Chapter 28: Knots in the Stomach

Author's Note: Hello, dear readers, and Merry Christmas! I know it's been a while since I've updated this story, and I apologize. I've had to go through personal issues, catching COVID-19 (I'm all better now, in case you're wondering!), and other things, but nonetheless, I persevered and managed to bring this chapter for you all to enjoy. Now, let me respond to all the reviews that were left during my hiatus!

Softkitty55, I'm really glad that you enjoyed the last one, and after a long wait, the next one is finally here, so I hope you'll enjoy it! You can totally expect more flashbacks to happen as this story progresses, so look forward to that!

emeraldphan, the flashback was my favorite part to write, so I'm glad you enjoyed it! A bit of a teaser, more will be built upon the voices that you heard in Chapter 27. ;)

Matt, Chris' reaction was how I felt watching the movie for the first time as well, so I'm glad I'm not alone. XD Thanks so much for the compliments, and I hope that you'll enjoy this chapter!

Guest #1, I wonder where Tyler would get all that food from in the midst of the tour, but nonetheless, I'll consider your suggestion.

Guest #2, I'm so happy that you're enjoying this story as much as I've been writing it, and if you liked the last chapter, I know you'll enjoy this one. :D

Guest #3, yup, that is certainly a word that we hear a lot in Violet Beauregarde's song. XD

Guest #4, a white chocolate river? That's a clever idea, and something I will definitely consider to appear later on in this story.

Guest #5, a Popcorn Room will for sure be considered, as I can think of many ideas for it off the top of my head.

Guest #6, what a coincidence, as a certain sour candy recently appeared in the newest chapter of Bad Nuts: the Anniversary. Nonetheless, I'll still consider your suggestion.

Guest #7, Everlasting Jawbreakers? That's for sure something that I can see Mr. Wonka and Charlie Bucket making.

Guest #8, why would he do that? The entire tour would come to a halt if that happened!

Guest #9, that suggestion sounds hilarious! While I can't see Mr. Wonka and Charlie doing that, I can certainly see a few of Mr. Wonka's workers doing so. ;)

Erika Balazova, thank you so much for the suggestion! I will definitely get around to doing that! Your English is very good as well, keep it up! :D

Guest #10, what could that possibly look like?

Jenna Adams, aw, how sweet! I'll definitely tell Chris you said that!

(Credits: Sandy Sugar and all related components belong to MysteriousMaker1185.)

Now, on with the story!

"Huh?" Chris said instinctively, turning around to see who was behind him. He looked, and it was Jenna and the rest of the tour group!

"Chris!" Jenna cried, running up to Chris and gripping his hand. "We were looking all over for you! Except for Mindy, of course," she added quietly. "She was just more concerned about beating you."

"Of course I was more concerned about that!" Mindy barked. "Who cares about some stupid angel boy anyways?"

"Angel boy?" Chris questioned, his voice rising in tone.

"You heard me," Mindy said mockingly. "Angel boy!"

Mr. Wonka sensed a pending fight, then cleared his throat, causing everyone to look at him .He was the next person to walk up to Chris. The chocolatier looked downwards, next to the boy, as if he was a towering giant overlooking the land below.

"My dear boy," Mr. Wonka said seriously, "I have a question for you."

"What is it, Mr. Wonka?" Chris asked.

"What were you doing next to my Razzle Berry?"

Chris paused for a couple seconds, then finally spoke up.

"Well…" Chris answered, "I saw the sign, then got curious, and before I knew it, the thing grabbed me."

"As I suspected, little boy," Mr. Wonka answered. "If that's the case, how didja get out?"

"I don't know," Chris answered honestly. "I heard footsteps coming towards me, and I was lifted out. Then, I heard some voices, and you guys arrived."

"Voices?" Mr. Wonka asked curiously. "Do ya remember what they sounded like?"

Chris stroked his chin thoughtfully for a couple seconds, then finally turned to Charlie Bucket with a curious look in his eyes.

"Well then," Mr. Wonka said, "We found Chris, but it seems that we've still lost Tyler."

Hardly a second later, as if on cue, the group heard laughing coming from behind a bunch of thick plants. They walked slowly towards the sound, cautiously even, expecting the worst. Then at last, to end the suspense, Charlie Bucket pulled the plants aside. Behind them was none other than Kitsune and Tyler Smith.


At once, Chris was about to dart towards the duo, but Jenna managed to pull him back just in time. They noticed that Tyler and his mother were whispering to each other, as if discussing a plan.

"What should we do next?" Tyler whispered to his mother. "Wonky old Wonka and his stupid heir are trying to stop our pranks at every opportunity."

"I have an idea," Kitsune said slyly, grinning from ear to ear and going closer to her son's ear. "We could…"

At that point, Chris couldn't take it anymore. He managed to rush in front of the duo as quickly as they could, and they quickly spotted him and the rest of the group.

"Hey!" Tyler shouted. "Didn't your mother ever teach you about eavesdropping?!"

"Who's to you to talk about manners!" Chris snapped. "I've had enough of your disgusting behavior on this tour! Mr. Wonka and Charlie created this tour so we could have an amazing time together and all you do is try to ruin it at every turn! I've had enough!"

"What, you wanna fight?" Tyler smirked. "I'm up for it."

"Gladly," Chris said angrily, moving his feet back and forth on the ground like a bull about to charge at a cowboy.

"Wait, no!" Mr. Adams exclaimed. "Please, Chris! Try to think this through!"

"What's it to you, old man?" Tyler snarked. "Stop getting involved in other people's conversations!"

Tyler then took a heavy breath, then stared at the group with an angry look in his eyes.

"I am tired of you all ruining my pranks!" the boy shouted, spit flying out of his mouth. "Every time I try to have some fun, you all ruin it! And if there's anything that makes me angry, it's someone ruining my fun. You will all pay!"

He then began to breathe heavily, and Kitsune whispered something in his ear. A few seconds later, he appeared to collect himself, then he stared at the tour group.

"You know," Tyler began speaking and smiling as innocently as possible, "Mother brought up a good point to me. Now's not the time to start fighting, so let's just continue the tour."

"So it seems you're finally learning," Mr. Wonka said firmly, crossing his arms. "In that case, let's move along!"

Mr. Wonka hoisted his cane up in the air and, with a spring in his step, the group continued their trek across the Licorice Rainforest. The group continued walking, taking in the sights and sounds of the environment as they did so. They heard the hooting of monkeys, the chirps of parrots, and the sounds of bugs communicating with one another.

"This place is the most beautiful room so far," Jenna gasped, immersing herself in her surroundings. "It's so peaceful, so relaxing…"

"Thank you for the compliment," Charlie Bucket smiled at her. "This room took what seemed like forever to build, but we're tremendously proud of it."

"Your plan is genius," Tyler whispered to his mother as they were walking with the rest of the party. "Making our revenge in secret with the rest of the group instead of in secret away from them will make us seem less suspicious."

"Marvin taught me that," Kitsune grinned mischievously, showing gleaming white teeth. "Good ol' Marvin, eh?"

"Hehehe," Tyler grinned, rubbing his hands together with his mother. "They're some good ol' Prunes, alright!"

"Nice word play, son!" Kitsune said, patting her son on the back affectionately.

"Why, thank you!" Tyler Smith grinned.


While Tyler and Kitsune were creating plans to get their revenge on Charlie and Mr. Wonka, Chris and the rest of the group were taking in the sights.

"I love this room," Chris gasped. "It's perfect!"

"Eh, not exactly," Daniel Sparkman interjected. "I haven't seen many animals. The Amazon Rainforest has a ton of those."

Suddenly, right after the boy finished speaking, a squawking sound was heard, and a macaw in all the colors of the rainbow flew down from a tree in the room and soared over the group, eventually landing on Charlie Bucket's arm.

"Ah, this is one of our Quality Control Parrots!" the heir beamed with pride. "With their extensive vocabulary, they can point out anything wrong with anything in this factory that we give them!"

"That's right!" the parrot stated. "Extensive vocabulary, squawk!"

"That's not impressive," Mindy Bell scoffed. "My gymnastics are way better than some stupid talking."

"You're the one that has the stupid voice here," the parrot responded. "Stupid voice, squawk!"

"Hey!" Mindy Bell said, frustrated, and the Quality Control Parrot imitated a human laugh.

"Okay," Daniel Sparkman spoke up. "I will admit that is actually kind of impressive. How did you train them?"

"For starters, they're one of the few things in this room not made out of licorice," Mr. Wonka answered. "Their training was a combination of me, Charlie, and the Oompa-Loompas, and took months to complete for just a single parrot. It was very tough, but not everything in the candy-making world is as easy as mixing a few ingredients together, my dear boy. Daniel, may I ask you something?"

"No, I mean yes!" Daniel blurted. "What is it, Mr. Wonka?"

"You, with those video games'a yours," he smiled at the boy. "Is it as simple as typing in letters and numbers to get results?"

Daniel looked around at the group, who was waiting for an answer. His eyes rested on Mindy, and he began to get knots in his stomach. Daniel stared at Mindy, and Mindy stared at Daniel, who similarly began to get knots in her stomach as well. Mindy gripped his hand just as he answered the question.

"Of course not," he scoffed. "There's a ton of things you need to do in order to make a video game function. One error could possibly mess everything up."

"Well then, it's the same with candy-making," Mr. Wonka answered. "I've had many failures trying to create the perfect recipe. For instance, take my Devil's Drenchers. Sucking on one allows the buyer to blow up a large column of fire high up in the air. However, its prototype was much too powerful. One of my Oompa-Loompas, named Igor, sucked on one, and suffered severe burns all over his body, where he had to be taken to the factory hospital. He's all well now, in case you're wondering."

As if from thin air, a perfectly healthy Oompa-Loompa appeared from thin air and bowed before the group.

"How are you today, Igor?" Charlie Bucket asked.

Igor smiled at Charlie, did a thumbs-up, followed by a handstand, and finally, a cartwheel.

"I'll take that as a positive," Charlie chuckled. "Now, let's move along, everyone! Me and Mr. Wonka have something incredibly special that we'd like to show you all!"

"Incredibly?" Chris joked. "I thought only Daniel knew such big words!"

"I heard that!" Daniel shouted back at him.

A few minutes later, the group finally reached the end of the Licorice Rainforest. Mr. Wonka and Charlie ushered everyone out of the room, then exited themselves and closed the door behind them.


The remaining members of the group- Mindy Bell, Daniel Sparkman, Jenna Adams, Tyler Smith, and Chris Davidson—found themselves in a largely blank room shaped like a pentagon, with one round door on each side and a handle on each shaped like a bank vault, like in Grandpa Joe Way and other areas of the factory. The room was completely white, like the Television Chocolate room from Charlie's original tour, and not a speck of dust could be seen. No Oompa-Loompas were in sight.

"One of these children may choose one of the doors in here," Mr. Wonka instructed. "Go on, take your pick!"

The five children and their parents walked around the strange area, in order to take a peek on what it said on each door.

Chris Davidson was so awestruck by the fact that Mr. Wonka was allowing him to choose a room that he immediately walked by the door closest to him. He read the label, which said, "PIXY STICKS."

Chris noticed a window below the door's label, and he had to stand on the tip of his toes in order to see what was inside. Looking inside the Pixy Sticks room, he noticed more of Mr. Wonka's swudge, and Oompa-Loompas were walking around with what looked like old fashioned pill-shaped vacuums with large suction tubes on them. They were sucking up some strange substances from around the swudge as he saw twinkling lights floating and flying throughout it.

"Hey Mr. Wonka, what's this?" Chris asked.

"Oh, Pixy Sticks!" Mr. Wonka beamed, looking into the room with Chris and grinning happily. "Ya see those twinklin' lights? Those are actually fairies, Pixy Fairies ta be exact! When they get happy, they spray out an edible tasty powder, which I then sell in small paper straws, or sticks as I call 'em, hence Pixy Sticks, hahaha!"

"Wow, that's amazing!" Chris gasped. "You and Charlie make the best products ever!"

"Why thank you Chris," Mr. Wonka smiled. "Compliments like yours really do make our candy-making days worthwhile!"

"Hey Chris, look at this one!" Jenna pointed over by her, and he walked over to her. "I think you'd love this one!"

Chris read what was on the door. It said, "ROCK CANDY CLARINETS."

Inside the Rock Candy Clarinets room, he noticed a group of about twenty Oompa-Loompas standing on the stage of what looked like a high school auditorium. Stairs were on either side of it, and a crowd of Oompa-Loompas, both children and adults, were watching them as a conductor Oompa-Loompa wearing a white wig conducted his band. Soft clarinet notes could be heard seeping out of the door as the duo watched in awe.

Mindy and Daniel, with Mindy still gripping his hand, were viewing two other rooms. The first room, the one that Mindy was by, said, "GOBSTOPPER GO-KARTS." The second room, the one that Daniel was by said, "SANDY SUGAR BEACH."

"Mr. Wonka, wasn't this that one room that Antonio was supposed to land in after jumping from that tower?" Daniel Sparkman asked, looking in Charlie and Mr. Wonka's direction, causing them to walk over.

"But of course!" Mr. Wonka answered. "Let's go in to check in on our little friend, then we'll let you guys choose a room of your own!"

Mr. Wonka turned the door's handle, and in they went to the Sandy Sugar Beach.

The Sandy Sugar Beach looked absolutely stunning. A group of large lights hung down from its ceiling in order to imitate sunlight, and various Oompa-Loompas could be seen lounging around on colorful folding chairs. Palm trees with green leaves and thin brown trunks were also in this room, and coconuts were growing on them. Pink fins could also be seen swimming in the blue water that was at the far end of the room, obviously the Raspberry Sharks that Charlie mentioned earlier on in the tour. Its namesake, Sandy Sugar, was spread throughout the entirety of the room, fittingly enough, as its sand. It was a nice brown color, and extraordinarily soft to the touch.

"Sandy Sugar is used as a testing material for Exploding Candies due to its cushioning properties," Charlie Bucket explained. "While the main variety is that large one we saw earlier with Antonio, we're also in the process of developing smaller candies that can be placed in the mouth. But the recipe's not ready though, it's far too dangerous. One variety, which we've dubbed the Nucleotomicprotoelectro Candies, or Nuclear Candies for short, was so powerful it nearly destroyed the Testing Room!"

"Sandy Sugar is often also coated with a candy we call a Hard Wafer for protection," Mr. Wonka added. "They look like rocks, and they're a variety of prank candy we're making, along with its counterpart, the Soft Candy. They may look alike, but are actually vastly different. You never know which one you'll get, haha!"

"What's the point of all this?" Daniel Sparkman asked. "I honestly don't see a rhyme or reason for any of these products to exist."

"There is no rhyme or reason," Mr. Wonka responded. "I was simply made this way. What's strange to you is natural to me. Now let's go look for Antonio, everyone."

The group began to separate and look around the Sandy Sugar Beach, but found no sign of Antonio or Mr. Ricci. They were nowhere to be seen.

"If Antonio and Mr. Ricci aren't here, then that must mean that my Oompa-Loompas have rescued him!" Mr. Wonka grinned. "See, I told you he'd come out safe and sound!"

A few minutes later, after taking in the sights of the Sandy Sugar Beach, the group was back out inside the pentagon-shaped room.

"Now, which room shall we visit next in order to continue our tour?" Mr. Wonka asked out loud.

"This one!" Mindy Bell interjected, pointing to the Gobstopper Go-Karts room. Mr. Wonka walked by it and smiled.

"Certainly!" he responded, smiling eagerly and about to open the door when Tyler Smith interjected.

"Aw, come on!" he whined, standing by a door labelled, "SPOTTY POWDER." "What about this room?"

"Don't you worry little boy," Mr. Wonka responded, earning a scowl from Kitsune. "We'll visit that room later on in the tour. But for now, it's time to rev up those engines and have a racin' good time!"

Author's Note: Wowee, what a chapter! I'm sure you have some questions, so I'll answer them now.

The Quality Control Parrots come from a mobile game known as Wonka's World of Candy. While I don't typically play mobile games, I thought that the parrots were a good idea.

Second, the name Igor is a reference to Charlie's Chocolatey Adventure, where said character, not an Oompa-Loompa in that version, was MysteriousMaker1185's OC counterpart. Additionally, seeing as the group was visiting the Sandy Sugar Beach, I couldn't resist referencing a few of his creations. :)

Third, a select few of you may notice that this chapter's title has changed. The old title will be used for the next chapter.

Fourth, judging by past patterns in this story, who do think will get eliminated next? Be sure to leave your guesses fast, as it'll happen really soon!

All in all, I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter, and am looking forward to the next one as much as I am!

Until then,

Gabe S. :)