Chapter 13: The Joker, the Crazy Smiler

Author's Note: Hello, dear readers! As promised, I'm back with the next chapter of Kind At Heart, featuring the sixth Golden Ticket winner. I'm sure older readers may know who's coming up, but if you don't, you'll find out shortly, right after I respond to your reviews!

marty munster, your quotes greatly influenced the development of this chapter. You'll find out very soon exactly how they did so.

Regarding emeraldphan, I looked up the shopkeeper. He was indeed Caribbean, and I corrected the chapter to read as such. Now, on with the story!

"This is getting ridiculous," cried Mr. Wonka. "We are just days before the tour begins, and all seven Tickets still haven't been found."

"Well," said Mr. Bucket, "it is a new contest, with more Tickets, so you can't expect the same pace as the last one."

"Don't worry, Mr. Wonka," said Charlie. "We'll find out soon."

"I mean," Mr. Wonka replied, "that Jenna seems alright for an heir, but we'll still have to wait."

"News just in!" one reporter announced as the foursome continued watching the broadcast after Charlie's fit of anger. "The sixth Golden Ticket has just been found right here in Belfast, Ireland, by a ten-year old boy named Tyler Smith!"

"This is a relief!" Mr. Wonka sighed.

"How so, Mr. Wonka?" Charlie asked curiously.

"I was reading a newspaper yesterday," Mr. Wonka responded, "and apparently, after the interview concluded, Chris clarified that the Tyler Smith they met had a plane ticket to Canada. So therefore, this Tyler must be different, since he's from Ireland!"

"We'll see," Charlie remarked. "Don't make any assumptions just yet."

The four of them looked as the television showed a cream-colored room that had foxes painted all over the walls, and there were large glass windows towards the very top of them, spreading all the way up to the roof. As reporters entered the house and began stepping into the living-room, it was completely silent, and nobody was there.

"Hello?" one reporter said. "We're here for Tyler Smith to enquire about the sixth Golden Ticket."

"If you're not here, we'll gladly come back later," another reporter remarked.

The group of reporters looked down, and a small spherical object, similar to the one used against Chris and Jenna, rolled in front of them, and it was lit up. A few seconds later, a thick green fog emerged from it, engulfing the entire room.

Next, the entire room began to suddenly vibrate, creating thunderous explosions as the shadow of a boy was seen crushing a bunch of pill-shaped objects in his fists. The pills expelled a large amount of blue fog, which mingled with the green cloud that was just beginning to disperse. As the reporters stood still in combination of both shock and amazement, Tyler Smith himself stepped out of the fog.

"Please don't tell me that he's the sixth Ticket winner," Mr. Wonka groaned.

To Mr. Wonka's dread, the boy who lit off the explosives was indeed Tyler Smith. Making it even worse, it was the same Tyler Smith that had chased Chris and Jenna. He was wearing the same clothes that he had worn when Jenna won her Ticket, and he was grinning from ear to ear at the reporters' reactions.

"Did you guys enjoy that?" Tyler smiled mischievously. "Mother helped me put it together just for you guys!"

As if on cue, a woman stepped out from behind a counter in the kitchen, then walked into the living-room, putting one of her arms behind Tyler's back proudly. Just like Tyler, she was also wearing the same clothes that she had on the date of Jenna's Golden Ticket. However, she was also wearing a bronze necklace with a pendant in the shape of a fox. Her most curious trait, though, was the color of her eyes. Her left eye was green, and her right eye was blue.

"You must be Tyler's mother, correct?" the first reporter asked, putting a microphone up to her mouth.

"That's right!" she answered proudly. "My name is Kitsune Kobayashi, and I'm the proud mother of this darling boy here! Please remember, for those in English-speaking countries, the pronunciation of my name is kee-tsu-nay, not kit-soon. It means 'fox' in Japanese."

"Like the foxes painted at the beginning of your house?" another reporter asked.

"Precisely!" Kitsune beamed proudly. "Pretty clever, eh? I'm also into tricks, but that's for later."

"What's going on here?" barked a man coming down from a bunch of stairs towards the other end of the living-room. It was Tyler's father, and he was also wearing the same clothes he had with Chris and Jenna. His face was red with anger, and he was pointing at Tyler and Kitsune.

"These two," Tyler's father yelled, "are nothing but mischief makers!"

"You must be Tyler's father, right?" someone asked.

Mr. Smith sighed.

"Unfortunately, yes," he crossed his arms across his chest, "and Kitsune is my wife. To tell you the truth, I don't know why I'm still married to her. I met her during a business trip to Japan, and we eventually fell in love. I don't know what's gotten into her these days, but I don't like it."

"It's called mother-son time, Dad!" Tyler screamed. "Mom spends time with me, and all you do is work with your stupid computer and go on those dumb trips of yours!"

Tyler tried to smile as innocently as possible for the reporters before continuing to speak.

"I don't understand why other people can't be like us," he remarked. "My life revolves around practical jokes. I don't know why most grown-ups are usually so serious and boring compared to people like us."

"Quite right, Tyler," Kitsune said. "I support Tyler in his endeavours one-hundred percent. Speaking of his endeavors, I often help him with his pranks whenever I can. I believe that it's perfectly normal for people to play tricks on others to get what they want. Children and adults do it all the time! It's a part of life, so I don't get why people can't understand that. As long as you fulfill your desires and wishes in the end, that's all that matters."

"You rule!" Tyler cried, and he and his mother high-fived. He cleared his throat, then continued to speak. "Unlike that Antonio kid, I listen to grown-ups, but I often twist their words or use them against them. For instance, during my science lesson, my teacher wanted me to dissect a frog. Of course, I did so, but after I was done, I snuck all the parts into some poor girl's backpack. You should've seen her reaction when she reached in there to grab a book, and ended up pulling out frog organs! Haha! She was so pale, she passed out in the middle of the classroom, and ended up getting escorted out of our school in a stretcher and had to get taken to the hospital! The best part is, I never got caught, because my mother taught me that stealth and distraction are key to victory in situations like that! Come to think of it, I bet Madison's still in the hospital right now, just laying in her bed while I'm going to Wonka's factory! This is the best day ever!"

"My son," Mr. Smith said flatly, "is the class clown in his school. He always gets into trouble with those stupid pranks of his. In fact, those two thought it would be a good idea to play a smoke bomb prank on our airplane captain, and we ended up having to make an emergency landing here in Ireland instead of back by our home in Calgary, Alberta. I was forced to take those two into my business house over here, and it's been nothing but chaos!"

"It's what I like to do, Dad, so shut up!" Tyler screamed. "This is my interview, not yours."

"How did you get your Golden Ticket?" a reporter holding a notepad and pencil asked as Tyler tried once again to give his best innocent smile.

"Well," Kitsune grinned mischievously, "while my husband was upstairs doing his business work, me and Tyler snuck out with his prank supplies, and we drove to the nearest candy shop together. Once we got inside, Tyler took out one of his signature smoke bombs, and I ignited it by one of their fire alarms. While everyone else ran out of the shop thinking it was a fire, we stole a bunch of Wonka Bars and took them back here. Then, we opened them up and ended up with the sixth Golden Ticket!"

"I can't believe that he, of all people, is going to Wonka's factory," Mr. Smith sighed. "Also, if it sounds like I'm harsh in any way towards my son, it's because I'm much wiser than him and I know better. I'm a professor at the University of Calgary, and I teach World Affairs. I try to raise my son as best I can in the midst of my business trips and other work that I have, but he just doesn't listen to me no matter what I do or try."

"I said SHUT UP, Dad!" Tyler screamed. "I told you, you never spend time with me! Mother supports me, so that's why I like her more than you! I'm not forgiving you for all this, you hear?"

"Is there anything that you'd like to tell Mr. Wonka and Charlie?" someone asked.

"You bet there is," Kitsune grinned. "Me and Tyler are bound to win that special prize of yours no matter what! You two better keep your guard up, because we'll win using a special method that you won't know about until it's much too late."

"NO, NO, NO, NO!" Mr. Wonka yelled. "They're the same Tyler after all! This can't be happening! He is the most obnoxious, immature kid I've ever seen, and I thought Veruca was bad enough! There is no way that he will become the next heir under any circumstances."

"Remember, Willy, there's still one Ticket left," Mrs. Bucket reassured him. "The last winner could be the one, just like Charlie was."

"It had better be the one," Mr. Wonka growled, "or I'll have to surrender my factory to any one of seven rotten-"

"Woah woah woah, hold it!" Charlie exclaimed. "Even if the next winner doesn't meet your expectations, remember that everyone still has opportunities to learn and grow."

"Charlie's right," Mr. Bucket agreed. "I have one other thing to point out, though. Tyler's father could really use some parental advice, since he explicitly said that he was wiser than his son and that he knows better than him. I'm not a fan of blaming people, so to speak, but I must blame Tyler's father for raising him the way he did."

"John is right," Mrs. Bucket said. "Parents are supposed to be their child's biggest role model, but Mr. Smith made it clear that he prioritizes his business work over his son and never spends time with him."

"Fine," Mr. Wonka sighed, standing up from his chair. "I guess I'll give Tyler a chance. But the thought of him being our next heir is completely out of the question."

With that, Mr. Wonka stormed out of the cottage in order to go to the Music Conservatory and tell the Oompa-Loompas about Tyler. Charlie turned off the television, sighing and sitting back in his chair while trying to think about what the seventh and final winner could be like.

Author's Note: Wowee, Tyler certainly is a brat, isn't he? I even went so far as to try to make him worse than the original version, as bad as he was in the first place! Newer readers, what do you think of him? Older readers, which version do you like better- my version, or the original? If you'd like, you can leave your thoughts in the review section, as reviews are always welcomed and appreciated. What could possibly happen next? For the answer to that, stay tuned for the next chapter, everyone!

Until then,

Gabe S. :)