After the strange incident involving Augustus, the tour moved on to a boat. It was a large paddle boat in the middle of the chocolate river. As everyone sat down, Willy set the boat into motion, heading for a large tunnel.
"Its a good thing you chose me." Davy said. "Mike gets seasick and Micky might have been spitting over the side."
"And as we can tell from Augustus, Willys' very protetctive about his chocolate." Peter said.
"Where are going?" Verucas father asked. Willy didnt answer.
"I don't know either but I dont like the looks of that tunnel, Wonka. I want off." Violets father added.
"Oh relax your crack Jack, it'll be fun." Davy said.
"My names not Jack!" Violets father said before the entered the tunnel.
"This is like Disney world. but weird." Peter commented. The ride went faster and faster. Tons of strange images flashed on the wall. Everyone on the boat except Peter complained that the ride was going too fast. They were getting scared. At one point Peter thought he saw Slugworth in one of the images. It couldnt be. Why would he be there? He must have been imagining things.
Verucs father finally spoke up.
"Wonka, this has gone far enough!" He said barely hiding his fear.
"Quite right, sir! Stop the boat!" Willy commanded. It felt like the boat came to a screeching hall. They seemed to be in front of a room. "We're here."
"Where are we?" Mikes mother asked.
"Here. A small step for mankind, but a giant step for us. All ashore!" Willy said as he disembarked the boat. Violets father could be heard roaring "Let me off this crate."
"I dont want this boat now daddy." Veruca whined.
"You know a ride this far downtown costs a buck seventy nine." Davy said.
"Oh man, do we have to pay the Oompa Loompas piloting the boat?" Peter asked pointing as the boat vanished.
"We'll owe em later." Davy laughed. As they walked along they encountered a sign.
"Whipped cream . . ." Davy read.
Peter read another. "Coffee cream . . ."
Davy nodded. "Vanilla cream . . ." Both Davy and Peter looked at the last sign. "Hair cream?"
"Sounds like a place for you." Peter smiled.
"They'd 'ave to make a lot, wouldnt they?" Davy laughed.
"To keep you happy, theyd be at it night and day." Peter replied.
They finally arrived inside a large room. Willy was speaking a german language welcome. Davy and Peter didnt understand a word he meant but they nodded as if they had.
"Now remember, no messing about. No touching, no tasting, no telling." Willy warned.
"No telling what?" Peter raised his hand.
"What a nice gesture. I only wish everyone raised their hands before asking questions." Willy said pointedly. "You see, all of my most secret inventions are cooking and simmering in here. Old Slugworth would give his false teeth to get inside for just five minutes, so don't touch a thing!" He said.
"Kinda like Mike and his chilli recipe." Davy said. "Inventing room? Its more like the bathroom."
"You mean after you come out of it?" Peter asked. "Even if Slugworth did get in here, he couldn't find anything."
Violets fathers nose wrinkled at the smell in the air. "You got a garbage strike going on here, Wonka?"
"Who does your cleaning up?" Mikes mom asked.
"They obviously just fired their maid." Davy said.
"Shouldn't you be wearing rubber gloves? You'll have the health inspectors after you, you know that, don't you." Verucas father pointed out.
Willy looked at the group as he mixes a concoction. "Invention, my dear friends, is ninety-three percent perspiration, . . . six percent electricity, . . . four percent evaporation, . . . and two percent butterscotch ripple." He tastes his mixture. He didnt seem to like it whatever it was.
"That's a hundred and five percent!" Mikes mom said doing the math in her head.
"Any good?" Verucas father asked.
When Willy spoke he had a high, Muppet-like voice. "Yes! Excuse me ..." He looked at Veruca. "Time is a precious thing. Never waste it." He throws an alarm clock into the cauldron. Peter raises his eyebrows. No way hes gonna taste that now even if he could.
"He's absolutely bonkers." Veruca muttered.
"Well at least he has some time in his cooking." Peter laughed. A cymbol crashed out of nowhere. "Micky?"
A commotion broke out behind Peter and Davy. They all looked at Mike Teevee. Something had seemed to have exploded. He had a silly look on his face.
"Exploding candy." Willy said. "Try it on all your friends. Or enemies."
"Lets not let Micky get a hold of that." Davy said. "We'd never hear the end of it."
Violets father shook his head."Butterscotch . . . butter gin . . . you've got something going on inside of here?"
"Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker." He said tasting it. "Ahh."
"Too hot?" Violet asked.
"Too cold!" Willy replied.
"Thats gourmet cooking for you." Verucas father commented.
Davy looked around and catches Violets father poking around a machine. He was about to say something but notices that willy has also seen him. "No! Don't. Please. Forgive me, but no one must look under there. This is the most secret machine in my entire factory. This is the one that's really going to sizzle old Slugworth." Willy explained.
Davy slugged Peter in the arm.
"OW!" Peter said.
"Pay attention. This may be what Slugworth wants." Davy said. Peter nodded remembering what it was like to see the creepy man in the shortcut. "I wonder what the guys are doing. I suddenly wish I was with them."
Micky and Mike followed the weird looking man in black as closely as they could without being followed. It seemed like they were going through an endless array of paths and small hallways.
"Whos this guy and wheres he going?" Micky asked as they walked.
"I have no idea. But he sure does know his way around here." Mike said. "He has got to be an employee."
"If he works here how come he doesnt go in through the service entrance?" Micky asked as they went around another corner. "At least we have to at our gigs."
"I have no idea." Mike said. He stopped short. "Hey." He said. "He's gone." He said as they faced a mammoth brick wall.
"And it seems like we'e reached a dead end." Micky added.
"Hmm." Mike said leaning against the wall. He had one leg propped up against the wall. "What do we do now?"
"We can always go back." Micky said joining Mike at the wall. He leaned the same way. "Maybe we imagined the whole thing out of boredom." He offered. "Do you feel something?"
"No..I." Mike said. He stopped. He nodded. It felt like the wall was moving. At least a part of it was. "I have an idea what were supposed to do now."
"What?" Micky asked as something pulled them to the wall. As if it were holding onto them. It started to swing around.
"Scream!" Mike yelled.
The wall moved in a 180 degree direction and revolved into the building. The wall stopped moving when the outside wall was inline with the orginal wall of the building. Mike and Micky were no longer there.
Back inside the factory the group had gathered around what seemed to be a huge machine covered what had an even larger blanket on it. Willy had tried to prevent someone from looking under the blanket. He decided it was time for everyone to know what it was, without seeing it however.
"Forgive me, but no one must look under there. This is the most secret machine in my entire factory. This is the one that's really going to sizzle old Slugworth." He explained once again.
Peter asked "What's it do? Does it do laundry? Chocolate stains really badly!"
The mothers in the group nodded with him. They must have had their share of unremovable candy stains.
"Would you like to see?" Willy asked him.
"Would I!" He said excitedly.
"I think yes will do just fine Petah." Davy said.
Willy pushed a button. The machine turned on and started doing whatever it was it doing under the blanket but no one was supposed to see. There was a lot of groaning and cranking. Finally a bell went ding and on a small conveyer belt came a small group of candies. The machine soon shut down afterward.
"But what does it do?" Peter asked.
"Can't you see? It makes Everlasting Gobstoppers." Willy explained.
"Did you say Everlasting Gobstoppers"? Violet asked.
"That's right." Willy said. "For children with very little pocket money. Or starving rock artists for example." He said noting Peter."You can suck 'em forever." Willy added.
"Wow." Peter thought to himself. "No wonder Slugworth wants it so much."
Veruca put her hand out. "I want an Everlasting Gobstopper."
Mike and Violet wanted one too.
Willy continued talking about it. "Fantastic invention. Revolutionize the industry. You can suck 'em and suck 'em and suck 'em, and they'll never get any smaller. Never. At least I don't think they do. A few more tests." He said slightly unsure of himself.
Mike asked. "How do you make 'em?"
Willy made a motion at his ear as if he couldnt hear Mikes request. "I'm a trifle deaf in this ear. Speak a little louder next time. Who wants an Everlasting Gobstopper?"
All the children said either "Me!" or "I do!"
"Can I have one Davy?" Peter asked.
"Go ahead, but dont you expect me to ever put that in MY mouth." Davy said with a grimace.
"I guess you have to wait for your own." Peter shrugged.
"Gladly!" Davy nodded.
Willy got enough Everlasting Gobstopper for them all. He stopped just before giving them out. "I can only give them to you if you solemnly swear to keep them for yourselves and never show them to another living soul as long as you all shall live. Agreed?" Willy asked of the group.
"I promise!" Peter swore.
"Not like everyone will want to see that after its been in his mouth." Davy jested. He did a double take. He thought he saw Veruca cross her fingers behind her bank. Veruca felt his eyes on him and gave a very un-lady like gesture. Davy frowned.
"Did that little brat just...." He started to think.
"One for you." Willy said handing them out. "One for you and one for you."
"Don't forget Petah." Davy said.
"Oh yes, and one for you." Willy said.
"Hey, hes got two. I want another one!" Veruca said loudly.
"He does not you little..." Davy started. Peter shoved the Everlasting Gobstopper in his mouth to shut him up.
"He only got one." Willy said. Veruca wasnt happy with that response.
"She must have tried to get more to sell to Slugworth maybe." Davy theorized in his head.
"Stop squawking, you twit." Violet said.
"Everyone has one, and one is enough for everyone." Willy said.
Now come along. Now over here, if you'll follow me, I have something rather special to show you."
The group followed him over to another contraption. It seemed to have several large sections on it, mostly with food.
"Well, it's special, all right. I only hope my Veruca doesn't want one." Verucas father laughed. She gave him a withering look. "Heh."
"What a contraption." Mike said.
Willy looked at Mike. "Isn't she scrumptious? She's my revolutionary, non-pollutionary mechanical wonder. Now: button, button, who's got the button?"
Peter pointed. "It's over there."
Willy motioned as he went over to it. "Here?"
"Yeah." Peter nodded.
Willy pushes the button and the contraption begins to work. It made quieter noises than the other one did. "What you are witnessing, dear friends, is the most enormous miracle of the machine age: the creation of a confectionery giant! Finito!"
"Thats it?" Veruca asked.
"What were you expecting?" Davy asked.
"Do you know what this?" Willy asked.
"By gum, its gum!" Violet enthused.
Peter looked over at Davy. "Uh oh."
"Uh oh what?" Davy asked quietly.
"I got a baddddd feeling about this." Peter said.
"Its just gum. Its not like shes gonna eat it all is she?" Davy asked.
Peter shook his head.
"This little piece of gum is a three piece dinner." Willy explained.
"So three courses of Root beer soup then?" Davy asked. Veruca rolled her eyes.
"Bull." Verucas father said.
"No, no.. roast beef. Not yet. Still a little testing to do." Willy said.
Violet grabbed the gum out of Willys hand. "I don't care. I want it now!"
"See?" Peter muttered.
"I do." Davy concurred.
Willy quietly warned her. "Oh, I wouldn't do that. I really wouldn't."
Violet shrugged. "So long as it's gum, then that's for me."
"Violet, now don't you do anything stupid." Her father warned her. Violet popped the gum in her mouth and began to chew.
Peter, wracked with curiosity asked."What's it taste like?"
"Madness! It's tomato soup! It's hot and creamy. Violet thought for a minute. "I can actually feel it running down my throat! It's delicious!"
"Stop, don't . . ." Davy could barely hear Willy say.
"Why doesn't she listen to Mr. Wonka? Peter asked.
Davy shrugged. "Because, Peter, she's a moron." He looked at Veruca. "Suddenly I'm giving her more credit."
"Here comes the second course! Hmm baked potato and roast beef!" She said.
"Is there sour cream sweetheart?" Her father asked.
"Here comes dessert! Hmm Blueberry pie! It's the most vonderful pie I've ever had!" Violet said. She looked around. There was a sudden silence. "Whats wrong?"
"Whats wrong wtih her face?" Violets father asked.
"I'm not done yet dad." She flustered.
"I think you are luv." Davy said.
"Yeah but youre face is turning blue!" Her father said. "You're turning violet, Violet!"
"What do you mean?" Violet asked.
"I told you it wasnt quite ready yet..." Willy said.
"You can say that again." Violets father said. "Look what its done to my kid!"
"Always in the dessert. Something always goes wrong there." He shook his head sadly.
"Now what?" Peter asked as Violet started to expand.
"I feel funny!" Violet said.
"I'm not surprised." Davy said.
"Shes turning into a blueberry." Wonka told the group.
"I guess she should be glad you didnt make it make it banana cream pie!" Davy couldnt help chortling. Violets father gave him a horrified look.
"Pop her with a pin." Mikes mother offered.
"Oh no. I wouldnt want to have to clean up after her." Peter said. "I have enough chores!"
Violet grew and grew until her feet no longer touched the floor. She was like a ping pong ball with features. She sat there helpless, unable to move or do anything. Willy decided he had to do something. He brought his little flute to his lips and blew the tune that called over his Oompa Loompas.
"Now what is he doing?" Peter asked.
"That is not air in her, that is all juice." He said. One of the Oompa Loompas approached him. "Would you roll the young lady down to the juicing room at once, please."
"What for?" Violets father asked him.
"For squeezing. She has to be squeezed immediately before she explodes." Willy explained.
Violets fathers eyes popped out of his head. "Explodes?!?"
"It's a fairly simple operation." He said calming his fears.
As the oompa loompas sang a song about chewing too much gum, they heard Violets father threatening to get even with him.
"I got a blueberry for a daughter!" He said as he followed his purple rotund daughter out of the room. The only way to get her out was to roll her like a ball.
As Peter and Davy watched them leave Willy said "Well, well, well . . . two naughty, nasty little children gone. Three good, sweet little children left. Well two children and a Monkee. Hurry, please, long way to go yet."
to be continued...
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Part Four
