF crew getting diverted from the tour and taken from their parents, having to rely on their intuition and teamwork to get out alive.

1. Seperation

Everybody has That Day. The day where their lives change forever. Sometimes it's That Hour. It can even be as precise as That Minute or That Second. Charlie Bucket, Augustus Gloop, Veruca Salt, Violet Beauregard and Mike Teavee (not to mention their respective guardians) all had That Day on the first of February.

The kids were all having a great time in the Chocolate Room (apart from Violet and Mike who were a little bit bored) when Wonka suddenly stopped explaining about the pipes that carried the chocolate around the factory and held up a hand to announce, "Well, I think that's enough, don't you?"
The group looked amongst themselves in confusion. Did he mean the tour was over already? Or was he going to stop talking and let them go off by themselves?
"Buh-bye!" he said with a weird glint in his eye. The ground beneath them started to shudder and give way at their feet. Grandpa Joe flung his arms round Charlie protectively. In fact, most of the parents scrabbled to cling to their offspring. Even Mike felt no shame in trying to cling back when they began to fall into a seemingly never-ending pit. Veruca's screams drowned out most of the others as the families were ripped apart from each other, the children going one way, the parents going another.

Charlie started to sob as he screamed.
Veruca yelled "Daddyyyyyyyy!" shrilly.
Augustus was saying various German words very fast and very loud.
Violet gave a series of varying yelps.
Mike was giving an impressive stream of obscenities.

It seemed like eternity until they landed, all on top of one another.
"Get OFF me!" Violet, Veruca and Mike shouted in unison.
"Hey!" Veruca said angrily, "I'M the only one who's supposed to be bossy, here!"
"Whatever!" Mike retorted, scrabbling to get up, "I'M the school bully! You do what I say!"
"If anyone should be in charge here, it should be me!" Violet interrupted, "I have 263 trophies."
"So what?" Veruca challenged.
"SO, I'm the best!"
"I think it's pretty clear who's the best here!" Mike said, stepping forward.
"Yeah, me!" Violet persisted.
"No, me!" Mike argued.
"No, ME!" Veruca cried.
"ENOUGH!" Charlie yelled, silencing the trio.
"You shut up," Mike muttered, staring at the other boy, "There is no possible way you are the best. Look at your sweater!"
"My nana made me this sweater…" Charlie said, stroking the arm lovingly.
"Get a room," Violet said.
"I'm huuuuungry!" Augustus moaned, "Iz zere any food?"
"We're at a Chocolate Factory, genius," Mike snapped.
"But we're lost!" Charlie whinged, "We'll never find our way out!"
"Yes we will!" Mike insisted.
"Ve'll starve!" Augustus added.
"No we won't!" said Mike.
"We'll never see our parents again!" Violet said sadly.
"That's a bad thing?" Mike asked.
"No room service…" Verca said faintly.
"Oh for God's sake, people!" Mike said aggressively, "Get a grip! Of course we won't get out if you keep up this attitude!"
"Well what do YOU suggest Mr I-Found-A-Golden-Ticket-By-Math-Even-Though-I-Hate-Chocolate?" Violet said smarmily.
Mike scowled and paced for a bit, "Well, I think that's obvious. We have to get moving. And fast."
"Moving?" Veruca asked incredulously, "We don't even know where we're going, let alone how to get there!"
"OK, fine," Mike retorted angrily, "We'll just stay still and wait for someone who may or may not be trying to save us. That'll be a hell of a lot quicker than attempting to save ourselves."
There was a tense silence and Veruca looked sheepish.

"So," she said, "Shall we go left or right?"
"I vote right," Violet said conclusively, then started off down the right path.
"How are you knowing zat is ze correct vay?" Augustus asked.
Violet gave a contemptuous snort and looked over at Mike for clarification. Mike, however, just said, "He's got a point."
Violet stared, "Whaddya mean?"
"You haven't even stopped to consider the different alternatives."
"Maybe it's not needed here," Charlie interrupted, "Both paths are just as unclear as each other. They're both just…dark tunnels."
"Yes, it seems that way," Mike said with forced patience, "But until we've really looked closely, we can't be sure."
"Well if we can't be sure," said Violet with determination, "Then either path could be correct. Even the right one."
"Oh, I get it," Mike said, crossing his arms, "You think that on the off-chance that you're right, everyone will think of you as the person to trust, whilst they'll think of me as the person who stands in the way."
"What off-chance? There's a fifty percent chance I'm right – that's half, if you didn't know."
"As it happens," Mike countered coolly, "I do know what fifty percent is, having scored double that on every math exam I've ever taken. Besides, I think you're wrong."
He wandered down the right tunnel a few feet, looking around at the walls and ground. He kicked the soil at his feet, only to find it didn't crumble as soil usually does; instead it gathered in a creamy pile at the side of his shoes. He bent down, scooped up a bit in his fingers and sniffed it. It definitely wasn't soil. He tentatively poked out his tongue and licked a tiny bit.
"What's wrong?" Charlie asked as Mike coughed, spluttered, choked and clawed desperately at his tongue.
"It's chocolate!" he replied disgustedly.
"Chocolate?" Charlie repeated quietly, looking around.
"What's so surprising about that?" Veruca asked, "Most of the rest of the factory is made of chocolate. And he is a chocolatier – it's to be expected, isn't it?"
"But why underground?" Charlie said, posing it as more something to ponder over than to actually answer, "Why would he make an underground section from chocolate? No one would ever see it."
Augustus raised a podgy arm, "Excuse me, but…ve have seen it."
"Exactly."
Veruca and Violet exchanged puzzled glances.
"Think about it," Charlie continued, "It's exactly like Veruca said: the rest of the factory is made of chocolate. And every last inch of that factory is used for something. Which means this place must be used for something, too."
"Used for what?" Violet asked, "It's just a huge cavern of chocolate."
"I have a theory, actually, if anyone would like to know."
The others nodded affirmatively.
"Well…I think it has been created for us."
"Us?" Veruca and Violet asked in unison.
"Yes."
"What, like…a kind of prison?" asked Violet.
"I was thinking more like a challenge," Charlie replied, "Everything Wonka's ever done has only been some kind of education or challenge. Teaching us about the Chocolate Room, explaining the Oompa-Loompas, trying to find the Golden Tickets."
"But what kind of challenge requires us to be hurtled down an underground pit away from our parents?" asked Veruca.
"More importantly," Violet said eagerly, "When do we start?"
"I think it already has. Do we pick the right tunnel or the left one?"
Violet sighed, "We're right back where we started! And don't you start arguing with me again!"
She span round to where Mike had previously been, to find he wasn't there any more.
"Hey, where'd he go?"
There was an eerie silence.
"Mike?" Veruca called down the tunnel.
A loud scuffling sound was followed by a boy's scream.