Hello readers! Thanks for your feedback! Individualist, I'm so glad you enjoyed this chapter and Mike comforting Violet is one of my favorite parts of this chapter! :) Sonny April, actually the 1971 Veruca is one of my favorite brats alongside Mike, but in a sense of a character that you love to hate. Kinda like Umbridge from Harry Potter or Joffrey from Game of Thrones and I think she would make an excellent villain. Julie Dawn Cole (the original Veruca) absolutely stole the movie and by far the most talented of the child stars in my opinion. John Hammond, you shall find out soon and you're very right, some people certainly don't change. LinkWonka88, thank you very much and I'm glad the translation helped you out! Now, let's see what's cooking in the factory! :)
Once all of the ticket finders were inside the factory, Willy turned back towards the roaring crowd and took one last bow before closing the door. Just like their previous visit, the foyer was eerily silent. The foyer's once dull grey wallpaper was now a bright robin's egg blue. Red armchairs neatly lined up on the walls and perfectly matched the red carpet on the floor. Two small pink candy cane trees were placed on each side of the podium where the ticket finders signed the contract years ago.
"I like the bright colors in here Mr. Wonka! Gives the room a more oomph if you know what I mean." Mike piped up, admiring the foyer's new look.
Willy weakly smiled at him.
"I'm so happy to hear that! Now I'm sure you all remember these little gems!" the chocolatier said, finally showing some tension in his voice.
He jabbed his cane towards the small, golden hand-shaped coat hangers that hung lifelessly on the blue wall. Veruca cringed at the sight of the hangers, remembering when one of them snatched her mink coat during her last visit.
"Strike that! Reverse that..." Charlie blurted out, stopping the group from moving onward.
Willy gave his apprentice a proud grin.
"Now... before we can proceed, just like before, come up here and sign the contract..." Willy told the ticket finders as Charlie pulled aside the large golden drapes which revealed a fresh copy of the same shrinking contract.
"I totally remember this!" Mike remarked, walking onto the red podium whilst reading the contract.
"All right, Mike you first!" Charlie cheerfully announced as he handed Mike the quill.
The young artist smiled and quickly signed his name. Charlie quietly laughed to himself as he saw Mike's signature was just a fancier version of his childhood "MIKE TV" signature.
Charlie then called the two women to sign their names. Once all three ticket finders signed their names, Charlie and Willy led them towards the same black and white door as before.
"99...44...100 percent pure..." Charlie muttered to himself as he unlocked the circular lock.
Violet's face turned ashen upon the sight of the door, remembering being crammed in the strange black and white room years ago.
"It's gonna be okay, we've been through this before. Plus, there's only three of us now and back then, there was like ten people. Don't worry it won't be so bad..." Mike gently whispered into Violet's ear.
Seconds later, the steel door swung open. To the runner-ups' surprise, the black and white room was transformed into a dark room that was illuminated by neon splatters that changed color. Mike admired the bright colors, which instantly reminded him of his own artwork.
"Oh, that's just spectacular..." Violet sarcastically huffed as everyone else moved forward.
"Violet, it's time to move along..." Willy firmly called from afar.
"It's okay, it won't hurt you, come on. It's gonna be okay..." Mike coaxed as he stretched his right arm towards her. With a heavy sigh, Violet trudged into the dark and colorful room.
As the group moved along together in different directions, all of the splatters changed into colors and then into squiggles. The squiggles soon morphed into swirls, which suddenly illuminated on the group. Violet flinched as an electric blue swirl shone on her.
"How are you doing this?!" Violet muttered under her breath as she felt the floor gradually shifting upward.
"Why my dear Violet, 50 percent colors of the rainbow, 40 percent neon, ten percent candy, with a dash of pure imagination!" Willy proudly replied.
"And what exactly does this have to do with candy?!" Veruca harshly retorted as the group found themselves rapidly descending downward.
She could hear Charlie whistling "Pure Imagination" from afar which further irritated her. Veruca quietly patted her pink jacket for her gun, which was still intact.
A neon orange blob suddenly splattered on the wall facing them.
"Oh dear, looks like we've reached a dead end. Moving along now..." Charlie politely told the others as he and his mentor lead them towards the right.
The journey through the labyrinth seemed endless to the runner-ups, with many more dead ends and sharp turns. Even Violet started to feel somewhat relieved to see the black and white and shrinking rooms were gone and hoped that they would not return to the Inventing Room.
"When is this bloody maze ever gonna end?!" Veruca whined.
"Excuse me? Perdon? Don't you remember that I'm a trifle deaf in this ear..." Willy responded, pointing at his right ear and completely dismissing Veruca's complaint.
Mike quietly laughed to himself, remembering when the candyman gave him the same treatment last time.
"So Mr. Wonka, are we gonna see the Chocolate Room again? Is it still here?" Mike asked, staying close to Violet.
Willy laughed.
"No, no, no silly b-sir. Are you bonkers? Been there, done that. Yes! The Chocolate Room is still here, still the same. No need to see it again, we're here to see the newer portions of our factory. They are even better than any of the places you've seen before..." the chocolatier explained.
Violet and Mike both let out sighs of relief, thrilled that they would never see the Inventing Room and Television Room again.
"Yes! I've got a fun fact about the Chocolate Room. My wife and I had our wedding reception there! It was so much fun and not to mention, remember that tunnel we went through on the Wonkatania? It's not so scary anymore, all of that stuff is gone!" Charlie told his fellow ticket finders.
Violet smiled upon hearing Charlie's facts.
"I gotta admit it, that's really neat! A wedding reception in a candy wonderland, so much better than a banquet hall!" she blurted out.
Willy and Charlie both smiled, happy to see Violet bouncing back as they hit yet another dead end.
"Absolutely! It was such a wonderful wedding and no one fell into the chocolate river!" Charlie added.
After walking several more miles, they hit a dead end with a neon green blob.
"Now, you have all successfully traveled through our new Neon Labyrinth, but the journey is far from over." Willy announced as the green blob was revealed to be a door. Charlie and Willy led the others into a smaller room that was brightly lit room with black and white tile and light yellow wallpaper. Three tall, rectangular mirrors adorned one of the walls. The runner-ups looked at them in confusion.
"Now... I would like all of you to look closely at these mirrors." Charlie instructed the others, who all looked at a mirror.
"On this special milestone, we hope that you've all grown wiser during these past twenty years," Willy told the others.
Seconds later, the runner-ups' reflections had morphed into their childhood images, all clad in the same outfits they wore exactly twenty years ago. Right before their "accidents". They all gasped in shock, even Veruca. Mike turned around for a couple of seconds, only to see his boyhood self gaping back at him. Violet looked down at her orange sleeves and shuddered at the thought of the three course meal gum as she looked at her favorite blue pants suit which was long stretched and destroyed. A pang of sadness hit Veruca, for it was the day that marked the end of an era of her life of luxury and her parents' love towards her.
"Think of what the mistakes you made and the consequences you've faced over the years. You are all grown up now and whatever you do, under any circumstances, please do not cause any ruckus like before and violate the contract signed by all of you. Look at your old, terrible selves some more. Please do not become them today, or ever again. This is such a happy and significant day and we don't want it to be spoiled, do we?" Willy sternly told the ticket finders as their childhood images changed back into their adult selves.
"Now that we've taken care of business, let's move onto the fun!" Charlie happily exclaimed as the mirror that Violet looked at moved forward and opened to the next room.
It had the same black and white tile and yellow wallpaper. A tall tie dye door faced the group.
"These locks are well hidden within this door and there is a precise way to get in or we would all be locked out. Charlie, you do it..." Willy stated as Charlie touched the top right corner of the door.
As soon as Charlie touched the door, it made an xylophone-like sound. He then quickly tapped on other areas of the door in a zig-zag pattern that made the sounds of other instruments including a flute, trumpet, snare drum, violin, tuba, bagpipes, and pipe organ.
"Ladies and gentleman, Dessert Island." Charlie proudly announced as the tie dye door creaked open.