Charlotte watched nervously as each of the three chocolatiers turned a valve that caused chocolate to pour into the tank.
Okay, okay...No big deal, I'll just turn the valves off once they leave! she told herself to calm herself down, pacing around the vault. Hang in there, Willy and Noodle...I'm going to save you guys...
Once they finished turning the valves, Fickelgruber grabbed her sleeve and dragged her out of the vault before she could even try anything.
"We know what you're thinking, little Miss." Slugworth smirked at her as they made their way to the little elevator.
"That you're going to save them," Prodnose clarified.
She glared at him, but bit back her tongue. She wasn't going to ruin it by saying something.
They exited the vault and closed the door to it, then they all squished themselves in the elevator. Slugworth pushed the button to take them back to the surface.
Charlotte was never so grateful that the elevator didn't have doors until now, because just as the elevator was about halfway up, she leapt out of it and went tumbling back down to the room with the vault.
"Charlotte!" Fickelgruber exclaimed in alarm, but he couldn't go after her.
"Don't worry, Felix," Slugworth's faded voice said to calm down her father. "The vault door is closed. She can't get back in. Just let her be delusional."
Oh, but that's where you're wrong, Charlotte thought and ran over to the vault keypad, hurriedly pressing at the buttons.
3, 4, 3-
No, that was wrong!
She internally cursed herself and restarted the code.
3, 4, 2, 8, 2-
"Dang it!" she yelled and aggressively poked the reset button.
3, 4, 2, 8, 1, 6, 5, 9, 7-
The vault hissed and the door slowly began to open.
"Finally!" she whispered and waited impatiently for the door to open.
"Take your time, door, take your time!" she grumbled in frustration. "Not like I need to save two lives right now or anything!"
Once the vault opened up just enough for her to squeeze through, she took that chance and ran inside. She flew through the vault as fast as she could to reach the valves.
She glanced through the window of the door to the tank and all she could see was chocolate.
She didn't want to know how high it'd got.
She began desperately turning the valves to stop the pouring of the chocolate, but she wasn't going fast enough.
"Stupid weak arms!" she yelled as she finally got done with the first valve. That had taken way too long, and as far as she knew, Willy and Noodle could be dead already!
But just as she started on the next valve, she heard something that sounded like...
...tiny little footsteps?
She looked away from the valve briefly to fine-
"The little orange man with green hair!" she exclaimed.
"Good day," the man said and straightened his jacket. "I recognize you- you're that rude little girl that tripped over me a few days ago!"
"Yes, yes, that's me!" she said quickly, going back to turning the valve. "Now, go turn that valve over there! You can degrade me later."
The little orange man gave a firmed nod and headed over to the last valve. Together, Charlotte and the little orange man turned the valves.
After about a minute, the two finished turning the valves and Charlotte's eyes scanned the room in search for-
"Aha!" She ran across the room and quickly pulled down the red lever labeled 'emergency drain'. Immediately, a loud noise came from the chocolate tank and to her relief, the chocolate started draining.
She whirled around, a relieved smile on her face. "Little orange man! Thank you so-"
But when she turned around, the little orange man was nowhere to be seen.
Puzzled, she forced herself not to question it and ran over to the door to the chocolate tank. Once the chocolate was low enough, she burst inside and immediately saw Willy and Noodle float at the top of the chocolate pool.
"Charlie!" Willy exclaimed at the same time as Noodle said, "Charlotte!"
Charlotte pulled the lever to stop the mixing blades from spinning, and ran onto the metal island in the middle of the tank as soon as they came to a stop. She held her hands out to pull her friends out of the chocolate pool and onto the island.
"Charlie, I knew you'd save us!" Willy said gratefully.
She smiled softly, her eyes filling up with tears. They were safe. Her friends were safe. "Well, I couldn't have done it without the help of a little orange man with green hair..."
Noodle giggled with both excitement and relief, and Willy pulled Charlotte into a hug. She hugged back without hesitation. She hugged him so tightly, as if to make sure he wasn't going to slip away again. She didn't care if he was covered with chocolate. She was just glad to know he was safe.
She was just glad to know they were all safe.
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For A Moment - A Wonka AU
Fanfictionwhy are people still reading this --- 17 year old Charlotte Fickelgruber wants one thing. And that's to put her dad out of business. Her dad is the owner of Fickelgruber Chocolates, one of the most famous and well-known chocolate factories in the wo...
