Review responses.
Tristan494-I'm glad you have and your stories are good, keep updating!
MattTheWriter072- Oh okay I do look forward to seeing that chapter when it comes out. Oh and I'm sorry about that glitch, it's just I'm not American so unfortunately I'm bound to get those sorts of things wrong.
Dragonserpent18- Thank you so much, I hope you enjoy this one too!
SonnyApril- I'm not exactly known for short chapters, and this one isn't gonna be a short one either. But I'm glad it made you change your opinion on Steven. As I said to MattTheWriter, I'm not American so I'm bound to get some of those aspects wrong. Oh, and you can thank DragonSerpent for those game references as he helped create the song. The Wonkavision thing was a mistake, I somehow managed to confuse myself. Nevertheless, it's been fixed.
Softkitty55- I'm glad you liked how Steven described his bullying, and yes Joeseph did mature because it's not an easy topic, believe me.
JOHNHAMMOND1993- Well, you shall now see what happens to Samantha, enjoy ;)
Cheesecake4life- You can thank DragonSerpent for that as he created most of the song lyrics.
Now, on we go :)
Watching the Fox brothers have a proper conversation for the first time, a smile tugged its way across the chocolatiers lips that showed the pride which words alone could not express.
Looking down at his watch his eyes widened slightly before calling everyone to gather round. "Alright people, I think you have pretty much seen all there is to see of the factory. However, there are just one of two final things I would like to show you before we reach the end of the tour."
"It's sad this tour is nearly over, but at least we have one more adventure ahead of us!" Eleanor responded, earning a few nods of agreement.
"Quite right, so on we go!" Charlie confirmed, pointing forwards for the group to follow him.
As the group walked along the corridor to the last room, Charlie couldn't help but listen in to the various conversations amongst the guests. Appreciating just how far they had come along since within the first hour they had all met.
From behind he could hear parts of a conversation between Mandy and Eleanor, with Judy and Fiona talking respectively. Fernando and his father were also having a chat, along with Steven and his brother. Even Violet had spoken a few words here and there.
But the real surprise was when Violet had walked over to Charlie, the first time since the incident with the squirrels. "Violet?" he asked, not entirely sure what the purpose of her appearance was.
"Charlie I just wanted to apologize, I now understand why Mr. Wonka gave his factory to you." This was all she said, along with a light-hearted smile before returning back to her daughter.
Unable to say a word in response Charlie could only look back at her with his mouth slightly hanging open. Shaking himself out of his thoughts he then focused on what was ahead of him, but this wasn't the only apology commencing within the area.
Steven who had admitted to Eleanor he wanted to change his ways spotted Fernando in front of him. As his mind replayed all the times he had viciously picked on and insulted the French boy, he then walked up to Fernando despite, the fearful fluttering sensation in his stomach.
Patting the French boy on the shoulder, Steven mentally winced when noticing Fernando jump at the blue haired boy's unexpected arrival.
"Er, hi?" Fernando questioned suspiciously, backing away slightly that made Steven wince for the second time. Before it could turn into an awkward silence, Steven decided to come out straight with it, whether it was to be a success or not.
"Look, Fernando, I have recently come to the realization that I've been insulting and hurting others based on my insecurities of my own life, and in particular you have been the main victim of this. So I guess all I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry." Steven stammered, sighing heavily when finishing his sentence.
"It's okay," Fernando replied, causing a look of bewilderment to appear on the American boy's face.
"You're going to forgive me just like that?" Steven asked, evidently shocked that Fernando hadn't told him to get lost, or even remotely mocked him in any way.
"I'm not one to hold grudges, after all, nobody's perfect ."
"Quite true, so are we friends?" Steven asked, the fluttering sensation returning.
"Yeah," Fernando confirmed, sending tingling vibes through Steven's chest.
"Cool thing, Nando."
"Nando?" Fernando questioned, raising an eyebrow at the newly given nickname.
"Yeah, Nando, like the food?" Steven explained to a very confused Fernando.
"Don't tell me you've never been to Nando's, only an idiot would-" Steven had to pinch his arm to regain himself. "Sorry," he muttered seconds later, earning a sympathetic smile from the other boy.
"Actually, I would be interested to hear about Nando's," Fernando encouraged. Steven let out a sigh of relief.
"You, my friend shall now be told about the true beauty within Nando's." He then placed an arm around Fernando's shoulder as they walked and talked simultaneously.
Meanwhile, Charlie and the Oompa Loompa that had accompanied him since the beginning of the 'lessons' were in a conversation of their own.
"Another success to add to our list?" questioned the Oompa Loompa with a hint of a smile on his face.
"Indeed it is," Charlie replied with a wider smile.
The Oompa Loompas smile soon transformed into a frown. "However, we cannot start celebrating as of yet."
Charlie didn't need informing on who the Oompa Loompa was referring to, as he turned to briefly look at the Beauregarde's.
"I know," Charlie replied with a miserable sigh.
All the Oompa Loompa did in response was give the chocolatier a look which said, you leave it to me.
Before Charlie could question his worker's motives he and the group arrived at their destination.
"Ah now, this is what I wanted to show you" Charlie began, having to put his recent conversation behind him. "This right here is the pick and lead sweet dispenser, each colored sweet opens a different room."
Steven who was closest to the dispenser was then gestured to pull the handle below his hand, seconds later an orange colored sweet appeared on the palm of his hand.
"Ah, you got an orange sweet which leads to the sharp tongues room," Charlie said as he took the orange sweet from Steven, then throwing it at the door which opened straight afterward.
"Is that a metaphor for me?" Steven chuckled as the group walked in the room, a few of them laughing with him.
"You're not the only one there kid," Bryant commented, looking down at his son who gave him a weak smile in return.
"Try one," Charlie said as he passed the tongue-shaped sugar coated sweet to Bryant, who hadn't tried anything during the tour. Having accepted the sweet he placed it onto his own tongue, then seconds later Bryant noticed his tongue going numb as the felt the sweet beginning to fizz inside his mouth.
"My tongue's gone numb and it kinda hurts," Bryant said, his speech difficult to understand due to the intense tingling sensation increasing within each and every second.
"Well that's because this sweet is designed to do this when a person is rude to you or someone else, this lasts only a few seconds, but afterwards the person will be in so much shock they will want to watch what they say in future," Charlie said, grinning as he explained the sweets purpose.
"It gives the phrase words hurt a literal term," Charlie added, before leading the group out of the room from the door, opposite to the one they had come in through. They were then brought back to where the sweet dispenser was. "Now, why don't we have an adult pick this time?"
The adults in the group all looked at each other before deciding Fiona was to chose the sweet. Just as Steven had, Fiona pulled the handle, only this time a yellow sweet made it's way out and into her hand.
"Oh good, I was hoping a yellow one would fall out," Charlie said, repeating the same action he had with the orange one.
"This is one of my favorite products in the entire factory," Charlie happily stated, turning towards the group as they took in the sights of at least three machines producing a powdery substance.
"What is this stuff?" Judy asked, only inches away from touching the powder, which Charlie had to stop her from doing by gently pulling her away.
"This room produces what Mr. Wonka calls spotty powder, and the purpose of this is when a child consumes it they will look like that have caught chicken pox or some other illness," Charlie explained, Judy looked at her hand in response.
"I have to admit, that's kinda clever" Steven complemented with a warm smile. An action that made the chocolatier experience warm feelings of his own.
"That's exactly what I said to Mr. Wonka," Charlie said without realizing, a slight hint of awkwardness following soon afterward.
Shaking himself out of his embarrassment the chocolatier then added, "Anyway, we must press on to wherever the sweet dispenser takes us."
"Samantha, why don't you have a go," Charlie said once they were stood in front of the sweet dispenser for the third time.
"Alright," Samantha replied quietly as she walked up to the sweet dispenser to get the next sweet. When the sweet popped out Samantha gave it a look of disgust as the color of it was blue, she then hurriedly slammed it onto the chocolatiers hand as if it had some sort of disease.
Once the group were all in the room the blue sweet lead to, the guests all gave Charlie confused looks as they greeted to a large, light blue wobbly square-shaped object that took up most of the room.
Before anyone could ask any questions Charlie who instead of explaining the purpose of the product as he usually would, gestured for one of the Oompa Loompas in the room to step through it. However, as the Oompa Loompa did as he was told, he ended up getting stuck right in the center of it.
"And this people is the exclusive Jello wall, made completely out of jelly!" Charlie said with excitement clear in his voice.
"And before you ask, this Jello wall is designed to keep your siblings at bay. So if they are annoying you or you just want some time to yourself, all you have to do is squeeze this little jello block."
Charlie then presented the small blue block of jello he got out of his pocket, to the group who immediately took an interest.
"When you press the block it automatically creates an edible jello wall in between you and your sibling, not only does this keep them occupied as they can eat their way out of it, but it also gives you around one to two hours before they can bother you again."
"I wish I had something like this when I was a kid," Fiona chuckled.
"The best thing about the Jello wall is that they can be used at any required time as they don't fill you up" Charlie added, enjoying the looks of amusement from the group.
"Now we should press on, there's still one more thing I must show you," Charlie stated as he and the group left the room.
However, when they had returned back to where they started for the fourth time, Samantha seemed to be miles away as she noticed something from the very corner of her eye.
"What is she doing?" Fernando whispered to Eleanor who was wondering the exact same thing.
"I don't know," she whispered back, advancing over to the chocolatier to inform him about Samantha's odd behavior.
But before Charlie could react to Eleanor's warning, Samantha had already made her way into the room followed by a pair of concerned Oompa Loompas.
"What is this room?" Samantha bluntly asked as soon as they arrived, her eyes focused on the long machine which had many conveyer belts with various kinds of sweets, letting out puffs of smoke in all different colors.
"This room is where sweets go to get their color," Charlie said with a hint of nervousness in his voice. The younger Beauregarde's eyes took on a sudden look of interest.
Continuing to stare at the machine she noticed a set of white little drops enter the machines grasp, only seconds later to come out again but fully covered in color. Samantha's eyes then widened in immediate astonishment as a thought of realization entered her head.
"Hey Charlie," Samantha began rather abruptly, sending rather worrying chills down the chocolatiers spine. "Would you say that this machine is capable of turning anything into any color one desires?"
"I suppose so," Charlie said with hesitation, having to force down a lump developing in the back of his throat.
"Or to reverse it if an accident happens?"
Again Charlie hesitated, eventually having to resort to a simple nod in replacement for his lack of speech.
"So if I was to say for example the color of someone's pigment, would it work?" Samantha questioned as she looked over to her mother, grabbing her hand and leading her to Charlie, despite trying to object against her daughter's idea.
"Er, I really don't think …" Charlie trailed off his sentence as he came face to face with Violet, guilt burning in the pit of his stomach.
Before she could do anything Samantha took a step closer towards him, her dark brown eyes boring into his lighter blue ones. "Just yes or no."
"Well it could but I-"
"But what!" Samantha barked, "if it can change the color of your sweets, then why can't it work for my mother!"
"This machine isn't designed for humans, and even if it was it wouldn't be possible to change your mother back, due to her pigment being blue for so many years."
"Besides we don't know if it would be safe," Violet added, earning herself a grateful look from Charlie. However, the younger Beauregarde wasn't going to give up easily.
"So you're telling me that you're okay with the fact my mother was horrifically transformed into a blueberry by that maniac Willy Wonka, but your not willing to repair the damage by one simple move is that right?!"
For the first time throughout the whole tour, the chocolatier was unable to think of an answer to her demanded question. As his anxiety levels went up so did Samantha's level of rage.
"Final chance scumbag, are you going to help my mother or not!" Samantha snarled, her fists clenched as if preparing to punch him if he put a foot wrong.
"I cannot," was all Charlie had to say for himself, mouthing a sorry to Violet in the process. Unfortunately Violet wasn't the only one to notice.
"Sorry? Sorry! Sorry means nothing, it doesn't change anything!" Samantha roared.
Then all of a sudden Samantha grabbed one of the trays used to carrying the sweets once they had got their color, she then viciously threw it against the wall to express her seething anger. The sound of the tray slamming the wall vibrated across the floor underneath the guest's feet, and while most were able to duck, Eleanor found her arm colliding with the corner of the tray, knocking her off her feet and onto the floor with a hard thud.
"Ow!" Eleanor cried, rubbing her arm to soothe the pain. But when a few people gathered round to make sure she was ok, her injury wasn't the only thing the group was startled by.
"What is that beside her?" Bryant inquired, pointing to a white object only a few meters away from where Eleanor had landed.
"It's a sweet of some sort," Judy stated.
As a few more guests walked closer to where the sweet was, an Oompa Loompa squeezed past them to pick up the object for themselves. Twisting his hand to identify it the Oompa Loompas shot Charlie a worrying look when realizing what it was.
"It's the three-course meal chewing gum, the one with the glitch," the Oompa Loompa confirmed.
"But how did it get there?" Charlie questioned, his voice louder than intended.
"It fell out right after that tray hit Eleanor," Steven provided.
"That means..." Charlie didn't dare to finish his sentence as he took in everyone's surprised gasps.
At that very moment, all heads were turned to Eleanor, who was standing with her aunt, who along with Judy had helped her up. Looking at each and every person she mentally winced as some guests were whispering amongst themselves, even Fernando had taken a step away from her when it dawned on him what was going on. A few minutes had passed until the chocolatier spoke up.
"Did you take my gum, Eleanor?" Charlie softly questioned. A mixture of shock and sadness in his voice. Eleanor silently nodded in response.
"I- I was j- just so interested in wanting to help you fix it, Charlie. I didn't intend to take it and was going to give it back. B-but after I got sent to the old sneezes and smells room I forgot about it, and now I've caused chaos! " Eleanor remorsefully admitted, bowing her head down as if she was a dog that had just been caught trying to get their owners food.
"Oh, Eleanor," Fiona sighed in response.
"Actually you haven't" was the rather sudden reply from Samantha who stood directly next to Eleanor, with a somewhat disturbing gleam in her eyes and a dark tone to her voice as if she had thought of a plan B.
Unfortunately, she wasn't wrong.
Hastily snatching the gum from the Oompa Loompas hand by aggressively pushing him to the floor Samantha held it up in her hands for everyone to see, making sure Charlie got the best view out of them all.
"Since you refused to fix the damage that vile Wonka did to my mother, along with Eleanor so kindly supplying the goods, why don't I take the opportunity to show everyone a recreation of what happened over forty years ago."
"No," Violet firmly stated.
"Yes! Can't you see I'm trying to help you, mom! If he won't put things right, I shall take it into my own hands and become a blueberry myself to ease your suffering!"
"No, Samantha please, no!" Violet squeaked, "Charlie please do something!"
"Don't bother mom, he had his chance to help but he didn't take it, and now he's going to regret ever saying no to us." Samantha spat, shoving the gum into her mouth to prove her point. Violet hid her face in her hands, unable to bear witnessing her daughter's last moments of normality.
"Oh my god," Violet whimpered with tears glistening in her eyes, while the others watched with bated breath.
Once she had chewed the gum a few times, Samantha ensured everyone was able to know exactly what was going to happen.
"Samantha don't do this!" Violet shouted without warning, the younger Beauregarde ignored her.
"First on the menu is the terrific tomato soup, I must admit I would have preferred it to have been chicken. But I guess it's all a matter of taste," the younger Beauregarde sternly stated, refusing to look at her mother or anybody for that matter.
"Samantha Beauregarde, stop!" Violet yelled again, with an added amount of major urgency. Again she went ignored, much to her mother's increased dismay.
"Oh, now we're moving on to the beef, again I'm more of a chicken person as it has a softer texture," Samantha continued, which sent her mother into more of a panicking frenzy.
"Please no," was Violets softly whispered plea as the dreaded moment crept closer towards her daughter.
"And here comes the killer," Samantha said as an introduction to the final part, laughing humorlessly just moments before the final part tickled her taste buds.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I shall now leave you to witness the luscious grand finale of the infamous blueberry pie and ice cre-"
Samantha was then suddenly sharply cut off her sentence as Violet came charging towards her, just as an angry bull would.
"SPIT THAT OUT!" Violet screeched as she grabbed her daughter by the shoulders, not releasing her grip until her daughter unintentionally spat out the gum, which then got forcefully kicked across the floor until it was out of her reach.
"Mom!" Samantha cried in response, a mixture of anger and sadness within her eyes.
Violet didn't say a word as she tightly cupped her daughter's face in her hands, to see if there were any traces of blue forming on her facial features. "Thank God!" Violet pitifully sighed, letting out sorrowful deep breathes as she let herself collapse on her daughter's shoulder. The miracle of her daughter being unmarked by the blueberry having caught up with her, physically as well as emotionally.
"No, no! Where is it!" Samantha snapped, pulling away from her mother's embrace. "I need that gum, come on, I need it back!"
"No you don't, not because of me," Violet yelled, trying to talk sense to her daughter.
Samantha feebly shook her head. "Mom, I'm not doing this to upset you I'm doing it to help you. That's all I've ever wanted to do for you, be there for you. To ease your suffering like I said."
Then at that very moment, Violet found she couldn't hold herself together anymore. As she let herself burst into tears, Samantha along with the group all looked towards her. A few seconds later Violet decided to do something she should have done earlier, for her daughters sake more than anyone else's.
Wiping her eyes Violet took a deep shuddering breath, before addressing everyone in the room. "When I was my daughter's age all I cared about was winning and nothing more. During the tour I was determined to do whatever it took to defeat the other kids, no matter the cost. Even if the cost was on my behalf."
It took a few choked out sobs in order for Violet to continue. "That cost was supposed to be a life lesson for me, but all it seemed to teach me was how to live in constant anger along with the desire for revenge. Though I do think part of it had something to do with the way my mother saw me after that life changing day. Since that day I never saw even a glimpse of normality, everywhere I went I was mocked, called names. There was even this cruel inside joke made about me, the other kids used to buy blueberries just so they could stamp on them, and when they did they used to say 'oops I trod on a Blueregarde'.
Violet took a moment to glance at Samantha, who didn't dare look up.
"To think the agony of my humiliation outside my house was enough, the internet soon became infested with all sorts of mortifying, shamelessly drawn pictures of me. There was one in particular that triggered an emotional breakdown within me, and to put it bluntly, it was a picture of me in my full blueberry form with my mother standing beside me, but in a county fair. Although upsetting as it was to catch sight of, it did make me wonder if, despite everything I was going through, I could come out of this as a winner."
"Then what happened?" Charlie asked with genuine interest, keen to know what had happened to make Violet vocalize her life story.
"Well as you know I went to live with my aunt Peggy for a while to gain a better peace of mind, but even she couldn't do anything to stop the constant swing of obsessive thoughts of wanting to get even running through my head. When I did eventually leave, I thought I was going to be able to have full control of my life, oh how wrong I was. I ended up meeting this man called Colin during one of weekly food shops, who didn't seem to care that I resembled a smurf. We got talking, went on a few dates and before I knew it I was pregnant with Samantha. However, it was all too good to last, Colin ditched me the day I went into labor, he said he didn't want to have a child with me nor did he even want to be with me, he apparently only asked me out because he felt sorry for me."
"Oh, Violet I-" Charlie tried to intervene, but he was soon cut off.
"All those times I spent with Colin the thoughts that had haunted me since the tour disappeared, but only when I was with him. Though once he left those thoughts came back with a vengeance, with many more alongside them, each with their own negative impact. By the time Samantha was eight years old even she could tell I was depressed, so I told her everything she could have understood at her age, which was a lot more than I thought. After that Samantha became my protector in a way that Colin was never able to come close to, it felt great to have someone who finally understood the many issues I faced, as well as someone being willing to help me in any way she could."
"So when the word of another contest spread across the world, was this when you thought this is your moment to get your own back?" Eleanor asked, her tone sincere and understanding.
"Yes, it was," Violet responded, quite baffled that she had figured it out without needing to tell her. If she was honest with herself it was quite a relief. Nevertheless, she still had more to say.
"As I saw the number of tickets being found one by one at a faster rate than previously, I thought it would just be another fluke, me once again getting my hopes up for absolutely nothing. But the moment I saw the flash of gold in Samantha's Wonka bar it was as if a ton of weights had been lifted off my back, I could visualize myself performing the payback I had been craving more vividly as I counted down the days to the tour date. Yet in order for my plan to work, I had to dispose of the competition, meaning you lot."
Violet waved her hand towards the group in an awkward motion.
"That's why I did what I did to you all" Samantha added, joining her mother in coming clean about her actions. Violet smiled at her daughter's input.
"So it turned out you were right Charlie, the Beauregarde's had returned without showing any regard."
Charlie sighed in defeat. His mind replaying to when he and Violet were just kids, the way her over the top levels of confidence was displayed just on how she spoke to him. However, now that confidence had disintegrated into the harsh lack of self-worth she'd been forced to carry with her for so many years. Now she had gained the nerve to express her misery, what she needed more than anything was empathy, just as he had shown towards the others.
Silently watching Violet walking over to stand behind her daughter, Violet then placed her hands on Samantha's shoulders. Taking a deep breath, Violet once again turned to face the group. Although it was Charlie's attention, in particular, she wanted to grab. When seeing her attempt proved to be successful she quietly said, "I was so lost in hatred and the urge for revenge, that now I've passed it onto my own daughter."
This time it was Samanthas turn to cry, Violet squeezed her shoulders as an act of comfort. But it was nothing compared to what she was about to do.
"Charlie," she began as she took a couple of steps towards him. " I don't expect my daughter to become your heir, or for me to even be allowed outside the doors to your factory again. But all I ask is for forgiveness, for when I was an obnoxious moron towards you when we were kids, and for all the havoc I've caused for everyone today. If not for mine, do it for my daughter's sake."
At first, Charlie could only stare at her, unable to think of the right words to say. Mistaking his silence for a wordless rejection she proceeded to turn away. That was until the chocolatier gently took her hand in his, startling Violet who for a moment seemed to gaze into his eyes.
"Violet Beauregarde, from everything that has happened today I have come to realize that nobody is bad without a reason. Not only that, but I've also learned that it is possible for someone to change from within their fatal flaws, just as you and everyone else in the room has."
Both Charlie, Violet and even Samantha looked over to the guests who were nodding their agreement.
"Besides, it wouldn't be fair for us to be forgiven for our mistakes and not you" Judy stated.
"We've all got our faults, it's just part of being human" Fiona commented.
"Yeah, indeed we have" the Beauregarde's both said, now moving over to stand with the rest of the group.
Clearing his throat Charlie decided to add to the conversation by saying, "so yes Violet, I along with everyone else here forgives you."
For the first time in a while, Violet let out a genuine wide smile that soon spread across her lips, as she embraced the pure joy of the moment. Then as an extra thank you, she ran up to Charlie, wrapping her arms around him in an appreciative hug, that Charlie was more than happy to accept. His soft laugh filling the room when hugging her back proved it.
Meanwhile, Samantha also had to make amends. Before she could even think of what to say, that certain person made the first move by patting her shoulder. "Hey, don't worry about what happened with the cats or the tray. I know you didn't mean it."
"Thank you, I shall still apologize regardless," Samantha replied. "So friends again?"
"Yeah, why not!" Eleanor happily agreed, linking arms with Samantha.
The group then spent next few minutes talking amongst themselves as well as the chocolatier himself, this was until an Oompa Loompa approached him.
"Charlie, it has come to my attention that you must discuss one last thing with your guests," the Oompa Loompa said, his facial features signaling that it was about something serious.
"Ah, yes," Charlie responded, a hint of unease in his voice.
"What I intend to consult with you all is… Is…" Charlie then stopped talking, his ability to speak betraying him once more.
"Shall I say it for you?" asked the Oompa Loompa who received a confirming nod.
"What Charlie needs to discuss with you is, who's going to be his heir?"
Now, you may rest! Only three more chapters to go!
The reason there is no elimination song here will become clear in the next chapter.
I did look up Violet Beauregarde Blueberry fan arts, and to put it bluntly, I wish I hadn't. Some were quite disturbing :/
So, who should become the heir and why?
Thanks for reading peeps!