Cherry Sundae waited anxiously outside of the chocolate factory for the limousines alongside all of her other colleagues. Cherry was a reporter for the Channel 16 News, which, at that point, was the highest rated news channel. This was mostly due to their coverage of the search for the Golden Tickets, and that was mostly to do with their star reporter, Cherry Sundae. Well, her real name isn't Cherry, of course. That is simply her stage name. No, her real name was Jennifer Jelat, but that didn't have the same je ne sais quoi. Especially when covering such a spectacle as Willy Wonka's contest. She had four primetime interviews with four of the ticket winners, all of them having the best ratings of that time slot. She has yet to have talked with the Buckets kid. The kid bolted the scene before any press could reach him, but today was her day.

The whole world watched as the two limos pulled up. Cherry pulled out her mini-mirror to check her makeup and reapply her lipstick. The children exited the limos and everyone crowded them. "Jason!" she shouted to her cameraman. "Start rolling!" With a push of the button, Jason gave her the thumbs up. "My oh my, world! Have you ever seen anything like this. Look at that crowd out there!" Cherry motioned to the thousands waiting to get a glimpse at Willy Wonka. "I'm Cherry Sundae of Channel 16 Action News live right outside of Willy Wonka's mysterious chocolate factory, and the winners have arrived. I think I can speak for everyone here when i say that today will be a day no one will forget! I think I see Charlie Bucket!"

Cherry and her Cameraman wedge themselves into the crowd. She pretty much yanked Charlie from his friends and pulled him into frame. "I'm here with Charlie Bucket, the fifth Golden Ticket winner. Now Charlie, this is the first time you've been interviewed, right? No one could find you after you won."

Charlie was visibly uncomfortable with being on camera, and his nose twitched as he smelt the abundance of perfume Cherry was wearing. "Um, well I kinda just ran home after I found it. Y'know, tell the family and all that."

"How sweet!" Cherry said in a sickly sweet voice. "What were their reactions?"

"We were all very excited. My grandpa actually got out of bed and did a jig at the news."

"Is that big?"

"He hadn't stood in almost 20 years, so..."

"What a miracle, ladies and gentlemen. News so good, it can make the crippled walk."

"Who said anything about being-"

"Tell me, how many Wonka Bars did you end up eating?"

"Just three."

"Well, you must be the luckiest kid on earth. Now it seems like you've been getting very friendly with the competition. Will that damper when one of you wins the grand prize?"

"Well, none of us even knows what the grand prize is, so i guess whoever wins wins, and if we can share it, we probably will."

"Such a nice little boy you are." End it there, she thought. The perfect interview she needed to have all five ticket winners on her channel. This was a career high for her. That's when Mike Teevee grabbed the mic.

Meanwhile, a young boy was watching the Cherry Sundae broadcast from his home in Columbus, Ohio. His mother walks in with a tray of cookies and set them down. "What's that your watching there, Jimmy?" The mother said walking closer to her son.

"Cherry Sundae finally got to talk with the Buckets kid," the young boy said pointing at the screen.

"Well it's about time," the mother said, sitting down right next to him. All of the sudden, Mike grabbed the mic and all they could hear from the tv was a long string of beeping. The mother covered the boy's ears, but not before saying, "Jimmy, close your eyes."

Cherry and Charlie stood there mouths ajar. "Wait," Charlie finally said. "Where are you supposed to-"

Cherry immediately turns to Jason and violently gives him the signal to cut the feed. Mike laughs and pats Charlie on the back. "I'll tell you later Chuck. C'mon, the others are waiting at the gate." Charlie looked at the crowd. It was almost like a rock concert getting ready for the Beatles. Men, women, and children form all over the world crowding the gates. He saw the other parents talking to the press. Mr. Salt was especially pretentious, talking about how fabulous a merger between Wonka's and Salt's Salty Nuts would be. Those nuts were all the snacks that were available at Veruca's house, and they were frankly not that good.

Then there was this mysterious figure giving Charlie the thumbs up. He was tall, thin, dressed in all black, and refused to smile. It was Slugworth. Slugworth approached all of the children, but for some reason, he seemed to have been putting all his eggs in one Basket with Charlie. He had no idea why though.

Then the clock struck on the hour, And all the children and their guardians gathered in front of the red carpet. The gate opens as the clocktower rings. At the final ring, the door opens, and out walks a middle-aged man in a purple coat and a top hat feebly walking on the walkway with his cane. The fanfare died very quickly as they all realized that this was Willy Wonka. Charlie didn't know how to feel. This was his idol. The great Willy Wonka. He was expecting someone a bit more grandiose, as were the rest in attendance. Mr. Wonka removed his hat and put it over his heart as he kept walking. As he gets close to the gate, his cane gets caught between two stones. He grasps at the air where his cane was, and leaned forward as if he was falling, but the fall turned into a somersault and he was back on his feet with a jump, garnering him massive applause.

It was like with that somersault, he became a different person. What was once a feeble ailing man with a pained expression on his face with each step he took, now was warm, inviting, filled with youthful energy. This was the Willy Wonka from legends. "Thank you," the amazing chocolatier said with a smile. "Thank you! Welcome my friends. Welcome to my chocolate factory." He waves two fingers for the ticket holders to come forward. "Would you come forward please?"

Mr. Salt pushed everyone out of the way so Veruca could go first. "Veruca first, all." He was particularly pushy against Charlie. "Come now, Veruca dear."

"Daddy, you didn't have to do that." Veruca scolded, embarrassed, looking at her new friends.

"Nonsense!" Mr. Salt said loudly. "Only the best for my little Veruca."

Mike snickered and turned to Charlie. "I bet that man doesn't even know what a Veruca is."

"What is a verruca then?"

Mike shook his head. "When this is over, you and I are gonna go over everything you still need to know about the world. And I do mean everything." Charlie gulped. He didn't know whether to be excited or scared.

The five ticket holders were now in front of Wonka. "Welcome," he said warmly. "It's nice to have you here. I'm so glad you could come. This is going to be such an exciting day. I hope you will enjoy it. I think you will. And now would you please show me your golden tickets."

Veruca was the first to step forward and handed Wonka her ticket. "I'm Veruca Salt. It's very nice to meet you, sir."

"My dear Veruca, what a pleasure it is to meet you." Wonka shakes her hand and gazes at her coat. "And how pretty you look in that lovely mink coat."

Veruca blushed at this. "Why thank you sir. This is my favorite one."

"I can definitely see why! And you must be Mr. Salt. Overjoyed to see you, sir."

Mr. Salt puffs out his chest a bit. "Mr. Wonka. I was hoping to talk to you about a potential business propo-"

"Would you just step over there for a minute?"

Augustus was the next to approach the chocolatier. "Augustus Gloop."

"Augustus, my dear boy, so good to meet you - and in such fine shape."

"I actually plan on losing zome weight after de tour."

"How good for you. I'm sure there are plenty of sweets and treats you can still have in my factory." Mrs Gloop gave Augustus a funny look before Mr. Wonka greeted her. "And this must be the radiant Mrs. Gloop."

"Ve love your chocolate, Herr Wonka."

"Yes, I can see that. Just over there, dear lady."

Violet was next as she handed over her ticket. "Violet Beauregarde."

"Darling child, welcome to Wonka's. I must say, that gum chewing record is most impressive."

Violet blushed. "Oh, it's nothing really." Mrs. Beauregarde gave her a look that could kill. Nothing? That record put you on the map, you ungrateful-

"How modest of you. I myself am not a gum fan, so i can find it quite amazing for someone to chew a piece for more than a few days, let alone a few months." This cooled Mrs. Beauregarde off a bit. She's being modest. Lowering Wonka's defenses. Smart girl. "And you must be Mrs. Beauregarde, correct."

"Indeed. And I think you'll find that Violet is already the perfect choice for the grand prize, Mr. Wonka."

"Well you sure are confident in your little girl, and confidence is key. Now, over there if you will?"

Next, Mike cockily gave his ticket to Wonka. "Mike Teevee."

"Ah yes! I've heard of you. I must say when i found out how you won, well color me amazed."

"Will I be colored the same way after the tour?"

"I guess you will have to wait and see. And you must be Mr. Teevee."

"Y'know wonka, judging by the surface area of your factory, I can't seem to figure out what exactly is going to be so spectacular about this tour."

"That's because you haven't seen the inside, My good man. Over there please."

Next was the Cinderella story himself, Charlie Bucket. "Charlie Bucket, sir."

"Well, well, Charlie Bucket. I read all about you in the papers. I am so happy for you. And who is this gentleman?"

"Joe Bucket, sir. I actually used to work for you back on Cherry Street."

"Yes! Of course. Delighted to see you again, good sir. Overjoyed, enraptured, enchanted. Are we ready?" Wonka takes a look at the group. "Yes! Good! In we go!" The band begins to play as the lucky winners follow Mr. Wonka into the factory. They would never be the same after the experience.

A/N: Another chapter. Some of the dialogue will be very similar, especially for Wonka, as he seems like a character that has a script for everything and rarely goes off-script. All the changes are happening on a children level, and an adult level to some extent. I thought stealing a mic from a reporter and shouting expletives would be a very Mike thing to do. I couldn't resist the small cutaway with the mother and son. I hope you like it. Please review!