Chapter 13

"The Second Candidate Falls"

With Augustus Gloop eliminated, it was now down to four more candidates for the right to earn their position as Wonka's heir to the throne. I made my way down to the juicing room near the inventing room where an Oompa Loompa who had been testing the three course gum had just been squeezed out of whatever juice was inside of him.

"I take that the gum still has a lot of work to be done on it," I said to the Oompa Loompa in charge.

"Well, some of it has been successful," sighed the Oompa Loompa. "And some…well, see for yourself, Mr. Wilkinson."

"There is obviously no question that gum girl is going to try and take it for herself," I remarked, looking up at a television screen where Wonka and the Candidates were at the machine that produces the Everlasting Gobstopper. "And the British Brat demands another."

"Everybody has had one and one is enough for anybody," I heard Wonka say to diffuse the situation. "Now come along."

Sure enough, Wonka led the candidates towards the machine that made the three course gum. Pressing the button, the machine turned on and as it produced the gum, Wonka revealed the machine's secrets.

"What you are witnessing dear friends," he explained. "Is the most enormous and greatest miracle of the machine age, the creation of a confectionary giant!"

Of course, the words were nothing short of premature as the gum came out.

"This is where Gum girl's character comes in," I said, looking up at the screen and seeing Violet snatch the gum out of Wonka's hand. "And she is already failing miserably."

Watching carefully, I saw the girl start chewing the gum and after a few moments, her face began to turn a bluish color.

"Hey your face is turning blue!" Mr. Beauregard replied in shock at his daughter's transformation. "Violet, you're turning Violet, Violet!"

"What are you talking about?"

"I told you I haven't gotten it right yet," Wonka remarked as I turned over to the Oompa Loompa in charge.

"Is…is that one of the gums that hasn't been tested yet?" I cried out.

"I can't say that it is," he answered, shrugging his shoulders. "But it is."

A moment of shear terror coursed through my veins as I watched the effects of the blueberry go from bad to worse.

"Violet, what are you doing now?" cried Mr. Beauregard as his daughter suddenly began blowing up in front of him. "You're blowing up!"

"I feel funny!" cried Violet as her red belt snapped off.

"I'm not surprised," I heard Grandpa Joe remarked.

"What's happening?"

"You're blowing up like a balloon! Somebody do something, call a doctor!"

"Stick her with a pin!" suggested Mrs. Teavee.

"She'll pop!" cried Charlie.

"It happens every time," remarked Wonka. "They all become blueberries."

However, Mr. Beauregard was having absolutely none of it whatsoever.

"You've really done it this time, have you Wonka?" he asked angrily. "I'll break you for this!"

"Oh well, I'll get it right in the end," Wonka answered, ignoring Beauregard's anger as he played his summoning flute to get Violet taking care of right away. But to Wonka, it wasn't a matter of air, Violet had juice in her and it was apparent she was going to be sent here to be juiced out. "Would you roll the young lady down to the juicing room?"

"What for?" asked Mr. Beauregard.

"For squeezing," Wonka answered. "She has to be squeezed immediately before she explodes."

"Explodes?!"

"It's a fairly simple operation."

But those words did little to help Mr. Beauregard's situation and he was determined to let Wonka know he was out for blood.

"I'LL GET EVEN WITH YOU WONKA IF IT'S THE LAST THING I EVER DO!" he screamed as he was being led away in anger towards Wonka and pity for his child. "I've got a blueberry for a daughter."

Still, we immediately got to work on Violet just as soon she arrived in the juicing room. Placing a mask on her face, we slowly removed the oversized liquid that was inside of her body. Mr. Beauregard immediately stormed over to me and immediately threw me against the wall.

"Are you partially responsible for this?" he demanded, clutching my suit jacket. "Are you?"

"Yes, I am Arthur Wilkinson, vice president of Wonka and I'm sorry to say that your daughter has been disqualified from receiving the lifetime supply of chocolate."

"I don't care about a lifetime supply of chocolate, you clowns could have killed my baby!"

"Don't say clowns, Mr. Beauregard," I remarked, remaining steadfast and strong despite being pushed against a wall. "We aren't clowns and the Oompa Loompas are who they are."

"Either way, I'm going to have your jobs for this. I have friends at the US Embassy who will order you arrested for attempted murder."

"Is that so, Mr. Beauregard?" I asked as the juice was nearly removed from Violet's body. "The only guilty party is your daughter and your daughter alone given the fact that she has developed a dirty habit that is going to affect her later in life."

Violet let out a small moan as the mask was removed from her face. The girl was pain, but I showed no sympathy towards her. Her character was tested and she failed miserably with falling colors.

"I hope this teaches you a lesson, child," I said as Mr. Beauregard helped Violet to her feet. "Gum chewing is repulsive, revolting and wrong. All you do is chew and chew all day long the way that a cow does."

Not wanting to hear any more criticism, Mr. Beauregard grabbed his daughter and left the juicing room.

"Just a moment," an Oompa Loompa called out to them, throwing Violet's red belt at them. "You forgot this."

With a final glare, the Beauregards disappeared and the competition was now down to three candidates.

"Where is fancy bred, in the heart or in the head?"

"Mr. Wilkinson?"

"All right, now then," I said, hastily leaving the juicing room to prepare for the candidate's next task. "Are the Fizzy Lifting Drinks ready?"

"Yes sir."

"Good. It's now time for the next test of character for Mr. Bucket."